Tom Selleck Knows All

Actually, it's more like some very smart copywriter knows all...but still. This is pretty funny. SyFy's weekly email newsletter "DVICE" strikes again. Read the story HERE. 

Even if you're not the subscribing type, I would recommend this one. It's always entertaining and genuinely helpful. This week's email contained info about the most recent net neutrality rulings...scary stuff.

Random BFG fact, my plea for a real Magnum P.I. movie is my most read blog entry ever. By a mile. Weird.

Man in a Blizzard - Shared by Roger Ebert on Twitter

I love this. It's gorgeous. It makes me want to rethink everything about shooting and editing. It makes me want to scale down and do something beautiful and simple in the new year. I follow Roger Ebert on Twitter, and when he shared this, I went for it without thinking twice. (Because that man knows good film when he sees it.)



Also, it reminded me of this. It's also brilliant and gorgeous. This was done by a friend of ours as he was stuck in an airport overseas...



These videos just make me feel all retrospective and new yearsish. If only I would've had a Canon 7D when I lived in Romania...

Christmas Eve Monologue

Happy Christmas Eve! Pay special attention to Gizmo's face after the big climax of the story. It's the best. This movie used to scare the living daylights out of me. So much so that I forced my sisters to get up with me in the middle of the night anytime I needed to go to the bathroom.

It was Gremlins, Slimer, and the Thriller zombies for me. Who were your monsters?

DCA To Do Away With Giant "California" Sign

                                                   

What an a-hole...

According to the OC Register, the iconic entrance to Disneyland's California Adventure will be completely remodeled. DCA has been the butt of many jokes over the years for its weak theming, so not many people seem too sad about it.

TRON: Legacy - Relax and Enjoy

Meet "Quorra"

For the short "Get to the Point" review, click "Read More" and scroll to the bottom of the blog where it says, "Get to the Point". For the full review, read on from here...

Full Review

I've never seen the original TRON, so I didn't know what to expect from the sequel. I was hoping for a visually beautiful movie that sounded amazing and gave me those great action-movie adrenaline rushes. I was positive that's what I was going to get when I heard Daft Punk was doing the film score. On that front, TRON is exactly what I was hoping for and met all of my expectations.

The other great thing about watching TRON? It was a pressure-free viewing experience for me. As a geek, it's more often than not that I head into the theater feeling nervous and verklempt and/or I leave feeling frustrated and angry. Always being worried about whether or not a script will do justice to an original film or comic is kind of awful. Having no sentimental attachments to a movie at all was a welcome relief.

Teleportation? Yes please.

Well, I certainly never thought I'd post anything from FoxNews.com here at Born For Geekdom. But alas, the day has come.

How Star Trek transporters may become a reality very soon.

The Burn Notice Season Finale: Why You Should Watch This Show

First, I thought I'd share a link to a blog where you can find clothing that appears in the show. Some of the items seem fairly out of date, so I don't know how "available" they'll be, nevertheless...

Here's the nifty little blog "Seen On". This link will take you right to the "Fiona" page.

Burn Notice is kind of the Miami Vice of today. Except waaaaay better than Miami Vice. It's fun to watch for a plethora of reasons and I think it will stand the test of time (as far as watch-ability is concerned) far better than the 80's cop show. It's just the fact that it's set in Miami that draws comparisons. Which is fair...but I'm sure it gets old for the show's creators.

If you're not watching the show, you should be. But I'd recommend that you start from the beginning, or you may be a little bit lost. (Try Netflix.) I was immediately drawn in by the fact that the show has Bruce Campbell. A no fail casting choice, if you ask me. But we all know I'm a little crazy for Bruce...

Read Jim Henson's Journal

Photo courtesy of www.henson.com 

"In June 1965, 28-year-old Jim Henson started a written log of his activities in what became known as The Red Book. He noted down what had happened up until that point (deemed “Ancient History”) and then recorded anything that he felt was worth recording as single line journal entries until the end of 1988."    

- Henson.com

The official Jim Henson archivist has made some of his entries available to the public on Henson.com. The official link to the journal is HERE. 

If you follow the link, you can read all about the premiere of the classic Henson film, "The Dark Crystal", which occurred on this day in 1982. 

Waiting in Line at Disneyland is More Complicated Than You Knew...

                         "Theory and Practice of Queue Design" - posted by writer Cory Doctorow

First Image of "Super 8" Monster or Sign of an Impending Zombie Invasion?

Super 8 marketing image or unrelated hoax?

So here's the story.

The picture posted to the right appeared on a hunting website a few days ago, an anonymous source posted the image which he claims a trap cam shot after his camp was inexplicably ransacked. 

However, now the image is being linked to the upcoming monster/alien/creature feature coming out this May, which leads some to believe that J.J. Abrams' and Steven Spielberg's film, Super 8 may be kicking its viral marketing campaign into high gear.

Then again, this image of a ghoul-like monster may just be a great Photoshop fake that's riding a wave of accidental publicity. Then again, this could be a trick by producers meant to throw us off the scent of what the real plot of the film will be. (Jurassic Park reboot? Whatever is in the wrecked train from the trailer is big enough to tear through metal like its foil...I'm just sayin'...) 

Either way, this is a fun bit of news. But wait...there's more...

Bea Arthur was an "overly aggressive" truck-driving Marine!

This will spread like wildfire, if it hasn't already. My good friend Jen just shared this story with me on Facebook.

I have to say, it doesn't surprise me in the least that Bea would get in trouble for having a mouth on her. 

Read the full story HERE on The Smoking Gun. I typically despise this website, but this a really fun little detail that provides some great historical and patriotic context to one of the world's most legendary comedic minds. 

How to Deal with Aggression...the Geek Way

You know what I think about a lot when I'm having a bad day?

When Movies and Comic Books Become A Reality - Space Travel, Mutants, and The Daily Prophet

You know how sometimes you think of something, and then you start noticing it everywhere? It's been that way for me with Richard Branson lately. I don't know much about him as a person, but he was the topic of some discussion at Starbase Indy, I saw him on the Today show last week, and then again being interviewed with Bill Gates and Ted Turner on MSNBC last weekend.

There are two projects he's working on and each of them makes a movie dream a reality. Legendary comic creator Stan Lee is also up to some interesting stuff...

1. Commercial Space Travel - This has been talked about for some time in the press, but the day is creeping closer and closer where you will be able to buy a ticket to space. Star Trek, Star Wars, and the idea of accessible space travel are going to make the leap from conceptual to actual in a matter of a few years. 

Branson's company, Virgin Galactic is finishing work on their re-usable space shuttles and even their very own space dock. In fact, they've even sold tickets. Know what the first shuttle is named? The Enterprise. I love it.

2. The Real-Life Daily Prophet - Last week Branson released a magazine for the iPad called, "Project". Because it's a magazine for the iPad, the design of the magazine involves a lot of moving images, just like the newspaper in the Harry Potter universe, "The Daily Prophet". 

Check out the first cover as it will appear on iPad screens everywhere. (You can't go wrong with Jeff Bridges, that has to be a good omen for future success.)

                                    PROJECT magazine cover video from PROJECT on Vimeo.

3. Stan Lee's Superhumans - There's a show on the History Channel in which Stan Lee sponsors a documentary-like search for people with real-life superpowers. 

It's an interesting show that entertains, but also attempts to scientifically break down the abilities of people who dream things before they occur, people who can handle massive amounts of electricity that would kill any normal human, people that can hold their breath underwater for many minutes, and more. 

Watch video of some of the amazing people the show has found here. 

Meet the man who can cut a speeding bullet in half with a samurai sword...

Starbase Indy 2010 - The Con in Pictures

We're capturing footage right now, but it'll take a couple of weeks to edit, render and upload, after which I'll post the video here at Born For Geekdom and send out email and facebook messages to all those involved in the filming. Until then, here's a sneak peek at Starbase Indy 2010 in photos. I'll also post a list of businesses we bought merchandise from and some we plan to buy from in the future. Support small business! Especially those run by your fellow geeks.

The band Five Year Mission played a high-energy show. If Weezer and
They Might Be Giants had a Trekkie baby that loved to host sing-alongs,
this is what that baby would sound like. Except, it would be five babies...
and they would be grown men.

You HAVE NOT LIVED until you've watched Galaxy Quest on the big screen
at a convention with an audience full of fans.
"By Grapthar's Hammer...what a savings."

Geek Knits by Keriayn! Aside from the Trek dolls, she had a Leela and says
she's working on a Frye as well. She said she's considering opening
up an Etsy shop soon. 

The "Sci Fi and Ethics" Philosophy Seminar, lead by three authors
and college professors. Starbase Indy has plenty of intellectually stimulating
activities and panels that host in-depth discussions. 

The Saturday Night Masquerade involves a costume and skit contest.
This was "Star Fleet Man" set to "Sharp Dressed Man". Good times. 

The Starfleet Command Awards Ceremony. What's that?
You didn't know that Star Fleet has become a real thing?
Well, it has. With rank, transfer orders, Academy exams, captains, admirals, and much more.
Well hang on, finish looking at the pictures before you Google "How to join Star Fleet"...
and by the way, there's also something called "Barfleet".

One of the many charities supported by Starbase Indy, this was a Borg Cube constructed
to be filled with  canned food and donated to Gleaner's Food Bank.
See, here's the thing about geeks. We're smart, we're organized, we're obsessive, and
we're dead serious about the idea of a utopian future...so it's RPG, costumes,
and geektastic seminars for a good cause. Check out Cats Haven, a no-kill
shelter for cats in Indianapolis. A very worthy cause. 

Just goofing around with my boyfriend.

Martial Artist and Weapons Maker Gary Strunk displays his handmade Klingon Bat'leths.
If you frequent cons, these are much easier to get autographs on than metal weapons and they're also sturdy enough for actual combat. Plus...they're just plain super awesome. 

NASA astronaut David Wolf thrilled us with incredible stories of near-death experiences
 during space walks, life in zero gravity, home videos from shuttles and the ISS, and what's
happening at NASA after all the government cancellations this year. This was my favorite panel.
Wolf talked about how realistic it could be to create artificial gravity in space,
the problems they're working on to prepare humans for deep space travel,
and how with more financial resources, technologically-speaking,
humans are a mere 20 years away from setting foot on Mars. In fact, this panel may
end up with it's own blog entry later.  It was truly stunning and amazing. Plus, he set his
home movies to Queen's, "Don't Stop Me Now". Big time bonus points.  

The longest autograph line during the convention was for David Wolf,
which just goes to show it's not just a love of film and television that brings us to the con,
we're all totally serious about our love of space travel and the future of NASA.

Audrey, Hellraiser, and a Zombie Stormtrooper. Don't question it...

Here are some more businesses and organizations we met at Starbase Indy 2010:

MEMORABILIA DEALERS:

Mystik Waboose
STARMEMORIES
Starbase Atlanta

ARTISTS

STUDIO 19 
GOT STEAM? A Steampunk Emporium
Nigel Sade

TREK SPECIFIC

Michael Roney - Klingon Translator
The Lou Trek Show
Starbase Indy

No Basement in the Alamo - How Pee Wee Changed My Life

I can quote every single microscopic second of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Saying the lines from that movie is like breathing to me.

“Is there something you’d like to share with the rest of us Amazing Larry?” I say like the exasperated Pee Wee when I’m stuck in a roomful of murmuring people or a crowd.

“A scale model of the entire mall!” I may yell at the end of a grumpy tirade, just like Pee Wee does when he’s formulating a complex plan to reconstruct the theft of his beloved bike.

Aside from spoken lines, I may even give someone a nice long monster-like hiss when I’m feeling particularly cold and miserable, just the way Pee Wee does to a mugger in a dark alley. (Tim Burton, the film’s director, made his cameo appearance as the mugger. This was Burton’s first full-length feature and it was a taste of all the whimsy of plot and formalistic design yet to come.)

I didn’t grow up with this movie. It came out when I was a kid. I watched it anytime it showed up on television on some lazy Saturday afternoon. But I didn’t have the same Rain-Man-like devotion to it that I did to Temple of Doom or Aliens.

Until.

I fell in love with the movie when I was twenty years old and adrift on the sea of early adulthood.

I got kicked out of college halfway through my junior year for insufficient financial aid and found myself having to seek truly gainful, fulltime employment for the first time in my entire life. I had odd jobs before. In high school, I worked as a library assistant, both at school and our township library. The summer after I graduated, I interned at the prison where my father worked. (That’s another story for another day.) During my freshman year of college, I worked in the library reference department.

By worked, I mean I spent my eight-hour night shifts pretending to be Count Chocula on message boards for people who identified as actual vampires. They hated me. 

I knew if I moved back to my hometown, I’d wither and die of depression and lack of opportunity. As luck would have it, a friend had an out-of-state internship that started in January. She needed a subleaser for her room in the house she shared with several other girls. So, I packed up my dorm room, Star Wars posters, Xanadu and Falco records and moved into my first ever apartment.

I got a job waiting tables in the dignified American institution that is The Olive Garden. The eighty dollars I could earn slinging spaghetti on a Saturday night felt revelatory. 

Rent was only two hundred dollars a month, so I had extra. I could come and go as I pleased in my saucy red 88 Sundance. I could watch movies in my room anytime I wanted without bothering a roommate. I was free. 

Without classes, without supervision, with a job that never started before 11:00am, all I wanted to do with my free time was watch movies. Constantly. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, specifically. Repeatedly. A brilliant and highly underrated movie about a man-child on a quest to redeem his stolen bike. The VHS cover called to me, Pee Wee Herman on his shiny red bike jumping in the pure white air…he looked free. He looked how I felt. 

Pee Wee was just the kind of fairy-tale, anti-hero, comedic genius that I needed in that moment. He had fortitude and strength of conviction, even in his lowest and most depressed moments. He was halfway between childhood and adulthood. So was I.

Sure. I had a five-thousand-dollar bursar bill to pay before I could go back to school, a seemingly insurmountable sum of money to me at the time. I didn't have a clue where to get started on that and frankly? I didn't care.

Pee Wee dreamed of his lost bike. He had nightmares of dangers, dinosaurs, and devils. I was silently stressing about the fact that I didn't even want to go back to school. It didn't seem to be getting me any closer to my dream of having some kind of creative career.

I watched the movie in whole and in part, with friends and alone, over and over and over and over again. It's the movie that best represents the year I was twenty. The year I became truly independent. All the terror and wonder of becoming an adult. Its soundtrack and mythology is lodged in my brain…in my heart. I think I love it the way some people think of nannies or kindly old aunts.

It only took a year to pay my way back into school, finish my undergraduate degree, and discover creative writing. But still...that's a lot of pasta, both served and eaten. 

Pee Wee found his bike and I found my life. 

New Disney Webisode Series Shares Rare Footage

Just in time for Mickey Mouse's 82nd birthday today, a new Disney webisode series is being released. It's called Armchair Archivists and it will satisfy all Disney geeks who happen to be particularly obsessed with behind-the-scenes information. I get all that I can from traveling museum exhibits, Googling and Blue-Ray and DVD special features. But I'm always looking for more.

The first video they share is the last footage Walt Disney himself ever shot on the Disney lot, and it's a film introduction he did when he couldn't be at an event in person. (He says he was busy filming, Blackbeard's Ghost at the time, one of my favorite live-action films from Walt's era.) There's something sad about Disney's apology for not being able to attend in person though...I guess it doesn't really help matters that Walt Disney looks an awful lot like one of my grandfathers, who also happened to be an artist...click on Read More to see the footage.

Happy Birthday Kate Capshaw!

I miss your face onscreen. Whatchya up to lately?

Anyone who knows me knows I love Kate Capshaw. And in a twist of accidental fate, I had a fiction story workshopped in a class tonight that involved the movie, "Space Camp".

Space Camp was a revelation to me when it was shown to my fifth grade class. A female astronaut who doesn't take no crap from nobody? Yes, please. My heroes were always the brains of the operation. The smart chicks who somehow ended up in danger. Or space.

Perhaps it wasn't accidental at all. Maybe subliminally, I knew there was cause for celebration. When I found out a few minutes ago that it was her birthday, well, I just felt like posting.

The thing I like best about Capshaw is her sass and her intelligence. Watch her in any behind-the-scenes interview and you get this sharp wit reminiscent of Katharine Hepburn.


Oh yeah...and I've also rambled on and on about her on my action heroines blog. She had this fabulous Lucille Ball thing going on in Temple of Doom that I don't think most people fully understand.

Leave Willie Scott Alone!

Anyway, wherever she is, I hope she's having a lovely birthday and I want to see her in something soon. If they make another Indy, and she doesn't cameo...there may be a riot somewhere in the Mid-West. And I just may be holding the bullhorn.

The Hobbit Movies - More Turmoil Than You Knew (with video from NZ)

The version I had growing up...

UPDATE: The movies will shoot in NZ after an agreement between all the parties was reached!  To read about the resolution, click here. To get a better understanding of the dispute and the impassioned opinion of a nervous LOTR geek who lurves her some Peter Jackson and New Zealand as Middle Earth, read this blog...

About this time every year, Jake and I dig into all of the Lord of the Rings movies. We watch the special features, the movies, read some Tolkien, and just generally geek out over the stuff. Maybe it's the holiday atmosphere that begins to arrive once Halloween is over that makes it just the right time to dig into old English material.

All the trades have been reporting problems with The Hobbit movies for over a year now. There were rights problems, Guillermo Del Toro had to finally leave the project as a director because everything had stalled out for so long and he had other contractual obligations. After that, we all waited with baited breath until Peter Jackson himself stepped up to say that he would direct the two films.

So now we know the films will shoot in February, the question is WHERE will they shoot? Why does it matter so much? Perhaps because New Zealand is such a gorgeous and unique landscape that it's the only one physically capable of standing in for the rich fictional environment of Middle Earth. Perhaps because the country's economy has so desperately come to be built upon the film industry there...because if The Hobbit films don't shoot there, chances are other films scheduled to shoot there will pull up stakes too. The reasons are numerous. Most important to this geek living in the American mid-west and having no practical reason to care...I find that the New Zealand film industry and the LOTR films in general have created a kind of hopefulness about film that probably hasn't been felt since the days of classic Hollywood and Chaplin. Peter Jackson, with his renegade style of filmmaking at the local level (his locality, of course) has become a new figurehead for a generation of geeks, dreamers and closet creatives.

Happy Geekoween

My sisters are like Martha Stewarts with better senses of humor and extensive knowledge bases of pop culture. So it was no surprise that one of them (Heather) sent me a couple of images of their Halloween pumpkins, and they looked like this...

I'm amazed but not surprised, this is the super cool sister that has also done THIS and THIS.

Happy Halloween from Born For Geekdom and my super cool sister, who always provides us with plenty of geek-related holiday crafts. She seriously blows my mind. (And just wait until you read her novel...it's a comedy about old people becoming werewolves. Did you head just explode with admiration? Mine did.)

Milk Jug Storm Trooper Helmet

Read the full article on its home blog, a super cool craft site called FILTH WIZARDRY. Click on the name of the site to go directly to the how-to blog for this mask.

Greg Nicotero's, "United Monster Talent Agency" and other monster-inspired shorts

I remember hearing about this a few months back and getting so excited that I could hardly stand it. This is a short for AMC directed by Nicotero, a special effects artist and up until this point, a second unit director. But if there's any justice in the world, this will become a full feature! 

If you're a monster geek, this is going to make your DAY. Just in time for Halloween, here's, United Monster Talent Agency.

Naturally, it's only fair to include one of the other great "inspired by" horror shorts. What makes short films like this so great, I think, is the effort to recreate not just the imagery of these great movies, but the dedication of the actors to recreate the style of the dialogue.

What kind of a monster movie advocate would I be if I didn't include the Monster Squad preview. True, it's not a short, but it's one of the best modern makeup salutes to the Universal monsters ever created. (And if you watch it now, it's astoundingly violent...oh how I miss the eighties definition of a "kids's movie".)

One more time now! Let's keep going with the Ed Begley Jr. theme and watch the, Transylvania 6-5000 preview.

In fact, I'm starting to have major monster flashbacks. There was a major monster renaissance in the late eighties and early nineties if I'm remembering correctly, thanks to the run on Werewolf films at the box office. 

I even remember a series of Pepsi commercials featuring the whole undead gang...anyone else remember the great eighties Monster renaissance? (Gremlins, Silver Bullet, etc.)

I found some visual evidence that is starting to focus the fuzzy

 memories...a Monster Match game? Perhaps in the early nineties?

Who else remembers this?

Conan Returns...

You're welcome.



The countdown has been on since last July, but now I'm REALLY getting excited.

Need to Make Travel Plans for Your Star Wars Geek?

Why not visit some planets from the Star Wars universe? Zazzle is offering some super nifty retro Star Wars logos that would make wonderful gifts. (Here's a link to the Star Wars Zazzle shop.) 

If you dig stuff like this, you may enjoy this book of art done by famous concept artist and matte painter Ralph McQuarrie.

Due to copyright issues, the book had to be published overseas.

Here's one last loving look at the travel posters as they hung at Star Tours. Who knows what changes will come with the ride revamp, currently underway?

Travel posters for Bespin, Tattoine, and Endor, homes respectively to Cloud City, Jabba's Palace, and Yoda's Shack.

Retro Orlando: September 2010

My monthly column for Orlando Attractions Magazine is up now for the month of September, and as usual, it's 80's-tastic.

The 1986 way to get to an Orlando tourist attraction. 

Tim Burton and Danny Elfman Announce Another Cool Collaboration

The website is HERE.

How amazing is this?

Midnight with the Stars and you...

Once upon a time, there was a little website called Myspace. Oh, how I loved it. Then I got stalked there and deleted my account. Fun story, right?

Before that, I enjoyed making themed playlists there. Halloween and Haunted Mansion playlists, old-timey playlists, Indiana Jones playlists, just...too many playlists. This song was almost always present, no matter the theme. Always. Even though it's best known for ending The Shining. Does that make me creepy? (Don't answer.)

I definitely have some kind of romantic attachment to this song, despite never having a romantic experience with it. Maybe it's that Haunted Mansion/Tower of Terror/Indiana Jones era of music that just clicks with me.

Join me in my creepiness, won't you?

!

Here's To New Bloggers

I try to read as many blogs as I possibly can. That's difficult sometimes with teaching and finishing a thesis and freelance work. But still, I like to stay up to date on what's happening with other people's blogs.

A new blogger emailed me a couple of months ago and told me that a conversation we had this summer made her want to start blogging. She kept a Live Journal account for years, but she realized after our conversation about art and home life that she was ready to pursue something different. So, she started THIS BLOG. HowdyHoosier.com

It's one thing to surf around and discover blogs that have been around for years. I read Wil Wheaton's, BoingBoing, PinkRayGun, SmithBites, and I visit a lot of websites on a regular basis. AintitCool, Mousetalgia, Doombuggies, etc. I have my rounds. I bet you do too. But it's something else entirely to have the chance to witness a new blogger just getting started.

After blogging for a few years now, there's always something exhilarating to me about seeing people just beginning their journey pursuing their life's dreams and creative inclinations. So let's break a bottle of champagne on the hull of the Howdy Hoosier. Bon Voyage! (and you can do it...)

You Know You're a Geek When...

A girlfriend asks you how she can return a favor and you think to yourself that you can't really come up with anything at the moment.

 So you then tell her that you will consider her your "giant eagle" friend. When you need her for something, you will call upon her the way Gandalf calls upon one of his giant Eagle buddies.

 Like, oh, say you're trapped by an evil wizard on top of a giant tower, you could send her a message via tiny little moth, and she can help you out by showing up in a really cool dramatic fashion and saving the day. Or, she could buy you a sandwich sometime. Either way.

True story. It's where my mind went.

Also, this morning, when I looked at my cell phone on my nightstand to see what time it was, it was precisely this bright...

Cell Phone the White.

Bill and Ted Ride AGAIN!

I loved the Bill and Ted movies when I was a kid. I love them now. But I must confess, the ending of Bogus Journey struck a chord with my young, Star Trek influenced, utopian-dreaming heart.

A world of peace and harmony brought on by rock and roll? I liked it. Plus, even back then I knew they filmed in some locations where Star Trek: TOS was filmed.

I always obsessed over movies where the losers became the heroes. Imagine that. Plus... I kind of thought the Reaper was cute. I KNOW! I know.

Maybe it was an early jones for the artsy films of Ingmar Bergman? A sick fascination with the concept of my own mortality? A pre-Conan O'Brien love of pale-skinned men?

Maybe it's a question best left unanswered. The point is, I think about this movie too often for a grown-up.

Exhibit A:

Who wore it best? #YouMightBeAKingOrALittleStreetSweeper #billandted #moviegeek #fashionvictim

A post shared by Audrey Brown-Williams (@audreyscleverusername) on Apr 10, 2015 at 4: 

So you can bet I got pretty excited when I stumbled upon the news today that there will be ANOTHER Bill and Ted sequel. Or so they say. I have my doubts. And fears. But I choose cautious optimism for the time being.

Check the article on DEATH AND TAXES here.

So let's prepare. Let's revisit the joy that was the idealistic early nineties and remember where we left our daring heroes...

Where do you think Bill and Ted will go next? Oh, and good luck getting the KISS song out of your head. *maniacal laughter*

Ain't It Cool Does Something Cool (Imagine That...)

The movie news and review website AICN (Ain't It Cool News) has been doing something very cool indeed lately. They've been posting some old behind-the-scenes photos from productions that were shot when we didn't have such a thing as a special features section on a DVD. If you visit THIS LINK, you can see the original post that shows the pic I shared in this blog today. But if you scroll down, you can also see a whole mess of behind-the-scenes pictures from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and a lot more. These are shots that you haven't seen before, and they're just very very inspiring. (If you're new to AICN, beware, there are plenty of what Spock would call, "colorful metaphors" on the site. Lots of bad language, in other words, and totally not safe for kids.)

If you're like me, you take in as much behind-the-scenes info from movies as you possibly can! Especially anything from the classics. I just showed, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" to my husband for the first time a year and a half ago and he loved it. This movie terrified me as a kid and it was the first in a series of terrifying encounters with monsters of the deep on film. (JAWS being the primary monster, of course.) So enjoy the pictures! I know I do!

Wreck the Halls! It's never too early for Halloween...

I'm already in the mood for Halloween. We've purchased our Creamy Pumpkin hand soap from Bath and Bodyworks, installed the Spiced Cider air freshener, and plugged in the light up pumpkins. We've strung the purple lights and we're already listening to our Halloween iTunes collection while sipping on a Pumpkin Spice latte.

It's the time of year to watch Harry Potter movies and bake pies and don cozy sweaters and rake leaves...I don't care if it is ninety degrees outside! (And it is.)

Dig into some links below if you're ready for fall fun and enjoy this video of the Haunted Mansion Holiday at Disneyland which goes up every year at about this time. It's the perfect blend of Haunted Mansion goodness and holiday cheer!

Twenty Halloween Flicks, made-for-television movies, and Cartoons

Seven Halloween Cartoons to Get You in the Mood for Halloween

Fun Autumn Seasonal Movies 

David Letterman at Ball State

This is my coverage of Biz Stone and David Letterman's visit to Ball State for Indiana Public Radio last Friday.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE STORY.