My Scary Movie List

I enjoy a good scary movie as much as the next guy. With Halloween being just around the corner, I thought I'd write a blog post about some of my favorite scary movies.  

Poltergeist
I was young when this movie came out but old enough to be left alone at home for extended periods of time. I remember being afraid of being alone, so I'd turn on the TV to help keep me company. There's something about the sound of voices that makes you less lonely and scared. Well, without exception, when I was alone watching TV, the commercial for Poltergeist would come on. There's that little girl sitting in front of the snowy television and she turns around and says "They're here!" I would leap from the couch and change that channel faster than the speed of light. Of course, this was before remotes and we had an old cable box, which always went to a snowy channel between actual live channels, which would always freak me out worse. When I actually did see the movie, much later, there are a couple scenes which still freak me out. The chairs appearing on the table in one continuous shot. That's freaky. See it here.

The Shining
I would young when this came out too. I remember visiting my Grandparents in Arizona and they lived near a drive in theater. You could see the screens from their house. I distinctly remember seeing the part of the shining when those little twin girls were standing in the hallway and then the blood flood scene and it scared the crap out of me...and that was without sound, scary music, context, or dialogue. Just that scene with no sound was enough to scar me for life. I still, to this day, haven't seen the movie.

The Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise
I went to this some of these movies with my buddies in junior high and early highschool. The thought of a killer that could get you from your dreams is just a creepy thought. I actually even had an actual nightmare where one of my friends turned into Freddy Kreuger and tried to kill me. Scenes from this movie still haunt me today, particularly when I'm taking a bath. If you've seen it, you'll know why.

The Ring
I watched this with my sister-in-law. After watching the video, there was a DVD extra where you could watch the content of the infamous video tape. We watched it and as soon as it was over and the screen went snowy, the phone rang. My sister-in-law was afraid to answer it. If you've seen the movie, you'll know why. That freaked me out more than the actual movie.

The Exorcist
I've seen parts of this movie and that's enough for me. As a person who believes that satan exists and is evil, this couldn't be any creepier. Enough said.


The Sixth Sense
One of the few scary movies I've seen with my wife. She's not into the whole scary movie genre. It was a great movie and had some seriously scary moments. Also, a mind bender when you see it for the first time. It never occurred to me that he was already dead until it happened. My wife figured it out. She's smart like that.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Okay, so it's not really a horror movie, but it had some scary scenes. The whole Barry alien abduction scene was pretty scary...especially for a kid (which was what I was when I saw it for the first time). Good movie, though.

Something Wicked This Way Comes
This one has a special place in my heart because I actually auditioned for it when I was a child actor. My Mom found a casting call in the news paper for a Disney movie wanting a young blond boy who wore glasses and was around 10 years old. I fit the bill. I didn't get the part, obviously, but I did enjoy the movie. It's scary...especially for a Disney film in the 80's.

Se7en
This movie is seriously messed up. It's got some scary and suspenseful moments and the bad guy wins in the end. It'll blow your mind. Dark, twisted, and sadistic...but definitely scary.

American Werewolf in London
It's more of a comedy than a horror flick, but it does have it's moments and it's a cult film. What more could you ask for?

Pet Sematary
I saw this in high school. I never forget it or the first time I saw it. Watching the little boy say "I wanna play wif you!" after he was brought back from the dead is high raising stuff. That's where I first heard the name Gage. Years later, I named my son Gage. He's nothing near the killer that little boy was. He's a sweetheart.

Psycho
We all have to admit that the reason we are afraid to take showers is because of this movie. In fact, my wife always takes a peek at me in the shower when I'm washing my face and can't see or hear her. When I open my eyes and she's standing there, it still freaks me out. She's never holding a knife, but it still gets me....every time.

I have more, but my may leave the rest of my list until Monday for "My Scary Movie List, Part 2". Enjoy!

Bedtime Concert

As I was getting ready for bed I heard singing coming from my boys' room. I peeked around the corner and noticed that they were doing their own bedtime concert complete with lighting effects produced by multi-colored flashlights. They sang "Hard Days Night" and "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles and "Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Jive" by Men At Work. I wasn't able to catch the Men At Work song on video but I was able to get some of the rest. They even made up their own lyrics to "Yellow Submarine." Very creative. Enjoy the video. Sorry for the darkness. It was bedtime.

Bullying Revisited

My sons had to take a survey at their Friday school (a supplement to their home schooling) about bullying and whether they have ever experienced it. My oldest said that someone once cut in line in front of him at church. The boy who cut said that he deserved to be in front because he was taller. I'm not sure that was bullying as much as just an obnoxious kid who wanted to be first. My middle son said that he was bullied by his friend once. I'm not sure he understands what bullying is. As my wife and I talked about it this weekend, I shared a traumatic bullying experience that I once endured. When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I was leaving school to walk to my Dad's T-Shirt shop that was a block or two away. As I left the school grounds, three 6th graders surrounded me and started to give me a hard time. I remember that I had a new lunch pale with a glass lined thermos that kept my drinks cold all day. I loved that thermos. I hated drinking warm milk, soda, or juice...so this thermos was a God-send. At one point, the 6th graders took my lunch pale and threw it on the ground. They pushed me around a little bit and then proceeded to kick my lunch pale down the street like they were playing some demented version of soccer. Eventually, they left me alone. I was already crying because they had pushed me around, but I lost it when I picked up my lunch pale and realized that the glass lining of my thermos was shattered. No more cold drinks!!! They broke my pride and joy. I knew enough about money to realize that my parents didn't have enough of it to replace my thermos. So, I'd have to go back to warm drinks. I cried all the way back to my Dad's T-Shirt shop and cried hysterically when I related the sad story to my Mom and Dad. I don't remember much after that. I'm sure my Mom tried to console me. I'm sure my Dad said something about facing my fears and confronting the bullies. You know, the normal stuff that parents respond with after the kids go through some sort of bullying experience. The whole experience was traumatic enough for me to remember it all these years later. I'm still hurt. It was a good thermos and those kids were just being obnoxious. If only they knew how much that thermos meant to me. Did I mention that it was glass lined? Insulated to keep the cold stuff cold? Well, it was a good thermos. I only got a couple of days with it before it was murdered by those bullies. I'll never forget it.

Celebrating Gavin

Saturday was my youngest son's birthday. He turned seven years old. Where is the time going? I remember only yesterday bringing him home to our little abode in Rancho Cucamonga. Now, seven years later, he is a growing boy who brings laughter, joy, and fun to our family.

He got Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and opened a couple gifts and then we were off to his football game. They lost by one goal, but Gavin got another tackle. Then we went home to open the last of his gifts. Our tradition is to give ours sons a pocket knife when they turn seven. So, Gavin got his pocket knife yesterday. To be different from his brothers, he picked out a red Swiss Army knife. Yesterday, I spent part of the day teaching him about knife safety and watching him whittle a bar of soap and a stick. For lunch, Gavin choose Texas Road House (a boy after my own heart). He even decided to listen to the Beatles and 80's music on my iPod while we were driving (again...a boy after my own heart). After a yummy lunch, we were off to Lair O' The Bear Park for some geo-caching. We only found one of the three caches that we set out to find, so it was a little disappointing. But, we enjoyed the hike and being outdoors. We went home so that Gavin could play with some of his gifts and do some whittling. Joi made his requested dinner...spaghetti and Uncle Dale joined us. We enjoyed dinner and then cake and ice cream. We watched a part of a movie that Gavin picked out from the Red Box, but turned it off when it turned out to be lame. All in all, Gavin had a busy day that was all about celebrating him.

I just wanted to say a few things that I think are amazing about my son, Gavin. He is very intelligent. I think a part of it is his competitive nature but a another part of it is his natural intelligence. When his older brother learned to read, he learned to read. When his older brother learned math, he learned math. He picks up on things so easily and he is very bright. He is also amazing at computers and technology. He is the one that everyone goes to when they don't know how to do something with the computer, with the Wii, or a Blu-Ray player. I was amazed when he sat down at the computer and easily navigated around the internet to find his favorite on-line game site. Or when I showed my boys how to find images of animals and how to copy/paste them into a word document so that they could print them, he was the one who did it without any help from me at all. Gavin is funny and has a great sense of humor. He is loving and caring. We often get compliments about him when we are out in public. In fact, yesterday, Gavin's sunday school teacher told us how great he was in class. Gavin is also very good at sports and he loves doing athletic things. He's tried soccer, football, and he wants to try basketball this winter. He's a natural and he loves the thrill of competition. We are very blessed to have Gavin as a part of our family. He brings so much life and energy to our family. Things wouldn't be the same without him. My prayer for his this year is that he continues to grow into a Godly boy who seeks first the Kingdom of God and uses his natural abilities to honor God. I love you, my little seven year old!

Here are the pics.

Wall Street Protesters and Me

The Wall Street Protests that have sprung up across the nation are also protesting in downtown Denver. As I ride the bus home, I've watched the tent city, called "Occupy Denver", start to evolve and grow over the last few weeks. The protesters signs said things like "Tax the Rich", "There is no more middle class", and "Jail the Wall Street Crooks". Other than enjoying the show as I rode past them each day, I didn't really give them much thought. However, last night, Denver officials decided that their camping at Civic Center Park was unlawful and asked them to disburse. At 6am this morning, police officers started arresting the protesters that refused to leave on their own. As a result, they shut down large segments of downtown Denver. As I rode the bus through this melee, I saw hundreds of police in riot gear lining the park. By the time I rode by, most of the tents and protesters were gone. However, they closed the Civic Center bus station. So, all of the passengers on my bus were asked to exit outside the station and walk to our destinations. I asked the RTD bus representative if the return bus trips this afternoon will be affected. His response was that he hopes not, but either way they will do their best to accomodate the people who ride the bus. So, I'm not sure what my return trip will look like. Or if I'll even have a return trip. I guess we shall see.

I don't blame the protesters for feeling bitter about our current economic situation. In addition, I support their right to protest peacefully. I don't agree that they should have started a tent city in Civic Center park and therefore violate the laws of our state. I would rather a peaceful and lawful protest, where the protesters can make their voice heard without breaking the law, causing such commotion, and causing the mis-allocation of our police forces. As a result, a hard working middle-class man like myself may not be able to get home from work today. Well, at least I have a job. In this economy, that's something to be cherished.

Living Without TV Service: Part 3

We have been without television service (cable/satellite) for over a couple months now. To be quite honest, we are not missing a thing. We have found the following advantages to be true for us. First, we have more planned family time. We have been watching less television and playing more games together. We even had a couple reading nights, where we all pulled out a book and read for a while. We don't sit in front of the TV during meals as often, so we've been eating at the table and talking more. Second, we don't have to pay $70+ a month for television service. It's been nice. We only pay for Netflix (for streaming and DVD service). Also, we have been using the Netflix DVD service a lot more lately, too. Joi and I have more talking and praying time in the evenings. We pretty much only watch Monk together at night. But, we have been talking and praying before we turn it on. In fact, our little joke is to pray and talk and then when we are done one of us will say "Want to Monk it up?" It's been nice consciously having more time to talk and pray with my wife. I'd like to see that expand, but at least it has formed into a habit that we have been doing every night for a couple of months now.

Honestly, we don't really miss real TV. We don't have to worry about turning our eyes away from inappropriate commercials, because there aren't any. Also, I've had the opportunity to expose my kids to older TV and movies that they wouldn't normally watch like Felix the Cat, Popeye, Abbot and Costello, and Charlie Chaplain. Pretty much everything we usually watched on TV is available via Netflix. And yesterday, I found a free way to watch the things that we were missing. Using Hulu (for free), my laptop, a HDMI cable, and a DisplayPort to HDMI converter, we can now watch the newest episodes of shows like "The Sing Off" and "Psych" on our television. We don't have to pay and we are getting new shows that we enjoy almost immediately after they air on TV. Not too shabby!

Another advantage is that the NBA may not have a season, which gives us another reason not to pay for TV service. When and if the NBA does have a season, I will pay for NBA League Pass Broadband and we will watch it via my laptop onto our TV. In the long run, it is cheaper than paying for the NBA League Pass on the Dish Network service.

We like this living without TV stuff. For those of you considering the move to no TV service, I would highly recommend it. After a small expense of getting internet ready Blu-Ray players, a Netflix type service, and some cables/adapters, you can have everything you normally would have without the hefty monthly cost of satellite or cable. Go for it! Start saving money!

Thoughts on the NBA Lockout

The NBA Players and Owners cannot reach an agreement about how much to pay their players. The owners think they get too much money. The players think they need more money. As a result, the pre-season is gone and it's likely that some (if not all) of the regular season games are in jeopardy. Not that it matters much what I think, but I believe the players should back down. They are already getting paid far more than they should. There is something wrong when the president of our country makes per year what some NBA players are paid in a couple of games. We should be paying our doctors, policemen, and firemen more money, but instead we siphon our money into the pockets of these greedy sports stars. I read an article this morning that the average salary in the NBA is $5.1 Million. That is twice the average salary of players in the NFL and MLB combined. Why do basketball players feel that they are obligated to this type of salary? Because they work hard? So do millions of other employees across the nation. Because they are in the limelight? So are lots of public servants like governors, mayors, and police chiefs, but they don't get anywhere near as much to do their job. I think the players should suck it up, realize that they are paid very generously for their work, and get on to the season. If regular season games are lost, the NBA will take years to recover financially. Fans will feel betrayed and will lose interest...if they haven't already. The NBA Players Association needs to take a good look at their motives and then do what it best for the fans and not their pocket books. After all, if it wasn't for the fans, they would be without jobs altogether.

Gavin Playing Football

For those of you not on Facebook, I have posted a new video on Youtube of Gavin playing Flag Football in the Denver Youth Sports League. Enjoy! He's doing pretty well for never playing football before. The coach is still trying to figure out where each kid plays best, so he is moving them to different positions on each play. Gavin has been quarter back, center, defensive end, running back, and wide receiver. He seems to do pretty well as a running back, since he is a quick runner. In fact, in the video, he got a 15 yard run (his first time touching the ball in a game). Not bad for his first run. He's still got a few games left to play, so he's got plenty of time to get used to the rules and roles of football.

That's a Lot of CD's!!

In the process of consolidating, I realized that I am archaically holding on to old technology. The CD. Yes, in the world of digitizing everything and putting it on smaller and smaller iPod's, I still have actual CD's. But, it's funny. We don't even own a CD player anymore. Everyone in my family (including my kids) have some sort of iPod. We have two iPod playing boom-boxes in our home that allow us to listen to our iPod's as a family. So, why am I holding on to these CD's. They are only collecting dust. Yes, I own a LOT of music. I even had them divided by genre. I like most types of music and I've been collecting them for years...so it equates to lots of CD's. Also, it equates to lots of bulky CD cases filling up the closet. As a result, I am digitizing everything and getting rid of the CD's. It hurts a little. It's like leaving a child on an orphanage's front steps and walking away. But, it needs to be done. Luckily, I have a 120 GB iPod, so I think most of my music will fit. I've digitized 86.50 GB's of music so far (or 17,987 songs). But, I still have four cases to go.

When I am done, I will come to the hard part. What do I do with these CD's. I thought about donating them to a hospital or a music therapy program, but I don't know of any offhand that would take my music. I put a feeler out on Facebook, but no one knew of any programs where I could donate my babies. Now to the real purpose of this blog post. Does anyone know where I can donate these CD's to a worthy cause? Suggestions? I don't have the jewel cases, just the CD and in most cases the liner notes and/or paper cover. But, they are well taken care of and are free of scratches. What do you all think?