Why do they never run?

In keeping with the film theme (no doubt inspired by the recent number of award shows) lets talk about the Horror genre. I grew up when Jamie Lee Curtis was the Queen of scream, Jason had just come back, and Freddy was giving us nightmares. My blogging minions found this old post of mine and brought it to the Other Side of 40 for some tweaking and TLC.

Poltergeist was the first scary movie I ever saw. I will freely admit that I was too sissy to watch it at night (I watched it during the day). I like the “old” scream films with their charming stories of murder and mayhem. Who doesn’t like a plot line that has a mother of a child though to be dead (but wasn’t really) showing up and killing a whole bunch of teenagers that have decided that it’s a really good idea to reopen the summer camp where the psychotic mom thinks her child died. Then in the sequel, have the not dead child kill off the lone survivor of the first movie (who managed to kill his mom) plus a second group of teens that have decided that it’s a really good idea to re-re-open a camp that a child was thought to have drown at (but didn’t) and had another group of teens murdered while planning to re-open it in the first place. Then in the next movie… (well you get the general idea)

All of this has me thinking. Why do the heroes of scary movies make really dumb choices? From their back stories, these people are smart, ambitious, successful, and usually over-sexed. In other words, they’re like pretty much everybody else.  So please explain to me why when the walls bleed or Charlie “disappears” mysteriously they hang around smoking pot, or head to the local library to do historical research, or find a quiet room to have sex in? Much like Shaggy and Scooby, I would high tail it out of there! Nice house, someone else can have it. Charlies gone, lets run and call the cops who have lots of guns.

But no, our heroes are picked of one by one (unless it’s the couple having sex) till someone gets lucky enough to whack the attacker. Oh course staying true to the law of film sequels, they end up failing to do it correctly and the villain shows up again a few years down the road even more ticked off because of the axe that’s been stuck in his head for the last five years. Then all the screaming starts all over again. Maybe they should have just run!

Check out this video. It’s a fun look at what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation to those mentioned above. (Warning some off-color words)

Got a favorite classic horror film? We’re dying to hear from you!

Ctrl Alt Del – Other Side of 40 reboot

Grumpy Cat

Since the Mayan Apocalypse was a resounding dud I figured that it was time to get back online and start blogging again.

So in the spirit of organizing for the new year, my blogging minions have worked round the clock redesigning the look of Other Side of 40 and tidying up the old posts. They have been also raiding past blogs of mine taking the good bits and defining my blogging domains better!

You will notice (please look up at the banner) there are several new tabs for pages. The Fiction page now has most of the short flash fiction that I have written in one place. Fictional Campfire acts as a portal to that site. And finally Rumpus in My Mind is an introduction to my newest blog and home to all things that are nerdy and geeky.

So there it is! All laid out and organized. A place for everything and everything in its place.

It’s been 15 long months since I’ve blogged with any sort of regularity, and I’m sure it will be many more before the rust is gone. But at least this is a start!

Other Side of 40 is back on the air (or web?)

My Top 10 History Movies

I’ve done some New Years cleaning trying to get back into the blogging habit. I posted this list on another blog of mine a while back. The history lover in me decided to bring it here for a blogging reboot.

I have a lot of history films lining the DVD shelf, but these 10 stand out as my favorite historical movies.

So if I can have a fan fare please!

10 The Longest Day – Could also be called the longest movie! Lots of star power in it as well.

9 Battle of Britain – Takes us through the darkest days of the Battle of Britain. It was a lot of work for the makers to find all those airplanes.

8 The Green Zone – Matt Damon is a very convincing soldier in this tale of the war in Iraq. Makes the viewer ask some questions by the end. Jason Isaacs is superb doing what he does best, being the bad guy!

7 Windtalkers – A great tale about the Navajo code talkers and the Battle for Saipan. Nice to see a movie that shows the contributions made by aboriginal soldiers in WW2.

6 A Bridge To Far – Another film full of Hollywood stars. It’s about Operation Market Garden in 1944 and shows how poor planning and intelligence can bring down a plan.

5 The Patriot – Love this one. Brings life to the Revolutionary War and how the militia were part of the army. There’s a lot of Mel killing people and lots of Jason Isaacs being evil!

4 Gettysburg – While I like Glory, I have to go with this film based on one of my writing heroes books “The Killer Angels” by Michael Shaara . I’m also a huge fan of  Gen. Joshua Chamberlain and his defence of Little Round Top. Jeff Daniels has come a long way from Dumb and Dumber!

3 We Were Soldiers – Vietnam is a tough story to tell. Many try to just show the bad parts like the poor leadership or drug use. This film show what was right with the leadership of the Air Cav. It also has Mel in it again (you noticing a theme here?)

2 Saving Private Ryan – Best WW2 film ever. I showed it to my children and asked them to remember it. War is a dirty horrible thing, and this movie shows that!

1 Kingdom of Heaven – You have to watch this one several times to get the story! It also features a pilgrim’s guide as a historic primer. Nobody sword fights like Orlando Bloom! Best quote of the movie  - “Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath. [cuffs Balian with the back of his hand] And that’s so you remember it.

Special Day Today!

Surprisingly I’m not talking about Kate and William. 22 years ago, I started a new chapter in my life. I married my best friend! Since then we have made a life together, fought and loved, brought 2 children home from the hospital, … It’s been one hell of a ride, and I’m ready for a least 22 years more!

I love this song! Yes it’s true! I am a big sap. (I can’t turn in my “guy” card because it would seem that I was never issued one.) By Peter Gabriel and from the movie “Shall We Dance?” I present a special Musical Thoughts.

P.S. – Kate and Will. You guys picked a pretty good day.

For my friend and Love (AKA The Wife of Awesomeness)

Feline/Canine Equity Accord

As I mentioned last week, my new self-appointed content director (aka Cat of Complaint) has taken issue with the decided lack of posts about Cats! In the intervening week she has hammered out the “Feline/Canine Equity Accord” which states that for every dog posting on the OSo40, I must also post about a cat. While it would be preferable that the stories be about her, any cat will suffice.

By her count, cats are still down by 2 posts, so again today I bring you the Wonderful World of Cats. Lets take a cruise around the web and see what we find OK?

Ah, yes this is right up CofC’s alley! She loves to taunt the dog all the time! Shall we continue?

Hey, this looks familiar! Been getting strange friend requests on Facebook. I think she hacked my account!

Yep! Seen this too! Except CofC says it’s her bed!

But who would do the children’s math homework?

I’ve always suspected that!

What really happens when you are out. Makes you wonder … what the heck…hey stop that…put down the stapler…get back…OK I’m sorry for mocking you…help!………..

***ATTENTION HUMANS***

Due to unfavorable coverage of the feline world, I have seized control of this post! Rest assured that my slave shall be dealt with accordingly.

Cat of Complaint