Oculus - A Surprise in Horror (May Contain Spoilers)

I got up yesterday morning and checked the time. 9:30 am, still early I thought, more I think hoped. Checked my cell phone, went to my apps, and pulled by the AMC app. I had checked it previously in the middle of the night, but couldn't remember what time the movie started. Was it 9:50 am or 10:50 am? The AMC app finally comes up and I check, 10:50 am, enough time to get up and go see the movie Oculus. 

I had seen a trailer for the film on IMDb, then started seeing the usual bus stop ads, billboards, and a few commercials on TV. It looked like a good movie, certainly had to be better than Devil's Due, at least I hoped. My scary movie experience in January was rather disappointing. But it had recently been redeemed when I finally saw Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. That movie was pretty tame and I only screamed out loud once, scaring everything in site with my shriek. 


Oculus didn't produce any loud shrieks but it did make me squeamish. This isn't a blood and gore movie, it's a cerebral movie, it makes you think, and scares you in the process. The film takes place in two realms, current time and 11 years prior. While the film slowly descends into the two worlds, the momentum begins to collide them and when we see Kaylie and Tim they are interacting with each other as they were 11 years ago and as they are now in their 20s. You could get lost if you don't keep up because you will at some point find yourself going, wait, what just happened there. 

The acting from everyone is amazing! Some will recognize Katee Sackhoff who was on Battlestar Galactica and has appeared on a couple of episodes of Big Bang Theory. Karen Gillan from Doctor Who, does an incredible job as Kaylie. The two younger actors playing Kaylie and Tim as children are phenomenal. I was just honestly blown away by everyone including the two other stars Brenton Thwaites and Rory Cochrane. 

The story centers around a mirror that is known as the Lasser glass and the haunted history that follows it over the years. It has been in areas of strange deaths including one owner who was found dead from dehydration in a bath tub full of water. Seriously some creepy deaths have occurred where the mirror has been present. The mirror is alive, it defends itself from attack, and people in the vicinity don't realize what they are doing. A great instance of this occurs when Kaylie and Tim are in their old house and being video taped during their night with the mirror. The glass controls the environment and people around it with dismissal consequences. 

I enjoyed this film very much. It was a surprise as I went in thinking it would be a bit silly. So if I can change your mind to see it, I recommend you see you it. If you want to wait until it hits Netflix or Redbox, that's cool too. This is one of those movies, that while it is enjoyable, can wait if you don't want to spend the money on a big theater. I did just learn yesterday that the first movie at AMC is no longer $6 but is $7.50. It was cheaper to get in then it was for the popcorn, drinks, and red vines which was around $22. Sometimes a movie at home is better then one out in the theater. 

Getting Back to the Letters

Since starting work on February 10, my personal life took a big dip. No longer was I sitting at home with a ton of free time on my hands. What I did with my free time varied day to day, but I had lots of time to sit and write letters and postcards. Getting back to work meant less time for something I enjoy doing. 

My letter writing wasn't the only thing, but it seems to have had a big impact on me. I have fallen behind on replying to letters and cards from A Month of Letters challenge, and I was doing so well. I know that my recipients are patient so getting something at any time is good. We all share the same passion for receiving a real piece of mail with a stamp and processed through the mail system. I even got some cards and letters from other countries and the stamps are amazing. 

Slowly but surely I'm getting back to my letter writing. I sent three postcards this week for Postcrossing. If you aren't familiar with Postcrossing you should check out their website, www.postcrossing.com. It is a really neat way to "see" the world. I get awesome cards and stamps from all over and it is neat. 

With this said, I'm going to hit my letter writing desk and get out some more mail. I have a fondness for the USPS and stamps. 

It's Been Awhile

After an extensive discussion with Tony on the word "awhile" and "it's" I can now start my actual blog post. 

I noticed that I haven't posted since February 18, that's over a month ago. Where have I been?! What have I done?! Well simply, not too much.

I started my new job on February 10. It feels good to be working again. I'm happy and enjoying my job. I like all the people I work with, but then again, I have known many of them for a long time. I'm back working at an insurance agency that I worked at when I first got out of high school for two years. So starting back to work was like going to a second home that has just been waiting for me to return. I'm happy, relaxed, and able to be myself. That's all good stuff.

Sometime in the last few weeks, Tony and I went out to a movie. Arclight is once again showing old films (by old I mean anything that isn't a current release). I got to see Blue Velvet and I can honestly say I loved it. The story was interesting, the characters were all fascinating, and I just enjoy the twisted David Lynch. For a few days after I was telling anyone and everyone about my experience because that's truly what it was, an experience.

I haven't been keeping up with my reading as much as I would like, but maybe I can get back into the swing of things. Starting work threw me for a loop on a lot of my usual activities. Even my letter writing has taken a hit. My blog took it the worst as you can tell. But it is all about adapting and then things will fall back into a normal pattern.

What else? I passed my second CIC class that I took at the beginning of February. I have three left to complete for the designation. I'm hoping to take another one this fall on commercial casualty. I work with that on a daily basis so a class on it should prove interesting and challenging. 

I guess the last thing was that I went to the IBA I-Day in Los Angeles, well Universal City. It was a great day and I got to  meet many new people and see old friends. The highlight of the  day was the keynote speaker at lunch, Steve Garvey. He  shared personal stories of his time as a youngster and getting  to meet such Dodgers legends as Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. Being a bat boy when they played ball in his  hometown in Florida. His growing up and rise to being signed  by the Dodgers. The message that I got was to always be  positive and focus on the goal. Afterwards he stayed to sign  autographs and take pictures. I have my autographed photo up  on my cubicle at work. That was definitely a great day for me. 

 I lied that wasn't it. I also got a  new tattoo, bringing my total  count to nine. It is a tribute to my  parents. It has the state flowers f  for California (my mom's birth  state) and South Carolina (my    dad's birth state). The flowers are tied to together with a purple bow (purple is my favorite color) and the ends of the ribbon say Mom and Dad. I love it. It hurt like hell in some spots, but as always the end result is so worth the pain. 

My new tattoo. 

The Greatest Invention . . .

Yesterday while I sat home enjoying my day off from work (hooray for having a job) I watched a lot of TV. Then something hit me, in a small way, I've inherited a part of my maternal grandpa, Chris. I love my grandpa in many ways including all the time when I was little and I would sit watching TV with him. Mostly I remember watching a lot of M*A*S*H but I'm sure there were other shows.

The first TV I remember my grandpa having was the kind with bunny ears and a manual dial. It looked kind of like this one. I would jump up and change the channel when he asked but most the time he was doing the changing of the channel and then adjusting the antennae to make the picture come in better. It was better then what I'm sure he had when he was little and it was cutting edge when I was a kid. But like everything else, new technology came and changed how people would watch TV. This technology would be, in my opinion, the greatest invention for my grandpa Chris.

Before I tell you about this great, ground breaking invention, you have to understand something about grandpa. From a young age I remember him watching TV and always telling certain commercials to be quiet or simply he would say shut up. It wasn't every commercial but there was one very specific one I remember. Do you remember when there was a supermarket called Lucky? Stephanie Edwards did those commercials, and if you don't remember or have never heard of the chain, Edwards also has done commentary for the Rose Parade for I don't know how many years. My grandpa couldn't stand her or her voice.

The ground breaking invention that I think was the greatest thing for my grandpa . . . the remote control.

One button alone is what I think saved my grandpa's sanity anytime Stephanie Edwards came on the TV, the mute button. Once he got his first TV with a remote he could shut the Lucky's lady up anytime he wanted to. Of course he always added a good shut up to her as he would push the mute button.

Yesterday, I realized that I have taken up the mantel and continue his legacy. My remote control might be more advanced and have way too many buttons, but it still has a mute button. I used it a lot yesterday to quiet many annoying ads that I just can't tolerate anymore. The first time I did it I realized that grandpa had left his mark on me and taught me how to use the mute button really well.









Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art by Christopher Moore

I picked up this book because I enjoy Christopher Moore, but this was unlike any other book of his I have read. I found myself lost in the world he created, enjoying a small part of France that felt so real (and probably is if I knew anything about French geography).

The characters were interesting and kept evolving once you thought you knew them. Even more interesting was his use of real painters as characters in this novel. Supplemented with pictures of actual artwork, it sparked my curiosity to look for more. I cared about Lucien, Juliette, and everyone else, finding out what was happening to them was just as important to me as them. There's a love story even buried within the words that is truly magical.

Then there's the blue. In the author's notes at the back of the book Moore states that he set out to write a book about the color blue. In my opinion he did that and more. The fascination with the Colorman's specific blue is what leads all these painters to him, with the assistance of the muse Bleu (to tell you about the muse would give too much away).

The color blue comes to life and carries its own life force. It dates back in the novel to the times of the cave paintings, to the Picts using it for battle, the glassworkers using it for stained glass in the beautiful cathedrals that are known for such work, and finally to the painters that give it new life in their artwork. Blue is a living character in Moore's book with such an interesting past it delves you into finding out about its future.

This is a book I would read again. Having read it once, reading it again would allow me to look at things that happen differently and see the little bits of information I missed along the away originally. It is a well-crafted story with a fury of emotions running through it. Yes, I definitely will be reading it again in the future.

One 2014 Goal Accomplished & the End of January

Yes! I have accomplished one of my goals for 2014. It came in January and will start in February. I got a job. I am super excited about it. I can't tell much at this point, but I have a job, finally. I know this will be a great experience for me and I will grow a lot from the opportunity.

January is over and we are four days into February. Seems crazy that one month of the year is already gone. I've been posting as much as I can in my blog, and I feel really good about it. I enjoy doing this even if I don't do it everyday.

I did see a movie recently, Movie 43, I was visiting a friend and they wanted to show me just one scene and we ended up watching the whole thing. The movie is full of well known celebrities. It is a movie of comedic sketches but mange to mold together to form a story as well. Greg Kinnear was fun to watch, so were Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, and Dennis Quaid. I enjoyed a few of the sketches more than others but I laughed through the whole movie. I will say that the sketch involving Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet, the one that my friend wanted to show me was the best one. Yes, that was by far my favorite of the entire film. So I appreciate that I was able to watch this movie.

What else is happening . . . I have started the 2014 Month of Letters Challenge and I'm off to a strong start. I have tried to get ahead since I'm going to be in San Diego for a class the next few days and may not have a chance to mail anything. I have mailed a couple postcards to a friend's children and think I will do a few more of those. I wrote my first letter to another participant and I'm excited to try and make some new friends that I converse with by mail.

I am almost done with my third book of the year too! That will be a post for another time. I can tell you it has been an interesting read and I have enjoyed it very much. I'm also trying to figure what I want to read next, I have so many choices. This personal challenge has been good for me. It has rekindle my love for reading which was just waiting to burst forward again.

I think that is everything so far. I'm off to my first CIC class of the year, but second one towards my designation. I'll be in San Diego for a few days but not outside much of a hotel ballroom. I am excited and nervous but know that I will pass. I have to think positive. So send me your positive thoughts too.

Devil's Due Not

January is not a normal month for scary movies to come out. By scary I mean horror or thriller films. So when I saw previews for Devil's Due coming out in January I got excited. It was coming out right before my birthday and I went cool, a scary movie in January. I can't wait to see it. Yeah, I should have just waited for it to come out on DVD or better yet streaming on Netflix.

I convinced a friend of mine to go with me to see it and I owe that friend a movie refund for torturing them with something so terrible. It was filmed to look like all home video footage, not found video footage, but happening in the present video footage. About thirty minutes in, I leaned over to my friend and said I'm getting motion sickness. The constant moving of the camera was not making it fun to watch. Both of us breathed a sigh of relief when people snuck into the couple's home and put in stationary cameras to watch them. At least those parts of the movie were static. Then finally, the douche husband started putting the camera down on surfaces to film his conversations.


Oh yeah, the husband, lives his life looking through a fucking digital home camera lens. What kind of life is that? Put the thing down and make memories you have to remember and not look at a video for. And then at some point two kids in the film end up with a video camera, it is like the whole family lives their lives looking through a lens. That kind of annoyed me, all the people living life through a camera lens.

Besides the motion sickness this film did nothing for me. I didn't flinch once, I didn't shriek once, and I didn't even have to worry about covering my eyes and ears (although I'm working on not doing that) once. What kind of scary movie is that? Too tame unless you build up your own tension. Seriously, the movie was lame and nothing to exceptional happened. OK, the end when the wife has to deliver the devil baby was kind of cool, but that was it. The rest was just boring and slow. Oh and the first communion scene was pretty cool. Overall, this not a film I would recommend if you are looking for a good scare, it won't happen. Unless I'm just desensitized but I don't think that is it. I really don't think that is it.

Save your movie money and go see something else. To my dear friend, I owe you a movie to make up for this dismal piece of work I made you see.