Sunday Funnies

Happy Halloween

Have A Fun And Safe Halloween, Filled With Lots of Spooky Tricks And Sweet Treats

Halloween Movies Galore!

One of my favorite things about Halloween is all the scary movies I get to watch.  I love to curl up in bed or on the couch, turn off all the lights, and get lost in a world that terrifies and entertains at the same time.  Now to be honest, I don't like most horror movies that come out anymore.  I think they go for gore instead of chills and they bore me.  I've actually been watching a lot of the old Hammer movies on TCM along with some of of Epix on Demand and my own DVDS.

I've been watching so many movies though that I'm not going to have time to do individual reviews.  So instead, I'm just going to show you I have watched to date.  Now I'm sure I'lll end up watching even more movies, all the "Halloween" movies come to mind, but these are what I have watched so far.

Plus we have watched some more family friendly movies that both Aidan and I like to watch every year.

Dioses del metal (Parte 10): Adam Gontier

Hoy, como cada sábado, me dispongo a publicar una nueva entrega de Dioses el metal. En la edición de hoy me he decantando por un grandísimo cantante. Se trata del vocalista y guitarrista del grupo de metal alternativo Three Days Grace, Adam Gontier.
Adam Wade Gontier Bond nació en Norwood, Ontario (Canadá) el 25 de mayo de 1978. Desde pequeño se sintió atraído por la guitarra, ya que su padre y su primo quedaban para tocar. Adam escuchaba todo tipo de música, especialmente rock y a sus 14 años, se une a ellos y forman un pequeño grupo llamado Groundswell. Su único objetivo era tocar en directo, para que la gente les viera. Para ello, Neil Sanderson (batería) y Brad Walst (bajo) se unieron para formar un grupo de 5 personas. Pero finalmente, el padre y el primo de Adam dejaron el grupo, quedándose solos Adam, Neil y Brad. Por esta razón decidieron cambiar su nombre a Three Days Grace. Con 17 años, Adam y sus dos compañeros deciden irse a Toronto, para darse a conocer en el país.
El guitarrista Barry Stock se acabaría uniendo a ellos como guitarra solista, dejando a Adam como el guitarrista rítmico y cantante.
Su primer disco no sería publicado hasta 2003 con el mismo nombre del grupo. Este disco alcanzaría el número 1 en Canadá.
En la grabación de este disco, dicen que sucedían sucesos paranormales y que una niña se le aparecía en ocasiones. Asustados, decidieron cambiar de estudio. Supongo que serían cosas del estado de Adam dada su adicción a la oxicodona.
Dada esa adicción, decidió ingresar en una clínica de desintoxicación en Toronto donde pasó los peores momentos de su vida. El dolor que tenía era insoportable, y eso fue lo que le provocó esa adicción al potente "painkiller". Durante su tiempo ingresado escribió algunas de las mejores canciones del grupo, como "Animal I Have Become", "Over and Over", "Pain", "One-X", "Riot" y más.
En uno de sus brazos, Adam lleva tatuada la letra de la canción "Never Too Late", en el otro un homenaje a su abuela.
Parece ser que está casado con su novia de toda la vida, con la cual había empezado estando en el instituto.
Pues con esto he hecho un breve repaso y un pequeño homenaje a este grandísimo artista y sobre todo, a una admirable persona, capaz de superar una importante adicción que ha acabado con la vida de muchas personas.
Adam Gontier ha publicado un total de 3 discos con Three Days Grace, 1 con Groundswell y ha participado en el Worlds Collide de Apocalyptica en su canción "I Don´t Care".
Aquí os dejo un vídeo hoomenaje al músico canadiense, con la versión que él mismo hizo de la famosa canción "Wicked Game" de Chris Isaak:

Cape May quickie

one of about a million Yellow-rumps

UNBELIEVABLE.

MAGNIFICENT.

AWE-INSPIRING.

That just might cover our first night and morning's birding here in Cape May. I'd need way more words to describe today.

They're having one of the biggest migration fall-outs in ten years, according to the local experts. We've seen at least 5,000 Yellow-rumped Warblers, another probably 10,000 American Robins, probably a 500-count mixed swallow flock (Northern Rough-winged, Tree (!), and a couple of Cave! LIFER!), and more. It's truly been a day unlike any other for me.

Some quick photo uploads:I think this is a juvenile Bald Eagle, but Susan was hoping it might be the Golden Eagle that was banded later (after we saw him) this afternoon.

We saw a couple of Northern Rough-wings:

We birded with Bill Thompson III this morning at the Beanery:

LIFER!

presidential birding

More later!

System of a Down - Chop Suey

He creído conveniente hoy mostrar uno de los clásicos del metal. Se trata de "Chop Suey" de System of a Down. Poca gente sabe el origen de este nombre, pero lo que si se sabe es cual es el verdadero. La canción "Chop Suey" fue escrita por Serj Tankian y Daron Malakian bajo el título "Suicide". De hecho, al principio de la canción, antes de empezar con la guitarra, se oye la voz de Serj muy débil que dice... "We´re rolling suicide". El problema surgió cuando unos días después del lanzamiento de este single, unos desgraciados se estrellaban, con los aviones que habían secuestrado, contra la World Trade Center. Dado este suceso, por alguna extraña razón empezaron a polemizar con esta canción hasta el punto que la discográfica (American Recordings) pidió al grupo que cambiaran el título de esa canción. Quién les diría a ellos que casi diez años después, la mayoría de los que nos encanta SOAD la íbamos a elegir como la mejor de la banda. Es para mí sin duda, no sólo la mejor de System sino una de las mejores canciones que ha dado el metal, con una impresionante fusión perfecta entre agresividad y tristeza en una misma composición. La manera en la que Serj grita desolado "FATHER!! FATHER!! FATHER!!... Father into your hands, I commend my spirit, Father into your hands, Why have you forsaken me in your eyes... in your thoughts... in your heart..." es algo espeluznatemente hermoso. Con esa rabia Serj muestra su llanto, dejando una canción que hará disfrutar a muchas generaciones año tras año.
Sin enrollarme más, aquí queda "Chop Suey":

The Sentinel by Jeffrey Konvitz

Synopsis From Back Cover:

A beautiful young model.  The old brownstone apartment she simply had to have.  The grotesque blind priest who watched down on her day and night from an upper-storey window.  The pair of perverted creatures who want her to join their circle.  The mad little old man who gave her tea and sympathy.  The cool calculating, supremely rational lover who first mocked her fears.  And the secret you will never be able to forget, even if you try...

For many years I've been  a huge fan of the 1977 movie, "The Sentinel", that was based of this book, published in 1976.  As much of a fan as I was, I had never read the book before.  Now this is mainly due to the fact that trying to find a copy is almost impossible, I finally found a battered copy at the flea market.  I normally will not buy a book in bad shape, I had not choice but to do it.  I've been sitting on the book since then, waiting for Oct. to read it and the wait was worth it.

Allison Parker has just returned to NYC after leaving town to tend her dying father.  Because of their past, Allison is still in a sort of daze after the prolonged period of time she was out of town dealing with his sickness and eventual death.  She is just relieved to be back in town and to see her boyfriend, Michael Farmer.  Naturally, he is not at home as she was expecting as he was called out of town for business.  Left to her own devices, Allison starts to look for her own apartment since she had been forced to give up her previous one due to being out of town for so long.

When she finally discovers the brownstone apartment, she falls in love with it.  She has a sense that maybe she has found home.  At first nothing seems amiss, she has been living a quiet life waiting for Michael to return back to town, then she starts meeting her neighbors.  They are rather an eccentric lot, some more menacing then others, but eventually Allison starts feeling that something is wrong with those she is sharing the building with.  She starts hearing noises in the apartment above her that is supposed to be empty.  She starts seeing things that aren't there and dwelling on a past that is best forgotten.  Before she knows it, she is plunged into a nightmare of past misdeeds, growing weakness of mind and body, and an evil that knows no bounds.

I said earlier that I'm a big fan of the movie, to be honest I wasn't thinking the book would add anything to the experience.  I can honestly say that I loved the book even more and I'm so thrilled that I finally got a chance to read it.  Now you may think that it's pretty obvious, the book is always better than the movie, that's not always the case with horror though.  Thankfully this time, the old adage rings true.  The book filled in the gaps the movie didn't quite explain.

I'm not going to get into the twists and turns of the plot, but I will say that just when you think you are starting to figure things out, the author does a brilliant job of turning the story on it's head.  This is a book that has a lot to do with the past and decisions that were made before the action starts.  Misdeeds and bad choices force the characters onto this journey and it's one where very few of them come out unscathed.  Some of them will die, others will be changed beyond recognition, and others will disappear as if they never existed.  It's a brilliant book that plays around with the notion of Good vs. Evil and the role the church plays in that battle.

On a cultural side note, it took me a bit to adjust to the way lesbians are referred to in the book.  I know this was written in the mid 70s and that times were different, but the language used to describe the two women was borderline offensive.  Actually, if this language and attitude were used in a current book, I would be offended by it and I would not have been able to finish reading it.  As it stands though, I had to remember the era the author was working in and brush my reaction aside and chalk it up to a more ignorant time.  While it did distract me for a bit, it didn't ruin the book for me.  Thankfully, I was able to move on and enjoy the suspense and atmosphere the author created.

Here is the movie trailer if anyone is interested.



This book is going to qualify for 2 different challenge; R.I.P V Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Dropping and the Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Book Chick City.

Soundtrack: Benedict Carter

Para o "old timer" escolhi o cover de Johnny Cash de um música dos Nine Inch Nails.

"Hurt"



Acho que captura bem o espírito da personagem. Concordam?

Threat Signal - Through My Eyes

Esta noche nos vamos a ir de visita a Ontario, Canadá. Os ofrezco hoy un vídeo del grupo de death metal melódico Threat Signal.
Formados en 2003 por los primos Jon y Rich Howard, han ido abriéndose paso en el panorama internacional gracias a su fichaje por la discográfica alemana Nuclear Blast.
Actualmente, Rich ya no está en el grupo, Jon sigue siendo el vocalista. Caracterizado por una potente voz en los versos y en una rasgada voz en los estribillos que nos hace recordar por momentos al ex-numetalero Chester Bennington (ahora cantante pop en Linkin Park). También he visto comparaciones con Jonathan Davis, aunque sinceramente a mi no se me parece en nada.
La canción que hoy publico es sencillamente espectacular. Cuenta con poderosos versos, grandísimos riffs y sobre todo, un estribillo de lo mejor que se puede escuchar. Así que no me enrollo más y os dejo con "Through My Eyes", todo un placer para vuestros refinados oídos metaleros.

Obama ... the Musical!

Cape May Countdown: 2 days!

Really it's just ONE day, though, because we're leaving tomorrow around 12:30! AB got out of her meeting, so we're on our way early. Susan will already be there, and I think she'll be hanging with our new ABA President Jeff Gordon and his wife (my friend from high school) Liz, so I'm TOTALLY pumped! There's also a gathering on Friday night at the C-View, so I'll see everyone! Beth, the other Beth I don't know, and maybe even BOTB! Sooooooooooooo excited!

We're already packed, which was easy because I've been prepping for days now. I have my to-do list for the morning (drop off AB at school, get oil change, pack car, fix everything up for Nib and the kitties, buy some booze, and then get AB and GO!).

As usual, I've already made my Wish List for lifers that are hanging around in Cape May, according to eBird:
Lesser Scaup
Eurasian Widgeon
Black Scoter
Northern Gannet
Hudsonian Godwit
Wilson's Snipe
Royal Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Nashville Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
Rough-legged Hawk
Western Kingbird
Cave Swalllow
Rough-legged Hawk
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Whimbrel
Swainson's Thrush
Bobolink
Lapland Longspur
Seaside Sparrow
Brant
Ruddy Turnstone
Short-billed Dowitcher

There are countless other birds on their latest sightings list that I need pictures of too, so my battery's all charged up and my memory card is blank and waiting for photos! I think I've gathered all the photos I've ever taken (though I didn't count some blurs), and I have 180 photos of my 279 lifers--that's a lot of photos still to get! The worrisome part is that I don't have photos of some lifers I saw in CA and TX--TX I'll visit again, but CA? I don't know when I'll be back out there.

I'll be studying my Sibley and my Shorebird Guide tonight, focusing on things like Seaside Sparrows and Whimbrels and stuff, just to make sure I am familiar with the field marks.

Can you tell I'm totally geeking out?

Chad Smith cumple 49 años

El batería de Red Hot Chili Peppers Chad Smith cumplió el pasado 25 de octubre 49 años.

El veterano virtuoso de las baquetas nacía un 25 de octubre de 1961 en Saint Paul, Minnesota. Forma parte de los Red Hot desde 1988.

De apariencia tranquila y relajada, se ha convertido en un clásico del rock, siendo uno de los baterías más completos de la actualidad.

Esperemos que tanto él como sus compañeros sigan muchos años ofreciéndonos grandes discos. Por cierto, se espera que el nuevo trabajo de RHCP vea la luz en el verano de 2011.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Linus Van Pelt

One of my favorite Halloween movies to watch, the one I can't miss no matter what, is It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  I've loved the movie (TV special) since I was a kid and Halloween never feels the same without it.  My only beef with the movie is that instead of Charlie's name in the title, it should have been Linus' name.  Linus Van Pelt is the real hero of the movie.

I think of all the characters in the Peanuts universe, Linus Van Pelt was the one I always seemed to gravitate towards.  Charlie, as adorable as he is, always seemed a little too whiny for my taste and I never got the Snoopy/Woodstock fascination my mother had.  Now Pig Pen would come in a close second but that's only because I liked all the dirt floating around him.

What I like most about Linus is his intellect.  He is by far the smartest of the group and isn't afraid to show that side of him to the others.  He never rubs it in their face but Linus seems to have a mind capable of exploring deeper subjects, including philosophy, history, and religion.  For some reason I thought all kids should be like him and I never failed to live up to his example.  Which by the way, totally annoyed my mom when I would open up my mouth and put my two cents into what ever was being discussed.  I got so bad I would ask my mom a question I knew the answer to because I wanted to let everyone know I was smarter than them.  Thankfully I grew out of that phase pretty quickly, but the blanket thing took a little longer.

Now my blanket wasn't blue like Linus' was.  Instead it was a white blanket with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto at a county fair.  They were eating ice cream cones and there was even a Ferris Wheel on there.  I loved that blanket and for a while, like Linus, never felt secure without it.  It took on properties of it's own and I was heartbroken when my mom finally threw it away (that trauma can wait for another post though), I'm not sure I have ever forgiven her for that.

Everything I love about Linus can be summed up in his relationship with The Great Pumpkin.  Linus never losses faith in his beliefs, even when he is being ridiculed by others.  He truly believes that The Great Pumpkin will reward him if he has the most sincere pumpkin patch and yet when things don't turn out his way, he never totally loses that faith.  Linus shows courage and a strong sense of self throughout the ordeal and I've always admired that about it.  He knows who he is at such a young age and he doesn't let doubt or ridicule change that.

So far all of those who have never seen the movie or haven't watched it in a long time, please take the time this year and treat yourself to a wonderful story and an even better hero.

KoRn - Alone I Break

Hoy toca un clásico. Hoy toca KoRn. Y pongo esta noche el vídeo de "Alone I Break", excelente canción con una maravillosa letra, contando además con este durísimo videoclip en el que ni corto ni perezoso, Jonathan Davis se carga a sus 4 compañeros. El primero en caer es Munky tras una pelea durante un ensayo, la bañera fue su tumba. Después fue el turno de Head, quien hablando tranquilo en el balcón por teléfono no se esperaba su funesto final, siendo arrojado desde el balcón por JD. Pero no se sentía a gusto todavía y después de cargarse a los dos guitarristas, era el turno de David Silveria, yaciendo muy a gusto con dos señoritas. Su gozo en un pozo. Tras acabar también con el batería, Jonathan decide finiquitar al bajista Fieldy, envenenando su... ¿comida? El vídeo acaba con el cantante agrediendo al cámara que le esperaba a la salida.
Es una de las canciones más suaves del grupo pero no por ello deja de ser muy buena.
Aquí os queda el vídeo, "Alone I Break":

Scuffle Targets Woman at Rand Paul Rally

Austin Cool

The glow of Austin and the Texas Book Festival lingers. I'm still gleefully hugging my free books and perusing literary journals. However, beyond words, Austin prides itself on music. In the spring, they host SXSW - a huge conglomeration of concerts and music lover sessions.

Austin's pride is the late Stevie Ray Vaughn. Here his statue hangs riverside. I personally think the sculpture is standing too straight. Stevie was always bent over a guitar, wailing the blues.

6th Street - clubs vie for patrons ears, and a lot of musicians pound the pavement in Austin seeking a break. It's a cool vibe in a hot town. The arts survive and thrive in the middle of Texas.

New MoveOn Ad Warns Of Bleak, Dystopic Corporate Future If Republicans Win In 2010 (VIDEO)

Yikes!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Cape May Countdown: 3 days

That's three days until Friday's day of fun and birding!

I've been working on a new project lately: getting photographs of every lifebird I've gotten. I've had to search back through the blog for some photos, as I don't have any of the photographs I took from 2006-2008 (they were on Kat's computer), and I either haven't always been able to get photos of other birds I've seen or I must've put them on my old Macintosh computer that's in Texas, so I don't have access to them right now. Still, I'm working on compiling and organizing. I don't have an exact count just yet but I working on it.

I'm also getting the eBird "needs alert" from Cape May, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to not only get some lifers but add some more lifer photographs to my file. So that will be an added challenge!

I'm hoping that AB can reschedule a late Thursday afternoon meeting so we can leave earlier. Can't wait to get there!

Rev Theory - Voices

Toca hoy una canción tremebunda del grupo de Massachusetts de hard rock Rev Theory. La canción es "Voices" y me encanta no sólo por la calidad musical, sino también por la magnífica letra. En ella Rich Luzzi narra como oye voces en su cabeza que le dicen las cosas que debe hacer.
A todos nos habla esa voz a veces, acercándonos un poco más a la locura y que nos "obliga" a hacer cosas que no queremos, condicionados por el momento de locura mental transitoria.
Este grupo es poco conocido por España por eso hoy os muestro esta extraordinaria obra, con la esperanza que os intereseis por la banda americana. Aquí os queda "Voices":

The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham

Synopsis From Back Cover:

When Teddy Mathews moves to Richland, his main concern is making new friends.  But something is not right about this quiet desert town:  All the boys he meets seem to vanish before hie eyes, while the imposing shadows of the giant tree outside his home appear to be hiding more than darkness.

With the branches of the massive sycamore scratching at his window, Teddy's life becomes a waking nightmare that no one else believes.  Can Teddy escape the tree's terrifying grasp and solve the mystery of the missing boys before he becomes the next boy to disappear?

I've been debating whether or not I wanted to stop reviewing YA until my son is a little older to read them.  It seems that for the most part I either really like them or can do without.  I think I'm going to have to keep reading them if they are anything like The Dead Boys.

This book is only 201 pages, but where it lacks in length it more than makes it up in storytelling.  It's not every boy that can move to a new town and deal with a tree that is trying to eat him.  Teddy is a strong young man who rather than hiding and being scared by the events surrounding him, decides to get to the bottom of it.  From his first encounter with one of the missing boys, Teddy is determined to figure out why his new "friends" keep disappearing and why things don't quite add up.

Part of the reason why I wanted to read this book was because I've always been rather fascinated by "vampire" stories that don't quite fit into the typical mold.  Two of my favorite short stories are about trees, "The Man-Eating Tree" by Phil Robinson and "The Sumach" by Ulric Daubeny both feature trees that feed off non traditional sources.  The Dead Boys smoothly fits into that tradition and I'm looking forward to the day Aidan reads this all by himself.

This book is going to qualify for 2 different challenge; R.I.P V Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Dropping and the Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Book Chick City.