Why I Love Winter

A warm bath feels much better after one has been out in the cold.

The dog doesn't bark as much since there are less people goofing around outside.

I don't have to feel guilty about not playing outside with the dog as it's simply too cold to do so.

I needn't concern myself with doing poop patrol as all my pup's droppings descend into the snow.

I don't need to worry about seeing fat people in tank tops and shorts.

If I gain a few, no sweat. Who's gonna know if I'm wearing five layers?

The nights are much quieter.

There's not as strong an impetus to go out on the weekends.

It's always an adventure going into the driveway when there's just barely enough room for one car to get in. If I misjudge, a 6-foot tall block of snow rubs against the car giving me an idea of what it must've been like on the Titanic.

The Instant the Earth Stood Still

"Not since Klaatu landed in a flying saucer on the Ellipse has Washington been so mesmerized by an object whirring through the sky.

But this one was departing, not arriving.

As W. ceased to be president, he flew off over the Capitol and across the Mall en route to Andrews Air Force Base, and then back to Texas.

I’ve seen many presidents come and go, but I’ve never watched a tableau like the one Tuesday, when four million eyes turned heavenward, following the helicopter’s path out of town. Everyone, it seemed, was waving goodbye, with one or two hands, a wave that moved westward down the Mall toward the Lincoln Memorial, and keeping their eyes fixed unwaveringly on that green bird.

They wanted to make absolutely, positively certain that W. was gone. It was like a physical burden being lifted, like a sigh went up of “Thank God. Has Cheney’s wheelchair left the building, too?”

Maureen Dowd - New York Times

FOX NFL Robot

Hummus

While in Oregon, I went to a dive called the Pita Pit. It was there that I had my first Pita (it's just a sub with a different covering, right?). I ordered the turkey and chuckled as I saw on the menu board that one could get extra hummus for $.75. Why was this so funny to me? Well, I went to Adam Sandler's "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" this past summer and it had at least a half dozen gags which involved hummus. Here's one (check out Sandler's face at :20):

A Telling Dream

I had a dream last night that revealed a great truth about me. I was dining in a two-story restaurant with friends and family. A picture of my sister was on page 2 of the local newspaper which had many excited. I chuckled at a commercial on the TV for Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy disc (something to do with magnets). At one point before we received our food, I lowered the table we were seated at from the second floor to the first. People started looking at me. I was joking around a bit at our table before feeling the grasp of a woman's hand on my arm. What follows is our conversation:

Woman: "Why are you doing this? People are watching".

Me: "I don't care what people think of me".

Woman: "Well, I do".

Me: "Why?"

After a pause, she strode away.

A Wintry Evening at Wal-Mart

Even though we were getting a decent amount of snow, that didn't stop me and the Mrs. from going out to eat and to the world's most popular store last night. I typically stay home when the weather's bad, but with Obama's inauguration almost upon us, I'm feeling a tad more frisky.

We first headed to my favorite pizza joint in town. Since my wife is trying to lose weight, she didn't order anything at all which is kinda cool since our bill was only half what it typically would be. I don't know about you, but I'm more likely to eat more in the evening if I've had significant bowel movement earlier in the day.

Next, we headed to Sam's Place. I know I probably shouldn't, but you can buy 160 Fiber Capsules there for a paltry $4 (that's translates to about 50 cents per BM). It was cold enough that I wore my black ski mask as we walked from the car to the store.



I like to wear it a little bit farther into the store than I should. Not only do I keep it on when I go through the first entrance (where all the carts are), but also several steps into the second entrance. I noticed a cashier looking at me, probably wondering if I was going to rob the place. Other patrons waiting in line were most likely thinking the same thing. Imagine their disappointment when I took the mask off. I bet some were secretly hoping I was going to pull a job just so they could tell all their friends about it.

With the snowstorm causing havoc outside, the aisles at the store were relatively barren. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing a Wal-Mart so bereft of people, so quiet and I didn't mind it one bit. There was a downside, however: as we checked out, I grabbed an issue of Country Weekly to see what was going on in Country Music these days. I got about three sentences into one article before our stuff started getting rung up. Doncha love it?!

I Spent New Years Eve in the 1920's

December 27, 2008

The night manager of the Columbia had left our room keys in an envelope at the front desk. The hotel was quiet as we entered room number five. As I brought our bags in, my wife looked at me disappointedly and said, "Honey, there's no television". I found this somewhat hard to believe, so took a look myself. She was right, no telly. I said that we probably wouldn't have much time to watch, anyway. She asked if the lounge had a boob tube. I walked out there and again, no luck.

I was a tad bummed because I had been looking forward to seeing the Vikings and Giants play the following afternoon. I figured I'd look around town when I woke up and hopefully there'd be a bar showing the game. The reason why the Columbia doesn't have TV's is because it's meant to be a trip back in time to the 1920's (there are also no phones in the rooms and you have to go down the hall to take a shower). And, of course, the effect wouldn't be complete without a number of doilies. Here's a picture of the room we stayed in:

the infamous clawtub:

and (can you believe it?) a day bed:

It was probably no coincidence I dreamt about my grandmother that night (the smell of the hotel had done the trick). If I had smelled a pack of Bazooka Joe the night before, I'm sure I would've had a dream about my childhood.

The next day, as I passed the front desk to get a bite to eat, I noticed the clerk was working on a laptop. I said to him, "Isn't that cheating?". He said, "What do you mean?" I said, "Well, this is supposed to be like we in the '20's and you're on the information superhighway". He smiled and said, "I've got the best of both worlds".

Excerpted from My Experience in Ashland, Oregon at the End of 08

Why Do You Believe What You Do?

Since returning from a holiday retreat in Oregon, I've been thinking a bit about what I believe and why others believe what they do. I look at my parents who each subscribe to different Christian religions (ones they wouldn't be in were it not for their significant others). You'd think being twenty years older than I, with more real-world experience, they'd be in a more enlightened belief system than the one I subscribe to. But age, apparently, doesn't matter. A 10-year old could believe in something more soul stirring than what your average 75-year old does.

In the 90's, while on a city bus, I overheard an older lady say she does the things she thinks God wants her to in order to avoid going to "the bad place". I shook my head and thought, "What kind of God could ever send a sweet woman like you to hell and more importantly, why do you choose to believe in such a God"?

We are free to believe in whatever God we want or none at all or that all is God. I just don't see how millions (billions?) can choose a belief system that restricts them, that says you must do this, that you must never do this. Some say that if one doesn't believe in God, all morals go out the window. I disagree, as evidenced by the following quote from Michael Shermer:

"If you agree that, in the absence of God, you would commit robbery, rape, and murder, you reveal yourself as an immoral person, and we would be well advised to steer a wide course around you. If, on the other hand, you admit that you would continue to be a good person even when not under divine surveillance, you have fatally undermined your claim that God is necessary for us to be good.”

What really blows my mind are people who have belonged to the same religion all their lives and say it is the best in the world, without ever giving the other ones (or having none at all) an honest try. It's like Americans saying the U.S. is the best country in the world without ever having been overseas.

Passing Gas in the Library

Airport Security

I went on vacation last week which is why I took a break from blogging. Here's the first of several notable things I experienced while out of town:

Upon our arrival at the Minneapolis airport, we checked our baggage and headed through security. Just after I went through the checkpoint, the TSA representative said he'd been afraid my belt was gonna set off the alarm, but it just missed doing so. My wife wasn't so lucky: she was wearing a pair of jeans that had a couple small metal rings on them. The TSA dude padded her down, but since the mechanism was still going off, he asked her if she could take the heavy sweatshirt she was wearing off. My beloved replied, "I'm not wearing anything underneath this". I was sitting down tying my shoes as I observed this and couldn't help chuckling a bit. They ended up letting her through without having to disrobe. A moment later, she cursed under her breath at the perceived offense.

Wine and Spirits

A couple weeks ago, while waiting to pick a friend up, I spent about 20 minutes parked in front of a liquor store. Despite the temperature being 22 degrees (and much colder with the wind chill), quite a few people entered the business to obtain some "spirits". They typically went in with an intent look on their face. As they exited a few minutes later, I noticed they appeared a bit more relaxed. In my mind, they were thinking one of two things: "One less errand to worry about" or "In 60 minutes, I'll be partying like there's no tomorrow".

One conclusion I reached is that those 24-packs look pretty heavy. If I was a regular boozer, I'd get, like, 200 cans so that I wouldn't have to keep going back every week for reinforcements. One of the reasons I don't drink beer is because having to urinate every 45 minutes just doesn't justify the buzz I would get from it. Maybe if I could just get the alcohol without all the barley and shit.

There's a reason why straight alcohol doesn't taste good: because it's not good for you. I'm of the belief that years of alcohol use leads to one gradually becoming, well, less smart. If you go to a bar, what is the average IQ, I wonder.

And if it's low, is it because the people were less smart to begin with or did the use of booze lead to a steady decline in smarts? Perhaps this view is rubbish, but the body sure doesn't seem to like having booze in it: as alcohol acts upon one's brain, the body is furiously working to remove it.

A decade ago, I worked with three developmentally disabled chaps who, when given a can of O'Doul's, started acting drunk within ten minutes of their first sip. This makes me wonder: if you gave people in a bar non-alcoholic drinks that smelled like alcohol, would the power of suggestion make them think they were drinking the real thing?

My Curious Case of Cold Feet

As I'm typing this, my toes are cold. My hands and feet are the first two (four?) body parts of mine to drop in temperature when I get cold. On the coldest evenings, I'll take a couple baths (one after I get home and another a few hours later when the warmth of the first one has dissipated).

Yesterday afternoon, while attending a screening of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", both sets of my toes were cold. In order to reduce this, I typically take one of my shoes off and put that foot under my opposite knee. Not only does this warm one of my feet, but for some reason, it also seems to reduce the coldness in my other one.

Shit, now that I've brought up "Button", I might as well say how I felt about it. Since it was directed by David Fincher ("Fight Club", "Zodiac"), I was expecting a masterwork. If you weren't aware, the story revolves around a man who is aging backwards.

It starts out in the present-day with one of the main characters going back and telling what happened way-back-when. I'm sure most are familiar with this structure (it was used in my favorite movie of '94, "Forrest Gump, my fave of '97, "Titanic", and my fave of '98, "Saving Private Ryan"). "Button" took the cake, though, in that it went from present-day to past and back again way too many times (On a couple instances, I actually rolled my eyes at the screen. The screen was like, "Kiss my ass").

At close to three hours, the movie was a real tour de force and had a number of moving moments, but just didn't quite do it for me. I agree with this reviewer who said, "I liked "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," but I wanted to love it." I do recommend it; just make sure to keep your expectations in check.

Later that evening, I watched a movie OnDemand from '06 that actually stars both Pitt and Blanchett as well (my wife said, "Weren't they both in the movie we saw today?"). It's called "Babel" and deals with people who are having problems communicating because of language differences (hence, the title).

It was a bit better than "Button" in my eyes. If you're ambitious, check it out.

Man shot during screening of "Button" due to excessive talking

NOTE: I'm taking a fortnight off to recycle myself. Hope you don't mind. Look through my voluminous archives if you get to missing my one-of-a-kind style (Be warned, however: my earliest writings are quite primitive).

Eating Outside

Though I love eating out, I can't abide eating outside.

There are many reasons for this. First, there's no guarantee that the temperature will be comfortable (it could get too humid or be too breezy). Inside the restaurant, you needn't be concerned about such things. Outside, flies (or worse) can get into your food. This could also happen inside, but the likelihood is much less (though the chances of seeing a cockroach are much greater indoors). Then we have the problem of traffic noise and smokers.

A few months ago, I went to a Friday's in Wisconsin and was quite surprised when the maitre d' said, "Smoking or non?". I was like, "Excuse me, my good man, but I wasn't aware that I had teleported to 1973. Now, please excuse me while I head out to find a young boy named Barack. Legend foretells that one day, he will change the world. Oh, and do you know any places around here that sell frankencense and/or myrrh?"

There's also the problem of sunlight when eating outside. Course, they usually have those umbrellas, but that's sometime not enough and I don't like to have to wear sunglasses while munching on some fingers. In addition, I love sitting in booths which are generally only available within the restaurant's walls.

Quick comment about eating: I only ever put salt on one food item: corn on the cob. In my mind, if you have to put salt on something for it to taste good, why are you bothering eating it?

Newly Erected Barriers Attract Unplanned Attention

WINTERS (CBS13) ― A $2 million investment into a downtown improvement project has yielded an unintentionally distracting image, some residents say. Downtown Winters has new benches and new brick sidewalks, but that's not what people seem to be noticing on the corner of Railroad and Main.

Many residents can't agree on what the newly erected, three-foot-high pedestrian barriers look like.

"They look like fire hydrants that have been painted," said one man. A woman named Katie suggested the thirteen barriers looked like chess pieces. Debra LoGuercio, a columnist for the Winters Express, saw something completely different.

"By God, they're penises," Debra said. "And it's a nice sturdy one at that."



Debra couldn't believe it, and even wrote a column for the Express titled "New Construction Shocks The L Out Of Our Pubic Spaces." "I've heard people leaning out the window, saying, 'Love the penises!" she laughed, "which you don't hear very often."

City officials weren't terribly amused when we brought the subject up to them. The city manager wouldn't go on camera to talk about it, saying it's juvenile. Many residents agree with him -- John Pickerel owns two restaurants on the corner, and he's all for the streetscape improvements.

"Winters is a jewel, and this just polishes the jewel," he said. It's a jewel for families and visitors, but now it has an unplanned attraction."It's all I can see," Debra said. "It's like the creepy kid in the movie: 'I see penises.'"

Video report

Christmas Shopping Anecdotes

I'm in the midst of wrapping presents this afternoon. We got about half a foot of snow this morning as Al Franken moves into the lead in the Minnesota Senate recount. I've some amusing things to share in regards to my Christmas shopping. Yesterday, I bought a Vikings Winter Combo (hat, scarf, gloves, rope) for a friend of mine for $9.99. Per societal expectations, I removed the $9.99 sticker from the packaging before wrapping it. Just then, I noticed a sticker on the back that said the item was originally priced at $25. For some reason, I couldn't resist leaving that sticker on. Isn't that what Christmas is all about, though? Buying $50 worth of presents, but having the recipient believe you spent a hundred?

This same friend is also a huge movie fan (he has more than 500 DVD's). I had to chuckle back in the early 00's; you see, he had amassed hundreds of VHS tapes, but knowing its demise was imminent, spent thousands to upgrade to the magical DigitalVersatileDisc (I hope he doesn't find out about Blu-Ray).

I like to buy him 4 or 5 movies every Christmas, but how am I to know if I'm just getting him something that he already has? Easy, just get him a foreign film. :P But, seriously, I saw a few last night I thought he might like, so called him up. You might say, "But if you ask him if he has a movie, then he's gonna know what you're getting him." Not quite. You see, I ran about 20 movie titles by him, so he has no idea which are legit and which are just red herrings (yes! I've always wanted to use the term "red herrings" in a post).

I somehow found myself at Wal-Mart earlier this week and was quite surprised to see my first psychiatrist shopping there. She makes close to triple digits an hour, but shops at the House of China? Two miles down the road is a SuperTarget where you don't have to worry about seeing anyone wearing a vest (unless you go on Sunday afternoon where you might see a youngster wearing one. Vests look much cuter on the under-10 set. But you know what would be sad: a five year old wearing a Wal-Mart vest. I'm sure it'd be a YouTube sensation, though. Kinda like that O'Reilly kid).

30 Minutes in Hallmark

This evening, I went to the local Hallmark to get Christmas cards for a couple notable loved ones.

Remember in the old days when greeting card stores were quiet, when all you heard was some piped-in easy listening music. Tonight, all I heard were people opening those stupid greeting cards that talk and sing when you open them (someone opened a Simpsons one and chuckled when they heard Marge dispense some motherly wisdom).

I checked both my pockets, but no ear plugs could be found. So I made the best of it and proceeded to find what I needed. When looking for cards for the most important people in my life, I like to look at all the store has to offer. Some may look at only 5 Christmas cards designated "Mother". I looked at dozens to find the perfect one for the one who birthed me. What makes this even more difficult is that she frequently mentions how I always seem to get her the perfect card.

I never buy cards that don't express exactly how I feel about a person. Some cards will say, "I know I don't say I love you as often as I should..." Well, I do, so that type of card is totally inappropriate. What is with you people who don't say "I love you" to those dearest to your heart? If it weren't for your attitude, I wouldn't have to see half the cards I look over give some variation on this. I'm telling you right now, if you don't say I love you to them every day, you're gonna be mighty regretful when they pass. Food for thought as we all look forward to stuffing ourselves next week.

Imagine my disgust, then, when I couldn't find one card that was as good as what I'd given her in previous years. I had to settle on one that was substandard, in my opinion. It only cost 2.99, which posed a bit of a problem. I almost wished that it cost more so that if she happened to look at the back of it, she would, "Ah, yes. He spent 5.99 for this card. He really loves his mama".

Lastly, can someone tell me why 80% of greeting cards have that sparkly shit on it? After perusing several dozen cards, my hands looked like they'd been spread with fairy dust. I coulda passed for Minneapolis bathroom boy Larry Craig.

Europop

2002 Part V

I can still remember going to Pierce Brosnan’s last Bond movie “Die Another Day” during the Christmas season of ’02. It was one of the last movies a friend and I went to before he met the love of his life. I hadn’t seen Brosnan in his 3 prior Bond flicks, so was looking forward to seeing “Die”. It was mostly satisfying.

The movie started with Madonna singing the title song (which had a very electronica vibe). The last half of the movie took place in an area of the Arctic, I believe. Bond’s big contraption in the movie was an “invisible” car. Though completely lacking compared to Daniel Craig’s reboot in ’06, I had a pretty good time with the Secret Agent Man (bonus points for Halle Berry who played the love interest).

“Catch Me If You Can” starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Steven Spielberg looked to be a great movie about a guy who impersonated doctors and airline pilots in the 60’s, but I didn’t get around to seeing it until about 7 weeks into its run.

Based on a true story, it was quite captivating with great period detail (trailer).

The musical “Chicago” was the 3rd Richard Gere movie I saw in 2002.

Ridiculous, I know, but all three were very good. Most of his work since then has been blah. “Chicago” was special in that the audience was able to hear the famous Buddhist sing. Queen Latifah also sang one as did John C. Reilley. Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones each sang a number of songs. The film wound up winning Best Picture for the year. I didn’t think it quite deserved it (though the tunes were so good I bought the film’s soundtrack a few days after seeing the film). My favorite song from it might very well be “We Both Reached for the Gun” sung by Gere. (you can view it here).

“Men in Black II” was the first movie I saw at Rochester’s newest theatre, Cinemagic (the theatre is now the worst in town by far). The only good thing about the movie was the talking Pug. He’s a stitch…and such attitude! (trailer)

I had much more fun with “Austin Powers: Goldmember”. I went to the first "Powers" twice and the second one thrice. My favorite character in part two was Fat Bastard, so I greatly looked forward to seeing his return in part III. Though he was only in one major scene, I was on the floor throughout it (the scene starts at 7:30 of this link and continues here). Tom Cruise surprised with a cameo in the film.

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

My Thoughts On Christmas

I love how Christmas has two mascots: Jesus and Santa.

And how ironic is it that when you flip the letters of Santa a bit, it turns into Satan. Jesus and Satan together again just like in the good ol' days. I believe a number of things in the Good Book, but not the Manger story. That's the justification for giving gifts over the holidays; because the Wise Guys gave them to Baby Jesus way back when (or maybe it's cuz of Santa).

I'm certain the story was written many years later as a way to address Jesus's birth. But they forgot to fill in the blanks as to what he was doing between the ages of 1-29. It's like he fell off the face of the Earth. Make something up, whatever, but don't say he was born and then pick up the story three decades later. We don't get to see the man develop, see how he came to be the person he is. By the way, if the Bible is the end-all, be-all, why is there such a thing as Christian book stores?

I love Jesus. It's hard to find a better way to live than the philosophies he espoused. But some of the stuff the church fathers made up about him are really messed up, so much so that Thomas Jefferson created his own account of the Gospels in which he took out all the miracles.

The Immaculate Conception thing is totally ridiculous. It infers that no one who is born from their parents can ever be good as Jesus. I don't think Jesus should be worshipped so much as emulated. People will say no one can be as kind as Jesus, but if you choose to do so every minute, it can be done.

Many people think the Gospels were written by the disciples when in fact all of the writers knew about Jesus only second (or third) hand and through prior oral accounts. The four books weren't written until decades after Jesus' death.

Some time ago, I read the account of a man (www.nderf.org/wayne_h's_nde.htm) who crossed over and while on the other side, had a riveting experience in which he learned what he believed to be the truth about Jesus. However you feel about NDE's, the following makes much more sense to me than the Gospels' origin story:

"I had the 1st person experience of the one called "Jesus." I had his entire life (remember, time does not exist). His name was not Jesus, something more like Josephus. He had regular mom and dad, no God intervention. He had a difficult birth and an NDE during birth. He had a difficult childhood because of his near death experience, he knew too much. As he got older, he began to tell people about his experience. He told people not to fear death because they would live forever. He told people that after death, there was perfect peace and a perfect state of love. He told people that everyone was exactly the same and everyone could know who they really were and awaken to their spiritual self."

"He drew a small crowd of followers. After a time, some of his followers wanted to form a religion and replace the Jewish priests because of the money and power. He cast the power mongers out of his following. Five of them conspired against him. At his trial there were three witnesses against him, all were his followers. He was hanged (not crucified, he was just a petty criminal to the Romans). Being in a hurry, the Romans cut him down a little early and his loyal followers carried his body off. He revived having had a second near death experience (his "second coming" so to speak). He lived for awhile hiding from his 5 traitorous former friends, but died after a bit from his injuries."

One of the reasons I don't go to church is because the religions stick to their ancient texts without realizing that there are actually better books out there, books that can be used to inspire even more greatly than the Bible. My favorite author is Neale Donald Walsch. I was fortunate enough to meet him this past summer and wrote quite extensively about it here. He has written some stuff that puts most all of the Old Testament to shame. Check it:

"You are goodness and mercy and compassion and understanding. You are peace and joy and light. You forgiveness and patience, strength and courage, a helper in time of need, a comforter in time of sorrow, a healer in time of injury, a teacher in times of confusion. You are the deepest wisdom and the highest truth; the greatest peace and the greatest love. You are these things. And in moments of your life you have known yourself as these things. Choose now to know yourself as these things always."

"When you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts—thoughts that negate your highest idea about a thing—think again! I want you to do this, literally. If you think you are in a doldrum, in a pickle, and no good can come of this, think again. If you think the world is a bad place, filled with negative events, think again. If you think your life is falling apart, and it looks as if you’ll never get it back together again, think again."

"Worry is just about the worst form of mental activity there is—next to hate, which is deeply self destructive. Worry is pointless. It is wasted mental energy. It also creates bio-chemical reactions which harm the body, producing everything from indigestion to coronary arrest, and a multitude of things in between. Worry, hate, fear—together with their offshoots: anxiety, bitterness, impatience, avarice, unkindness, judgmentalness, and condemnation—all attack the body at the cellular level. It is impossible to have a healthy body under these conditions."

"If you want guarantees in life, then you don’t want life. You want rehearsals for a script that’s already been written. Life by its nature cannot have guarantees or its whole purpose is thwarted. Know and understand that there will be challenges and difficult times. Don’t try to avoid them. Welcome them. Gratefully. Cultivate the technique of seeing all problems as opportunities. Opportunities to...be, and decide, Who You Really Are."

Worst Movies: Number 4

1997 was one of my favorite moviegoing years. It started with the re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy and ended with the behemoth "Titanic" (I go into much greater detail on the films I liked that year here). I went to dozens of movies in '97, so it's no surprise that one was a complete dud. The 4th worst movie I ever attended was a sci-fi/horror flick starring Sam Neill from "Jurassic Park".



Here's a brief synopsis of the film (courtesy of Reel Views):

"In the year 2047, the deep space rescue craft Lewis & Clark departs on a two-month journey to Neptune. Their primary mission is to go into a low orbit around Neptune and make contact with the deep space research vessel Event Horizon, which was initially thought destroyed seven years ago. The would-be rescuers are to search for survivors and salvage anything that's reclaimable, but no one is prepared for the horror that lurks deep within the dark corridors of the dead ship."

Like number 5 (Blair Witch 2), this is a movie where it didn't get really bad until the last half hour or so (the previous 60 minutes was just foreplay). As the paragraph above indicates, it did start out with a good premise, but just fell apart as time went on. There are a number of great sci-fi/horror flicks out there (Alien & Aliens, in particular), but this one wasn't even a quarter as good as those.

More interesting than the movie itself was what occured at the screening: There were two teenagers sitting a few rows in front of me and throughout the film, especially near the end, one of them would jump when something scary happened, and it wasn't a minor jump, either (he was genuinely startled). He did this at least 5 times. Pretty funny stuff. I wonder if his buddy knew about this prediliction beforehand.

Like "Blair 2", this movie can be watched in its entirety on YouTube. Go here to get started.