Sunday, November 21, 2010
been away for a while...
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Titles I can't believe are unavailable on DVD part 2!
The Alchemist is actually one I have never seen, and also I never really hear anyone talking about it. So who knows if it's actually worthy of a disc release, but it's got really cool poster artwork, and I love anything even resembling a horror movie, so...sure bring it on!
Aaaahhhhhh yeah! Now we're talking! This is definitely on my short list of must haves. Another one that I own on VHS. It's so friggin bizarre it's hard to put it into words what it's about. But here goes: A young boy along with his punkrock sister and conspiracy theorist survival nut grandfather must survive the invasion of a disgusting mutant blob dog alien, that has been transported to their house by their swinger parent's new satelitte dish. Throw in a failed aliens rescuer who's head explodes inside his platic bubble helmet and a huge breasted Elvira clone named Medusa to complete the feeling you are watching a fever dream put to film. I LOVE this movie!
Considering how popular any and all slasher films are, I'm surprised this one has been ignored for so long. Erupting from the golden age of slasher movies, Curtains is a fairly decent film, even better than some of the other films of it's type that have seen a digital format release. Six women are in a house trying out for a part in a director's film despite the ravings of an aged actress past her prime who feels she is still perfect for the part. They are picked off one by one, and in classic slasher formula, it's left for the audience to figure out if the killer is the eccentric director, the failed actress, or one of the girls themselves cutting away the competition. Creepy dolls, and a killer in an old man mask with long white hair are the memorable visual cues in this forgotten slicer and dicer.
Even more on the way soon!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Titles I can't believe are unavailable on DVD...
Believe it or not, this is my favorite adaptation of Clive Barker's works as it has the perfect mix of dark imagery, and blasphemous themes alongside the over the top nudity and gore missing from movies like Nightbreed. Hellraiser is fantastic, but it's SO dark that it usually fails in just simply entertaining me. I own this one on VHS but am scared to play it as I am sure the first time I try it will get eaten, or just disentegrate when the air hits it.
Ok, here is one that I can and have watched about 100 times. Really cartoonish and over the top, it has no gore except a small bit at the end, but it's the only movie in existence that shows exactly what the end result would be of a horny highschool professor that invents an invisibility formula. Absolutely overflowing with high quality tits and ass and it has some very nice casting choices for the girls: Debra Lamb, who if she had stayed with it could have had as big of a scream queen career as Michelle Bauer, Melissa Moore one of my favorites who can only be described as an amazon. Tall, and stacked. Also Shannon Wilsey, who was also the porn actress Savannah who tragically shot and killed herself after a disfiguring car crash in 1994. This is another I own on VHS and I simply treasure it!
Obviously meant to be a cash in on the Jaws craze, this I believe came out close to the release of Jaws 2. The monster is a giant carnivourous worm much like in Tremors, it's slithering grounds is a local beach where it burrows along until it finds sunbathers and then sucks them under the sand. It has the awesome tagline of "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water--you can't get to it." I remember the movie to be kind of boring, and the main character was a detective type that was kind of annoying but they made up for it by including John Saxon as well.
More to come soon!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Elvira's Movie Macabre launches tonight!
To all of you lucky bastards out there who win the lottery once a week, get everything you want for Christmas every year, and have careers as Tiffany Shepis' personal suntan lotion applier, you may also want to take notice that you also are probably one of the people who will get to watch the new version of Elvira's Movie Macabre starting tonight in syndication markets.
Here is a listing of available channels and airtimes:
Albany-Schenectady WNYA SAT 12:30 AM
Albuquerque KWBQ/KASY SAT 12:30 AM
Anchorage KYES SAT 10:00 PM
Atlanta WATL SAT 12:00 AM
Augusta WRDW/WRDW-DT2 TBA TBA
Austin KNVA SAT 12:00 AM
Austin KCWX.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Bakersfield KUVI SAT 12:00 AM
Baltimore WBFF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Baton Rouge WVLA.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Birmingham WVUA FRI 1:00 AM
Boise KNIN/KIVI SAT 3:00 AM
Boston WHDH FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Burlington-Plattsburgh WPTZ.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Cedar Rapids KWKB TBA TBA
Champaign WBVI.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Charleston - Huntington WSAZ.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Charlotte WMYT SAT 12:30 AM
Chattanooga WTVC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Chicago WCIU SAT 3:00 AM
Cincinnati WKRC SAT 3:00 AM
Cleveland WUAB.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Colorado Springs KKTV/KKTV-DT2 SUN 1:00 PM
Columbia, SC WZRB SAT 12:00 AM
Columbus, OH WWHO FRI 3:00 AM
Corpus Christi KTOV SAT 9:00 PM
Dallas KDAF SAT TBA
Dallas WFFA.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Davenport WBQD SAT 10:00 PM
Dayton WRGT.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Des Moines KDMI.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Detroit WDIV FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Dothan WDFX SAT 2:00 AM
El Paso KDBC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Elmira WETM/EETM SAT 10:00 PM
Eugene KEVU SUN 8:00 PM
Evansville WAZE SAT 12:00 AM
Fargo KCPM TBA TBA
Flint WNEM-DT2 SAT 12:00 AM
Fresno KMPH.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Ft. Myers - Naples WFTX SAT 12:30 AM
Ft. Smith KFDF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Green Bay WIWB SAT 3:00 AM
Greensboro - H. Point WGHP SAT 3:00 AM
Greenville - N. Bern WCTI.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
GSA WNEG.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Harlingen - Weslaco XHRIO/KSFE SUN 2:00 AM
Harrisburg-Lancaster WGAL.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Hartford & New Haven WTIC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Honolulu NHON SUN 2:00 AM
Houston KIAH SAT 2:00 AM
Huntsville - Decatur WTZT SAT 9:00 PM
Idaho Falls KIDK/KXPI TBA TBA
Indianapolis WTTV/WXIN.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Jackson, MS WRBJ SAT 10:00 PM
Jacksonville WCWJ WED 2:00 AM SAT 2:00 AM (OPT)
Kansas City WDAF SAT 2:00 AM
Knoxville WVLT/WVLT-DT2
Lansing WSYM SAT 2:00 AM
Las Vegas KVVU SAT 2:30 AM
Lexington WTVQ-DT2 SAT 11:00 PM
Little Rock KARZ SAT 12:00 AM
Los Angeles KDOC SAT 12:00 AM
Louisville WYCS SAT 1:00 AM
Macon WPGA SAT 5:00 PM
Madison ETVW SUN 1:00 AM
Memphis WMC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Milwaukee WMLW SAT 12:00 AM
Minneapolis KSTC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Mobile WFNA SAT 12:00 AM
Montgomery WCOV.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Myrtle Beach-Florence WMBF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Nashville WTVF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
New Orleans WUPL SAT 12:00 AM
New York WPIX.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Norfolk - Portsmouth WSKY SUN 2:00 AM
Omaha KXVO SAT 7:00 PM
Orlando - Daytona WKCF/WESH SAT 12:00 AM
Panama City WJHG TBA TBA
Parkersburg WTAP TBA TBA
Peoria WAOE SAT 1:00 AM
Philadelphia WPHL.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Phoenix KAZT SAT 3:00 AM
Pittsburgh WTAE.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Portland, OR KPTV/KPDX VARIOUS VARIOUS
Providence WPRI/WNAC/WNAC.2 SAT OR SUN 2:00 PM
Raleigh-Durham WRAC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Rapid City KCPL TBA TBA
Reno KRNV.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Richmond-Petersburg WUPV SUN 1:00 AM
Rochester NY WHAM/EHAM SAT 10:00 PM
Rochester- Mason-Austin KIMT-DT2 SAT 11:00 PM
Sacramento KQCA SAT 2:00 AM
Salt Lake City KCSG SAT 12:00 AM
San Antonio KCWX SAT 1:00 AM
San Diego XETV SAT 11:00 PM
San Francisco KFTY SUN 2:00 PM
San Francisco KOFY SAT 1:00 AM
Savannah WGSA SAT 11:00 PM
Seattle KVOS SAT 10:00 PM
Shreveport KSLA.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Sioux Falls KCPO TBA TBA
South Bend WCWW SAT 12:00 AM
Spokane KAYU.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Springfield, MO KRBK
St. Louis WRBU SAT 12:00 AM
Syracuse WSYR SAT 12:00 AM
Tampa WTTA SAT 9:00 PM
Toledo WMNT SAT 10:00 PM SUN 12:00 AM
Tucson KTTU SAT 12:00 AM
Tulsa KOTV.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Twin Falls KSAW FRI 3:00 AM
Tyler-Longview KYTX-DT2 SAT 11:00 PM
Waco-Temple KWTX/KBTX FRI 3:00 AM
Washington, DC WDCW.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Wilmington WMYW SAT 12:00 AM
Now it may seem like a lot of stations (and really, it is) but if you don't live within direct transmission of these specific channels, that means you are someone like myself that has to deal with the ridiculous FCC regulations that require you to obtain a waiver gaining you permission to have access to a channel from another area. Sometimes these waivers take up to 45 days to go through, and in a lot of cases are denied.
That is a problem in itself, but it's also compounded by the fact that the above list of channels only hit the internet 2 days ago which gives 75% of the human race no time at all to take the neccessary steps needed to see the show. I could have started this whole process a long time ago and be watching tonight, but nope, why should they care about something as pesky as ratings?
A further word of warning: If you are looking for the show in your program listings and cant locate it under Elvira, or Movie Macabre, try looking for Night Of The Living Dead. That will be the first movie Cassandra airs, and it has been reported that there has been problems with some markets listing the program under the title of the movie to be shown instead of Elvira's Movie Macabre. Hopefully that will be ironed out soon.
Congratulations to Cassandra Peterson and her continued success. The above photo was taken a few weeks ago, and it always amazes me how she can remain untouched by time for so long!!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Help I.D.'ing Eli Roth in Piranha 3D
wishing for horror dvd's...
This is the 2nd week in a row, that I have looked at Netflix's New This Week page, and there is not a single horror movie title in the bunch. WTF studios?!?! Halloween is just around the corner!
Let's step it the fuck up people!!!!!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Costume Quest available Halloween for PS3 and Xbox
It may come as a surprise to all of you, (yeah right) that my favorite holiday of the year is Halloween. And with as great as it is, it has never really gotten the level of admiration that Christmas does. Although within recent years, October 31, and all its traditions and decorations seems to have jumped a quantum leap in recognition. I think the turning point was the huge success of Tim Burton's wonderful film Nightmare Before Christmas.
I already mentioned in my previous posts that AMC's The Walking Dead will premier on Halloween this year, and I just found out today that PS3 Network and Xbox Live will have the game Costume Quest available for download purchase only!
This is the first video game that actually has the holiday of Halloween and all of it's atmosphere and traditions as the main theme and focus of the story. You play small children who face a group of witches and monsters that are out to ruin All Hallow's Eve. Through practicing minigames like trick or treat, and bobbing for apples you gain RPG style experience and abilities that allow you to progress further.
And the most endearing part of it to me is that your characters are dressed in extremely homemade traditional costumes such as a robot made out of cardboard boxes, but you can gain powerups to transform your costume into it's ultimate imaginary ideal (such as in the screenshot above). This attention to making a game be all about children is something I find to be tremendously engaging as it is all too easy to look at Halloween anymore as an "adult" holiday filled with drunken parties and skanky outifts. Not that I have a problem with those things, but too much of old school Halloween activites are almost non existint lately.
The creator of the critically acclaimed Psychonauts from a couple years ago is behind this, and he has a reputation for very witty dialogue and fun gameplay style, so I have high hopes for this.
Check out the link to the main page here at costumequestgame.com. There isn't much there at the moment, but there is a preview video that should give everyone a very clear idea as to whether or not this is for you. Let me know what you think!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Not Of This Earth (1988) being re-released!
According to Digital Bits, the next wave of Roger Corman's Cult Classics line available on November 2 will include a re-release of 1988's Not Of This Earth, which was the last nude apearance of Traci Lords before she went all serious on us.
This has been out of print on DVD for awhile but what makes this of more interest is that every one of these single title re-releases such as Piranha, Humanoids From The Deep, Forbidden World, etc. Have also had simultaneous Blu-Ray versions as well. The link to it on Amazon doesn't list Blu-Ray as an option, but hopefully that will change. Special features include the following:
New Interview With Traci Lords
New Commentary With Traci Lords And Director Jim Wynorski
Original Commentary With Director Jim Wynorski
Theatrical Trailer
So at least they made it worth a double dip for people like me that already own the original DVD
Also listed as a double feature disc coming out the same day is The Terror Within / Dead Space.
And as usual, anyone that buys anything from Amazon after clicking one of my links, helps me out as I get a small cut of what is ordered, so if you do, thanks!
On a side note, originally there was supposed to be a double feature release in October for Warrior and the Sorceress / Barbarian Queen, but I think that may have been cancelled due to problems regarding the unfortunate murder of actress Lana Clarkson a couple years ago.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
AMC releases launch date and trailer for Walking Dead
I know that everyone in the horror blogosphere will be posting this, but I figured, hey, why not me too?
I found out at Fear.net that AMC revealed that the 90 minute premiere of The Walking Dead will be on Halloween night at 10PM.
Along with this info they released the trailer that they showed at Comiccon this year. It is AMAZING. My expectations for this show were already through the roof before I saw a single frame of footage, and now I can't believe Halloween is still so far away. I am so excited for this series.
Check out the trailer below and share with me your thoughts!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Piranha 3D...Why is no one seeing this?
Soooo I am coming out of my slack period in maintaining any semblance of regularity of posting to ask the following question:
Why in the FUCK is Piranha coming in 6th place on it's opening weekend, when it's major competition is Vampires Suck and LOTTERY TICKET?!?!
It's deja vu all over again, with the Weinstein curse in full effect. Just like with Grindhouse we are being given a treat of a movie that everyone is raving about, and is something that nobody has really been able to experience before: A fun, blood and tits filled movie that doesn't even make the attempt at being a serious film of any kind. It's something that most people have only experienced in a home video setting and even then it's the type of gonzo horror film that we haven't seen since the 80's era of Re-Animator and Humanoids From The Deep.
Everyone has been given this rave reviews. Rotten Tomatoes has it at a 81% fresh status as we speak, while Lottery Ticket is at 32% rotten and Vampires Suck is at an astonishly emberassing 3% rotten
Despite all of this, not nearly enough people are going to go see Piranha. WHY?!?! If you haven't seen it already please go see it, and bring someone with you. If you have already and enjoyed it, please go a second time if you can afford to do so. Because I really dont want the studios to see these box office numbers and give us another 3 years of PG-13 crap like Prom Night or The Messengers, or Shutter, or Mirrors or etc etc etc etc.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Anyone want to loan me $1.5 Million?
Just found out that the house that inspired The Amityville Horror novel and film series is up for sale:
Here's the listing!
"It's a beautiful house, but the basement is a little cold," said agent Denise Mierzejewski, laughing.
Awesome beyond belief! I would buy it, and immediately restore the "eye" windows.
Friday, April 30, 2010
A Nightmare On Elm Street remake
Granted, I have read a couple reviews that seem to like it almost as much as I did, but for the most part, either people hate it, or refuse to see it because they are dead set against it. Really? Come on, seriously?!?!
With as much crap as we had to endure throughout the last couple Nightmare films (not including New Nightmare) I can't believe ANYONE would have a problem either with this film being made, or with what the end results turned out to be. There is nothing that was either implied in interviews or trailers, nor actually produced in the new film that was even remotely as bad as what was done in Nightmare 5 and Freddy's Dead. Don't believe me? How about the power glove sequence?
I looked on Rotten Tomatoes and here is what I found out: currently the Nightmare remake is sitting at 15% on the tomatometer. Freddy's Dead is at 21% and Nightmare 5 is at 30%. Now I understand that all 3 of those figures means that all 3 are "rotten" based on the criteria of the site. BUT, numbers don't lie. It tells me that more people would rather see something like THIS in a Freddy movie:
Did everyone on the planet go batshit crazy and forget the possibilities of this franchise? Does everyone actually want Freddy Kreuger to be a Henny Youngman wannabe who constantly spouts bad pop culture reference jokes? By the end of the series, the character was so over saturated and so steeped in mediocrity that nobody was the least bit frightened by him. In fact we all rooted for him. I for one like my monsters to be monstrous I want my villains to be evil without any hope of sympathy from the audience, and finally I got that version of Freddy Kreuger for probably the first time since Nightmare 2.
There have been great remakes that have come out in recent years, specifically the Dawn Of The Dead, Texas Chainsaw was quite decent, and though I haven't seen it yet, I have heard very great things about Last House On The Left. People act like these remakes replace the original films. Almost as if every single print and cassette and DVD in the world is torched in a bonfire never to be seen again. Which is of course ridiculous. If you prefer the originals fine, go watch them all you want. If I had to make a choice between getting a sequal to a film series that already ended which would force me to endure continuity to some truly awful films, and getting a fresh start with hopes of making the franchise what it should have been in the first place, well, do the math people.
If movies like this end up not doing well, then we will be right back to having nothing but PG-13 thrillers and J-horror pablum spoon fed to us by the shovelfull in all of our multiplexes. You remember, just like everyone was bitching about a few years ago.
Or would you rather have something like this:
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The Skeleton is back!!!
Just discovered that Larry Blamire's great film The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra has it's first sequel coming out on DVD on 8/17/10. The Lost Skeleton Returns Again has nearly everyone from the original returning including the ultra sexy Jennifer Blaire as Animala! It is currently available for preorder at Amazon for %30 off at the bargain price of $10.49. Be sure to use the link below to order!
Also debuting on DVD the same day is Larry Blamire's other horror spoof Dark And Stormy Night. It appears to be a haunted house parody and I can't frigging wait. It is also available for preorder at $10.49. Order link is below!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Human Centipede trailer
Ok, how in the world is this movie not directed by David Cronenberg? This has his "body horror" stamp all over it. I can't wait to see this and support it as a theatrical release since it is not a sequal or a remake and looks very very horrifying, especially since the trailer implies that the disgusting premise actually happens to the characters. It's coming from IFC films though, so a full nationwide release is probably not in the cards. If you see it playing in your area, please go see it!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter Bunny horror film short
Resident Evil: Afterlife trailer
Remember when Resident Evil used to be about shooting Romero type zombies in an old spooky house? True, the films have never really embraced that aspect of the games, and have always been more stylized and glitzy, but my god this one looks like it wants to be The Matrix. Feh...I still can't wait to see Alice kicking ass again ^_^
Resident Evil: Afterlife in HD
Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video
HAPPY EASTER!
Just want to wish everyone a happy holiday and apologize for the lack of posts lately! I promise I will try to do better!
Also, thanks to all the new readers that have signed on as followers to this blog!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Blogger's Block and Beware Blu-Ray
I am currently working on a lengthy movie review post, but it seems to be taking me a little longer than it should, so I thought I would just do a couple quickie posts in the meantime.
My topic today is my love / hate of the Blu-Ray video format. I absolutely love the picture quality for these discs, but I wanted to warn people that if you are fans of special features, especially commentary tracks, you may want to learn a bit more about each and every Blu-Ray you pick up before selling your old DVD copies to FYE.
A great example is the newly released Cabin Fever. Keep in mind that the original release DVD was entirely on one single disc. And on that lone disc was a making of, a trailer, the Rotten Fruit series of animated shorts and 5 (count em) COMMENTARY TRACKS!!!
So imagine my surprise that I went in to Target the other day and saw the Blu-Ray disc in their new release section for the low low price of $14.99. Wow, I thought to myself what a bargain! I picked it up and out of habit immediately flipped it over to see what goodies it has. Ready??...It has all the aforementioned extras except for the 5 commentary tracks. WHAT!?!?! It does however have a brand new one on there from Eli Roth and the cast but would it have killed them to port over the ones from the DVD? What about all the extra space that the Blu-Ray fromat provides? They just decided to say "awww screw it nobody will even notice they're gone"? And consider this: since Cabin Fever is supposed to be a throwback to the '80s style of horror movies, then the pristine picture quality that Blu-Ray provides is kind of secondary when it comes to the extra features. Think about it. You almost want a blurrier grainier picture quality with this sort of flick.
This is a disturbing trend I have noticed lately. Although it doesn't seem to be that case with every movie that comes out (Shaun Of The Dead ported over every special feature and even had a couple small new ones), you do have to be careful of what you are buying if you are into this sort of stuff.
I also find it strange that this has not been considered by the studios: One of the primary reasons the DVD market bottomed out so quickly is that it became quite evident that people were collecting movies voraciously, now that a compact affordable format had proven successful. But like with any other collectible, shelf space becomes limited and runs out completely over time. DVD collections became too large to handle and so people started saying to themselves "Hmmmm, maybe I don't really need to own every season of Punky Brewster on DVD" which resulted in a huge plunge in sales over the last 2 years.
Having said that, what does that say for the people who decide they want to own an upgraded Blu-Ray of Oh, let's say George Romero's Dawn Of The Dead just for the spiffy visuals, but can't get rid of their 4 disc box set on DVD because of the plethora of stuff on it? It means that they keep both. And that means shelf space fills up that much faster. And that means that for the reason mentioned above, the Blu Ray format may not have the longevity that DVD had, or at the very least, won't get as many titles released on it.
For example, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever isn't being released on Blu-Ray. Yet. I guess they will wait til people have shelled out their cash for the DVD first and then put it out on Blu-Ray next year.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wolfman (2010)
Didn't really have time to post anything tonight, but after coming home from seeing The Wolfman I thought I would look on here to see what others think and to my surprise only Horror Movie A Day had anything to say so far on the movie.
Hopefully that means that everyone is busy seeing it right now. I know my theater was a packed house! This was the best werewolf movie I have ever seen. Seriously. Most of the changes that were made from the original make perfect sense and in my opinion are better, especially the time period and location of the film. There is one HUGE element of the movie that was added for this that wasn't really needed but was handled effectively. I won't say anything about it here just now as I don't want to spoil anything for those planning to go see it.
Fantastic production design, well timed jump scares scattered throughout, and rip roaring gore each and everytime the Wolfman is on screen.
And speaking of the gore, both it's level of violence and also Rick Baker's makeup design totally had me thinking that the spirit of Paul Naschy is alive and well. He would have loved this.
Please go see this and take someone you love with you for a Valentine's night out.
Friday, February 5, 2010
post birthday Amazon shopping spree
Didnt get as much for my money this year, but a PS3 game and 3 blurays blow through the cash pretty quickly LOL
Sorry I have been absent from here for a while but January was a very stressful month for me. Earthquakes, a baby being born, visits from family, wife's coworker died, and I just spent 4 days in the hospital for the first time ever. I am hoping that I can now devote a little more time to the blog now that things have calmed down.
Thanks for your patience!!