Just watched all five episodes in one go.

( Spoilers )

Yeah, I'm posting this everywhere there are eyes to see it, but dammit, celebration is in order. Classic-Horror.com was born (as Classic Horror, a subsection of my personal *cough*Angelfire*cough* site) on June 15th, 1999. Today, I celebrate ten years of the site (and yes, I'm going off Eastern time, for a variety of reasons involving the wonky Internet at the apartment).

Given that I am not likely to ever spawn, Classic-Horror.com is probably the closest thing I'm ever going to have to offspring. Let me tell you, I'm an insanely proud parent.

As part of the celebration, we've launched a brand-new design for the site, which I dig entirely.

I forgot to mention that I am in Boston all this week and available to hang out Tuesday and Thursday night.

If folks are interested.

So I'm trying to suss out how anybody could call gay marriage "discrimination." As sort of a guide I made, in GIMP, a very rough outline of what I think the individual viewpoints on the debate are, using stick figures that make xkcd look like Van Gogh. Let me know if I'm missing something or if I've inadvertently become really really offensive.

( Large image is large )

Yes, those are jetpacks in the third image.

Back home. Good to see the family again. Better to be in my own bed. Thanks again to everyone for their heartfelt condolences. My grandma was a fun, fantastic lady. She taught me the value of conversational humor and for that, I will always be grateful.

Just landed a half-hour ago, smooth travel for a rough trip. Everyone's condolences and words of kindness have meant so much to me.

My grandmother, Norma Carlson Harrington, affectionately known as Grandma Debe, died on Sunday, May 18, 2009. My mother called her that night and didn't receive a response, something highly unusual for Grandma Debe, so she called my uncle Kevin, who hadn't heard from her recently. Eventually Uncle Mark was sent to check on her and he found her, sitting on the couch, looking like she was watching television. But she wasn't watching anything.

I'm grateful that she went without pain.

Every year on my birthday, Grandma Debe sent me a card with a dollar bill inside. The money wasn't the important thing, though -- it was the state of the money. Each bill was always, without variation, brand-new -- she had taken the time to go to the bank and ask for a fresh, newly minted dollar. She raised my mother and her four brothers on very little money and, as far as I'm concerned, she did a bang-up job. She wasn't perfect -- she was, well, a little crazy, actually. But she loved her family without reservation. When my sister came out, so many other family members had difficulty dealing with the news, but Debe didn't give a hoot.

She was a damn good hugger, too. There's not enough people in this world who can give a champion hug, and we just lost another one.

I'll miss you, Grandma.

New post over at Cinema Geek -- Movie Cities I Love: Vienna from The Third Man (1949).

I think I'm kind of finding my rhythm over there. It's less about movies and more about the experience of being a movie lover. I'll probably move some of my movie-related journal posts over there (backdated, of course).

In which I get a little navel-gazey about Classic-Horror's upcoming tenth anniversary and contemplate exactly what running the site for 10 freaking years means for me. I'm of two very different minds on the subject.

Looking forward to future awesomeness.

I'll probably be at Dreamwidth for the conceivable future, but only about as much as I'm on LJ, which is to say, not very much.

You can find me as jetpack_monkey over there as well.

This is half for my own tracking purposes and half just to illustrate my own insanity. My to-do list through October:

( To spare the uninterested... )

First, I have started a new project with an attached blog. Visit Sifting Through the Great Unwatched as I try to watch four hundred movies in my DVD collection that I've never seen before. In the course of a single year. Should be fun.

Second, I will be attending VividCon this year. It'll be my first year in attendance and I'm totally stoked.

Saturday night, we had a little birthday shindig here at lizbetann and diannelamerc's here in Los Angeles (one night early since I'm flying home today). In addition to Lizbet and Dee, midnightfae, airawyn, and theninthdoctor and his boyfriend were all there. We watched the first episode of Merlin (not sold yet) and I showed them Hustle (which they loved). It was awesome. And there was cake! Yay for cake!

When I arrived home, I had a package from coltsbane. To which I say two things:

1) OMG Thank you so much!

and

2) OMGWTFWALDO?

You can tell I'm avoiding actual accomplishment when I've managed to put together my annual mix CD a whole eleven days before my birthday. I think this is the last year where it's going to be just one CD. As I add another track for every year (the mix that represents the year I was 25 has 25 tracks, the one for age 24 has 24, etc.), it gets harder to squeeze all of the music onto a single CD. Not that anybody actually, y'know, listens to 70-minute audio CDs anymore.

Anyway. Same drill as before. Each track is either a song I discovered, listened to incessantly, or that speaks to some part of the last twelve months. I offer no interpretations or explanations.

This year as a bonus, I've included a CD cover and track listing that should (I think) fit neatly in a jewel case. I'll upload a zip file of the mix as soon as I get some of the iTunes tracks converted to a usable format.

( The track listing )

( The CD Cover and Track List Insert )

Stuff from Phoenix Comicon:

Zombie Events
My Panels

and as an extra-special bonus:

My interview with Wil Wheaton

Incidentally, he's just as geeky and just as awesome and you'd expect from reading his blog. Maybe moreso.

Still writing up my coverage of my panels from Comic-Con (to be posted on Classic-Horror.com), but I did want to say that I was extremely well-received, especially in my second panel, and that I let off a few choice zingers. The one that got the best reaction:

Audience member: "What's your guys opinion on gore porn?"

Me: "Let's not call it 'gore porn.' The word 'pornography' has a very specific definition and I, for one, would like to enjoy it."

I was giddy at the laughter and clapping. GIDDY.

If you're going to Phoenix Comicon this weekend, be sure to swing by one of my two panels:

Not Dead Yet: Horror Classics

Friday, January 23rd, 9:30-10:30pm in Palo Verde 2

Guests discuss influential and favorite horror classics.

Panelists: Steve Ringgenberg, Nate Yapp, David Ayers, Tess Fowler, Andrea Beesley-Brown (the Midnite Movie Mamacita), and Jimmy and Bobby Calabrese.

and

So Scary You Made Me Laugh

Saturday, January 24th, 9:30-10:30pm in Superstition

Guests discuss the horror-comedy genre.

Panelists: Dean Lorey, David Hayes, and Nate Yapp.

I have no idea what I'm doing or how this is supposed to work, but it should be a blast! I'll try to have somebody take some pictures for posterity.

My panel hasn't been canceled or anything. There was a glitch on the Phoenix Comicon website and a few panels were just eaten. They'll be putting them back up later today.

Incidentally, if you're going, I'll be doing two or three panels -- I'm definitely set for the Horror Comedy one on Saturday at 9:30 PM in Superstition North. I believe I'm set to do both the Horror Classics panel on Friday at 9:30 PM in Palo Verde 2 and the Series Horror panel (heh heh) that same day at 3:30 PM in Palo Verde 1.

Gearing up for Phoenix Comicon (which is this coming weekend) is not nearly as insane-making as certain other comic-related conventions I could mention, but that's mostly because I have zero idea what to expect. There isn't very much in the way of horror this year (horror guests are all comics-related), but I'm mainly going to be there for the atmosphere.

One thing that has me a little apprehensive is I'm doing a panel on classic horror films Friday night. I'm not exactly sure how that will go -- whether we'll have a moderator, who will be joining me, what kind of preparation I should do... If anybody has any con panel experience, I'd love to hear it.

ETA: My panel has mysteriously disappeared from the website -- and all the other horror panels have been updated with the names of the participants. I sincerely hope I haven't been cut.

Patrick McGoohan passes away at the age of 80.

The Prisoner is my favorite television series of all time. It may be the greatest television series of all time. Certainly his Number 6 is one of the top television heroes. McGoohan not only starred The Prisoner, but he created the series, wrote many of the episodes, and directed a few as well. A fierce individualist, he used the series as a means of exploring the way technology and the "forward march" of society had made prisoners of us all.

I used the bare sketch of that for my most successful RP character to date -- a rebellious, prudish, and extremely paranoid teenage version of Number 6 at Fandom High (defiantlyyours). Although I made some mockery of the concepts of the show, it was only out of the deepest love and respect for McGoohan and his creation.

"I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

So much stuff going on. Some of it I can control, some of it I can control but don't seem to have any desire to do so, and some of it is out of my hands.

Credits Addict: ( This bit is boring )

Book: Based on a promise that kenobi  extracted from me -- crafty lady -- this year I'm properly starting work on some sort of horror film related book. It was meant to be a book on comedic represenations of cannibalism in film, but it turns out that another author is working along similar enough lines that I need a new idea. I'm still pondering.

Web Design: Designing a website for Dad right now. It's... going.

Work: Busy.

Phoenix Comicon: Not quite sure what's going on here, because the coordinator in question is clearly very busy, but I'm fairly certain I'm doing a panel on classic horror there in a few weeks.

Fun: I do have time for that. And it's been awesome.

Anyway, in the next week or so, keep your eyes peeled for my annual "A Great Many Things I'd Like To Do This Year" list. And of course, next month we'll have my annual birthday mix CD and Top 25 films list.

Icon Meme!

default	oldest	newest
saddest	happiest	angriest
cutest	sexiest	funniest
fave ship	fave fandom	fave animated
best quote	best textless	best stolen idea
use the most	favorite

HOW MANY ICONS DO YOU HAVE: 122
OUT OF HOW MANY AVAILABLE ICONS SPACES: 123
IF YOU COULD BUY SPACE FOR MORE, WOULD YOU: Probably.
DO YOUR ICONS MAKE A STATEMENT: That I am a giant dork, yes.
WHAT FANDOM DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: Doctor Who -- nearly one-quarter of them.
AND THE SECOND MOST: Alias, by a hair.
WHAT SHIP DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: I think it's a tie between all of them. I don't really go in for ship icons.
ARE YOUR ICONS MADE MOSTLY BY OTHER PEOPLE: Mostly by me. I usually feel weird using somebody else's icon.
DO YOU MAKE ICONS: Yes, though not as frequently as I once did.
ARE THEY ANY GOOD: I like them.
ANIMATED ICONS ARE: Animated.

DO THE MEME.
Coding can be found here

Please, ladies and gentlemen, do try to hold your excitement when I tell you the momentous news. I, being of sound socially functional mind and body, have done something so incredible, I scarcely believe it myself:

I have returned a DVD to Netflix.

Nay, I have returned two to the loving bosom of the movie mail-rental company.

This is a feat that has not been seen in nearly eighteen months! Many thought it impossible that such a thing would ever be achieved again, but I have sallied forth and deposited the envelope securely in the proper receptacle for the United States Postal Service to retrieve and thenceforth deliver to its rightful owner. Zounds!

I've been stuck in a rut for the past month or so. I thought it'd be a good time to go through and look at all the awesomeness of the past year to remind me that I'm a pretty neat guy.

January: Classic-Horror crashed hard. My friends proved their awesomeness. I made a respected makeup effects artist's day. Classic-Horror came back. I saw Cloverfield and loved it. I acquired a one-eyed Himalayan kitty. I began work on a little Doctor Who/Supernatural crossover.

February: I discovered Guitar Hero III. I lost a dear friend. I joined Facebook. I went to the Arizona Ren Faire with desertwillow and met some awesome people. Joined THEM shortly thereafter and haven't looked back since (well, maybe that one time). DVD Panache interviewed me and posted it on my birthday. midnightfae threw me the Best Birthday Bash EVER. As part of this, I bought a PS3 and tossed aside Guitar Hero III for Rock Band. Classic-Horror is Site of the Week over at AMC's (now-defunct) Monsterfest blog.

March: I attend my first THEM reconvene. The Cook pissed me off more than any film has a right to. The St. Patrick's Day... thing. I flew out to LA for a Mario Bava retrospective at the Egyptian (and even managed to drag a bunch of the gang to a double feature of The Whip and the Body and Kill, Baby Kill).

April: hjcallipygian and I mend fences, thanks to Facebook. Courtney and I start dating; I lock my keys in the car on our first date. I start reading novels regularly again. I buy a shiny new MacBook Pro. Ruin my phone and bought a new one. Double the number of Converse All-Stars in my closet. THEM Formal has me looking super-snazzy.

May: Go to see Iron Man 2.5 times in the theater (fell asleep during third viewing). THEM End-of-Year Pool Party is splish-splashy fun. Courtney leaves to study abroad in China for a month. I inflict the Roseroll upon Livejournal. Classic-Horror is quoted on the back of the new 40th Anniversary Night of the Living Dead DVD.

June: coltsbane rocks Casa Geek. A nasty bug rocks my stomach at the same time. I set-up my media server to be region-free and begin importing foreign DVDs with relish. My annual Comic-Con crazy begins. A reporter from the Chicago Tribune contacts me to do an interview on classic horror movies. Another trip to Los Angeles results in my first Disneyland visit. I vid for the first time in four years, with my Donna Noble tribute set to Oingo Boingo's Just Another Day (which has since been yanked from Youtube). Courtney returns from China and we break up shortly thereafter. I get a new boss at work who brings awesome changes to my department.

July: I vid again, this time about The Doctor's libido, set to Stuart Davis's Female Friend. I begin working on my HIMYM vid that still isn't nearly done. I get to see The Dark Knight before anybody I know, thanks to a special preview screening on IMAX. Join Twitter. Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog rocks my world. COMIC-CON! Meet Jamie Bamber, Peter David, the Ask a Ninja guys, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Sing my butt off at the Dr. Horrible screening.

August: Spend the first week back from Con very poor. The Chicago Tribune piece is published. I make a Universal Monsters vid and send off all my vids up to that point to lizbetann for inclusion in the Apocalypse West Vividcon reel. I start bonding with my niece more, hanging out with her on the weekends. John Kenneth Muir says that I am a critic he respects. I help midnightfae move to vet school and get a trip to San Francisco in the bargain.

September: Start adjusting to life without a roommate. Learn Perl on the fly at work. Shocktober Classics prep work adds to my insanity. I'm offered the opportunity to be a sponsor for the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival, which I take.

October: Help run a Zombie Scavenger Hunt. Ask for a girl's number but later discover she has a boyfriend. Shortly thereafter I have a few dates with a really awesome, really tall girl, but it never really goes anywhere. My Jigoku review takes on epic proportions. Go to Disneyland to celebrate _jealousy_'s birthday. The International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival rocks -- I interview Adrienne King of Friday the 13th fame and introduce a screening of The Blob (1958). My Halloween costume is horror geek win.

November: Obama wins. Yes we did. Help desertwillow paint her new house. Resolve to buy a car. Take a really nasty spill while running to catch a bus, leaving scrapes that stay with me for weeks. Resolve more strongly to buy a car. Begin work on the design of Dad's website. qkellie and I conspire to release awesome Doctor Who / Dr. Horrible crossover vids -- I end up making my first four in just ten days. I also interview Reggie Bannister, star of Phantasm and its three sequels.

December: Repo! The Genetic Opera disappoints. However, attending the screening does lead to meeting the head of Horror Programming for Phoenix Comicon, who offers me the opportunity to do a panel on classic horror movies. The THEM Holiday Party is made of sheer win. midnightfae visits. We see Let the Right One In, which might be my favorite movie of the year. Christmas with my family is very good; I spend much of the time entertaining my niece, who adores me. Totally misgauge my own tolerance at the THEM New Year's party, but echan looks after me, for which I am extremely grateful.

I met so many fantastic people in 2008 thanks to THEM and for that I am incredibly grateful. I also was so moved that so many of my friends were able to come and see me for my 25th birthday. You guys have no idea what that meant to me. Thank you to everyone who was a part of my life last year. I really am a lucky guy.

I've backed up my LiveJournal to InsaneJournal (username jetpackmonkey -- note the lack of underscore). I'm not overly concerned about the reported LJ layoffs, but I am a firm believer in maintaining backups.

...and this is mostly because I helped.

You're Too Blind to See by niqaeli (Penny Arcade, Rated R) -- Gabe is being really, really nice to Tycho, but in that violently disturbed Gabe kind of way.

I suggested many of Gabe's, ah, gifts that appear throughout the fic, but niqaeli brought them to life in a cracked out way beyond my own hopes.

ETA: In other news, Leverage completely rocks me out. "It's a very distinctive sound." *hugs entire cast* Never, ever stop putting plans together, guys.

Happy birthday, midnightfae!

Icon is unrelated. I just made it and I kind of love it.

- Went out to a Goth club with echan Friday night. She totally tricked me into dancing and abusing my poor calves. I can't help it if my idea of getting my groove on involves as little contact with the ground as possible. Clearly I had a load of fun, though, or I wouldn't have agreed to go out again this Friday.

- Finally saw Requiem for a Dream. That is a really really depressing-ass movie. Wow. Half-tempted to write a review for C-H.

- Speaking of, I'm completely stumped for how to properly celebrate the site's tenth birthday in June.

- Been working, ever so slowly, on my Let the Right One In review. It's kind of a bitch.

- Don't want to go to work tomorrow. Gr!

- Quark: The Complete Series is cheese-mo awesomeness. liz_marcs should get a medal for pimping it.

Note to self: two echan specials in one night is a recipe for disaster. I was completely useless to anybody, especially myself. echan took an inordinate sense of responsibility for me, though, making sure I drank a lot of water and walking me around outside in the cold. Eventually I came back to a functioning social level. But boy oh boy, was I feeling like a dick.

However, I do so love my metabolism. No hangover.

Anyway, welcome 2009!

Ganked from empressvesica -- post the first line of your first post from each month of the year.

January: As very special presents for our shiny new 2008, midnightfae and I were both given nasty cases of viral gastroenteritis.

February: Previous part is here. (referring to my SPN/Doctor Who crossover fic)

March: So, Mario Bava Retrospective at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

April: Much as this might seem like an April Fool's joke to those "in the know", it's not.

May: For those who might not know, I have an icon journal at jetpackvampire, which I share with qkellie.

June: My speculation? (talking about "Silence in the Library")

July: I was watching Father's Day to get clips for my vid, specifically the scene where Pete and Rose are talking in the car on the way to the wedding.

August: This is why I love Neil Patrick Harris.

September: Using Google's Chrome browser, which is kind of awesome.

October: Zombie Scavenger Hunt went well.

November: I picked up Boa vs. Python at the grocery story for no discernible reason other than it was $10, has David Hewlett as the leading man, and its the film that gave rise to the equally large boa meme.

December: See icon. (the icon was 10 saying, "I'm off my meds!")

I just realized something!

Hobbes is quantum-locked. Calvin has some sort of special exemption.

To: Brain
From: Me

C'mon brain. You're over three-quarters of the way through the day. There's really no good reason for you to not have started up by now.

No love,

Me

That's right -- a full ten months after the last part, here comes a new bit for my Doctor Who/Supernatural crossover.

Title: Right Place, Wrong Time
Author: Jetpack Monkey
Fandoms: Supernatural, Doctor Who
Spoilers: Supernatural through 2x03 "Bloodlust" and Doctor Who Season 3 (general).
Summary: It would be an average hunt for the Brothers Winchester if it wasn't for the weirdo alien with the massive attention deficit.
Previous Parts: 1 2 3

( 'An honest-to-goodness motel, Martha! Look!' )

That was fucking amazing. Sweet and disturbing and beautiful and wrong and just... my jaw was dropped most of the film, either from verklempt or horror. If it's playing in your area, go see it. I'm not telling you a damn thing, except that it's the sweetest romance this side of WALL*E and EVE and it has some of the best moments of horror I've seen this year.

Seriously. GO.

Majel Barrett Roddenberry died. On the various series of Star Trek, she played Nurse Chapel and Lwaxana Troi and she did the computer's voice on almost all Federation starships in the shows and movies. Apparently she was also the ship's computer in JJ Abrams's upcoming Star Trek reboot.