Stir of Echoes: Working Class Horror

When it came out back in 1999, Stir of Echoes was high on my list of horror films to see.

First, it had Kevin Bacon in it. He’s always awesome.

Second, it was based on a story by Ricahrd Matheson. He’s also always awesome.

Mostly, though, it was because it looked interesting and stylish. Which is most certainly is.

It’s horror grounded in reality. It’s also one of the best presentations of psychic powers and how a regular person would deal with them that I’ve seen. The disbelief, fear, panic, resignation, and then acceptance of the task his character has been put is played perfectly by Bacon.

What I didn’t realize until just rewatching it the other night is that it’s got Jennifer Morrison (from House and, more recently, Once Upon a Time) in it as the victim and Liza Weil (currently on How to Get Away With Murder, but formerly on Gilmore Girls… a connection I hadn’t realized, but which explains why I kept thinking she looked familiar on her current show) as a babysitter directly connected to the tragedy.

Solid performances all around and more style than you can shake a stick at. Definitely my kind of movie.

Listen to me go on a bit about it in today’s vlog.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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Vlog on the Run: DC Bloggers and Flat Tire Edition

Time to be a little zen about things as schedules just kind of… vanish.

Had another DC Bloggers meetup today. There are some pretty excited people, which is good, because that makes up for my utter lack of time to actually do anything with the group I’m ostensibly running/managing. Ended up going on a bit longer than expected, so, that’s both good and bad.

Made the jump from Bethesda (where the meeting was) to Wheaton (where the car I’m renting for tonight ended up being). For some reason the car I’d reserved closer to home ended up not available. Which is kind of ironic, since the one I ended up with kind of had a mostly flat tire (and has been missing the cover for the gas tank–not the gas cap, just the hunk of metal that makes it all look pretty and semi-smooth on the outside–for a long time now).

After a quick errand and a drive home that had me correcting for the flat-tire-introduced pull to the right, I’ve had to dig out my air compressor (because I have one, from when I had car that needed its tires refilled daily), get a video shot and uploaded, recharge the phone, and get air in the tire so I can get to the housewarming party tonight in Virginia.

Yeah… I was supposed to be on the road to that now-ish. And there was another errand I was going to run, but opted not to because of the later pickup than expected and the flat tire.

Always an adventure, right?

So, celebrate with me a little in today’s vlog–this is #75! Woot! 🙂

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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Unboxing Myth

Over the last couple of years, I’ve backed a lot of games on Kickstarter. Now they’re starting to roll in.

The expansion to Myth was the second game I backed from Megacon Games. While that expansion is still in the production phase, I did get another hunk of my perk from that campaign: the original game, with the updated material (fixing a bunch of play issues and introducing some of the add-on material mechanics). That showed up the other day.

It’s kind of a big box. Getting it home on the bus was… awkward.

Again, this is a game I’ve never played (though it is sitting up high on a shelf at the monthly game night I go to), but I really like what I’ve seen, especially with the “part 2” of the game (and, uh, so many expansions) on the way.

Today’s vlog, of course, is all about opening up the Myth box.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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Button Smash! (November’s ComicBento)

Another month, another box of comics from ComicBento.

November’s theme was “button smash” so everything is a video game tie-in of some sort.

Right on the top of the pile was Penny Arcade’s Attack of the Bacon Robots from Dark Horse.

Then there was the Archie Comics’ Sonic The Hedgehog and MegaMan: Worlds Collide, which looks like it’s geared more for the younger crowd, but I’m willing to give it a chance.

Another Dark Horse collection, Tomb Raider: Season of the Witch, which looks pretty solid.

My personal favorite, though, is the little collection of the classic three-issue limited series from Marvel in the early 80s: Contest of Champions (I remember when this was brand new, it was right before I started buying everything Marvel put out).

Of course, I still haven’t finished reading last month’s comics… or the ones from September… I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have the same comic book habit I used to back in the day. I’d never catch up.

Looks like next month’s theme is “Throwback”… which should be plenty awesome, since it’ll likely feature even more stuff I remember.

You can watch me dig into this box in today’s vlog.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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Unexpected Yeti

Sometimes, thing just happen.

Like you’re shopping online for some holiday gifts, checking sales, and… well… there’s something that pops up… unexpectedly.

Something that you were looking at for a while, but was just too expensive to buy without a project it would be useful for.

But it’s on sale. Like, a really good sale.

So you kind of have to buy it.

And that’s what I did with this Blackout Edition Blue Yeti mic.

Of course, since I don’t have a project to use it for, I haven’t actually used it. So I can tell you it’s pretty. And I can go on a bit about how I’d use it… when I have time.

Watch it all in today’s vlog.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]