Salisbury Post Online: Local News
http://salisburypost.townnews.com

From the Salisbury Post:

Stuntman (and Custom Motorcyle Builder) Indian Larry dies after accident at Cabarrus Arena and Events Center

CONCORD -- Stuntman and custom motorcycle builder Indian Larry died Monday morning after an accident Saturday at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center.

Indian Larry was standing on his moving motorcycle during the Liquid Steel Classic and Custom Bike Series show when he fell off and suffered severe head injuries. He was not wearing a helmet.

Airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, he remained there until his death.

Indian Larry, whose real name was not available, was also a master mechanic well known to motorcycle enthusiasts for his appearances on Discovery Channel's "Great Biker Build-Off."

His Web site, www.indianlarry.com, says he has appeared in television commercials and shows, music videos and movies including "Quiz Show." His online resume lists "other skills" including metal sculptor, renaissance man and "character."

I really liked Indian Larry. Visit his site to see why. There won't be another like him.

  ¶ 11:52 AM

  Hopeful Sinner - A Charlie Terrell Site
http://www.hopefulsinner.com

There has been a nice update to Hopeful Sinner, a site about musician and artist Charlie Terrell. You can now watch projections from Charlie's play, Taking the Jesus Pill. The projections are "projected" -- didn't see that coming did you? -- on screens during the play.

About the play from Hopeful Sinner:

TAKING THE JESUS PILL follows the journey of the beautiful, young Tina as she struggles for independence from her domineering father and long-suffering mother. With the help of the hapless Johnny 316, Tina escapes a world of evangelical hell to go in search of the “Little Blue Windmill By the Sea.” What she finds along the way is more than she ever bargained for...

Go to Hopeful Sinner and check in the News section for links to the clips.

  ¶ 8:05 PM

  Team America: World Police
http://www.teamamericamovie.com

So the Thunderbirds movie sucked 1,001 times over. And who do we have to blame for that? Jonathan Frakes? Probably not. He just directed the thing. How can anybody who watched the original show ever think, "Gee, what if we made another Spy Kids movie, but with more neon colors? Wouldn't that be F.A.B?"

If you are going to make a Thunderbirds movie, you have to use marionettes. Not using marionettes in a Thunderbirds movie is like making a Transformers movie that's not animated. I mean, who'd be stupid enough to do that? Who?

But worry not Thunderbirds fans, Matt and Trey from South Park are going to put the "F" back in freedom with Team America: World Police.

  ¶ 12:42 AM

  I just finished changing the fuel filter on my car, an '84 Ford LTD. I honestly say I can now change any fuel filter on any car (void if car is not an '84 Ford LTD). Though, I don't think this will fix my car. I have good reason to believe that my catalytic converter is going bad. But remember, the glass isn't half full or empty, it is just leaking somewhere I can't see.

  ¶ 6:52 PM

  I just finished a short story called "Dead to Us." It's about... stuff. I started out writing about something subjective. The story became a few other things. I am pleased.

I love writing horror and dark fiction. You can be balantly be writing about some horrid monster while quietly writing about something commonly human. Maybe monsters are nothing more than exaggerations of the id. No, couldn't be. Other people hear the bumps under my bed.

  ¶ 11:38 PM

  Extension Room :: BlogThis
http://extensionroom.mozdev.org

How do I install Blogthis in Firefox in Linux?

I asked myself this question. I figured out a way to install the Blogthis extension in Firefox a while ago, then forgot, and just had to relearn when I updated Firefox.

There doesn't seem to be a Firefox Blogthis extension. So, I used Mozilla's, which seems to work just fine. Here's what I did:

Login as Root.
Run Firefox from it's directory.
Go to the above site.
Click on the install.
Click okay (not cancel to install in your profile directory).

That's it. If anybody has any troubles, e-mail me and I'll see what I can do. And if anybody knows a reason why I shouldn't do this, please let me know.

  ¶ 1:45 PM

  It has been a long week. I've been helping the neighbor fix a computer so she can homeschool her kid. I don't know if I had forgotten or had blocked Windows 98. It was a slight shock to go back to it, but I did get it to work again.

Last night, I watched Zombi 2, a movie I knew growing up as Zombie. When Dawn of the Dead was released in Europe, it was know as Zombi there. Zombi 2 is not a real sequel nor a Romero movie. The script was finished well before Dawn of the Dead/Zombi ever reached Europe. If you wanted to fit it into Romero's Zombie world, Zombi 2 fits between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. This is where I put it.

Zombi 2 was a lot different than I remembered. There was color in the movie. A lot of things in the 80s were old VHS copies or rentals so the notion of color was lost. The movie had a lot more gore in it than I remembered, especially the eyeball scene. That one creeped me out... last night.

I don't know if many know this, but Zombi 2 stars Tisa Farrow, Mia Farrow's sister. Tisa is now a nurse somewhere in middle America.

Can you tell that I like Zombie movies?

When Hell is full, the Dead shall walk the Earth.

  ¶ 2:40 PM

  It has been a long week. I new addition to my growing library arrived today, The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II by Douglas Porch. I know very little about the Mediterranean Theater so I am eager to get into it.

Last night, I watched We Stand Alone Together, the documentary on the men of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. It's part of the Band of Brother's box set, something I recommend one and all watch at least once in your life.

And for the past week, I've enjoyed the Olympics, though the boxing scoring system took a bit to get used to. They don't seem to be counting body shots. And it has been nice to hear our Anthem. It has also been nice to see the level of competition from other countries. Oh, and our basketball team sucks. Not because they loose games, but because they're all a bunch of too-rich, cry babies who think they are individually “the shit.” They are not. None of them are.

  ¶ 2:26 AM

  ABC 33/40 E-WARN: SLSAL From ABC 33/40 E-Warn:
WWUS64 KBMX 201841
SLSAL


BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
AREAL OUTLINE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 38
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
141 PM CDT FRI AUG 20 2004

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 38 IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM CDT
AND INCLUDES 24 IN THE FOLLOWING PARTS OF ALABAMA...

ALC033-059-077-079-093-133-210000-
...NORTHWEST...
COLBERT FRANKLIN LAUDERDALE LAWRENCE
MARION WINSTON

$$

ALC043-083-089-103-210000-
...NORTH-CENTRAL...
CULLMAN LIMESTONE MADISON MORGAN

$$

ALC019-049-055-071-095-210000-
...NORTHEAST...
CHEROKEE DEKALB ETOWAH JACKSON
MARSHALL

$$

ALC057-075-107-125-210000-
...WEST-CENTRAL...
FAYETTE LAMAR PICKENS TUSCALOOSA

$$

ALC009-073-115-127-210000-
...CENTRAL...
BLOUNT JEFFERSON ST. CLAIR WALKER

$$

ALC015-210000-
...EAST-CENTRAL...
CALHOUN

$$


$$
WWWW

E-Warn is a free public service from the ABC 33/40 Weather Center
and Alagasco...For Reliability, Comfort, and Convenience Natural Gas has
the Home Advantage.

To sign up for other ABC 33/40 E-Warn products, or to unsubscribe, go here:
http://www.jamesspann.com/ewarnmain.html




  ¶ 1:52 PM

 

If i was a serial killer i would be Ed Gein . The Original Leather face. Ed gein, started out as a grave robber, robbing graves for the remains of women around the age of 50 and using the bits and pieces that he found to furnish his house. Eventually moving up to living subjects Ed would go on to kill 3 local women whom he would decapitate, skin and leave on meat hooks in his basement. He later went on to confess that he would fashion masks and vests out of the skin of the women he had killed, even going as far as cooking and eating their hearts. Ed believed that he had to do these killings because his dead mother told him to. Silence of the lambs, Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are just some of the many movies that have been inspired by the life of Ed Gein. Kill Count: 3 Find what serial killer you would be, Take the Serial Killer Quiz now!

  ¶ 1:28 AM

  'Blair Witch' Cameraman Killed in Plane Crash
http://www.reuters.com

From Sheigh Crabtree Reuters/Hollywood Reporter:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Cinematographer Neal L. Fredericks, best known for his work on "The Blair Witch Project," was killed Saturday while shooting the independent film "Cross Bones" in the Florida Keys. He was 35.

Fredericks was filming aerial shots for the movie from a single-engine Cessna 206 when the plane's engine sputtered twice at about 500 feet before going down in 50 feet of water, according to "Cross Bones" writer-director Daniel Zirilli.

Zirilli, the pilot, a co-producer and a first camera assistant escaped the wreckage through an open door, but Fredericks, who was strapped into a safety harness beneath camera equipment, was unable to free himself from his seat before the plane was submerged.

"It was sunny, no wind; the hurricane had passed 36 hours before," Zirilli said. "It was a glorious day. The pilot called us to go out. As far as we know, it was engine failure."

Fredericks has a long list of independent film credits, including the upcoming "Black Dahlia" and "Abominable," but he may be best remembered for his contributions to "Blair Witch."

"People really didn't understand how integral Neal was to the visual design of that film," said Stephen Pizzello, executive editor of American Cinematographer. "It was a huge movie based on the look, the lighting, the camera moves and the flashlights -- all of which he designed."

Fredericks was born in Huntington Beach, Calif. He traced his interest in movies back to a visit to a local cinema as a child to see "Blade Runner" with his father. He described himself as "a horror film geek" when he was in high school in the 1980s and said he rented every horror film available at the time on VHS.

He went on to study filmmaking at the University of Baltimore, where he began shooting Super 8 and 16 mm films, and where he met the people with whom he worked on "Blair Witch."

But despite the notoriety of the seminal indie horror film, Fredericks struggled to find paying work in the business.

He went on to shoot nearly 30 low-budget films and was excited about returning to Los Angeles this week to finish color-timing director Ryan Schifrin's "Abominable," according to colleagues.

"Neal was known as someone who added to the creative needs of a director and was not limited to a certain style," said Ann Luu, Fredericks' ex-wife. "He was known as a rebel who was open to unusual styles and approaches to cinema. He was a young DP out there to break the rules."

Noted Charles Lenhoff, Fredericks' agent: "'Blair Witch' put him on the map, but he was on the threshold of breaking through. I thought of him as a young Bob Richardson (of the 'Kill Bill' films). It takes a long time to build a career and a reputation, and a fragile event can tear it apart."

  ¶ 2:01 AM

  Russian Alien Spaceship Claims Raise Eyebrows, Skepticism
http://www.space.com

From the article:

An expedition of Russian researchers claims to have found evidence that an alien spaceship had something to do with a huge explosion over Siberia in 1908. Experts in asteroids and comets have long said the massive blast was caused by a space rock.

Unfortunately, this is a hoax, the spaceship bit. I've been interested in the Tunguska blast ever since I heard it mentioned in Ghostbusters. As cool the spaceship idea sounds to me, I believe Tunguska was an asteroid who didn't make it to the ground. This happens all the time. And sometimes, they go boom, sometimes big boom, big badda boom.


  ¶ 2:09 PM

  "Some days I feel like my shadow's casting me," - Warren Zevon, Dirty Life and Times.

Lucky Girl Leather Handbags, Purses, Wallets, Belts, Backpacks and Other Leather Accessories
http://www.luckygirlhandbags.com

I believe I have finally -- I have been searching for over a year -- found somebody to make me guitar strap with a Pin-up girl -- on it. You'd think such a thing would easily available. But nope.

For a while, I thought I was the only person on the planet who'd want a Pin-up Girl Guitar Strap. Everywhere I've asked, they said it was a good idea, but they never made one. Everybody who I asked, said it was a great idea and wanted one.

Now, if I can figure out how to make them myself, I honestly believe I'd making a killing. But it may not come to that. Go the above the site and check things out. Adriane of Lucky Girl looks to be my answer, and I'm sure there are a few of you out there where she's your answer too. Joe Strummer would have loved her work.


  ¶ 1:26 AM

  New artwork has been added to site, "Sally," "Timmy," "Nagog Sleeping," "Nagog Eating," "The Dead Girl & The Jack-In-A-Box," and "The Dead Children for the Week of April 11th to the 17th of the Year 1986." These are little bits of art that appeared on Devil's Advocate, a sister site. The two "Nagogs" are new here as well as new on Devil's Advocate.


  ¶ 4:45 PM

  Friday the 13th. It's no longer just a movie.


  ¶ 11:59 PM

  Hopeful Sinner is one year old today. It's halfway to the terrible twos. There's a whole bunch of mp3s now. Go listen to Charlie Terrell.

I hope to never own a Toyota. This is not because the quality of their vehicles. It is because of their latest ad. In it, a woman has her old car turned into a brand new Toyota. It is a take on MTV's Pimp My Ride where people have their cars made over, “Pimped.” What I find so offensive – so offensive that I hope to never own a Toyota – isn't the take on the MTV show, but the fact the woman's old car is an old car, probably something from the early 60's, a classic car. The car is a bit rusty, but looks like it needs a ting of body work and a good paint job. It looks like Toyota tore parts of the front grill out so you couldn't easily tell what the car is.

I am into classic cars, and I'm not the only one. I can not imagine that in fifty years people will be coveting a Toyota Celica. The Toyota people could have used one of their older cars in the ad and achieved the same effect. Now they've just alienated me and a whole bunch of other people.

Maybe Toyota is bitter because they've never had a classic car and probably never will. Oh, Toyota, all will be forgiven if you send me the car in the commercial, the classic car, not the Toyota. You send me that car, and I'll get a Toyota truck one day and go back to saying you guys are okay.

Last night there was the yearly Perseid Meteor Shower. Again, I missed it do to bad weather. It became cloudy just after sunset and has stayed that way. Oh well. You can't see them all.


  ¶ 2:51 PM

  Obersturmfuhrer.

Last night I did a lot of research for a short story. I had to know what SS Obersturmfuhrers wore and how they wore it. Just rolls off the tongue doesn't it? Obersturmfuhrer means Senior Storm Leader. That's the same as 1st Lieutenant. WWII stuff.

I also had to learn about the 12th Panzer Division of the German army. The 12th was also known as "Hitlerjugend" or Hitler's Youth. It was made up of Hitler youth born around 1926. For the story I'm working on, I had to pick a Panzer division. So I just went with 12th. Who knew it was kind of important? I lucked up with that particular division because it was involved with the D-Day Invasion, which is in the story.

I probably won't have a title for the story until it's done. Some come first. Some come last. I was very pleased with this story before I even started it. I finally had something I could write that involves WWII, which I love. Maybe I love the story because it's given me a reason to read more about WWII. I honestly believe I can tell the difference between a M-1 Helmet and a M-1C Helmet now. The former was for infantry, and the later was for paratroopers.

Oh well. Time to feed the cats.


  ¶ 3:04 PM

  Criminal Intent
http://www.criminalintentband.com

This is my friend Nick's band. Check out the samples, and if you're down here in Alabama anytime, check the show dates and go see them.


  ¶ 2:09 PM

  Last night was pre-season football. I love football. But the cable went out before the game ended. That wasn't nice. Oh well. Washington beat Denver 20 to 17. Go Redskins!

I also finished The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien last night. I've read that book almost every year since I was a child. It used to take longer as a child. Never the less, I still enjoy the book. I just wish Tolkien had written a sequel. I would have loved to learn more about that ring Bilbo found. There just was something odd about it.


  ¶ 6:12 PM

  I thought I was going to be able to get through Saturday without anything bad happening. But while I was on my way home, my car started acting up again. This time, it didn't wait on curve or a hill. It just seemed to stumble on a straight road. And then when I stopped at a red light, it died. I started it up again. It died again. It stayed running the third time, and I did make it home. I try to tell myself she -- my car is a she -- has always gotten me home. But it does not change the fact that I just don't trust her anymore. This really depresses me. I can't figure out what's wrong. I can't fix it personally. And I there is little hope of paying a professional to fix it because I don't have the money. And I'm pretty sure the worrying about this is killing me.

Even with all that, there is some good to talk about. I have begun the process of finding an agent for HAUNTED. I'm not going to mention anybody personally because I feel that wouldn't be fair. I'm going one by one. I really do hope to find one soon. It would really be something uplifting to have an agent. Anybody who wants to ask me something, I could tell them to talk to my agent. "Are your short stories avaible for publication overseas?" "You'll have to talk to my agent." "What about movie rights?" "You'll have to talk to my agent." "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car." "You'll have to talk to my agent." Ah, good times. Good times.


  ¶ 12:44 AM

  From my Chinese Fortune Cookie:



  ¶ 2:14 AM

  I had some microwavable french toast earlier. I smell like cinnamon.


  ¶ 11:34 PM

  "Yeah, they're dead," - Night of the Living Dead

I have completed an outline and synopsis for HAUNTED. I need to go through them a few more times, probably later today. I've also selected agents that I can e-mail queries, one at a time of course.

Anybody else tired of husbands killing their attractive wives? I am. If you feel the need to kill your wife, don't even bother getting a divorce, just get up and leave. Or... physically pick your wife up, put her on your porch, and lock the door. Either way, nobody dies, and you don't end up on death row.

Shoot'em in the head. DC Security is trained to shoot people in the head instead of in the chest, like most law enforcement agents. This can mean only one thing. Zombies are now classified as terrorists. George Dub-yah is now expanding his war on terror (pronounced "tear") to including the living dead.


  ¶ 2:13 PM

  AP Wire | 08/03/2004 | Ga. Girls Sought in Grandparents' Deaths

From The Kansas City Star:

Ga. Girls Sought in Grandparents' Deaths

MARK NIESSE
Associated Press

RIVERDALE, Ga. - Police were searching Tuesday for two teenage girls wanted in the stabbing deaths of one of the girl's grandparents.

Carl and Sandra Collier, both 77, were stabbed to death at their home Monday night in north Fayette County, about 15 miles south of Atlanta, authorities said.

Murder warrants were issued for the couple's granddaughter, 15-year-old Holly Harvey, and her friend Sandra Ketchum, 16.

The girls were believed to be driving the Colliers' sport utility vehicle. Sheriff's Sgt. Belinda McCastle said Tuesday the girls might be headed south to Florida or toward the Carolinas.

The Colliers were stabbed repeatedly with a large knife, McCastle said. Carl Collier was found in the kitchen, and Sarah Collier was in the basement.

Harvey had been living with her grandparents, McCastle said.

Neoma Gaskins, who lives two doors from the couple, said she knew of some problems with Harvey and her mother.

"Sarah had told her Sunday school class they were having trouble with Holly," Gaskins said.

Ketchum's aunt, who identified herself only as Glenda, addressed the girl directly before television cameras.

"We, your family, do not understand your actions in the last 24 hours. Nor do we approve of them," she said. "Please know we love you and hope you make the right decision and face your life and come home."

This is pretty horrid stuff. And it reminds me of a story I wrote where a bunch of teenagers did kill their parents and went on the run. They too were girls. It is a bit unnerving to learn of a horrible thing that you may have written about. I write a lot about murder. So, I guess I'm going to have that happen a lot.

Also, I'm sure the Kansas City Star folks have little control over the ads that run on their site. Well, I'm sure they know who they sell ads to, but ads rotate on each page so each time a person visits the page, they get a different ad. So they really don't know when which ad will go where. And sometimes, that means a poorly placed ad.



  ¶ 12:56 PM

  For the bad things that happened today:

"Beelzebub has a devil set aside for me," - Queen.

And for the few good things that happened today:

"Oh Lord, there goes a Buick 49," - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros.

There has got to be a limit on how many bad days you can have. Maybe something on a monthly limit or something. Yeah, I know the month just got started. And it's also midnight, so this will say Tuesday. But the day I'm talking about was Monday. I can not wait to block that day away.

Though, I did get to watch the Social Distortion DVD at a friend's house. I love that band. They make me feel good. Mike Ness, lead singer and guitar player, has a '36 Ford. And that isn't bad.

I'm going to go play guitar now. I'm going to play my old strat, the black one, the one with problems. For some reason, it makes me feel better to play it sometimes instead of the Fat Strat that doesn't have things wrong with it. Maybe it's because the Fat Strat can't fight back. Maybe. Who knows Highlander? Who knows?

  ¶ 12:14 AM

  Have you seen that vigilante man?

It was a... weekend. For the most part, it looked like Autumn. That's not a good sign. I fear bad weather... is coming.

I've finished typing in the Outline and Synopsis for HAUNTED. I need to edit it, tighten thing up a bit. So far...

I've discovered the Hindu Love Gods. No, not Shiva and Vishnu. The other ones, Warren Zevon and REM. They did a blues album together. It reminds me a lot of John Lee Hooker, which isn't a bad thing at all.

Off to read.

  ¶ 2:10 AM