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Cheating again, but I figure that a horror experience is kind of the same as a horror movie? 

Anyway, elipie and I went out to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood last night. It's a good idea when you're going to one of these things to bring a close friend who you don't see as often as you'd like. You're going to spend a lot of time in lines, so it's a great opportunity to catch up or just philosophize (or yammer endless movie trivia if you're me).

We only ended up going through three of the mazes -- the Evil Dead, the Terror Tram, and Universal Monsters Remix, because lines. We also didn't get to the Bill and Ted stage show. Next year, I swear. We did go on the Jurassic Park and Mummy rides, though, both of which are consistently fun. Eli got soaked on Jurassic Park.

There's actually a funny story about that ride. So, the park is split into an upper and lower level. The Jurassic Park ride is on the lower level. Also on the lower level, there were generic monstery things walking about on stilt legs. Eli and I passed them by and got into line for the Jurassic Park ride behind a man and a woman. The woman glanced back, looked at me, and jumped. Then she laughed and turned to her friend/partner/husband/whatever and said, "Oh geez, I thought one of the stilt things followed us here." And then Eli laughed and said, "He's tall, but he's not *that* tall." It was amusing.

I didn't get a lot of joy out of the Evil Dead maze, since it was apparently entirely based on the remake. I was hoping for something along the lines of last year's Texas Chainsaw maze, which paid homage to the entire history of the series (including multiple versions of Leatherface), but nothing I saw really struck me.

The Terror Tram was fun, although I think I would get more out of it if I actually watched The Walking Dead (which is the theme of the maze). You do get to walk past the Bates Motel from Psycho and the crashed plane from War of the Worlds. Eli and I also went and did the Bates house photo op, which I'll post separately under a lock later (or Eli will).

Universal Monsters Remix... sigh. They replaced most of the monsters with either generic looking ones or stuff out of recent vintage horror movies. The Frankenstein lab (my very favorite part of the whole experience) had no actual Frankenstein monster in it, but instead some sort of weirdo creature with an exposed brain. There were a couple Nosferatus running around, which was neat, and the Chucky they had running around was an actual little person, which was disconcerting for those of us with very high fields of vision. However, the section with werewolves was entirely populated with Benecio del Toro-style lycanthropes. All-in-all, I think it's really sad that their one permanent haunted house maze turns its back on the classics during the Halloween season in some sort of weird effort at being hip.

Overall, I had a lot of fun, even if it sounds like I didn't. The atmosphere was great, the lines were non-annoying, and the company was good.

Right now, there are two very amusing things.

1. Neil Patrick Harris on a unicorn.
2. The icon attached to this post, which I made a couple days ago.

Also, I just posted my 2000+ word review of Mario Bava's Kill, Baby... Kill! and it might be one of the best things I've ever written.

Ever.

For the Comic-Con n00bs and those who want to be Comic-Con n00bs. Brilliant, funny, and so true.

There's a fourteen-step guide to getting drunk during Con weekend. What more do you need?

Sidenote: A guide to getting drunk with quantum_gazebo at Comic-Con.

1. Order me an alcoholic cider.
2. Watch me nurse the cider over the course of an hour.
3. Mention Christopher Eccleston or Amber Benson as freqently as possible if you want a glazed look.
4. Tell really terrible stories about things you shouldn't have done if you want me to laugh hysterically.
5. Don't worry about a second round. I was drunk the moment lips touched cider and I'll stay that way for at least two hours.

Gee, I'd like a stone hedgehog.

Jimmy joined a giant balloon.

You are my sunspot, my only sunspot. You ate my nappy when fries were played.

Tiddle tiddle bong.

Don't think I didn't see you sneaking up on the weasel.

Fandom High is a major part of the community structure of Livejournal. Check it out. Three community structures are used as examples, and Fandom High is one of them. I don't know if it's because we're the largest or because we're an example of a larger one, but it's pretty badass.

They blocked off my usual route to/from work a few weeks back to do some construction on the local convention center, so I've been taking a different (and actually speedier) way. It takes me through the Arizona Center, one of those outdoor malls that rarely have things of interest to geeks like myself. Important to the story, however, is that the Arizona Center also houses the AMC Arizona Center 24 multiplex. I glance at the Now Showing board whenever I pass, considering the various options presented in cheerfully sinister red LEDs. There's never anything worthwhile -- I gave up on modern cinema long ago.

However, today I found something that made me pause. SUPERMAN R - 10:00. It sounded like an anime sequel series, but my clever frontal lobe deduced that this must be that new film Superman Returns directed by Bryan Singer and starring some guy from Iowa (Iowans always track those who escaped and became famous -- it gives us hope).

"Say," I said to myself (remarkably the conversation was restrained inside my head -- these things usually become performance pieces). "Isn't that coming out tomorrow?"

"Yes," I replied, cheery enough to put me on edge. "It is. You would be a very special boy if you were to see it early."

"But I have no assurance of transportation there and back," I countered, sullen and spiteful.

"If you think about it, you could buy two tickets and wave them enticingly at someone. Say, for instance, your girlfriend."

"Oh," I said. I hadn't thought of that. "I hadn't thought of that."

"That's why you have me," I beamed. "You're a schmuck."

With that, I sallied forth, purchased two tickets whilst simultaneously flirting with the ticket girl (an incident I've only just gotten around to informing myself of), and prepared to take a loss on two tickets to the superhero event of the summer. Excepting, of course, those other superhero events of the summer. They might be equally eventful.

If you're looking for a point to my story, it's this. I have tickets to see Superman Returns at 10. I may not be going, but I have the tickets.

Subject line not related to content of post. Talk to your doctor if you think irrelevance is right for you.

( Meme about me, me, me! )

1) I am still making New Earth icons. I think I'll just save a bunch up for a big-ass icon post sometime in the future. I like my latest one of 10. It's saucy.

2) I still need to load all my files and pertinent software onto JD. I'll be using him for the website, writing, and other text-based adventures, and the desktop will be a pure design machine -- icons, vidding, and music.

3) I didn't get to do my morning routine of dicking around for 30-60 minutes this morning due to oversleeping. Bah.

4) This whole "I'm not buying DVDs by the shovelful anymore" thing is quite annoying.

5) Due to needing to pick up my laptop from Mom's (I have everything shipped to Mom's, since picking it up from the apartment complex office is a pain), I had to watch American Idol last night. Not terribly impressed. Mom and Xoë were cooing over the contestants, but I kept picking out flaws in the performances. I was not won over. I am, however, eagerly anticipating "American Dreamz," the new parody from Chris Weitz ("American Pie" and "About a Boy").

6) I like traffic lights, especially today. They were kind.

7) I need Turk icons, dammit.

Grab your favorite music play with shuffle function and get those songs good and tossed around. Now, pull the first twenty and append... wait for it...

With Jazz Hands.

Fooled ya, didn't I?

( Jazz Hands are the new Pants )

I like the new, improved LJStats program (http://scrapdog.livejournal.com/67028.html?thread=315092#t315092). It lets me strip out my own comments and comments from people I don't have friended anymore.

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