I've Seen Death and It's Not "The Blair Witch"

The AHS Haunted House - Chock Full of Witches and Demons, but so stylish!  Great Bones!  Such a shame...

Hello Fellow Travelers!

Being impaired and possessing limited mobility has forced me to develop new sources of services I didn't need until 2011.

I found the perfect macaron (Louis), the best pearl restringers (The Pearl Girls), and a local merchant that restores oil paintings.
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I also watch too much TV. Far too much. There, I said it.  I usually have it on when I work out.  Since there is no end of exercises and miles to pedal to nowhere I have the stupid TV on a lot!!

We have a huge, wall-mounted TV with lots of channels, and we're sports fans (can't wait for Giants' baseball) so I'm always looking for something to ignore.

Which leads me to movies.  I always watched them and had a ready comment to put forth.  Now, armed with gym equipment and thins (Nyackers) I've used our XFinity equipment ceaselessly!  I will achieve neuroplasticity and have Frontline on while I do it!

One of the many interests I have cultivated recently is my knowledge of horror films.  It's really rare to find anything truly frightening - most horror films are gory and just plain bad.  But every once in awhile something comes out that for whatever reason scares the  bejeezus out of me!  "The Blair Witch Project" was such a film, I saw it in the theater and it scared me silly.

As a general rule I avoid sequels - they are lame to begin with and in the horror genre notoriously weak.  Accordingly, I skipped "BWII", "BWIII" and "The Curse of the Blair Witch". But when the "Blair Witch" became available on our cable service I was game!  The trailer showed the latest group of doomed idiots running around the witch's house!  The haunted house!  Oowee!  I couldn't wait!  Even though my PS predicted it wouldn't have the same impact as the first he ordered it last week.  And guess what?   It sucked!

Laughable.  Not scary at all.  And the acting?  The "performers" reached a new low, even for the horror genre.  I was cruelly disappointed!

The "film" had all the same gimmicks of the original (herky jerky photography, dangling stick figures, kids getting hopelessly lost in the woods,) but it all felt forced and fell flat.

Then it occurred to me - I saw death - maybe I don't get scared anymore by anything on film or imaginary.  Death has passed me more than once.  Every day I wake up it's the beginning of a  great day!

"The Blair Witch" still bites, but you knew that.

I am looking forward to "Rings", Japanese horror.  Mool Giswin - water ghosts.....

Is 2016 Finally Over Yet? Where Can I Buy Insurance For 2017? Another Example of You Can Never Be Too Ready!

Hello Fellow Travelers!

My Future Chair - No Handles and it doesn't scream, "Help Me!"

I was ready to reflect on 2016 ("man buns"?  WTH?  George Michael dropping dead!  (double WTH?) and then this happened:  I went to a celebration of a loved one, by all accounts a great man!  Accordingly, I planned for everything, every five hour increment.  The party was a resounding success!  Toasts were made, music was played!  I didn't knock anything over, I listened to hilarious childhood recollections of my tablemates.  Because my universe is always spinning, I kept my liquids to water (no spillage), no cake (:( ), no chocolate risk.

I gazed adoringly as my PS and son harmonized and played their guitars.  Three generations of O'Reillys - very special.  Visitors visited, no blood or tears were shed, all attendees seemed to be having a nice time.  People connected.   But, as the "man of the hour" once told me, "Nobody gets out of here alive!"  I thought I planned for any contingency.  Shoes?  Covered.  Global-thermal-nuclear-war?  Covered.

What I didn't plan for was the uneven stone floor of The Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco!

We were leaving - a great time was had by all and I was not responsible for any mishaps.  Until I wheeled out the door and got stuck on the ancient stones...

As I was making a valiant effort to escape the gridlock I had wheeled into (sort of like the dinosaurs that got stuck in the La Brea Tarpits), I felt a pair of hands giving me a considerable push out of the rock quarry/floor.

A stranger, rendering assistance, it was so generous, so Irish, so, well, human!

So how did I repay this act of genuine kindness?  How did I respond to this unselfish act of generosity?  I'll tell you! By smashing that kind woman's plastic clamshell of leftovers on the stony floor!  Where it exploded!

I mean bits of salmon flew everywhere!  When I make a mess, I don't play, I make certain every possible surface is covered!  I'm very thorough!

At the very moment of salmon-to-stone impact, my beautiful sister-in-law, Francesca, floated over on a diamond/Bulgari cloud and offered my angelic warrior her clamshell of tiramisu (which was politely declined).

It was an epic mess!

My unexpected benefactress could not have been more gracious, as though losing her lunch (literally) happened every day!

It was mortifying!  And funny!

My kind of party!

Something I never expected!  It just goes to show:  You Always Need to be Vigilant!

Did I repeat the mistake of the mythical Icarus?  Did I try to fly too close to the sun?

Naaaah!