An Historical Day

The President was actually sworn in yesterday (by law, the Inauguration has to be held on the 20^th) but some sort of ceremony was held today as well, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. This is only the second time in history that has ever happened - the first time was Bill Clinton (often called the "first black President").

The 18^th was an important day in Internet history: One year prior, the SOPA bill was defeated. To celebrate, many people reblogged and retweeted links to MLK, Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Had the bill passed, that would have been illegal since the speech is protected by copyright.

I have been doing much of nothing lately, largely because I threw my back out by sleeping on the floor. My neck had been bothering me and sleeping on the floor will sometimes clear it up. But when I got up, I couldn't even look down without my back locking up, pain shooting all the way down to my heels. This has happened before but it usually goes away within a day or two. This time though, it has persisted for going on a week now.

I spent the time watching a lot of TV. I got caught-up on a lot of current shows, and also watched a bunch of documentaries and a handful of movies. One that stood out was Bernie, in which Jack Black actually acts for the first time! I like Jack Black - a lot actually - but he usually plays himself; in Bernie, he adopts the persona of a real man who is a convicted murderer and con man. Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey co-star. Overall, a pretty decent flick.

Another was a horror anthology called V/H/S. There are six stories in the movie and the first one is pretty good. The others I kind of dozed through but there is one about halfway through (the third or maybe fourth selection) that absolutely pwns! It's about a mad slasher with a new twist. It's brutal as shit and is the first thing I've seen in years that actually scared me. It got so deep in my head that I had to watch it a few more times. It is entitled The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Young.

Apparently, V/H/S was well-received upon release and has some measure of Internet popularity, though the leading review on IMdB pans it. It's definitely worth watching, though this short in particular stands out.

I'll try to post more often in the coming year but I am trying to move into other, larger projects. I was trying to put together a podcast but it never really gelled so I don't know if I'm going to mess with it or not. A friend is an award-winning filmmaker and he and I were talking about doing something but we haven't settled on anything certain just yet. I am also writing some things I hope to publish in more traditional mediums someday. The point is that I do not have as much time as I used to but I will keep posting. And thanks for reading!

© C Harris Lynn, 2012