Who Is Your Favorite Horror Film Villian?

In honor of Halloween, I decided to take a little break from our normal talk and ask you who your favorite horror film villian is.  I'm sure I could stretch this on to include dozens upon dozens of baddies, but here are some of my favorite picks.

Keep in mind, I grew up in the late 70's and 80's, so mine may be different from yours.  If I grew up in the 50's, I might have Dracula, Wolfman, or the Mummy.

Which ones would you add to this list--an ever-growing list, mind you?

Personal favorite, of course, is Freddy Krueger.  This would be the Robert Englund version.  I haven't seen the new one yet.

A slasher favorite: Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th.  I believe my all-time favorite is the very first movie, where Jason came out of the lake as a little boy in the end--sorry for the spoiler, but heck the movie came out like 30+ years ago!

Of course, Mike Myers of the Halloween movies.

Leatherface--inspired by the gruesome tales of a real life villian: Ed Gein

If you're talking about horror movies, you can't go without mentioning something by Stephen King.  Here is Pennywise from "It"

Pinhead from Clive Barker's Hellraiser.  The true master of baddie dialogue (I don't mean bad dialogue; I mean some fantastic prose that came across his lips).

You thought I forgot about the little evil doll called Chuckie, didn't you?

And, last but certainly far from the least, is the little boy named . . .

Damien.

Who are some of your favorites?

Are You Better Off 4 Years Ago?

This is a question thrown around when people are asked to gauge who to vote for in this year’s Presidential Race. If they say yes, then they’re supposed to vote for Obama. If not, then the vote goes for Romney.

How stupid!

Your life runs its course despite of whoever is in office. The only one to control your life is . . . YOU! You are in control of your life. If you’re not better off, then you’re the one mostly at fault. And it’s about time you do something about it.

Is my life better off 4 years ago (or 8 or 12 or 20) than today? Of course not. But NONE of it has to do with who is sitting in the White House. Even last year when my wife was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and spent the bulk of the year down at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN—in raising three kids, it was a lot like being a single parent, I might add—our life is still much better off. In fact, most of 2011 was pretty much crap for us, but there were lessons to be learned--and learned we did!  Our family is closer. Our debt load has lessened (but not completely, hence the "Please Donate" button along the top of the blog). Our knowledge has increased. Our careers are better. Spiritually we’re better. We are much farther along . . . and, once again, it has nothing to do with the person who holds the title of President of the United States.

My life is all up to me.

So when you’re asked this ridiculous question of whether your life is better off four years ago when compared to today, look to yourself instead of to the President. Now, I understand if you’ve had something bad happen that was beyond your control—Hello! Wife! Leukemia!—and I sympathize . . . but the lesson to be learned from it is how can you turn it around into something positive. Remember the Enron scandal? Many people lost their job and 401(K) fortunes because of it, and it was largely beyond their control—although, it was stupid to hold all of your retirement money in one fund or stock, but that’s a topic for another day. But I've heard several stories of people who started their own business afterwards and are earning more money than when they were at Enron.

Your life is up to one person: you.

What are you doing to make your life better in the next four years?

Or the next twenty?

Or forty?

Through The Outhouse Window Video Blog - Episode #6

Welcome to the 6th episode of my video blog: Through The Outhouse Window.

In this episode, I speak to the spouses and/or the significant others of the artist.  What makes them tick?  How can you handle them?

I even given an example from Stephen King's life.

Happenings In The Outhouse 26-Oct-2012 / Two new blogs and a Preacher

This week I've been working diligently on the final four chapters of Beholder's Eye.  That would be chapters 58-61.  There is also an Afterword, as I've previously said, but of the story itself, there are only four left.

Definitely the home stretch.  And it feels great!

Speaking of Beholder's Eye, I started two new blogs earlier this week, dedicated to this thriller and upcoming novels in the series.  They are:

Twin Cities Crime Blogger - a fictional blog based on one of the characters in the novel, Dexter Grant, who at one point was considered a suspect in the serial killings.

Minneapolis VCU - a fictional blog charting the progress of the two main characters, Kolin Raynes and Simon Templeton, who are investigators of the Minneapolis PD's Violent Crime Unit (VCU). **Note: as of November 4th, 2012, this blog has been changed - please see the blog post dated 09-Nov-2012 for the updated link**

As I chart my increased progress these last few months, I attribute it to a few factors: first, I am nearing the end, which pushes me to go on with more intensity--it's amazing when I can see the finish line, the more focused and determined I become; second, I have been getting up a bit earlier (around 5am), as I've discovered that working in the mornings have been more productive than at night.  I attribute this to a guy named Eric Thomas AKA the Hip Hop Preacher.  He has an inspirational story he tells about a guy who wants to be successful and asks a guru for the secret--a secret that can be boiled down into this one phrase:

"When you want to succeed as bad as

you want to breathe, then you will be

successful."

 

I subscribe to ET's YouTube videos and also have his app on my Android phone.  This week he posted a video regarding procrastination and driving yourself to finish what you said you were going to finish.  Enjoy!

 

 

What Lens Are You Looking Through?

Are you a solid Republican?

Or a staunch Democrat?

Are your beliefs rooted deeply within these two camps, albeit camps that seem to blend at times, and you will fight anyone who tells you differently?

Perhaps you're a Libertarian?

A Green supporter?

A Tea Party activist?

A middle of the road Independent?

And the list goes on and on . . .

(I'm still waiting for the Zombie or Vampire Party, but that's a discussion for another day--please no Sparkling Vampire Party!)

Is the political lens you look through blinding you from looking at other candidates in a more "let's at least hear this guy/gal out"?

Is your candidate so above doing anything wrong, that no matter what they say or do, you forgive them?

Imagine your candidate killing someone close to you--would you hold them as accountable as if it was the other candidate?

Here's a question I would love answered, in an honest way: would the media and liberals out there have treated Sarah Palin the same way if she were a Democrat?

Or, here's one for the other side: would the right-wing have treated Hillary Clinton the same way if she were a Republican?

How are you looking through your political lens?  What value system are you using?

My One And Only Chance . . . Over And Over Again

Let me be honest right upfront: I do not avidly watch any reality shows or reality-competition shows on TV—what the heck, I’m usually writing! The key word, of course, is avidly. I have watched these shows from time to time, simply for the inspiration of someone taking a shot at stardom—this is more for shows like American Idol or The Voice, or even Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, than The Kardashian’s or Jersey Shore. These latter shows I do not watch. At all.

What’s disheartening when I watch these competitions—you may argue that these are staged, and I won’t argue one way or the other on that—is when you get some young person (it’s usually a young person, in their teens or early 20’s) and they say, “This is my one and only shot to become famous!” What total crap! Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 times before he found the correct formula for the incandescent light bulb.

Very few people have a “one and only chance” at achieving their dreams--meaning, just one single opportunity and if it goes south, that's it. Those who have said this either failed the first time or didn’t even try at all.

What are you waiting for? Take a shot at achieving your dreams. And if you failed, try again.

And again.

And again.

Think Edison.

 

New Profile Pic?

As this blog is called "Views From The Outhouse" I've wanted to update my profile picture to include myself in . . . well, an outhouse.

I put out a local shout-out for anyone with an outhouse, but no one had one.  My ideal one would be the type with the quarter-moon in it.

My parents, on the other hand, came up with a temporary solution--they own a small cabin in the woods, which they bought about two years ago, and it indeed has an outhouse on the property.  Until I find my outhouse with the quarter-moon, I took these two pictures of the outhouse--without me, for now.  If you could be so kind as to comment below or e-mail me at phazerpub@yahoo.com on which profile works better in your opinion.

I have already updated the profile pic to include the one with the open door, but I don't want that to sway your opinion.

The top one (closed door) hasn't been cropped yet, so I'd do that before I post it on the profile if that's the one that seems to work out best.

Thanks, everyone, for your help.  It is greatly appreciated.