4th of July 2026: Group Photo

    Happy 4th of July! Let's see what's on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

    Welp, it's not horror movies today. Today I'm going Sci-Fi. The film's title is pretty obvious.

    I want to explain the CD before I get into the film. I've got the Fountains of Wayne's album Utopia Parkway dead center on the shelf because it contains the song "A Fine Day for a Parade." Today Charlotte will be marching with her snare drum as a high school section leader in Urbandale's 4th of July parade. Marching band is a very big deal at our house, and Char cannot wait for today's performance. It's gonna be a hot one, but she's ready. 

    I found the VHS tape on the left at Goodwill last week ($1.40) and the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD on the right at Half Price Books ($1.80 with the teacher discount) on the same day. I'll confess that both were purchased for this display in mind. I had the thought while I was writing this post  Do I have this on Laser Disc? So I looked, and yep, I did indeed buy this sometime in the past on Laser Disc. So, that went on the shelf, too.

    I saw Independence Day when it first opened in theaters 30 years ago. I went with a friend from work. I had a really good time watching this movie, and I wasn't alone. The crowd was also really into it. As the movie was reaching its climax, I turned to my friend and enthusiastically whispered, "Isn't this movie great?" 

    He replied, a bit too loudly, "I don't know... I find this all to be bit too... implausible," and he dismissed the film with a wave of his hand. 

    Several people near us shot him an angry look. Man, was I ever embarrassed. Then a guy three rows behind us yelled, "Shut up... NERD!" Several peopled laughed.

    My friend sank low into his seat in response. 

    Did I feel bad for him? A little. 

    Did I agree with the guy three rows back? A lot. 

    Hope you have a great 4th!

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #31

 October 31: Halloween's back, baby!

    From left to right: Betamax tape, VCR tape, Criterion Collection LaserDisc, DVD, novelization paperback. 

    Yay! I made it. 31 displays in 31 days. I haven't blogged in awhile, and I was feeling rusty. It's been nice to brush off the cobwebs. 

    That was fun, but not as much fun as this: 

    I moved here in August of 1992, and for the past 33 years my favorite holiday has been anticlimactic. The calendar would flip to October 31, but trick-or-treating was already over. Boo. That's not a scary Boo, but a sad one.

    Last year severe storms were predicted for Oct 30, so many towns in the area pushed "Beggars' Night" to the 31st, and guess what? Nothing bad happened. At least that what I was told. We had parent-teacher conferences that night, and I didn't get to hand out candy on Halloween night, again. I had my Flix Brewhouse employee costume all ready to go, and I didn't even get to wear it.

    That's another sad Boo. 

    But this year is different! After a survey was taken by Des Moines city residents, the Des Moines City Council voted last March to permanently move trick-or-treating to the 31st of October. Many local cities, like ours, made that move, too.

    I actually stopped my car and got out to take this picture. Yay!

    I'm not gonna lie. The name "Beggars' Night" has always rubbed me wrong. I'm so glad that tradition has been retired. 

    Our tradition, since 2018, is to project a Halloween family film on the garage door and hand out bags of popcorn and packages of M&M's. That combo is our favorite movie snack.

    I'm leaning towards showing Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo, but I know for sure what I'm wearing tonight.

    As the kids say, "Rate the fit."

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #16

 October 16

    Sometimes They Come Back (on LaserDisc) is a 1991 TV movie. Its plot is based a Stephen King short story from the book Night Shift. In the film, Tim Matheson plays a newly hired English teacher who has a class of seniors that become so wild that he loses his temper on his first day. 

    I can relate. 

    The first class I ever "taught" was Journalism One. The room was full of seniors who were expecting a different teacher (I was hired on August 24), and they became hostile when I wouldn't let them leave to go get breakfast. To make things worse, I had under-prepared my first lesson, and they had too much downtime. Soon they were loudly laughing, swearing, and shouting across the room at each other and also completely ignoring my pleas to quiet down. I eventually pulled an elementary teacher's trick and turned all the lights off to get their attention. I honestly was afraid that my principal was going to walk in and fire me on the spot. What a terrible experience.

    When the bell finally rang, I went next door to the boy's bathroom. I looked around to make sure that I was alone, and then I clenched my teeth and side kicked the metal wall of the stall as hard as I could. 

    The dent was there until the school was torn down 14 years later.