"You're so confirming, Randy. You are the most normal person on campus."
--A person who shall remain anonymous unless he or she decides to reveal himself or herself
Are you familiar with James Frey? He's that author of A Million Little Pieces, a "true" story about Frey's experiences as an addict. It's recently been revealed that Frey embellished his story to make it more interesting/exciting.
This revelation upset a large number of people, the most famous of which being Oprah. Some of the less famous readers are showing their anger in a typical fashion. They are suing for their "lost time."
They are trying to sue an author for "lost time." Let that sink in a bit.
Can you imagine being able to sue publishing houses or movie studios for "lost time"? Think of the horrid books you've read or movies you've seen which you think were misrepresented. Any book or movie that you've ever felt was a waste of time could potentially fall under that category. I can't help but wonder how many lawsuits would be flung about if this one actually succeeded.
Of course, law experts doubt this lawsuit will go far. Still, I wonder what it would be like to get reimbursed after reading/watching absolute crap.
I found something surprising in my mail today. Along with the latest issue of The YellowJacket and the junk from Student Foundation about flowers, I found a letter from Amnesty International.
The letter, naturally, was a plea for a donation. It summarized the driving force behind the organization, and it contained quotes from a couple of people that the organization has helped. According to its website, "Amnesty International undertakes research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights." Because I support that goal, I will likely send a donation.
That isn't why I'm writing this, though.
What I find fascinating is that I received a letter from Amnesty International. I am intrigued by this because, as far as I know, I have never donated money to any charity (or other) organization connected with them. Why would they ask me for money?
Do they just randomly send out letters across the country and hope for a response? If they do, that seems awfully inefficient. I would hate for my donation to be used to pay for more letters that would ask for more money.
If it isn't random, how did they come across my name and address?
Yesterday evening I purchased The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection. Later that night, I watched the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. Five movies later (I skipped the second one because it is the worst of the series in my opinion) and I am writing this before I go to sleep.
The Nightmare series, starring the infamous Freddy Krueger, will always hold a special place in my heart. The third installment of the series, Dream Warriors, served as my introduction to the horror genre. I don't remember how old I was at the time (probably somewhere around 10-12), but I remember my father watching it one weekend night and inviting me to watch it with him. Shortly after that night, I devoured the series. Every time I had a chance to rent a movie, which was rather frequently, I would grab a new Nightmare.
When I finished with the series, I moved on to Friday the 13th and all of its sequels. Following that series, I grabbed the Halloween movies. After that, I just sort of grabbed random horror movies that looked appealing. This was how I found George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and other zombie movies.
Were any of these movies of great quality? Of course not. They are horror movies. It's hard to find any horror movie that isn't campy in some way or another. That is part of what makes them so much fun.
This horror background also allowed me to enjoy Scream and Shaun of the Dead much more than some others. The latter is a movie I definitely must own.
Anyway, the point of this is to say that I will most likely try to force some people to watch the original Nightmare this semester. If I ever purchase the Friday the 13th collection, I'm sure I'll do the same for its original.