You know those times you’re driving on a bumpy road and you just jam on the gas to try to make those bumps disappear?  That’s how I felt watching THE CRAZIES.

It moved so fast for me that if there were typical horror movie plot holes, I didn’t sense them.

It’s a survivalist movie set in a small Iowa town.  People are literally going crazy.  In the eyes.  In the brain.  In their pitchfork wielding hands.

Tim Olyphant plays the sheriff of crazy town.  He begins by protecting the town.  But that quickly turns into concentrating on keeping his pregnant wife alive.  He and a group of survivors work their way through crazyville hiding from insane townsfolk (there are many), wacky red-neck hunters (don’t need to be infected to be a crazy), and the military (mostly young kids who are as scared as the uninfected).   Forty-five minutes into the movie, I cared about these survivors.  And as horrible things happen to them, I rooted for them. 

That’s the key to having me love a horror movie.

Olyphant holds this film together.  In other movies he has played madmen or indifferent men or love interests.  I love him any way.  As a hero in this movie suits him very well. He can do so much with a look.  And there’s plenty of things to inspire him to make faces in THE CRAZIES.

This is not a zombie film as some of the trailers make it to be.  Although it does trigger the same gut feeling.  Your loved ones and your neighbors are trying to kill you.

There is lots of gore.  But the scenes of gore are thrown into sequences that are put together very well.  This movie makes a scene of the survivors driving thru a car wash exciting and emotional.

THE CRAZIES is a tight thriller.  I hope people take a chance and see it.  You may cover your face quite a bit.  But you can leave the theatre into the sunlight and say:  So glad I don’t live in Iowa.

Well done gang. I thought this one would be a tough photo to caption, but you all came through with flying colors. Based on a team of experts, ( well, the 5 people I asked here at work) these are our finalists  for this photo:

Gerard took a minimalist approach:

Spring sprung too suddenly for Sara.

 Chris DuPre went musical:

 I told you we were playing too much Stevie Nicks!

 Cheryl apparently works out, and comments from experience?

 Since when did Jazzercize get so scary……

 Our first runner-up who was edged out by one vote, is Jollymon 1

 3 out of 4 women use the NEW Stayfree Thong Maxi Pads with WINGS!

And THIS WEEK’S WINNER, who gets the bobble heads, the Onion Book and a signed Fresh New Music Sampler is…………………… Jackie!

Trudy thought she was just releasing a small bit of gas, but embarrassingly, volume and stench lifted her sisters into the air, knocking them out…  Mom was going to be pissed.

Once again, thanks to all who participated. See ya next week!

Today would have been The Man in Black’s 78th birthday.  Johnny Cash was one of a kind and the movie “Walk the Line” is a fantastic look at this very talented and troubled performer.

However, there’s another movie that takes a rather twisted look at Johnny Cash and a few other musicians as well.   John C. Reilly stars in this film which makes fun of Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson and the Beatles as well as Johnny Cash.  There are some good cameos too.

It didn’t really do well at the box office, but I bet Johnny Cash would have seen this flick he would have liked it.  Here’s a the trailer:

I do believe I’m a horror whore. 

Even though I’m late to see THE WOLFMAN, and have heard some bad stuff about it, I ate it up like a puppy dog.

It had everything I wanted in werewolf movie.  Likeable characters, creepy sets, classic music, blood, and beasts.

Benicio Del Toro plays our hero, Larry Talbot.  He’s returned to the family estate outside of London to attend his brother’s funeral and look into the mystery surrounding his death.  Many think it’s a beast, others a maniac.  Well they’re both correct.  A wolf like creature is haunting the woods every full moon.

Larry’s estranged dad, played by Tony Hopkins, is a mean old coot who doesn’t get too close to anyone.  He is happy to have Larry visiting, but does he have secret motives?  By the constant grimace on his face, I’d say yes.

The movie doesn’t take long to have the beast attack Larry and create our wolfman character.

This is the first werewolf movie to be a direct remake of the 1941 WOLFMAN.  The classic characters return.  But everything else is updated with today’s special effects.

The wolf transformations are lots of fun.  The wolf’s victims are very violent kills.  And the wolf itself is both practical make-up and computer images.  He runs on two legs as well as four.  Love that.

My only criticism of the movie are these computer images.  The wolfman looked great, but why did they computer generate a bear and a stag?  It was very distracting since both animals didn’t do anything special to justify the rendering.  I would think there are plenty of real animals they could have used.  It’s not like they’re working with killer whales.  I may be nitpicking but if it takes me out of the movie, it’s not good. 

Bottom line is it’s hard to not recommend this horror film when I had so much fun watching it.  And I went into THE WOLFMAN really wanting to like it.  Love it when I’m not disappointed.

Just stick to the path and beware the moon.

Today is Wear Black for Cash Day, as we remember Johnny on what would have been his 78th birthday. I got on the Johnny Cash train a little late..I always respected him, but really started delving into his music around 15 years ago. Not only does he have a voice that can chill you to the bone, he wrote some great songs, and his life featured one of the great love stories of all time (he and June were true soulmates).

In the 1970’s, he hosted a variety show that I’m sad to say I wasn’t cool enough to know about at the time. He had great guests, like Neil Young and Bob Dylan, who weren’t what you’d call Nashville regulars. And his guests would always perform LIVE, not lip-synched as was the case on so many variety shows that were on back then. A couple of years ago a DVD set from that show was released, but you can also find many of the performances on youtube. 

Check this one out that features Johnny singing with Joni Mitchell. The song is downright haunting too…be sure to listen to the lyrics.

And just in case you ever thought Johnny Cash took himself too seriously, check him out on Sesame Street. (Watch it ’til the end for an extra chuckle!)

So today I was contacted by a reporter for the Duluth News Tribune over the whole Wilco-likes-Duluth-better thing. She had four questions. Here were my answers:

1. What does it mean to be an honorary citizen of Madison? Can you vote?

No, you can’t vote, but you can pay taxes.

2. Any idea how the resolution will play out?

It will be referred to a dozen committees. Many public hearings will be held. The Marquette Neighborhood Association and Fred Mohs will oppose it. (Sorry. Inside joke here.) I expect final Council approval in August, 2012.

3. There have been hints on line that you don’t know who Jeff Tweedy is. Is there any truth to that?

Thank you so much for allowing me the chance to clear up this scandalous rumor. Of course, everybody knows that Jeff Tweedy is the lead singer for Snow Patrol.

4. Any animosity toward Duluth for initiating this sort of honor before Madison thought of it?

No. Duluth has to have at least one thing on Madison. I guess this is it.

As I left for work yesterday morning- I told my wife that I was going to do one of 4 things after work…

1) Run – either to our house or to her Karate class (about 4-5 miles, either way)

2) Drive to her Karate class & take part in the class – I do that from time to time when they are doing core work…I hate core work, so a class makes it a bit more bearable.

3) Drive to Harbor Athletic and actually force myself to do some strength training…I hate strength training even more than I hate core work.  So I just don’t do it.

4) Drive home and sit on the couch watching TV and drinking a glass of wine.

Before I even finished with the choices, Laura said “strength training…you need to do the strength training.”  That’s how often I DON’T do strength training- my wife is telling me I NEED to do it.

So I settled on (or she settled on) strength training. 

So as I was wrapping up my workday, I asked Sarah- our promotions director and resident strength training expert- what to do.  Sarah put together a nice circuit of exercises for me – describing and demonstrating each one as best she could without weights in front of her.

So I headed to Harbor- a little scrap of paper with Sarah’s notes in hand.  And I found that it’s not nearly as intimidating as I had feared.  Sarah had me starting with some pretty light weights- she figured I could bench-press 40 pounds- and she was right- I may have even been able to do more…but let’s not get too carried away.

So I did Sarah’s circuit (hey, that’s what I’ll call it from now on- “Sarah’s Circuit”) and went out to the loby to sit and wait for my wife to get back from her Karate class.  I sat reading a magazine- my arms shaking from all the work I had just done.  Today I’m sore- but my wife tells me that’s a good thing. 

I think it’s one of those “no pain, no gain” things.

People have been making fun of me these last two weeks because I like figure skating at the Winter Olympics.  Tonight there will be great competition and if you like sports you should be watching.  Seriously.

I’m a big fan of baseball and football and basketball.  Think of a baseball player up to bat in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs.  Think of a quarterback fading back to pass with just a few seconds left in the game.  Think of a basketball player on the free throw line with his team down by a point and no time left on the clock.  That’s what it will be like tonight for the female figure skaters.

These skaters have been practicing for countless hours for years for this moment.  They have about 2 plus minutes to do it right.  Can you imagine working and working and working at something and then it all comes down to you doing that task perfectly one time?

Now imagine right before you have to do it someone else does it before you and they do it perfectly.  Now it’s your turn.  Don’t forget to think about millions of people watching you and your country counting on to win as well.  Did I mention that you’re probably still a teenager?

That’s pressure and that’s what the women figure skaters will be facing tonight.  Not to mention the story of Joannie Rochette.  She’s the Canadian figure skater who’s mother passed away just a few days ago.  The picture in this blog is of her performing the other night.  You can see her heart is breaking, but she managed to perform and is currently in third place.

Sure, Peyton Manning trying to lead his team to victory as they clock is winding down is a lot of pressure, but he has his teammates to help or hurt his cause.  The figure skater stands completely alone.  It’s all on his or her shoulders.

Amazing.

Let the true competition begin.

For the weekend of Feb. 26, 2010—-

Lou and Peter Berryman: Friday night at the Stoughton Opera House, 7:30pm. These beloved songsters will have you laughing and shaking your heads with songs like “When did we have sauerkraut?” and “Walking with Roget.” Never knew there were so many worlds for “walk.” $15.

Sean Michael Dargan CD release party, Saturday at 5pm at the High Noon Saloon. Early show! I’m not sure if he’ll bring the bagpipes along, but he will most likely be wearing a bow tie. Joining Jonathan and Kitty Friday morning for a preview!  The new CD is “Snap Your Fingers and Stomp Your Feet.” $10.

Scrabble Tournament: Starts at noon Saturday at Hilldale. It’s a benefit for Madison Family Literacy.  I’d give it a shot, but would probably get these letters: A A I I O L Q. 

Freaky Band Name of the Week: Enchanted Ape, at the Alchemy Cafe, 10pm Saturday. Roots/jam rock from Minneapolis. Check out the link. Their website is pretty cool..and they don’t sound too bad!  Gypsy Lumberjack opens.  No cover!

The winner of this week’s caption contest gets a whole bunch of groovy prizes.

 First, a collection of Bobbleheads, including Strawbery Shortcake, an autographed copy of a Triple M Fresh New Music Sampler ( with signatures I can’t read ) AND a copy of the Onion’s “ Our Dumb Century”..plus the Life is Good sticker for bragging rights.

Hurry, the caption deadline is Friday at 4 PM.