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Friday, November 21, 2008

Michigan Native Gone Hollywood!

Bruce Campbell opens 'My Name is Bruce' at the Main Art Theatre.

Just mention the "Evil Dead" movie series and listen to Bruce Campbell's dedicated fans praise his trilogy: "Army of Darkness," "Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2."

Campbell, a Royal Oak native who went Hollywood, has scores of movie, B-movie and television credits to his name. He's also written two NY Times bestsellers with humorous book titles that say it all about this actor who is unafraid to go for the joke. His memoir is "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor" and his novel is titled "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way."

And now, Campbell directs and stars in his newest over-the-top venture, "My Name is Bruce," a feature movie which opens at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak tonight.

"My Name is Bruce" revisits a few of the themes and conflicts from his roles as B-movie heroes in epic thrillers beset with demons and dark alleys. The narrative style is similar to another favorite where he stars as an aging but still-alive Elvis Presley in an old folks' home, "Bubba Ho-Tep."

While on tour in 22 U.S. cities promoting his newest film, the actor is getting tons of applause and appreciation from his fans.

"My Name is Bruce" is made for his fans, he said, rich with all the double takes and deep voice-overs that ring with a little truth. The film enjoys making parody of the characters' names and scenes, the stuff that makes a great B movie.

This time Campbell has creative control as well as responsibility for the entire project, and has been hearing good reports from his fans and critics.

"As director, I sat with all the film editors and technicians deciding which scenes would stay or go," he said. "I didn't get into the bus to not be creative. As an actor, sometimes you watch your best-acted scenes end up on the cutting room floor. Here, I got to pick my own takes."

"My Name is Bruce" is produced by Mike Richardson and written by Mark Verheiden, with the score by Joseph LoDuca. Dark Horse Indie CEO/producer Richardson is of "Hellboy," "Time Cop," and "The Mask" fame. Verheiden also wrote "The Mask," and for "Battlestar Gallactica."

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Reading Online!

Has anyone noticed the ever-growing amount of publishers who are printing e-books now? My dad read an article the other day that predicted most major cities will get rid of their print newspapers within the next 12 - 18 months and move over to online editions. What is your take on this? Would you prefer to read a book or a newspaper online, or do you like the traditional print editions?

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Are You Considerate?

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Sunday, November 9, 2008

What's Your Inner Animal?










My Result:
Water Dragon
Animal: Water Dragon. Name: Ayame. Personality: You’re a majestic person who prefers being alone then with people. You don’t really care about those around you, but if you see someone hurt you won’t just leave them there. The reasons you like being alone is because people don’t understand you and your way of living. Your different and some people have made fun of you for it. Wish: Your wish is to find that one person who you know is out there, that will understand you and who will accept the fact that your different. Friends: You don’t have friends, if you do there usually people who have just come and gone. You have made a few enemies here and there, but nothing to bad. You go from people to people, yet your still looking for that perfect someone. Color: You like glassy colors. Like water blue and leaf green. Stone: Aquamarine. Hobbies: You should take walks or go swimming. Things that make you get out of the house and meet people. I know it’s hard finding the right people to talk to, but one day you’ll find the right person. Quote: “I’d much rather be hated for who I am, then loved for who I’m not.” –Quote I read somewhere. “"True beauty shines from the soul and warms the world with its kindness, compassion, and integrity." –Another found quote. I can’t think of any for this one…

America, The Humble!

Well, it’s finally happened. I never thought I would live to see this day come, but sadly, I watched America make the biggest mistake of the century the other day. They voted for a black person who doesn’t even sound like he’s from the United States to run our country; as if our country doesn’t have enough problems already. And worst of all, they seem to be praising him as if he were some prophet come to save them. Beware of false prophets – remember that warning? This is just the beginning, the beginning of the end to America as we know it. By electing this man, the value of our country spiraled downward. Did you know that gun sales rose tremendously when it looked like he was going to win? But it’s not why you think. No, people rushed out to get those guns because they fear the Dems would pass more stricter gun laws. The Catholic church expressed sadness once the election had passed. After all, we did just elect a man who’s for murdering unborn children, and apparently, we passed a proposal that gives scientists the legal right to kill human embryos. What has this country come to? And in case you haven’t heard, life just got harder for people wanting to start up their own business. Thank you, America, for pushing the knife in deeper. What would we do without democracy and the right to vote? Think about what you have done and we’ll see what sorry state the U.S. will be in four years from now.

Everyone wanted the Democrats to run the government because God forbid, another war-mongering Bush get into the White House. Maybe Bush lied, maybe he was just misinformed. Maybe he wanted a war, maybe he was just doing his best to avenge those thousands of Americans that died on our soil by terrorists that we let in. Maybe he wasn’t the best choice for president, maybe he was only trying his hardest considering one year after he took office, the bloodiest rampage happened in our country. What would you have done if someone had come into your home and murdered all those innocent people? How can anyone have thought any differently back then? Yes, he could have stopped it, though, could have brought our boys home sooner, but have any of you run a country? Is it really that simple to just pull all troops out of there and let chaos reign again? If you haven’t run a country, then don’t bothering trying to answer that question either because I’ve probably heard it all.

So, it’s up to the Democrats. It’s funny how people forget Clinton’s scandal, or the criminal doings of ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, or of how Michigan’s economy is worse since Granholm took office. Funny how people rushed out to put the Democrats into power and overlooked all these “bad” things.

Four more years of Bush, as Obama ads put it. Bush, who might have lied and didn’t bring our boys home when we asked. Or four years of Democrats in power. Democrats who’s previous records include criminal doings. Hmm. Should have been a no-brainer there. It’s too bad America was blind-sided by the Democrat cult.

To this day, I can’t believe it happened, and I just keep thinking, “what have we done?” Remember Martin Luther King’s great “I have a dream” speech? That’s all equality will ever be – a dream. Men and women will never be treated as equals; blacks and whites will never be treated as equals; straight and gay people will never be treated as equals; etc. Equality, just like everything, begins at home. It won’t change just because a black person became president here. It only makes life scarier.

So, America, what have we done?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Imitating Art?

They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, but how much is too much? Would you feel flattered if someone started to copy you and attempt to do the things you are good at? What if they wanted to take credit for your work, or try to do "your" things because they think they are better than you?

Would you feel the same way if it was a total stranger imitating you than if it was a family member or friend?


How would you feel if you got the feeling that this person somehow wanted to be you?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Activation Required!

Okay, so I've received brand new credit cards in the mail recently. However, since I'm somewhat lazy and hate to pick up a phone (give me a computer any day), I let my new cards pile up and wait until the last moment possible before calling in their activations.

I mean, who has the time to sit and wait while your card is being activated while the voice on the phone drones on and on with one offer after another? People are in a hurry these days, folks, and does anyone actually buy what they are offering?

But that's the least of my worries. One of my biggest faults is I hate to TALK on the phone. Automated phone activation is okay, I guess, but I attempted to call and activate several cards I have sitting here. And my worst nightmares came true. After inputting my card numbers, I waited while the phone computer retrieved my account information. Then it happened! Instead of activating my cards, I was put through to the customer service department and put on hold until an available customer service rep could help me. Egads! Now I would have to talk to a real live person? I'd rather get a root canal...

And by the way, has anyone noticed the rash of accented individuals who man those customer service lines these days? Not only would I have to talk to a person, but I would have to hire a translator to understand what they were asking me. I'm sorry, but if I have to push '1' for English, I would expect to get a rep who's fluent in English, that's all I have to say.

I was impressed one time when I was able to activate one of my cards online. Now there's a company who's entered into the 21st century.

So I'm in a dilemma now. Either I have to stop using credit cards or bite the bullet and pick up a phone to activate them. Could activations become any more complicated?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Exercise: The Inheritance!

You have just inherited $100,000. How you got it is of no consequence. Just be glad it came to you.

You have always wanted to start your own business and now that you have a little capital, it's time to get started. Tell us all about the business you will open. How are you going to start it, what will you do first, how do you propose to get customers (buy them, threaten them, market to them, etc.)?

Be as creative as possible. Go beyond the extreme. Call upon your imagination for this. Don't give us the boring "I started a business and advertised and they came."

Perhaps you were ruthless and bought someone out, or paid someone hush money, or bribed some county officials to help you. Perhaps you started a telethon to raise funds for your charitable business. Perhaps you bought a blimp and sailed around the country peddling your services. The sky is the limit here.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Black Sweater Party

Okay, so on Saturday night at Penguicon we decided to check out the Black Sweater Party, which was participation in a hands-on SWAT team building. This was a blast as well. A Fallujah Marine came in and helped us. We spent two and a half hours of training on two-man and four-man team room clearing. Then we even got to throw mock flash bangs. We were shown the correct way to handle our guns, how to throw the flash bangs so they don't bounce back at us, and the proper way to enter and clear a room. They even trained us on four-person teams walking up and down stairs. It was a grueling two and a half hours.

Then it came time to put our training to use. Intelligence informed us that terrorists had taken over the second and third floor of the hotel we were in. It was our job to take them out without disturbing the hotel guests.

So we split our large group up into groups of four. I believe we had about three teams of four on each floor. My group was the last group to enter the second floor. It should have been a piece of cake considering two other teams had cleared the floor before we arrived.

However, that wasn't the case. Our team of four was taken out by the enemy behind us in a matter of moments. Two and a half hours of training and only five minutes in the field.

But it was fun. And in the end, the counter terrorists DID win. I can't wait to get back into the action next year.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

The Survival Game

Penguicon was this weekend and one of my favorite things to do there was to take a survival course on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. It was really interesting and prepared me for the worst. Some of the highlighted tips were:

* If it ambles along and has inarticulate speech, it's most likely a zombie.
* If it's a zombie, shoot it.
* If you aren't sure if it's a zombie, shoot it anyway. If it doesn't get back up right away, it was probably human. In this case, a whispered note of apology is necessary; however, most likely the wounded victim or dead human will now rise as the walking dead. Shoot it again!

And the best tip of all they gave us was:

* You don't have to outrun the zombies, you just have to outrun all your friends.

For more information on this very real threat, visit http://www.zombiehunters.org .

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!

If you just found out you had one month to live, what would you do?