Stephen King Horror

 

    Some people are considered great story tellers.... while others tell tales that give nightmares from the book to the movie.

     Stephen King is a kind of Horror author that is one of them. From his book series to novellas and much more, Stephen King has been scaring everyone ever since the 70's. Fifty years later, he's still at it.

       

   Stephen King was born on September 21st, 1947. With his birthday just around the corner, I want to talk about his life as well as his stories that changed many people from actors that portrayed his characters to people who read over 600 pgs. of his stories.

   Stephen King has written over two hundred short stories and over hundreds of Novellas.

 

    Most of his stories he has written became movies or TV Miniseries. Starting out with Carrie and giving us movies like: "Shawshank Redemption" (which is one of my favorites), "It" "Misery", "The Stand', "The Mist", "Dreamcatcher" and so much more.

    Besides Shawshank Redemption, another one of my favorites was "Stand by Me" which had a young Wil Wheaton portraying a young boy who lost his brother and hangs out with three other guys.

   They find...a dead body.

    In 1999, Stephen King's life was almost cut short when he ended up in an accident that broke his leg and injured his ribs. The guy driving did not see him walking in the dark and ended up arrested. Stephen decided to drop the charges.

    He came up with 'Dreamcatcher' right after that accident and it shows with the movie that came out afterwards.

   Most of his stories are not considered well adapted into a miniseries depending on what it is. With Langeliers, Golden Years, Tommyknockers and much more.... you might get an 'egh' kind of performance.

   It's not because of the actors or the story...it's just a lack of interest involving the direction it took.

   Some of them, like 'The Stand', which took six hours and four episodes, it worked. The acting, the story itself, the 1994 version was well liked.

 

 

   Stanley Kubrick, God rest his soul, did his own version of Stephen King's Shining. Staring the late Shelly Duvall and Jack Nicholson. Stephen...despised this movie and decided to create his own version which is longer and pointless.

   He also likes to guest star in almost every movie or miniseries based on his book.

   I loved this version of the Shining and wasn't a fan of his.

     Recently, during COVID, they decided to update "The Stand' with different actors and making it longer. What do I think about this? "Egh', Never seeing either version, I felt the original might be the superior one.

    They have good actors like Bill Sarskgard portraying the evil Randall Flagg and Whoppi Goldberg portraying Mother Abigail.

   When it comes to Activism and politics, there is one book Stephen King regrets writing. It involves a student that holds up a classroom with a gun and killing people.

    After the Sandy Hook tragedy, Stephen King swore that he would never make a miniseries or movie out of that was titled "Charlie"

    He is anit-Trump (thank God) and considers him the source of evil.

   When it comes to his book "The Stand", it is over 1,000 pgs. long and thinks if Trump wins in November... 'The Stand' would become a reality.

    He has other books that are pretty long. Some over 700pg. The book 'It', about a killer clown in Maine, is also over 1,000, has two versions of its story. First, a miniseries in the nineties that was over three hours long.

   The new version, 'It one' and "It two' were pretty long as well, one of them, the second one, is over four hours. What did I think about it? The miniseries was hit and miss while the two movies were ok.

   Today, Stephen King is still writing some short stories and Novellas with the help of his son Joe Hill. He also has another son named Owen, but it seems Joe is the one with the writing bug in the family.

     Stephen King is still active with certain views considering politics and gun violence today has he has before. It seems some of his new works might become movies for future generations to enjoy and be frightened of.

                                

Hardy Boys vs Nancy Drew

 

 

   There are many young adult novels out there, and there are some that involve detective. Sherlock Holmes being one of them, but I wanna talk about another set of detectives. How they are similar and differ from each other. One of them is a pair of teenage boys that are brothers; and another involves a teenage girl.

      They are... the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

  I never got into the Hardy Boys since it was my father's generation. I feel Hardy Boys was more a story for boys while Nancy Drew was meant for girls. They have similarities like they both have a father figure and no mother.

    Another thing that is similar....is the author. There is no Franklin W. Dixon or Carolyn Keene. They are just names created by a team of ghostwriters that are from the same company as one another.

   Nancy Drew has a similarity to the Hardy Boys. Although she tries to solve mysteries that involve her best friend and not sibling. Sometimes a mystery would involve a disappearance (mostly of her father), hidden stolen money, bank robbery.... somewhat the same things the Hardy Boys would go through.

     Like the Hardy boys, Nancy Drew would have chapter books full of mysteries. I never got into them, but I have seen adaptations of the books.

   I had recently been watching a 70's tv show that was into the hole spy genera. They decided to team up the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew together. Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy would be Frank and Joe Hardy.

   I forgot who portrayed Nancy Drew, but it was an ok show. I got into it, watched a few episodes and realized how cheesy it was. I guess that was the 70's

  Eventually, both Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew would come to tv and movie screens. Nancy Drew was portrayed by Emma Roberts. Not knowing this movie well, it seemed to be ok. Not great.... but passible as Emma portrays Nancy Drew.

   I guess they have to solve a mystery of a death of a certain movie star brings Nancy back to her crime solving ways.

   The Hardy Boys didn't have much of a movie like Nancy Drew did. But they had a short-lived series on Hulu.

    No, I did not see it so I can't explain about it as much as I would love to. I guess it's similar to the seventy's version, but with a Gen Z/Gen Alpha twist. Having more gadgets and stuff to help solve mysteries even faster than the 70's version could.

   One more movie that Nancy Drew did was in 2019 with Sophia Lillis as Nancy Drew. This movie I remember more. Yes, it did have technology, but it did have a good story. Nancy and her father moved closer to her aunt after her mom's death.

    She soon discovers a mysterious house that belongs to Linda Lavin (long story) and tries to keep herself out of trouble but befriends someone who her real friends can't stand. Her father goes missing and it seems it involves a hidden staircase in Linda Lavin's house.

   It was ok. I enjoyed the movie, and I would say...it does follow the Nancy Drew formula.

   So....which one is better? Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys? Both have the same style kids just solving mysteries. Having ghostwriters for authors and I feel both of them have an interesting style which involves solving a case.

    In my opinion...they're the both the same and both the old tv show and Nancy Drew movie (2019) are my favorites although both of them are hit and miss. The books are still around and are famous to fans of this kind of genera like my father and I. Enjoy the book version, you won't disappointed.

9/11 it still hurts

 

It still hurts,

23 years later,

and I feel,

no longer safe

Once stood two towers,

in New York City,

Now,

a hole,

full of darkness,

and memories

I was a junor,

in high school,

tv turned on,

our class,

the first to notice,

the towers,

on screen,

and in danger

screams and sadness,

people wondering,

why us,

as I just stared,

and another plane hits

People running for their lives,

as we,

watch in horror,

school ended,

after second period,

and hell,

happened in NYC,

not just there,

but America as well

I lost someone,

that I never met,

he was never found,

and we assumed,

he didn't survive,

23 years later,

the pain will never,

go away

for people that lost another,

in this tragedy,

it still stays with them,

until they meet,

the ones,

they lost,

remember 

what happened,

when the towers fell

23 years later,

it still hurts,

brand new holiday created,

but for a tragic event,

not only did we lose many people,

we also lost

hope,

peace,

and safety

We are stronger than ever,

even now,

although we've been through much,

this is part of history,

that never be erased,

a nightmare,

that stays,

every year,

and now... all we can do,

is,

never forget,

that tragic day

Cell phones of the centuries

 

   Everyone has one, even people that don't know how to use them. We even have taken them for granted not knowing back when I was a kid in middle school, cell phones were unheard of. Now....no one can live without their cell phone. What was the first cell phone ever used? When did they become smarter, and will they replace us in the near future? Well....who knows.

  The first cell phone (or mobile phone) was a brick. You couldn't even fit it in your pocket let alone your briefcase.

   It was clunky and expensive as we wondered who in the world could afford this. We haven't realized how innovative they would become in the near future. Martin Cooper, one of the first inventors of the Motorolla Cell phone was the first to make a call on the first ever handheld phone. 

    Around the 80s and 90s cell phones were still clunky but starting to get smaller with each year. However, most of them would have wires and attached cord. Some would end up being car cell phones and only used in emergencies. 

   In movies and tv, they looked bulky with someone like Christian Bale holding it while taking a call.

  TV shows like Saved by the Bell and Full House would show a character holding a brick size phone and that was in the 80s.

   In the 90's you could see some of the cell phones people used getting smaller and having classic ring tones that are burned into my memory. 

  Before you knew it, flip phones started to show up. It was small enough to fit in your pocket so you wouldn't have to carry that bulky brick around. They were expensive and still have the functions our phones have today. 

   Soon, around the late 90's some started to show a screen, and you can take photos with it. They wouldn't be great photos and well... soon there would something that would change the way we saw phones in the future.

  My first cell phone I had was a Blackberry. They were interesting phones when I was in high school. Having a keypad so you can text which was a new thing that was popular when I was a kid.

   They soon went out of style when people realized how addictive and useless the Blackberry was. You couldn't get on the internet or even take a good photo, which I rarely did. Plus, they would take over your life like the computer game SIMS did to me.

   God rest his soul; Steve Jobs created a cell phone that would change how everyone looked at a cell phone today. It was called the iPhone. Did I have one? No, I never was into those cell phones. I don't know why, but I was happy with a cell phone I had.

   We are an android family. Which is SAMSUNG and other stuff. 

  Cellphones back in the 2000's had replaced the bulky heavy cell phones back when they became popular. 

  They were small, you could fold them, the screen wasn't too huge, and you could start using it for internet, but it wasn't strong until the iPhone revolutionized all cell phones of the future.

  Today, the term cell or mobile phone is no longer used. The tern is now 'Smart' phone. A phone that is rarely used as a cell phone.

  People go on-line, text, face time, take pictures, use apps and even do TikTok dances. Oh how times have changed. 

  Cell phones are becoming smarter within each year. I have a SAMSUNG phone that is over four years old and might need an update in the future. 

 

   Everyone has a preference on what is the best in cell phones. For me, I'm fine with SAMSUNG while others prefer iPhones. Most cell phone companies are trying to update almost every six months bringing out a new cell phone.

   What will amaze me is.... what will replace the Smartphone in the near future? Only time will tell.