Category Archives: Personal Heroes

Bruce Willis, A Tribute

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“I wake up laughing every day. I get a kick out of life.”

Bruce Willis

I recently heard the news that Bruce Willis is stepping away from acting due to illness. He now suffers from Aphasia. Aphasia is a disease that affects a person’s ability to speak and understand language. 

This news makes me sad. I am a big fan of Bruce Willis. I have been a fan of Bruce Willis since I first saw him in Moonlighting in 1985. He is one of the greatest comedic actors and action heroes of our time. He is funny, can sing, and does many of his own stunts. He is the total package acting-wise. I will miss seeing him on the big screen.

Here are a few of the trailers of my favorite Bruce Willis’ films:

DieHard

Hudson Hawk

The Jackel

RED

RED 2

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

A Circus Every Saturday Night

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“Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the circus at the end of the world! Tonight, for your pleasure, we will laugh, and cry, and dance, and sing, but don’t worry! None of it means a thing!”

The Circus At the End of the World – Abney Park

I sit in my living room in my comfy chair watching Revenge Of The Creature (1955) as I write this. Am I watching TCM or FXM? Nope. I’m watching Svengoolie.

So what is Svengoolie? Svengoolie is a horror host. More specifically, he is a character on a TV show that shows classic (and not so classic) horror and science fiction movies. The show, of the same name, is currently aired nationally on MeTV and locally in the Chicago area

What is a horror host? Well, a horror host is a TV personality that hosts horror movies. They usually introduce the film then break-in before or after the commercial breaks and give you info on the film or make fun of it or both. Other examples of horror hosts are Elvira and Joe Bob Briggs.

I’ve loved horror hosts and classic horror films since I was a child. I watched many classic horror and science fiction films on the Vegas Vampire’s show growing up. I still love horror hosts and the classics of horror and science fiction. Hence watching Svengoolie every week.

I could type all night about classic horror films and horror hosts, but instead, I’ll point you at good sources for information on the topic horror hosts:

And finally, I’ll leave you with the Trailer for American Scary:

Personal Heroes: Scott Sigler

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I have been meaning to write a series, or at least start writing, a series of posts about my personal heroes. This idea really took root after I had gone to my second Scott Sigler book signing. The one for the release of Ancestor in hard cover. (I should have gone to the bar afterward. I am still kicking myself about that.) But I put it off. Well, here it is, or a least the first post in the series. There will be more. There are a handful of people living, dead, and otherwise that I admire greatly. It is my goal in the this series of articles to talk about each one of them, and what about them inspires me. Since I was inspired to start this series by Scott Sigler, he has the honor of being the first person I write about.

Scott Sigler is a personal hero of mine. He has managed to, thought hard work and perseverance, achieve his dream of being a full-time writer. He did this by giving away his work for free in podcast form as he went, building an audience. And he did this by writing and publishing kick-ass stories.

He is the New York Time’s best selling author of Earth Core, Ancestor, Infected, The Rookie, Nocturnal, Contagious, and The Starter. He is also the author of many short stories, and he collaborated on many stories with other authors for The Crypt. He also does a regular blog/column for AMC on horror, Laughing in the Face of Death. (I’m sure there are other things I am missing as well.)

I admire Scott not only because he writes great stories and has achieved his dream, but because he has a clear focus on what he wants to do and he genuinely likes and cares about his fans.

I am not good with focus, I admit. That has allowed me to do a lot of different stuff (and I enjoyed all those experiences), but it has hindered me from really hitting my big goals. (I don’t consider this a weakness.) I am very impressed with the fact that Scott saw what he wanted to do and focused on it, and he found ways around the obstacles put before him while maintaining his principles.

In the interest in not coming across as a total fan boy. I don’t agree with Scott on everything. I don’t agree with him about spirituality. And I prefer Bourbon to Scotch. (That can be blamed on Brian Keene, who will also appear in this series of articles.)

Scott has earned all of his current success, and the success that will come in the future for him. I am privilege to be an “original” junkie and to have had the opportunity to meet Scott in person and interview him twice for my podcast Snark Infested Waters.

I raise my glass in a toast to Scott Sigler. You are one of my personal heroes. Thank you for all you do, have done, will do, and the inspiration you are.