THE WALKING DEAD tonight made Chris go freaking bonkers!!!

For the record, that was the MOST intense scene that I have personally witnessed from any television drama. If you saw it then you know what I'm talking about even if I don't say it: the walker down the well at Hershel's farm and how the gang uses Glenn as, ummm... bait.

No kidding: I was screaming HARD and grabbing the sides of my head during that part. Kristen was hollerin' loud too! That was definitely one of the best filmed and edited sequences that I've seen in a very long time.

The Walking Dead has been consistently raising the bar with each passing week and tonight's episode, "Cherokee Rose", upped the ante across the board. Especially watching Shane wrestle with the internalized anguish of the choice he made at the high school in the previous episode. That and the interaction between Rick and Hershel: a character who I am enjoying more and more every time he gets screen time. Sorta reminds me of the "man of science versus man of faith" dynamic that Jack and Locke had on Lost.

And speaking of The Walking Dead, longtime friend and fellow blogger/geek Geoff Gentry directed my attention to the website of Bear McCreary, the composer of The Walking Dead's music. Prior to that he scored Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica series. McCreary maintains a blog on his site in which he discusses his musical work and the process of composing for television, and it's quite a fascinating read! The latest thing he's shared via his site is this very cool video of himself doing an "accordion orchestra" of one of the pieces from Battlestar Galactica. Check it out!

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THE DARK KNIGHT RISES orchestral score needs YOUR voice!

In what has to be one of the coolest efforts at crowdsourcing ever, composer Hans Zimmer has put the word out that he needs our vocal talents for next summer's The Dark Knight Rises: Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film.

Want to contribute? All you gotta do is record yourself repeating the same crazy chant that's been heard in the teaser that came out a few months ago. As Zimmer puts it...

"I'm shining the bat-signal up into the sky to call you all! We need to hear your voices! Now and Loud! We are creating the sound of a worldwide chant. Everyone come and be part of it. It's easy: There is no such thing as out-of-tune, no timing we can't fix later. If you mumble, growl, scream or whisper, it's all good. Make it yours. If you only get halfway through, no problem! Do it alone, bring your friends, but do it with energy and commitment. Let your voice be heard and be a part of our adventure!"

The chant itself is apparently "Deh-shay, deh-shay bah-sah-rah, bah-sah-rah", which means in Moroccan "He rises, he rises!" Go to the project's main site, read and agree to the rules, then start chanting away! Who knows: that could be your voice booming across those IMAX speakers come July!

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Andy Rooney has passed away

Only a month after his final appearance on 60 Minutes, the sad news is coming out this morning that commentator/curmudgeon Andy Rooney has passed away at the age of 92.

Whether you enjoyed his segments or not (and there were more than a few which were downright infuriating) it can't be denied that Rooney was one of the most accomplished performers of the very fine art of satire. The man had a way with taking the routine and miniscule elements of daily life, and turning them into fodder for good laughter... and even serious contemplation. Even if one didn't appreciate his cantankerous style, Rooney was still to be respected for his many years as a broadcast journalist, especially his time as a war correspondent on the front lines of the European theater in World War II.

Thoughts and prayers going out to his family today.

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German public TV airing "Patterns of Force" - AKA the Nazi episode of STAR TREK - for first time tonight

Forty-three years after it first aired on American television in 1968 as part of Star Trek's second season, "Patterns of Force", the episode that had Kirk, Spock and the crew of the Enterprise looking for a Starfleet historian and finding an alien civilization modeled after Nazi Germany instead, will be broadcast for the first time tonight on public television in Germany.

Why hasn't "Patterns of Force" been widely aired (it was made available as a pay-per-view episode previously) until now? The official reason is that later in the episode, the Nazi era is described as "the most efficient society” in Earth's history. But widespread consensus is that the extreme hesitancy regarding "Patterns of Force" mostly has to do with what remains the shocking and startling image of James T. Kirk in an S.S. officer's uniform (along with Spock's similar attire, before being captured and tortured in the only scene in Star Trek history that has Leonard Nimoy without a shirt).

Maybe not as fun a watch as is "A Piece of the Action", the other classic Star Trek episode about cultural contamination. And I remember one of the episode's own creators calling it "pretty hokey" in retrospect. But even so, that "Patterns of Force" (read more about the episode at Memory Alpha) is finally getting serious airtime in Germany is a pretty fascinating thing.

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Airline "security" costs: $85 billion and 900,000 lost jobs

It can safely be said ten years after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration that the federal government's efforts to make air travel "safer" constitute one ginormous cluster%#@&.

Now we have an idea of the economic impact: $85 billion wasted and 900,000 jobs destroyed. From e-Travel Blackboard...

After a decade of enhanced aviation security post 9/11, US Travel Association president Roger Dow is set to testify in a Senate Committee Hearing on 2 November, claiming current security procedures are hampering travel and US economy growth.

According to the US Travel Association, the US economy is missing out on $85 billion in consumer spending and 900,000 jobs because American travelers are avoiding flying due to the “hassles of air travel”.

“A 2010 study…found that American travelers would take an additional two to three flights per year if the hassles in security screening were eliminated,” the US Travel Association said.

“The price of security has come at the cost of efficiency and billions of dollars are being lost every day.”

I'm telling y'all here and now: whoever running for President right now will come out and tell us that the Department of Homeland Security was one of the biggest blunders in the history of anything and that it should be scrapped completely, will go a long LONG ways toward earning my vote a year from now.

(Tip o' the hat to Lee Shelton for directing my attention to this article.)

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Fifteen years ago today, I found God

I'd wondered throughout today if I should make a note of it on the blog. Finally I remembered what The Knight Shift is here for: to chronicle my thoughts and reflections, to document the occasional odd adventure (or misadventure), and more or less journal my growth through life's journey... including (more often than not) the mis-steps.

Well, today is a big deal to me. Especially looking back on those first few years, and then this past year which saw me fall into the darkest valley that I've yet known... before God brought me through and closer to Him than ever before.

I have failed and fallen more times than I would have liked. But all the same: it was fifteen years ago today that I first became a follower of Christ.

Not a "Christian". I've never preferred being "only a Christian". It always had to be about relationship with God for me, instead of mere religion. And thankfully, God put some amazing people into my life at that time, when I was studying at Elon, who demonstrated beautifully that to follow Christ is a relationship not to be entered into lightly... but it is also the most rewarding relationship that I have ever known.

Fifteen years later and I really can see how far He has brought me. Just as I can see that God has been there every step of the way with me.

Chris, Dalerie, Brent, if you happen to read this site: fifteen years later, I haven't forgotten our time together that day. I hope you are all well, and I'm sorry that we all seem to have lost touch. But I am still following Christ, as best I can. I am thankful that He put the three of you there at the start of this journey. I'm still seeking after Him, so very grateful for where He has taken me already and... just excited about where He might yet be taking me!

Fifteen years later and I really can see how far He has brought me... and how much more growing I still have ahead of me.

And that's a good thing :-)

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Meeting Addy Miller AKA the little girl zombie from THE WALKING DEAD

Just over a year ago AMC's hit series The Walking Dead premiered. And in its very first minutes it introduced us to what has since become one of television's most iconic images of horror ever...

The "little girl zombie" that Rick Grimes comes across during his early traipsing across a post-apocalyptic Georgia. A few months ago when the Blu-ray set came out I wrote about how disturbing it was to see that this sweet innocent cherub-turned-flesheater had a mouthful of braces.

Well, this past weekend at Woods of Terror north of Greensboro, we got to meet this young actress! Her name is Addy Miller and in addition to The Walking Dead she's already notched up quite an acting resume already. She'll soon be appearing in Plan 9 (a remake of Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space) and will also be in next year's The Three Stooges biopic.

And here she is with Kristen and me!

Addy autographed a photo for us, writing on it "You're next!"

But I couldn't resist asking her something that had been bugging me since getting the Blu-ray set of Season 1: were those her real braces? Turns out: nope! Addy told us that it was all prosthetics and makeup, that they made molds of her jaws and that was a rotting decaying appliance that we saw instead of her actual teeth. VERY cool!

Addy is a delightful actress and it was very much a pleasure to have the opportunity to meet her. Here's wishing her all the best with her career :-)

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Classic SESAME STREET: It's not HDTV, it's H-TV!

The bloggin' might be sparse the next few days as I am going out of town on a mission of considerable import. So in the meantime...

It occurred to me this afternoon that I haven't posted a vintage Sesame Street clip in a good long while. The ones with Bert and Ernie seem to be especially popular. So here's one from the 1970s (way before the advent of 1080P) which finds Bert plagued with "H" all over his television screen...

I remember this sketch cracking me up bad when I first saw it as a pre-schooler! Thirty years later, it's lost none of its hilarity :-)

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J.R. Hafer delves into aviation history with new blog

Good friend of this blog J.R. Hafer has a keen mind for a vast array of topics: everything from real estate to our mutual admiration of the late Popcorn Sutton! And now J.R. has turned our attention toward another one of his interests: the history of manned aircraft. J.R. Hafer Aviation Blog went live a short time ago and it promises to educate, illuminate and entertain with matters of aviation. Like, I didn't know until today that the world's first scheduled commercial flight was on January 1st 1914, made with a Benoist XIV (right) soaring across Tampa Bay in Florida.

Here's wishing you all the best with your new blog J.R.! Looking forward to seeing what else you're gonna post :-)

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Gotta love cocker spaniels!

Every so often... okay very often, I find myself on YouTube looking at videos of dogs and puppies. And after seeing this one, I couldn't resist sharing. I've had two cocker spaniels in my time and... well my heart just melts at the sight of them.

Anyhoo, this is a clip from a puppy breeder up in Canada, and it has to be one of the sweetest and cutest videos that I've ever found on YouTube. I couldn't resist sharing it :-)

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Halloween 2011: Priceline Negotiators score epic win as William Shatner re-Tweets our costumes!

What a crazy day this has turned into!! A little while ago we were at Woods of Terror in nearby Guilford County and had our photo taken with Addy Miller, AKA the cute lil' zombie girl from the very first episode of The Walking Dead. But before we did that, this afternoon there was the Trunk or Treat event at Fairview Baptist Church. What a great opportunity to pull off something that I had the idea for way back in the spring...

So here we are: Kristen Bradford as Naomi Pryce, Yours Truly as William Shatner, and Steven Glaspie as Big Deal from the TV commercials for Priceline!

But that's not all! After Kristen posted that pic onto her Facebook page I immediately Twitter-ed about it.

And William Shatner himself re-tweeted it!!!

Click on the link, and behold the visual record of our epic geek win...

Honestly don't know what else to say. Just... wow. To be re-tweeted by The Shatner. The Shatner is not a mere mortal: he is... a force of nature. And tonight The Shatner beheld one of my best friends, my girlfriend and I as the Priceline Negotiators.

The Shatner saw me portraying him and acknowledged that before all creation.

Whoa.

I think I gotta lay down after that...

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THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS hit DVD this week!

But I got to see it last month at a/perture cinema in Winston-Salem, along with Forcery co-producer Ed Woody and star Chad Austin, who appears a LOT throughout The People vs. George Lucas as, well... George Lucas!

The screening was on September 12th. Why didn't I write about it sooner? Because it still hasn't sunk in yet: that was my film Forcery, the idea for which hit just over ten years ago (I began writing the script on the night before 9/11), and my most life-long best friend playing George Lucas on the big screen as part of this multi-award winning documentary that has played at film festivals all around the world!

But as surreal as the experience was, that was mild compared to watching Melody Hallman Daniel's performance as Frannie Filks from Forcery, which The People vs. George Lucas is exceptionally peppered with! In fact, director Alexandre Philippe has told me that at every screening he has attended around the globe, that Melody's performance is a huge hit and has never failed to arouse cheering and clapping. There certainly was at the screening we attended last month! In fact, her rant about "Greedo never shot first!" even made it into the pages of Time Magazine this week!

Apart from seeing our own lil' film in it, The People vs. George Lucas is quite an intriguing work examining the Star Wars phenomenon, its creator and the love/hate relationship that Lucas has enjoyed(?) with the saga's fans (particularly since the Special Editions started the "retconning" ball rolling in 1997). Philippe doesn't take any decisive sides in his film, but rather lets the viewer decide on his or her own. As far as this viewer is concerned, I learned quite a few new things... as well as was led to consider quite a lot of what it means to be a Star Wars fan from a fresh perspective.

It's a fascinating film, and it's now available on DVD at Amazon.com and probably a few of the big box retailers. Highly recommended!

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Giant LEGO minifig washes ashore in Florida

An eight-foot tall LEGO "minifigure" was found on the beach at Siesta Key Village, Florida earlier this week...

From the story at Boing Boing...

Boing Boing reader Jeff Hindman says he chanced across a "giant Legoman washed ashore" today while strolling on the beach at Siesta Key Village, Fla.

"It is very big, about 8 ft. tall," Hindman said. " ... I worked with Lego in my younger days, but this piece is amazing, it's still there on the beach."

A photo of the creature shows it beached on a sandbank, in otherwise good condition. On its chest is the message, "No real than you are."

This suggests it has the same origin as Lego men who washed ashore in Zandvoort, Holland, three years ago, and then in Brighton, England.

Doesn't look like the LEGO man is in any distress from his ordeal. I mean, look at how big his smile is :-P

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Dude accidentally slices off arm with homemade guillotine

Hey Jenna St. Hilaire, hate to tell you this girl but your hometown is in the news again for all the wrong reasons...

A homeless man in Bellingham, Washington nearly became a nominee for the Darwin Award when the guillotine he was building in a wooded camp "unexpectedly" cut off his arm. At right you can see the photo that police released of the decapitation machine.

Feel free to post whatever jokes cross your mind about giving this guy a hand etc. But seriously: why was a homeless man building a guillotine at a campsite? And just look at that thing: it's easily one of the more sophisticated guillotines that I've seen built by a layman. Something like that takes some skills to pull off. As much as I have to wonder about his motive, I have to also wonder why he wasn't putting that kind of ability to work in carpentry or metalwork.

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My own answer to Occupy Wall Street

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A Tuesday evening reflection

The world tells us that we must be celebrity. God tells us that we can be legend.

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The Knight Shift Seismic Forecast #2

Less than 24 hours following my most recent post regarding a theory I've been developing about seismic activity, Turkey was hit with a 7.2 earthquake.

In keeping with this blogger's goal of observation and collecting data, I will now state that if there is indeed validity to the theory, that there will be a significant possibility of severe seismic/geological activity within the next three to four weeks of this writing, with a chance of occurring much sooner. That seems to be the window of "opportunity" (for lack of a better word).

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