Michael S Payne

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James and The Giant Boat

I saw James Cameron’s “TITANIC”on a Saturday night soon after it opened in December of 1997. I was a 16-year-old middle-class white male with no girlfriend, but there were multiple reasons that I wanted to see it anyway, despite the more male-oriented aversion to what was thought of as “a chick flick we know the ending of.” 1). I was a proper movie geek by that time and pretty well-versed in Cameron’s previous blockbuster outings like “Aliens” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” 2). […]
Dredd: Why Hollywood won’t make a sequel to this Cult Classic

How can I do a post about movie trailers without including Dredd. In 2012, Lionsgate released Dredd, the newest film adaptation of the classic British comic Judge Dredd. It starred Karl Urban as Judge Dredd, Lena Headley as Madeline Madrigal (Ma-Ma), Olivia Thirlby as Judge Cassandra Anderson and Wood Harris as Kay. The movie was shot in 3D with a budget of just $45 million, far below most Hollywood blockbusters. The movie came with much hype and fanfare […]
Alexa Lima

I recently sat down with Alexa Lima and talked with her about how she started playing the piano, what are some of her creative influences and the direction her band, Waking Astronomer, is taking. It’s always interesting to me to talk with musicians. They’re so expressive and put so much of themselves into their work you can’t help but be drawn into their world. Alexa sounds like she has a great start to her career. Hi, my name is […]
Building a Simple Compost Bin

Maya and I recently moved into a new house in Decatur that came with a spacious backyard. Over the last couple of months, we’ve been trying to eat healthier, non-processed food and thought we’d grow a garden in our backyard. Off to the side, we found this empty containment fence that was totally overrun with fallen tree limbs, weeds and ivy. So we decided to build a compost bin inside that fenced off area. The area looked like it […]
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts: A Trip to Dessert Heaven

Man, do I love doughnuts! Cream, glazed, jelly, chocolate, sprinkles, I even love them little doughnut holes: if it’s a doughnut, I’m eating it. Hailing from Winston-Salem, NC, (and judging by my weight), I’ve had my fair share of doughnuts. For those of you that don’t know, headquarters was started in my home town. I can remember riding through the city as a kid, the aroma of freshly made doughnuts floating through the air (it helped mask that heavy […]
Praying Mantis

While enjoying a cool glass of wine on the porch, Maya and I noticed a praying mantis hanging out on the railing. Luckily, I had my camera with me so I shot some video. While filming, a lady bug landing on the railing just below the praying mantis. Now, this may sound a bit morbid, but I continued filming just to see what would happen. Good news, the lady bug survived. The praying mantis looked at it for a minute […]
Mohans Rule Aerial Silks

This was one of the adventures Maya and Amy tried during their “Summer of Groupon” challenge. It was a bit weird seeing all this little kids hopping around like monkeys at the zoo and then there was Maya and Amy. I think they secretly enjoyed themselves but wish they had done this about seven years earlier. As a spectator, I gotta say it looks alot tougher in person than what you see on tv. But don’t take my word for […]
Ice Bucket Challenge

By now, we’ve all seen the Ice Bucket Challenge, seems like everyone’s doing it these days. I knew it was for a good cause but I didn’t know anything about ALS, people living with the disease or how the challenge is helping so I reached out to Hope and Steve Dezember at Hope for Steve to get their perspective on ALS. They really opened my eyes to some things and I was honored they let me into their home. They […]
Summer of Groupon

A couple of months ago, I got a call from my friend Amy Anderson over at Mod Podge Rocks and she told me about this cool summer adventure she wanted to record. She’d been picked by Groupon to participate in a blogger challenge that highlighted the many diverse activities that Groupon offers. I was a bit hesitant at first because of everything that was involved but once I heard about some of the cool activities, I was on board! I’ve […]
Baby Jokes

Hopefully the jokes get alot better! Check out these bad Baby Jokes! Check out Mohans’ Rule