I got the strangest e-mail on Friday, September 7, 2001. It seems Robert Urich was going to be on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and they needed a copy of Killdozer to embarrass him on national TV and wondered if I could help. 

Sure, I said. And with the help of a friend, I managed to get a dub made of the film and priority mailed it to the Rockefeller Center in New York, New York. I was promised on screen credit for providing the film, souvenirs and (that I asked for as a joke) an autographed picture of Conan O'Brien.  

On Monday, September 10, I got off work around my normal 1 a.m. (Technically 1a.m. Tuesday, September 11th - but it's not the next day in my book until after I've gone to bed.) I stopped at a convenience store and bought a new blank tape to tape my show - destined to air Tuesday night. I mucked around the house until about 4 a.m. and finally hit the sack. 

The phone rang, early (for me anyway), on the morning of September 11th, a little before 9a.m. I have a rule at my house that I don't answer the phone until after 11 a.m. - so I let the machine take it. The machine kicked on (something about being on the roof until the Cubs go to the World Series). It was Rebecca Allen, my boss - and she sounded a little grim and told me to call in immediately. 

Crap, I thought. What did I mess up last night that warranted a phone call from the boss. I called the Chief (a name I've cursed her with) back and apologized for whatever I screwed up before she could speak. There was a brief pause and then she asked, "You haven't seen the TV yet have you." 

No, I had just gotten up. "Terrorists have crashed airplanes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon." 

That took a little while to sink in - after I realized she wasn't kidding.

I needed to get to work ASAP to help get a special edition up and running. (I work in the composing department for The Grand Island Independent.) I kicked the TV on - just in time to see the first tower crumble and continued to watch until the second tower collapsed. 

The phone rang again. It was a telemarketer. She started to go into her spiel but then stopped and asked if I was watching the news. I said yes and she hung up without a word.

Then the doorbell rang. I answered it. It was the Federal Express man. I signed for the package and opened it up. It was a Late Night T-Shirt and a thank you note for sending them Killdozer. I glanced back at the TV and watched the planes hit the towers (again and again and again) and I realized that Conan probably wasn't going to be on that night - or for many nights to come. 

I'll admit it, I slipped. I got angry that my night was ruined. This was quickly followed by a string of profanities at myself and self-chastisement for my brief pettiness. I recovered, quickly, and headed to work. After things got going, a large group of us headed to the hospital to give blood. 

All I could think about, as I squeezed that rubber ball and bled into a bag, was that Friday seemed like a long, long time ago.  

We all remember where we were that day on September 11th. The cynic in me was already anticipating the inevitable backlash at all our newfound patriotism. The real trick is not forgetting and still be able to move on. It's tough when the media has gone completely bonkers, telling you you're safe one minute - and the sky is falling the next. But we can do it. We have to. 

It has been a strange year since I last took you aside.

I hadn't been on a real vacation in ten years, and 2001 actually promised two trips. In May, I took a tour of San Diego (beautiful town with great seafood), ran the gauntlet in Tijuana Mexico (first time I'd ever been out of the country and bought some fine Tequila) and on the way back, spent three glorious days in the greatest place on Earth, Las Vegas. The highlight being a $500 dollar jackpot, Two Wild Cherries and a Double Diamond came up on a quarter slot, at the Bellagio, on my second pull. (Yes, I actually left Vegas with more money than when I arrived.) 

The second trip was to accompany my sister, and her three kids, on a trip to Disneyworld the second week of September. But thanks to some jack-asses, in a collective poopie mood, the trip was scrubbed. (In the grand scheme of things it doesn't seem that important but it was to those three kids.) I'm happy to report that my sister and her kids eventually went and had a wonderful time. Alas I couldn't go, due to schedule conflicts at work. 

Speaking of work. With the economy officially going into the crapper, even before September 11th, my place of employment, on orders from further up the corporate ladder, has taken a slash and burn approach on it's employees to maintain some evil thing called "profit margin." Somehow, I got a get out of jail free card and was tagged least expendable in my department. I should be happy but tell that to the 20 people who are now unemployed. *sigh*

This budget crisis also put the official kibosh on the tentatively approved 3C/3B Triple Feature 2001. Our theme this year was going to be animal revenge fliks with the catchy slogan: "When Nature Calls - You've Got to Go." Dagnabbit.

As far as 3B Theater goes, the biggest change in the last year is my moving away from Geocities Hell into the comfortable confines of Bad Movie Planet. The move was a little rocky but with a lot of help, we got it done. Thanks everybody. 

The reviews have been coming pretty steady and I've been happy with most of them - but I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the Sophomore Slumps fiasco. Yes, I've decided that group of reviews was a fiasco. I have a lot of ideas and thoughts on film (some profound - others incredibly stupid) like those expressed in those reviews. But this is not the proper forum for it. I made a mistake and tried to take this stuff way too seriously. 

Writing those reviews almost killed the site because, frankly, it sapped all the fun out of doing this. You have to be very careful when doing one of these things. I don't think people realize how long it takes to do an actual update on a weekly basis. (8 hours at least.) When it stops being fun and starts becoming a chore - then it's time to re-evaluate.

I did. 

3B Theater should be about having fun with the movies I review. I've made an effort to lighten things up around here - and will continue to do so in the future. I'll continue to update at least three times a month. 

We'll finally be getting around to the films of Andy Sidaris, and a tribute to the film career of the King of Rock in Roll in January. Also in the near future, a marathon of not quite epic space operas - including Message from Space. And we will do Teenage Wastedland - a tribute to slasher fliks (an embarrassingly guilty pleasure of mine.) 

The oft promised Toho Who's Who gallery will probably never see the light of day but I'm also hoping to open a section on B-Books that I believe should be brought to your attention - like Kim Newmann's The Night Mayor, Greg Kihn's Horror Show and Jeff Rovin's Return of the Wolfman. 

So stick around, it should be interesting and I'll see you all in 365 for 3B Theater: Year Three.