1159 days to the end

You know I love ghost stories, slasher films and otherwise ghouly, goblinish fare. So, of course, I had to be the first in line to see Paranormal Activity this past weekend. It's one of those "based on a true story" flicks about a young couple who start to experience unexplainable phenomenon in their new home. The hype around this movie was incredible. You may have even received a message in your email inbox explaining the premise of the movie and imploring you to demand that it be shown in your city.

My bar is set pretty high for movies like this since I've experienced far more paranormal activity in real life than is usually depicted on screen. For a low budget, indie, Blair Witch type movie, it was okay. I won't be a spoiler and tell you what happens but you may want to wait for it on DVD.

However, the scariest things about Saturday night were the previews before the film started. There are two, yes two, movies coming out about the upcoming year, 2012. Now if you've just crawled out from under a rock, let me enlighten you about what is supposed to transpire in 2012. I'll give you the nutshell version.

The ancient Mayans, based on star charting that began around 680 B.C., prophesied that December, 2012 would mark the end of the world through some event of catastrophic proportions. The Mayan long calendar speaks of the end of one cycle of time moving into the next.

Now Mayan civilization, known for advanced writing, mathematics and astronomy, flourished for centuries in Mesoamerica, especially between A.D. 300 and 900. Its Long Count calendar, which was discontinued under Spanish colonization, tracks more than 5,000 years and ends in December, 2012.

Part of the 2012 mystique stems from the stars. On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years.

This means that "whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time."

Will civilization as we know it cease to exist and only the fittest will survive the rebirth? Or will we all evaporate into the universe?

I think we should prepare, people.

Kiss your children!

Eat that second piece of pie!

Charge your credit cards to their limits!

The end is near! The end is NEAR!

Or....

Maybe the Mayans just got tired and ran out of stone to write on. Did anyone ever think of that??