“”The Grudge 2″” came out on Friday the 13th after many marketing attempts to hype people up for the movie. I have seen commercials, posters, Web page banners, T-shirts and even squishy stress balls with fake eyeballs in them – all to promote a movie that wasn’t so great the first time around. Of course, I’m sure the makers of the film are rolling around in the $22 million they made over the weekend, thanks to brainwashing people into purchasing theater tickets. The gimmicks that Sony employed for advertising were annoying, but I can breathe easier knowing that “”The Grudge 2″” will be out of theaters soon, making room for real Halloween movies like “”The Nightmare before Christmas”” in 3-D.

What would you do with an empty wall, tons of art supplies and a time slot of one week? Well, a bunch of artists used the opportunity that construction workers supplied to them by creating a film documenting the many murals they drew through the course of a week on one very interesting wall. The film””One Week of Artworks,”” shows the artist painting ducks and argyle patterns while random horses stroll in front of the camera. The wall is a decent piece of contemporary art that could almost be considered dada because every time the painters finish a piece, they paint over it and start again. Check it out on youtube.com

“”I get tested for HIV twice a year. … One has to be socially aware,”” Scarlett Johansson said after being questioned about her sex life. I agree on the importance of STD testing, but I can’t help wondering what sorts of shady people she is sleeping with to warrant testing herself twice a year. Maybe she should try condoms. Then she’d only need to be tested once a year, and her risk of infections would decrease considerably.

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have apparently renewed their friendship, reports say, after they were spotted having dinner together. I guess it’s like renewing the lease on your car – if you get lazy and don’t pay it right away, they take the car away. Then you realize you can’t live without your beautiful Mercedes, pay the bill and get the car back. At least they’ll be civil when they film the fifth season of “”The Simple Life.”” Who the hell let that show make it to a fifth season?

Steve Orlen, a creative writing teacher here at UA, recently published “”The Elephant’s Child,”” his latest book of poetry. His poems tell stories about history, human nature and sexuality, providing poignant life lessons with humanistic themes. “”The Elephant’s Child”” is a delightful read by one of our own Wildcats – you’re missing out if you don’t at least scan the pages at the UofA Bookstore.

Interested in the strange ways people die? Want to read about pistol duels in Mexico, mamba snakes biting epileptics and computer nerds collapsing at their desks after playing games for 20 straight hours? Then http://www.castle-brass.co.uk is the site for you.