Brian Jones gets his Red Ryder

Brian Jones.

I bow before you Brian Jones, a very humble man.

I thought I had the movie bug bad being president of the Film Club in High School (a club I started), collecting well over 400 DVDs in my basement (some which have never been viewed), paying top dollar for Xeroxed copies of scripts that no one was interested in (The movie Creepshow among them), so that they may collect dust on my shelves alongside old Super 8 cameras and projectors (that have never been used).

But I got nothin on you Brian Jones.

Brian Jones wanted to be a Navy pilot. Unfortunately, his eyes didn't see it that way (cue laugh track). Brian was denied Navy pilot status because of poor eyesight. To cheer him up, his mom sent him a package marked "FRAGILE". Long time a fan of the movie A Christmas Story I'm sure Brian knew what it was right away. It was a leg lamp.

Brian's Mom said that he could probably make a business out of making these lamps and selling them. He did and you can still get them today

But this was just scratching the surface. In December 0f 2004, the house from A Christmas Story, located in Cleveland, went on EBAY. The auction price got up to $115,000 and that's when Brian violated every EBAY etiquette rule out there by calling up the auctioner and saying he would purchase the house for $150,000 if he would stop the bidding. He did and Brian was the proud owner of the 111 year old house from A Christmas Story.

Needless to say, it needed a little work. Brian dropped a few hundred thousand more on renovating it to its look from the movie and now he has opened it for tours. He also purchased the house across the street and opened it as a museum and gift shop where you can find Randy's red snow suit on display among other things.

So here's to you Brian Jones, you freak of freaks. I salute you and can't wait for a tour.