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Happy Halloween Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:33:50 PM EST
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Who's staying home and turning out the lights, refusing to answer the door? Who's going trick or treating or to a costume party? [More...]

Anyone else remember this?

For those of you online tonight, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    Happy Halloween Open Thread | 57 comments (57 topical)

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    First I am hiding in my house to watch beginning (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by oculus on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:35:53 PM EST
    of Yankees @ Phillies game.  Then, with headset radio at the ready, going to symphony concert downtown.  Program includes the Mozart "Requiem."  How will it end?  Mozart died before he finished it.

    Rain delay. Drats. (none / 0) (#8)
    by oculus on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:07:25 PM EST


    Parent
    Upside: Family Guy is on. Baseball related. (none / 0) (#11)
    by oculus on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:37:31 PM EST


    Parent
    Oops. The Cleveland Show. (none / 0) (#13)
    by oculus on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:46:20 PM EST


    Parent
    Took the kids to spend their (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Fabian on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:39:46 PM EST
    Halloween gift cards.  I got Buffy's first two seasons.  It's been a long time since I've seen them and they are definitely educational viewing.

    The sound on Zevon (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Fabian on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:41:29 PM EST
    is atrocious.  Argh!  Everything I hate about digital telephony applied to a song I remember fondly.

    OTOH, here's the "Werewolves ... (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by Peter G on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:02:41 PM EST
    of Bryn Mawr" version, recorded live at the much-lamented Main Point in 1976, perhaps from the radio.  Warren tickles the ivories crazily.  No video, but this is what the song should sound like.  A tribute to Philadelphia, in part.  "I saw Bruce Springsteen [who often played the Main Point in those days] walking in Asbury Park, it was well after dark ... I saw Toots and the Maytals, in my dreams, they were doing the werewolves of Jamaica, baby, and it went like this: <switch to reggae rhythm>.  And that line, "Little old lady got mutilated late last night," makes my tongue tingle every time.  "I saw Lou Reed walking with Glenda Jackson, and they were doing ... nuthin'"  What a song!

    Parent
    Oh wow (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by Jjc2008 on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:15:51 PM EST
    "Main Point"....haven't heard that in years.  Used to go there.   So many eons ago.  I grew up outside Philly...
    Memories abound

    Parent
    Beauty! (none / 0) (#52)
    by Fabian on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 07:46:04 AM EST
    Nice link.  I'll have to listen to the whole thing.

    Parent
    In the almost-26 years we have lived (5.00 / 3) (#14)
    by Anne on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:52:01 PM EST
    in our house, we have never had a trick-or-treater; any candy I buy, I do so knowing that it's for personal consumption, lol.

    We live in the country, and there are only about 12 homes on our road.  When the kids were little, we would take them to my mother's neighborhood, and in the years before the encroachment of development, the school would have a big Halloween party - my older daughter won a contest for "scariest costume in the 1st grade" - she was a witch (both of the girls were), and we - I - had a blast doing makeup in lieu of a mask; she really was pretty scary!

    Later, when they were older, we took them to a closer-by neighborhood of townhomes that was built about 10 years after we moved out here.  Everyone else in the area took their kids to that townhouse community, too, but the people who lived there were good-natured about it.  Often, neighbors who lived in a grouping of homes would all sit out together to greet the kids and offer candy, and in general, they did a bang-up job of decorating for all the kids.  It was fun, but by the end of the night, I felt like we had walked about 5 miles - used to have to dip into the candy to get the sugar rush for extra energy!

    Watching Dr. Jeykyll and Mr. Hyde on TCM; Sepncer Tracy as the good doctor and also starring Ingrid Bergman...

    TCM (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by cpinva on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:31:51 PM EST
    has been showing some excellent movies the past couple of weeks.

    Parent
    Quiet night tonight (5.00 / 3) (#15)
    by Steve M on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:58:01 PM EST
    Audrey isn't old enough to get excited about trick-or-treating yet... although she did get some free candy when we went to the grocery store today.

    Big parental day today.  Audrey, smart girl that she is, figured out I was going to the grocery store because mommy's grocery list has the FreshDirect logo at top with fruits and vegetables.  So I started reading the list to her and she points to a word I hadn't mentioned yet and says, "That says sandwich!"  Uh, who the heck taught my little girl to read?  She just turned 3 in August!

    Isn't that something? (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by Cream City on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:42:26 PM EST
    A niece of mine did that -- just read a word off a sign one day.  Since it was the welcome sign for her town, which has a Native American name, we like to say that she's so smart that she not only started reading on her own so early but started reading in Menomonee!

    I'm told I started reading at 2, but in my case, it's because my older brother made me, since he decided that I was just sitting around, anyway. :-)

    Parent

    We went out for an hour and a half (5.00 / 3) (#17)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:04:08 PM EST
    Zoey was so cute.  She didn't say Trick or Treat, but she always said thank you and good bye...and getting candy put into a bucket just for showing up was the most amazing thing she has ever done in life so far.

    lol!~ (5.00 / 2) (#20)
    by nycstray on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:12:24 PM EST
    getting candy put into a bucket just for showing up was the most amazing thing she has ever done in life so far.

    those were the days. . .

    Parent

    Such a great age (5.00 / 4) (#21)
    by Inspector Gadget on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:15:07 PM EST
    My grandson is Zoey's age, and always so polite that he takes on both sides of gratitude. Thankyouwekome is one word. Turned 2 at the beginning of the month.

    He's dressing up as a doctor tonight. If he goes out door to door, I'm pretty sure his routine will be to set the bucket down to applaud the addition of each piece of candy. Life is a constant celebration :)


    Parent

    Losing this thought process (5.00 / 3) (#26)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:30:42 PM EST
    is what is leading to our demise.  The big people are no longer happy with the simple pleasures of living and life, and no matter how big you make your carbon footprint that's all there really is :)

    Parent
    Sooooo true (5.00 / 2) (#30)
    by Inspector Gadget on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:40:19 PM EST
    Although, it is the adults in my grandson's life who encourage the non-stop positives. Society, as a whole, is certainly caught in the syndrome you describe.

    For others, life is a piece of birthday cake on a stick. :)

    Parent

    Something must be wrong with me (5.00 / 3) (#37)
    by nycstray on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:14:45 PM EST
    and many of our CSA members. Brussels sprouts (and a few other veggies) was all it took to make us happy today {grin}

    Parent
    mmmmmmmmmmm (none / 0) (#40)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:27:20 PM EST
    Fresh brussels sprouts!

    Parent
    I got 4 stalks! (5.00 / 2) (#44)
    by nycstray on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:45:48 PM EST
    picked yesterday :) I'm going to freeze the smaller ones from the top of the stocks to drop in soups etc, and haven't decided how I will use the rest. Tonight's late dinner is lentils (with onion/garlic/port mushrooms) Italian sausage and balsamic roasted sprouts.

    I'm in heaven. We also got cauliflower, baby spinach (1/2 pound!!), golden turnips, Japanese radish, lettuce, kale, garlic, butternut squash, leeks . . . I think there's something else, but memory is failing, lol!~ Oh and I got double eggs this week as some of the egg folks didn't show today, so extra for baking etc.

    Parent

    well tracy, (5.00 / 2) (#28)
    by cpinva on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:33:09 PM EST
    90% of life is just showing up. :)

    Parent
    The Monster Mash (5.00 / 2) (#19)
    by Peter G on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:10:37 PM EST
    by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers (1962)

    Last year (5.00 / 3) (#24)
    by waldenpond on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:21:56 PM EST
    This year we are hiding out, but here's last year....  (hope the link works)

    I have done the house as a castle (built a fake front on the porch) and was a wizard.  Done 'under the sea' with seaweed and the front of a ship and gone as a fish... well, you get the idea...

    One more time (5.00 / 3) (#25)
    by waldenpond on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:23:06 PM EST
    cat

    Parent
    Whoa! (none / 0) (#34)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:06:41 PM EST


    Parent
    Better than bite size Snickers (5.00 / 3) (#29)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:38:38 PM EST
    A Greenwald smackdown of all B.S.ing parties

    One of the things that (5.00 / 1) (#32)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:56:56 PM EST
    I sometimes find disturbing is almost no voices out there criticize Obama's Afghanistan policy.  Instead I find a bunch of bull about how they feel like Biden's policy is better than McChrystal's, because airstrikes work better?  They work better for who and why? Leftwing bloggers were looking up Bush's war whazoooo with a microscope.....but now lot's of people try to blame Generals since Obama is the boss....like Jeff Huber.  What the flip is Jeff Huber drinking these days?  His credentials say he's retired Navy.  So let me get this straight, a Democratic President's wars really aren't his wars and they belong to some rogue military running wild that can't be contained?  And Obama can't be responsible for airstrikes that kill innocents, Joe Biden is doing that?

    Parent
    I think we're wating to find out (5.00 / 2) (#35)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:10:19 PM EST
    what the heck his Afghanistan policy is before unloading.

    I'm just profoundly grateful it isn't up to me to have to decide what to do about Afghanistan.  Iraq is a piece of cake by comparison.

    Parent

    And Iraq is done (5.00 / 1) (#38)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:20:53 PM EST
    We need to be pulling back and leaving, but as soon as trouble hits we stay firmly planted.  Obama doesn't seem to be able to deal with any kind of fallout over the withdrawal.  He cares so much about what Republicans will say about him it's fricken pathetic.  But Jeff Huber blames Odierno, because Odierno tells Obama that the insurgency in Iraq probably won't burn out for ten years (Which is the fricken truth), like that's some sort of number we all haven't heard about a 1,000 times before.  Like it wasn't the same number given to Bush when he wanted to know when everything would be ALL BETTER there too so that he could claim VICTORY forever and ever Amen.  If Odierno would just lie to the President and then eat career lead for his lifetime and the history books when Iraq got mushy or melted, then he would be a competent General in Jeff Huber's book.

    Parent
    I generally like Greenwald (2.00 / 0) (#45)
    by Politalkix on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 10:11:08 PM EST
    but he lost me big time when he said "the disparity between why are you willing to fund endless wars to destroy other countries and invade other countries, but not provide healthcare to your own citizens, is a very glaring one".
    The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is more complex and imminently fraught with danger than Greenwald is willing to acknowledge. From time to time even Greenwald lets out his inner ideologue and dogmatic self. Despite the issues in which I disagree with him, I am actually very pleased that we have a thoughtful President now who takes time to contemplate policies on a case by case basis instead of artificially constraining himself by ideology.
    Afghanistan and Pakistan were already destroyed countries before Obama took office. If Greenwald did not notice that, he may have an agenda.  


    Parent
    I'm actually of Greenwald's opinion (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 04:45:38 AM EST
    on healthcare.  I can't see where AfPak is more of a threat to our nation's welfare than having people denied healthcare.  I would say that terrorist attacks at this time can't even reach the level of distress to the nation that we have reached by denying our citizens healthcare, and there has been an unmeasureable toll taken in the willfull destruction of our social moral values concerning other human beings that live right in front of our faces.  AfPak is fraught with danger to who actually?  To me? Not really.  I don't know where you are, but if you are in the AfPak region then AfPak is fraught with dangers.  There are long term possible dangers to consider but AfPak is only fraught with danger for those who are there right now.

    Parent
    Greenwald (none / 0) (#53)
    by Politalkix on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 07:52:55 AM EST
    was being full of rhetorical fluff with his statements on AfPak and health care. The new Obama administration did not choose the war in AfPak over health care reform, he chose to take action on both fronts because they are equally important. A correct assessment would have been that liberals on health care did not get everything they wanted just as General McChrystal may not get everything he wants because of limitations in resources.
    Just as we have heartbreaking cases where Americans have been denied genuinely needed medical care, we also have too many cases of people visiting physicians for frivolous reasons. I live in one of the blue states in the country. I have seen too many young people (in their early twenties, etc) turning their bodies into toxic pharmaceutical dumps for some simple ailments when a healthier lifestyle would suffice. Too many Americans get treated for "clinical depressions", "attention deficit disorders", etc. There are too many children (and adults) running around with braces in their teeth to live up to culturally driven expectations of prettiness. All of these add to HC costs. I have travelled extensively in Europe; people in general there have healthier lifestyles (walk and bike more, eat smaller portions of food. Physicians in European countries which are held up as health care models by liberals also do not earn as much as their counterparts in the United States. If you want real HCR (no, I am not convinced that the single payer system is the holy grail of HCR unless significant changes are made from all sides to drop costs of HC), many cultural adjustments have to be made in the way we view health care so that the general cost is brought down; liberals are curiously silent on that front.

    Parent
    I'll not deny that Obama seems to be the (5.00 / 1) (#57)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 10:03:38 AM EST
    new third way.  And it is a fact that our soldiers have plenty of bullets right now but guns that are jamming....and that is getting them killed during drawn out attacks.  But they will come up with guns and they will pay for them under the emergency funds that are available.  And they are surging into Afghanistan at least 2.5 people per the person you are officailly told about (by the final headcount I'm thinking 3 to 1).  Those figures and facts don't scream lack of resources to me, they scream politics.  And as soldiers die and wheels squeak, things can change for soldiers and the odds they face staying alive, but the average American....NOT SO MUCH!  This isn't about resources.  It is about who owes who and who fears who.  The American government is not afraid of her people, she owns them and acts like it right now.......no dictator can afford to treat its military unwell though and every soldier and his/her family has all the healthcare that most of "covered" America gets allowed to have too.  It's all pretty creepy these days if you ask me.

    Parent
    Sounds like an antitaxxer (none / 0) (#56)
    by Fabian on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 09:15:18 AM EST
    (as opposed to an antivaxxer)

    "I don't like what my taxes are spent on, so I don't want to pay them."

    "I don't like the health care decisions people make, so I don't want to pay for them."

    If you really want to solve a lot of problems, just tax the ever loving goodness out of advertising.  It won't solve all of our cultural problems (there will always be the tabloids to tell us who is too thin, too fat, in rehab and so forth) but it will make it harder to get the message that we just need some Product or Service to make our lives better.

    (Now I'm visualizing the new Welfare Queen - the jobless single mother with all of her children's perfect teeth in braces.   Anyone got a picture?)

    Parent

    Went to a neighborhood party, then tried out a new (5.00 / 2) (#36)
    by Angel on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:13:33 PM EST
    restaurant - sat at the bar so we could watch the Texas game.  Left at halftime and came home, turned out all the lights so the little kids couldn't see us, are watching the game, and if the doorbell rings we tell them we gave out all the candy.  Are we bad?  

    No (5.00 / 2) (#39)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:22:54 PM EST
    I've done this before.  I spent my early twenties doing this.  Sometimes you don't feel like Halloween or other peoples kids.  Sometimes you don't want a Prozac either to make them all tolerable :)

    Parent
    LOl I had my wine but I still didn't want to (5.00 / 2) (#43)
    by Angel on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:44:21 PM EST
    answer the bell and corral the dogs and all of that stuff, especially since I was curled up on the sofa with the doggies!  I love kids, I just like my pleasure time a little more sometimes.

    Parent
    Ha! (none / 0) (#49)
    by Fabian on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 03:56:57 AM EST
    The dog was never corralled for trick and treat.  We only ever get neighbors, so they all knew him and weren't afraid of him.  He'd give everyone a sniff and escort them up to the front door and back down again.

    Parent
    No trick or treaters around (5.00 / 1) (#41)
    by mmc9431 on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:31:45 PM EST
    I live in an area where the average age is at least 70 so I don't get much in trick or treaters! I quit buying candy a few years ago because I ended up eating it all. Now I just set aside some quarters in a dish just in case someone is visiting the grandparents. It works out cheaper and healthier for me.

    No trick or treaters here either (5.00 / 1) (#46)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 10:42:23 PM EST
    I'm glad I didn't buy any candy since I would have ended up eating it over the next few days...and I'm turning the lights back on.

    Children of the night, what music they make! (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by Ellie on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 02:36:48 AM EST
    We are ... NOSFERATU (still creepy after all these years!) Set to the Dandy Warhols' Insane.

    Balllroom Hillary and Dancin' Tom DeLay did a scorched earth turn to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, another classic tingler. Mind you, Husb's dancing is scary even if it's the Chicken Dance.

    In any recognized couple dance, I'm there to go through the introductory motions until he can fling me aside for this solo thing he does that looks like he's fending off an alien tractor beam trying to load him onto the mothership.

    Halloween Comedy in NY-23 (none / 0) (#4)
    by Politalkix on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:42:59 PM EST
    OMG

    If candidate may withdraw at will (none / 0) (#5)
    by oculus on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:44:53 PM EST
    in NY, why not in Afghanistan?

    Parent
    I expect Hoffman to win (none / 0) (#6)
    by andgarden on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:46:28 PM EST
    and I'm not laughing.

    Parent
    Scozzafava endorses Owens (none / 0) (#58)
    by Politalkix on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 02:32:11 PM EST
    Link

    Parent
    "GOP Stalinists Invade Upstate New York" (none / 0) (#12)
    by Radiowalla on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:42:26 PM EST
    Or so says Frank Rich.

    Parent
    So weird (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:05:34 PM EST
    I live right across the lake from that district, in very rural Vermont, with many of the same concerns and problems the folks in NY state have, and yet the political attitudes are about 180 degrees apart.  Very strange that a lake should be all that's in between those two cultures.

    Parent
    HBO is airing Australia (none / 0) (#9)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:13:13 PM EST
    the movie was a little lacking in oomph sue to the lack of chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.  but Nullah (played by  Brandon Walters), a part Aboriginal boy who wants to go walkabout makes it worth watching. It takes place during WWII.

    It was so long (none / 0) (#31)
    by byteb on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:52:57 PM EST
    every time I thought it was going to end, a new story line seemed to take off.

    Parent
    Anybody know who the Latino announcer (none / 0) (#10)
    by oculus on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 07:32:40 PM EST
    is on Fox World Series coverage?

    ozzie guillen? (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by nycstray on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:10:26 PM EST


    Parent
    Yes, Ozzie (none / 0) (#54)
    by DFLer on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 08:58:36 AM EST
    manager of the Chicago White Sox, and the best part of the rain delay is having more air for him.

    Parent
    And we're playing (none / 0) (#23)
    by andgarden on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 08:20:46 PM EST
    Electric Philly crowd.

    Yeah, what's with that trend, (esp. on Halloween)? (none / 0) (#48)
    by Ellie on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 03:47:11 AM EST
    I remember everyone getting into it but now it's down to about 60-40.

    Even when we stay home on Halloween, we dress for the occasion. I have a Bride of Frankenstein getup complete with stand-up wig and love pretending that I had no idea it was Halloween. I just "happen" to have lots of treats on me, though! :-D

    Husb answers the door as Smart@ss Death. After the kiddies get their treats, he waves the scythe over accompanying adults.

    "Hmmm ... nah. Now that I've met you personally, I'm taking you off the list. Have a treat but eat your veggies 'kay?"

    And the Doobie brothers Listen to the mucsic (none / 0) (#51)
    by joze46 on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 06:38:56 AM EST
    Wow you're taking me back, I can reflect on Bad Moon rising but my favorite is "Born on the Bayou". The simple harmonic twang of the guitar and rhythm grabbed me back to a time with no Internet, fun to listen to music back then, it shaped our character to once in a while we felt peace. Harmony, the simple harmonic motion of the waltz has left us. Lot of stuff on utube has too much distortion to enjoy

    Control Click

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIjUY3pjN8E&feature=related

    Just for fun wonder what it would be like to do "The Stroll" with Jeralyn in a dance with some the girls here. City Guy style, You know back then we had a dance every Friday night  guys would dude up yup grade school stuff "suits then are cool"  and polished shoes shirt and ties, girlies would doll up "sweet". Today, don't see it, not happening, and look our kids, they get the chance to see us on Utube fifty years ago with chrome rings clipped in the ears on cheeks nose and lips. For me or kids are dumb down.  

    Music characterizes the society, looks and dresses just as the, Stroll. In my opinion the same choreography became a major feature on the American TV programme 'Soul Train' although they didn't acknowledge it as "The Stroll". Even American Bandstand Dick Clark claims to be the leading edge in it. Here in the beginning media telling America what to do.

    Look at the "Lindi shuffle" real different dress code cowboy style Stroll compared to the city boys Shan a na na Stroll;

    Cowboys all dressed alike guess it was group theory and we didn't know it.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlAlZ8wEZo0&feature=related

    City style real individual dressy cool skirts, that was me Strolling down the center, shoes cool no boots too red neck, wild ties but no glitzy stuff however remember the iridescent pants and shirts that came in about that time. Yike it was fun to go shopping then in the middle of the Korean war guess we were all dumb down.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5DP50QTe0c&feature=related

    My dances happened to be a lot more conservative than Shan na na but similar. Not as glitzy.

    So there is my doo wap doo wap happening.  

    My cousin hands out books to kids for Halloween (none / 0) (#55)
    by DFLer on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 09:01:08 AM EST
    in Iowa City, and has done so for years.

    Happy Halloween Open Thread | 57 comments (57 topical)

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