Scribblings

Happy Halloween!

This is a lot late but it's been a busy day! I took pictures of Linda, Heidi & Kristin in their costumes but haven't had a chance to upload them yet...soon! Tomas wanted no part of dressing up although he might want to next year after watching a parade of toddling characters collect bags of goodies from us!

Ten on Tuesday

10 Great Movies for Halloween

1. Night of the Living Dead
2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
3. Psycho
4. Poltergeist
5. Shaun of the Living Dead
6. The Exorcist
7. The Bad Seed
8. The Shining
9. House on Haunted Hill
10. Audrey Rose

Tuesday Twosome

1. Do you celebrate Halloween? Explain:

Not really--except for handing out candy. I don't get dressed up any more or decorate the house...I sort of lost interest as the kids got too old for mommy to go trick-or-treating with them. I might become interested in it again when T is old enough to enjoy it.

2. Do you hand out candy and/or go door-to-door trick-or-treating?

I buy it. Then I get someone else to hand it out while I answer memes and surf the web.

3. What was the scariest Halloween costume you had and why did you pick out that costume?

I dressed up as a vampire one year when my cousin and I shared an apt in New York. Why that one? I don't remember...

4. Do you prefer a “trick” or “treat”? Explain:

A treat! How can I resist a piece of chocolate?

5. Do you think Halloween is scarier now than it was when you were younger? Explain:

Well...that's hard to say. When I was a kid (mid 60s) we used to have razors-in-apple and poisoned candy scares too. I worry about my kids while they are out but I suppose it's not any scarier than it was when I was a kid.

Today In History

I always found this to be fascinating...

WELLES SCARES NATION: October 30, 1938

Orson Welles causes a nationwide panic with his broadcast of "War of the
Worlds"--a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth.Orson
Welles was only 23 years old when his Mercury Theater company decided to update
H.G. Wells' 19th-century science fiction novel War of the Worlds for national
radio. Despite his age, Welles had been in radio for several years, most notably
as the voice of "The Shadow" in the hit mystery program of the same name. "War
of the Worlds" was not planned as a radio hoax, and Welles had little idea of
the havoc it would cause.The show began on Sunday, October 30, at 8 p.m. A voice
announced: "The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations present
Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the air in 'War of the Worlds' by H.G.
Wells."Sunday evening in 1938 was prime-time in the golden age of radio, and
millions of Americans had their radios turned on. But most of these Americans
were listening to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy "Charlie McCarthy" on
NBC and only turned to CBS at 8:12 p.m. after the comedy sketch ended and a
little-known singer went on. By then, the story of the Martian invasion was well
underway.Welles introduced his radio play with a spoken introduction, followed
by an announcer reading a weather report. Then, seemingly abandoning the
storyline, the announcer took listeners to "the Meridian Room in the Hotel Park
Plaza in downtown New York, where you will be entertained by the music of Ramon
Raquello and his orchestra." Putrid dance music played for some time, and then
the scare began.

I saw a movie made about what happened and it seems that people who hadn't been listening right from the beginning really fell for this.

An announcer broke in to report that "Professor Farrell of the Mount Jenning Observatory" had detected explosions on the planet Mars. Then the dance music came back on, followed by another interruption in which listeners were informed that a large meteor had crashed into a farmer's field in Grovers Mills, New Jersey.Soon, an announcer was at the crash site describing a Martian emerging from a large metallic cylinder. "Good heavens," he declared, "something's wriggling out of the shadow like a gray snake. Now here's another and another one and another one. They look like tentacles to me ... I can see the thing's body now. It's large, large as a bear. It glistens like wet leather. But that face, it ...it ... ladies and gentlemen, it's indescribable. I can hardly force myself to keep looking at it, it's so awful. The eyes are black and gleam like a serpent. The mouth is kind of V-shaped with saliva dripping from its rimless lips that seem to quiver and pulsate."The Martians mounted walking war machines and fired "heat-ray" weapons at the puny humans gathered around the crash site. They annihilated a force of 7,000 National Guardsman, and after being attacked by artillery and bombers the Martians released a poisonous gas into the air. Soon "Martian cylinders" landed in Chicago and St. Louis. The radio play was extremely realistic, with Welles employing sophisticated sound effects and his actors doing an excellent job portraying terrified announcers and other characters. An announcer reported that widespread panic had broken out in the vicinity of the landing sites, with thousands desperately trying to flee. In fact, that was not far from the truth.Perhaps as many as a million radio listeners believed that a real Martian invasion was underway. Panic broke out across the country. In New Jersey, terrified civilians jammed highways seeking to escape the alien marauders. People begged police for gas masks to save them from the toxic gas and asked electric companies to turn off the power so that the Martians wouldn't see their lights. One woman ran into an Indianapolis church where evening services were being held and yelled, "New York has been destroyed! It's the end of the world! Go home and prepare to die!"When news of the real-life panic leaked into the CBS studio, Welles went on the air as himself to remind listeners that it was just fiction. There were rumors that the show caused suicides, but none were ever confirmed.The Federal Communications Commission investigated the program but found no law was broken. Networks did agree to be more cautious in their programming in the future. Orson Welles feared that the controversy generated by "War of the Worlds" would ruin his career. In fact, the publicity helped land him a contract with a Hollywood studio, and in 1941 he directed, wrote, produced, and starred in Citizen Kane--a movie that many have called the greatest American film ever made.

Now that was a fascinating study into what happens during a mass panic!

Monday's A Bitch

Fright Night
1.Where does Halloween fall on your "holiday excitement scale" (ie. Does it top Christmas, New Year's, your birthday, the whole shebang? Or is it just another day?)

It's not just another day but has nowhere near the excitement level of Christmas or my birthday. It's more like New Year's ... something I enjoyed a lot once when I was younger and now it's no big deal.

2.At what age do you consider someone to be too old for trick or treating?

When the adults handing out candy tell you or they sort of draw back in fear because they're afraid if they say something you'll destroy the house. Probably 15.

3. What was your lamest Halloween costume?

Lame? I had no lame costumes!

4.Is handing out candy fun for you, or more of a nightmare?

It's a big pain in the hiney. Up down up down up down...

5.Do you see Halloween as an excuse to show some skin and get away with it? If not, what do you think of people who dress this way?

Ah, no. And for those who dress that way, doesn't bother me unless it's my own kid...and thank God it hasn't been.

Baker's Dozen Weekend

I don't know what ever happened to the meme called Baker's Dozen...it seems to have disappeared. I thought it was a lot of fun. The point was to list 12 things about your weekend and then post a picture. Or post the picture first...whatever. Well, since my time is limited this morning, I'm just going to go ahead and follow that format anyway!

1. The Eagles lost again....big time. zzzzzzzzzz, I really don't care but it's all over the news!
2. TB was called back to work ... YAY! He started back today, hope he is having a good day so far! It's a loooong drive though!
3. T had a first visit from a teacher who will be working with him every week. She's really nice!
4. Pumpkin carving this weekend! Linda and T worked on their pumpkins and Kristin worked on hers.
5. TB and I actually got to eat dinner out twice! That was really nice considering that lately we've had so little free time!
6. Carl's Shoes in Moorestown NJ is the best if you need specially fitted shoes! I remember when all shoe stores used to have qualified salesmen...but young people aren't really interested in taking up the trade. The salespeople at Carl's are all older...so what happens if they all age out???
7. Bookaholic me bought half a dozen books from Borders to add to the room full of novels I haven't had a chance to read yet!
8. Kristin went to a Halloween party at her friend's house
9. Heidi went to the haunted prison in Mt. Holly
10. We tried to coax T into trying on the cute Tigger costume we got from Costco...and he was having none of it!
11. I took Heidi to the Halloween store yesterday and picked up a simple Superman costume for T...hope he'll wear it!
12. It's going to be very strange today not having TB home!!!!

I can't upload a picture yet because they are still all on my camera! Once I upload those to the Net I'll post one here!

Fried Coke?

I saw the headline and that was my first reaction: fried Coke? Hee hee. First, how do you deep fry Coke? Second, isn't that stuff bad enough (melts auto parts left in them over night, etc) without us frying it now too?

Well, different snacks and foods have to start somewhere and this reminds me that the ice cream cone got its start at a fair in 190-something and the same thing happened with french fries or potato chips I'm sure.

I'll leave this new treat for those with younger and stronger tummies than mine. Read the article here.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Costume :: Halloween
2. Beg :: Trick or Treat
3. Hottie :: Josh Holloway
4. Celebrity :: Joan Collins
5. Saturday :: Sunday
6. Buckle :: my shoe
7. Doorbell :: ring ring
8. Rude :: impolite
9. Absence :: not there
10. Hyper :: active

That Time of the Year...

I wish I could say it was the Christmas season or even just plain daylight savings time but I'm afraid I mean election time. If there is one thing that spoils almost every fall it's the increasingly obnoxious and nasty political commercials on TV, radio, in newspaper inserts, in the mail and even in people's yards. Do we never get a break? It seems that every year someone is running for something!

This year, we're voting for a choice of candidates for our very own home town. Suddenly (and suspiciously I might add) there is all this work on our street to stop the flooding that has come with every heavy rain since TB and I moved into the neighborhood. Luckily, water doesn't pool in front of our house but it gets pretty bad along some sections of the road. We've lived here 4 years and I guess that's about the length of the mayoral term because of the sudden burst of activity.

That's okay. I like a particular candidate, Peter Emmons, who's been a resident of the area all of his life. His family's been here for 150 years so he qualifies as a genuine "piney". I like his ideas to reduce the gang violence going on (although I myself haven't seen any evidence of it--it must be happening because it's been reported in the local paper) and to improve the image of our town. Right now there are several blighted areas in town. Ugh. I'd like to see him get a shot at improving things around here.

Still...hurry up November 8th! That's the day after election day!

In The Mirror

In The Mirror
=============

Someone will always be prettier.
Someone will always be smarter.

Someone's house will be bigger.
Someone will drive a better car.
Someone's children will do better in school.
And her husband will fix more things around the house.

So let it go, and love you and your circumstances.

Think about it.
The prettiest woman in the world can have an ugly heart.
The most highly favored woman on your job may be unable to have children.

The richest woman you know - she's got the car, the house, the clothes - might be very lonely.

The Word says if I have not Love, I am nothing.

So, again I suggest, love you.

Love who you are right now and let God be your barometer.
Mirror Him.

Look in the mirror in the morning and see how much of God you see.
He's the only standard and even when you come up short, He will not leave you or forsake you.

Smile and may God continue to bless you.

~Author Unknown~

This was submitted as an encouragement to women but substitute “woman” “husband” and “pretty” and it applies to men just as much.

Feline Friday: Hey Handsome!

My! What big eyes you have, Kosmo!

For more pictures of Kosmo, click the pic!

More Feline Friday? Check out Carnival of the Cats!

Backwards Update: Picking Pumpkins

The first Saturday of this month was absolutely gorgeous. It was a perfect day to go to a local farm and pick some pumpkins and go for a hayride! Tomas really got into the pumpkin picking part. He wasn't so sure about the hayride at first but I think he enjoyed it once we got underway. By the time we got back, he was definitely smiling--maybe from relief? Anyway, we all had a wonderful time!

For more pictures, click here.

Stones from the River

What a great book! So far I have enjoyed all of Oprah Winfrey's picks.

Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi is about Trudi Montag, first a child and then a woman with a good loving heart and a creative flair for stories. The thing is, though, she is also a dwarf and that physical difference sets her apart from nearly everyone--except for her loving father. Trudi also lives through the dangerous Nazi time period when that difference could have cost her life.

Poor Trudi! When her emotionally disturbed mother sees her for the first time, mom has a breakdown and is never the same although she does develop something of a relationship with her daughter. Trudi's early memories of her mother include coaxing her out from under the house with her stories. The mother dies when Trudi is 4 and although her father loves her, Trudi misses her mother. She has "fair weather" friends throughout her life--children who play with her for a time and then move on when they find someone "better" (normal?) to play with. The same thing happens as she grows to a young woman. What man wants to be romantically involved with a dwarf?

There are a lot of painful truths in this book yet it is tempered by the love of warmth of the father and neighbors--some of whom manage to keep their decency during the war and protest the treatment of their Jewish neighbors.

I would definitely recommend this book to others!

Feline Friday: Laser Tag

I think this is the first time we've gotten all three kitties on camera at the same time!

Whoever catches the little red light wins!

Okay, who's going to be the first to call it?

Me, me! says Kosmo. I got it!

Want more Cat Friday stuff? Check out _blank">Carnival of the Cats!

Backwards Update: Trip to Troy

So much has been happening in the past couple of weeks it seemed silly to go way back there and move forward because I just don't remember as much. This past weekend, Ted, his mom, the girls and I went up to Troy to visit Billy. It was a great weekend to go--the weather was just right and the fall colors were lovely! There was a festival going on at the time so we got to see a juggler and some animals. Most important, we got to spend the day with Billy, got a couple of things for his efficiency to give him more room (a bookcase & computer desk with shelves), and did a little local sightseeing. It was wonderful!

To see more photos from our trip, click here.

Feline Friday on Tuesday: Luka

I haven't had time to post an update (but will) but just couldn't resist sharing pictures of my good friend Sylvia's new kitten, Luka. Is he a poster kitty or what? He is SO adorable!

So what is this stuff anyway?

Strange...can't...seem...to catch it!

Feline Friday on Sunday: Sleeping Beauties

Mouse's favorite spot when forced to share the bed with a two-legged pet!

More Cat Friday? Check out Carnival of the Cats!