Some surprising games this w/e but not much of a shakeup in the standings

1.  Alabama.  Still

2.  Boise State.  Probably won't happen.  It'd be ugly if it did.  But it should.

3.  Oklahoma.  Boomer Sooner will probably get 'Bama barring in upset or two somewhere along the way.  It's theirs to lose and Okie State will be the challenge.

4.  Stanford.  Barely.

Best of the rest:  LSU (who'll lose to Bama), Wisconsin (we'll see after the coming tussle with Sparty), Oregon (already has their loss), Okie State (who'll be a TD dog to the Boomers), 

The era of Hitchcock .... and Poe.  And the beginning of two other trends - zombies (toxic, not voodoo) and demonic possession.

1.  Psycho.   The grandaddy.  If you haven't seen it, WHY ARE YOU SITTING THERE READING THIS?  Oh.  And bonus point.  The security guard atthe ned of the movie?  Ted Knight!

2.  Rosemary's Baby  A child raper directs a classic.   Great cast.  Genuine creepyness.  Again, if you HAVEN'T seen it - you should.  Kinda sets the stage for The Exorcist - the banality of evil and all that.

3 & 4.  Two Poe entries.  Pit and the Pendulum and House of Usher.  Poe was a master.  Price was a master.  Corman was a master.  Nice double feature.

 5.  The Haunting  The 1999 remake was quite good.  This one's better.  From an Amazone review:  There is no blood and gore, no creatures or monsters in plain sight. In fact, there is very little physical presence in this movie that should evoke such a fear reaction. True, there are multiple angle exterior shots of the mansion that make one feel as if the house is watching them all the time. And there are loud unexplained noises, bulging wall panels, and door knobs that turn by themselves. All-in-all, the physical evidence is pretty tame, especially by today's standards.

The fear reaction lies not in the physical form, but in the psychological sense. For example, as Theo and Nell cling to one another as wall pounding draws closer to their room, only to stop and dead silence replaces the noise. Later in the movie, Nell and Theo are again in their room when Nell grabs hold of Theo's hand as noise begins to build outside their bedroom door. Finally, unable to stand the noise any longer, Nell begins to scream which awakens Theo, who happens to be halfway across the room, and thus not close enough to be holding Nell's hand. So the question is "who or what was Nell holding?".

 Special Mention: The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.  ALWAYS an October event at our house, along with "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

"Honorable mentions:  The Birds (Hitchcock, but this one never "worked" for me), Brides of Dracula (subdued sensuality),  Burn Witch Burn (Saturday afternoon fare)Hour of the Wolf (Bergman), Fearless Vampire Killers (camp from Polanski) and Eyes Without a Face (French New Wave)

Obama Honors South Korean President With Japanese Food. “What’s next? German beer for when Netanyahu visits? Does the President of the U.S. not know the history of Japanese atrocities in WWII? Koreans in all 57 states would like an explanation.”

1.  re-open the U.S. outer continental shelf to exploration and production of oil and natural gas

2.  expede pending exploration and drilling permits in the Arctic region

3.  remove unnecessary bureaucratic impediments to exploration and production on federal lands

4.  approve the Keystone XL pipeline to bring oil from Canada to the U.S.

5.  admit that hydraulic fracturing -- aka "fracking" -- is environmentally safe and the key to unlocking vast new resources that can make America the Saudi Arabia of energy for the 21st century

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2011/10/obamas-earplugs-and-blinders-prevent-job-creation#ixzz1ane6Ex00

et al

OCCUPY L.A. SPEAKER: Violence Will Be Necessary To Achieve Our Goals. “Long live revolution! Long live socialism!”

Elizabeth Warren is SOOO not getting elected

Liberal Radio Hate: 'Someone Should Feed [Bachmann] Some Listeria-Filled Canteloupe'

Occupy Boston protesters spit on Coast Guard member. “The Coast Guard in Boston confirmed that a woman in uniform was harassed and spat upon by Occupy Boston protesters. The woman was walking to the train and said protesters spit on her twice, called her foul names and even threw a water bottle at her.”

Related: Does Elizabeth Warren *also* support spitting on our troops? #OWS. “I ask this because back at the beginning of October Ms. Warren seemed to be very much in favor of the entire Occupy Wall Street ‘thing.’”

The trip to Jersey combined with the changing rhythms of Fall Quarter ave combined to throw MY running shcedule into a cocked hat.  But our friend Thea over at Drama Mama (see sidebar) is running her first half-marathon this w/e and has asked for some interesting help.  She's writing her supporter's names on her arm - one for every mile.  She can then concentrate on that friend's support over that gruwling 7-9 minutes (have no IDEA what her pace is).  I've requested mile 7 or 8.  It's not "the wall" but you can see it from there.

Godspeed, Thea.

CNN gives us this:

of course it WON'T happen.... but it should.

from Glenn Reynolds