PSoTD

In honor of Halloween, a post about movies - scary movies. And in particular - the music used in scary movies. Do you have any favorite soundtracks of horror/monster/scary movies? And sorry, no, The Rocky Horror Picture Show doesn't count.

The one soundtrack that blew me away the very first time I saw the movie in the theater was the original Halloween. It worked, it kept working, it built the mood, it built tension. I stayed for a second viewing of the movie just to witness how the soundtrack worked again. According to IMDB, the music was actually written by John Carpenter, although that is the first time I've realized that he deserves credit for writing it as well as using it for incredible effect.

So... what about you? I know there's a lot of great soundtracks to consider - The Exorcist, Psycho, Attack of the Killer Tomatos (okay, that one doesn't count, either). You might find HorrorMovieSoundtrack.com helpful in reminding you of movies worth considering.

You know, it doesn't matter who the person is that is the subject of a letter to the editor, there should be some sort of standard for... intelligence. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but newspapers ought to do the job of determining that standard so that the reader base isn't insulted by the vapidness of the letter.

I just can't imagine the editorial decision making process that made someone decide: Hey, this is the best we've got to put here, let's run with it. Our readers will find it informative. It's interesting. Who would think that?

Proud American and conservative

Dear Editor:

In answer to the Oct. 16 letter in the Mountain Mail:

The only thing I would hire Al Gore for is to clean bathrooms.

Let's hope another country does get him and takes Hillary with him.

I am a proud American and a conservative. Praise God.

Wanclaire Trammel, Salida

I mean, why not just print completely blurry photos of the sky or lint or walls, the information or interest value isn't any less. What is the point.

I see there's another example of it out there today: SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTION BY LEADING NEO-NAZI TO RON PAUL CAMPAIGN IDENTIFIED.

And now I suppose a lot of newspapers will run with this. It makes me wonder, what would newspaper do if other media did such diligence on the people who buy advertising space within their publications, or the subscribers of their publications. What if it were determined that:

Several Wall Street Journal Subscribers Belong to the Ku Klux Klan!

or

Advertising Buyer for Major Company That Buys Advertising in the Chicago Tribune Has Sex Offender History!

or

whatever. What would the news media say?

If it is "WHO CARES!!!!" then this kind of individual reporting of campaign contributions ought to take a back seat now. Honestly, if they can't find something more important to report about, then they're sad shit in the news industry.

When journalists use the term "no-no", it seems like it is a lighthearted disclaimer to an action or event. It's kinda like parent talk to a child, "that's a no-no", which basically means that the child shouldn't do something because it's not a good idea, but it's understandable that they were interested in doing it because they're in training.

So, when you see sentences like this in the newspaper, you understand what's going on:

The Richmond Public Works Department had already received several calls from citizens reporting people who were watering today, which is a no-no on Mondays under the new restrictions.

Designed like a miniature pull-behind camper, the trailer even features a simulated stove with a dishcloth laying on the burner. The idea is that children will identify why that's a no-no.

So I’ve never been bothered by a leaf blower. But I read last week that more than 20 California cities have some sort of ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, which are also a no-no in Aspen, Colo., and Vancouver, British Columbia.

So, it's a little annoying that AP decides to treat a story of abuse by authorities over prisoners as a "no-no":

Flashing for Candy a Jailhouse No-No

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — A former jailhouse officer in San Luis Obispo County was charged with flashing a female inmate and having others expose themselves in exchange for candy bars.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled next week for Steven Irysh, 23, who was charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure and being a jail employee engaging in sexual activity with a confined person.

Irysh has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces up to 18 months in jail.

Prosecutor Steve Brown said the former County Jail officer allegedly offered the candy bars and would deliver notes to male inmates in exchange for female inmates flashing him.

Seems like nonchalant press coverage of an abuse of power, almost good ole' boy in tone. The headline even implies that the exposed were the ones that were in the wrong, not the jailers.

According to Travel & Leisure magazine, you can move to Philadelphia and at least be considered average. Maybe even good looking!

Also, stupid people of all states - you can get a job at Travel & Leisure magazine and be considered "thought-provoking".

I think Stephen Colbert is taking a big risk with this "considering running for President" tack he's on. Or, at least I hope so. If he cuts this with the same cutlery he used on Bush at the Correspondents Dinner a few years ago, it will be a true benefit to this country. But the Dinner was a one night gig, and even though it is replayed, he's not going to be asked to do that again. This "campaign" is something that he'll want more media play - admittedly, entertainment media more than political media, but he'll want both - and that same political media is what needs to be ripped savagely apart with comedy. If he goes too far, he may not get the venues he wants to do what he wants to do - it looks to me like this could be a true comedy cliffhanger.

Up tomorrow is the biggest pumpkinhead target on TV - Tim Russert. I hope Colbert doesn't go soft.

If he just knew how many folks were on the Internet searching for stories about him and goats. Then he'd know it was true!

I wrote this in February and never posted it, thinking that it was too rash. Now, I'm more inclined to say three years, max.

I realize it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but the fact is, our national televised political reporting organizations are in dire need of repair. They suck, and we all know it, and we all complain about it, but we don't do anything about it.

Isn't it time the word go out - if you're in the political reporting division hierarchies today of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC (I won't include Fox because their job is political propaganda), you have five years. Five years to clear out your desk, five years to go through retraining, five years to look for your retirement parachute. Five years. We want you out. We recognize that we can't accomplish that yet, but we'll figure out how to get rid of you.

Why can't bloggers do what Congress is afraid to do, and set deadlines for exit? For the national political news media...

That means you, Chris Matthews, and your staff as it is. That means George Will and George S at ABC. It means Scarborough and Russert and yes, sorry, Olbermann too. You get five more years eating the best cheeses and drinking the most expensive wines and hanging out with whoever it is you choose to hang out with, but after that, go do it in a job that doesn't require the public's allowance of the broadcast frequencies. Get out.

The Amazing Mr. X

I'm not sure why I read this article on Yahoo!, but I did: 8 Surprising Turn-Ons for Men

I guess I don't know what makes one man, with no evidence to back up his claims, feel that he could possibly opine about what works for men in general. Nor do I comprehend why one guy would think that the same things would work for every woman. I guess I just don't understand how anyone could claim they know what works for men in general, or women in general, unless they had studies to back up their comments.

It turns out that this champion in egotism is the editor in chief of Men's Health, a magazine I've never read and now am bound to never read. What kind of doofuses buy into this stuff?

It seems to me that individuals, through trial and error, should be their own best experts in determining either how to turn someone on, or to find what turns them on. I wouldn't presume to tell you how to turn somebody on, unless that person was me. And I have to suspect that this article is really about what turns David Zinczenko on: a tall dirty sweaty baseball cap wearing automaton that can reconfigure her software while saying duh. Maybe that describes a secret someone that works at Men's Health!

The great thing about blogging is that anybody can do it, as long as they have internet access and an interest to learn the basics on how to do it.

A good thing about blogging is that the news media - a population which pretends to be not privileged when it clearly is - provides greater public access to blogs and bloggers than the bloggers can reach themselves, in terms of spreading information and content.

The worst thing about blogging, at this point, is the lack of ability of the news media in discerning the good bloggers and the asshole dipshit bloggers. Just because someone can post something on a blog, and a hundred other similar minded bloggers link to it, does not make it a valid news story or angle. Some members of the media clearly understand this. Some don't. Some may understand this but don't care because of political viewpoint. Some may understand this but want to burn bloggers' credibility by publishing blogger crap.

The news media should have a simple rule of thumb for reporting on "blogger stories" - follow the specifics of the story and not the viewpoint of the story. Dig for yourselves, find out for yourself. Quit piggybacking on bloggers, because half the time you're laying with swine.

Halloween time!

There's something - actually lots of things - about Dick Morris that I just find disgusting. Disturbing. Depressing. And I'm sure several other D - for Dick - words that I won't bother finding in the thesaurus.

But here's a bit of a mystery. Somebody went to school with this human gag reflex, and somebody lived down the street near him when they were growing up, and somebody hated his whiney-ass shit way back at college. Where are these people? They could provide a service to America, by filling in the picture of how people like Dick Morris become Dick Morris... sort of a way to prevent such personality outrages in the future.

But you never see anyone from ole' Stuyvesant High School in New York City commenting about how Morris got his ass kicked all the time. I don't know if such a thing happened, although based on what I see of him as an adult it's hard to imagine that it didn't happen. But where is the backfill - the upchuck - on people like Dick Morris? They have a history - a history that helps define how they came to be the way they are - how come that history never finds its way to the internet?

It had to be yesterday. Chris Matthews interviewed by his wife, Kathleen. The whole attitude of the show seemed to be that Chris Matthews was some kind of WISE MAN, and it was time to bathe in his wisdom.

So what are your favorite horror movies of all time?

I really don't like, nor care, about Rush Limbaugh. If people are so up in arms about what Limbaugh said, then make your point to Clear Channel. Screw the phone call complaints. You could better make your point by pasting a photo of Limbaugh to a paper plate, taking a dump on the plate and leaving it at the nearest Clear Channel station that carries him.

I know I'd like to see the reaction of the news media coverage on that political statement.