Hallowed Weenies

Today is Halloween so I did appropriate cinematic homage by scaring myself silly late last night with a horror movie.  When I was a kid heading upstairs after a scary movie I had to turn out the lights before I did so.  I always imagined there was some kind of very toothy demon right at the edge of the darkness grasping for me as I sprinted for the safety of the lit upstairs. Kind of crazy that I can still do that to myself this late into my middle aged dotage. Luckily the demon has lost a step or two since I can still out “run” him.  My wife’s been around me long enough not to question when I arrive in the bedroom at a dead spirit, slightly out of breath.  I try to explain that I’m anxious for her company but she simply says, “Scary movie, verdad!”

College Roommate back in the 70's
I Guess We can Blame Him for Today's Youth's Inability to Correctly Wear a Baseball Cap

Lots of birthdays this week including some people I truly cherish (it’s very cold around these parts in January).  College Roommate is on that list marking his day yesterday.  We’ve known each other since the 6^th grade and became good friends in high school culminating in rooming together for our sophomore year at college.  He lived along Spofford Lake and hosted some of the most epic parties of my youth.  I will forever remember navigating in the country black of night down to his beach by looking up to see the stars in the gap through the trees that marked the trail.  The party always ended up with a huge bonfire which allowed me to give full throat to my pyromaniac side.  The less said about the late night runs to Route 9 the better.  We share a love of beer, sports, and women clearly out of our league.  I’m proud to call him friend.

I remember a lot of the Halloweens as a kid when things were a whole lot safer and parents weren’t as omnipresent.  I cannot remember a single costume I wore which tells you how memorable they were but I know my parents never accompanied us.  I remember grabbing a pillow case and heading out with the Cantankerous One and several other friends to pillage the local front porches for candy.  Nowadays even older kids seem to require parental supervision for these transactions.  Is it really that much more dangerous?  I wonder where we lost the confidence.

The wife and I went to see St. Vincent last night which was a very pleasant surprise.  We expected a movie with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy be an over the top, slap stick type comedy.  It’s so much more than that.  Murray plays his usual elder loser type but provides just enough nuance to hint at greater depth.  He volunteers to babysit the son of his new neighbor (McCarthy) and makes no allowance for the tender age of his charge.

The movie does a very good job of demonstrating the need for courage in life and the importance of taking some chances.  Both McCarthy and Murray don’t go for cheap laughs which would have doomed this story.  The actor playing the son is very, very good, similar to one of the early Culkins.  I’m a sucker for any movie with heart and this one has plenty.

I was very glad to see that law enforcement finally caught up with that idiot who killed the State Trooper in the Pennsylvania.  He killed the cop in a cowardly sniper attack and has been running around the Poconos ever since.  After his arrest, which I'm surprised he survived, he was cuffed with the slain officer's handcuffs and transported in the same officer's car.  I'll never post a picture of one of this type idiot but ask you to take moment to honor the service and sacrifice of his victim, Corporal Byron Dickson.

R.I.P.

The Red Sox did't wait long after the World Series to start shoring up their pitching.  They re-signed Koji yesterday. This is a great first step even if he's nearly as old as I am.  If the past post season taught us anything it is the importance of a solid bullpen.  

Welcome Back Koj!