My Top 10 Best Scary/Monster Movies(plus the extras I've added since I first posted it...)

Reposted from the past couple of years. No additional edits this year. Last year's (or was it 2009's) edits in yellow...

I figured I should re-post my annual Halloween movie list. I have edited little bits of it though ...and even added one two. If you're partying for Halloween, have fun but be safe (yes, Dad...). I'll be home all night watching scary movies and drinking beer testing my blood! This year's additions to the list include "Thir13en Ghosts". Which is a remake of the 1960's "13 Ghosts". There's something about the glass house and the mechanics of the ghost traps that really intrigues me. And Shannon Elizabeth isn't terribly bad on the eyes... Also added to the list is "Five Million Years to Earth", about an ancient Martian ship unearthed during a London excavation. Another one of those movies where the public can damned near walk up to the thing. And with a hot babe scientist! And a spoiler--the Martians look like giant grasshoppers. Speaking of giant bugs, the last addition this year is "Them!". The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization. Damn, I miss the classics! No specific place in the list. Just added to it...

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As promised earlier last week, here's my top ten list of my favorite sci-fi/monster/scary movies. They may not be the goriest, or most hi-tech, but I prefer them this way. They are far better movies than gorefests. I will almost always watch these to their conclusion if I happen upon them while switching channels. I got to see a couple of these over the past week while watching AMC's "Fear Fest '09". In fact, I'm adding one to the list that I saw. It should come somewhere in the middle, but then I'd have eleven. But I don't want to knock any of these off the list. I'll number it with a Roman numeral. But I digress...

Here's my top ten faves:

#10-The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)--"Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!" Perfect example of substance over flash. Effects not all that good, even for 1951, but I suspect that in its day, it was quite discomforting. If a spaceship landed in D.C. today, no one would be allowed within miles. In 1951, you could bring the family down to look at it from no further away than 30 yards!


#9-Tales From the Crypt (1972)--No, not the cheesy HBO TV series. The original movie. Five tales of impending fate for five imperfect strangers. They are given the option of avoiding their fates - by avoiding living out the rest of their lives. Many memorable moments, including a young Joan Collins being murdered by Santa Claus. Also brings to mind the movie "Asylum", also from 1972.


#8-Frankenstein (1931)--The granddaddy of them all. Not the first monster movie, but the first that truly made the genre such a hit. Frankenstein's monster was grotesque, the story was horrifying, and it was eaten up by the public--at least those who didn't faint! The attempt by man to play God once again fails. But at least he launched a whole new series of movies! By the end of the movie, you actually feel some pity for the monster. Perhaps the mob outside burning down the windmill was the real monster??? Hard to believe that the same guy who could play the monster would go on to narrate "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"!

#7-Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)--I can't remember exactly when I first saw this--grade school, I'm sure. I love this monster! He lives in the Amazon, swims around among some gorgeous scenery, and then falls in love with the girl on this boat. He swims a few feet under her as she's out in the water. He's just shy and horny. This movie was originally filmed in 3D, so there's lots of harpoons and bubbles and swimming towards the camera action going on. As with many of the monster movies from this era, you sort of have feelings for the monster by the end of the movie.


#6-The Omen (the original trilogy)--Creepy little kid is born as the anti-Christ. This is one series that I actually liked all three movies. Following Damien as a little boy, to his teenaged years, to his adulthood. You don't feel sorry for him in the end...

#5-Night of the Living Dead (1968)--This movie shows what you can do on an incredibly small budget. Yeah, the make-up is cheesy, and the dialog pretty cliche, but the story not only scared you, but also touched on race relations, family relations, distrust of government and the like. Great scene of zombies munching on intestines, organs and limbs at the burned out truck!

#MCMLXIXa-The Amityville Horror (1979)--This story is based on real events, though there's a great deal of controversy whether it was all a hoax or not. A family moves in, the walls in the house start talking to the family, blood oozes out all over the place, and the family leaves in less than a month. The real house in question is currently inhabited, apparently without incident. As Larry the Cable Guy says in his act, the realtor responsible for selling this house must be really good! No one in the family dies, but there's plenty of eerie sounds, dripping blood, and the voice of the house. All in all, it's got all the necessary elements!

#MCMLXIXb-The "Alien" series--Another new addition this year. Thanks to The Panserbjørne for mentioning it. The first one (1979) was amazing, with the face-sucking embryo planter, the stomach pop, and then actually seeing the alien for the first time (God bless HR Giger!). Probably one of the finest concepts of an alien in all of film! The second one was pretty good too, with the little girl as the lone survivor on the colony. The third and fourth installments seemed to milk the concept a bit much. Though, the final scenes of the fourth one almost evokes sympathy for the mutant alien/Ripley creature. As its guts are being sucked out of the porthole, you can't help but feel sadness as it seems to be crying for its "mommy" (Ripley). A good set of movies, particularly the first one.

#4a-Young Frankenstein (1974)
#4b-Mars Attacks! (1996)--OK, so they're comedies. But fine examples of movies based on the genre. "Young Frankenstein" used some of the original movie's lab equipment, and used references to it and other Frankenstein classics. With a healthy dose of puns and laughter. Someone called in alot of favors for "Mars Attacks!". Patterned on the UFO movies of the 50s, its cast included over a dozen big-name, big-buck actors, including Jack Nicholson (in 2 roles), Glenn Close, Michael J. Fox, Pierce Brosnan, Jack Black, Paul Winfield, Rod Steiger, Natalie Portman, Annette Benning and Danny Devito. And Tom Jones. Among numerous others. While it could have become quite cartoonish, the movie was played seriously, and even had a couple of grotesque moments!

#3a-Poltergeist (1982)
#3b-Poltergeist III (1988)--Another trilogy that worked pretty well. Except for #2. And #3 was a little weak, but the concept of evil characters in the mirror (or any reflective surface) was a bit freaky. No, the scariest part of the movies are the deaths of those associated with the movies, in particular, the death of 12 year old Heather O'Rourke ("They're heeeerrrreeee....!). The real life stories are far scarier than the movies (though that clown in the picture still gives me chills...

#2-The Shining (1980)--"Heeeeeerrree's Johnny!" Stephen King's novel as envisioned by Stanley Kubrick. As mentioned in an earlier post, the music to this movie is amazing. The scenery outstanding (for the little bit that you get to see). While the movie's best scenes involve Jack, there are plenty of others. The tidal wave of blood from the elevator. The two very disturbing twins. Danny holding a large knife screaming "REDRUM! REDRUM!" This movie has just about all the good things that a horror movie should have. Great story, just enough blood, twists and turns. And Jack is phenomemal.

#1-The Exorcist (1973)--No real surprise here. This movie scares the bejeezus out of me to this day. To the point that I have only seen it all the way through without breaks twice in my life. I usually have to get up at the point when the mother first hears "rats" in the ceiling. Having been raised a good Catholic, I definitely remember the outcry that followed this movie. Crowds stood outside the theaters to pray for the souls that the devil would take from those who watched the movie. Some scenes were so disturbing that people got physically ill, or fainted. Certain scenes never made it to the screen as they were deemed "too graphic"--one of which is the famous "spider crawl" scene depicted in the b&w picture.
On the other hand, I spent an evening with Moose and watched "The Exorcist". She just laughed.

So there you have it. I would recommend all thirteen these movies (yeah, I know. There's more than ten. Deal with it.).

Blood and Gore HNT

From a make-up supply webpage:

Lots of blood and gore is needed if you want to scare your victims.

Blood dripping down from your open wounds. Blood dripping from the corners of your mouth after the your vampire just drank the last bit of their victim's life.

Gore goes hand in hand with blood. Can't have gore without some blood.

You need blood and gore with all your Halloween props too. Don't forget that!

Sometimes too much.... IS too much so watch that a bit.

While it's not really "gory", it IS bloody! And the first picture from my new phone!!

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Not a normal sort of Mystery Guest this week. Way back in the earliest days of HNT, I had my camera stolen at a gig. This, as you might imagine, caused all sorts of consternation. The biggest of which...how could I possibly continue HNT??? Cooler heads prevailed, and one particular blogger suggested that I have guest HNTers, somehow using any of my prior pictures, so that I wasn't left out each week. Thus was born the concept of the Mystery Guest. Since this happened in the fall, and some of them were appropriately seasonal, I offer some MG examples from the old days!

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I was a bit surprised that we didn't get a lot of Halloween themed pictures for "...the Other HNT" (remember the pumpkin guts that someone finally had the 'guts' to do last year?!?), but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go check them out! Be sure to leave some comments for your fellow HNTers!

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I've got no plans for Halloween this year. In years past, I haven't even needed to worry about trick or treaters. Something about apartment complexes with dark hallways that keep the kids away. Unfortunately, within the past three months, there's been 3 or 4 families who have moved in, all with at least 3 kids. I suspect that I might have to actually go buy some candy this year. Grrr... If any of you are partying (hi, Vixen!), enjoy yourselves, and don't drink & drive! And post pictures!!!

A Post!

Here I am, in my effort to not go three weeks in a row of only posting HNTs!

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Not sure when it happened (actually, I think it was Thursday), but all the leaves in town came crashing down. Or fluttering down. Anyway, all the side streets are ankle deep in the yellow leaves of the elm trees--especially in the upper westside (the former "rich" part of town). It's absolutely gorgeous. Or at least it will be until the first snow blankets all of the unraked leaves and they start rotting and stinking up the place. There's a bit of laziness in that regard around here...

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I've been having all sorts of fun with my new phone. Especially using "Siri"--the 'assistant' application. It's sort of like the HAL 9000 from "2001". You can even carry on a conversation with it, and apparently others have discovered this as well. There's a whole site dedicated to it at "Shit That Siri Says"! The responses are great!

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Of course, playing with the phone took the back seat to the symphony concert this weekend. The concert was one of the best I've been involved with in years. But man, what a lot of work involved. The highlights include staying up until 3:15 AM re-editing 180 Powerpoint slides, ripping my shins open on the U-haul's trailer hitch (twice on one leg, two days apart!) and bleeding like a stuck pig, dealing with the Keystone Kops we had to move a 9' grand piano, and surviving on about 10 hours of sleep for 3 days. On a more positive note, it didn't rain or snow all weekend! I'll bet it's waiting for December...

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Read online that Lindsey Lohan has struck a deal with Playboy for a photo shoot at the end of this week. They offered $750K, she insisted on $1M, and they met somewhere in the middle. In the meantime, she's still cleaning toilets at the morgue as part of her community service. Anyone wish that she'd never grown up from that precocious "Parent Trap" girl?

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I listen to Pandora at work almost exclusively these days. And my current genre is "classic soul". For the most part, it's pretty good, though Michael McDonald sneaks in on occasion (wth??). But it's damned hard to concentrate on work when Barry White comes on.

4S HNT

I was so excited to get my new iPhone 4S. Announced just one day before Steve Jobs' death (rumor has it he died because it wasn't the iPhone 5...), the pre-order date was Oct. 7th. Being the smart, resourceful guy that I am, I went in on the 8th and plunked down my money. I got a receipt telling me that I would receive my phone on Oct. 21st. Imagine my dismay when I found out that you could actually buy the real deal a full week before that!! I've had to put up with my boss' glee (he really likes the Siri feature!) since last Friday.

Ah, well. My trusty, but broken Droid can last for an extra week. And by pre-ordering, I was eligible for a 30% discount on accessories. If I bought five of them. Even though I only really needed three, I sprung for the five. I got a portable battery charger, for those times I'm on OsTour. I got the Otter case for protection (bought the insurance on the phone, too--live and learn!). I got the dock so that I can charge it and use it at the same time. And I got the car charger, also for mini-OsTours. The fifth accessory (not shown) is the package of screen protectors. So while I haven't gotten the big prize yet, I got the next best thing. I can't wait for Friday to roll around. Of course, I'll be busy with symphony stuff all Friday, and through the weekend, so I don't know when I'll get to learn all the ins and outs. But I'm sure I'll make time!

(Oooh! Click on the pic for a late afternoon surprise!!!)

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No Mystery Guest this week. Sad panda.

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A smaller sampling over at "...the Other HNT" this week. Be sure to stop by and see who's there. Not terribly explicit, but still probably NSFW...

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I noted last week that it had been a full week since I'd posted. Well, I did it again. Grrr... I will try to do better in the coming one! Time has been spent watching football and AMC's Fear Fest, among other horror offerings. And the aforementioned symphony concert. And a big secret project that I can't tell you about yet. But I absolutely promise you that I will!

Playing With My Food HNT

Over the weekend, I found these pictures posted by someone on FB. It absolutely blew me away. A simple concept, really, but one that's pretty much outside the box. Well, any box that I grew up in. It doesn't have anything to do with taste--just a different approach on preparation and presentation. And I immediately decided that I had to do it myself! Of course, someone told me to take pictures...

The first thing I found was that I'm not very good at visual art. Though I knew I wanted to do more than just sticking spaghetti into hot dogs. I thought I'd try to come up with an entire zoo. There's only so much you can do with hot dogs, though, when you have no talent. Add in the fact that spaghetti is surprisingly wobbly when trying to make giraffes or an AT-AT, and my creativity, such as it is, was falling by the wayside. But I regrouped, and made a doggie, a tiny giraffe, a spidery thing, a centipede-ish thing, and one of the ghosts from Pac-Man. Or whatever you think you see here...

My final opinion--as a single guy in his mid-50s, well, this sort of plays right into that, doesn't it? But if you have kids, it's possible to make a fun project out of it. Maybe. If your kid has more talent than I do...

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"We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time."
~Art Buchwald

Our fun-loving Mystery Guest will be revealed Thursday afternoon!
She may be out of sight, but never out of mind! The hell-raising MG this week is Barefoot Dreamer, of course. No more blog, so no link, but we can all remember her fondly!

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We've some good stuff over at "...the Other HNT" this week, as usual! Be sure to stop by and check out your fellow HNTers. Leave some comment lovin' too. They like that! Definitely NSFW.

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Geez...I didn't post anything since last week's HNT. Don't even have a good excuse.

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Have you seen the Geico commercial with the girl who 'lost' her fish? Love it!

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If any of you are interested (and I can't believe that any of you would be...), I finally got the rest of my HNT's (through September) posted on my separate site. If you're so inclined, go here.

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Considering pulling out my 35mm camera in the next few days. Now I just have to find somewhere to buy some decent film. Hopefully I'll have some good shots to share!

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Thanks to everyone who joined in on the Post-it® theme from last week! I knew that most of you would nail it, and you didn't disappoint! No more themes until the standard December ones. I'll post more on those in a few weeks...

Post-it® HNT

Well, if you didn't hear about it yet, Steve Jobs died this afternoon. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny the impact of the man on the way we live our lives today. Even if you don't own a single Apple product, or even used iTunes, his influence on the entire computer/electronics industry was huge. Wow.

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You know...this was a much better idea when I first had it a couple of weeks ago! I hope you all had better luck than I did! You might have to click it to big it to read it.

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"I wish I had a Teddy Bear
To sit upon my knee.
I'd take him with me everywhere,
To cuddle up with me.
I'd scorn young men,
No lover then
My lot in life should share,
They might go to Jericho
If I'd a Teddy Bear."

From Pelissier's Follies - 1909

Our Mystery Guest is choosing not to reveal herself this week. She's shy.

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We're a little short on quantity this week over at "...the Other HNT", but the quality is high, as always! Stop by and check out your fellow HNTers! Definitely NSFW.

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Don't forget that Boobiethon is continuing through Friday night. It's never to late to submit photos (or to donate to ogle them!). HNTers have been pretty good supporters over the years of previous Boobiethons, and I've already seen at least a half dozen of you over there this year. If you've never heard of it, go to their site to get more details.

As an update since I first drafted this post, those who run Boobiethon have decided that this year's will be the last. You can read their blog announcement here. So now is your last chance to get in on this most worthy event!!

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I have a love/hate relationship with October. Twenty-one years ago in October, I was unceremoniously arrested. Twenty years ago this week, I finished up my jail sentence (yes, Os was in jail--no, you're not going to hear about it). Two years ago this weekend I was enjoying the experiences of I.C.U. But October is also all about great weather, football, and of course, Halloween! Which means the great monster/scary/psycho movies will be running non-stop! Look forward to AMC's "Fear Fest" starting on the 16th (looks like they're actually starting early, too!). And TCM and SyFy have already started their scary stuff. Woohoo!

A Day in the Mountains

I had the afternoon off today, so I headed up into the mountains. The weather has been ridiculously gorgeous, and I really haven't been up where I was headed in close to ten years. My parents owned a cabin up this way, nestled between the forest road and a small creek. But that has nothing to do with this post.

There's a turnoff from the main forest road that takes you to a reservoir higher up in the mountains. I've lived in this area for over 50 years (except during the 80s...), and I have never been to this place. All I knew is that there was a mountain road to this place that actually continued past and joined up with some other mountain roads that I was familiar with. Since it was a lovely day, I figure I'd take care of that.

I immediately found out why it's not really someplace to head to. It's a one-lane rock road, and very unfriendly to a regular passenger car. And steep.However, it was obvious that there had been traffic on it recently, so I forged ahead. About 3 miles up this road, there's a locked gate with a "NO TRESPASSING" sign. Just past a few trees was a monster house! With a lawn. A lawn!! It was big enough that it had to be a year-round residence, but I can't imagine how/if they get out during the winter! The pictures below don't really give a sense of how high these places are!

Anyway, just past the top of the mountain sits the Chessman Reservoir. I had no idea it was as large as it was! And I couldn't tell that there was any public access to it. I suspect not. But it was spectacularly pretty. After getting mad at myself for not bringing a camera, I pulled out the phone. It might be on its last legs, but it still doesn't do badly!


I then decided to continue on, rather than double back. Anything for more adventure! I then found out that, rather coming in from the west as I had, I should have come from the east. The roads were actually somewhat developed! Lots of logging operations going on to clear out the trees killed by pine beetles. Sad, really. Nothing terribly exciting on the rest of the trip. The trees are in the midst of changing up there (not in the valleys yet). Definitely thinking about heading back with a camera this weekend!

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Theme Alert! - Don't forget that we've got a theme coming up! It's going to be "Post-it®" HNT on October 6th. See my HNT from two weeks ago to see more details!

Birthday, Old Age, Death and Promise

We celebrated Mom's birthday (yesterday) by taking her out for Thai food. There's only one Thai place in town, and only S3 and N2 had ever eaten there. Not sure what I thought. Everyone raves about this place, as it's very homey and small. But is it all that good? I don't know--I've got no reference points. We went for the big family style serving, so there was lots of everything. Did I try everything? Yes. Did I like it all? Yes, actually. Was it spectacular? I don't think so, really. Anyway, I'm glad I had the chance to try it!

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A high school classmate of mine recently turned 55. He made a comment on FB that now he can start taking advantage of those senior discounts at Applebee's and Denny's. At the moment I read that, I have never felt so old. It passed quickly, but damn...

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The tragedy that won't end... Finding out about Stealth's death this spring was a shock that still gets into my head from time to time. For some reason, I went to her FB site over the weekend, and to sort of see if anyone had posted anything new there. Her boyfriend/fiancé had posted a thank-you to all of us that were late in finding out. A couple of people did one of those stupid FB games that I don't think anyone actually plays (think spam). But there were two posts that seemed odd.

Short story--the boyfriend died on June 4th. You can do your own investigating if you'd like, but there's not much to find. No mention of the cause of death. A comment left in the online guestbook used the word "tragic", but nothing more. Sadly, and somewhat surprising--no mention of Stealth preceding him in death. Any way you look at it, it's all sad...

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I always like it when a potential project looks like it's going to be a success. Can't tell you anything about it right now, but so far, all indications are remarkably positive! You're going to be impressed!

Drilled HNT

Since becoming a member of the "I Gots Diabetes!"® club almost 2 years ago, one of the things that's been drilled into me is that my immune system has now been weakened. And that I need to have yearly flu shots. For 52 years, I survived without flu shots (except that pesky swine flu shot we all had to get in 1976). But it's dawned on me that since leaving the hospital, I haven't used a single sick day at work! If that's because of the flu shot, or eating healthier, or dumb luck, so be it! But not one to take chances anymore, I went in to get my annual flu shot this afternoon. And this is my public service announcement to you--don't wait! Get yours now! You, too, can get a cute little band-aid like this!

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No Mystery Guest this week, so I'll use the space to remind everyone that Boobiethon 2011 starts up on Saturday! HNTers have been pretty good supporters over the years of previous Boobiethons, and I don't imagine that's going to stop. If you've never heard of it, read this brief synopsis below, then go to their site to get more details (including how to submit pictures, too!).

2011 marks the 10th Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon. Bloggers from all over the globe send in photos of their boobies (covered and uncovered) to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research. In the past nine years we have raised over $74,000.00 ion the past 8 years and we are back to do it all again on October 1, 2011!

The 2011 event kicks off on Friday October 1, 2011 and will run for one full week, ending at 11:59 pm on Thursday October 7, 2011. Just as we have done in the past we will be supporting a Bloggers Helping Bloggers charity as well as Komen. For more detailed information about the Blogger Boobie-Thon and how it started, please visit The History of the Boobie-Thon written by the Boobie-Thon Founder, Robyn in 2005. You can also find another "History of the Boobie-thon" at heyfreak.com.

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Again, there's something for everyone this week over at "...the Other HNT"! NSFW, as always, but go check them out anyway! And leave some comment lovin' for your fellow HNTers!

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Any of you thinking about trying Blogger's new template options? It appears that they're trying to become more Tumblr-ish. Sorta cool, but not sure I'm going to cross over. I tried it with this site, just to see what it would look like. I just didn't like what it looked like. And some customization didn't transfer over. I might give it a shot with OHNT, but I'll let it get the bugs worked out first.

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Word on the street is that iPhone 5 will be announced on Tuesday, and released a few weeks after. Lord, I hope so!

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Theme Alert! - Don't forget that we've got a theme coming up! It's going to be "Post-it®" HNT on October 6th. See my HNT from two weeks ago to see more details!

Repost. Because it's good.

Redneck HNT

It was 11 months ago that I dropped my Droid and cracked the screen, which made an appearance for HNT. At that time I was able to buy a screen protector (closing the barn door after the horse got out?), which kept the glass shards together, while protecting my fingerprints from slicing each time I slid across the touch screen. For all intents and purposes, everything worked well, other than texting. In the worst part of the screen, I might have pressed a particular letter, but the glass shard would trigger a different one. The upside of that? My texting became less of a priority, simply because it took so long to actually complete a sentence!

Things have changed over the last few weeks, however. The protector, which did a great job for 8 months, started peeling away. Not its fault--the screen is no longer a fully flat surface. And the glass shards have ground against each other, creating a fine glassy dust. In other words, there's nothing solid for the protector to stick to. So I did what any good redneck would do. I whipped out the duct tape. And honestly, it's working pretty well.

At least until I'm the first in line to pick up the new iPhone 5 (PLEASE, let that be next month!!!).

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"Out on the edge of night
In any city you can name
There rides the rebel girl
The wild one no-one dared to tame
And the light in her eyes is a fire

Have you seen her
The rebel girl in action in the city
At night you hear her call
Oooh rebel girl"

Excerpt from "Rebel Girl" ~ Survivor

This rebel girl jumped the gun on the Post-it® HNT, but she does a good job showing the possibilities! She'll be revealed on Thursday afternoon, so come back and find out who she is!
This rebel girl is Maggie, formerly from "Today Did Not Suck"! No link, because she's not blogging anymore, but she wanted to let us know that she's still occasionally checking us out, and things are chock full of sunshine!

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There's lots to look at over at "...the Other HNT"! Stop by, ogle, and leave comments, OK? It's still NSFW, of course.

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Gosh, what an uproar over at FB today! A week from now, no one will have a problem with it, but today? What hatred! I think it mostly comes from the lack of warning. And no users guide to let us know what's changed, and how to find it. And the worrying about FB blatantly ignoring privacy settings. Or are they? Who knows? I'm not overly concerned about it--I can adapt pretty easily. But it's certainly frustrating! (Notice that Pandora's page has changed, too?!?)

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Did you see that the third version of "The Thing" comes out next month? I'm a sucker for this sort of thing!

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Theme Alert! - Don't forget that we've got a theme coming up! It's going to be "Post-it®" HNT on October 6th. See last week's HNT to see more details!

Just a bunch of stuff...

Hmmm...what to write...

Symphony concert went well on Saturday night. A bit more busy work than I had anticipated doing, but it's all part of the game. October, on the other hand, I anticipate will have all sorts of busy work to do!

My football teams seem to be on a roll. The Griz defeated the defending national champion of the FCS (who are now 0-3...it's tough to be on top!). Cats are winning too, though they haven't beaten anyone of note. Looks like Gucci and I will be having another bet this fall! Trust me...you'll want to be rooting for the Griz!

The weather here has been great for the most part. In fact, we'll be hitting the mid-80s by the end of the week. For as cold and rainy as the summer started, it's certainly making up for it now!

Had a bday dinner thing Sunday night. No kids!!! Not by design, but by circumstances. Two away at college, one flying back from a trip to Alaska, and one with basketball practice. It's the way these family dinners are going to be in the future now...

The family dinners are always a great way of hearing stories from our past that not everyone knew about. This time around it was the story of how my sisters broke the news to my parents that I was in the hospital, but wasn't in a near diabetic coma anymore. The fun and hilarity ensued as they tried to convince me that this all happened on a Thursday night, when I knew it was on a Friday night. They were all so certain of this I started to wonder if I was as bad off as it sounded. A quick check of my paperwork (and FB and blog) verified that I was correct. Even though I was the one that was in lala land!

Theme Alert! - Don't forget that we've got a theme coming up! It's going to be "Post-it®" HNT on October 6th. See last week's HNT to see more details!

Sticky Wicket HNT

Not much to say here.
Flypaper.
Illogically placed.
Me not paying attention.
Recreated here for your ridicule and pleasure.
You're welcome.

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1950′s Homemaking tips — a crash course
Have dinner ready: Plan ahead even the night before to have a delicious meal on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.
Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-wary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.
Clear away the clutter: Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.
Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.
Minimize all noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quite. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him. Some don’ts: Don’t greet him with problems or complaints. Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.
Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax-unwind.
Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.
Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.
The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Come back Thursday afternoon to find out who our contemporary 50s couple might be!
Our MG couple are those sexy Aussies, Jas and JM. Go check out each of their blogs and say hi!!

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We've got a pretty good crew over at "...the Other HNT" again this week. A little bit of something for everyone!

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Theme Alert! - I don't think we've had a theme since the Christmas themes. My bad! So this one's going to be a little different. It's going to be "Post-it®" HNT on October 6th. What does that mean? Use one (or as many as you like) Post-it® notes in your HNT for that week. Use any of the available colors. Use them to hide a tattoo. Or to label a scar. Or to frame your belly button. You can write a message (even directed to an individual!) on one and stick it on you. Or draw a picture on it. Or use one of those custom shaped ones. It's really up to your imagination. And if your private parts tingle when walking into an office supply store, feel free to use other office supplies as well (but don't forget the Post-it® note(s)!).

It just now dawns on me that this might be a US-only product... Is there something similar outside of the US? Email me if you have questions. Post the theme alert on your own sites. Have fun with it!

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The first symphony concert of the season is this weekend. Fairly easy concert--Barber, Rachmaninoff & Elgar, if you're interested. Won't be around much after tomorrow, so carry on without me!

Football and other things

Double-header Monday Night Football?? I'm a fan! Even if it's a sloppy game like the Raiders/Broncos game...

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Speaking of football, the Carroll College Saints suffered their first conference loss since 2006, snapping a 44-game league win streak. It was just Carroll’s 15th loss overall since 2000. A bit of a shock, as Eastern Oregon was unranked, but sometimes shit happens...

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On a more positive note, the Griz looked pretty good in avenging last year's loss to Cal Poly. Maybe they can turn it back around this year! Their next opponent is Eastern Washington, the current National Champion in the FCS. EWU was shocked by South Dakota this weekend, and will be playing this week in Missoula, so conditions are ripe for another Griz win!

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Spent Sunday alternating between 9/11 coverage and NFL. The opening of the memorial was nice, and it appears that it could easily become the #1 tourist attraction in NYC. But the best viewing this year was a documentary that I first wrote about in 2008...

"Watched a new documentary on the History Channel last week. "102 Minutes That Changed the World" gives a new look at the events of 9/11 through photographs, videos and radio recordings from the NYPD, the FDNY, the Port Authority, professional journalists and amateurs. No narration, no script, and no fancy editing. Just a very subtle soundtrack that you probably won't even notice.

The various videos are spliced together somewhat chronologically. It gives a view that the news stations couldn't. Personal vantage points. Video of the chaos on the streets, and in various buildings. Some from inside the WTC buildings, to as far away as Hoboken. Perhaps the most intense scene is from the NYU students who are just a couple of blocks away in their 32nd floor apartment, hearing the comments in disbelief that they are seeing people jumping, rather than chairs falling out. Or their horror as they see the second plane hit the towers. And the sheer panic to get out of their own high-rise. Or perhaps it's the husband and wife telling each other in disbelief that one, then both of the towers had collapsed, and telling their little girl to go back into her room and watch her movie. Or seeing the same little girl telling her baby brother that the towers are "all gone". To fill out the two-hour block, the remaining 18 minutes feature the actual people whose videos were used. Talking about what they saw, why they taped it, and how it's affected them over the years.

Of any 9/11 documentary I've ever seen, this is one that should not be missed!"

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I ran into a panic situation this morning. The power adapter for my MacBook Pro developed a short and finally failed on me. Yeah...one of those first-world problems. I can't just go out and get a replacement, as the nearest Apple Store is 500 miles away in Salt Lake City. Fortunately, however, there is one place in town that sells Macs, and they happened to have ONE replacement. To the tune of $79. I love Apple, but geez...

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The weather has been beautiful here, and will continue for the near future. Meaning that tonight's full moon could be seen in all its glory. Even through the haze of some smokey skies, thanks to some fires in the western part of the state. Damn, I do like living here!

Remembering HNT

It's not often that millions of people watch history being made as it happens, at the same time. Very few people actually saw the bullets that struck President Kennedy. Tens of millions have seen the Zapruder film after the fact, but there were only a few actual witnesses. Perhaps the biggest audience ever to watch history being made was when man landed on the moon, and those first tentative steps by Neil Armstrong. Not a terribly clear picture, but people witnessed it together, wondering if the moon was made of cheese, or if tiny aliens would eat him alive (not that I'm giving away the plot to "Apollo 18"). Jump ahead to the Challenger disaster. While just about everyone around would recognize that white plume heading into the incredibly blue sky, with the ball of fire at the top, I doubt that millions were watching it as it happened (I was though). Shuttle flights were routine at the time, so live TV audiences were small.

Then there's the events from 10 years ago. I don't imagine there were even a thousand people who actually witnessed the first plane smashing into the North Tower. Millions of people have only seen it because of a film crew that happened to catch it at the last second--being in the right place at the right time. But the second plane? A totally different story altogether. By that time, millions of people were glued to their TVs, and unexpectedly witnessed the horrific event that officially put the U.S. under terrorist attack. And then the subsequent collapse of each tower. Not only were millions witnessing history together, they were watching murder of hundreds upon hundreds together. The nation, the world, has not been the same since that day.

I don't want to get into a "where were you?" thing here, but I will say that, being in a rural state thousands of miles away, it was totally surreal. And frankly, a little disconnected from our lives here. Business carried on that day, other than aviation. I seem to remember that federal buildings might have been evacuated, and perhaps the state capitol building, but no one was really panicking. We lived in Montana. Nothing was going to happen to us here. People just shook their heads in disbelief at the visuals. They might have looked at each other with a tear in their eyes. There was a bond of sorts, even among strangers, yet it was still so disconnected.

Until stories came out about relatives who lived there (including a cousin of mine who lived in lower Manhattan at the time). But everyone was pretty much OK, and it still stayed somewhat disconnected. For me, it didn't really start to hit home until years later, when documentaries started appearing on TV. Images and videos that were not part of the original news coverage, taken by "regular" people who just happened to be watching history unfold before their eyes. And who weren't really sure if they would become casualties in a war that had just been declared. Bringing it down to a more personal level is what really brought me out of the disconnect. I now find myself with tears in my eyes if I watch any of it for a short amount of time.

This past week or two have found nightly documentaries about 9/11. Some about why it happened, or how it happened, or even one debunking the conspiracy theories (if you're one of those people--get a life). But the one that I liked best didn't focus on history, but on the future. The future of the site, and the memorial being built to honor the dead.

Maybe it's because I don't live there or haven't visited there, but I never heard anything about the reconstruction. Couldn't find any pictures of the final design. Couldn't find out anything about the clean-up, or any sort of work being done. But this one series of films took care of all that. The entire area has been transformed, and is continuing to transform into a livable area again. So in lieu of my own images, I offer you a look at what the future holds for the site. It's a whole lot prettier than anything I could have come up with.

Be sure to click these to get the full sense of things!


On the left is the architect's rendition of the completed WTC site. The building on the left will tower 1776' above ground, making it the tallest building in NYC. It is already over 1000' completed, and can be seen in the Manhattan skyline. The park area below is highlighted by two pools that occupy the footprint of the two original towers. The pools will have the largest man-made waterfalls in the U.S., and will be lined with the names of everyone who was killed in the attacks, including the Pentagon and Flight 93. On the right is a rendering of the park surrounding the pools. Four hundred oak trees from the various attack sites will be planted here. Most of them are already planted. As well as callery pear known as the "Survivor Tree", which was nursed back to health after surviving the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero.


Another architect's rendering on the left, showing the 9/11 Museum between the two pools, which will open in September 2012. On the right, an actual photograph of one of the pools with the night lights on and the water running. More photos and stories can be found at the memorial website. I urge you to go check it out.

Finally, I leave you with one of the most powerful images from that day.

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I'd give you a big hug
everyday if I could
along with some kisses,
you know I would

So I hope you like this
that I bottled for you....
kisses when needed
and a big bear hug too!
~ shirleyt@craftayings.com

Or maybe her Cheese-kun, too! This week's huggable Mystery Guest will be revealed Thursday afternoon. Come back to find out who she is!
After worrying about having anymore MGs, Silly Mistress jumped in to volunteer! Be sure to go visit her at Fighting Sanity!

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We've got some new participants over at "...the Other HNT" this week! And for no apparent reason...lots of toys! Glad to see some of you coming out of the woodwork! Be sure to check them out, and leave some comment lovin'! Very NSFW, as usual.

A Good Day

Spent Sunday out at the lake. Probably the last time I'll be out there this season. We celebrated a couple of birthdays, drank lots of beer (I'm finding myself increasing my "limit"...gotta watch that), and ate like trailer park trash at Golden Corral. It was a gorgeous day--all sun, not a cloud in the sky, and just a hint of breeze. Beer pong. That variation of cornhole that they play. XMSirius playing the 70s station. Football. Jet skis. Storytelling (the ones that my sisters didn't want their kids to hear). Visitors from all over the lake stopped by, so there was a steady stream of new people. Most of whom I didn't know. The only one missing was Mom, who was out in Portland visiting S1 for the weekend. All in all, a great way to put a cap on summer.

Note the difference in lake level/beach! Pics on the left from 4th of July weekend. The ones on the right are from Sunday! (click 'em to big 'em!)


(Note the stump in the water on the very far left, and its location on the beach this weekend!
It's stuck in the sand, so it didn't move--just the water!)


(The waterline of July is the end of the beachline in September!)


(The beach, and the arrival of a neighbor's party barge!)


(Cabin at the top, bunkhouse to the right)


(The outhouse (carpeted, no less!), the bar, and about 20% of the coolers that were scattered around.
Can't have the beer too far from reach!)

Hrmph...

Maggie.
Vixen.
Autumn.
Daisy.
BFD.

I'm not at all happy.

Miner's Gold HNT

This week's HNT is primarily for the benefit of my beer drinking girls who have deserted me over the years. They know who they are...

Our favorite beer drinkin' place was the Brewhouse. If you've been around, you've seen various pics taken in front of the place. It's where I was first introduced to calamari. It's where I watched Carroll College win one of their many national championships, while drinking many many beers (ah, the old days...). It's where just about everyone in town goes when they want good food, good service, and good beer.

I mention all this because the Brewhouse was built around the Sleeping Giant Brewery, which occupied the basement. Because the brewery is prohibited by law to operate as a bar or restaurant, the Brewhouse took care of that part of things. They did have a tasting room, however, which was allowed to sell no more than 24 oz. of beer to a customer per day (or a growler, for off-premises consumption). Generally that meant three 8-oz./glasses per visit (which could actually hold 12 oz., and sometimes it would "overfill"...oops!). At around the time of the Lewis & Clark bicentennial, the brewery changed its name to the Lewis & Clark Brewing Co.

Fast forward to this past winter. The brewery purchased a former paint factory in town, and they started refitting it to brew beer. The new space held its grand opening this past weekend. The new tasting room is good sized, and the whole space is gorgeous. Even with the 24 oz. limit, I have a feeling this place is going to be packed! And the Brewhouse has plans to expand into their now-vacant basement. So everyone's going to win!

And to the subject of the picture--while L&C Brewing was busy remodeling things for the public, they were also busy canning their beer! This is like a dream come true! Pictured is a can of Miner's Gold, which is probably their biggest seller. I cannot estimate how many kegs of this stuff I've consumed over the years. Of course, it tastes a little different than the draft beer, but it's pretty close! There's at least two other flavors that are available in cans too. Lewis & Clark Brewing. Buy some if you can find it!

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Three weeks in a row without a Mystery Guest. Does that mean we're finished with that?

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"...the Other HNT" going strong! Be sure to check out your fellow HNTers over there. As always, it's NSFW.

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For those of you who celebrate Labor/Labour Day this weekend...have fun! Enjoy saying goodbye to summer, but don't drink and drive!

Come On Irene...!

Glad to hear (or not hear, as the case may be) that Irene didn't cause any major damage to any of you. I had the TV locked on the Weather Channel for the weekend, though I wasn't glued to it 24/7. I do think that the networks were playing it up pretty hard though. Maybe we were expecting damage like the tsunami in Japan or the hurricanes in Florida. Maybe we were hoping for something more than when the same tsunami hit Hawaii. Maybe we were hoping for the monster waves, something like "The Day After Tomorrow" (the one that wipes out the Statue of Liberty).

Regardless, I think it was better to be safe, than sorry, and I think most people were prepared. Hope the flooding doesn't cause any problems for any of you!

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On Saturday the Little League team from Montana lost to the same California team that they'd beaten to get into the championship in the first place. I am not a fan of baseball. It ranks lower than just about anything other than the NBA in my book. But this truly was a David vs. Goliath story. The California team plays year-round in its balmy climate, while Montana's team is lucky to get in three months of baseball a year. California has paid coaches, and a coach for damned near each position. Montana's team is coached by a string of volunteers over the years, with no hitting coach or personal trainers. California's players have to "pay to play", generally running hundreds or thousands of dollars a year. The Montana kids have their parents fork out less than a hundred. These are two totally different approaches to Little League.

So there were flashbacks to the "Bad News Bears" (without the drunken manager), or the team from Hickory in "Hoosiers". In the end, the Montana team was soundly defeated, but could hold their heads high. Most bars in the state had the game playing on their TVs, and the entire state pulled together to root for these boys. Will they make it again next year? Probably not. But it doesn't matter. For one afternoon, the boys of Montana made us all proud!

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Another thing I watched at some point this week was a wonderful special on the Discovery Channel about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. It will run another episode on Thursday (maybe a couple of episodes). It's remarkable how the area has grown, and to see the architects' renderings (thanks to some incredibly realistic CGI!). This isn't a 9/11 retrospective (we'll be getting plenty of those in the next week or two). This is a just a great story about rebuilding the spirit of America!

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Sometimes you just can't "unsee" what you've seen, either visually or in your mind. It's my own fault for clicking links, but once I get started...

It's no secret that I despise Twitter. I've had plenty of people try to get me to start, but I resolve to be the last person on earth to do so. But that doesn't mean that I won't check a friend's timeline from their sidebar if something catches my eye. And that's what I did. As I went down their timeline, I noticed a screenname that both included my state and implied a musical instrument. I had to check it out. Turns out that it's someone I know from town. I used to work with his wife about 20 years ago. They're both close to my age. He's a big guy, fairly bald and is a football ref during the fall. She's short and dumpy, not terribly attractive, and still works for the State in the same department I knew her from in the early 90s. And apparently they're swingers. At least that's the term he used. He posted a picture of his "girlfriend". He mentioned waiting at a bar for his wife to show up with a third for the night--he didn't have a preference if it was a guy or a girl. He posted a picture of him molesting one of the strippers at the "local" strip club (which is actually 60 miles out of town...). And he posted a couple of pictures of his wife's boobs (did I mention she's not terribly attractive?--being nekkid doesn't help, either). It's my own fault. Curiosity killing the cat, and all... Do they make bleach for the mind?

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To end on a more positive note...FOOTBALL STARTS THIS WEEKEND!!! Actually, it's already started at the HS level here. Which means the chart with my teams makes its yearly appearance at the top of the sidebar. Note that the Grizzlie's first game is against Tennessee. In years past, I might have made some bets, but after the Griz' season last year, I won't be doing that. I do hope that all of you in TN will cheer them on for me!

Meeting Old Friends For the First Time HNT

One of the things that I've enjoyed over the years of doing this are the friends I've made. What made that apparent to me this past weekend was that three of the five people I met are ones that 90% of you wouldn't know. I know, from chats with many of you, that I seem to make a deeper connection with people than most. Names of former bloggers/HNTers that I think everyone should remember are lost on most. (By the same token, I've noticed a number of old-timers on FB share friends from the "old days".) Granted, many of you have only been around HNT for half its existence. There's no reason for you to know them. But I often wonder about how many of the old friendships were superficial for Blogger purposes alone? How many of them have actually endured over these years? How many have vanished into oblivion? Well, let me introduce a couple of them to you, as well as someone you should already know!

Remember the $400 ticket voucher I got from Delta after last year's pool party at BTExpress'? I had to use it by the end of this month, so I looked for someplace/someone I hadn't met yet, and who would have at least a bit of interest in meeting me! My primary visit was to Wichita, to meet up with Redneck Eskimo! We've kept in touch pretty closely over the years, in spite of her closing up her blog. We've threatened to meet a number of times over the years, so this seemed to be pretty natural.

Looking back, I should have done this at some time other than August. It was ungodly hot and humid, though the temps "cooled" for the days I was there--reaching only the mid-90s! We didn't really get out to the touristy oohs and ahs. Too freakin' hot! But we did get to do some things! Chicken fried steak at an incredible Amish restaurant, a full afternoon at the zoo (reinforced my opinion of others' kids...), frozen yogurt, movie, drive around the river, and a bunch of lounging in air-conditioned comfort! And to end the visit, we got to see a complete double rainbow--fitting for leaving the land of Oz!

Knowing her as well as I do, there were honestly no surprises. Other than meeting face to face, it was like we ran around together all the time! And she's as wonderful a friend in person as she's been online! Thanks for the great time, babe!


When I was looking at flights for this trip, and since it was going to be free, I decided to make the most of my possible flights and meet up with whomever I could. Salt Lake City was an option, but I'm not sure I know anyone there. Denver was also an option, but I've done that before (sorry Vixen--I need new faces over there in the list!). Atlanta could have worked, but the layover times weren't long enough. So my first stop on my way home was Memphis. Elvis country. And the home of Crystal and Chris McKnob (not their real name!).

Crystal is the writer of Boobs, Injuries & Dr. Pepper--one of my earliest blog favorites! Her writing was hilarious, covering family, work, and an assortment of local characters. Her story about the night she broke her pussy is epic! She up and got married to Chris, who started a blog of his own. In a bit of blog ugliness ensued after a few years though, she got targeted for a bunch of internet trollness, the likes of which none of you reading has ever had to experience. Eventually, blogging took a back seat to her family and sanity, and she's pretty much quit (though I think our lunch date might have spurred her to come back. I see she posted on Tuesday!).

Lunch was wonderful, as we talked about the old days, her kids, the area (they don't live IN Memphis), and anything else we could squeeze into about 90 minutes. There are only a small handful of bloggers out here I consider outstanding, and I was honored to finally meet one of them!


My final layover took me to Minneapolis, where you can read of my adventures in the post below. I had hoped to meet a couple of different bloggers, but ultimately, the only one who could make it was Lola, from Sex Babble, and her husband Jasper! Again, there was gossip and discussion and talk about HNT. Oh, there was some drinking, and Lola may or may not have gotten a little loopy. I won't say for sure... We certainly didn't have enough time together. In fact, we got kicked out of the place about 45 minutes after they officially closed the doors. Oops! Which was a good thing, since I was running late for boarding my flight! These guys I knew the least about, so I can't really say what I expected from them, but they're cute together! I just wish we'd had a lot more time to talk!


Was it worth the trip? Absolutely! Would I pick a different time of year? Most likely, for a midwest or southeast trip. Where to next? Not sure, though I have some ideas. Portland is high on my list, but I'm open to just about anything. Anyone want to have an OsFest in Vegas this winter?

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Second week in a row without a Mystery Guest. Bueller?.....Bueller?.....

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Quite a few submissions over at "...the Other HNT" this week. Most definitely NSFW, but don't let that stop you from checking out your fellow HNTers!

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After a couple of years of smoke-free skies, most of the state is under red flag warnings. Like hurricane or blizzard warnings, but these mean that conditions are ripe for instant forest fires. It's already a bit hazy around here, but things could get really bad by the weekend...

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Just watched the Montana Little League team beat the California LL team to get into the US Championship game! Woohoo! If they win that, they go on to the LL World Series Championship!! Who'da thunk it?

Observations and Happenings from My Trip

Some things that stuck in my mind from the weekend...

• When Kansas was made a state, someone must have used graph paper to plan the roads. Longest, straightest roads, intersected by perfect right angles. From the air, it looks like they run to infinity. Of course, you can only do that if the ground is as flat as a pancake, and it certainly was! It's no wonder that Dorothy was looking to get out of there as fast as she could!
  
• On three of the five planes I was on for this trip, the pilots and first officers could not have possibly been older than 28. Can that possibly be legal???
• Spent Saturday afternoon at the zoo. It was a cool day--temperature only reaching the mid-90s that day. But that's OK. The humidity at the zoo was about 99% due to all the tropical rainforest types of displays. No poop-flinging monkeys to worry about, but we got dive bombed by a trio of gorgeous pink cockatoos...
• The MSP terminal will always frustrate me. But I suppose my frustration should be directed at Delta. My flight into MSP on Friday landed at gate F14. The connecting flight left from gate B4 (click it to big it--it could have been worse). By using Google Maps, I estimated the distance from one to the other at approximately 5600 feet. That's over one mile of dodging luggage toting passengers, golf cart drivers, slow walkers and fast walkers. All while looking for a rest room in one of the busiest airport hubs in the country. This is why I try to allow at least a full hour between layovers there!
• I experienced something in the evenings I've never experienced before. Noisy locusts in the trees. We have an occasional chirp of something, or on some nights, a few crickets, but nothing like this! I'm told that it's the sound of the night. It would drive me bonkers. The sound of the night around here is much different! And much more quiet!
  
• Speaking of bugs--I had to drive home for another 90+ miles after arriving back in MT. Since part of my drive took me through some river and creek drainages, the bugs were incredibly thick. At times, it looked like I was driving through a snow storm! Of course, I ran out of wiper fluid early on, so I had to live with bug guts covering my windshield for most of the trip back.
• I had an unexpected 90-second meeting with someone famous at MSP. We were waiting for the tram (that one-mile trek is partially serviced with a tram). He was sharply dressed in a dark suit, but avoided eye contact with the rest of the passengers. We both got on board and stood by the same pole. I asked him if he was who I thought he was (he was), and we chit-chatted for the 90 second ride. Then we parted ways. I shook the hand of, and shared a pole with, the junior U.S. senator from Minnesota (and darned fine comedian), Senator Al Franken! (no--I didn't get a picture or an autograph. I suck.)