Who let all these people into my basement? pic.twitter.com/E17SPqmXib
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 31, 2020
Massachusetts set a record for ‘snowiest October’ in one burst Thursday — we got almost six inches! — but it’s gloriously sunny, if still cold, today. In northern European traditions, this is the time of year when the calendar turned over; everyone faced the long summer days and harvest bounty circling down into months of darkness, chill, and short rations. That’s what the Halloween / Day of the Dead feasts are about: making peace with the past, and with your community, before everyone was locked down and absolutely dependent on each other to survive. Which, some years more than others, just might require the intervention of every saint on the calendar!
"Democrats are far more likely to win Senate control if Joe Biden wins the presidency, and climbing coronavirus cases could make an impact in the closing days of the campaign," @ForecasterEnten writes. | Analysis https://t.co/u8ajqSziOQ
— CNN (@CNN) October 30, 2020
During a campaign stop in Minnesota, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said President Trump ‘has simply given up’ on the pandemic, and criticized him for falsely accusing doctors of profiting from COVID-19 deaths https://t.co/2J1mEeMK0c pic.twitter.com/mtMYJg6FCa
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 31, 2020
This storm will pass, and a new day will come. pic.twitter.com/PewrMRuRXx
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 30, 2020
raven
Nice Letter to the Editor from a friend
Mike in NC
It was a pleasant sunny day today and we went for a walk through the neighborhood. A couple of the houses with Trump banners now are sporting a black-and-blue ribbon by the mailbox. Must be a pro-police statement.
I well remember one of Fat Bastard’s first speeches in front of some law enforcement group, where he told them not to be afraid to ‘rough up’ people they took into custody. An appalling statement coming from any elected official, but it must have resonated with the rank and file.
I seem to recall reading that Fred Trump taught his worthless son the importance of having a few dirty cops on retainer.
Anyway, one house had a Trump-Pence yard sign and less than two feet away was one that had Old Glory and “Pro-America / Anti-Trump” written on it.
Baud
That last tweet by Joe is nice.
Ken
I just finished my afternoon walk, and saw three strategies for handing out candy:
I suppose there may be some traditionalists who plan to hand it out at the door or put a bowl on the porch, but they’d be hard to spot.
Yutsano
@raven: That writing style looks familiar…
I hope his winter will go well!
zhena gogolia
@raven:
Say hi for us.
raven
@Yutsano:
@zhena gogolia:
indeed
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Given the holiday, I just want to remark on the perfection that is Addams Family Values. Between Raul Julia’s over-the-top dramatics, Angelica Huston’s drop-dead sexiness, Joan Cusack’s cheerful psychopathy, Christine Baranski’s banal cheery awfulness and Christina Ricci’s deadpan id, that movie doesn’t hit a bad note.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano:
Just thinking the same thing!
raven
@Mike in NC: Our neighborhood has become a huge draw and some folks are trying to adapt but appealing to big crowds on narrow sidewalks seems like a bad idea. We put up a “Sorry, No Trick or Treats This Year” even though we’re a bit off the main part of the action and have not gotten many.
Steeplejack
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
“These Addams men—where do you find them?!”
David ?Booooooo!? Koch
Delicious video of Barack phone banking that turns into him talking to a voter’s baby. (video)
J R in WV
Well, hard to disagree with your friend’s letter to the editor. I’m with all of that what he said! Kicked in one contribution to the Senatorial candidate in Alaska. Hope it works!
Halloween some years aback was a big thing for the media folks in town. Costume party, loud music, not judged a success until the city cops came twice to urge it be quieter.
Wife once found a purple satin gown with a lace bodice at one of the consignment shops, bought an inexpensive blonde wig and Kmart makeup, and went as Mae West. She sat on a couch with a co-worker for half an hour, he never tumbled to who she was. Obviously, acting some, as well as the costume, plus wife doesn’t wear makeup at all, ever.
Some parties had enough wiccans to hold public ceremonies. Which was very interesting at the mid night bonfire on All Hallow’s Eve in a really dark place way up a rural hollow.
Those days are long gone. The people who brought all that energy together are old now, or passed over that bridge people talk about. One won a Pulitzer and is a perfesser at a big University out west.
Tonight I’m frying oysters and scallops for dinner. Salad greens with grilled artichoke hearts. Some variety of sauces for the seafood. Happy Halloween to all~!!~
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Being that I would never violate the spirit of the law I didn’t post an explanatory intro note.
mrmoshpotato
Smack him in his traitorous orange Soviet shitpile face from your basement, Joe!
LuciaMia
@Steeplejack: “It has to be damp”
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Steeplejack:
Debbie – “Aren’t you quite the ladykiller?” (To Gomez)
Gomez – “Acquitted!”
hueyplong
@Ken: We’ve got little sandwich bags with candy in them.
I’ll open the door (wearing mask and gloves), tell them to hold their bags open where they stand, and attempt to be Steph Curry all night. If/when I miss, they need to get the rebound.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Tonight, it’s weed cookie, Manhattans, South End burgers (we avoided the grocery and have no buns so we’ll serve ‘em on toast), roasted potatoes, leftover Greek salad and a Gurkha Centurian cigar while grilling. After, it’s to the firepit for more Manhattans and a Rocky Patel Decade. I also have the patio heater set up.
mrmoshpotato
Loving the signer signing the songs.
Percysowner
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I have heard that they are considering making a remake of the TV show. Fans are suggesting Wynona Rider as Morticia (sounds fine) and Johnny Depp as Gomez (NO, NO a thousand times NO!). Gomez is smooth and sexy and cultured not a weird creep that makes you go ugh!
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: It’s straight-up mocking QAnon, I think.
Richard
Happy Halloween everyone. In my community we are not doing the public observances this year for the most part. We are too anxious. The elementary school probably had a party for the kids. But we keep it in our hearts.
Today is another beautiful fall day in Utah. The moon is full tonight. I just might step outside and howl at it.
laura
Spouse and I throw a Dia de los Muertos party every year and as we all get older, the inside offrenda grows more crowded with photos and mementos. This year’s party would have been last night and I should have been eating left over Hersey’s Cocoa Cake for breakfast. We didn’t even haul decorations in from the garage, no wave after wave after wave of papel picado, marigolds and gladiolas remain at the farmer’s market, no rocking house party with an excess of food and beverages and olds cheek by jowl on the dance floor and making it impossible to get through the kitchen. I’m sad about it and our friends are sad too. But it would be a death trap in this most awful of years. I’m grateful that we did pay DJ Larry Rodriguez – the Flower Vato for the gig because it wasnt his fault that we had to cancel and because there’s a desperate need to help out musicians and artists – and this felt like home cooking. Next year we’re gonna need a separate offrenda just to honor all the musicians we’ve lost. Bittersweet. More bitter than sweet at the moment.
PsiFighter37
3 days.
JMG
My Fox News addled neighbor across the street, who is also very sweet and a good neighbor, has put a table in her driveway with little paper bags of candy decorated like pumpkins. I hope she gets good traffic, but our street doesn’t usually have many trick or treaters. Sometimes we get none. Alice is making our traditional Halloween dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. When the kids were little, she’d feed it to ’em before trick or treating, so they would be too full to eat all that much of their loot, which she could then confiscate while they were asleep. Just a pinot grigio for an apertif and a zinfandel with dinner.
Zzyzx
Phish are showing three of their cover sets on a webcast tonight so I’m stoked to sit at home and watch them. I was at all three of the concerts (10/31 96, 14, and 18) so I’m feeling nostalgic.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Ken:
We thought we were being creative with the table, but we just took a walk with the dog and noticed there are tables all over the neighborhood.
Hope there are some takers now.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
How so? Is the storm a Qanon symbol?
JMG
If this has been posted earlier I apologize, but Glenn Kessler of the Post reports that the McLean, Va. home of AG Bill Barr is being picketed by Trump fans angry that Barr has yet to lock up Joe Biden.
Sister Golden Bear
Need a last-minute costume idea? Draw inspiration from the Taiwanese. The thread is full of awesome.
zhena gogolia
We put a bowl of candy on the porch. We hardly ever get anybody even in regular years, but it’s hard to just ignore it.
We’re having Zoom dinner with friends at 6:30. Should be strange.
Ken
@Percysowner: So you’re suggesting Johnny Depp as Fester?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Percysowner:
I can see somebody who can stretch into romanticism like Clooney or Jon Hamm as Gomez.
dmsilev
@JMG: Now even the leopard is getting his face eaten.
Miss Bianca
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Just re-watched both the Addams Family movie and Addams Family Values again recently (couldn’t wait for Halloween). The Addams Family movie was just meh this time round, but Addams Family Values really holds up.
One of those rare instances where the sequel proves better than the original.
Omnes Omnibus
@JMG: God help me, I find that so funny.
Baud
@JMG:
Barr choose fa over antifa. Not my problem.
LongHairedWeirdo
I confess, I sometimes imagine the election flipping on Trump-loving “I’ll vote on ELECTION DAY!” voters who are under a too-recent quarantine order to vote. It would be good dramatic irony.
But I’d much rather see and hear a blowout, where there’s just no point in post-election shenanigans. “Yes, Trump-boot-kisser, we might flip *our* state, but he still loses by a landslide, so why should we look like sore losers, just because Trump’s a sore loser?”
Richard
@Mike in NC: quite a few houses in nearby towns have taken down their t**** signs and put up the black & blue instead. Which is just as ugly.
Ken
@JMG: I expect that Trump will blame everyone still in his administration for his loss, but it hadn’t occurred to me that those people might be in danger for the rest of their lives.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Ken:
I mean, Christopher Lloyd set the mark for Fester. It’s really hard to match. Whoever did it would have to have a rubber face.
raven
@laura: The milagros I ordered seemed to have gotten lost in the mail so we’re going to go ahead and bury our girl tomorrow. The Dia de los Muertos shrine my wife made is done so it will be that kind of day.
Anonymous At Work
Cheryl or Adam,
What laws would govern classified information and ex-Presidents?
johnnybuck
If Kirby Smart is determined to bring the Georgia offense into the 20th* century. perhaps someone should familiarize him with modern innovations such as the forward pass.
Cheryl Rofer
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
raven
@johnnybuck: Yea so Stetson could throw more picks.
Miss Bianca
@Percysowner: Strange that no one’s talking about a possible Munsters remake.//
(True Weird Fact: My paternal grandmother and the late great Fred Gwynne were neighbors, once upon a time.)
Yutsano
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Anjelica had way too much fun in that movie.
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
Dog is thinking, I didn’t sign up for this.
Miss Bianca
@JMG: Whut?!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Miss Bianca:
There are perfect movies – that’s one of them.
My list of perfect movies:
The Avengers
Thor: Ragnarok
Shawshank Redemption
Goodfellas
Shawn of the Dead
Pirates of the Caribbean – Curse of the Black Pearl
Oceans 11 (Clooney version)
Cape Fear (Original)
The Equalizer
The Transporter
Aliens
Star Trek: Wrath of Khan
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek (first Chris Pine version)
johnnybuck
@raven: Stetson does the best he can, he’s not individually the problem. This aint nothing new,
Ken
@Miss Bianca: There was a Munsters remake in the late 80s. I didn’t like it. Looking back, a large part of my dislike was because it was in color, and shot on video. Crisp bright colors are not right for the Munsters.
Which reminds me, google “Addams family set” for a shock. Carolyn Jones’ Morticia couldn’t have criticized Debbie for pastels.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Goddammit, this Gurkha is almost done. I’m going to have to order more.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Here’s my son and DIL’s distance solution to giving candy to trick or treaters. :-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
I ran to the store for candy just in case, and there was a teenage girl dressed as Wednesday. I thought if anybody asks why I’m not wearing a costume, I’ll steal her line.
I got a mixed bag with milk duds and heath bars, neither of which I’ve had in years and both of which I used to love. They go right in the garbage as soon as I’m sure the kids are done.
WaterGirl
@Ken: They opened Pandora’s box, now we all get to live with it.
Van Buren
TONS of trickertreaters…more than last year. My wife scrutinized how fast the candy goes and is in shock how little is left.
Go figure.
PS Using the bowl on a table on the front porch method.
Cheryl Rofer
@Anonymous At Work: Adam has a better handle on the details of the laws. Presidents are the primary classifiers, but I would think that ex-presidents are subject to the same laws as everyone else. Most ex-presidents retain the ability to see classified material, although this is a choice made by the government. I know what my choice would be relative to Trump if I were in charge.
Some people are concerned that Trump will share classified material inappropriately. Unless he takes a bunch of classified papers with him, I am less concerned than others. He has avoided being properly briefed, and his mind is a meatgrinder for information. By that I mean it takes things that make sense and breaks them up into smaller pieces and mixes them together. I would not treat anything he told me as reliable if I were trying to get hold of classified information.
A lot of classified information also is time-limited. A list of talking points for a particular meeting on moving troops out of Afghanistan is appropriately classified before and for some time after the meeting, but events may well change priorities or realities on the ground. The talking points might not be declassified for some time, but their usefulness declines. And Trump is so ignorant that he wouldn’t be able to reliably extrapolate how the talking points might change with time.
So I don’t worry a lot about what Trump might say, but I would watch what he takes with him.
MagdaInBlack
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I love it =-)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Miss Bianca: “What’s a Yute?”
WaterGirl
@Cheryl Rofer: That’s awesome.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
The Producers (the real one)
Godfather I and II
The Maltese Falcon
raven
@johnnybuck: I’ll stick with arguing about the Dawgs at GTP.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: This is the DIL that teaches kindergarten, isn’t it?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WaterGirl: Yup, she’s very creative
glyph2112
Guy just knocked on the door canvassing for Trump (here is Arizona). Politely told him no thanks, all the ballots have been dropped off. Last week we had a couple of Biden people come by. First time ever we had people canvas for president that I can remember.
btw, is it a law or something the MSM has to make everything a horse race? Biden is up by 10 in Michigan and MSNBC is saying its going to be razor thin.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: The kids will love that. They get to YELL!!! and everything.
edit: I’m sure they all adore her.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WaterGirl: It’s my impression that they do. She runs a tight ship but she plays to their natural love of learning stuff
Miss Bianca
@Ken: Did you ever see the Munsters, Go Home movie? For some reason, the Munsters all end up in England – I think Herman inherits some ancestral manse, or something.
We had a black-and-white TV for most of my youth, so if those Addams Family sets were supposed to be in color, I never would have known about it!
ETA: Whoa, that is trippy. Pink paisley Goth!
James E Powell
@glyph2112:
Razor thin in Michigan or nationally?
I turned on MSNBC to hear My President and left it on only to hear that, apparently, black men are not turning out for Joe Biden because of the 1994 crime bill. I do not know how people can watch cable news all day.
Ken
I would guess there will be some people monitoring what he tweets, and acting if he reveals anything classified?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
my comment got et, so this may be a double post, but they did do a reboot of the Munsters a few years back. I think the pilot was the only episode that aired, even though I remember not hating it, and the only other thing I remember is Grandpa (played by Eddie Izzard) morphing from a cluster of rats.
Obama on now in Detroit on MSNBC
trollhattan
@Miss Bianca:
True enough. The tone was dead-right. Too bad we lost Raul Julia so young.
Anonymous At Work
@Cheryl Rofer: Thank you.
And I agree that he wouldn’t be a reliable source of classified information sold illegally.
However…what would stop him from trying?
KenK
@hueyplong: @#18
“If/when I miss, they need to get the rebound.”
A great way to teach blocking out, an underrated skill these days.
trollhattan
@Cheryl Rofer:
Perfect. Even if he/she looks appalled, that’s one tolerant doggie.
Anonymous At Work
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Law schools teach more from that movie than anything thing else from pop culture. It’ll be around legal circles long after To Kill a Mockingbird or Twelve Angry Men are forgotten.
trollhattan
@Percysowner:
I’m auditioning for Thing.
Cheryl Rofer
Villago Delenda Est
@Anonymous At Work: Motherfucker shouldn’t be allowed to take FOUO with him. He’s a classic, textbook security risk, just like all his vile spawn and his equally vile son-in-law.
JPL
@J R in WV: I’m so jealous. A neighbor with a generator had some space in his freezer and I was able to salvage meats and homemade soup. I had sausage and bean soup, so I hate you.. just sayin
Miss Bianca
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m with you on a couple of ’em – my “perfect movies” list would look a bit different than yours. But Pirates of the Caribbean, for example, would be one of them. ; )
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I checked spam and trash, not there.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JMG:
Omnes Omnibus
@Anonymous At Work: TKAM may not be something one can teach from, but its romantic vision of the attorney standing standing for justice in a noble, but losing effort will continue to inspire baby lawyers for a long, long time.
Cheryl Rofer
@Anonymous At Work: Fine with me if there’s one more source of disinformation out there fogging up what might or might not be classified.
@Ken: Hard to say. It will depend on whether the intelligence community assesses him to be a threat.
Dan B
@raven: Say hi for me too! It helps to have a local wwigh in, not just some coastal elite.*
* Yes I realize Sitka is more “coastal” than even Seattle.
Miss Bianca
@trollhattan: Yup.
The First Thanksgiving pageant got to be my favorite part of the whole movie. I’ve been humming “Eat Me!” at odd moments the past few days.
Miss Bianca
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
@JMG: Maybe *this* is why we haven’t seen much of Bill Barr the past few weeks…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: thanks for checking, though the comment wasn’t worth it
probably a casualty of the fifty-seven tabs and windows I have open
Cheryl Rofer
JPL
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That is awesome!!!! I put together bags and just left them in a basket and said take one
LuciaMia
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Agree whole heartedly. And thats were the franchise should have ended. Ripley returns to Earth to adopt Newt and a possible relationship with hunky Marine guy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Cheryl Rofer: I choose to believe the bounce in that man’s step is from the those fabled “internal polls”, as is trump’s reported listlessness today
the panic over Gary Peters seems to have faded, AFAICT
Dan B
@J R in WV: Dinner sounds great! My Mike guy is a Seattle native who doesn’t like oysters or scallops, or much seafood. Me Ohio raised with fish being a frozen white rectangle almost all seafood, except bland white varieties, is a treat. Mike’s rental is tasted up to the uber craziest so we’ll go look at that and then have Sockeye salmon from Alaska, Black Cod with sake lees, and Mussels with wine and herbs. Zero trick or treaters here. They go to rich neighborhoods or parties but probably not this year. ;<(
trollhattan
Anybody watching “The Queen’s Gambit”? I’m finding it compelling. And there’s chess, so one would not necessarily expect to feel compelled but the acting is terrific and a story that could have been an after-school special (“kids, stay off the tranqs and poppers”) avoids the expected tropes and pitfalls.
catclub
And the wine put em out, too.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I love it!!!
glyph2112
@James E Powell: Michigan. And the graphic they put up about latinos and black men not voting, it seemed to me like it was less that a percent off from previous years.
trollhattan
@Cheryl Rofer:
Hah, Barak’s still got it. “That’s what I do.” :-)
Ken
Breaded frozen white rectangle. Broccoli or spinach is the plain frozen white rectangle, before you take it out of the carton and boil it for half an hour.
LuciaMia
@trollhattan: Yes, loved it.
(Tho in her first binge, thought “All you could get was Ripple?”
catclub
@JMG: I will repost my cletus barbershop experience: Guy expects Trump to 1.Go to the Supreme Court
2. Demand they cancel Biden’s campaign because of his dementia.
3. There is no step 3.
Anonymous At Work
@Cheryl Rofer: More that this is a potential crime for Trump to get caught trying. “Conspiracy to commit treason” is not a crime easily forgiven.
laura
@raven: that’s a lovely offrenda. I wish you both – and the Bodhi grace as you bury your wee bonny lil bit.
LuciaMia
Turned cold today. When we were kids that was one thing we feared; our mothers making us wear a jacket over our costumes!
raven
@laura: Ooo, glad to know the official name. We have lost a number of folks so it’s not what is formally described but it’ll have to do.
JMG
@catclub:
Good one. Wine for adults only. On Halloween with kids, it’s needed.
Dan B
@Ken: It was a time before breaded fish. The other fish were Bluegills and Catfish caught in the reservoir. Chemicals from the factories gave them that certain Je’ne sais quoi.
And I was terrified of getting the sharp bones caught in my throat and !dying!
J R in WV
@Dan B:
We have a great steak/seafood shop in very far from the ocean WV. They’ve been in business for at least 40 years now. So yesterday I bought 2 steaks, a pint of oysters, and half a dozen scallops. I also picked up some sushi which we ate last night after i spent the day running around in town.
They usually have sashimi-grade fish, oysters in season, and great local steak, chicken lamb and pork. They added the meats this summer, doubled their business they tell me.
And WVU crushed Kansas State #16 in the nation. So a good afternoon all together. Now I gotta start getting dinner together.
Jeffro
@Ken: we went with option #1, comics and candy all bagged up together. HUGE hit!
Happy Halloween, everyone! Let’s be sure to party our butts off next year! ;)
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Turns out there’s no need, so you’re golden.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You, too? I have an insane number of tabs and windows open. John thinks I’m nuts. But he’s wrong.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He does have his swagger back.
MagdaInBlack
The moon is coming up over the tree line, with the appropriate # of clouds scudding past. Very Halloween-y. =-)
MisterForkbeard
@catclub: That’s sounds about right. I’ve seen similar things from other Trumpists I know. They also usually tell me to “do research” and “don’t be a sheep”
Kattails
@Cheryl Rofer: Coming in late, but thanks for this analysis. Pretty sure anyone looking for useful information from Trump would be–ummmm– too stoopid to run a country anyway? This would be the classic definition of gleanings. You’re not going to expect to get much.
sgrAstar
@raven: me too, raven. Miss his wit and individuality.
?
scribbler
@raven: Thanks for this Raven. I miss him. I hope he is doing well.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@raven: Oh Christ NO. Friend of yours or not, I was immensely relieved when he and his pretentious argot were shown the door. It’s f’in dishonest of you to sneak him in through the kitchen window. I wish him no ill but this is just bullshit.
raven
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: Fuck you whoever you are.