Halloween is here and I’m another year older.
Remember the 14-year-old boy who killed a teacher in Massachusetts earlier this month? Here’s a Halloween-esque detail from a New York Times article:
WCVB-TV, an ABC affiliate, citing unidentified sources, reported that the suspect killed Ms. Ritzer with a box cutter and then went to the movies, seeing Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine.”
Ever wonder how many killers go to the movies afterward, either because they think it’s a good place to hide or because they’re psychopaths who feel no guilt and find it perfectly natural to do mundane everyday things after committing murder? Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in a movie theater after killing President Kennedy and a policeman; I’m guessing he was hiding. The kid in Massachusetts killed the teacher, drug her body into the woods near the school, had lunch at Wendy’s, then went to the cineplex at the mall. Psychopath.
And then there are people who figure what the hell, let’s just go to the movies and do our killing there, two birds with one stone and all, like the guy in Aurora, Colorado last year. I’m sure a diligent researcher could find many other connections between movies and killers.
Just imagine who or what might be sitting near you in a darkened theater. Makes you want to stay with people you know and trust, doesn’t it? I’m staying home with Donna, that’s for sure!
Halloween birthdays of note:
- Dan Rather
- Vanilla Ice
- Chiang Kai-Shek
- Jan Vermeer
- John Keats
- The state of Nevada
- Dale Evans
- Michael Collins
- Brian Piccolo
- Jane Pauley
- Neal Stephenson
- John Candy
- Kinky Friedman
Just so you know, and all. Also our dear friend Theresa Winnie, who moved away to San Diego and is greatly missed around these parts.
I personally think Halloween should be a national holiday. It already kind of is, in the same way Christmas is a Big Deal in Japan. Here in the Southwest, where Latin American culture is so strong, we not only celebrate Dia de Los Muertos, we make it a weekend-long event.
We’ll be home tonight and the porch light will be on. Not sure what we’ll be handing out to trick-or-treaters, but we’ll think of something and make a goodie run to Safeway later today. I always felt so sorry for the kids who don’t get to celebrate Halloween because their parents believe in shit like this:
Oh, well, more razor blades and poisoned popcorn for the rest of us! Speaking of goodies, Donna got me two new pairs of pants, and our son Gregory got me a new sheepskin seat cover for my motorcycle. It’s a happy bottom Halloween for me!