Halloween is Different Now

I like Halloween, which is next Tuesday. It's fun to pass out candy to the kids who come to our door.

But it's meaning has subtly changed over the years.

Used to be Halloween was about the supernatural. Goblins and spooks and witches, etc. Decorations generally followed this supernatural theme. 

Kids would dress up in costumes (not always supernatural related) and go door to door for candy. 

But these days, adults seem to be more involved in Halloween and the holiday has expanded to include horror such as serial or mass killers. Like this picture I recently saw in Facebook:

I think this change has followed the change in horror movies from supernatural to things like the Saw movie franchise (which, as I understand it, is just torture porn)(because I refuse to watch it).

I liked the Halloween of my childhood better. 

How do you feel about Halloween and what it has come to represent? Let me know in the comments below.

Coffee and Cars

Scene from American Graffiti

When I was younger (a long, long time ago), part of American car culture was "cruising." The movie American Graffiti is a great example of this.  You'd get in your car (or your parents' car) and go to a main street (usually, the main street through town), and drive up and down it slowly showing off both your car and yourself. I never did this because I never had a cool car until I was older. 

An aside: If you haven't see American Graffiti, which turned 50 years old this year, drop everything and see it.  

Now days, car culture has embraced the "Coffee and Cars" set up. This is where car people meet on a weekend morning and park their vehicles and talk to other car enthusiasts about, what else, cars. 

I think Coffee and Cars has become more popular for a variety of reason. First off, cars are a lot more expensive so it's older folks who tend to own the "cool" cars. And old folks don't want to stay up late cruising.

Second, local government have passed anti-cruising laws. 

And third: gasoline is more expensive so parking cars and talking is more appealing than driving a lot.

I've been to a couple of Coffee and Cars organized by a local car detailer (the only one who touches my cars) and they were fun. I stopped going after I sold my Corvette. Looking at other cars and talking to the owners was just a good time.

This, like cruising, is more a warm-weather activity, so it's pretty much stopping in the northern parts of the country right now and will start up again in the spring.

Have you been to a Coffee and Cars? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

The above photo is being used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: fair usage.

I "Invented" the Internet

I invented the internet.

I'm serious. 

I remember when I was somewhere between 12 and 18 years old (but toward the younger side of that range) thinking "Wouldn't it be cool if computers were linked together somehow and you could access the information on them from anywhere." I have no idea why I was thinking that. I didn't own a computer (no one but the government, corporations, and universities did at the time). But I have this specific memory of thinking that. I was outside playing at our house in Idaho. I, of course, knew of computers, having seen them on TV.

This would have been the early 1970s. Yes, ARPANET had been around since 1969, but the world wide web didn't come around until 1989. 

Of course, I had no idea how this could work (or even how computers worked). That was sort of the beauty of it. I didn't know the limitations, either. I just wondered if it could be done.

Have you thought of anything that came to fruition later? Let me know in the comments below.

I Love This Time of Year

It's fall now. And I love it for lots of reasons.

The first is, college football is going. And I love college football.

The weather is cooling off and my allergies are calming down as plants stop trying to reproduce.

Less chance of being outdoors. Outdoors to me is sunburn and allergies. I have type one skin and I sunburn very easily. Even with SPF 75 sunscreen, I'm at risk of sunburn. Especially if I miss a spot. And I hate sunscreen. It's all greasy and smelly. And you have to put it on every 2 hours unless you swim or get wet otherwise, then it's more often.

Cars don't turn into kilns outside in the sunshine. They still get warm but not horribly. 

Oh, and I guess the leaves get pretty as they change.

The downside is, winter is coming. And that means snow and ice on the roads. And I need to get snow tires for my car. 

What do you think about this time of year? Do you like it? Let me know in the comments below.

Four Corners

I have never been to Four Corners, where four states (Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico) meet. I was close to it once on a trip through the American Southwest, but didn't have time to detour to see it.

Where I have been is the four corners of the continental US. These are:

1. Blaine, Washington
2. San Diego, California
3. Aroostook County, Maine
4. Key West, Florida

Blaine, Washington is just south of the U.S.-Canada border in western Washington State. I would go there for a business conference when I was working in the corporate world. I stayed at a lovely place call Semiahmoo. It was so close to Canada, that I sometimes got billed for making cell phone calls from our neighbor to the north. 

Blaine is about a five hour drive from where I live. But it's worth it.

I've also been to Point Roberts, which could be argued as the northwest corner of the continental US. Except it isn't connected to the continental US. You have to go through Canada to drive there. There's no ferries, either.

I wasn't too impressed with Point Roberts. Mostly casinos for Canadians.

I've been to San Diego a couple of times. Once I caught a cruise there. But my niece used to live there and my wife would want to go visit. I once drove from San Diego to Vancouver, WA (where I lived at the time) in a day. That was a long drive.

I went to Aroostook County on business. There's really no other reason to go there. I caught a puddle hopper in Boston and flew there. There's not much there but potato farms. I saw people digging potatoes by hand and thought about the huge potato harvesters they use in Eastern Washington.

And, finally, Key West, Florida. I had a business conference in Miami. When it was over, I rented a car and drove to Key West, not realizing how far it was. I did this out of curiosity and to do research for my novel, Agent of Artifice. Key West is quaint with lots of old, beautiful houses and great beaches. But it was about 160 miles from Miami, a lot of it had slow speed limits (only part of Florida I've been where people follow the speed limit). I wanted to see the southernmost point of the continental US. I stood where my character did in the book.

Southernmost point in Continental US, Key West

Have you been to any of these places? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Chuck Jones

From What's Opera Doc?

A person I admire is Chuck Jones.

"Who?" you might be saying.

Chuck Jones was, in my opinion, the best director/animators of cartoon shorts ever. He worked for Leon Schlesinger productions where the first Looney Tunes shorts were made (exactly six minutes long). Later, Leon Schlesinger productions was bought by Warner Bros. According to his filmography on Wikipedia, he made 209 shorts (if I counted correctly) for Schlesinger/Warner Bros. before he left them in 1962. He is responsible for the creation of the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons and many amazing shorts starring Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, and the whole Looney Tunes gang.

I was listening to the commentary for What's Opera Doc? (probably his best cartoon) and they said at Schlesinger/Warner Bros. the animators were expected to make ten cartoon shorts a year, working five weeks on each (and then two weeks vacation). Which explains his productivity.

Chuck Jones's cartoons made me laugh after I discovered Looney Tunes on Saturday mornings as a child. Now, at 63 years old, I still love them. I can still sing the song from those Saturday morning shows ("Overture, hit the lights...").

One thing I admire about Jones is that, until I read his autobiography, Chuck Amuck, I had no idea of his politics. He kept them completely out of his work and only hinted at in it his book. So I had no clue that he was actually an FDR Democrat. I admire people who can keep their personal opinions out of their art (I can't).

How do you feel about Chuck Jones and his work? Let me know in the comments below.

The above photo is being used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: fair usage.

Superstition

 I pride myself on thinking scientifically. Or at least trying to. It's hard because that's not how human minds are wired to think. It's hard to only look at objective evidence and not let your prejudices or preconceived notions get in the way. And I know I do that, but I try to minimize it.

But when it comes to sports, and my beloved University of Washington Huskies football team, I can be unscientific. In fact, I am downright superstitious. 

For example: In 2021 I dyed my hair purple to show my support for the team. I thought it would be fun and a cool way to show how much I love the team. So this is how I looked:

And, I got a little beef about it living among Washington State Cougars supporters. Some people, however, thought it was neat.

But in 2021, the Huskies had a horrible year. They were 4-8. They lost to FCS team Montana (I was in the stands). They lost the Apple Cup!

So I'll NEVER dye my hair purple again. Why? Superstition. I don't want my Huskies to have another awful year. I know that's not at all scientific (how does my hair color affect the team?). But I'm still not dying my hair purple again.

(I did talk to my wife about dying my hair green so that the Oregon Nike Ducks have a horrible year.)

Do you have any superstitions that you keep practicing despite knowing they aren't really working? Let me know in the comments below.