Weblog 83

September 9, 2007~ 2:15am
It must be the nearing of October and its inherent shivery creepiness, but I entertained myself on this hot and sticky September Saturday night by looking for "haunted items" on Google. (Lots of fun.) For instance, I found a site run by John Zaffi- (who is, coincidentally, a nephew of the famed Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators)- and John has a haunted museum that's jam-packed with all sorts of things that creeped people out enough to call him up and ask him to please take them off their hands-- as in: "Hey John, got a blender here that's giving me trouble. It's been talking to me"- and John will unburden the poor soul of the pesky thing- slap it up against some velvet backdrop, label it, and folks will spend good hard cash to get a look at it.

What truly interested me, was the fact that of the 21 things he shows on his website, no less than FOUR are clowns. And I don't blame folks for wanting those things out of the house. Hell, they've always been suspect, and then John Wayne Gacy finished them off for good. However.........this particular painting of an Emmett Kelly sort of sad sack clown-



seems to have nothing spooky about it. About all I can say is that the sad sucker has- what looks to be an engorged penile head for a nose- and possibly a vagina stuck up there between his eyebrows. Suggestive yes. Haunted? Ah, well-- the person who owned it originally said the eyes followed family members in an unsettling way. And the picture would go thudding off the wall all the time- but I say: over-active imaginations and poor quality nails- (and of course, if they didn't see the flagrant penis glans and nestled vagina)- lack of libido.

The strange thing though, is that the site froze my computer, repeatedly, so that it took forever to copy the clown picture. Now that just might be shitty "Dreamweaver" and poor page construction- (what with the HUGE images that are not compressed as well as they could be to translate smaller)- but I haven't had that happen in a while and it was nearly constant. I have to say I can't wait to open the site at work on DSL cable instead of dial-up to see what happens. If you're curious, you can visit The John Zaffi's Paranormal Museum right now.

I must say though that John is rather strange himself-- if you look at the way he's holding old Bojo and groping inappropriately. LOL!! Halloween is definitely drawing near. I can tell by the way my interests have shifted, so that the kid comes out in me pretty strongly at this autumn-ish time of year. For sheer fright though, I'll put my money on this poster from the 2004 movie "Dawn of the Dead"- anyday.




That one caused such a ruckus in England for being displayed prominently in a bus shelter, parents were up in arms about their little ones having to see it. (Can't say I blame them. Not at all....)




September 9, 2007~ 9:00pm
Here it is almost 9 p.m. on a Sunday night-- and since the age of six and dreading school in the morning, I am every bit as reluctant as a grown-up to give away my Sunday evening to bed.

But it's coming just the same-- that "Monday Morning" feeling, and here I am facing down the week-- wish me luck....



P.S.- Found this delicious old ad for Chesterfield cigarettes. Anyone remember those cheerful cartons around the holidays? LOL!!! Ah, the 'fifties'.......even deadliness in it's many guises could be laquered up and sold as GOOD FOR YOU.



(And I ain't talkin' about the tobacco)--this Iran-Contra scandal survivor ushered in the revoltingly lavish and hedonistic 90's, Bush One (which allowed for) Bush Two, Republican morality/politics and the ongoing gargantuan misjudgement and loss of life in Iraq. Makes some merrily dressed-up lung cancer look just about 'right', doesn't it?




September 10, 2007~ 7:45pm
I'm just about ready to call it a night, go up and eat some delicious cold pizza-- (yes, that's my favorite way to eat left-over pizza- straight outta the fridge!)-- and dig in once again to a book I couldn't wait to start. It had rave reviews from all the big guns in publishing, including this blurb on the cover: "Most frightening horror story of the new century"-- Stephen King. Pretty impressive, right? Especially when another prestigious publication said, "make sure you have 8 hours of uninterrupted time when you start this...."- etc (paraphrasing here)- but you get the picture.

I began "The Ruins" two nights ago and the characters are so one-dimensional, so deeply unlikeable- what parts of their solopsistic personalities the author shares with the reader, that is- that, hell-- I hafta tell you I can't WAIT for these assholes to get picked off one by one!

My personal review: "Most over-rated horror novel of the new millenium".

When "20-something" college kids (nauseatingly shallow kids......cardboard-y sorts) cooling their heels on a Mexican vacation, stupidly- and I mean stupidly get themselves involved in what I see thus far as an implausible plot-- I say.......MONSTERS......HAVE AT 'EM!-- Be my guest! The world doesn't need these idiots anyway. Oh well. Gotta finish it now. Plopped down 8 bucks. (Who's the idiot now?) LOL!




September 11, 2007~ 8:46am

911




September 12, 2007~ 5:00am
Another 911 gotten through. Another brick in the wall. I OD'ed on 911 remembrance yesterday. That- followed with a tainted swig of "The Ruins"--- and sleep has never been as welcome, I can tell you.

My opinion has shifted from-- "Most over-rated horror novel of the new millenium"-- to "Most sickening, stomach-turning, unrelenting nightmare. To be approached with extreme caution: only for those with a strongest stomachs."

Despite what reviewers are saying about being unable to put it down, I suggest you take it in small doses. Too much of it at once may very well damage the human spirit. It's the equivalent of literary herpes-- and about as painful and ugly as it gets. A very unpleasant book.





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