Mmm, warm bath sleepy now

Okay, WHY are you people setting off giant booming fireworks behind my house three days before Halloween? Fireworks aren't even associated with Halloween!

My favorite Hitchcock's on TCM tonight: Shadow of a Doubt. One of his earlier movies (1943), about a young girl named after her charming uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten, who I will watch in just about anything), and the blissful small town that has no idea what he's been up to. I seem to remember a really nice DVD of it coming out earlier this year (?), so I think I'm putting it on my Christmas list. Literally--my mother has recovered from knee surgery with a vengeance and is marching my stepfather down to Best Buy tomorrow to start shopping for Christmas, my birthday (12/14) and my sister's birthday (12/17). Hell, she's usually bought most of it by mid-September; I'm surprised that she's slacking this year.

particle_person: "Speaking of breast cancer [yesterday], did you see that they've FINALLY shown that mammograms are of proven (the key word here) benefit in preventing breast cancer deaths? Here's the article."

Exxon-Mobil Employees Given Fake Flu Shots. You know, given that I just saw an old L&O:CI about diluted chemo drugs, I was a little weirded out by this.

Libby indicted in Plame case.

At a news conference, Fitzgerald said the inquiry was substantially complete, though he added ominously, "It's not over." He declined to comment about Rove's involvement. Asked about Cheney, he said: "I'm not making allegations about anyone not charged in the indictment."

Democrats suggested the indictment was just the tip of the iceberg. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the case was "about how the Bush White House manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq and to discredit anyone who dared to challenge the president."

Cheney and several other officials were mentioned by title in the 22-page indictment, but no one besides Libby was charged.

Libby is considered Cheney's alter ego, a chief architect of the war with Iraq. A trial would give the public a rare glimpse into Cheney's influential role in the West Wing and his behind-the-scenes lobbying for war.

More frivolous links:

dietcokebreak: "You need to see the world's single funniest Blue Cross commercial."

If you want to see Stay, you may need this afterwards.

The worst movie of 2006. Yes, between the poster and "Matthew Lillard as a duke," I am already certain.

The other Exorcist prequel. ("Twice! FOR TWO DIFFERENT DIRECTORS!!")

Speaking of DVDs: Titanic: Special Edition. I kept a $9 bare-bones DVD of that movie on a loop for--four or five days? It may have been longer. You'd have to check my journal back about six months ago--and I was hardly a fan. (Well, a Kate Winslet fan, yes.) I maintain that between (among?) 1) 60+ hours of  Kate and 2) a post-Aviator appreciation of Leonardo DiCaprio and 3) the pretty, pretty clothes, I have inadvertently brainwashed myself into enjoying this movie. The dialogue didn't suddenly get any better, but it's now kind of up there with movies I love that are half kind-of-good and half kind-of-so-bad-they're-good. With great shame, I am putting this on my Christmas list for when it comes out.

Kingdom of Loathing update: It's back up, so check your inventories, stats and skills to see what, if anything, is missing; Jick and company are trying to fix things as best they can.

GoPets update: If you've got the shells, drop by the Halloween stores for dogs and cats on GoPets. The masks kind of creep me out, though.

Hmm. I must seem kind of pitiful, here at home on Halloween weekend, but it's by choice. I think the book stress has caught up with me, added to the fact that I'm kind of a homebody/crowdphobic anyway. I have about five major writing projects I can work on, plus a lovely book for class called The Lamplighter that magically puts me to sleep. Not because it's boring; I just... fall asleep. And I shouldn't really say, but... at least one of those projects you really, really want me to work on. Trust me on this.