Well, everyone wants to know how my Halloween went. I tried a different method of candy distribution this year. Best Friend suggested letting the kiddies and semi-adults pick out what they wanted. For the most part, that went smoothly. I never got as many thank yous as I did this year.

As for the neighborhood, I discovered my front light did not work. I'm off for a few days this week, so I can address that soon. But I didn't get out there until after 6:30 and within, say, 50 minutes, all of my candy was gone. All 8 bags of it. Then my niece came over for her swag, and then it was off to Johnny Mango to end the day.

Back to the neighborhood, Mr. Hydraulics severely underestimated the crowds, ran out of candy and unplugged early. As a matter of fact, the decorations are already gone. The other neighbors had a coffin that was lit, but had some sort of stuffed animal peeking from it, and, in general, was not scary. They also were TP'ed overnight. Most of that is gone, as well.

Best costumes I saw were:

Homemade Super Mario Brother, Luigi.
Scream-Both movie and Munch painting versions.
A well-done, but a little late to the party, Borat.

Other highlights:

This one girl was a TV set, with foiled rabbit ears. On her cardbooard box, she had channels and this conversation took place.

Trick-or-Treater: "See, I'm a TV set. I have all these channels."
(She proceeds to flip through these magazine pages.)
Trick-or-Treater: "I even have McCain and Obama. But I couldn't find an Obama, so I had to draw him."
(She goes to a paper with a stick figure drawn on it.)
Me: "Yeah. Pictures of Obama are really hard to find these days."
(Trick-or-Treater then has puzzled look.)

Large pack of kids show up.

Me: "Take which kind you like."
(Trick-or-Treater 1 grabs two, first time all night this has happened.)
Me: "Hey, only one!"
(Trick-or-Treater 1 gives one to another kid. Things proceed smooothly until, later in the pack.)
Trick-or-Treater 8 (holding two bags): "Trick or treat!"
Me (showing bowl): "What kind do you like?"
Trick-or-Treater 8 (selecting Milky Way): "I like this."
Trick-or-Treater 8 (revealing second bag): "Can I have one for my Mom?"
Me: "Where's your Mom?
Trick-or-Treater 8 (pointing to lady on sidewalk): "Down there."
Me: "How old is your Mom?"
Trick-or-Treater 8: "34."
Me: "That's a little old to be trick-or-treating. No, get outta here."

Meal of Links

Studs Terkel died yesterday. One of the most interesting people I've ever had the pleasure of reading or listening to. The guy just reeked of Chicago and the plight of the working man. And he showed up in "Eight Men Out" as the reporter who exposed the Black Sox. Just an amazing guy. Roger Ebert writes about Studs.

All about black holes. They are a strange lot.

Punk and rock go to Christie's. There are some unbelievably interesting items up for sale. No Quickie Board here. Dylan, Beatles, Stones, Sex Pistols, Clash are all represented.

I went to see the latest Guy Ritchie flick, "RocknRolla". This is easily his best movie since "Snatch". Great characters, good soundtrack (The Subways even show up for a live version of "Rock and Roll Queen"), Russians in London (come on, Uri Obamavich sounds a lot like the real-life Roman Abramovich, including the soccer ownership), and goofy violence. And, of course, everyone is double-crossing each other. Thandie Newton recovers from "W." as a corrupt accountant, and Tom Wilkinson is awesome as the head bad guy. Lots of fun.

Exercise Yard

Another No. 1 team goes down. Look at those Top 10 scores yesterday. Not supposed to matter, but this year, when you can, teams are rolling it up. Scores of: 35-0, 62-28, 49-10, 56-0, 59-17.

Even Boise State rolled up a 49-0.

Visitor

58 Across: 1979 Tony winner for "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" (8 letters) Answer: Tom Conti