A Classic Halloween Movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas

An Absolute Classic!

Gets you in the mood for the full holiday season, not to mention the little bits and pieces of song you'll find yourself humming after it's over.

It Ain't Halloween Without CANDY!

I remember my brother and I checking out our stash after going Trick-or-Treating. We'd go into my bedroom and dump our orange plastic Jack-'o-lantern buckets onto the floor and start counting to see who'd gotten the most. There were certain items he liked that I didn't, so I gave him mine. And he did the same for stuff I liked but he didn't care for.

Of course, he always pigged out on his, and paid for it later.

Me...I ate a little that night and hid the rest to eat a piece at a time later on. It wasn't unusual for me to have candy all the way to Thanksgiving. :D

Regarding Dressing Babies in Costumes...

I don't think anything could be cuter than a baby dressed up for Halloween...
Unless he's your grandchild! This is Branson Mooney, my grandson. Monkeying around at age 9 months. :D

Would You Pull The Plug?

You are the official guardian of a very closed relative who is in a comma at a hospital kept alive only indefinitely by life support systems. The doctor says that chances of any recovery and reawakening is almost nil. You are almost at the end of your patience and resources. The doctor says that it's your decision to pull the plug or not. Would you pull the plug? Please explain your answer.

Tags: Euthanasia, Mercy Killing, The Dignity of Life, The Inevitability of Death, Life Support System, Pull The Plug, Dying, Eternal Rest

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Hello November...

...Yeah it came that fast.

We leave for Mexico in three week and well, i am nowhere NEAR my goal of weight loss. Seems like this hump wont go away without exercise and well, I sometimes need to spellcheck that word, let alone have any motivation to do it. Although, I am playing softball tomorrow.

OK, so softball isnt really a good work out lol. But hey, it's something.

Saturday is my sexy friend's Bday who happens to be dating my brother. I am looking forward to it because we are going to a pretty classy joint and I get to wear my sexy dress. Who cares if i wore it the last time we went out...its SEXY! PLus, I wanna show off my tan. Limited mind you since i have only gone to the tanning bed 3 times, but today will be 4 and i just KNOW this will be the time i get dark.

I am not even convinving myself.

So anyone started their Christmas shopping yet? Seriously, i know people that are DONE. Makes me sick. Like pukey sick. I thought i was queen of preparedness and it seems that every Christmas i fail myself. Monetarily, organizationaly, emotionally, the whole nine...errr... three yards. (get it? i only listed three?!?) I'm so weird today.

Yes, JUST TODAY. Shut up peanut gallery. Or are those the voices in my head?!

Mooney Does Movies: "Quarantine"

When "The Blair Witch Project" came out with its shaky camera work and in-your-face reality, it broke new ground. I liked it because it was a fresh approach, and although there was zilch blood-letting, the movie scared the beejeebers out of me.

Then there was "Cloverfield", which I LOVED. Again, the basis of the movie was one lone person videotaping a "real" event as it was happening. In this case, a Godzilla-type monster destroying New York City. Like BWP, the only thing I had to oversome per se was slight dizziness brought on by the constant camera movement.

Now, here's "Quarantine". Based on the Spanish film "REC" (which hasn't been released in the US yet), it's the story of a woman reporter and her lone videographer following a bunch of firemen as they answer calls around town.

One call sends them to an apartment building where they find some of the tenants foaming at the mouth and attacking others like mad dogs, chewing through necks and arms. Unfortunately, while these firemen and police, and the newslady with her tag-along camera man, are trying to figure out what's going on, the building is battened down tighter than Fort Knox. And anyone who tries to escape is, well, shot.

This movie slapped me in the face with improbabilities. Like, if someone's shut off the power, how is the elevator able to work? And how long IS the battery life for one video camera?

At first I wasn't impressed. Well, not until I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, thinking about it. Now I want to see it again because the damn movie has gotten under my skin. I also want to see it in another theater because the one I was in had the film way too dark (you could barely make out the characters when the camera was using its night vision.)

I also want to the see the original Spanish version when its released in the US.

Will this movie scare you? Hell, yeah. Worse if you're in a theater with a bunch of scream-happy teenagers.

Initially I planned to give this movie a half moon. After a restless night, I'm changing my vote to a 3-quarter moon.

Initially, I didn't think I would be interested in getting a copy of this movie once it was released on DVD. I'm re-evaluating THAT thought as well!

Tuesday at Bravo's

Last Tuesday, "The Pool Group" met for lunch at a new wonderful Italian restaurant here in Baton Rouge, called "Bravo's."Sarah, Ms. Sandi, Ann

The atmosphere inside the dining the building was FABULOUS......we were all very impressed with that AND the food. It was soooo good and very reasonable. Maybe because we were eating at lunch time. Rates may be higher at night.


Phyllis, and Irma

Ms. Phyllis is always so funny!

Joan, Norma, and me.

When I first arrived......the ladies didn't recognize me because my hair was fixed up! HA!

I joked that "it was hard to recognize people because we didn't have bathing suits on.....we had REAL clothes on!"Scary. HA!

I miss swiming with my friends three times a week......but we are all going to Ms. Sandi's for a "Cookie Exchange" the first of December.....right.

"Packing on pounds, like bears for hibernation" so we can exercise it all off in the Spring! HA!!!
Oh well.