Dark & Twisty

The Danse Macbre is an enjoyable book.  By now it is a bit outdated and could use a second edition to look at trends that emerged in the world of horror since 1981.  The book is an omnibus.  It covers film, books, comic books, television, and even radio. 

One of the things that I learned from this book is what a following horror had on the radio.  I didnt realize that happened.  I had heard of the famous War of the Worlds broadcast by Orson Wells, but there were Twilight Zone like shows even on the radio.

King is a modern American product.  He does not treat the genre of horror with too much academic mumbo-jumbo.  I'm not saying that horror does not deserve that kind of scurtiny, but there are somethings that academics sometimes miss about why literature and writing works.  I speak as an academic not only of literature (thanks to Seton Hill University's program on writing pop fiction) but as a social scientist who has researched some academic fields as humor.  Something gets lost when we analyze things too much with too narrow of a microscope.  King has been quoted earlier in his career as saying that he is the literary equivilent of a Big Mac and Fries.  He is at least a Whooper by now, but brought that mentality to  this rather academic look at horror.

This book was written for the common man, not necessarily for the person studying horror or writing.  This is why the book works so well.  He also gave the wonderful lists at the end of his favorite books and movies in the genre at the time of writing.  This is a wonderful guide to learning what is good and works in horror.  I've since reading this watched some of the films.  (I've had limited time for reading currently).

All in all, The Danse Macbre was fun to read but gave something to learn as well.  It may be the fastest nonfiction book I've ever read.

Posted by Jared at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

"Whatever happened to crazy?" -- Betty Jones circa 2002, Mobile, AL

(Betty, I've found it by the truck load.  It's in Jasper, AL)

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Okay, so I'm getting to the end of my reading course for Seton Hill.  I've read a lot of good books and a bad one.  I've seen my fair share of movies that are based on the books, and I've discovered that sometimes the books are better than the movies and sometimes the movie is better than the book and sometimes there about equal.  Let's talk about these today.

Book better than the movie:

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys.  Possibly my favorite book.  The movie is good but cannot compare to the this novel, whose author died before publication and never had the chance to shine.

The Scarlet Letter. Okay, so I hated the book too, but what was up with the movie?

Frankenstein None of the movie productions are as good as the book, none.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Askaban, and Goblet of Fire. The movies are good and magical, but the books are so much better.

I Am Legend.  It's better than all the movie versions, especailly Omega Man and I am Legend.  The Last Man on Earth was good though.

The Movie is better than the book.

Jurassic Park.  The book was far too techincal for my taste.  Give me the movie anyday.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. This is my least favorite of all the books, but is pretty good as a movie.  It made more sense.

A Series of Unfortunate Events  I much prefer the movie version even with Jim Carrey.

Movie and the book are about the same.

Rosemary's Baby. The movie is almost word for word with the book.

The Virgin Suicides. This is one of the most vouyeristic books I've ever read.  The movie, by Sophia Coppola did an excellent job with it.

Romeo and Juliet (Zerelli).  I like the film althoug not a big fan of the play.

Titus. Based on Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare.  I liked both of them very much.

Movies and Books that were bad.

The Exorcist.  Both bad.

The Haunting of Hill House.  I didn't get the point of the book nor the movies.

The Da Vinci Code.  All I can say is OMFG!!!

This was just a few of the selections.  There are a lot more crapfests out there, but who has the time.

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Okay, so I lost my old blog.  I lost my wife's interview about monsters.  Here is a new interview with her about things scary.  Please note that she is not a fan of horror or reading horror novels. (But we're working on that.)

Why don't you like horror? Lauren: Well, I guess I don't like it at the time.  I don't like it when things jump out.  I don't like to be startled.  The more psychological things, like Halloween, bother me later because they are too real.  They are like things that could actually happen to you.  I think on it too hard.

So we've discussed a variety of monsters, what is the scariest monster for you? Lauren: Like an actual monster? [yes].  I don't know.  A lot of monsters don't actually scare me that bad.  As a kid, I was terribly frightened by the Gremlins.  I guess I'm more scared of people than monsters.  I can think of one thing that always freaked me out.  That truck from the movie Duel.  I didn't like that it really bothered me.

Did you know that Duel was a book first? Lauren: Yeah. Wasn't it a Stephen King book?

So what about the Exorcist? Lauren: It sucked. If you're asking me if it was scary, ah . . . no.  You hear all these things about the exorcist, you would think that me a scaredy cat would be frightened.  The creepiest thing was the girl's makeup.  There was too much of the movie that was unnecessary.  After studying demon possession, there wasn't much to it.

Talking about devil children, how about Rosemary's Baby? Lauren: The movie, I haven't read the book, wasn't really all that scary.  It was curious because you don't really understand what's going on.  Until you think you haven't at the end, unless she's just crazy.  Even so, nothing bad happens in the movie.  it's not all that frightening.

 So how about Jaws? Lauren: Didn't you ask me about Jaws the last time.  It's scarier than somethings because they really are sharks and you hear of people seriously or mortally injured by sharks.  Because it is based on a true story, it's too much food for thought.  It lingers.

What about Hammer Horror movies? Lauren: I thik to most modern people, even anti-horror people like me.  Hammer horror seems, quant.  It's supposed to be scary and was intended so in the time it was made, but it's kind of like reading Dracula, it's just old fashion enough to not be scary.

So you're a history teacher, whose scarier Abraham Lincoln or Harry S. Truman? Lauren: Why those two?  In the looks department, Lincoln.  In terms of capabilities, probably Truman.

Again as a history teacher, who would you least like to meet in a dark alley U.S. Grant or Walt Whitman? Laren: I don't know enough about Walt Whitman to make that decision, and how drunk is Grant?

Okay, John Q. Adams or Mike Arnzen? Lauren: Ooh, definitely Mike Arnzen.

One last question, what is the creepiest song you know? Lauren: Can it be a like just movie music or a song? [Doesn't matter].  Probably the music from the shower scene from Psycho.

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So this is it, the big bad wolf of the horror world before Stephen King.  The Exorcist one of the scariest stories of all time.  What a dud.  This book was much to slow on the uptake.  We don't even get the exorcism until the very end, and it's very brief.  The attempts to figure out Regan's problems takes more time and the murder mystery is more interesting.  The investigator is Colombo in a new form.  I had a hard time with this book and here is why.  It was like reading an archaic psychology text book.

 I've not seen so many out of date psychological terms since I took the history of psychology.  The entire book is laced with Freudian psychobabble that has long since been abandoned.  The heavy reliance on the idea of split personality, which one of the doctors is quoted as saying there has only been 100 confirmed real cases of this.  I promise it is much less.  I've never met  psychiatrist or pschological professional, including myself, that has ever seen this diagnosis.  This is saying alot because I know lots of mental health professionals.  I liked the old school medicines.  Thorazine to a child. Who in there right mind give thorazine, a very nasty medication with rough TD side effects to a kid.  Also the use of Librium.  We give that to drug addicts to get them off their junk. 

The main problem with this book is it is very out of date.  All the psychology in it is nearly 40 years old, and that's bad because we are a constantly changing science.  I must say, I wish they had let Carl Rogers work with Regan.  I think his positive self regard would have done wonders with her.  The problem is that nowadays, no one would have gone down the trails they went down with Regan. 

Another reason I have such trouble with text, is that I had trouble suspending belief.  I don't believe in modern day demonic possession, and if I did, I think that soemthing different would work better than what they did, like baptism.  It seems to me that a quick dunk under the water with a in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit would do a lot more than the 23 psalm the lord's prayer, and some sprinkles of "holy water" in the shape of a cross.  Come on, take her down to the Baptist Church and put her under the water.  There you go, no more demonic regan.

Posted by Jared at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

This is where I need to make a confession.  I had never seen the Exorcist until last night.  I bought it a few weeks ago used from Movie Stop (Shout out to Kristin, although I know it's Game Stop.) I have never seen the film because since I was very young, I've been scared of it.  It always ranks as one of the scariest of all times.  I had put it on my list with such gems as the Faces of Death films and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (I'm terrified of chainsaws).

So I watched the movie with my wife the biggest scaredy cat in the world, and she wasn't scared and neither was I.  The movie follows very closely with the book, which is very boring and takes  a long time to build up to the point.  The movie does the same thing.  There is little bang for the hours of investment.  I think that this was terrifying throughout the 1970's and partially through the 1980's but too much has changed.  Life have become to horrific for this movie to continue being scary.  I din't even find it that creepy.

I wonder if this movie suffers what many older "terrifying" movies suffer from, overexposure.  It's been only a few years ago since I saw the orignal Psycho for the first time in its completeness.  Again this is a movie I have been told was terrifying.  It kept me more interested than the Exorcist, but it didn't deliver much bang either.  I believe the Exorcist has the been the movie to beat, and it has been too many times to be scary. We get the images of the head twisting and the vomit.  We don't get the masturbation scene too often though, but it wasn't really so scare as mildly amusing. I really think the invention of the slasher movie did this film in.  Those movies are full of jumps and scares, even the bad ones.  I think that movie goers except scary music and something jumping out at them.  That's what we want, and the exorcist doesn't give that.  It has the creepy music.  Tubular Bells is one of the creepiest themes ever, but the movie comes up short. 

I blame Freddy, Jason, Michael, and of course Bruce (the shark from Jaws) for this.

Posted by Jared at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bram Stoker left a legacy, Dracula.  His vampire character through cinema and constant publication has become the king of the vampires.  Every vampyric  creature since his novel owes a debt to the count. 

The image of vampire and the word Dracula walk hand in hand.  If you show a picture of any vampire, be it Count Yorga, Count Chocula, the Count from Sesame Street, Lestat, and people will say “Dracula”.  The dark brooding image of Bela Legosi’s character has permanently made Dracula an archetype. 

From a writer’s perspective this can be a good thing.  It is a ready made character just add blood. (For the love of everything don’t add water.)  The problem comes from it’s too easy.  There are vampires everywhere.  They brood and look sexy and of course drinks blood.  They have become so common writing a traditional vampire story is like driving a stake into your own productivity.

In an introduction to Salem’s Lot, Stephen King wrote that he enjoyed both the Dracula-like vampires, but also the Count Orlock-type he saw in comic books.  He stated the his mother felt they were both junk.  The strange thing is that Count Orlock was a copy of Dracula. 

Now, we look at romanticized vampires that sparkle or have other extraordinary issues that are lovely.  Dracula was none of that.  He was evil and ugly. 

He is the king of the vampires, but he is not what people think he is.  They see the Bela Legosi version and think that is Dracula.  What a problem.  It is the curse of Dracula’s legacy, that and the need for more “nontraditional” vampire stories. 

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You’re Francis Ford Coppala, and it’s the early 1990’s and you’ve not won an Oscar in years.  What do you do?  Make a version of Dracula.  What will I call it?  Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  That way no one will mistake it for the 5 million over Dracula and Dracula knock offs out there.  (My favorite, Blacula). 

“I’m FFC and I’m going to start a trend in movies where the author’s name gets tacked on to give it academic cred.”  This led the way for William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, a true cinematic accomplishment. Of course the true horror fan knows that FFC stole this from Roger Corman and all those Edgar Allen Poe movies.  Corman would take EAP’s name of a movie that had nothing to do with one of his stories.

So now to the summary.

Coppalla’s film is more true to the original text that the Tod Browning 1931 film.  There are exceptions.  Like all good Hollywood movies, a love triangle had to be put into the movie. This one involves Mina, Jonathan, and Dracula himself.  Of course Mina is the reincarnation of Dracula’s wife who killed herself.  Dracula is in this film Vlad the Impaler, using what many people thought Stoker used as his inspiration and tying the two together forever. 

The film has a very good performance of Dracula by Gary Oldman.  Oldman made one of the best Dracula’s ever.  His has an ability to play a very evil character and his seems to take glee in his portrayal of the villain.  Most of the other characters left a lot to be desired.  Needless to say any movie that puts Keanu Reeves into a starring role risks the bad review. The man cannot act his way out of wet paper bag that may or may not be part of the matrix.  Anthony Hopkins could have done a better job as Van Helsing, but he did seem to enjoy the job all the same.  I think he should have play Van Helsing like Hannible Lector. 

Despite the flaws in the story line, this version of Dracula  does a fairly good job of keeping true to the text.  It remains a period piece something other versions did not do.  The special effects are better, and there is a superb performance by Oldman as Dracula.  He is more memorable than even Legosi in the role. All in all Bram Stokers Dracula is worth the time to watch if for nothing else the wonderful delivery of my favorite line from the movies: “For I have already eaten, and I never drink, wine.”   

Posted by Jared at 06:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Universal Studios produced Dracula in 1931.  It starred Bela Legosi in his most famous role.  The role he will be remembered forever.  His image has become the image of Dracula himself.  That is a remarkable thing for a hack Hungarian actor that should otherwise be forgotten, but now the movie.

The 1931 version of Dracula was based off a stage play.  It featured very little real scare.  The vampire has no fangs.  You never see him turn into a bat or bite a neck.  He is supposed to be sexy and women want him.  The character names are mixed up. Lucy and Mina are interchanged.  Also Dr. Seward becomes Lucy’s father.  The movie ends with Dracula’s staking in Carfax Abby instead of Castle Dracula.  Renfield, one of the greatest minor characters ever is in this production.

The real star of the movie in my opinion is Renfield .  The actor who performs him does a very good job.  He later played Fritz in Frankenstein.  He did not have very many parts or scenes in the movie.  Renfield gives it a good go with the scenes he has. 

Dr. Van Helsing in this movie is not very good.  He is not the sly and wily character from the book.  He isn’t even Dutch. 

Posted by Jared at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The monster of Cthulhu stands out among the other monsters in horror.  He is not a created creature like Frankenstein’s monster.  He’s not a reanimated corpse or the undead, like zombies and vampires respectively.  Lycanthropy does not apply to him. Although he possesses mystical powers, a witch he is not.  He’s a god-like, alien creature that looks like an octopus mated with a dragon.  Cthulhu was an original monster born somewhere in space and resting deep in the ocean.

Lovecraft formulated an interesting character with Cthulhu.  He broke away from some of the monster conventions of the time and made his own creature.  Before this creation, Lovecraft wrote about Dagon the fish god of the Philistines, and other creatures he created seemed to come from a Piscean or amphibian background. 

Many Lovecraftian monsters including Cthulhu sprang from an oceanic background.  Perhaps this because at the time he was writing, Lovecraft could imagine nothing more alien than the creatures of the deep sea. 

Now I’m going to talk about all the creatures Lovecraft and his beloved Cthulhu have spawned.

Would any of the movies of the 1950’s with their weird space aliens and giant creatures from beneath the waves have been possible with out good Cthulhu?  Even the creature that lived in the Black Lagoon is a child of the squid-man himself.  Then venture out to creatures that look like his description.  Several characters (minor for the most part) in the Star Wars movies were Cthulhu-esque.  Jabba’s palace alone should have been on planet Lovecraft, not to mention Admiral Ackbar, and that weird thing on the Millennium Falcon with Lando during the battle scene in Return of the Jedi. 

The Simpsons are not excluded from the call of Cthulhu.  The characters of Springfield get a visit every Halloween from their good friends, Kang and Kodos, squid-like aliens bent of world domination.  Disney took two stabs at Cthulhu.  Admit it; you think Ursula from The Little Mermaid is sexy, with all that body language and giant wad of tentacles.  Don’t forget the last Disneyfication of Cthulhu, Davey Jones.  I very much doubt that the captain of the Flying Dutchman looks like Cthulhu, even if he’s bumped into him in the briny depths.

Posted by Jared at 06:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

H.P Lovecraft is tiresome.  There I said it; it’s out in the open.  Lots of famous horror and science-fiction writers have professed the he is one of the reasons they write, but if he got much more purple, Willy Wonka would have him juiced. In his discussion on supernatural horror, he talked about how gothic writers spent too much time with too frilly of words. What was that, Howard?  Did you say they were too flowery?  Did I read things right, you H.P. Lovecraft accused other writers of having too much purple prose in their writing?  Everything I’ve ever read with Lovecraft on it has oozed (no pun intended) with varying shades of violet.  If he weren’t such a racist, I would say that Lovecraft would be best represented by the African violet.

But to his credit, I will say he helped to change the “literature of the weird.”  Lovecraft especially liked for his monsters or sources of horror to come from the great expanses of space.  Cthulhu is no different.  He (if it has gender) came to earth from the stars and was worshipped as a god (an elder god to be exact.)  Many other Lovecraftian monsters were little more than alien creatures that landed on earth and found it ripe for the taking.  Until the Lovecraft era, most monsters of literature were ghost clanging chains in a castle of Italy.  He mentions this in his treatise on horror.  The creatures and monsters weren’t really from the unknown.  Lovecraft gave horror the fear of the unknown.  Most of his stories possess a creepy mood.  All his long-winded and flowery writing made sure that the reader got the creepy part.  He often told us of this instead of showing.

In The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft never lets the narrator give the first person vision of this horrible creature that has come from the stars to rest in the ocean.  We see it only in the idols, statues, bas-reliefs, and first-person, second-hand news.  This takes much of the scare out of the story.  For all the hideousness this creature bares, I’m not scared of Cthulhu.  I’m not frightened that at the end of the story he is still sleeping the depths of the pacific awaiting his chance to strike.  Big deal, Godzilla’s down there too, and he’s much tougher than a squid face creepy.

I think ultimately, Lovecraft could see everyone else’s flaws, but not his own.  He could see how early gothic novels were a bit over the top and unable to hold the reader’s belief.  He didn’t see the same problems with his own writing.  H. P. Lovecraft has inspired many.  I picked him up because others recommended him, but he’s dated like so many other old monster tales and tellers.  The problem is I’m afraid he might have been dated then.  Just my humble opinion though.

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I have decided that writing is hard.  It is time consuming and ego affecting.  Lately, even with all the other stressors in my life, it has become the second worst one I face.  That's scary.  It's passed my psychiatric unit job, smart allecky students, and poverty.  That's saying alot. 

I feel more insecure now than I have in al ong time.  It's not about the massive weight gain I've had (25 + lbs since the summer) it's about writing.  Wow, I'm actually more concerned about writing than weight.  My body dysmorphic disorder is not very happy right now. 

Posted by Jared at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That's what she is, Regan.  She's the meanest kid since Rosemary's Baby and before Damien, but she really isn't that mean after all.  Sure she does a lot of vomitting, and she tossed that British guy out the window, but look at the carnage rained down from Damien and his followers.  Rosemary's Baby's followers killed a bunch of folks too.

Regan, even while possessed, isn't that scary.  She is just a little girl who got mixed up with a couple of demons.  Pretty typical biblical stuff.  I have to say that this character always portrayed so fiercely, really let me down.  I was very disappointed in her, very.  She would have been much scarier as Goneril (the whole STD thing is scary) like her mother wanted to name her.  The scariest thing about this poor child is that her self-absorbed mother wanted to name her from the daughters of Lear.  How very Tragic. 

Sidenote:  King Lear has one of the my favorite Shakespearean lines, "Poor Tom's a cold."

Posted by Jared at 07:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There have been a lot of top 20, 25, and 50 lists on facebook.  Some are like the top 25 most influential songs of my life.  I decided that since I’m a huge Elton John fan I’d make my 100 favorite Elton John Songs.  We’ll start at the bottom.

100. Victim of Love [Victim of Love; why? This is only for the true fan]

99. Empty Sky [Empty Sky; why? It’s the first song from the first album]

98. Lady Samantha [Single; why? It’s about a ghost that glides like a tiger]

97. Bad Side of the Moon [11-17-70; why? This is just a cool song.]

96. Wrap Her Up [Ice on Fire; why? Okay song, downside, G. Michael]

95. Someday Out of the Blue [The Road to El Dorado; why? I don’t know]

94. Honey Roll [Friends; why? Come on do the roll with me.]
93. Burn Down the Mission [Tumbleweed Connection; why? Good but better live]

92. Hoop of Fire [Leather Jackets; why? 80’s crap.]

91. Slave [B-side; why much faster and better than album version]

90. Club at the End of the Street [Sleeping With the Past; why? Kind of groovy]

89. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) [Chartbusters Goes Pop; why? Good cover]

88. Heartache All Over the World [Leather Jackets; why? Fun song]

87. Who Where’s these Shoes? [Breaking Hearts; why? I need to know the answer]

86. Empty Garden (Hey, hey, Johnny) [Jump Up; why? Wonderful tribute]

85. Written in the Stars [Aida; why? Best song on the entire album]

84. Wake Up Wendy [Chef Aid; why? So tongue in cheek.]

83. Live Like Horses [Pavoratti and Friends . . .; Why? Elton and Pavoratti]

82. Live Like Horses [Big Picture; why? This is different for Elton and Bernie]

81. I Stop and I Breathe [Peachtree Road; why? A fun love song.]

80.  Kiss the Bride [Too Low for Zero; why? Fun, bride kissing song]

79. Step Into Christmas [Single; why? Fun Christmas song.]

78. Ho ho ho (Don’t Be a Turkey on Christmas) [B-side; why? The best X’mas song]

77. I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues [One Night Only; why? Mary J. Blige]

76. Border Song [Elton John; why? A hip. Hippie tune]

75. Skyline Pigeon [Empty Sky; why? Good even with the harpsichord]

74. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds [Single; why? Good cover]

73. Pinball Wizard [Single; why? That deaf dumb and blind kid.]

72. Can I Put You On [Friends; why? It’s a great story song]

71. Thunder in the Night [Victim of Love; why? Alright I like disco, sue me.]

70. I Feel Like a Bullet [Rock of the Westies; why? A great Taupin western song]

69. Solar Prestige A Gammon [Caribou; Why? Totally goofy song.]

68. That’s What Friends Are For [Single; why? That’s what their for]

67. Rotten Peaches [Madman Across the Water; why? Catchy]

66. Texas Love Song [Don’t Shoot Me . . .; why? Tongue firm in cheek.]

65. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart [Duets; why? Elton and a drag queen, c’mon]

64. Tinderbox [The Captain and the Kid; why? Good ole Elton]

63. Song for Guy [A Single Man; why? There’s more to life than living]

62. You Can Make History Young [Love Songs; why? A decent song.]

61. Long Way From Happiness [The Big Picture; why? Great writing song]

60. Tell Me When the Whistle Blows [Captain Fantastic. . . ; why? Wonderful story]

59. Better Off Dead [Captain Fantastic . . . ; why? Great live]

58. Nikita [Ice on Fire; why? Because of the wonderful inaccuracies]

57. This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore [Songs from the West Coast; why? Sad song]

56. Sad Songs Say So Much [Breaking Hearts; why? Because Sasson says so much]

55. Little Jeannie [22 at 33; why? It’s a restart from Disco]

54. Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word [Blue Moods; why? A sad song]

53. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? Good, not great]

52. Rocket Man [Honky Chateau; why? It takes a long long time]

51. Honky Cat [Honky Chateau; why? Funky song]

50. Island Girl [Rock of the Westies; why? Funky song]

49. Harmony [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? Great song.]

48. You Gotta Love Someone [Single; why? You gotta love the song.]

47. Can You Feel the Love Tonight [The Lion King; why? Disenyfied]

46. Roy Rogers [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? Great song]

45. Freaks in Love [Peachtree Road; why? Fun love song]

44. Ticking [Caribou; why? Great story song]

43. Daniel [Don’t Shoot Me . . .; why? It’s a good story song]

42. Your Song [Elton John; why? My wife walked down the aisle to it]

41. Please [Made in England; why? I like the song]

40. Candle in the Wind [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? It’s good]

39. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy [Captain Fantastic . . .; why? Good]

38. Tonight [Live from Australia. . .; why? A wonderful live song]

37. Tiny Dancer [Live from Australia. . .; why? A good live version]

36. The Simple Life [The One; why? A love the beat of the song]

35. I Don’t Want to Go on with You Like That. [Reg Strikes Back; why fun repeats]

34. Sacrifice [Sleeping With the Past; why? a pretty song]

32. I’m Still Standing [Too Low For Zero; why? Why not?]

31. All The Girls Love Alice [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? fun, fun]

30. Bennie and the Jets [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? good song]

29. Take Me to the Pilot [Elton John; why? They picked the wrong single]

28. Levon [Madman Across the Water; why? Cartoons Balloons]

27. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me [Caribou; why? good but hard to sing]

26. Blue Eyes [Jump Up; why? Baby’s got blue eyes.]

25. The One [The One; why? a great love song]

24. Something About the Way You Look Tonight [The Big Picture; why? a fun song]

23. Believe [Made In England; why? Because now more than ever.]

22. Hercules [Honky Chateau; why? what a wonderful unreleased single.]

21. The Bitch is Back [Caribou; why? my anthem]

20. Mansfield [Songs from the West Coast; why? wonderful song]

19. Original Sin [Songs form the West Coast; why? wonderful love song]

18. Made In England [Made In England; why? What a fun song]

17. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? great]

16. Saturday Night’s Alright [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; why? Elton power ballad]

15. Ballad of a Well Known Gun [Tumbleweed Connection; why? what a tune]

14. Amoreena [Tumbleweed Connection; why? a great tune]

13. Candle in the Wind [Live from Australia. . .; why? better live]

12. Skyline Pigeon [B-side; why? better with a piano]

11. Where to Now St. Peter? [Tumbleweed Connection; why? great tune]

10. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart [single; why? wonderful upbeat tune]

9. Philadelphia Freedom [Single; why? great patriotic song from a Brit]

8. Bennie and the Jets [One Night Only; why? Always better live]

7. I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues [Too Low for Zero; why? wonderful]

6. The Captain and the Kid [The Captain and the Kid; why? it says it all]

5. Candle in the Wind 1997 [single; why? Best selling single of all time]

4. If the River Can Bend [The Big Picture; why? a wonderful gospel song]

3. Take Me to the Pilot [Live From Australia . . . why? better live]

2. Crocodile Rock [Don’t Shoot Me. . . why? It’s my lucky song]

1. Tiny Dancer [Madman Across the Water; why? It doesn’t get better.]

Posted by Jared at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So I finished The Exorcist a few weeks ago in preparation to discuss it for class.  I have to say that I found it disappointing.  But that is for another entry.  Today, i will talk about exorcising demons. 

I'm to preface things by saying that I do not believe in demonic possession.  I have seen enough mental illness in my life that i can account for most everything.  I also know the bible well enough that if demons still roamed the earth that a way of casting them out would be listed in scripture.

I have myself conducted an "exorcism".  We had a patient on our unit, named "Suzie".  This patient is nonresponsive to medications.  One a past admission, she stated that she was possessed.  This was behavior so behavioral modification was used.  I performed an exorcism using bits and pieces from what I know about witchcraft and vampire lore.

I circled her bed with salt, laid holly leaves at the corners of her bed.  We said some things and then she lay there for two hours not moving.  She didn't complain of voices or othewise.  This was a form of operaant conditioning.  But it worked temporarily.

 I've never exorcised another demon.

Posted by Jared at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Jared at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)