Dateline: 10-11-12

I just noticed while typing the date on my blog document that the date today is 10-11-12 ! Ah-ah-ah ! (In honor of Sesame Street’s late Count- who at least managed to pass away without getting involved in election rhetoric…) Also passing away- Alex Karras, the big football star/commentator /actor who will always be remembered as Mongo in Mel Brook’s “Blazing Saddles”- as well as for being a co-star with Emmanuel Lewis on “Webster”(watch for some “Webster” episodes on our Me Too station as a tribute- Saturday at 11 am- and episodes of "MASH" and "Daniel Boone" featuring Alex today on ME-TV). He also spent some time as a pro wrestler, sometimes battling a Midwestern favorite, Dick the Bruiser. His final years have been very rough- he suffered from dementia and cancer, among other problems. Also leaving us- an actor you’ve seen on our show- Turhan Bey. He was the Austrian son of a Turkish diplomat, and his mysterious good looks made him a matinee idol who moved to the United States with his mother to escape the Nazis. You’ve seen him on our show in “The Mummy’s Tomb” as the “latest” high priest to care for the living mummy Kharis, when the Mummy was brought to America to wipe out the now-older members of the party that “defiled” the tomb of his long-lost love, Ananka. I was unaware of the fact that he played a part in the 90s “Babylon 5” series- Turval. Okay- I’ve been meaning to bring this up (er- maybe I could have put that another way…)- is the latest celebrity trend- vomiting? First, Justin Beiber tossed his cookies during a concert- then, Lady Gaga gag-gagged on stage. Please tell me this isn’t a trend! (It may not be a new trend- I seem to recall stories of Joe Cocker doing so onstage during a concert.) I think some of us have been at concerts that have made US want to throw up- but, I don’t think we would deliberately pay to see our favorite singer get sick…though I’ll bet some people would pay to see their least favorite do so. But- really- what’s causing this? The Beib said it was some bad milk- did Gaga say it was “a bad romance” (whoa-ho-ho-ho…)? Will one of the new riders in a rock stars contract be that they demand an industrial size drum of that sawdust stuff that janitors use to clean up upchuck? Will the latest concert souvenir be a customized airsick bag? If I write any more on this subject, I might feel a little nauseous… Maybe our “Halloween Horror of the Day” should be a fright that expelled some nasty vomit- and one of the most terrifying would have to be “The Exorcist”s Regan, played by Linda Blair! Anybody who has seen this film- very possibly, one of the scariest movies of all time- recalls the scenes of the demon-possessed child vomiting gallons (ew!) of green bile. To this day, when Linda does public signings, people will bring a can of pea soup for her to autograph, a less-than-subtle joke regarding her demonic vomit in the movie! All jokes aside- the possessed Regan , with the power of Satan himself, is one of the most eerie and unsettling characters in horror history- from her frightening façade, the unreal actions (her head turning 360 degrees, her body levitating, even the bizarre “spider walk” sequence on the stairs that has been included in recent dvd versions as an extra)- and just the idea of the things that Linda, as a young actress, had to endure to create this hard-to-forget role- earns her more than our respect- today it earns her the title of “Halloween Horror of the Day!”