My original plan for Odds & Sods in October was to pair a Steely Dan song with a movie image each week. The calendar messed with my plans: It’s Halloween and there isn’t a Steely Dan tune that works, so we turn to Sinatra, baby. Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer in The Witches Of Eastwick are also in attendance. The less said about Sarandon’s wackadoo politics the better but Cher is a good egg.
It’s no stretch to say that we’re in the homestretch of the midterms. Team MAGA continues to flood the zone with shit and lose court cases. What they will actually do in 3 days remains uncertain but they will do it poorly. It’s the MAGA way.
I’ll be glad when it’s over. I’m sick of the texts, especially the ones from Team Farmer. That would be Jamie Davis, the Democratic nominee for senate. The texts keep on telling me that he’s winning, backed by internal polls from September that show him behind by 4 points with a shit ton of undecided voters.
I love my adopted home state but there are still too many Gret Stet racists for a black candidate to win statewide. I would love to be proven wrong but history is on my side even if the early voting results are not. The Gret Stet was carried by arch-segregationists Strom Thurmond and George Wallace. That was long ago but we’re currently home to Clay Higgins and The Clownfish. Cajun country used to be our swing area but they went crazy after Obama became president. Hopefully, they’ll regain their sanity but it’s unlikely to be next Tuesday.
INSTANT UPDATE: Team Davis has released an internal poll showing the race tied at 45-45. I tend to take such polls with a grain of salt. Will I be wrong? Stay tuned. You can pepper me with questions later.
I’m also dubious about the Mississippi senate race BUT Scott Colom is a better candidate than the Farmer. The latter is often reluctant to go directly after Trump. Colom has no such reticence. I don’t think he’ll win BUT he’s a fighter so he deserves praise. Again, I hope I’m wrong.
I’ve used this week’s theme song for the Friday Cocktail Hour in 2021 but not on Halloween. Hence the repeat but don’t call me Pete. Why I threw that tired old joke in there is beyond me.
Witchcraft was written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh for Sinatra in 1957. It was a monster hit for Francis Albert and frequently featured on his setlists.
We have two versions of Witchcraft for your listening pleasure: The Sinatra OG and an instrumental by Oscar Peterson.
Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?
The Kaiser of Chaos loves to whine about witch hunts, let’s see what Wayne Shorter thinks:
Here’s another jazzy seasonal tune:
We begin our second act by heading to St. Bernard Parish next door to Orleans Parish. It’s where the Yats are, y’all.
Pet Cemetery Murders: Everyone in my area calls St. Bernard Da Parish. I call people who live in its largest town, Chalmatians. We’re going farther south to Toca, which is where our spooky story took place. Some call it the end of the world. Seems right to me.
There’s a swell 3-part HBO docuseries about a cold case that was solved 27 years after the murder of Dorothy Lou Thompson. She was the second generation proprietor of the Toca Pet Cemetery. Her mother Grace was a piece of work who killed a woman in St Louis then fled to Da Parish.
The story has many twists and turns involving multiple murders and ghosts. It’s as if Stephen King hailed from the Gret Stet of Louisiana instead of Maine.
Our guide to this madness is St. Bernard Detective John Doran who cracked the case. It’s reassuring to learn that Da Parish has at least one first rate detective. Doran is the real deal.
Here’s the trailer:
Grading Time: I give The Pet Cemetery Murders 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos grade of B+.
Here’s a marginally relevant song to close the segment:
Edgar Allen Poe, Quintessential American Writer is a piece by Slate’s Laura Miller. She declares Poe to be the most influential American writer ever. He’s been underrated because he didn’t write novels but I concur with Miller. Where would we be without the Corman-Price movies based however vaguely on Poe’s work?
For the receipts, get thee to Slate.
The last word of our second act goes to Stevie Nicks:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Casting Edition: Edgar Allen Poe has been portrayed quite a few times on film. My favorite movie Poe is Joseph Cotten in The Man With The Cloak:
In 1976, The Alan Parsons Project recorded a concept album dedicated to Poe’s work, Tales Of Mystery and Imagination. I’ll let them play us out of the segment:
Your Basic Basie: I don’t believe in ghosts but I believe in the greatness of Count Basie and his Orchestra.
Have I told you lately how much I love Count Basie?
The Best of Uncle Lawrence: I’m not a sentimentalist or prone to tears but I got verklempt watching Josh Turek appear on The Last Word with his political hero, Tom Harkin. Josh is running for Tom’s old seat in the senate. Senator Harkin is 86 and looks and sounds great.
Classic Movie Trailer: Stephen King may hate Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining, but he’s in the minority.
Grading Time: I give Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining 4 stars and an Adrastos grade of A-.
Saturday GIF Horse: While we’re on the subject of The Shining, here’s Jack:
This gives me a chance to work in a Steely Dan song:
Toon Time: I wrote about Vivek Ramaswamy’s disgusting attack on Dr. Amy Acton on Monday. It’s still backfiring.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: A relevant tune from The Midnight Special archives.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to countdown guy, Harold Lloyd.
