Halloween music that I'm taking back

If you don't know it by now, I'm a big lover of classical music. And on this Halloween, I can't help but think about several pieces of music that have become so interconnected with Halloween that I fear their original essence has become lost. But like Randal in Clerks 2, I'm taking them back!

I personally like to distance myself from the televised, commercialized, bastardized versions of these pieces and listen to them as they were meant to be heard: full-length performances filled with glory and majesty, and not the chopped-up, badly-edited renditions we so often hear. The full-length performances have so much more to offer, I feel.

Seriously, try listening to these pieces in their entirety! I know they may feel commonplace with Halloween, but you might just discover something new in the process.

"Dance Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens

"Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky

In the Hall of the Mountain King (from the Peer Gynt Suite) by Edward Grieg

Tell me this one doesn't sound a tiny bit familiar!

"Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor" (3rd movement) by Frederic Chopin

And last but not least . . . !

"Toccata and Fugue in D minor" by Johann Sebastian Bach

One day I want to hear this performed on a live organ. I can't even begin to imagine the enormity and profundity of the experience.

Joaquin Phoenix is retiring!

News broke this morning that actor Joaquin Phoenix is retiring from acting! I have to say, I'm surprised and a little saddened by this, because I think the guy's a fabulous actor.

His career began in the shadow of his older brother, the late River Phoenix, but younger brother Joaquin (who I believe had some acting credits under the name Leaf when he was much younger) evolved into a talented performer in his own right. I think his biggest breakout role was in Gladiator, but I think of him more often as the late great Johnny Cash in Walk the Line—a movie he did his own singing in, too! This might be why he's choosing to pursue a singing career instead of acting.

I guess I can only wish him good luck, but I hope one day Joaquin will reconsider this retirement and return to the silver screen.

Homer Simpson turns 51

Voice actor Dan Castellaneta, best known for providing the voice of Homer Simpson, turns 51 today.

Igor, would you help me with the bags?

It was on the Post's Dr. Gridlock chat yesterday that I first learned of Metro's newest security measure: random bag inspections.

I have to say, for all of Metro's PR and policy snafus of late, this one I have to agree with. That's because I can think of at least one time I rode the rails where a random bag inspection would have been quite helpful beforehand! It was after a Nats game on July 4, 2006 (a game made famous by Ryan Zimmerman's fabulous game-ending/game-winning walk-off home run over the Marlins), and as soon as the Metro train left Stadium-Armory, someone sitting near one of the doors got out some Roman Candles . . . and then proceeded to get out a lighter and start adjusting/playing with the size of the flame. (Luckily there was a Metro security officer in the next car who took an interest in said passenger.)

Beautiful music

No reason; just some wonderful music to listen to. This is the posthumously-published Nocturne in C sharp minor, by the original piano man, Frederic Chopin.

Hey, Mr. Pants Man, play a song for me!

I almost couldn't believe it when I heard it, but Roy Pearson, the DC administrative law judge who sued a family-owned dry cleaning business a few years back over a lost pair of pants (to the tune of $54 million, I might add!), is trying once again to appeal his overturned case. And his rationale for appealing the case is just laughable.

"This is not about a pair of suit pants," Pearson, representing himself, told a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals. The term "satisfaction guaranteed" is "very subjective" and with "no parameters at all," he complained, accusing the cleaners of fraud.

Fraud? That's seriously a stretch to say that a dissatisfied customer is the victim of fraud. Like everyone else in this world, I've already had times where I've been unsatisfied with some service or some store, but having worked in customer service already, I know just how demanding and unreasonable some customers can be. And Mr. Pearson isn't doing the customer any justice (no pun intended) with this venture. My rationale is, if you're unhappy with a service or a store, just don't go back there. There's no need to let your ego get so entangled with your dissatisfaction.

Having said that, I repeat my earlier advice to Mr. Pearson: give it up, dude. You've already made yourself an irreparable laughingstock with this most frivolous of lawsuits, and you've succeeded in taking the Chungs down with you, since they've opted to close down their business. Really, what more do you want?

To paraphrase Steve Buscemi . . . do you see this? It's the world smallest violin playing just for a pair of pants.

We've taken back the house!

It's been three days since I left Happy Valley, and I still can't believe that the events I witnessed took place.

Saturday's game was at least 10 years in the making. With year after year of humiliating losses by a cocky Michigan squad, Penn State finally turned the tables and declared victory over the Michigan Wolverines! It had to be the single greatest moment since the Appalachian State upset last year, with the 1997 comeback over Ohio State trailing not far behind.

With Penn State's undefeated record this season combined with the first Michigan squad to grace the gridiron post-Lloyd Carr (a squad that's been falling apart at the seams, with high-profile losses against Toledo, Illinois, and even Notre Dame), I was unexpectedly confident about Penn State's chances going into this game—though like some others, I still felt like I was walking on eggshells, because it's very hard to forget some of the most controversial and back-stabbing moments in the history of Penn State-Michigan match-ups. The 2005 game comes immediately to mind, where Lloyd Carr literally stole the game from Penn State by demanding that the officials add two seconds to the game clock at the very end of the fourth quarter . . . two seconds in which Michigan scored a game-winning touchdown. (I can't help but remember, too, how all the play-calling and penalties went in Michigan's favor that day.)

The bitterness that resulted from that game will take a long time to be forgotten, but this past Saturday's game was definitely a step in the right direction!

Nora and I carpooled up to the game with Wiley and Ashley, and Wiley proudly donned his "Ann Arbor is a whore!" T-shirt. That afternoon, as tailgates cooked and clocks ticked onward towards game time, the atmosphere in Happy Valley was electric, permeated with one simple thought: payback! The fact that it was Homecoming added a great sense of anticipation and glee to the hoped-for thrashing of Michigan.

When the game got underway, I was a bit rattled when Penn State had a bad snap and lost several yards on their first play, but I tried to keep my fingers crossed that it was only a fluke and not a portent of things to come. Sadly, as the first quarter wore on, that bad first snap proved to be anything but a fluke, because Penn State lost the ball several times on really bad fumbles, had good plays overturned, and missed a key field goal when the ball bounced off the upright. By the end of the first half, with the Nittany Lions down 17-7, moods around Beaver Stadium alternated between resignation, despair, and disgust (as evidenced by the fan sitting in the row behind us, whose feelings on the current Nittany Lion squad grew more colorful with each play). Memories from all those humiliating Michigan losses began to creep back. Actually, no—they began to flood back! And it really begged the question of whether Penn State could ever beat this team, could ever put Michigan in its place.

When the Nittany Lions ran back out onto the field at the beginning of the second half, somehow things began to feel different. The air began to clear, and I think everyone knew what we had to do by the time this night had ended.

That feeling proved accurate, because as the third quarter progressed, the Nittany Lions played with much more heart than I've seen in a while! We scored one touchdown and one field goal to tie up the score, and I genuinely think the game got turned around when we sacked the Michigan quarterback in the end zone for a safety, bringing the Nittany Lions ahead 19-17. It was the first time in a couple years we had taken the lead over Michigan, and I sure wanted them to keep it that way!

Though I didn't dare count Michigan out of the running, because I knew this team well enough to know that, by hook or by crook, the Wolverines have managed to come back and overtake the Nittany Lions too many times before. With each passing touchdown by Penn State (and there were plenty!), I mentally tabulated how many plays Michigan would need to overtake us. Even when we were ahead 46-17 in the fourth quarter, I still couldn't bring myself to declare that we had the game in the bag! Even though four touchdowns (with extra points) wouldn't be enough for Michigan to retake the lead, I still couldn't count them out. I guess the 2005 game weighed too heavily on my mind.

But all reservations aside, Beaver Stadium truly came alive with each new touchdown or field goal by the Nittany Lions. That feeling of vindication and deliverance was heavy in the air, and every Penn Stater in the stands (a full 110,000+) thrilled with the magic of finally delivering comeuppance on the team that had beaten them down for the last 10 years. It was more than enough to warrant the victory toast of Wild Turkey back at the tailgate.

I think it's safe to say that the glory days of Michigan are over. That their grand sense of self-importance and entitlement are over. From here on out, they get to reap what they've sewn, and I'm proud that I got to witness one of the most crucial games in the annals of Penn State football!

This is a time I can truly say . . . we are Penn State!!!

A choice of casting

Lately I've been bombarded with all the commercials and trailers for W., and despite my feelings for the current occupant of #1600, I somehow can't bring myself to watch the film.

But this morning it occurred to me: instead of Josh Brolin (who I will forever remember as Brand from The Goonies way back in the day), why didn't Oliver Stone cast Anthony Heald in the lead role of George W? I've felt for a number of years that Anthony Heald, whom we may remember as the principal Scott Gruber on Boston Public or as the slimy bastard Dr. Chilton in The Silence of the Lambs, bears a terrifying physical resemblance to George W! (Though his IMDb picture doesn't showcase that resemblance well.)

As to the casting of Papa Bush, I have a terrible feeling that James Cromwell was a major miscasting choice. This may sound trite, but James Cromwell looks absolutely nothing like Papa Bush (whereas all the other actors seem to have made respectable attempts to physically resemble their real-life counterparts; it's almost scary how well I can see the real-life Dick Cheney in Richard Dreyfuss!), and from the look of the trailers, the impression I get is that James Cromwell is doing his crusty-old-bastard routine to full effect, and that he was a father who had his son so beaten down that he left him scarred for life.

Maybe I'll feel different about Cromwell if and when I see W., but my first impression isn't very favorable.

Miss Brahms has more than measles!

I was shocked and saddened recently to learn that actress Wendy Richard has once again been diagnosed with cancer. Like many others, I remember Richard as Miss Brahms from the long-running British comedy show Are You Being Served?, and I'd likewise been aware of her being a breast cancer survivor. But apparently the cancer has spread throughout her body, to her kidneys and bones—very bad!

What makes this particularly sad is that it wasn't too long ago that another Are You Being Served? alum, John Inman, left us. I'll keep my fingers crossed for Wendy Richard, though if the worst happens and she must leave us, I hope her final hours are joyful and free of pain.

Gas under $3!

I don't quite remember when, but there came a point where I said to myself, "I probably won't see gas under $3 again in my lifetime." Today I can happily say that I was wrong, because last night Nora spotted a Citgo station on Route 7, about 15 miles east of Winchester, selling regular unleaded at $2.99 a gallon! All the other stations around Winchester were selling for $3.19, minimum, so you can bet your sweet bippy that I went for the under-$3 gas!

This Citgo is actually a small enough station to breeze right past if you're not watching carefully, because it doesn't feature the customary flat-top roof or large convenience store behind it. Rather, this Citgo was a small store, most likely an old house, with only two pumps to its name. But in this era of economic chaos, where gasoline is widely viewed as a ludicrously overpriced commodity, this mom-and-pop outfit might turn into the hottest spot in town if it continues to sell gas at a deliciously low price!

Two of the three reunite!

For some time now, many of us have been hoping (and probably praying!) for the Scorsese-Pesci-De Niro trifecta to reunite. And it would seem that our prayers have been partially answered.

Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese and the movie's star Robert De Niro are returning to the murky underworld of the New York mob for a new gangster film.

De Niro has signed to play Frank 'the Irishman' Sheeran in the Scorsese-directed project - based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses.

Now all they need is Joe Pesci to come back to the table, and we'd be in business! I think the last film all three did together was Goodfellas 2 Casino, and while I honestly wasn't partial to that film, the chemistry between all three men was a match made in heaven. I think their best film together was probably Raging Bull.

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!

So young, full of hopes and dreams!

38 years later, both are thinking the same thing: "What have I done!"