Friday, October 31, 2008

Who Took the Boo Out of Halloween?

Hey Listers,

I can’t believe it’s been a year since my rant about how Halloween is supposed to be a night of fright, not this funny fools’ day it’s turned into. And I’m still peeved. Why are television stations airing National Lampoon’s Vacation over-and-over again when there are 100s of great scary movies they could show instead?


Instead of watching Michael Myers chop up all the trick-or-treaters in Haddonfield, we get Clark Griswold and family on their “merry” way to Wally World. Yeah there are some deaths (dragging Dinky to death behind the car and Aunt Edna passing in her sleep in the backseat), but they’re funny deaths. And sure Harold Ramis, one of the original Ghostbusters directed it (which by the way is painfully more funny than it is scary), but c’mon! I am looking for horror movies deaths. “Final Destination” meets Jason Voorhees meets “The Hills Have Eyes.” I want to be scared on Halloween! Give me “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th,” or at least “Nightmare on Elm Street.” Where’s Freddy and Jason and Jigsaw and Chucky? Is AMC the only channel that gets it? Or have all the funny, cute little Halloween costumes distorted all our “fragile little minds.”


I have a favor to ask of you. Instead of giving treats to every trick-or-treater this year, reward the scary skeletons and ugly witches. Give the gobstoppers to goblins, ghosts and ghouls. And trick those funny, cute kids with an apple or toothbrush.


And any of you trick-or-treaters out there, let’s get back to the roots of Beggar’s Night. Remember the history behind the tradition, if someone forgets the treats, or leaves a “please take one” basket out, make sure you play an idle trick on the house or the homeowners. That is what the saying is all about. “Trick-or-Treat!”



Lists Hidden in This Newsletter

LAL Newsletter - Halloween, a Night-of-Fright?

Top 100 Scary Movies of All Time

Memorable Movie Dads

Deaths by Extremely Unusual Causes

Funniest Epitaphs on Tombstones

Top 10 Great Songs from Geeky Movie Soundtracks

Top 10 Gruesome Deaths in Movies

Aghhh! Best Scary Movies Ever

Top 25 Horror Movie Villains

Halloween Costumes Sure to Piss Everyone Off

Top 20 Eric Cartman Quotes (from South Park)

Top 10 Hot New Halloween Costume Ideas for 2008

The 10 Worst Things to Give Out for Trick-or-Treat .

Top 10 Best Halloween Trick-or-Treat Candies

Top 5 Best Pranks Caught on Video

Top 20 Shockingly Chilling and Tense Horror Movies

Playlist: Halloween Songs for a Scary Haunted House Party

Top 10 Gifts for a Star Wars Fan



ListAfterList Updates and Reminders

Have you tried the new search on LAL powered by Google? It is much more effective. Now you can think of LAL as a place of reference, instead of just a website where you can find randomly cool stuff and interesting trivial lists. Use LAL when you are looking for a list of good scary movies, a frightening Halloween playlist, or even the top 10 specific gifts for that specific special person in your life (i.e. Top 10 Gifts for a Star Wars Fan).


If there is anything you would like to see on ListAfterList, let us know. And, if you have any friends who might enjoy ListAfterList, let us know that too.

Friday, October 10, 2008

The Rat Pack Takes the Worry-Wart Quiz

Hey Listers,

Worried? I am sure you are. There is a lot to be worried about these days. And everybody is worried about something sometimes (not to be confused with Dino’s “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime”… though just as true). But even the smooth talking, care-free Rat Pack had their worries. Like when Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped. Imagine how nerve-racking that would be! Us normal folks have more common things to worry about.

First and foremost on everyone’s mind is this fiscal pit we’ve fallen into. The DOW continues to drop. Huge firms are flopping. Banks are bankrupt. And you are worried about your money, your future, your children’s future, and your children’s children’s future. Who wouldn’t be?

Then there is the Presidential election. Who are you going to vote for? Will he fix our problems? Can he put an end to our worrying? And then even if he says he can, will he?

And don’t forget about the simpler uncertainties in life. What to wear tomorrow? What to eat for dinner? How will this presentation go? And how far below that red line can the fuel gage go before you have to fill up on $4-gas?

So many questions, so few answers.

"Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday." It’s so true, yet, makes absolutely no sense if you think about it.

What’s all this worrying for? What’s it mean? That you have to hold off on that 60-inch plasma to hang on the wall, or that roomy new black-leather Gucci handbag. That you can’t lay a gas-hogging footslam on the accelerator when the light turns green. And that you can’t go to Sin City for a Sammy-Davis-style New Year’s bash.

Now I’m not going to pretend I’m Nietzsche or anything, but does any of this truly matter? You need to have “the ability to let that which truly doesn’t matter slide” because “everything will work out – it always does.”

The truth of the matter is this: there is always plenty to worry about, always; and worrying never makes anything better – it doesn’t solve problems and doesn’t make issues go away. So instead of wasting away worrying about things – especially things that truly do not matter – why not take a break from your worries, smile and take a deep breath. Because just as it reads on Sinatra’s tombstone: “The Best Is Yet To Come.”


Lists Hidden in This Newsletter