Tuesday Movie: The Shining

Since tomorrow is Halloween, today's movie recommendation is a scary classic.  Good old Jack Torrance is a writer with a serious case of writing block.  I can relate.

The Shining came out in 1980 and was directed by Stanley Kubrick.  Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall star as Jack and Wendy.  Poor, poor Wendy.  I think the scene where she's wielding a baseball bat and Jack is following her up the stairs and tormenting her is one of the most terrifying moments of the film.  The blood, the creepy lady in the bathtub, the twins?  Eh, not so much.

Here's a recut version of the trailer to make you smile.  So, what candy treats will you be handing out or stealing from your kid's trick-or-treat bag?  

Monday Mournings - The Death of a Father

Since I didn't have anyone else for today's post, I asked my husband if he'd answer my questions. He is not a writer, so I just transcribed what he said. I know this death affected him a lot.

DW: Who was the person that died? ES: My dad.
DW: How old were you at the time? ES: I was fifteen.

DW: How old was your Dad? ES: He was fifty-one.
DW: Was it a sudden death or did you know it was going to happen? ES: We knew it was going to happen. The doctor gave him a couple of months to live. He had cancerous tumors throughout his whole body. He ended up living for about eight months.

DW: Did you and your Dad talk about his death? ES: We did, but it was basically, "I'm not going to live much longer." And that was it.

DW: Had you experienced any other deaths in your personal life before your Dad died? ES: My grandmother, my dad's mom, died a few days before he did. He traveled from Texas to North Dakota for her funeral and that's where he died.

DW: Were people supportive of your grief or did they shy away when you were grieving? ES: Yes, friends and family were supportive.
DW: Is there anything you wish you'd done differently with this person? ES: No. We spent a lot of time together towards the end. He took me fishing almost every weekend, even though he wasn't supposed to be out in the sun.

DW: Was he buried or cremated? ES: Buried. He had a military burial.

DW: Did you learn anything about the grieving process that you'd like to share? ES: Grief never ends. I'll see people my age who still have parents that are alive and it makes me wonder what my life would be like if he were still here.

DW: Were any songs played at the memorial that were important to your Dad? ES: No songs were played. Although Taps was played by bagpipes at his service. My sister Karen, said that he liked the song "Mr. Bojangles," so this goes out to Ron.

Halloween

After the week I've had, I wasn't really in the mood for this holiday and it's one of my favorites.  I love dressing up, I love candy (even more when it's FREE!!!) and I love fall weather.  So, today I got my house all cleaned up and then I went to the store to get some pumpkins. I love pumpkin--pumpkin candles, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin butter, and even roasted pumpkin seeds.  I however do not love cleaning out a pumpkin to carve it.  My hands have "texture issues."  I don't like touching raw meat, especially chicken, and the slimy interior of a pumpkin just gives me the heebee jeebees!  But I will endure!
After that we're gonna have a scary movie marathon.

First up is The Exorcist.  To this day, it is one of the only films that still scares me, probably because it's about demonic possession of a child. I remember when my older brother Robby came home from seeing it and he was so scared.  It probably didn't help that I looked a bit like Linda Blair as a kid, same hair anyway.

After that, it's a toss up.  We've got The Omen (original version), The Blair Witch Project and The Shining.

I wish you all a fun and safe holiday.  What are you doing?  Is your town celebrating this weekend or will people trick-or-treat on Wednesday?