AMC has their "Fearfest '08" schedule up (what? "Monsterfest" wasn't upscale enough?). It's the usual boring selection of modern gross-outs with all the old gems hidden in the early morning hours. Don't miss "Frankenstein vs. The Space Monster!" (a movie blissfully free of Frankenstein or his monster) in the early hours of 10/29.

At least they're not going to show endless marathons of the Halloween movies. Those old slasher films are the boringest suck of all.

Segueing gently from horror to politics (what's that you say? That doesn't require a segue at all?), John McCain has been talking quite a bit about the evils of earmarks. And yeah, when you talk about them in a general way, they sound bad. Who thinks "pork" is good for you? (Delicious? oh yes. Healthful? Have some brocolli instead)

But what do those dollars go for? Well, the internet answers all questions! Check out the Sunlight Foundation's Earmarks page. It loads funny on my computer, but you can search to see what earmark funding has come to your community and what it was spent on.

When you look at what the money is actually spent on, say, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance for new equipment, or the Pacific Science Center for curriculum development, earmarks suddenly don't look all that awful.