Ooh! Look. Shiny!

Pearl Jam kicked off their North America tour in Toronto last weekend. This was live show #48 for me and another memorable standout. Every PJ show has something unique. At the Molson Amphitheatre, it was the buzz of the Canadian National Exhibition, the breeze off the water, and border troubles for Ted Leo.

The Pharmacists lost their singer Ted, but PJ didn’t leave the audience hanging. They could have made the crowd happy with just one Ed song and then left the Pharmacists on their own. Instead the band offered a lesson in being prepared to be spontaneous. You can’t find a better band.

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“It’s not the voting that’s democracy; it’s the counting.“- Tom Stoppard

I did my part for the country today by voting. Did you? Our newspaper and TV stations provided the ballots online so anyone could look over the ballot. Seeing it online in advance was a big help. In my village, Fairport, NY, we have the machines where you pull the lever, the curtain closes, tick the choices and push the lever back to register the votes and open the curtain. It’s not flashy, but it’s quick and easy. Hearing the clicks is pretty satisfying. It took a total of 15 minutes to vote. And a surprise bonus - Starbucks gave me free coffee just for voting. Regardless of the outcome of the election, it was a pretty good day for democracy in action here in my town.

Supernatural - Episode 4.08 “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester”

November 2 is All Soul’s Day. In the Catholic religion, it’s a holy day of obligation. The faithful pray for departed friends and family so the souls in purgatory will pass on to heaven. November 2 is also the day that Sam Winchester lost two people he loved. When he was six months old, Azazel came into his nursery to collect on the deal Mary Winchester made with him 10 years before in exchange for John Winchester’s life. Azazel paid his visit, feeding baby Sam demon blood. Mary interrupted Azazel’s work though, so he burned her up on the ceiling for interfering. Twenty-two years later, Sam returns from a demon hunting trip with his brother Dean to find his girlfriend Jessica on the ceiling and then engulfed in flames the same way Mary died.

Sam has yet another awful Halloween as he and his brother Dean have to save a town from the demon behind Halloween or the angels will wipe the town off the map. And the Great Pumpkin is a no-show. Again.

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(Contains references through Supernatural episode 4.07 “Yellow Fever”)

Witches have a hard go of it everywhere. Remember those witches in Oz who were so mad to wear the enchanted ruby slippers? Wear those shoes too long, and a house falls on you, or a bucket of water melts your sister. Then some whiny Dorothy steals the family shoes!

The Ruby shoes, er meatsuits, on Supernatural have a similarly tough gig. What’s a misfit demongirl to do when she just won’t forget her humanity? Does she take the rebel road and play the Good Witch when her wicked sisters won’t invite her in to hell’s heavy clambakes? How’s a Good Witch fit in with the evil doer in-crowd? Maybe Ruby’s not a bad evil thing; maybe she’s just drawn and shoed that way.

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Has Sam Winchester been lured by a ‘sireen’ who loved him up and turned him into a horny toad? Or a vermin-like bug? Or a long pig-eating rugaru? Let’s pick absurd transformation into a monstrous vermin (because that rugaru was just gross). Yep, we’re talking Kafka and Supernatural!
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Supernatural - Episode 4.03 “In the Beginning”
Futile Efforts Part 1

You Son of a Bitch
What a feast of sweets in this scrumptious episode! After such large slices of delicious pie and brownies, one can only suspect that Eric Kripke is cheating. Actually, Jeremy Carver, the Writer of this episode is the cheat. Nearly everything he prepared tasted so good, went down so easy, with such generous portions, that it’s hard to be too upset about the cheating. Almost.
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Supernatural- Episode 4.03 “In the Beginning”

Dean Winchester just wants one piece of pie. He’s not specific as to type, but a slice of good ol’ American cherry pie would probably do the trick. Dean’s been looking so hard for pie, he’s falling asleep without bothering to put on his jammies these days. His brother Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) is so lost in his dark knight work that he doesn’t bother to tuck his brother under the covers before skulking off with that Slutty Yoda.
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Supernatural - Episode 4.02 “Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester”
Part 1 of The Good Soldiers
Part 2 of The Good Soldiers

Why Me? I’m Just a Regular Guy
Let’s see, Dean excels at stealing, lying, and womanizing, so that sounds like a regular guy. Sure there’s the dying over 100 times (and counting), the mad demon hunting skills and the fireman-like desire to help people despite the personal costs. Maybe he’s a little more than a regular guy.
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Supernatural - Episode 4.02 “Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester”
Part 1 of The Good Soldiers

$5 a Gallon Gas
Dean Winchester is still processing a lot of new information barely a week back from the dead. Dean doesn’t fully accept that Imaginary Characters Are Real. Bobby convinces Dean that Castiel is an angel as they are the only beings that could airlift him out of the hotbox.

Dean’s eyes were opened when Castiel says he is not Dean’s fluffy personal guard dog. The Angels aren’t necessarily there to help humans. Castiel breaks the situation down. Team Evil, led by Lillith, is getting too good at the evil plans. By raising the witnesses she broke the first of 66 seals (or locks) that keep Lucifer bound. When seal #66 breaks open, Lu walks free on earth. Gulp.
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Supernatural - Episode 4.02 “Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester”

So in this episode of Supernatural we learn that it really is Apocalypse Now. Lillith continues resume building as the queen badass of Hell. (The Evil League of Evil is now accepting applications too - she’s a lock for sure.)

A good offense is well, a good offense. Lillith attacks on two fronts by taking out the Hunters rather poetically by forcing the dead persons-in-peril to rise and take revenge on the Hunters, and also engaging the elite Angel forces at the same time.

The Monsters of the Week are the rabid ghosts of failed huntings past: Meg, the college girl possessed by a demon; Ron, taken down by the Law; and Victor, taken out by Lillith all come to kill Sam and Dean. These Supernatural Beings all complain as each gets in their licks on the Winchesters for failing them. Ingrates.
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