This week we celebrate Halloween by taking a close look at the psychology of scariness, including why zombies, ghosts, and Grim Reapers give so many of us delightful thrills rather than existential horror. Why are we fascinated with death and the afterlife? It’s part of what makes us human. We look at cultural differences in celebrating, mourning, and coping with mortality, and cheer those who look fear in the face by, say, successfully skydiving from 100,000 feet. And we run down the Week in Geek, getting hyped about the earth-sized planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B that Swedish scientists discovered last week (go Sweden!); marking the unprecedented gathering of all five Trek captains at a recent London con; and giving props to Sarah Silverman’s dad for defending his family from a self-righteous rabbi with an open letter that begins “Hey, @$$hole…” You go, Dad.
I just wrote a big think-piece about why zombies are popular. Short version: In this era, nothing ever goes away, dead stuff is constantly returning, and we’re constantly swarmed by…
Read it here:
http://popdose.com/zombie-zeitgeist-why-walking-dead-the-zombie-mania-are-a-sign-of-the-times/
Is that a play on “corn-on-the-cob”?
I keep thinking of that Russell Peters gag 
I’m picturing the family game night with Tom Hanks’ classic scene modified …
"Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN MONOPOLY!
"Why don’t you give him a break, Jimmy … "
“Oh, you zip it, Doris! I played monopoly with my grandfather, and he called me a talking pile of pigshit. And that was when my parents drove us all the way from Texas for a family game night with him. And did I cry?”
"No, no, no. "
“Yeah! NO. And do you know why?”
"No… "
“Because there’s no crying in Monopoly. THERE’S NO CRYING IN MONOPOLY! No crying!”
It would be totally worth it to set up a camera or two, let it roll, and edit together the highlights of an O’Hara family gaming session.
lol, yeah not sure if any of us would survive that. We get pretty rowdy and if booze is involved things get outta hand pretty quick. Still, a mostly good time is had by all… you know, before the brawling and whatnot.
Are there any plans for FSL 4.0 yet? I just realized how long it has been since the last one. I’d be happy to help run it if necessary.
Plus it might bring more activity back to the forums 
Speaking of Halloween, FOX animated Sunday night comedy Bob’s Burgers has become my evangelist project that I must tell eerybody about. The Halloween episode is hilarious awesomeness. Hulu has it:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/409947
The show reminds me of an early Simpsons, when that show was still focused on the family.
Munsters Reboot – aka 1313 Mockingbird Lane – was seriously wobbly, but I liked it. It felt like watching Pushing Daisies again.
I look forward to this ever since I heard the buzz from the San Diego Comic Con.
I loved it, thought everything had a very interesting twist to it, and it wasn’t as todays “Horror Drama’ish” which made me like it even more!!!
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