…Get Facts Right? On a Newscast??? Why???

You know how I love to complain about stupidity on local morning news shows- well, they seem to love to give me more opportunities to do so. The local Fox show –always a fountain of grist for my mill- had a great one the other morning; they love to show wacky video clips from the internet (and usually show them a few days AFTER every other show has)- so, they had a clip of a downhill skateboarder colliding with a deer that ran across a road. (When they first did the tease for it- the little plug for what’s coming up- as they breathlessly said “you won’t believe what happens”- of course, the tape went further than it should have, and you saw EXACTLY what happened right then…)Well, when they finally ran it at the time they had originally intended, one of the genius anchors said- “this was in Buffalo, Michigan”- to which a second genius anchor said “if it’s Michigan, it’s NEW Buffalo…” Well, I’m familiar with New Buffalo – and the clip did not look ANYTHING like that area. So, I went online and checked around. I found the clip, and it was shot at the Buffalo Bill Downhill race- near Golden, Colorado! It was nowhere near Michigan, New Buffalo, or even a town named Buffalo. They can’t even get the correct information about a fluff piece- are you going to trust them for important news?! While I’m on a rant- as I am, now and then- can I also complain about stupid motorists? On a fairly busy street just outside the Chicago city limits, I saw a fire truck parked up ahead on the right in the direction I was driving (I was on the right side of the road, just like the truck)- and an ambulance was coming from the opposite direction, on the opposite side of the street. Obviously it was coming to assist the fire department folks- as it neared, I pulled over to the side- as the law (and common sense) would dictate- and the cars behind me pulled past me, continuing straight on- even though the ambulance was about to cross the street to the fire truck! Not only were the drivers doing something illegal, but very dangerous as well. Reread those “Rules of the Road”, you morons… Okay- rant over- now, on to our “Halloween Horror of the Day!” Today we salute one of the favorite giant monsters from Japan- whose place in our hearts is assured by its associates. I speak, of course, of “Mothra”- the giant caterpillar/ then moth! When we first meet Mothra, she hatches from a large egg, in caterpillar form- heading from a remote island, known as Infant Island, having been summoned by the siren call of the two tiny “fairies” of her island- also known as the Peanuts! The tiny songstresses had been kidnapped from their island home and forced to perform as a novelty by an unscrupulous entrepreneur- and he had no idea that the haunting song the little women were singing was actually a distress signal to “Mos-u-ra” (as they pronounce it in their song)! The giant caterpillar makes its way to “New Kirk City”, and creates devastation- as the military fights back with a new weapon-which just causes the caterpillar to retreat into a large cocoon- and emerge in its colorful winged gargantuan moth form- whose wings can create tornadic winds! She rescues the two fairies and returns with them to Infant Island. Though Mothra qualifies as a horror- the giant creature is actually just protecting its own, and is on the side of the good people of the human race- though she has fought and teamed up with the great Godzilla- she does not have the “stomp on humanity” disdain for the humans that the big green guy has. So- let us salute the Halloween Horror of the Day- Mothra! Much like other movie horrors- she ain’t bad- she’s just misunderstood!