Test your horror movie knowledge here.

My score: 10/13.

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Readers hungry for a good thriller can get ready to welcome an old friend: A new Hannibal Lecter novel, "Behind the Mask," is coming next fall.

"Thomas Harris is the premier novelist of psychological suspense of our time," said Irwyn Applebaum, president and publisher of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group, which announced the book's release Thursday.

"Millions of readers in 25 languages have wondered how Dr. Lecter developed his particular appetite for evil. This novel will satisfy their curiosity."

--Oh hell yeah. I'm so excited!

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:33 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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What's your favorite scary movie? And tell me why.

My reasoning goes a little like this: While some movies may make you jump, unless they could happen in real life, I don't view them as "scary." For example, the "Halloween" movies make me jump, and I love to be startled like that, but come on!!! He doesn't die. Not real. I like movies that play on my realistic fears...my sitting in bed at night and wake up and hear something fears. When I get startled in the middle of the night, I don't fear Chucky, the Mothman, the Ring, or Freddy. I fear Hannibal and Norman Bates.

Thus, I'm going to pick "Psycho" as my favorite scary movie. No one had seen anything like it when it came out. The music plays on your fears perfectly. And, Hitchcock was a genius. I remember the first time I saw the scene where she turns "Mother" around and Norman comes flying in with a knife. I about peed myself. Only to be topped by the look he gives at the end of the movie. Wow.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:27 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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1 I would agree with you, Psycho is my favorite. I don't like the movies like Halloween, Friday 13th, Freddy, etc at all. To me, I'm not being entertained.

Posted by: Brad at October 29, 2004 08:44 AM (PS936)

2 I don't know if it is exactly my "favorite" scary movie, but the one that scared me the most was "The Ring." The imagry was just soooo creepy and there was a general feeling of dread throughout the whole thing.

Posted by: Jen at October 29, 2004 09:07 AM (XBgIU)

3 The Ring is by far the scariest movie I have ever seen - I only saw it once, and had the TV unplugged for 7 days after. But for sheer creepiness, check out a low-budget Canadian flick from the 70's called The Changeling. Children made out to be evil scare the ass off me, and that's the premise of both of the above. RG

Posted by: RightGirl at October 29, 2004 09:13 AM (bdiSz)

4 Not my favorite but the scariest one is Prince of Darkness for me. Mirrors damn mirrors. Evilness in a church basement-is there no where one can be safe?!

Posted by: shelli at October 29, 2004 09:16 AM (y1MeG)

5 Favorite scary movie: Halloween! It is a classic - Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis, Jamie Lee Curtis's character in the closet with all the hangers, the scary music....there is nothing better!

Posted by: Kelly P. at October 29, 2004 09:35 AM (4adEQ)

6 I'm going to have to go with Halloween. I saw it as a little kid and it scared me half to death. I still get scared watching it. It was one of a great suspense film. There have been many great scary flicks since then, but Halloween is the one that resonates with me.

Posted by: Kevin the Interloper at October 29, 2004 09:51 AM (qb+8W)

7 I haven't seen Psycho or The Ring, but the one that creeped me out the most after I saw it was Blair Witch Project. Sadly it can only work once on you

Posted by: Brian D. at October 29, 2004 11:38 AM (7ui/E)

8 I saw the ring with my ex and even though it was a little scary it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Atleast I didn't think so... but to each it's own boo like movie.

Posted by: at October 29, 2004 03:58 PM (6krEN)

9 Yo! "Salem's Lot" is one creepy movie, especially for a young teenage! I've never been so scared in all my life. A close second is "Play Misty for Me." Yikes.

Posted by: Iceman at October 29, 2004 08:11 PM (JLWdj)

10 iceman did you see The Ring? Because if you found Salem's Lot scary you had to think The Ring was too.

Posted by: at October 29, 2004 09:55 PM (6krEN)

11 Silence of the Lambs. I wish to God I had never seen that. The guy keeping plump women for their skin? *shivers*

Posted by: Rori at October 31, 2004 05:20 PM (ClHrO)

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Ferris Bueller's Day Off star Jeffrey Jones is set to return to court to face the boy he was accused of taking sexual advantage of.

The actor faced criminal charges last year for taking explicit photos of the boy - a charge to which he pleaded "no contest." Jones' was sentenced to five years of probation and the judge ordered him to register as a sex offender. But prosecutors never charged Jones with any physical abuse and believed the case had been fully resolved.

But now the boy, then 14, wants justice and he's suing Jones personally, claiming the actor's actions led to severe emotional problems. As part of the graphic lawsuit, obtained by American legal show Celebrity Justice, Jones is accused of touching the boy's genitals and demanding that he pose nude and touch himself for the camera. The suit claims the accuser, who is now 19, has a difficult time having relationships with women because of Jones' alleged misconduct.

--I'll have a hard time watching that movie now.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:24 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I know this isn't PC, but I still think it's funny:

A judge who welcomed a former fugitive back to her courtroom with balloons, streamers and a cake defended her actions Wednesday, saying that getting a killer and abuser of women off the streets is reason to celebrate.

Judge Faith Johnson threw the party Monday upon sentencing 53-year-old Billy Wayne Williams to life in prison. Williams, who previously served time in prison for killing his wife, went on the lam a year ago while on trial in Johnson's court on charges he choked his girlfriend until she passed out. He was convicted in absentia of aggravated assault.

"A full year later, he was recaptured, off the streets, and no longer a community threat. And, yes, I threw a party," the judge said in a statement.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:21 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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R Kelly has been spotted moonlighting - as a McDonald's sales assistant.

The singer, who last year topped the UK singles' chart with Ignition, spent three hours working at the drive-through window of McDonald's just hours after coming offstage in St. Louis, Missouri.

Kelly "chatted up the manger of the McDonald's and wound up working the drive-through window for three hours," reported the New York Post.

--I can hear it now: "Hi little girl. Are you about 10? Would you like a happy meal? And a date with me?"

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:17 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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10SNE1?

American socialite Paris Hilton has been spotted kissing new lover Mark Philippoussis' tennis rival Andy Roddick.

Over the weekend it was reported Australian sports ace Philippoussis had begun dating the hotel heiress and the reality TV star had been declaring she was "head over heels in love".

American gossip site Pagesix.Com reports Hilton and American tennis star Roddick - who dated Mandy Moore earlier this year - were "locking lips" at Las Vegas nightspot Light on Sunday.

--NOT FAIR.

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With more high-end designers creating profitable lines for larger women, department stores are ordering bigger dummies to replace the skinny manis that traditionally modeled clothes of all sizes.

“Can’t relate to that tall, willowy, perky-breasted model in your favorite store? Fortunately, manufacturers are breaking the mold with fiberglass forms more representative of our curvier proportions and diverse skin tones,” writes A.J. Hanley in this month’s issue of Fitness magazine.

--I think that's a great move. There have been several times I've tried something on that looked great on a mannequin, and then realized it only looked good on the mannequin because it was a replica of someone who weighed 84 pounds.

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Sorry for the technical difficulties...I don't know what the hell happened!

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 05:08 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Likely your host's problem. Not yours! Nice to see you up and running though

Posted by: Brian D. at October 27, 2004 05:55 PM (HY0P3)

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Rosaries are the new pearls:

The Roman Catholic church is trying to prevent rosary beads from becoming a fashion statement after both David Beckham and Britney Spears have been spotted wearing them.

While Becks wore four sets around his neck at a party recently and subsequently appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair wearing the $1,000 Dolce & Gabbana version, Britney was photographed in London wearing a white set of beads.

Now, with Christian shops being inundated with requests from fashion conscious teenagers, the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has published a leaflet stressing the religious significance of the rosary. "We have sold more than 100 rosary beads in the past six weeks," Shirley Nicholls, manager of the Revelations Christian Bookshop in Ipswich, told The Telegraph.

"We normally sell about three dozen in April and May, when people have them for their first communion, and then the odd one during the rest of the year. But during the summer, they have been selling like hot cakes and the children keep asking me to order more."

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 08:31 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Nicholson on women:

Jack Nicholson once stopped making love to a woman to eat an entire apple pie before returning to bed for more sex.

A new book claims the three-times Oscar winning actor could make love several times a night, according to the book titled Jack: The Great Seducer published by HarperCollins in the US.

"He could make love all night long. I stopped counting at seven," one unnamed woman says.

At one time Nicholson shared one lover, artist and actress Denise Beaumount, with Warren Beatty and film producer Robert Evans, but she broke off the relationship when she discovered the three men were trading stories about her.

Nicholson is unapologetic about lying to women, the book says.

His advice about dating is, "It's the other woman I would never lie to. You only lie to two people in your life: your girlfriend and the police. Everybody else you tell the truth to."

The Great Seducer has been written by a biographer who goes under the name "Edward Douglas", a pseudonym he used to help protect the identity of some of his sources, reports the New York Daily News.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 08:25 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Singer Ashlee Simpson's "extra help" may have been exposed when a "Saturday Night Live" audience heard her voice - singing the wrong song - while she held a microphone at her waist.

Her record company blamed a computer glitch and she blamed her band for Sunday morning's incident, which cut off her planned performance of the song "Autobiography" on the network comedy show.

Simpson had performed her hit single "Pieces of Me" without incident earlier in the show. When she came back a second time, her band started playing and the first lines of her singing "Pieces of Me" could be heard again.

She looked momentarily confused as the band plowed ahead with the song and the vocal was quickly silenced. Simpson made some exaggerated hopping dance moves, then walked off the stage 35 seconds into the performance.

NBC quickly cut to a commercial.

--Um, isn't the show called "Saturday Night LIVE??"

"Buh, buh, buh, buh , buh, buh, buh, Baby...don't forget my number!" Hee hee.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:49 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 I honestly don't see the big deal about this other than it was an embaressing moment caught on live TV. Maybe singing performances that are going to be televised aren't totally live due to the threat of equipment malfunctions such as a bad mircophone.(wardroboe malfuctions are a different story) I hate to shatter illusions, but that's the nature of live TV performances, much of the lyrics are often taped and the singers lip sync. Now if that occured at a concert that I paid money for it would be a different story.

Posted by: Brian D. at October 25, 2004 08:11 AM (h/WR3)

2 When you're a newcomer and still in the "prove yourself" stage, I think faking it is poor form.

Posted by: Lawren at October 25, 2004 09:58 AM (sql83)

3 Another no talent hack gets busted lip syncing...lol

Posted by: Kelly at October 25, 2004 10:34 AM (E2iNO)

4 The fact that she SUCKS so bad probably led to her staged performance. After all, I don't think she COULD sing that song live if she tried to...

Posted by: Amanda at October 25, 2004 11:26 AM (Q/1ny)

5 This girl has ZERO talent. Ever hear her try to sing in the studio on her awful show? She couldn't hit one note, and the studio created the voice you hear on the albumn. Yes, I admit, I saw a few episodes. She has no voice, can't act, and needs to DISAPPEAR from "the industry." Can you tell I'm not a fan?

Posted by: Iceman at October 25, 2004 11:57 AM (Kohcy)

6 I quote from a similar conversation I've been having on this subject that I enjoyed. "Check out the looks on the band's faces. You can tell they were pretty tickled over the whole thing. I know if I were a real musician playing in a backup band for someone who is only famous because her sister is hot, this would definitely convince me that karma does exist."

Posted by: Brian D. at October 25, 2004 01:33 PM (b1Jbi)

7 I think Brian is on to something with the karma thing

Posted by: Uptown Girl at October 26, 2004 12:52 AM (dUIpl)

8 I hate, hate, hate lip-syncers. To me, it compromises the integrity of musicians and performance. Back in the early 90s, a few acts came to prominence because they supposedly packaged looks, dancing and music. Turns out some of them were frauds. It also is a fraud to charge people money for concerts when all you're going to do is play the record and dance to it. If I wanted that, I'd go to a club. A few years ago, I seem to recall Congress trying to put forth a bill requiring all musical acts to clearly post at live events if they used backing music or pre-recorded vocals of any kind in their performances. I think this should be re-introduced. Not because some pre-fab, bubblegum brat like Ashlee Simpson got busted; but because I'm tired of the entire movement of pre-fab, bubblegum crap music that the record companies put out there. However, I'm glad she got busted. Record companies know they can get away with it so long as the average idiot teenager doesn't protest. And I guarantee they won't protest this, because they're too busy being stupid and lowering the standards of music. After all, this IS a generation responsible for TRL and Carson freakin' Daly, a man so devoid of talent that he actually makes people around him suck that much more. Thank God for live, local music.

Posted by: Kevin the Interloper at October 26, 2004 03:42 AM (pRGeC)

9 That last line in your post has me laughing Lawren! I remember when those guys were on some MTV show when their music was messing up... Girl you know it's, girl you know it's, girl you know its...

Posted by: Lori at October 28, 2004 12:24 PM (kmcg6)

10 Who? On second thought, never mind.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 31, 2004 02:12 AM (+S1Ft)

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Two stories involving condoms that caught my eye this morning:

1) A Brazilian artist makes clothes and sculptures out of different coloured condoms.

Adriana Bertini is to have an exhibition at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, Sweden in December. A spokesperson for the artist told Clarin newspaper: "Adriana Bertini offers a different and poetic look for a material that suffers prejudice despite being so needed in our times.

"She transforms condoms in something sensual, energetic and alive."

2) A young Manhattan woman split open her breakfast muffin — only to find what seemed to be a condom baked inside.

Theresa VanHorn, a 29-year-old writer at MTV Networks, said she was eating a carrot-nut cream-cheese-topped muffin from her office building's bodega on West 50th Street when she found a piece of latex baked into the crumbly delicacy.

"I ate almost half the muffin before discovering it," VanHorn said. "Then it was like slow motion when I pulled it out — I was screaming."

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I caught up on some of my movie-watching this weekend. I rented Monster, Saved, and Mystic River.

Here are some thoughts:

Monster--Charlize's acting was superb. The script could have been tighter. Additionally, I wish they would have shown a little bit more of the trial--specifically, the sentencing phase.

Saved--I seriously loved this. I really think Macaulay Culkin stole the show. The writing was great, and all of the casting fit well. It made me laugh, but it also made me think. I would highly recommend this movie. It's slightly mockumentary-like, a la Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show in how it accurately portrays people and their quirks.

Mystic River--It too deserved all of its praise. Tim Robbins outdid himself. However, I just wasn't shot in the ass with the movie, and I can't really put my finger on why.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:40 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Are Madonna and Celine Dion related?

ThatÂ’s the claim being made by genealogist Troy Dunn, who traced back the ancestry of the two very different songbirds and found they shared roots.

Dunn, of MyFamily.com says that the company contacted both Madonna and Dion with the happy news. “Madonna’s people had no comment,” he said. “Celine’s people were horrified.”

Dunn also claims that George W. Bush and John Kerry are related. They’re distant cousins, he revealed on "The View," so the election “is one big family fight.”

--I guess the saying really is true--you can't pick your family!

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:16 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Heh heh. I am zee best singer...in zee world!

Posted by: Stacy at October 22, 2004 10:39 AM (nM8Hz)

2 ...maybe it's better if we just don't know EVERYTHING about our heritage. ; )

Posted by: Key at October 22, 2004 11:19 AM (waMhq)

3 Wow! If we could pick em, huh? I love your site..makes me want to run right out and grab a cosmopolitan!

Posted by: Chana at October 22, 2004 03:01 PM (zmdK+)

4 I can only say I'm glad I'm not related to John Kerry

Posted by: Uptown Girl at October 22, 2004 08:55 PM (dUIpl)

5 well, madonna is originally from bay city, michigan (about 20 minutes from where i live), and went to school in metro detroit at rochester adams h.s., so she does actually come from rather humble/normal beginnings, though she'd never admit it.

Posted by: camille at October 23, 2004 09:52 AM (c4eno)

6 That could explain where they both got the pipes. If you go back far enough, we're all related. Scary, huh?

Posted by: Nanc' at October 23, 2004 10:53 AM (98muT)

7 If Celine's family is horrified, they are icky.

Posted by: Rori at October 24, 2004 07:10 PM (ClHrO)

8 Funny. If I found out that I was related to Celine, I think that I'd be the one who'd be horrified.

Posted by: mike at October 25, 2004 07:03 PM (NK5Q7)

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No more action for Ben: Ben Affleck has declared he never wants to star in a high-action movie ever again.

Affleck, former fiance of Jennifer Lopez, has branched out into comedy with his latest movie Surviving Christmas, and he insists he has no desire to revisit the tough-guy persona he adapted for roles in such films as Armageddon and Paycheck.

He says, "I don't want to hold a gun in a movie or blow anything up ever again. I'm bored of those other kinds of movies. There's some irony to the fact that I want to do comedies and all these actors who already do comedies keep asking, 'When am I going to get to do my big serious thing?'"

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Do you travel often for business or pleasure? If so, it's sometimes handy to have those travel-sized items.

Occasionally, I have a hard time finding everything I want in a travel size. Until now.

Check out Minimus.biz for travel sizes of all the items you need. Even food and drink!

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Glenn Close will join the FX police drama "The Shield" as a series regular for its upcoming fourth season.

The Emmy-winning actress ("Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story") will appear in all 13 episodes, which will go into production in January. The new season of "Shield" is expected to premiere in March.

--That's great. I just LOVE her.

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When life hands you crab apples, make crab apple rosemary jelly:

Martha Stewart spent some time last week picking crab apples from trees that dot the grounds of her federal lockup in West Virginia — and used them to make a tasty dish.

While the inmate didn't know the exact dish Stewart whipped up with the pilfered produce, she could have used the hot goods to make her famous crab apple rosemary jelly.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger was hit with a two-week sex ban by his wife - for backing President Bush.

The California governor, 57, spoke up for the President's election bid at the Republican Convention.

Wife Maria Shriver, part of the Democrat Kennedy clan, was furious reports The Sun.

Arnie said: "When you're married to my wife, you're never your own boss."

--What the hell did she expect? He's, um, a GOP! Get over it, Maria. She needs to take a lesson from James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 06:33 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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