CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT...

"I never drink...wine." Speak for yourself, dude. Image courtesy of wikipedia.

When El Cabrero was a little kid, as yet innocent in the ways of goats or the larger world, Channel 8 used to show 1930s horror movies on Fridays at 5:00. I thought this was The Coolest Thing Ever.

I may have been predisposed to this since my old man read me Edgar Allen Poe at a very early age.

They showed Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolf Man, and the various combinations thereof in good old black and white. I liked them all but Dracula was a favorite. Before I could make out the big words, I conned the Maternal Unit into reading Bram Stoker's book aloud.

Ever since then, I've waited patiently for someone to make a Dracula movie that was actually like the Book. The 1990s flick Bram Stoker's Dracula was probably the closest I've found, but it was really Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula...But I digress.

The book is one I've gone back to for entertainment through the years over and over to clear the palate. It certainly doesn't rise to the peaks of literary greatness, but it is kind of diverting.

It was much later that I learned about the real Dracula, who was a lot scarier than Stoker's vampire.

More of that to come this week. Stay tuned...

NEW DEAL REMEMBERED. Here's a review of American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA, When FDR Put the Nation to Work. The book surveys the history and accomplishments of the Depression-era jobs program which among other things built a lot of the infrastructure of El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia.

AT LEAST THESE GUYS ARE DOING OK. The economy is lousy for most Americans, but businesses in the foreclosure "industry" are thriving.

WHERE'S THE BEEF? Here's Krugman on the Bush administration's approach to the credit crisis.

LOSING IT. Here's a review of current research on the subject of self control.

YOU DON'T NEED A WEATHERMAN. Here's an op-ed by yours truly on the opportunities of a well designed climate change policy.

COAL AND COMMUNITY HEALTH. Here's the latest news on public reactions (or the lack thereof) to a recent report by a WVU researcher on the health of coal communities.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED