Words Unravelled asks 'What's the 'were' in werewolf?'

I telegraphed today's post in Words Unravelled asks 'What's poopy about a poop deck? | NAUTICAL ETYMOLOGY' for Talk Like A Pirate Day.

I'm glad YouTube recommended this channel to me. It's a great resource that I plan on using for...Halloween, Christmas, and, of course, English Language Day. Those entries will be fun!

Watch as Words Unravelled asks What's the 'were' in werewolf? | SPOOKY ETYMOLOGY.

In this episode of Words Unravelled, Rob and Jess dig into the spooky origins of Halloween words. From 'ghosts' and 'ghouls' to 'warlocks' and 'witches', they uncover the hauntingly fascinating roots of supernatural lingo.
What is the 'were' in werewolf?
Why is there a 'monster' in 'demonstrate'?
What does 'vampire' literally mean?
These creepy questions answered and many more. Join us... if you dare

Jess and Rob promoted her book Words from Hell. I found another podcast video by Grammar Girl about it, which I might use next year. I'm an environmentalist, I conserve my resources.

In the middle of talking about hoaxes and ghost words, Jess made an aside about the hoaxes purporting to explain the origin of the word cocktail. Shake Stir & Mingle almost certainly included some of them in The Origins of the Word Cocktail.

The term "cocktail" for mixed alcoholic drinks has an interesting and somewhat debated history, with several theories on its origin. One popular theory dates back to the 18th century in the United States, where mixed drinks became popular. Here are a few stories that have circulated about the term's origin:Horse Dealers and Ginger:

One theory suggests that the term originated from horse dealers in the 18th century who would put ginger up a horse's derriere to make it appear more lively and spirited, thus artificially "cocking" its tail up. This practice was known as "cocktailing," and by extension, drinks mixed to make spirits more lively or palatable were called "cocktails."Cocktail as a Decoration:

Another theory suggests the term comes from the custom of placing a feather (often from a cock's tail) in the drink as a decorative garnish, indicating that the drink was mixed or adorned.French Influence: Some believe the term derives from the French word "coquetel," which was a drink served to French soldiers during the American Revolution. This theory posits that Americans adopted the term from their French allies.

The Tavern Tradition: Another story involves a tavern keeper named Betsy Flanagan, who during the American Revolution, is said to have served French soldiers an alcoholic drink garnished with feathers from a rooster's tail, leading to the drinks being called "cock tails."Cock-Ale:

There's also a reference to a drink from the 17th century called "cock-ale," which was made by steeping a cock in ale, along with other ingredients to add flavor.

However, this concoction is quite different from what we consider cocktails today.While these stories offer colorful origins for the term "cocktail," the true source remains somewhat of a mystery, enveloped in the mists of history. What's clear is that the term was firmly established by the early 19th century to refer to a mix of spirits with various ingredients to enhance or complement their flavors.

I don't know which, if any, to believe, although a corruption of the French "coquetel" appeals to me.

Speaking of cocktails, I'm taking inspiration from today being National Cat Day for The Purr-fect Halloween Cocktail? Meet the Black Cat Martini!

A Little Cat-titude for Your Halloween Cocktail!

Dark, fruity, and dressed to impress! The Black Cat Martini combines blackberry liqueur, vodka, cranberry, and lemon for a deliciously smooth cocktail with a deep purple color, sparkling black sugar rim, and fresh blackberry garnish.

*Black Cat Martini Recipe*

- 2 oz vodka
- 1 oz blackberry liqueur
- ½ oz cranberry juice
- ½ oz lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
- Ice
- Optional: Fine black cocktail sugar for the rim
- Garnish: 2 fresh blackberries

Drink responsibly and stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month plus a bonus Day of the Dead entry. Trick or treat!

Randy Rainbow sings 'MITCHCRAFT!'

Today's spooky season special features MITCHCRAFT! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody.

Happy Halloween!

Parody of “Witchcraft” (Music by Cy Coleman, Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh)

Parody Lyrics by Randy Rainbow

Song Produced, Orchestrated, Mixed, Mastered by: Michael J Moritz Jr @michaeljmoritz

Vocal Arrangement - Brett Boles
All Vocals - Randy Rainbow
Piano, Orchestral - Michael J Moritz Jr
Drums - Tom Jorgensen

Randy is not like Stephen Colbert, who apparently "decided that if he couldn't say anything nice about McConnell, he shouldn't say anything at all, even if it meant getting poked with a broomstick for a punchline and transition." Randy had plenty of mean things to say about him, not that I'm in a position to complain.

Randy did make a passing reference to Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump, who is the star of the encore, The Kiffness - Donald Trump BURP REMIX!



I've got 90% problems, but a governor ain't one
At least Kiffness excused himself. Then again, don't give Pervert Hoover any ideas; he might pardon himself instead.

I close with How to Make a Witch's Brew cocktail with Basic Witch Wendi!

Wendi (with an "i") is here again today to show you another cool cocktail called Witch's Brew. Like, we hope you enjoy it. For sure.

Drink responsibly and stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month plus a bonus Day of the Dead entry. Trick or treat!

Wall Street Journal and Retail Archaeology examine Spirit Halloween, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Black Cat Day

Happy Black Cat Day, when I examined Spirit Halloween last year. I decided to make it a tradition, so I'm opening with the Wall Street Journal explaining How Spirit Halloween Became a Titan of the $10B Halloween Industry | WSJ The Economics Of.

Each fall, there’s one store that suddenly seems to be just about everywhere: Spirit Halloween. The brand taps into the $10 billion Halloween industry by setting up shop in otherwise vacant real estate for three months each year.

This video came out four years ago, but it's held up well except for being too early to include Party City closing in the United States, although it did show the handwriting on the wall with Halloween City opening fewer locations during the pandemic.

Erik of Retail Archaeology has a much more current report in Spooky Archaeology: A Retail Archaeology Halloween Special, uploaded two days ago.

In this special Halloween episode of Retail Archaeology we check out this years Spirit Halloween instore experience. We also check out Horror Monger, and awesome horror themed store that is open year round.

"In the corpse of a Big Lots" — that makes what I wrote when Big Lots filed for bankruptcy two years ago prophetic: "As for what will fill the spaces left by the closed stores, there's always Spirit Halloween." I don't know whether to brag or be creeped out. Maybe both.

Spirit Halloween itself provides today' drink recipe, Angry Orchard Halloween Punch - Spirit Halloween.

Follow this recipe for a deadly delightful Halloween Cocktail Punch!

Drink responsibly and stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month plus a bonus Day of the Dead entry. Trick or treat!

Oregon Crusaders 'REDRUM' returns for a drum corps Halloween

I'm continuing to go full spooky season with Marching Arts Network TV's Marching Arts Halloween Spookcast-Scary show reaction.

So good to be back and talking about some news and watching a really great show! We missed Jenn on this one, but we "Keep Calm and Carry ON! Oregon Crusaders 2018-REDRUM. WOW! So impressed with level of commitment from the members. Plus the show was designed to be fun and entertaining. Always fun doing a Halloween themed show.

We hope you enjoy it!

This show should look familiar to my long-time readers, as it was the featured program for 2019's Drink to 2018 Oregon Crusaders 'Redrum' for a drum corps Halloween and I recycled the full show for 2024's Marching music for the Kentucky and Oregon primaries — Oregon Crusaders and marching bands. That video no longer exists because the account hosting it has been terminated — as I often write about unofficial uploads of drum corps shows, including that one, enjoy it while it lasts — but Marching Arts Network TV reacting to the show might just preserve it.

It's not one of my Halloween week posts without an appropriate drink recipe, so I'm closing with Redrum - an Original Rum Cocktail Inspired by The Shining from Distinguished Spirits.

This is an original drink inspired by The Shining made with Rum, Campari, Cherry Liqueur, Curaçao and Lime Zest. The drink is much lighter than 12 Bottle Bar’s other Shining-inspired drink, the Jack Torrance ( • Jack Torrance - A Cocktail Inspired by Sta... ). The interpretation of the drink could hardly be more literal. It’s rum-based and it’s red.

There, this drum corps holiday post is now complete.

Stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month plus a bonus Day of the Dead entry. Trick or treat!

'Drag-U-La' car and 'Dragula' song, a spooky season driving update

Pearl the Prius passed 75,000 yesterday, earlier than I expected, so I needed to write a driving update. This ran into my plan to go full spooky season this week, as well as my usual Sunday entertainment feature, but I found a way to combine all three, a Halloween car from television (and a movie). Watch The Munsters Drag-U-La Coffin Car and Koach by MyClassicCarTV.

Behold, two of the spookiest TV and MOVIE cars ever built! Dennis gets a close up look at the insane Drag-U-La coffin car dragster. It's a casket on wheels! Plus, we pile into the Munster Koach and FREAK OUT the neighborhood! In the Munsters episode titled Hot Rod Herman, Herman Munster loses the Koach in a drag race so Grandpa Munster builds the Drag-U-La to win back the Koach. "The Munsters" was a hit TV show in the 1960's.

I'm not the gearhead that Dennis Gage and John Sbrigato are, but I do appreciate dopamine returned on gasoline invested and classic cars. I also have fond memories of watching The Munsters in syndication during the afternoons when I came home from elementary school. However, I didn't remember the first appearance of Drag-U-La, Grandpa's Vampire Car 'The Dragula' | The Munsters (TV Series) | Fear. Well, it's been 60 years, so I have an excuse.

Grandpa takes the custom vampire dragster for a spin.

From The Munsters Season 1, Episode 36, "Hot Rod Herman": Herman is dragged along by Eddie to compete in a drag-car race and modifies the family hearse into a dragster for the event.

All three generations of Munster men are geeking out over the hot rod, although Grandpa doesn't share that surname. That's a great television moment.

By the way, Wikipedia describes a different origin story for Drag-U-La in The Munsters movie.

The 1966 movie Munster, Go Home! features an alternate origin. After Herman crashes a Jaguar limousine owned (and raced) by the Munster family of England, Grandpa builds the DRAG-U-LA, using the motor from the Munster Koach, so Herman can drive it in a cross-country automobile race.

Eh, alternative continuity.

The Drag-U-La stuck around in the series, showing up in the end credits of the second season. See if you can catch it in Munsters Opening and Closing Theme Season 2.

The reason I fell into this rabbit hole is because a cover of the Rob Zombie song "Dragula" appeared on my feed. While it inspired me, it didn't make it into this post because of the following passage from the song's Wikipedia entry.

Zombie told Billboard magazine that the title came from the name of Grandpa Munster's eponymous dragster DRAG-U-LA on The Munsters. He goes on to say that it "was a classic show with great comic characters..."

The music video shows Rob Zombie driving the Munster Koach (not the actual Dragula racing car) with various shots of the band members in Southern California locations such as the Pasadena Arroyo Seco Parkway with shots of the 3rd Street tunnel and Lower Grand Boulevard in Los Angeles and different scenes from classic horror films, e.g. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) at the beginning of the video and the killer robot from chapter film series The Phantom Creeps (1939) along with home video footage of mid-20th-century families being entertained by a clown with clips of nuclear testing mushroom clouds sardonically overlapping of when the clown and a girl are laughing, with the multi-color backdrops referencing Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), also with early-20th-century footage of children being entertained and shocked.

Instead, I'm embedding the original, Rob Zombie - Dragula.

Music video by Rob Zombie performing Dragula.© 1998 Geffen Records

I could go on about Rob Zombie being such a fan of The Munsters that he wrote, directed, and produced the 2022 film, but it's time I climb out of this rabbit hole and write my personal driving update. Follow over the jump.

Guide to entries with answers to 'Food, Inc 2' for National Food Day

Happy National Food Day! I begin today's observance by recycling from 'The Food That Built America,' '30 for 30,' and other nominees at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards for World Food Day and National Sports Day.

Speaking of my students, they watched Food, Inc. 2 this week. As I wrote on Talk Like A Pirate Day, I plan on writing a guide to answers to Food, Inc. 2 worksheet on National Food Day, but I'm linking to the entries now as a preview of coming attractions: Think about the fast food workers on National Fast Food Day, Vox explains 'The salmon dilemma', and New guidelines flip the food pyramid on its head. My students and I will go over the answers next week in lab, then I'll write the entry for anyone who missed class.

Follow over the jump for the sections of the posts with questions and answers from the film.

The top horror movies of 2026 for Horror Movie Day

Happy National Horror Movie Day! I'm going full spooky season today, beginning with CNext's Top 25 Best Horror Movies of 2026.

Counting down the best horror movies 2026 has to offer. See our list of 25 terrifying titles to plan your next watch.

We are breaking down the most essential releases hitting the big screen. From supernatural chills to psychological tension, this list highlights the horror movies 2026 has in store for fans of the genre. Whether you are tracking major franchise sequels or original stories, our guide keeps you ahead of the cinematic curve.

This compilation features key clips and release details to help you prepare for the upcoming season. Finding scary movies has never been easier as we track the essential releases defining the genre this year. These new horror movies offer something for every cinematic taste, helping you decide exactly where to spend your time at the cinema.

That CNext included Cold Storage in this compilation reflects my thesis that science fiction and horror are sister genres (Colony and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple show that relationship, too, deeper into the horror genre). Send Help shows another boundary of the genre, this time between horror and thriller. The Critics Choice Super Awards considered it horror, while I suspect the Saturn Awards might nominate it under Thriller.

Follow over the jump for another way to rank this year's horror releases, box office.

CNBC explains 'Why Fuel Economy Rollbacks Will Spur More Trucks, More V-8 Engines,' a driving update

I closed yesterday's post by telling my readers, "stay tuned for a driving update." I begin with CBNC predicting Why Fuel Economy Rollbacks Will Spur More Trucks, More V-8 Engines.

Lowered compliance costs, greater control over products, more big engines, more pickup trucks. These are just some of the changes investors expect from the rollback of fuel economy rules and the elimination of fines. Data indicate pent up demand for pickup trucks, and many automakers are bringing back V-8 engines. At the same time, hybrid vehicles are surging, and electric vehicles have longer term structural demand in their favor.

Ugh, lower CAFE standards are exactly the wrong thing to introduce when there is a fuel shortage because of the Iran war, which is driving up fuel prices. That's on top of what the increased greenhouse gas emissions will to to increase climate change, not that either Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump or the Republicans in Congress care about that. They do care about people and companies making money, and this change will allow car companies, especially American ones, to do just that, at least in the short- to medium-term. Long-term, this is a bad plan that I expect will be reversed, eventually. I can at least point to market forces, like demand for high-mileage vehicles, that will ameliorate the effects of lowering standards. The market will at least counteract some of what government won't do.

That's the general driving update. Follow over the jump for my family's personal report.

'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' leads Best Music Documentary nominees at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards

I closed yesterday's post by telling my readers, "Stay tuned to see if I resume my Critics Choice Documentary Awards coverage" today. I got a late start, so I'm covering a category with a clear leader that has only four total nominations, Best Music Documentary.

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) (HBO Max)
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (Neon)
Man on the Run (Amazon MGM Studios)
Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Peter Asher: Everywhere Man (Greenwich Entertainment)
Sara Bareilles: Good Grief (Group Effort Films / Naked Edge Films)

The clear leader is EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert with four total nominations. It's followed by Man on the Run with two, and the rest of the nominees with only this one nomination. Based on the number of nominations and Baz Luhrmann being an established director with two Oscar nominations, including one for Elvis, I'm picking his movie as the favorite to win this award.

BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (Neon)
Making Marie Antoinette (Mubi)
Man on the Run (Amazon MGM Studios)
Once Upon a Time in Harlem (Neon)
Rehearsals for a Revolution (Sony Pictures Classics)
Remake (Music Box Films)

The other nomination for Man on the Run and one of the three other nominations for EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is for Best Archival Documentary. I doubt either will win this category. Instead, I believe it will be one of the three nominees also nominated for Best Documentary, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, Rehearsals for a Revolution, and Remake. I might reassess this category when I cover Best Historical Documentary, but until then, my provisional pick is Once Upon a Time in Harlem, which earned five nominations, while Rehearsals for a Revolution and Remake have four. For what it's worth, Gold Derby has Once Upon a Time in Harlem second in its odds to earn an Oscar nomination for Documentary Feature, Rehearsals for a Revolution seventh, and Remake eleventh, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert 18th, and Man on the Run 21st, which reinforces my intuition. Making Marie Antoinette isn't even rated. That written, Gold Derby is second-guessing a different electorate, and electorates matter.

Follow over the jump for EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert's two other nominations.

'Google Says It Can Build Data Centers The Right Way. Some Are Skeptical.'

Today's short evergreen educational entry features CNBC reporting Google Says It Can Build Data Centers The Right Way. Some Are Skeptical.

AI data centers are driving unprecedented demand for electricity and putting renewed pressure on America’s power grid to modernize its equipment and develop greener, more efficient sources of power. Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are all spending millions of dollars on local infrastructure upgrades and companies like SpaceXAI are even building off-grid power plants to power their data centers.

Google says its planned 780-megawatt data center in Pine Island, Minnesota, could offer a model for powering the AI boom. In a proposed agreement with Xcel Energy, Google says it will support 1,900 megawatts of new wind, solar and battery capacity, while minimum payments and exit fees are intended to protect local ratepayers if demand falls short.

CNBC examines whether projects like Pine Island can make the grid cleaner without shifting costs to existing customers, why some energy experts argue that smaller data centers could make better use of infrastructure already in place, and how utilities’ financial incentives can complicate efforts to build less.

This video examines the intersection between the environmental effects of data centers and updating the electrical grid. Done wrong, it will increase air and noise pollution, increase fossil fuel use, and raise everyone's rates. Done right, it will finance the improvement of the grid and faster adoption of renewables and batteries. CNBC is trying to be even-handed in this video, but what I called "the explicitly pro-capitalist message of the channel" inclines it to be optimistic. As I wrote seven years ago, "I shouldn't complain about it on an investment media outlet; it's like complaining about water being wet." I hope all the optimists and AI boosters are right, but I'm prepared for them to be wrong.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned to see if I resume my Critics Choice Documentary Awards coverage tomorrow.