HALLOWEEN AND SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

Some interesting news first from the New York Times this morning.

• Pope Leo XIV cast a mail-in ballot in his home state of Illinois.  Have you voted yet?  The mid-terms are three days away.

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  Obamacare premiums will rise by 13 percent next year, hitting middle-income people already struggling with health care costs.  19 million Americans will thusly suffer.

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  Tech company stocks tumbled, some by double digits, as investors fretted about whether their A.I. spending spree is paying off.

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  The war with Iran has been very lucrative for U.S. oil companies, which nearly tripled their annual profit as consumers faced higher prices for gas and other fuel.
• Over $130 Billion: More than 50 major U.S. oil and gas producers and refiners collectively earned over $130 billion in net income during the six-month period from April through September 2026. [1]

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  This from Google AI:  U.S. consumers have paid a staggering $147.7 billion to $160 billion in extra gasoline and diesel costs since the conflict with Iran began on February 28, 2026. [1, 2]
• Do you see a direct connection?
• Watch President Donald Trump bragging about the above.

This is my 18th Halloween on this blog site, and I think I have reported on this subject annually.

• So I checked.  Turns out the first time I linked with Halloween was on 31October2012:

 Here is Bobby Boris Picket, who co-wrote this song in 1962 (which became #1 in the country just before Halloween that year).  This was the during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I kind of associate one with the other.

• 
  Interestingly enough, checked my posting of October 31 from 2012 to 2017, and not one mentioned Halloween.  This happens to be a day when I'm normally on a trip, so I wrote about my travels.  In fact, my 31October2017 posting talked about my Fabulous Fall Fantasy.  Click on it.  Worth a read.  Very colorful.
• Nothing in 2018, but finally, my posting on 31October2019 was titled:  TRUMP AND HALLOWEEN 2020.

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  Nothing in 2021, but 31October2022 was titled HALLOWEEN 2022.  
• Sort of a repeat of history, for the lead article was Luis Inacio LULA da Silva just winning the Brazilian presidential election at the age of 77, the same age as Joe Biden when he was elected president.

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  Further, the next paragraph mentioned that LULA had recently gotten hitched, for the third time, to 55-year old Rosangela da Silva.  They are still married.
• 31October2023 showed off my Halloween pants.  I was on a cruise.

• 
  31October2024 was all about Halloween.  Featured the Great Pumpkin.
• Finally, 31October2025 was again focused on Halloween, noting that the #1 Halloween film of all time was the 1978 Halloween, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 97/89.

I'm still leading up to Inde Navarrette and the Saturday Night Live production tonight.

• I just saw the 2025 Obsession, a supernatural horror film, starring Inde.
• Don't want to give the story away, but need to mention a twist to the classic Monkey's Paw trope.  This fictional One Wish Willow novelty toy or talisman is innocently bought by someone who wants to be the boyfriend of Inde.
• Great Rotten Tomatoes scores:  93/94.
• Can be watched for free if you subscribe to Peacock.  Otherwise, $6 on several streaming channels.
• She is seriously frightening in this film.  So much so that I might skip even watching SNL tonight.

Anyway, tonight, she will host Saturday Night Live, where the musical guest will be Gracie Adams.

• Gracie's most popular song is the 2024 That's So True.
• SNL Halloween broadcasts are rare.  The first after 30 years was in 2020 when COVID was rampant.

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  But with a horror star hosting on Halloween a few days before the mid-term elections, this could become a very special show.  So maybe I will watch.
• There was a buzz that perhaps Barrack Obama might appear to roast Donald Trump, bringing in the Cheesecake Factory joke, but...nah....couldn't possibly.  
• But maybe Jay Pharoah can be resurrected to play Obama.

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  Nathan Fielder himself?  Was a key part of that other horror film now popular, You Can See Everything.  Was the second most popular film last weekend.
• I've been featuring Elizabeth Holmes and her travails, so surely some of her nightmares would be worthy of insertion in a sketch or two.

About Inde Navarrette:

• Danielle Fabiola Navarrette was born in Tucson, Arizona on 3March2001, which means she is 25 years old.
• By the age of 15, had attended 11 schools.  Her father is in the Marine Corps.
• Says she is bisexual.
• Her first sitcom role was in 2019 when she was 18.
• Was in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why in season 4, 2020.

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  Was in Superman & Lois in 2021.
• Was in the film Trap House in 2025.
• Starred in Obsession, released in the U.S. in May of 2026.
• Another horror film, Invertigo, also came this year.
• You will see her as Rogue in an X-Men reboot, planned for release in 2028.
• At this young age, she will be executive producer and star in The Waffle House Index.

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  In 2004, Federal Emergency Management Agency director Craig Fugate coined this term after restaurant chain Waffle House, known for its 24-hour, 365-day service.  In other words, they were always open...unless there was some disaster, like a hurricane.  Three levels following a storm:  Green, full menu; Yellow, limited menu low of power and food; and Red, closed, for the disaster was too serious.

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  The Plot: The story takes place during a graveyard shift at a Waffle House. What begins as an encounter with an armed stranger quickly spirals into a wildly escalating chain of surreal disasters—including floods, killer crocodiles, nuclear explosions, a magical bunker, and alien occurrences. [1, 2, 3, 4]

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