Happy Halloween from Newport Beach, California! Some people think “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kickers is the #1 pop Halloween song. Me, I gotta go with Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”:

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook’s
Going to get himself a big dish of beef chow mein
Werewolves of London

If you hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again
Werewolves of London

He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent
Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair
Better stay away from him
He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
I’d like to meet his tailor
Werewolves of London

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doing the
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen
Doing the
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s
His hair was perfect
Werewolves of London
Draw blood

No shortage of werewolves hanging around the sushi bar here at the hotel: sipping chardonnays, talking about their Ferraris and the stock market, and checking their e-mails on their iPods. All self-consumed. All with hair that is perfect.

Southern California is more than just three thousand miles from the Northeast; it might as well be the distance from the earth to the moon.

Happy Halloween, everyone!