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I watched a short documentary today about the various radio, TV, and movie adaptations of "The War of the Worlds." Everyone knows about the 1938 Halloween radio scare perpetrated by Orson Welles, whom I honor with the name of my blog. However, I had not realized there were subsequent radio adaptations in Santiago, Chile and Quito, Ecuador in the 1940s that led to panic and (in the Quito situation) deadly rioting. I have not yet seen Mr. Spielberg's treatment, but it's on my list. Here is an excellent CSICOP article written for the 60th anniversary of the Welles broadcast that includes explanations of the South American incidents.

Right now I am eating dinner (which is actually leftover breakfast, with watermelon for desert) and watching the documentary Gunner Palace, a close-up look at American troops stationed in one of Uday Hussein's mansions. It is very very interesting, and I'll comment on it further later on. Other as-yet-unwatched Blockbuster rentals from this afternoon include The Yes Men, Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries, and In the Realms of the Unreal. Comments to follow.