<HTML><BODY STYLE="font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><DIV>Brother Carl writes:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>>Actually, I'm rather flattered to be called a Banshee by Doug Wilson. Darby O'Gill and <BR>>the Little People is one of my favorite movies. Scared the heck out of me <BR>>when I was a kid. I kind of like to think Doug's comparing me to the young <BR>>Sean Connery.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The banshee of Irish folklore only wails when someone's about to kick the bucket. I read this reference metaphorically, i.e., Doug has killed the last of his credibility. Doug Wilson the Scholar, the Historian, the Author and the Man of Chest has popped his clogs, run down the curtain, and joined the choir invisible. He has ceased to be. Doug, ladies and gentlemen, is an ex-parrot. (Footnote: I've just alluded to Monty Python. Specifically, John Cleese, "The Parrot Sketch," BBC Television, 1972.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But perhaps we should take this banshee thing literally. Maybe Doug is trying to pull an Oral Roberts: unless he gets a million bucks, God is going to call him home. Any Lotto winners out there who want to contribute to the cause? Little old ladies who haven't already willed their money to the cat? Come on, people; I'll donate a quarter. Over the years, I've gotten at least that much entertainment out of Doug. Sure, most of it was inadvertent, but still, pay as you go.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Joan Opyr/Auntie-Banshee Establishment</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>PS: As long as we're getting all supernatural around here, I think we should take a cue from "The Village" and begin referring to Doug and the deluded as "Those We Do Not Speak Of." Good idea, eh? Just as in "The Village," we rarely speak of anything else, so it'll seem clever and ironic.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Or not.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>PPS: Free unsolicited movie review -- "The Village" is one of the stupidest films, ever. As stupid as "Sheena of the Jungle." As stupid as "Plan 9 from Outer Space." As stupid as "Signs." Wait, M. Night Shamalayan is responsible for that last one as well as "The Village." He ought to be put in the stocks and pelted with rotten vegetables. And as for the great William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, they should be obliged to wear bags over the heads for the next six months. Shame, shame, wooden acting shame! </DIV></BODY></HTML><br clear=all><hr>Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : <a href='http://explorer.msn.com'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>