Old Ball Game

When Groundskeeper Willie got mad
He didn’t see red he saw plaid
He’d guzzle his Scotch
Hike kilt up a notch
And scare all the kids with a ‘nad

The Simpsons © & TM Twentieth Century
Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Homer’s Nuclear Winter

His day at the plant, full of “D’oh!”s
Was followed by drinking at Moe’s
Then, closing the bar
He slept in his car
The fuel rod that warmed him still glows

The Simpsons © & TM Twentieth Century
Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Unjust Desserts

A con, who’s wife baked him a cake
Escaping could not get a break
Their plan had a flaw:
He swallowed the saw
The warden’s now holding his wake

A Man’s Mann

In noirs, tough and taut, made his mark
Their look, lensed by Alton, is dark
These Bs, harsh and bleak
With cruel, nasty streak
Depict world of crime that is stark

His Westerns show men under strain

Enduring both torment and pain

James Stewart as star

Bore many a scar

The West was Mann’s fertile terrain

For vengeance his heroes will quest

In combat, their honor, they'll test

While at them will gnaw

A doubt or a flaw

Dark secrets held close to their vest

For a short overview of the Westerns of
Anthony Mann by Robin Wood, click here

The Proof is in the...

I crave crème brûlée under crust
Love flan; panna cotta's a must
Perhaps Doctor Freud
Would be overjoyed
To learn that for pudding I lust

Noir What?

I saw a strange flick (a B-rater)
which played at my local theater
The lead in this show
knew not where to go
cuz someone bumped off the narrator

Diddley Squat

By Walt Hitman

Bo Diddley played songs on a box
His 'hambone"--a beat to stop clocks
Now of angels above
He asks "who do you love?"
Saint Pete replies, "Bo Diddley rocks!"

Dumb Luck

Tex Hold ‘em takes hold on TVs
Casinos pave over tee-pees
The wheel that we spin
Says sin is now “in”
Our taxes are raised by disease

Bad Taste Gone Good

The artist Chicago calls Mitch
Keeps mining a vein that is rich
His subjects, iconic
He renders ironic
A master of pop crossed with kitsch


To see more art by Mitch O'Connell
on his cool website, click here

Winner By (R)KO

This master of morbid ennui
Took zombie for walk with Jacques T.
His films are both scary
and très literary
Val Lewton earned horror degree



His series of RKO "Bs"
are creepy and strange reveries
He wrote and produced
and on the screen loosed
films haunted by dark poetries

To go to the The Val Lewton B-Unit site, click here

Canine and a Half Weeks

A snobbish young man of society
Did secretly crave bestiality
With mongrels he'd lie
But first he would pry
To make sure they had a good pedigree

Looks Like A Job For Superstitious Man

Spilled salt, over shoulder, is tossed
The path of black cat’s never crossed
Won’t step on a crack
Or break your mom’s back
Take walk under ladder...you’re lost

Mighty Mouths

Performers Viv Vance, Rose Marie
And Merman destroyed Carnegie
They burst into song
With voices so strong
The Hall's now condemned property