Dr. Kiley redux

We caught a sneak peek last night of "No Country for Old Men," the new Joel & Ethan Coen movie. Really well-done, and Javier Bardem's character was super-creepy, down to his modified Prince Valiant hairdo.

I was surprised by how much Josh Brolin, above, looks like his dad. James Brolin was one of my childhood crushes when he played Dr. Kiley on "Marcus Welby M.D." We all know I had my Donny Osmond-style teenybopper crushes as a kid, but there were also a few older men I loved at the time: James Brolin, Charlie Rich, Joe Namath and Beau Bridges (huh?).

I remember watching "Marcus Welby" every week (we even named Chihuahua No. 2 Esther Consuelo Hernandez after Nurse Consuelo) and loved Dr. Kiley on his motorcycle. I had pretty much always dismissed Josh Brolin for some reason. I couldn't remember having seen him in anything before, and I had just taken him for some second-rate second-generation actor. But in "No Country" he channels 1970s James Brolin.

And now, James Brolin, much like Charlie Rich before him, is a silver fox. With any luck, Josh Brolin will follow in his dad's footsteps in that way. (I have seen Charlie Rich Jr., and he's nothing to write home about.)

R.I.P.

Just found out tonight in passing that Osmond patriarch George died on Tuesday at age 90. If you know me, you know I have a nearly lifelong obsession with the Osmonds, so you know better than to crack any jokes in the comments section. Forreals.

Donny was my first love (I was 4; he was 13). I still note his birthday each year (six days after mine, though obviously a few years earlier) , and he's probably the one celebrity I'd still really flip to meet (OK, and David Bowie). I actually blew my chance when I was living in Oregon. I had a tryout in Seattle for the new "Pyramid" game show, with Donny as host and appearing at the tryouts, but it was the same weekend as Bob Geldof's concert in Seattle, and both logistics and figuring my brain would explode if I got both in one weekend forced me to cancel my big "Pyramid"/Donny Osmond moment.

I did see the Osmonds in concert at the Kentucky State Fair when I was about 7 or 8 (my first concert) , and I got Marie's autograph on the tour program from that same concert when Stacy and I saw her onstage in "The Sound of Music" many years later. Unfortunately, she had hurt her ankle or somesuch and didn't come out after, but one of the von Trapp kids took the program backstage for the autograph.

OK, I know you are just dying to comment; so have at me, just leave my Osmonds alone. : )

A picture worth a thousand Benjamins

My old friend Todd in Kentucky (not to be confused with my crazy ex of the same name and state) and I have recently renewed contact through e-mail. I had to share this brilliant photo of his son Malcolm's Benjamin Franklin Halloween costume.

A guy at work said his son dressed as a chick magnet, though the only image I have of that is in my head.

Kids in their costumes made me wonder anew why there are no childhood photos of me in mine. There are photos of birthdays, Christmases, Easters but not a single Halloween that I know of. It's not like my mom's not a pagan. I remember being a geisha girl, a gypsy and a witch, but that's it. What's up with that, Mom?

The great pumpkin inquiry

Does anyone remember a movie (or maybe a "Night Gallery" episode or somesuch) from the '70s where a kid put toothpick arms and legs on pumpkin-shaped cookies and moved them through a dollhouse for a voodoo-doll effect? For instance, if a pumpkin cookie fell down the stairs, so did a person. I thought of it the other day while eating a Halloween cookie.

I have asked a few pop-culture-savvy friends, but no luck.

I swear I don't think I'm making this up. If I am, then I guess my dreams are even crazier than I realized!