In Manhattan’s desert twilight, in the death of afternoon,

We walked hand-in-hand down Blogwatch, like the first men on the moon…

My eternal Saint Patrick’s Day post. A lot of people think the obvious American wannabe-ness, the green beer and all that, somehow make St Patrick’s Day less awesome. I don’t; why shouldn’t there be a holiday that’s really about America and immigration, even if it pretends to be about Ireland?

Amy Welborn: The Pope speaks with kids in a juvenile detention center. And why The Merchant of Venice is just unplayable now. (The Pacino version was about as good as I think you can get, really, and it was painful.)

Horror Roundtable: The best horror-movie soundtracks. My votes go to, probably in this order, Suspiria; Can of Worms Wide Shut; and La Chute de la Maison d’Usher. Via Sean Collins. (I’m not sure I’d count Vertigo as a horror movie–although I’m not sure I wouldn’t–which is why it doesn’t appear here.)

And I haven’t yet read this First Things piece about Stephen King. But Pet Sematary and The Shining are among the most powerful novels I’ve ever read. The Dead Zone, Cujo, Christine, and even Misery have some pretty amazing moments. (Don’t talk to me about IT.) Here–Stephen King and Dorothy Day, together at last!