NERO, FIDDLING, AND THE NYC MARATHON: A play in one act:

WE RUN IN THE DARK, WE RUN IN THE DARK!: By now, if you care one bit about whether or not the New York City Marathon is on, off, or postponed, you are already well aware of all of the arguments about allocation of resources, optics, and resilience, and I won't reargue those. I just wanted to focus for a moment on the argument that running the Marathon will put $350 million into the local economy.

SLATS, OR THE OCTOPUS:  The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has released the new Veterans Committee ballot for potential pre-1947 honorees, and Rob Neyer offers his thoughts.

4TH LARGEST CITY IN AMERICA - HON. SEBASTIAN LEONE, BOROUGH PRESIDENT:  In honor of tomorrow night's Nets (rescheduled) home opener, and for all the warm feelings we share for the ALOTT5MAns resident therein, tell us something you like about Brooklyn.

ANIMAL DANCE!  Vulture speculates as to whether the Disney-Lucasfilm merger might finally secure the rights necessary for Muppet Babies to be released on DVD.

YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY THINK THAT A CIVILIZATION SENDING THIS KIND OF MESSAGE WOULD INTEND IT JUST FOR AMERICANS:  Jodie Foster, 49, will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at January's Golden Globes.  She is the youngest winner of the award since Charlton Heston, 43, won it in 1967; Judy Garland (at 39) won it in 1962.

TRYIN' TO CALL HOME: Between the Maroon 5 song and the fact that they're still functioning in blacked out Lower Manhattan, pay phones are having a comeback.  (I'm fine--no power or water at home, but managed to find a hotel at a relatively reasonable rate which has power and hot water.)

ZA'ATAR FLAVORED FRIED CHICKEN:  Get ready, America: Philadelphia's Federal Donuts has expansion on its mind.  So. Good.

I'M TOO SEXY: A comprehensive guide to Sexy ______ (NOUN) Costumes.

DOWNEASTER ALEXIS-NEXIS (NERD FISHERMAN):  31 Billy Joel Halloween costume ideas.

BEATING THE ODDS:  Episode seven of The Wire's fourth season, "Unto Others" (Sepinwall; THND), is the halfway point in the season and very much a potential turning point for so many of the characters. Prez seems to have found another way to solve a puzzle -- how to reach his students on their own level and smuggle some education into their curriculum -- and Cutty seems to have evolved even further as a man committed to his kids. Kima cracked the case, Royce and Carcetti made nice, and Daniels and Pearlman are both being recognized for doing their jobs well.

On the other hand ... Namond and Randy both seem like lost causes, thanks to a system that's either catching up with them too late, or in Randy's case a law enforcement system too easily undermined by its practitioners. (If only Carver had conducted that followup interview himself.) Bubbles is getting abused from all sides, and Sherrod's probably lost.  But with six episodes to go, as we know, a lot can still change -- and most of it for the worse.  (Police are no closer to catching Marlo than they were before.)

At least Omar's still surviving.  For now.

IT'S A TRAP!  Apparently, Disney has bought Lucasfilm, which means George Lucas made $4 billion today.  This turns over to Disney full control of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones IP, as well as giving Disney ownership of Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound and buttressing Disney's interactive operations with LucasArts.  Share your hopes (Indy ride at Disney World!) and fears (cuddly animated Ewok movie!) in the comments.

ETA:  Disney's press release also states that "Star Wars Episode 7" is in the pipeline for 2015, with more to follow. No word on plot or how it will deal with the substantial existing "Expanded Universe" canon such as the Thrawn story.

added by Bonin on Weds: Linda Holmes with twenty stories sure to run when SW7 opens; did Disney buy Lucasfilm cheap?

DOUBLE-TAP:  Public Policy Polling surveyed 1200 registered voters on Halloween, and ...

• Chocolate bars (62%) easily the most popular candy, followed by "something else," candy corn, fruit-flavored snacks, and candy apples.
• Only 36% wish they could still go trick-or-treating.
• More Americans believe a black cat is good luck than bad.
• 37% believe in ghosts, but only 26% have seen one (including 49% of 18-29 year-olds surveyed).
• Zombies top vampires and werewolves (there wolves!) as the scariest monster, but if folks had their choice they'd prefer to be turned into a vampire or witch (including 9% of male respondents).  Also, the older one is, the more likely one is to be afraid of vampires, and less likely to fear zombies.
• If zombies took over the world and human civilization collapsed, 32% believe they'd still survive for a year-plus; 27% assume they'd be goners within a week.  Per the crosstabs, men are more optimistic.
  

UNLIKE THE SHOW, WE HAVE NOT YET SUCCUMBED TO WANDERING AROUND WITH CROSSBOWS: I don't have power yet at home, but do at the office, so it's time to talk about NBC's kind of bizarre spring schedule.

• The Voice and Revolution will take an extended hiatus from January through the end of March--replaced on Monday with The Biggest Loser and a soap-y drama with Victor Garber.
• Once Parenthood wraps for the year, its slot will be filled by Smash, with Betty White's Off Their Rockers filling between cycles of The Voice.
• Thursday is in flux while Up All Night and 30 Rock finish their runs, but will ultimately settle in as Community/Parks and Rec/The Office/1600 Penn.

No changes to Wednesdays yet, though you have to assume Chicago Fire is probably not that long for this world.

SANDY, BABY, IS NOT LOOSENING UP:  Nine ways to extend your smartphone's life, even if the power's out. (I know Matt has lost power. For once, things are as bad as expected.)

ROLLIN' WITH THE HOMIES:  In case there ever is a Broadway again, you should know that Amy Heckerling is working on a musical adaptation of Clueless.

GIGANTES!: Obviously, 2010 was more exciting for the sheer novelty of it, but that was a hell of a run.

TRY IMAGINING A PLACE WHERE IT'S ALWAYS SAFE AND WARM. "COME IN," SHE SAID, "I'LL GIVE YOU SHELTER FROM THE STORM":  Good luck, fellow East Coasters. Check in as appropriate.