12-12-12

My Halloween alter ego...

Halloween 2012 - Poor Pumpkin

Halloween 2012 - Popcorn Ball

I had a popcorn ball this past Halloween. First one since I was a kid. Loved it.

Halloween 2012 - Squirrels

Halloween 2000 - Sophie and Frankenstein

As a small puppy Sophie was sometimes afraid of the dark. There is a particular two block stretch near the cemetery on which she didn't like travel when dark although this got somewhat better as she got older. There was also a plastic light-up Frankenstein monster that would appear in a yard near our house around Halloween that she didn't like either.   It was usually in the early morning light when she'd  hesitate as we came within a few houses of it. She was all to eager to get by. I haven't seen this particular household display this Frankenstein in a number of years but just a few nights ago  I spotted it again while walking Athena. It brought back memories and really made me miss Sophie. I snapped this photo of the creature:

Halloween 2012 - Elvira

There's an empty store over on Chicago Avenue that , until a few months ago, housed a vacuum cleaner repair store. In this day and age of buying new when something breaks, I'm surprised a store like this lasted as long as it did. Anyway, it has been empty for a few months but a couple weeks ago these cut-outs of Elvira Mistress of the Dark appeared. At first I thought one of those seasonal Halloween stores might appear but that never happened. As Athena and I walked by this morning I decided to snap a photo.

Halloween 2012 - Athena

I had to offer her a Beggin' Strip to get her to sit this still.

Halloween 2012 - Halloween Display

As kids, Mom used to help Sam, Pete,  and me set up a Halloween tchotchke display on the radiator cover of near the front door of our house. The bottom photo shows my effort at setting one up for 2012.

Halloween 2012 - Dracula's Daughter

After listening to my playlist about 5 times I popped Dracula's Daughter in the DVD player. It's an old Universal Pictures film and not nearly as good as the original Dracula. Still, it was fun to watch while passing out candy to trick or treaters.

Halloween 2012 - Playlist

My playlist while carving the jack-o-lantern and passing out treats:

1. The Headless Horseman - Bing Crosby
2. Halloween Spooks - Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross
3. This Is Halloween - The Citizens of Halloween
4. The Munster's Theme - The Surf Dawgs
5. Voodoo Voodoo - LaVern Baker
6. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
7. It's Your Voodoo Working - Imelda May
8. The Skeleton In the Closet - Louis Armstrong
9. Halloweenhead - Ryan Adams

Halloween 2012 - Just the Two of Us

Couldn't find my Halloween specs so I wore the bunny ears left over from Easter. Once, while answering the door, a little trick or treater said, "Look, a bunny wabbit."

Halloween 2012 - Dale

Dale in the "costume" I bought for him with the pumpkin I carved. What a cutie.

Halloween 2012 - Setting out the pumpkin

Set out the pumpkin around 6:10 p.m. and not a moment too soon! First trick or treaters at 6:15!

Halloween 2012 - Setting Out the Candy

A wonderful mix of some of my favortites. 150 pieces total. Set it out at about 6:00 p.m. No trick or treaters yet.

Halloween 2012 - Carving the Pumpkin

Step by step.

1. Top off.

2. Guts

3. Game plan.

4. Jack-O-Lantern

Halloween 2012 - Happy Halloween

Halloween 2012 - Card for Emma

Card for Emma

Halloween 2012 - Card for Cairic

Card for Cairic

Halloween 2012 - Card for Xander

Card for Xander

Halloween 2012 - Card for Cashel

Card for Cash

Halloween 2012 - Card for Abby

Card for Abby

Halloween 2012 - Card for Calvin

Card for Calvin

Halloween 2012 - Dracula

Dale and I watched the old Universal Pictures Dracula from the 1930s. I've seen it before but it was loads of fun to watch again. Bela Lugosi made a great Count Dracula and the guy who played Renfield made for a fabulously looney fly eater. He stole the show.

Halloween 2012 - Pumpkin Purchased

I stopped by Kowalski's last night to pick up a pumpkin. They only had three left and I felt this one would make the best Jack-O-Lantern.

Halloween 2012 - Great Pumpkin Book

I stopped by Barnes and Noble tonight to pick up some Halloween themed books for school. Because I bought more than two, I was given the opportunity to buy a board book version of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for half price. It came with reusable stickers. How could I say no to that? (P.S. I decided to give this book to my co-worker Cindy to give to her daughter Fern. She'll love it.)

Halloween 2012 - Young Frankenstein

Dale and I watched Young Frankenstein tonight. The movie was originally released in 1974. Dale said he saw it in the theater when it was first run. I don't think I saw it until I was in high school in the early 1980s. I didn't realize how heavily it was based on the original Frankenstein film from the 1930's until I first saw that movie about 5 years ago. All of the players pictured above are hysterical in their own ways. Cloris Leachman (not pictured) is classic as Frau Blucher (imagine horses neighing here). 

Halloween 2012 - The Great Pumpkin

Tonight Dale and I watched  It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown  on DVD. Poor Charlie Brown is treated badly by neighbors passing out treats (he gets rocks) even when he's in costume and they have no idea who he is. Snoopy as the World War I flying ace is one of my favorite scenes. I used to play that part again and again on my Snoopy Drive-In Movie toy when I was I kid. The toy allowed me to play the scene backward which was pretty cool in pre-VHS/DVD days. I also love how the animators really captured the colors, mood, and atmosphere of late October in the artwork.

Halloween 2012 - Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror was on the other night. Not my favorite of the bunch but still smile-inducing. The funniest segment was the one involving a young Marge making a deal with the devil.

More Groovie Goolies - 123

Enjoyed watching this show as a kid in the early 1970's.

The following is from Wikipedia:

"The Goolies were a group of hip monsters. Many of whom were (in look and sound) pop-culture echoes of the classic horror-film monsters created in the 1930's and 1940's mostly by Universal Pictures. The group sang a pop song each episode."

Groovie Goolies Theme Song

I remember the Groovey Ghoulies Saturday morning television show and its toe-tapping theme song from when I was a kid.

According to Wikipedia:

"The show originally aired on CBS as Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies, and also featured Archie Comics character Sabrina the Teenage Witch with her aunts Hilda and Zelda. Never a critical success, the Goolies had appeal, reappearing in 1971 as The Groovie Goolies on their own solo show. ABC later rebroadcast the original series for one season in 1975. They finally entered syndication in 1978."

Halloween 2011 - Jack-O-Lantern Face

This photoshopped version of a jack-o-lantern face was taken from a photo of a pumpkin Dale and I carved for Halloween 2011.

Halloween Goodie Basket

There's an upcoming silent auction at church and Dale decided to contribute this goodie basket. He bought all the contents and I helped him put it all together. How much will the winning bid be? We'll find out...

The Halloween Blizzard of 1991 Part 3

Halloween of 1991 fell on a Thursday. I remember I was teaching school that day and was just hopping in my car to go home as the snow was gently beginning to fall. School was cancelled the next day due to the snow and I remember discovering that I had forgotten my wallet at school. We had taken a field trip to a hospital to parade the kids around in their costumes and I had locked my wallet in my desk drawer so I didn't have to carry it with me as my costume didn't have a pocket. I had to borrow about 60 bucks from Mom and Dad so I could get through the weekend.

Above photo is from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The Halloween Blizzard of 1991 Part 2

The following is from Wikipedia:

"The Twin Cities received 28.4 in[ches of snow], setting a single-storm record for the metropolitan area. Inall, at least one foot of snow fell in a swath approximately 100 mi wide from south central Minnesota, northeastward into northwestern Wisconsin and into the Minnesota Arrowhead."

The above photo is from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The Halloween Blizzard of 1991 Part 1

The massive snowstorm began on the afternoon of Halloween 1991. By midnight the Twin Cities had 8.2 inches of snow.  The blizzard  kept going for four days and ended up dumping what turned out to be the greatest single snowfall in Twin Cities history.

Halloween 2010 - Sophie

Sophie on October 30, 2010.  We had just taken her to the groomer's for a bath and they gave her a Halloween themed 'kerchief.

Happy Valentine's Day