Halloween 2019 - Wrapping It Up

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Very laid back but all in all very nice Halloween. 

Halloween 2019 - Calling It a Night

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Took Athena on a walk before bed. Didn't see any trick-or-treaters out but a few houses still had their pumpkins burning brightly. The figure in the window above is a giant cut-out.

Halloween 2019 - Movies

Thursday, October 31, 2019

I felt a little guilty about not passing out candy and felt I was missing out a bit. I mean, Halloween only comes once a year, right? There have been other years I wasn't feeling up to it but this time I felt bad about it. Maybe as I'm getting older I'm realizing these traditions are a connection to my past. Anyway, Dale and I made the best of it by eating pizza and watching a couple of old horror movies on Turner Classic Movies. The first was House of Wax starring Vincent Price. 

The story takes place in New York City in the early 1900's. Vincent Price plays the proprietor of a wax museum where some of the more recent additions to its collection look uncannily like people who've recently been reported missing.

It's been a while since I've seen it but whenever the last time was I didn't realize it was Charles Bronson who plays Igor. He's pictured center in the above picture. 

People of my generation will remember Carolyn Jones who is probably best known for playing Morticia Addams in the 1960's sitcom The Addams Family. Dale recognized her right away. I googled the movie to check the cast and, sure enough, he was right. 

Phyllis Kirk plays the female lead. Her character, Sue Allen, finds herself in some perilous positions in the film, especially so at the very end due to her sleuthing. 

I remember seeing House of Wax as a kid in the 1970's on Mel's Matinee, a local television afternoon dialing-for-dollars type deal. Those were the days before most people had cable TV and there were a very limited number of channels. Some channels had afternoon matinees of old movies which is where I caught House of Wax. One year my 6th grade class went on a field trip to the old WTCN television station. There was a TV in every room and House of Wax happened to be the afternoon matinee the day we were there. A few of us, familiar with the film, kept to the back of the group so we could keep an eye on the movie. It was in its second half so we were seeing the most suspenseful parts. We had to be reminded to keep up with the group a couple times. Anyway, it's an old and nostalgic favorite of mine. 

The second movie was The Bride of Frankenstein.

Halloween 2019 - At School

Thursday, October 31, 2019

My colleague, Mr. Brown, came to school as a werewolf.

Spirit week at school. Today was dress-as-twins-day. Mara and I both wore our anti-gun violence shirts and it worked out well for today that they're orange. 

I did some movement with the kids today. We did a Just Dance of Rave in the Grave on YouTube. 

Halloween 2019 - No Treats

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Wasn't sure how I was feeling about handing out candy tonight so I decided to leave it to the last minute. When I came home after school Dale reported not feeling well and having some tummy trouble. Based on this I decided we'd keep it as quiet as possible tonight and forego giving out treats until next year. 

Halloween Season 2019 - This Week in October

Monday, October 21, 2019

Noticing the trees on my walks with Athena. I believe they are peaking. Many changed during the time we were in Arizona. 

A few trees have lost all their leaves but most are holding on. 

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Although the colored leaves look gorgeous against a clear blue sky I find them to be equally striking against skies of grey. 

Wednesday, October 23 2019

Dale and I are both having particularly tough times with our jobs right now. Left-over chili and then pumpkin pie were particularly comforting on this chilly fall day. 

Saturday, October 26, 2019

More walks with Athena with the added bonus of enjoying colored leaves. 

Artwork by j(ay) on Flickr

This evening Dale and I went over to Julie and Regina's for dinner and a movie. Julie made pot pie and we brought salad. The movie Julie picked was The Mangler. 

Artwork by kay3o3 on DeviantArt

Stupid, stupid, stupid movie. That said, it was the kind of bad movie that was incredibly fun to watch. The story was based on a short story by Stephen King about a laundry folding machine with homicidal tendencies. Seriously? Seriously. It starred Robert Englund of Freddy Krueger fame and a bunch of other people I've never heard of. 

Changed my Facebook profile pic to the above picture which I thought was rather cool.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Turned on the tv at one point today and found What Ever Happened to Baby James on Turner Classic Movies. I tuned in right at the point where Jane delivers Blanche a dead rat for her dinner. 

Dale and I picked up a piece of roulade at Kowalski's today. The cream was dyed orange for Halloween. 

Halloween Season 2019 - This Week in October

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Spent this past MEA weekend in Phoenix visiting family. We had a chance to see reminders of the season.

Like Dianne's pumpkin...

And this lovely display I spotted at the country club during Burger Night. The plenty is all around! 

Brenda and Irv took Dale and me out for breakfast and I had pumpkin pancakes which were awesome.

On the plane ride home from Arizona I watched the documentary The Real Story of Halloween that was originally broadcast on the A&E network about 10 years ago. Very informative. 

We got back from Phoenix on Saturday night and it was gorgeous here in town. Sunday was no different. Dale and I took a walk through the cemetery to visit Dad's grave. The trees are looking beautiful and it was a gorgeous, sunny, and 65 degree day. 

Sunday evening we watched the Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpson's. It happens to be the 666th episode of the entire serious. Loads of fun in my opinion despite not have seen any of the movies or shows they were referencing. 

Oh, and we had some pumpkin pie for dessert tonight!!

Halloween Season 2019 - This Week In October

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Lots going on in life, as usual. October is flying by. 

The changing leaves are much more visible this past week than the one before. However, they have not yet peaked.

I found the above meme on Instagram and it reminded me of Grandma Alice. There was a kitchen counter at her house that looked like it was taken out of a candy store. Glass jars were filled with old school candy including what you see pictured above. There was also lots of hard candy with gooey centers - very old school. Dale hated circus peanuts. I didn't love 'em but I think I'd take them over candy corn. 

Earlier in the week we met up at Psycho Suzi's with Sara and Tim and also Sara's brother Carter and his girlfriend. The place was decked out for Halloween. I found this bat skeleton to be rather likable as opposed to some of the other more gruesome stuff. 

We got some light snow on Friday and Saturday.

It wasn't enough to accumulate.

This snow happened on the 11th and 12th. Last year I reported snow on October 14th. 

Halloween displays are popping up more and more around the neighborhood. The neighbors who set up the above display have been doing this for a few years now. 

I'm seeing window displays as well. I asked my friend Noel if she put out paper cut-outs at her house as a kid. She said she did and she mentioned the skeleton with the movable bones like the one pictured above. I told her we had that same thing along with a black cat and a bunch of other ephemera. 

On Fridays the kids at school and I will do Just Dance which I find on youtube. We did the one you see above which is This Is Halloween from  the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

Oh, and I bought some Indian corn at Kowalski's too.