Tag: Halloween

  • ODDS and ENDS: Candy, Costumes, and Halloween

    (I did a lot of foolish things, that I really didn’t mean…)

    It’s candy season, and have you seen the price of candy? (Honestly…) Sure we have, and that is why I am very excited for the amazingly huge haul of candy that my daughter is about to bring home in the next twenty-four hours. (And here comes diabeetus…) There is no way on God’s green earth that my kid is going to eat a bucket of candy, and as a decently responsible parent, I should not allow my kid to eat a bucketful of candy. Which means the wife and I will slowly eat candy out of her bucket for the next few weeks. Which will be all the candy she hates. I just once she’d leave me a roll of Sprees, or some chewy Sweettarts. A Rollo would be cool. Some of those mini Crackle bars hit the spot.

    We have a family theme this year, and it’s Gilmore Girls. The wife and daughter will be Lorelai and Rory, andI get to finish out the look by going as Luke. I am happy to do this, not only because it makes my wife and daughter very happy, but because this might be the easiest costume I have ever had to wear. I just went to my closet, and got a pair of jeans, thermal shirt, flannel shirt, grabbed my army coat, and turned the navy ball cap I always wear around, and Boom! I’m dressed up as Luke.

    Happy Halloween, ya’ll! Don’t do anything too crazy. Have fun with the kids, drive slow, and give Friday the 13th: Part 3 a watch. It’s not a good movie, but it is a fun movie. And it’s the movie where Jason gets his hockey mask from the guy named Shelly. That’s important to remember, because one of you will be at a Halloween trivia night, and that question will come up.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Friday, Saturday and Sunday

    (Thursday I don’t care about you…)

    Friday is just okay in my book. When I was working full time, and had a career and everything, I did look forward to Fridays. When I was performing, Friday was always a show, which usually led to a late night with the cast – either at the theatre or at a bar. Now, Friday is the final day of chores for the family. If I do have time for myself, it’s at the end of the day. Friday night to Saturday morning is my chance to catch up on bad movies and tv. There’s no rest on a Friday.

    This coming Saturday we are heading out to get our pumpkin for Halloween. We have given up on carving a pumpkin, as no one in our house really likes doing it. Well… no one likes cleaning out the pumpkin of its guts. Two years ago, we painted a pumpkin, and last year, we just had one that we left on the bookshelf… Not the most exciting, I will admit. This year, we are getting more than one pumpkin – maybe even a fancy pumpkin that is a different color than orange. Could even have those weird pimple bumps on it. What I can tell, and even feel, is that we are in the middle of a transition when it comes to Halloween in our home. It’s not so much kid and trick or treating centric anymore. We are moving towards more of an Autumnal celebration. I’m not sad about it, the kid is getting older, and at some point everything does change.

    Sunday is the night for disappointment! Talking about the Dallas Cowboys here. Yeah… I know they aren’t out of it, as the NFC East is just a dumping ground. No, I’m not looking forward to sitting through three hours of them sucking. And it is the defense that sucks, which will make the whole time just painful. Good thing the Knicks are about to start playing.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Autumn Marketing in Summer, Theatre, and Tottenham Hotspur

    (Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…)

    It’s not done yet! I know it’s August still, and it’s hot, and the subway platforms are a swamp, and when I step outside, I just start sweating. I’m an old man and I can’t stop talking about the weather, and around this time of year, I want it to be Fall more than anything. But I’m going to throw the marketeers of America under the bus one this one. These Ad-Wizards starting running back-to-school commercials before the 4th of July. Halloween junk on sale at drug stores and Home Depot in August? Just yesterday, I got a catalog in the mail from L.L. Bean telling me that it’s time for Fall! I’m not crazy; they’re all jumping the gun here, right?

    The kid auditioned for a school play. This made me very excited and proud. Also, it put me on notice not to be a “Stage Dad.” See, the kid needed to have a one minute monologue memorized for her audition, and she came to me for help. You know; me, her dad, the guy who got a theatre degree, and did plays and puppet shows and physical theatre here in New York City. Me! She came to me for help, and I said yes! And then I had to tell myself that I cannot live through her, and her experiences in auditioning and doing this play. No! I am here to support, and give guidance when she asks for it. But, she didn’t know how to score a script, or what a beat was in reference to dialogue, so I had to fill her in a little. But no Stage Dad shit!

    This could be a rough season for Spurs. Just saying…

  • ODDS and ENDS: Autumn Morning, Halloween’s Theme, and My Favorite Horror Movie

    (Blah! I have an octopus!)

    Here’s a picture from this windy but fine Autumn morning.

    Vince Guaraldi is a genius. “The Great Pumpkin Waltz” is almost too good of a song to be on the soundtrack for a cartoon. Lucky that this cartoon is pretty legend, too.

    Okay, if I have to pick my favorite horror movie – not the best horror movie, just my favorite; I gotta go with Friday the 13th.

    Happy Halloween, Ya’ll!

  • Halloweens of the Past

    The other day, as we were putting together the kid’s costume for Halloween, she asked me, what did I dress up as for Halloween? At first this seemed like such an easy question to answer, and I started to respond that I went as a pirate, a cowboy, a California Raisin, Indiana Jones… and… and then I couldn’t remember. I drew a blank.

    I could remember being a pirate when my family lived in Alabama, which would have made me five. Then I remembered the first Halloween in Texas, a cowboy – real shock there. I know that I did the California Raisin thing in 6th grade because there was a girl I liked and she thought it would be cute if I went as that, which I think shows you how desperate I was to get any female attention. And then Indiana Jones I did in 7th grade to coincide with Last Crusade which had come out that Summer, but it was also my last Halloween because I did feel too old to be out Trick or Treating.

    That leaves a gap in my memory from 1st to 5th grade.

    Now, I remember going Trick or Treating with my friends over those years. I remember the old guy who gave out pennies, and the house that gave out toothbrushes. There was the could that gave apples, and the family that wrapped Bible verses around mini Snickers bars. And there was the family that turned their home into a Haunted House that you could go through. I remember the junior high boys that would throw eggs, toilet paper, and water balloons at people. I remember families being out, and the police driving slowly through our neighborhood, keeping an eye out, making sure it was safe, and trying to catch those boys on their bikes. I remember the years my mom took me and my friends out, and the times my dad took us.

    But nothing when it comes to my costumes from those years. It’s a blank, while also it feels like it’s on the tip of my tongue, but still won’t materialize.

    It’s a very strange feeling to not be able to remember this. Like, I know it was a big deal dressing up, and taking time to figure out my costume. I know my mom would help me put it together… but I just can’t remember.

    Odd…