Terrifically Haunted fun for all. Another Halloween under our belts. Big thanks to Nicole and Julie for helping save the day. To Scott and Josh, candy professionals with nerves of steel. To Steve and Mitch for your hands on help. To Jim for fantasitc photo attention and being brave around both the young and old. Most important, to Micheal, whom without his patience and hard work, Halloween would never be.
iPhotos generously provided by Jim McGill of photo444.com
This was the first preview night for “Frightening Fashion Show”. I think there were as many adults (possibly more) than children. I took pics with my iphone when I wasn’t giving my annual speech about “what’s inside my head”. Most people want to know…Ha! I usually just tell people that I’m the love child of Erma Bombeck and Alfred Hitchcock. Gosh I love my camera heads…
Some guys in a tricked-out truck stopped to admire my flaming skulls…No doubt they had use for them beyond Halloween. Personally, I think one would look great hanging off my front door. Hey, there might even be a market out there for those wishing to deter unwanted knockers. Kinda like a really punctuated “do not disturb!!!” sign 😉
The first model on the runway for Freaky Fashion Show 2010…
I still need to add the blood to the baby faces but you get the idea. ..and don’t miss the 2 headed baby clinging to her leg 😉
I have many people commenting on my lack of posting lately. Yes, I’m alive and fairly well. I’ve had some recent therapy (no, not my mind) that will soon allow me to sit without pain shooting down my leg…and happily so. I have something wrong in the vicinity of well…the top of the buttock if you will. They believe I got it from too much sitting on my very hard (but very stylish) chairs. Apparently I sit allot and my posterior has begun a protest…loudly. The Doc tells me that a posterior has no sense of design what-so-ever. Well Humph! I currently have a pelvis so twisted that it makes one leg shorter than the other. I have half a mind to try that theory of walking hills… Anyway, several children have been knocking at my door…alarmed that they have yet to see any building or hear any yelling…in anticipation for the big day. Rest assure…I am here to make it clear, if I have to crawl outside to conduct others…Halloween WILL go on. And…I have proof. This year is “Freaky Fashion Show”. The models are currently lined up in my livingroom, just giddy with anticipation of their individual costumes. I haven’t seen any “cat fights” yet, but it’s early in the game, so I’m hopeful. Meet “The Girls”…
Every year while we’re outside building…lots of new folks ask me what Team Halloween has done in the past. It’s funny, me being a photographer…and not ever having my own photos. All my time and energy goes into the event and only recently have I been documenting the goings on. Yet…they are all still clearly in my head. On event night I play host so I have to rely on others who arrive early in the evening (before the crowds) to take them. I have so many kind and various people to thank for these. I found Halloween 2006 and I’ll see what else I can locate to show those interested in the madness that I live for.
The scary clown head stood 23 feet in the air, had a 6-1/2 foot open mouth for the kids to walk through…and took 7 men to hoist into position. It’s made from plywood and recycled crates from a large press that came into my workplace that year. Scary Clown was made from paper patterns, then hand cut in 26 sections of found wood. I actually had no idea if the proportions were right until I fit it together like a puzzle all down the driveway…and even then I had to stand on a really tall ladder. We painted the sections and then Jamie stood on that same ladder with her air gun, ready to demonized it, while I stood in the street and yelled “more there”. I still smile now because the next day a heavy metal band came to disassemble and load Scary Clown in a truck headed for an Los Angeles music studio. I’m so glad he found a home.
An amazing feat…Micheal, Mitchell and myself took some donated red heavy vinyl and sewed a 30 foot tent top on a 1985 Brother sewing machine that has exactly 2 stitches to choose from. We did it without a pattern (by eye) and it fit! That poor machine squeals to this day. On the left side of the tent (and clown head) was a clown dressing room. This clown sat on a leopard chair in front of a fancy dressing mirror. The kids would walk in…and then at the right position, they would see his scary face and scream. On the right side of the head was a room with one clown hanging onto a very ridiculous donkey while 2 others look on from a crate. Once you entered the mouth you stood in the center of the ring, surrounded by the faces Jamie painted of my neighbors or anyone that popped into her head. 2 clowns were suspended from their own trapeze while other were scattered around the room… And the biggest hits…the popcorn and cotton candy, the bubble machine, the roaring tiger in his cart…and the Kiwi actor / comedienne who insulted all my neighbors while I laughed…
A tradition practised by the Aztecs, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is an ancient indigenous celebration of death. Because of the Spanish influence, Dia de los Muertos has Catholic and Spanish influences, but never the less has kept its inherently, strong indigenous roots. This celebration, which traditionally lasts two nights and three days, is a time when people remember family and friends who have died by building an altar in their memory. The altar, built in the home on on the gravesite, is decorated with flowers, candles and sugar skulls. The family then proceeds to make the favorite foods of the deceased and sing the songs they so dearly loved.
Walking around this celebration, I came upon an alter of a woman that looked so familiar to me. Suddenly, it dawned on me she was the mother of my niece (my nephew’s wife). Chris was a lovely, free spirited woman who I only knew briefly. As I watched a young mother explaining about the alter to her two small children, I couldn’t help laugh at the young boy behind the scene with that bucket. It just goes to show how… even in the celebration of those who’ve past on… life continues in all it’s silliness… and I’m pretty dog gone sure Chris would have loved the shot. 🙂
We are as ready for the masses as we ever will be…Hope to see you all at Anuvue. We have a live band who start playing at about 7:30, caricature drawings, costume photography and even an drawing to win the Senorita Skull photo. We’ve got alot of hidden beer and about 6 cement tubs of stuff for the kids. Let the games begin…
holy smokes….only 365 day to the next Halloween!Â
“Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.”
J.K. Rowling
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