Please Stand By

I currently have several blog posts in various states of completion, but I'm afraid there might be a not-very-brief interruption in service. Here's why:


Christmas came early, as I made a probably ill-advised purchase of Criterion's AK 100, a set of 25 Akira Kurosawa films. I'm a bit upset to learn that none of the discs have any of the special features available on the individually released discs, but if I'm being honest with myself, I probably wouldn't have watched most of them. I got through half of the commentary for Seven Samurai before I grew tired of Michael Jeck's highly informative but also dry and lifeless ramblings. And, on the plus side, they've gone back and corrected the few problems evident in earlier prints of the film. So, for 8 bucks a movie, I'll continue to convince myself that this was a wise investment.

Halloween Picture Extravaganza

I'll take it as a good sign that I'm too busy enjoying Halloween to write about it. I'm watching too many movies, going to too many parties, carving too many pumpkins, and gathering candy from too many houses to really write or post anything in-depth. This upcoming week will probably see a few more detailed impressions of the holiday's activities, but for now, enjoy a few glimpses into my recent life.



This is my six year old daughter's first ever attempt at pumpkin carving. She did every part by herself, from the gutting to drawing the pattern to carving. And speaking of my daughter:





And finally, here's a growing mob of my horror related toys. There's a few more boxes to go through in the garage(which I believe are primarily McFarlane toys. At least Freddy and a second Thing figure are still to be unpacked), but here's what I've got out so far. The life-size Sally doll in the back was part of a promotion we did at Suncoast for Halloween a few years back. Every customer who had our club card was entered into a drawing for Sally. Our customer never came in for it, and after six months I was told I could do whatever I wanted with it. And there it is, uprooted temporarily from it's position directly in front of our back door. The year before we had done a similar promotion but the prize was a life-size Jack Skellington. I really would have loved to get the pair of them.

The tiny figures in the front may look like Marvel superheroes, but in fact they're the zombified version from the aptly named Marvel Zombies series. I have a larger zombie Spiderman, but didn't feel like cracking that one open yet. The Universal Monster mini-busts along the left side of the picture came with the DVD collector's set of all three of their respective collections(man, I really miss that Suncoast discount), and if you'll notice near the back, in the middle, I finally got a Creature From The Black Lagoon figure. It's a pretty sweet figure, even if it doesn't fit on it's base at all. That's fine, though; it's remarkably stable without it.

And that's all for tonight, I'm gonna go try and squeeze in a viewing of The Walking Dead before bedtime. I really need to demand Mondays off whenever Halloween falls on a Sunday.

I'm off to a party tonight, so no time for a longer post. So here's a quick pic I had our neighbor snap of Amber and I, all dressed up and ready to go. Notice the skin flap hanging off my neck, and the brains peaking out on my head. Despite the gore, I kinda think I look like a Munster. And if you can't quite make out the brains, here's a closeup.



Food coloring, corn starch, water and dried onion flakes. Fully edible for that extra verisimilitude.

Office Outbreak: Day Ten

The zombies showed up today, led by Otto from the Simpson's Treehouse of Horror. It wasn't too bad, they weren't very big and I was able to just step on them.

Creepy Couture: Godzilla #2

The second of my two Godzilla shirts, both bought in Disneyworld. You may find it silly to buy a shirt I can order anywhere for a probably inflated price, but to you I say you just don't understand the joys of shopping while on vacation. Of my two shirts, I much prefer the design of the previous one, but I picked up this one for the whole concert-T vibe, further exemplified on the back:

Office Outbreak: Day Eight

The New Guys showed up on the shelf next to my desk today, and I have to admit I'm having a bit of trouble feeling any fear in their presence. It certainly isn't the quality of the sculpts, which are all pretty fantastic. It's probably their diminutive size, and the fact that Jason looks incredibly cute as he holds his knife out in front of him.

Creepy Couture: Frankenstein

In the battle of the classic Universal Monsters, the Creature From The Black Lagoon will undoubtedly win the day time and again for me. However, when it comes to the men behind those monsters, Boris Karloff is by far the reigning champ. As an actor I've only begun to delve into his considerable filmography over the last couple years, but he's always struck me as eminently watchable even in the worst schlock. That alone gives today's shirt a place of honor in my closet.