Costume Culling & Pancakery

Back in my trick-or-treating days, I don't remember ever throwing away the sacred vestments of Halloween. Each cloak, each cape, each plastic prop and mask was a transformative charm that could be endlessly repurposed and reused. Apparently, even in a struggling economy, such frugality is no longer in vogue.

Some aspiring wizard is missing his broom.

Not far from the dumped magical implement was this slightly used pumpkin. There's something menacing in the way it stares out from atop its throne of trash:

Why is this guy smiling?

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In an attempt to lower my spending a bit this winter, I forwent brunch yesterday to make myself breakfast. In the process, I discovered something completely mind-blowing and wholly evil: Aunt Jemima Complete Pancake Mix. When they say complete, they mean it. All it needs is water, some whisking, and a hot griddle. It was all too easy to make. Though the resulting pancakes were horribly misshapen, they tasted awesome and took no more than five minutes to make from start to finish. This is something I don't need. I have seen the devil and it is thick, golden batter. Oh, sweet, sweet devil.

Happy All Saints Day!

Samhain and his brood have come and gone, apparently taking the cold weather with them. I played it pretty close to the vest last night. I was tired from the week. I didn't get any trick-o-treaters either. The young ones were already prowling the neighborhood for sucrose when I was getting home from work.

My neighbor spent last night moving out. He and I actually worked for the same company though in different offices and got there by different routes. He had worked for a small company that was then bought out. The overlords decided to jettison most of the acquired crew from that purchase, including him. There's a lesson in this story for me that I'll probably ignore. Moving out of your apartment on Halloween Friday must have been loads of fun.

You won't like him when he's angry... well, angrier anyway.

I watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown last night. I always loved the Peanuts holiday specials but this one might be my favorite. Is there any doubt that this is the type of family holiday special that would never get made today? You've got war imagery in the Snoopy vs. Red Baron sequences, you've got the questioning of faith in the Linus and the Great Pumpkin sequences with Lucy's great commercialism-laden rant about the cost of his faith measured in her loss of candy. "I should sue!" she tells him, "I should sue!" I wonder when some righteous group from one end of the spectrum or the other will pull enough strings to get it off the air. Which reminds me, I ought to pick it up on DVD along with the rest of the Peanuts specials.

More Halloweenery

It looks like the spirit of... spirits is catching on the block. Just two doors down from the first building to undergo a fiendish face-lift arises another makeover of malevolent intent. At this rate the entire 'hood will be transformed into Halloween-Town before you know it.

Beware the Oogie Boogie!

Getting Into the Halloween Spirit

It's October, it's getting cold, and Halloween is fast approaching. One spot on Washington Ave. got a head start on the decoration rush. I hope this is just the start of things to come.

Anyone want to bet on how fast they'll get their Thanksgiving decorations up? I'm betting it's the day after Halloween.