Where is October going?!?

This week is all about the Halloween party -- and I still have so much to do! And since my post-a-day obviously failed... I'll be binging on tweets right up to and through the party.  Want to see how I'm adding the final touches to the decorations or what we're cooking up?  Click below and follow me on twitter!

@atasteofmybrain

Days 3 & 4 of my 31 days of Halloween

Yep.  I'm already cheating.  But who's reading this anyway?

So...

I broke down and already cracked into some Nightmare Before Christmas.  Honestly, "This is Halloween" has been stuck in my head for DAYS!  Both versions.  But that's not me complaining :)

Since I can't find a decent (and legal) link to either version, enjoy this film trailer from MovieClips.com:

Trailer #1

Yesterday, I spent the day in the lovely Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia.  While I didn't get to visit yet, Morris Arboretum holds an annual scarecrow contest, and this year is even having a special Harry Potter category!  (Look out for upcoming Harry Potter Weekend post.)  I will definitely be stopping by to vote.  The scarecrows are already up and will be on display until October 17th.  I highly suggest you swing by and check it out if you're local.

When I got home from walking the strip, I was beat.  So I plopped on the catch and pulled up the onDemand menu.  Searching for something scary, I instead landed on Megamind - which I thoroughly enjoyed!  I believe the super hero category has a place in the 31 Days of Halloween, and so it shall here.  With characters voiced by the the brilliant minds of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, David Cross and Brad Pitt, how could we go wrong?  Oh, and did I mention some pretty kick-ass music?  Check it out:

We Meet Again

I actually picked this film to watch so that I could get work down while I used it more as background noise.  That didn't work out.

Finally in my backwards trot, I watched me some Betelgeuse on Sunday.  As I watched, I began to list all the reasons why I love that movie.  And well...  maybe I'll finish it the next time I watch for you.  Jump in the line?

Day 2: A look back at a pre-October Halloween-filled day!

I just watched the Philadelphia Eagles lose.  Miserably.  So now I'm going to look back at this past Thursday - a very good day, indeed!

We began the day with a trip to Linvilla Orchards to scout out our first carving pumpkins of the season.

(photo credit: linvilla.com)

This is always a process.  I have to circle all of the barrels of pumpkins at least twice, and if whoever I'm with points out a good one?  I can't have that pumpkin now.  My hunt.  My kill.

During my search, though, I came across this interesting type of squash.  Obviously, I needed to pose the squash for a photo op as soon as I realized the squash had nipples.

Meanwhile, boyfriend giggled but pretended to not know me.

After I made my kill, we delivered our respective pumpkins to my car then grabbed a quick lunch there before heading home.

Before digging in, I prepped the area where the feeding would begin.  (I'm not sure when I decided to run with the lioness metaphor throughout the blog post.)  I spread old newspaper on the floor in front of the TV, placed a bowl in between where the two of us would be working for seeds, then placed two trash bags on either end for us to dispose of the unwanted innards.  Why on the floor, though?  And in front of the TV?  To watch Rocky Horror Picture Show, of course!  (By the time we were all finished, we were halfway into a second showing of it...)

I Can Make You a Man

(watch Sweet Transvestite and Time Warp clips on other Halloween Spot blog posts)

I was going to post their Creature of the Night clip, but clearly there just isn't enough Tim Curry in that one.  Anyway, boyfriend went with a more traditional carving while I tried my hand at a different technique in doing Jack Skellington.  He ended up looking a little apprehensive, maybe indifferent, but I think the character came across.

After admiring the Jack-o'-Lanterns in the dark...

...it was time to attack the seeds!  I look forward to roasted pumpkin seeds all year long - easily one of my favorite snacks.  And these didn't disappoint!  You can find my easy roasting recipe here.  I had to use vegetable oil this time around as we were out of olive oil, but I don't recommend it.  Olive oil, in my opinion, yields the best flavored pumpkin seeds.   Mmm...

31 Days of Halloween: Day 1

I do this blog differently every year.  (And not at all on purpose.)  So this year, lets take a look at how I'm spending my October, a.k.a. my 31 days of Halloween.

My day started off by happily stumbling upon the very beginning of Ghostbusters on VH1.  For the past couple years, I've been trying to figure out how I can get my hair that big to be Dana (as Zuul) for Halloween.  After watching the flick this time around, I still haven't figured it out.  Anyway, here's a clip from the film in case I've put you in the mood and you need your fix:

I Want You Inside Me

Aside from being appropriate to my comment, I tried to pick a different clip from Ghostbusters that I've yet to feature on this blog.  (Although you can still watch "He Slimed Me" in it's original Halloween Spot post - just another great clip from a great flick!)



After watching Ghostbusters in it's entirety (and losing that portion of the day to be productive,) I unwrapped the new gravestones I bought and placed them outside.  (purchased at Target and Party City)  One "stone" in particular had a job: I was making a grave site this year!

Of course, just like when baking, I never have all the components I need when I start a project.  For the grave site, I also needed some bones and some loose soil.  I made a pit stop at the local Halloween Adventure first, since I haven't visited it yet this season.  It must be said, I was incredibly disappointed!  Their stock was less than impressive, and what they did have was way overpriced.  Oh well!  I knew where I could grab some bones; I had eyed up Target's Bag of Bones on a previous trip.  A little pricey for being styrofoam ($20,) but I needed them to do the job.  Then I ran over to good ol' Home Depot and grabbed the cheapest bag of soil I could.  And I paid for it.  It smelled... unnatural.

Next, I laid out the bones to get an idea of which ones I would use and about where they would go.

Two reasons I didn't use all the bones in that bag.  1) I thought this would give a better creepy effect, and 2) I now have extras in case any little assholes decide to grave rob.


To lay the soil, I shoveled it bit-by-bit into a bowl to break it up (as it was pretty damp) and to be able to spread it more easily.  This process took a little while, but I thought the outcome was pretty damn good!

I used up the entire bag here, yet some of the ground beneath came through in blades of grass and leaves.  That is A-OKAY.  I plan on spreading another bag of soil over the "grave" closer to the date of our shindig to make it look "fresh."

WHOA!  I missed mentioning an important part of my Autumn-y day!  I had also stopped by Starbucks during my errand-running and grabbed a tasty Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino to make the day more complete :)

photo credit: starbucks.com

Time to jump in the deep end of the Halloween Season

It's always this time of year when I realize how incredibly behind I am on Halloween preparations.  I spend the summer casually going over past plans and ideas thinking about how far away the season is, then go on family vacation for a week in the middle of September.  And here I am.  There's only *looks at calendar * 44 DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN!!  

You may think that's a lot, but ohhoh, no.  Especially when my big party falls on the weekend prior to Halloween weekend.  Now I only have five weeks to get ready!  Complain as I'd like, it's time to really get into now.

So what's there to do before the big day?  Well, the invitations have gone out and RSVPs are beginning to trickle in.  We have our basic menu that we use every year, but I'll need to nail down the themed treats in the next couple of weeks.  Normally this consists of me thinking I can create all these fabulously decorate sweet and savories and maybe two of them actually come into fruition...

Perhaps most timely at this point are the decorations!  Bin after orange-and-black bin will be brought down from the attic this week for me to sort through and distribute about the house and exterior.  Then I'll decide that I need knew decorations - because obviously I don't have enough!  This year is slightly different, though.  I've already decided on a project: a giant, frightening scarecrow!  One that will hide and loom just around the corner for approaching guests.  I already anticipate a lot of blood (both fake and real,) sweat -- I want this thing to be HUGE-- and tears will go into this.  If it doesn't work, I'll cry.  If it works, I'll cry harder.  And maniacally.  

So here's fair warning: I'll (hopefully) be posting throughout this little project of mine.  Be prepared to cringe, to laugh, and even scream - I hope in terror and not in frustration like I do every Sunday at the Eagles.

Cirque du Freak: New seasonal must!

Why, hello there!  It's been quite a while.  Just the other day, I was planning on writing the first post of the Halloween season tomorrow, September 1.  However, I began watching Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant about an hour ago and knew it would be perfect!

Wait.  An hour long movie?  No, I just didn't want to wait until the end in case I forgot something brilliant I wanted to say.  (Not like anything brilliant is going to pop up in this post...)

So Cirque du Freak.  "Isn't it that movie that came out a couple of years ago?"  Yes!  "Oh yeah, I meant to see that in theaters, but..."  Sadly, me too.  Why now?  I was looking for a flick to watch the other day and came across nothing appealing but this (under HBO's onDemand list.)  OF COURSE I had to leave the house about five minutes into but luckily remembered to pick it tonight.  Still haven't finished it yet, though, so I can't give my full analysis of it.

In order to introduce the film (somewhat) properly, here is the film synopsis provided by IMDB:

A young boy named Darren Shan meets a mysterious man at a freak show who turns out to be a Vampire. After a series of events Darren must leave his normal life and go on the road with the Cirque Du Freak and become a Vampire.

That's a bit bleaker than I thought it would be.  Oh well.  That might help illustrate why I never ended up seeing this movie during its theatrical release.

1. The plot from the trailer just didn't grab me enough.
2. John C Reilly has been growing on me as an actor - I truly underappreciated him before.  (Crap! My pause just quite and the onDemand menu came on...)  There were no other actors in the film that would normally be a draw for me - and I had no idea then that Willem Defoe was in it!
3. There must have been something [better] out.  Or I was broke.

Okay, so why do I like it now?  I'm not totally sure, but I'm totally entertained!  I like the look of the film, the feel and even the cast.  So far, there's been nothing too corny, considering the topic at hand.  I even like the score here!  It reminds me of the compositions used in Lemony Snicket.  Wait...  No.  False alarm, just a coincidence.

Oh, and speaking of cast, I challenge any Fringe fans out there to not be irked by Cirque.  (hehe)  There's a character that from his first appearance, I couldn't explain why he seemed so familiar to me.  Ready?  It's the Observer!!  Truly, this is a dorkfest flick.

My point here, though, is to give this movie a try.  Especially and certainly if you love Halloween like I do.  I will be going on Amazon shortly - wait - ah! Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant - and purchasing the film to be a regular Halloween season watch.  It's just a fun film - so far.

Now back to the film!

Afterthoughts: like I said before, this movie is just entertaining in it's ways.  I've commented on nothing of it's structure, so don't analyze what I said; take it for what it is.

This movie has the ending for a sequel, however, I see no notion of a followup film anywhere on IMDB...

Cirque du Freak, the first book of the series in which this film was based on, was published in 2000.  Charlaine Harris released her first book in the Southern Vampire Series in 2001.  (Not to mention Anne Rice's novels.)  The first Twilight series book was published in 2005, with hardly any original content.  And which is making all the money? Simply frustrating. 

You're invited... It's that time again.

Halloween in April: Meet Slimer!

He Slimed Me
Ghostbusters at MOVIECLIPS.com

This film is so much fun - the actors, the music, the great 80s effects - how could you not love it?

Halloween in April: Last year's Halloween mix

Here is the playlist that I came up with for last year's party.  Although, it was hugely under-appreciated due to the Phillies game that every demanded be on...  I won't ever let an Eagles game get in the way of my wedding game, but that pushed me over the edge!

So why post this now?  I started planning for that party around this time last year.  Really.  So I was wondering if anyone had any good ones to add to list for next year.  Can you help a ghoul out?

Halloween 2010 Playlist

Thriller - Michael Jackson

I Put A Spell On You - Creedence Clearwater Revival

This Is Halloween - Marilyn Manson

Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell

Shout At The Devil - Motley Crue

Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper

If I Was You Vampire - Marilyn Manson

Time Warp - Original Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast

(Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Superstitious - Stevie Wonder

Witchy Woman - Eagles

People Are Strange - The Doors

I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & The Sunshine Band

Boom Boom Ba - Metisse

The last one, since I'm sure that's the one no one would recognize, is a song used in many of the episodes of the vastly underrated show Dead Like Me.  As for the others on the list, I spent an awful lot of time coming up with them - I looked online, went through every iTunes Halloween list and browsed my entire library of songs.  Now, I do have other things that I play during the night like spooky sound effects, Tubular Bells, and the score to Sleepy Hollow.  There are also some songs that I just didn't want to include.  For example: Matt & Kim's "Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare," which just would have been to cheery for my theme of the night.

So what's good?  Should I include songs like "Zombie" or "Bad Moon Rising"?  I also tried to keep in mind the audience, although, to be honest that audience ranged from 3 to big kids that fall under the "senior citizen" demographic.

Help me out.  Let me know!  If you frequent my parties, what do you want to hear?

Halloween in April: I Put A Spell On You

I love Hocus Pocus.  But don't worry, I love CCR too!  Unfortunately, this was the best quality that I could find to share with you today.

However, if you would like to buy the film, check out the link to the left, or rent a digital copy here.  OR buy the original CCR song here.  Or don't; just sit there and stare.  I don't care.  :p