Drive-In Graveyard

Drive-In Graveyard
Originally uploaded by Johnny Blough's K10D

So sad to see another one gone. Still, a beautiful shot of a historic theater - done using blue and green gelled LED flashlights on a full moon night.

Greedo's Revenge

At last Greedo will finally get another chance to prove that he did, indeed, shoot first.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-star-wars-in-3D-will-it-work-for-audiences.html

Is Lucas milking the Star Wars franchise to death? Most likely. Do I care? Not a bit - in fact I'm thrilled that I'll be able to take my kids to see them on the big screen as they were intended (even if that means sitting through the insufferably bad Episodes I and II...)

I Wanna Be Elected!

It's about time!

And amazing that it took this long to be put on the ballot - but such is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I can tell you this - when the Drive-In of the Dead finally opens its gates on Halloween, you'll see Alice Cooper already enshrined in our HOF!

Alice says: "Five guys starting a band, just hoping to meet girls and drink free beer, rehearsing and playing local bars five hours a night for the first few years - that was us," he said. "We came up with the theatrics and made every effort not to sacrifice the music one bit; we thought it was like our job to bring theatrics to rock 'n' roll."

Read more: http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/2010/09/alice-cooper-honored-by-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-nomination-touts-fellow-nominee-and-good-friends-.html?rss=rss-kabc-snippet-7694263

Ike Special

Not Halloween related, but such a great story that I had to share it. Kudos to the rival team for being a class act and letting this happen.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Down-syndrome-football-player-scores-TD-in-Washi?urn=highschool-272803

SCRE4M

Here's the first official image from the upcoming Scream 4 courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. Yes, you read that right: 4. Do we really need another Scream film - much less another trilogy? Do we really need another Lost Boys? Another Saw? Does Courtney Cox ever age? These are today's burning questions...

Thirsty?

A new (and some might say unnecessary) film by Dario Piana following the adventures of vampire hunter Edgar Frog is on the way. Now down on his luck, Frog gets one last shot at redemption when a rich vampire novelist hires him to save her son from the bloodsuckers. Also starring Jamison Newlander as the other Frog brother, The Lost Boys: The Thirst comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on October 12th for those who care.

Sleeping Creature

Frankenstein's Monster (Creature, Damnit!)
Originally uploaded by bog_king

"It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open . . ."

Eat, Sleep, Drink, Haunt

Just over a month to go before the big night (and less than an month before our annual Halloween party!) I've got a good start on the garage haunt and really hope to have it mostly completed by the end of this weekend - weather permitting. Unfortunately, the weather has not wanted to cooperate too much in September. It's been cold and dreary and wet (we had ten inches of rain in the past 24 hours!) - but you've got to push through if you want to stay on schedule. More of the same this weekend, so I'll be bundled up with the door half open to keep most of the rain out of the garage.

The inside decorations were pulled out of storage last weekend, and have been slowly going up around the house here and there. It shouldn't take too much to get the inside Halloween-ized for the party - we've got a good head start. The biggest obstacle is getting our annual Halloween poems and invites knocked out this weekend. These have been pushed to the back burner for too long and absolutely, positively HAVE to be finished this weekend. Once these chores are complete it's on to my own costume - and I've also had the urge to enter the Scarecrow Contest at this year's Fall Festival - so that's something to consider as well.

To top it all off, work is continuing at a frantic pace to get the Drive-In up and running in time for its Halloween debut. The snack bar was a shambles and had to basically be rebuilt. The projection booth and our dilapidated screen both need work as well. I've been putting in a lot of overtime to have everything 'just so' when we finally open our gate. Needless to say it's been a busy haunting season - even crazier than years past - which is something I swore I wouldn't repeat. Regardless, I'm enjoying myself and definitely looking forward to having you stop by the Drive-In - I think you'll like what you see.

Autumn Equinox

Super Harvest Moon
Originally uploaded by the queen of siam

When the moon is full, mankind is one.

Deathly Hallows

The new trailer is online for part one of the upcoming finale to the wizarding saga: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As a fan, I'm liking what I'm seeing!

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/

Edgar Allan Portrait

Edgar Allan Poe
Originally uploaded by Steve, H.

I would hang this in my house of Usher.

More Avett Art

Have you checked these guys out yet? Not only are they amazing musicians, but they are amazing artists as well. Head on over to their official site and give them a listen - you'll be glad you did.

www.theavettbrothers.com

O'zapft is

Munich's mayor has tapped the first keg, opening this year's annual Oktoberfest in southern Germany, where millions of guests from around the globe are expected to clink giant mugs of frothy beer to celebrate 200 years of the internationally famous festival.

To the accompaniment of the traditional 12-gun salute Mayor Christian Ude used two swift taps of his hammer to open the first keg today and declared in the local dialect 'O'zapft is', or 'It's tapped', signalling the opening of the beer festival that runs for the next 17 days.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313581/Oktoberfest-2010-200th-anniversary-beer-drinkers-ultimate-festival.html?ITO=1490

The Dead Are Rising!

I'm going to honest with you - I'm not much of a gamer. Although a child of the 80's, playing video games was never really my bag. I've got a couple of brothers that will play vids until dawn, but I've just never really had an interest. That changed somewhat when a buddy of mine (the 'P' in PZ Webdesign) borrowed me the hit X-box game: DEAD RISING.

I was amazed at how quickly I got pulled into this world - and while I've only just started, I'm eager to see what perils Frank the photojournalist gets into. The only problem - there's only 46 days left until Halloween. When am I going to find time to play?

McBrains?

Zombie Ordering at McDonald's
Originally uploaded by Aaron Landry

You gotta love zombie humor.

My Darling, My Darling, My Life & My Bride...

Happy birthday to the one that makes haunting worthwhile. Without you, sweetie, Halloween would just be another day. Hope you have a great day today - the kids and I love you very much!

Mini Monsters

One great memory I have from when I was real little - this goes back to around 1976 or so - is the old canning cellar my grandma had down in her basement. With a door to it straight out of The Evil Dead, this room was 'the forbidden zone' for my older brother and me. If you were brave enough to actually open the creaky door, the room had a single light-bulb with a string hanging down in the center of the room. We would dare each other to dash in and turn on the light (knowing full well the other brother would try to slam the door shut, leaving us to instant annihilation by the ghouls lurking in the shadows or, more likely, dropping stone dead from fright).

The best part of this room, however, were the models. My grandmother, never one to be overly sentimental - and definitely NOT the type to keep creepy monsters around - for some reason held on to my Uncle Chris's Universal Monsters models (I'm not an expert on the subject, but I believe these models were from around 1963 or so). Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Creature From the Black Lagoon - these plastic works of art both terrified and fascinated my young mind. Whenever we'd visit my grandparents I would try to resist the allure of these mini sculptures, but without fail I would find myself down in my grandmother's basement, standing at 'The Door,' my heart pounding and a lump in my throat.

Still to this day I hold the classic line-up of Universal Monsters in high regard - with all other monster movies paling in comparison to those great films from the Silver Age of horror. The above experience is probably why. As for the models, I don't know what ever happened to that evil line-up, but I sure wish I had them today - they'd probably be worth a mint.

Picture courtesy of: www.universalmonsterarmy.com

Creepy Crawly

Found this gentleman taking up residence in some of our flowers a few weeks back - a big boy, he had to easily be bigger than a fifty cent piece. Alas, he's gone now - I think our unusually cold September finally got to him, but the kids loved to look at him while he was here. He spun a massive web that was really beautiful when covered in dew, but man would he give you the heebie-jeebies when he moved...

Ulalume

An artist I've featured in the past - Katie Aguado has her own website now with canvases available to purchase. Check out her life-like portraits, and check out the amazing watercolor of Edgar Allan Poe she did (based on his poem 'Ulalume.')

It was hard by the dim lake of Auber, in the misty mid-region of Weir - it was down in the dank tarn of Auber, in the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir...

http://www.katieaguado.com/

Ichabod & The World of Tomorrow

Always on the lookout for great movies at bargain prices - I picked up the Disney classic The Adventures of Ichabod And Mr. Toad at a flea market today for the ridiculously low price of $3. That's a price even a penny-pincher like Ichabod Crane can't refuse - and is worth every one of those pennies simply for the Halloween sequence alone - a remarkable piece of animation that lives up to Uncle Walt's high standards. The Headless Horseman's introduction is truly a magical moment and one every lover of Halloween should own, ranking right up there with Disney masterpieces like Snow White and Fantasia in terms of artistic quality.

I remember watching a Disney special on TV when I was a kid that featured the Sleepy Hallow segment (I don't recall ever seeing the Mr. Toad part before for some reason) and being completely enthralled - and just a wee bit terrified - of the Headless Horseman. My six year old daughter just watched it and came running up the steps when it was done, saying: "It was awesome!"

Not to be outdone, I also picked up Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow at a garage sale yesterday for the rock bottom price of 75 cents! While not the instant classic of Ichabod & Mr. Toad, it still looks like a decent enough film that I should be able to get three quarter's worth of entertainment out of.

http://www.skycaptain.com/

The Things Behind The Sun

For some reason I have to wait until the air turns colder and the leaves start to change before I break out one of my favorite albums of all time: Nick Drake's 'Pink Moon.'

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea - but there is something about this album that speaks to me. It's easy to think of Drake as 'The Patron Saint of the Depressed,' but he was such a beautiful person, inspired lyricist, and amazing guitar player. Yes, the album is melancholy - which I suppose is why I wait for all the leaves and flowers to start dying before I give it a spin each year - but it is also so much more.

A poignant glimpse into a troubled soul and a troubled mind, some may say that 'Bryter Layter' is Drake's masterpiece, but I disagree. 'Pink Moon' is a nearly flawless album, and yes, I listen to much more obvious things as Halloween approaches (Midnight Syndicate, etc.) but this particular album is more chilling than anything MS could conceive of.

Give it a listen and see if you agree.

http://www.brytermusic.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake

The Man In Black Fled Across The Desert...

Huge news - looks like Stephen King's monumental work THE DARK TOWER is finally coming to the big screen! As a huge fan of King's masterwork, I'm thrilled - however, I can't say as I'm sold on Ron Howard directing. I realize this is too big of a job for someone like, say, Christopher Nolan or Peter Jackson to commit to, but... Ron Howard? Bleh. That does nothing for me. Sure, he's an oscar-winning director, but he just does not feel right to me. Too studio - too slick - too smiley. We need someone who can get gritty, down and dirty, just like the character of Roland. I'm hoping for the best, but my excitement is definitely tempered by the Howard/Grazer revelation.

The Dark Tower is a huge and epic series of books – so perhaps it's appropriate that it's getting a huge and epic adaptation. Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have closed a deal to adapt the famous Stephen King book series as both a movie trilogy and a TV series, which will be developed and produced together.

As reported back in April, the team behind A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code – Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman and Brian Grazer – are behind the adaptation, but it is only now being 100 percent confirmed that the rumored TV series is part of the deal.

Read more here:

http://movies.ign.com/articles/111/1119038p1.html

RIP Otho

Glenn Shadix, best remembered for his portrayal of a portly, pretentious designer in the metaphysical comedy "Beetlejuice," died Tuesday at his home in Birmingham. He was 58. The prolific actor had one of his closest professional relationships with director Tim Burton, who cast him in films like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Planet of the Apes" and "Beetlejuice," the 1988 horror comedy for which he is perhaps most widely remembered.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100908/ap_on_en_mo/us_obit_glenn_shadix_6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLOUqizemI0&feature=related

Bride of Hallowzing

For those wondering what Mrs. Hallowzing looks like, or why she puts up with my Halloween chicanery all year round - here she is! My beautiful wife picked up this really cool Halloween mask at Pier One the other day. She models it here in all its fanged grooviness. She says she has plans to put it on one of our mannequins, but after looking at this picture I think I might have other ideas...

[insert evil laugh]

Billy vs. Morality

Just finished reading Stephen King's latest: 'Blockade Billy' (with the bonus story 'Morality.') It's a quite small book that you can easily read in one sitting - I enjoyed this national past-time tale, but had a few problems with the ending. First off - for something that is basically a long short story, King throws in A LOT of swear words - even for him. I know this isn't Shakespeare and you have to expect some degree of vulgarity with Mr. King's works, but this entry was particularly crass with f-bombs being dropped in every other paragraph. A small point - but one worth mentioning if you think this is going to be a nostalgic baseball tome like King's Faithful - or even his little league short story Head Down.

The other problem I had with the book was the ending. King develops a marvelous build-up which I expected to pay off in one of two ways: the supernatural or espionage (I was wrong on both counts). Instead, we get a more mundane finale that, while violent, failed to really answer the question of WHY, exactly, the team was completely erased from the history books - a plot point used to great effect in the promotion of the book. The team actually gets to finish the season - but no explanation is ever put forth as to why this major league baseball team was disbanded at the end of the 1957 season.

Still, I found Blockade Billy to be an engrossing tale - one that lover's of King and/or the great game of baseball should enjoy. Morality, on the other hand, was a brutal little story that truly shocked me (something King hasn't done often in recent years). Violent, edgy, full of tension - Morality reads like one of King's darker tales from his early days. Again avoiding the leap into the paranormal - something I think King does all to easily anymore - this grim tale is grounded in a perverse reality that you might not expect. Not to be read by those with a sensitive stomach, Morality comes out the real winner in the pages of Blockade Billy.

Big Boy

It appears from the video that the rowers didn't notice the movement on the river bank. Understandably, they were focused on running the rapids, and the cameraman was focused on keeping the other boat in frame.

The location of the incident, and the physical appearance of the figure, and the behavior of the figure are consistent with a sasquatch. Nothing about the figure, or the incident in general, points to a hoax or a case of mistaken identity.

http://www.bfro.net/news/mckenzie.asp

Z-Day

Took the kids to an amusement park yesterday to celebrate the waning days of summer. On the way home I begged the missus to stop by a Half Price Books. Glad I did. Found this beauty - hardcover First Edition - on sale for only $16.00. This should make for pretty good autumn reading as I make last-minute preparations for the Drive-In's grand opening...

Moosejawed

Tried a sampler platter of various beverages while on vacation in the Wisconsin Dells. The Pumpkin Spice Ale was divine...

Pumpkin Spice Ale
This medium-bodied ale has a brilliant orange color just like a pumpkin! The mash was cooked with 120 lbs. of pumpkin meat along with various barleys & wheat. This unique ale was also dry-spiced with cinnamon & nutmeg. (ABV 5.3%)

http://www.dellsmoosejaw.com/

Now Playing

Can't wait!

http://www.vivamachete.com

10.31.10

It's coming...

www.driveinofthedead.com

Avett Art

Wish I could get my hands on this poster - it's totally frame-worthy. If you haven't given The Avett Brothers a listen, it's the perfect time of year to do so...

http://www.theavettbrothers.com