What happened on Wednesday October 31st?

Happy Halloween everyone. Enjoy the screaming goblins and ghosts. Try not to leer at and underaged vampiras. We had a lot of fun tonight, Middle disappeard, Eldest realized Halloween is just for kids and youngest had a great time with her mom. Would you believe people were taking pictures of my pumpkins, weird.

Three doors down (not the band) the had a haunted house, late teens/early twenty males scaring the life out of any teenage girl, was funny to watch these girls running down the street screaming.

Last night wife and I stayed up getting everything ready for All Hallow's Eve .. Wife doing youngests costume. She is going out as a Dark Fairy .. Wife did a incredible job on the costume, just her frustraion level maxed out with all of us. Middle is going out with her girl friends, she's 13 don't ya know and wants nothing to do with her old man, Eldest says he is going up to his cousins to go Trick or Treating .. I'm supposed to drive him (I don't know, don't you think 15 is to old to be going out?)

I've done up four pumpkins .. a dragon, a spider, a upside down bat and a traditional Jack O'Lantern .. carving pumpkins is my Halloween, this is what gets me excited about the day. I love to see the kids eyes when they see the pumpkins.

Any way, I've joined a group over at Facebook, 1,000,000 Strong For Rick Mercer, which made me think of Rick's outing with the Toronto Rock. Low and behold, someone has posted it on Facebook.
Enjoy!, this is classic Mercer.

What happened on Monday October 29th?

Hallow-meme from Samurai Frog

1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction?
Not a big fan of horror (I’m just a big wuss, I get scared very easily) but I think the best I’ve ever read was Stephen King’s It

2. Who is your favorite monster?
The “Alien” from Ridely Scotts Alien series. I don’t think I have ever been able to watch one of these movies right through.

3. What horror movie gives you the most chills?
The Thing From Another World. Yes I am 44, but I have never watched this movie all the way through. I remember sitting in the family room on a Saturday afternoon watching this movie with my sisters. I hid behind the couch.

4. Freddy versus Jason?
Never seen them, never will. Well I did watch some of a Jason movie. Back before we we had even thought of getting married (23 years ago) we were at wifes girlfriends house watching a movie. I had turned around to talk to (future) Wife, turned back just as a fist went through a car movie. I did a one eighty and ened up with my head in wifes lap. I did not live that one down for a long time.

5. Ghosts or goblins?
Goblins, Ghosts I can handle they are insubstantial so they can do anything to you.

6. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?
Saw the black hearse being drawn by 8 black horses racing through the sky. (great grandmother told me that it meant someone had died.) I think I was drunk, so does it really count?

7. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, but how can they hurt you.

8. Favorite Halloween costume?
I guess I was about eight or so, I was a pirate. Mom did the charcoal beard, eye patch, and crape paper around the top of my rubber boots to make them look like pirate boots. I had just seen Captain Blood for the first time.

9. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your fantasy costume be for this Halloween?
One of the Cylons from the original Battlestar Galactica

10. When was the last time you went trick or treating?
I was ten, the first year we moved to Barrie. I went out a Columbo. People in the neighbourhood asked me why I was out for Halloween, “was I not to old?

11. What's your favorite Halloween candy?
Sponge Toffee .. one of my teachers in public school lived up the street from us. She gave this out ever year.

12. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.
I remember having a flying dream once where I suddenly lost the power to fly and fell out of the sky.

13. What is your supernatural fear?
Have always had problems with werewolves, not sure why but I still get creeped out walking in the bush late at night.

14. What is your creepy-crawlie fear?
None .. okay maybe I have problems with seeing a mass of cockroaches .. but they just ugly.

15. Would you ever stay in a real haunted house overnight?
Yes, or what I always thought of a haunted house. My Great Grandmother had a bedroom that was always locked, I used to image that one of my mothers relatives was locked away in there, and would try and get out to kill us at night. This was a big old house that only my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother lived in. I found it dark and kind of smelly.

16. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?
I do both, tell me what you think?

17. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?
Wife likes to go nuts, so we have spider webs, spiders, bats, Halloween lights.. etc. Me I would be happy with just the pumpkins. I bought four today.

18. Do you think Halloween is too commercial these days? Do you miss classic Halloween costumes or traditions from your childhood?
Way to commercial, as a kid Halloween would always come about as kind of a surprise, you’d have a few days to get your costume together and that was it. Youngest has been talking about Halloween for a month now. I'm dating myself here but I can still remember getting homemade candy apples, fudge and sponge toffee. We've spent about $60 on candies (we bought the chocolates early on sale). We should be seeing about 150 kids tonight.

What happened on Sunday October 14th?

Rome at night, yes that bus is really that small.

Arrrgh!!!! I am so sick.

I had a great time at Gogol Bordello. Awesome concert. I got there early, a bit to early 8pm. Got a great spot, right up to the front, only about 2 deep from the stage ... the opening act, Dub Trio, didn't come on til 9pm. Dub Trio is a pretty cool band, Bass Guitar Drums doing Art Rock/Metal/Punk/Dub .. really interesting but LOUD. You could feel the bass cords inside your body.

By the time Gogol Bordello came on I was soaked with sweat. My hair, shirt and pants were wet with sweat. I have not be crowded by people since I don't know when. The music was great, LOUD again (next time I will bring ear plugs) Then the mosh pit began right behind me. Started getting slamed from all sides, claustraphobia clicked in and I had to get out. Finally after wading through the pit, I got to the outside and was able to watch the concert in some peace. Occasionally getting you foot steped on, slammed by someone falling out of the pit. But hey I had a great time. Can't remember the songs, in fact the guy I was with said afterword that it was the best concert that he had ever been at where he could not understand a word being sung.

Anyway Gogol Bordello was great, but it made me so sick. I still haven't gotten over the cold. Had to take a day off of work on Thursday. Then I spent most of today in bed.

Enjoy a couple of cover versions:

Willie William-Armagideon Time (Download)
The Clash-Armagideon Time (Download)
The Who-Baba O'Riley (Download)
Waco- Baba O'Riley (Download)

What happened on Friday October 5th?

Wow, I've got the greatest Wife in the world. Tuesday nights are swamped for us, we have swimming lessons for Youngest, then piano and drum lessons for her and Eldest (Eldest does the drum lesson). So from 6 pm to 8pm on that night we are on the go. Well, Wife is okay with me going out to see Gogol Bordello next Tuesday. I am so pumped, this is a great band that is hard to pigeon hole. They are from New York, play eastern European gypsy punk rock? Anyway I'm off to see them next Tuesday at the Kool Haus all because I have the sexist, hottest, coolest Wife alive.

I've got to say, Happy Birthday Dad (he's 75 today.)

We had some really interesting adventures while in Europe, we would head off as a group and do our own thing. When we in Monaco, one of the books Wife head said that we should see Menton, France. So off on the train we went to Menton. It was a very pretty city, but not really worth the time we lost in Monte Carlo. Any way, while walking and trying to find these very old churches that the guide book said we need to see we came across the most incredible set of stairs. (all we seemed to do on this cruise was stairs, would you believe I lost weight on a cruise!)

You start at this pretty little plaza, water fountain built into a wall, cafe to one side, pastry shop beside it and touristy stores beside them .. You begin climbing this set of stairs.

You take a jog to the left, then a turn to the right, another turn to the right, a left turn (these steps are really getting steep!)
You go through this very steep, dark, damp tunnel and come out in a sun lit church plaza


Another adventure from our Western Mediterranean cruise on the MSC Cruise Line.






Have fun listening to Gogol Bordello:
Marinella (download the mp3)
Supertheory of Supereverything (download the mp3)
Bordello Kind of Guy (download the mp3)

Remember go out and support a band, see the concert, buy the CD, get yourself a T-Shirt. They aren't doing it for free.

I'm being watched. No really not just by the kittens. Mgmt is watching everything we do on the computers at work so we have to be careful.

I will try to post from home but we shall see.