This Too Shall Pass, Too

Most of you have probably seen the OK Go video I posted a little while back, and maybe you wondered where you could get the audio track for the music video of "This Too Shall Pass." Well, they're offering a free MP3 download of that on the OK Go site, so mosey over there if you're interested.

Skele-cat

Source.

New Look for Haunt Cast!

Chris Baker has been working his white man's ass off on getting the Haunt Cast website redesigned and up, and the result is fantastic! Bop on over there to listen to the latest show and drop him a line telling him what you think about our new look.

Oh, and you could also have a fun time with a certain segment. Hint, hint...

Happy Birthday, Johnny!

Pumpkin Rot was kind enough to remind me of the Man in Black's birthday, so heeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrre's Johnny!

It's Perfect! We'll Take It!

Source.

Source.

Source.

Bloodbath Shower Gel

I noticed that Spinning Hat has a new release coming up from their "Bloodbath" product line: their Bloodbath Shower Gel.

Just when you thought Spinning Hat was all bloodied out, what should creep out from the dark shadows of our design studio, but the latest addition to the famous Blood Bath family – our Blood Bath Shower Gel.

Now you can bathe yourself in true horror movie style, and recreate your favourite scenes from Dracula, Psycho, and Twilight with our ultra realistic bag of blood shower gel.


Forget about Cocoa Butter and Honey Jojoba, all the vampires nowadays are washing in cherry scented bags of blood shower gel – didn’t anyone tell you? So after a tough day battling against werewolves and the armies of undead zombies, what better way to freshen up before nipping out for a bite to eat down your local morgue, than a hot shower and a good scrub down with our cherry scented Blood Bath Shower Gel.

It will be available for order in April in the U.K., but my guess is that Think Geek will have it around July or August, as that's how it worked out for their Bloodbath Shower Curtain and Bloodbath Bath Mat. Hopefully, they will do the same with this. I think one or two of these hanging around in the shower at Halloween will suitably chill the blood of any houseguests one might have...

I Need Your Help-Flashmob Wanted!

Don't worry. I don't need to borrow money or a kidney, in case you were concerned! I just want to throw this out to my readers and see if something can be pulled together.

Back in January, I posted about the flashmob that was filmed in Antwerp, dancing to The Sound of Music. I've been thinking about it ever since, and I really need someone to pull a flashmob together for my street on Halloween night to help raise money for the high school art department. If anyone knows anyone who can choreograph a dance (to the music, "This is Halloween," of course!), has some flashmob experience (is that actually possible? Seems like an oxymoron!) and let me know what I need to do, that would be fantastic.

It's become more important as I've just found out that no less than three more art classes have been completely cut from the curriculum for Fall semester. I really want to draw attention to the arts, and I think playing on the flashmob craze would go a long way to doing that.

Thanks in advance for your help, everyone! I know there's a miracle out there, waiting to happen!

Spinning Hat Does It Again

From the folks who brought you the Bloodbath Shower Curtain, the Gay Bar.

What would you prefer; a fight club or a gay bar? Well, whatever your preference, we’re sure you’ll love our kitsch, camp, queen of the bathroom – Gay Bar (of soap).

Straight, gay, bi-sexual, transsexual, metrosexual, or just downright sexual – everyone is welcomed with (clean and perfumed) open arms at our Gay Bar. Just like at the YMCA, “you can get yourself cleaned, you can have a good meal, you can do whatever you feel” Well we can help out with the cleaning bit, but you will have to sort out your own meal I am afraid.



So, indulge yourself in our wonderfully fragrant rose scented lather, forget about your worries, rest your weary feet, and treat yourself to a bit of Gay Bar goodness.



Warning: Not suitable for people uncomfortable with their sexuality

You could use it before sitting down to watch this:

Funnies

I've been lucky enough to connect with Lauriebeast, a great Halloween propbuilder and witty broad! You may have heard her interview with Chris Baker on Haunt Cast. She had a few funnies she put together on Facebook, and was kind enough to allow me to use them here.

Shit My Dad Says

I just found this new-to-me Twitterer through Facebook. The title should say it all.

http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays

Make 'N Take

At a make 'n' take this weekend with my CalHaunts buds. It's on making a foam mask-head, and you wish you could be there with me, don't you? I'm really looking forward to connecting with everyone again. It's been awhile since the last meet, and I've been jonesing!

Hope you get a chance to do some building this weekend!

Awards Time!

Forever ago, February 4th to be exact, Her Most Gracious Majesty, the Frog Queen, bestowed upon this humble one the "Best Blog Comments Award," and she urged all recipients to pass it on.

Belatedly, I'm passing it on, but with one initial note: I can't pass on the Best Comments Award to the person who deserves it most because I just got it from her. Nearly every post I make, the Frog Queen has some quip or comment for, and I've come to look forward to her comments. Thanks, FQ. Love you! Love your show!

That being said, onwards!

Mr. Macabre, of Mister Macabre's Halloween Cerebrations: blog bud and a man who never fails to crack me up with his blog and his comments.

Dawn, of Wacky Whimsy, always has something positive or pithy to say. And don't tick her off, either! You should see what she posted at Frog on the Pumpkin when the Frog Queen got dissed!

Pam, of Labyrinth Creations, who is one of those folks whom nothing slips by, and she's not afraid to say what's on her mind.

My Ghoul Friday, for her very welcome observations and advice in the art field.

Now, it's up to you to spread the love!

1) Link back to the blog/blogger who nominated you and say a few kind words.

2) Paste the picture of the award in your award post.


3) Nominate bloggers you think deliver great comments to your blog.

4) E-mail/post/tweet or do whatever you need to do to inform these bloggers they have been nominated for an award.

Friday Laughs

Off topic, but fun. Have a great weekend, All!

My Birthday Is Coming Up

I want one. I just find the music selection odd; it sounds like a modern "sensitive" porn soundtrack.

Hmm. Fog porn???

The Wolfman

For Valentine's Day, my Sweetheart took me to see The Wolfman. Reviewers have mostly panned this movie, wanting more depth to the characters, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I try to keep in mind that critics are just now coming off of Avatar/Pocahontas, and everything that isn't amazing 3D will suffer for it.

Before I give you my quick review, I have a confession to make, one that I've made before but really has relevance here.

A movie really has to be absolute shite for me not to like it. I'm not overly-analytical about nuances of the acting, character motivation and whatnot. I go to be entertained, not bored. I don't need explosions every seven minutes to wake me up. I resent when I'm being treated by the writers as an idiot who can't write her own name. I really resent rip-offs of other movies-like the trailer of Repo Men I saw while waiting for The Wolfman to start. It's a rip-off of Repo! The Genetic Opera and I am astounded that there really are no other scripts in Hollywood of original stories to make into films. But I digress.

The Wolfman was a fun movie. There. I said it. I didn't have one minute of saying in my head "Boring! Get on with it!" The whole look of the film was stunning-dark and brooding, as would be expected, but still gorgeous. I now have a new standard to work towards on my tombstones, that's for sure! I loved the interior of Talbot Manor and fully intend to buy a mansion just like that as soon as I win bazillions in the Lottery.

As expected both Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins turned in noteworthy performances. Hopkins plays the Lord of the Manor-cold and distant-to a t. During one speech, you can see a tiny bit of Hannibal Lecter peeking out, and that's wonderful. I did expect Del Toro's character to have more of a reaction to becoming a werewolf-outrage, torment, something, but his reaction was understated and I guess that worked, too. I would have been more drawn in had he shown more emotion about it.

There is gore, as one one would expect of a Wolfman movie. Limbs fly around quite a bit during the scenes where Larry Talbot is the monster. The visual effects are stunning, particularly the transformation scenes, and you can almost touch Victorian London. I'm sure my dad will be watching these for next year's Visual Effects Awards.

The bottom line is, I found this to be an entertaining movie. There are enough startles to make your loved one leap into your lap-Mr. ShellHawk actually jumped a few times-so make sure you take the opportunity to hold them close. And for goodness sakes-just have fun with it!

Work in Progress

Two clay classes are starting to yield some results. I'm certainly not the fastest sculptor in town, and there are times when I have to wait for the clay to dry to a certain point, which slows the project down even more. Here's the beginning of a series I'm doing, inspired by Charles De Lint's books. These were taken at the beginning of the class period, and looked much different by the end.

I'm hoping they'll survive the long weekend well. You can see my incredibly high-tech tools laying next to my piece. Yes, they are chopsticks. They're currently propping up my piece while it waits for me to come back on Wednesday.

True Love

What says True Love like going to see The Wolfman with my Darling Adorable, Mr. ShellHawk? That's our plan for today.

Thanks, Sweetheart. I'd marry you all over again, even knowing that you snore like a freakin' bandsaw!

Nesting/Jenny's Quest

It's another cold day with a chance of rain. We had a tantalizing glimpse of the sun yesterday, but it was just a tease. It's o.k., though. In a few months it will be a bazillion degrees in the Garage of Doom, and I'll be sweating out my body weight at the rate of once per hour.

Today, I'll be working on a couple of sculptural pieces, then it's off to a meeting with the teachers of the local high school to see if we can collect more money for the Art Department this year.

Speaking of collecting money, I'd like to turn you all on to a charity here in our country that is pretty close to my heart. It's called "Jenny's Quest."

Those of you  who have been reading my blog from the beginning may be aware that Mr. ShellHawk and I have some good friends who lost their daughter and only child to cancer. The cancer itself was a strange one I had never heard of-pediatric brain stem cancer. This particular cancer, as I understand it, remains a death sentence for the children who get it. After Jenny was diagnosed, the doctor regretfully told her parents that Jenny would have only one year left. Jenny passed one year later, almost to the day.

At the time Jenny and her family were battling this horrific disease, Mr. ShellHawk and I had just moved to Northern California. Mr. ShellHawk had known Jenny's dad through his work, and had known Jenny off and on since 2002. I didn't meet Jenny or her family until a few months before her passing, and I didn't want to intrude on the last months her family would have her around, so I visited only when invited, and sent good thoughts their way. That was all I felt I could do at the time. Now, I can make people aware of the situation and hopefully encourage them to help.

Jenny was a miracle child. A result of fertility treatments, Jenny grew to be an amazing old soul in a little girl's body. Like her parents, she did not easily suffer fools, she was creative, and she was wicked smart. When she passed, Mr. ShellHawk and I both felt her parents' grief; we, too had been through infertility treatments for years, though we weren't fortunate enough to have success. We still speak often about how hard it must be for them to have lost Jenny.

Anyway, soon after Jenny passed, her mother talked to me about the initial idea of Jenny's Quest. I have to say I really admire her (and her husband's) bravery and selflessness in starting such an ambitious charity project. I'll let it speak for itself-click here for their goals for their amazing outreach program.

I'll be putting a permanent link on this blog (and my future one, whenever I get around to moving it) to the Jenny's Quest donation page. If you can send them a donation of any size, you'll be helping families deal with this deadly disease.

Thanks, Guys.

Cheerful Tune, Dark Topic

Got 'Em!

Some of you may know that I was the lucky winner of Mr. Macabre's postcard giveaway, sponsored by UPrinting.com. I received them just a few days ago, and I was really pleased with the print quality and the service. See for yourself-if Blogger is working right, you should be able to click on the photo to enlarge.

The front is sort of business-card-ish, and I plan to use a gold metallic pen to fill out the back when I mail them out or start writing my manifesto. I'm excited that I get to use the first one on my jack-o-lantern winner, Toni!

If I had them to do over again, I would remember to put my stupid e-mail address on them! Oh, well. I guess I'll be perfect next week.

And the Winner Is...

Winner of new and improved jacko pot is- TONI!

Congratulations, Toni. Please e-mail me your name and address so I can mail your prize.

Thanks to everyone for entering and joining my blog!

Just Heard

NPR just announced that California residents can look forward to a 40% medical insurance premium increase. Could it be that the insurance companies have figured out that they can screw us with impunity because of the crap NOT happening with insurance reform in Washington?

Silly me. They already knew that.

News From the Nest

Well, kids, one more day to enter the ginormous 100th Follower Giveaway, so if you haven't commented on the original post and want to be entered, do it!

On another subject entirely, Yours Truly is most likely going to move the blog to a more website-friendly format. If you've popped by my site and noticed there hasn't been any activity for a while, it's because I simply hate the templates I'm forced to choose from and I don't have enough computer knowledge to revamp everything myself. (HTML is not my native language!)

My intention is to put up some how-to pages and have a look similar to Spooky Blue's. His site looks very organized to me and is user-friendly, a necessity in this day and age. Of course, my limitations remain both money and time, but I need to get on the ball as I plan to sell buttloads of jack-o-lantern pots this season, as well as expand to some other pieces as well. I hope to do all of it off my site, but if not, I'll probably go with Etsy since, unfortunately, eBay didn't generate the sales I had hoped it would. Hopefully, I'll be more visible and have better results if I move to where I can sell more easily. I'm in the process of getting various and sundry licenses, and I hope to have those by 2012, if the red tape is particularly thin ;o). Seriously, though, I'm hoping to have those sorted out in a couple of months. California is a place that says it loves small business, yet it's horrifically difficult for small businesses to operate here due to permits and fees. I'm very lucky that Mr. ShellHawk tells me to just get the permits and not worry about anything else. I'll have to do something nice for him soon...

In all my copious amounts of spare time, I'd like to get a logo designed-one that will lend itself to being used as a stamp like this- or for stationery and t-shirts. Davis Graveyard has one that is simple, distinctive, and elegant, and I find myself drooling over the concept. House Bloodthorn has a great-looking one, too. I need to decide if I want one logo to be used for all the art I make-not just Halloween-related, but "normal" stuff too-or if I want two distinct logos-one for Halloween and one for everything else. It would be a good idea to create year-round income, and not get pigeonholed into being "just Halloween" during the off-season, just because there are folks out there with deep pockets who'd be more interested in collecting other types of art. Have I mentioned that staying focused is a problem for me? Along with overthinking things?

*Sigh*

Where the REAL Action Is

My Hero

At last! Haunt Cast Boss caught on film! More elusive than Bigfoot, folks!


And ladies: he's single!

You Are Not From The Future

Twitterers!

I noticed I have a few new followers on Twitter. If you're one and haven't already, please leave me a comment at the original post of the 100th Follower Giveaway if you're interested in winning the Raku jack-o-lantern.

Thanks, and good luck!

Steve's Haunted Yard

I "met" this haunter through the Garage of Evil Yahoo Groups, and followed the link to the pictures of his yard haunt. I have to say, I really enjoy the atmosphere and the props. I hope you do, too!

More pictures here. The Forgotten Cemetery lives here.

Death and the Lady

A big thank-you to Spanky Haunt from the Creep Crafters Yahoo Group for this fun find!

http://212.227.136.88/press/

A Quick Note

Hey, Guys! I noticed that Blogger didn't post all the comments I o.k.'d, so if you made a comment and don't see one, please leave another comment so I can post it. I want to make sure all entries get credit!

Thanks!

Gee.

So, there seems to be an underwhelming response to winning the new pumpkin pot. I'll change the prize out to an orange one, if you would rather.

If you all really don't like that pot, would you drop me a comment and let me know what can be improved? Is it the glaze or the face? Honest constructive criticism is welcome.

I'm not fishing for compliments; I was considering doing Raku jack-o-lanterns to sell, but if there's no interest, I don't want to waste my time or resources. Consider yourselves my test market! Thanks!

Imbolc

Source

February 2nd is not just Punxsatawney Phil's day in the sun-or shadow, depending on the year. February 2nd is Imbolc, or Imbolg, an important pagan holiday which shockingly corresponds with the Catholic holiday of Candlemas or the Feast of Saint Brigid. (Gee, I wonder how that happened?)

Going back to the old pagan calendar, this day is about new things. The Bride (Brigid), an aspect of the Goddess, is young and all about new thoughts and inspirations, sweeping out the old and tidying up so new things have the space to be a part of life. It's a day of love and poetry, and of fertility and growth. If you remember, the original date of Candlemas was on February 14th, which, to me, ties in with fertility and love. The Bride brings forth the very first flowers, and her Groom is seen in the sun and the slow lengthening of days.

For us, in this modern world, Spring cleaning is probably in order so our dreams and intentions for the still-fresh year can have space to manifest. If you decide this is a good time for a purging of old things, try to clear your space with focused attention. Be in the moment as you get rid of things. Sometimes it helps to silently focus on the object you're getting rid of and thank it for its service before you take it off to Goodwill. This is a time to clear out old, useless thought processes that hold us back from our true purpose and happiness. If only we could dump those in the trash as easily as the broken toaster!

After you clear your space, fill it with your goals and intentions for the coming year. You don't have to create a lengthy list. In fact, fat lists are counterproductive as they splinter your focus. Make it short and simple, but focus on your desire while leaving room for an even better outcome than the one you're wishing for. You could light a candle for your wish, like you do on a birthday cake. This day is about bringing light back into the world, after all.

Oh, and don't forget the flowers!

100th Follower Giveaway

It happened! The 100th follower has joined my little coterie of fiends, and I promised you a giveaway for your trouble. Your prize is this little fella, fresh out of the Raku kiln this past Friday. He will be a hanging pot when he's done, which I think makes him extra-special. For those not familiar with the Raku glazing and firing process, you can look here at this post.

Here's how you enter the giveaway, and each way will get you an extra entry:

1) Become a new follower of this blog.

2) Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter.

3) Become a follower of mine on Twitter.

4) Blog about this giveaway.

5) Mention this giveaway in your Facebook Status Update with the web address.

6) Leave a comment on this blog entry.

For any mention of my giveaway, please leave me a web address so I can follow up. If you wish to remain anonymous, please leave me a way to identify you later.

Winner will be announced on Tuesday, February 9. Good Luck!

The Magic Number!

Thanks, Kids! The magic number has been hit. I will announce the official giveaway rules later today or tomorrow at the latest. But your prize has been chosen, and I think it's pretty cool. Hopefully you will, too. If not, please don't tell me. I'm very fragile!