The Bride

If you're in the Los Angeles area, the L.A. Opera Orchestra has something beautiful for the Spooky Season!

Break out the hairspray and spend Halloween with Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff! This year, our hugely popular annual celebration of horror and live music at the breathtaking Theatre at Ace Hotel presents film director James Whale's chilling The Bride of Frankenstein, with one of the most iconic "wedding" scenes in cinematic history.

As this 1935 horror classic plays out larger than life on the silver screen, the magnificent musicians of the LA Opera Orchestra, conducted by Jenny Wong, perform Franz Waxman’s groundbreaking original soundtrack score live. It's the ultimate cinematic experience!

 It's happening October 27th and 28th! Get tickets here.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

This post contains links which take you over to Amazon and I might make a small commission for qualifying purchases, though it's more likely I get turned into a newt.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Lon Chaney in all his glory. Gorgeous sets. Melodrama. And horror.

There's no school like the old school!

Universal Rushmore

I caught this on Eric Pigors' Facebook page. A little research revealed that yes, you, too can be the proud owner of a Universal Horror Mount!

Lightning not included.

The Cliffs---of INSANITY!!!

She's alive! ALIVE!!!

To say that it's been busy, prepping for Scare LA, searching for a job, having my tiny business audited by the I.R.S., is to make a pretty hefty understatement. 

When I noticed this morning I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks, I could only sigh and remind myself that the blog is not on the priorities list right now. Making product and getting everything ready for the show (and my accountant) is at the top of the list, with looking for a job running a close second.

The great news is, the new kiln is running like a champ. I've had friends over to help me glaze so I can have as much ready for Scare LA as possible, and they worked their butts off in 105 degree weather to give me a leg up. The results have been great!

I found myself praying "The Bride" would make it through o.k. I had nightmare visions of the plate twisting in the heat of the kiln and splitting, like the one in this post from last year. I spent about eight hours painting the glazes on to get her to look right, and I would have been crushingly disappointed, to say the least!

I was pleased to see that at last, one of my large bowls turned out well, plus some of the mugs I put in at the last minute. (There's another load of high-fire stoneware mugs and pint glasses in the kiln as we speak, and I may leave for L.A. tomorrow, rather than Friday, as originally planned, so, sort of worried about them cooling off in time to pack them and take them with me!)

In any case, I hope to see some of you there. My booth is 415. I'll be teaching my class around 2:30 or so on Saturday afternoon, so don't look for me in my booth between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM!

Cheers!

Cooling From the Heat of the Mad Laboratory

Better pics later, maybe. This girl is heading to Abel's with me tomorrow! 

Maybe I'll get the Hallowe'en Tree plate done after Hallows. I seem to have run out of time!

Vintage Universal Studios Hollywood

I swear, I never worked there in Food Service as a teenager. (O.K., I did.) I also swear, I never was caught sneaking onto the back lot and into the tour, either. (Never convicted, Sir. Never convicted...)

But Pumpkinrot's recent post brought this to mind, and being as how this is Summer (though not the 4th of July weekend), and the last "living" Bruce has been found, I had to share this, circa 1989: