Monthly Archives: October 2009

Holidays

Halloween frights

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Fright Night!

Well Halloween has come and gone. It was pretty special this year. We were worried about the weather, since it was very windy and rained all week, and the forecast was for more of the same. But the day started sunny and warm and kept that way all day. The evening came and it was clear and no wind. So that was very cool. It’s great when the kids can come out in their costumes without having to worry about rain gear.

Fiona and friend Mike and Fiona came out and helped with the festivities this year, too. Fiona got all done up in a witch’s outfit, and with Pam as a Ghoul, the kids had a double dose of fright! I tell you, Fiona had a great cackle, and the karaoke machine projected her voice – it was great!

Pam screams One lady told us that her daughter had been calling our house “the creepy house” all week and couldn’t wait to come and get some candy from us. But when she got to the house, and saw all the strobes flashing, the creepy red eyes gleaming, the smoke and the screaming, she couldn’t even look at Pam or Fiona! Her mother had to carry her down the driveway, but no way was she going to look! Pretty cute.

It was really nice to hear so many people thank us and compliment us. We have always done something around the place, but we really did do something different for this year. The graveyard theme was a big hit, and people loved walking through the headstones and reading all the goofy inscriptions. Next year I promise to do a better job of lighting the way!

Halloween 2009 We’ve also had some talk with the next door neighbours about doing a Haunted House or something like that. It’s an intriguing idea. We’ll have to take some time to consider how to do that. We watched a show called Extreme Halloween and one guy had a haunted house in his driveway. It was cool, but he figured he spends over $5000 a year on it! We ain’t going there!

I hope you enjoy the movies! It’s a little dark, but you get a sense of the place. You can hear them cackling and the scary music going!

Here is a shorter version of the mystery of the Great Pumpkin Head. Kids got to take a sucker from the Great Pumpkin Head, but if they took the wrong one, they got eaten! Apparently the younger ones are quite crunchy. If they picked the right one, Pam and Fiona begrudgingly gave them a bag of chips or nachos for it.

Holidays

The day before…

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October 30th Well it’s the day before Halloween. And we’ve pretty much got the yard completed now. A couple of my neighbours stopped by and had a big chuckle over some of the grave stone sayings. One that we added yesterday has the name “AL B. BACK” (say it with an Austrian Accent!) and then “Died” with four dates, with three crossed out, 1984, 1991, 2003 then 2009… (For the 4 Terminator movies!)

The ladies across the street brought their kids over and said it’s been so much fun to get up in the morning and wonder what else we’ve added today!

Halloween 2009It’s nice to hear that people like it. Cars have been stopping and kids have been getting out too… I tell them, wait til tomorrow and the music and fog and screaming will really add ambience! haha

We still have a few skeletons to put out, and a couple of ghouls. We’ve got a string or two of lights that go around the table we’ll put out for the candy dishes. We’ve also got a skeleton that is all in pieces – we’ve put it in a suitcase, and labelled it “Bone Voyage!”

Here is a quick movie of the yard at about 4 pm this afternoon.

All About Max, Canucks Hockey

Rambling…

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Neely jersey Pam and I went to the Canucks game against the Detroit Red Wings last night. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the Wings – an Original Six team, with lots of heart and character. Their jerseys are classic, simple and meaningful. Something the Canuck jerseys have NEVER been, despite dozens of re-designs.

Anyway – we had seats in the absolute LAST row of the house. We were three rows ABOVE the nosebleed seats! haha Still, it was fun to be at the game, even though the Canucks never showed up. My buddy Mike and I have complained about the lack of team toughness for years. And this team is once again a bunch of weak sisters. To be run out of the building by a team like Detroit is really disappointing.

The hardest working guyAlex Burrows is so lame this year. And Kesler looks lost. It’s time the coach realized that those two guys need each other to play well. Neither Burrows nor Kesler threw a check, which is something we have come to expect from them. But No Longer…  Thomas Holmstrom stands in front of the net, directly in front of Luongo and is unmolested. In the Detroit end, not a soul could even find the front of the net, let alone stand in front of either goalie the Wings used.

I’ve put a picture up of the hardest working guy on the ice last night… (The Zamboni driver, in case you missed my reference…)

Just a note about the vandalism of our Halloween display – the single grave marker that was removed from our yard has come back. In four pieces! I found it at the front of the property – I guess someone drove by and threw it back on the yard.

I appreciate you returning it, scumbag. I’ve smoothed over the ragged edges, re-touched the paint, and it is again featured on the yard. I’ve been working quite a bit on the display and it’s really getting cool.

Kinda morbid eh?I’ve been searching the net for funny grave sayings, and I’ve used the always familiar “I told you I was sick” already. But the one that caught my eye was “Bill Blake – Hanged my mistake” which I changed to “Billy Blake – Aged 5 – Hanged by Mistake!” haha

Funny story – one of my neighbours across the street, saw me out taking a picture last week, way before I had even put half our stuff out. He says to me, “wow, buddy, you must be finished now eh? That’s a lot of stuff you have there.” I said to him, “You new to the neighbourhood?” haha He gave me a funny look and walked into his house. Wait til he sees the smoke machine, the skeletons, the music, the karaoke machine, the strobes…

And when I start putting out the Christmas stuff… man – he’s in for a shock!

Max Update – He’s doing great. His left front paw is slightly weak, but he’s figured out how to do most everything without it working perfectly. He’s in better spirits lately, and much more playful.

We’ve been going on walks, instead of running for now. He wants to run, but the doctor advised against it, since the steroids can cause some swelling.

Commentary, Holidays

Halloween Vandalism

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Pam and I do a lot of exterior decorating, for lots of different holidays. Have done it since we’ve been married, and each year, we add a little to the display, make it a bit better. We do it for the kids, because we remember how cool it is to see someone get into the spirit. Pam asked me once what we’d do if someone vandalized our stuff. I said, “no worries, we’ll start over. Not going to be defeated by idiots and losers.”

Why am I saying that? Well, here’s a first! Someone stole one of the grave stones off our front yard. Only one marker was stolen – they left the cool skeletons, the fancy bats, the lights, the pumpkins, the blow ups – everything. Only the new grave stone we made this year with the name “Roberto 2009” on one side, and “Anna 2009” on the other side went missing. Interesting that only that one grave marker went missing. In fact, VERY interesting that it is only that one particular grave stone that went missing.

It’s amazing to me, how small some people are. Stealing a wooden grave stone? Wow. You must really be proud of yourself. A truly remarkable person. I bet your father, if you know who he is, must be really proud of you! And your mother, gosh, she must truly be a remarkable person too – instilling such values in you… She probably works down on Main and Hastings. I shouldn’t be too hard on the thief, though, they probably have residual childhood issues, like bedwetting, Mommy didn’t breastfeed them, or Daddy spent too much time with the hookers.

At any rate, I’ve got two more grave markers in production, and we’ll just replace the stolen grave marker. These small, pathetic people won’t deter us…

Holidays

More on Halloween

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Pam and Max Today was a nice day, so Pam and I spent most of the afternoon puttering around the yard, making modifications to the front yard display. Last night a really stong wind came along and broke a few decorations, even breaking off one of the styrofoam crosses!

Halloween 2009We put out one of the blowups and it really fills the yard! We also added a few bats hanging from trees. Max gets a kick out of Halloween and he spent the day chasing us around the yard! (He’s doing great by the way. He’s on a second round of steroids and his appetite is great.)

It’s been fun doing it this early – lots of people have stopped and talked to us about it. The young girl across the street looks scared already! And we haven’t even got the creepy music or the spooky lighting or the smoke machine going yet!

I’ve got another grave marker drying in the garage, and we’ll put that out tomorrow. I’ve got a couple big spiders (5 or 6 FEET across!) to put out too. And we have not picked up any pumpkins yet. We’ll have to go out to a few farms and see what kind of deals there are!

Commentary

Change through Fun

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I don’t often make posts like this, but this is just too much fun. Here’s the setup: how do you get people to do what is good for them? You can try education, but that is often a slow process. Look at smoking – BC has only 15% of the population as smokers, but just 20 years ago, that number was over 60%… It’s been a tough go. Tough legislation to make cigarette companies responsible for their products, including forcing them to show you the consequences of using their products, have made gains.

Lately, they’ve forced smokers outside of all government buildings, enacting legislation to force smokers 20 meters from doors and entrances. They’ve even forced people in their cars to stop smoking when minor children are in the car. All well and good – for a good cause – your life!

But it takes years and years to get results with this type of approach.

Is there something that could cause change, but at a quicker rate? Is it possible to get people to do something that is good for them, like climbing stairs, even though an escalator is right beside the stairs?

Well, here is a video from YouTube that I think is absolutely hilarious! And the results are clearly instant!

The whole thing is called “The Fun Theory.” Check out their website, maybe you have an idea that can make you money!

Something About Us

Daniel Igali and Right to Play

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Daniel Igali and M On Saturday, Pam and I participated in the 1st Annual Run for the Kids, sponsored by Canadian Olympian Daniel Igali. The run was around Bear Creek Park, just a few minutes from home, so it was a great event for us. Unfortunately the weather was not very cooperative, with rain for most of the event.

The Right to Play component of the day is a cause that lots of people support, including the NHL. Basically it’s designed to give kids in under-developed countries an opportunity to play any sport. It’s good for the kids, good for the society, and good for the volunteers.

Olympic mascotsI ran the 5k and Pam walked it. I’m not one hundred per cent right now, but I was happy with my time. It’s kinda cool beating people half your age in a race. It’s funny how those young thin Asians are so out of shape lol. They look fit, but they can’t even run 500 metres without stopping. I was really proud of Pam. It was tough for her, but she didn’t quit.

It was a nice event, and we will surely be there next year. They had the Olympic mascots out and the kids really do get a kick out of the big puppets.

There was a nice band playing, and I will have to find out who they were, so we can go listen to them someplace. A fine Celtic band that played so many songs from my life… It was really emotional. Songs I knew the words to, even though I hadn’t heard them years. Really swell to sit there in the rain, listening to “Farewell to Nova Scotia” and “I’s the boy who builds the boats…”

It was a nice day, and I ‘m glad we went. Some excercise, some free food, a few prizes, some great music – and all for a good cause. What’s not to like?