Thank You, Voters!

Sure, we still have a dysfunctional system filled with career politicians.
But a message has been sent in no uncertain terms.
Now, the people who make our economy function have some hope, whereas two years ago the only ones who felt good were the deadbeats and those who pander to them in exchange for votes.
I feel better today than I have in a long time.

(Wonder how long before a commenter twists this into a race issue somehow--the lack of logical thinking on the left can be shocking sometimes. All I want is for my country to prosper again and it clearly wasn't going to happen the way we were going, so save your breath).


Halloween went well.
We had 59 kids, which is low, but that means I have a good supply of candy for myself.

My newest trick was a success.
I had parked my truck so that the kids would have to walk behind it to get to our door.
Our ghoulish dummy (torso + head) was in the bed and had a light on it, which slowed them down a bit.



Then I pressed a button on my remote system which activated taillights and a backup alarm like those found on commercial vehicles:


There were many who jumped back, some screamed, and the fathers usually nodded appreciatively.
My idea was that while being afraid of werewolves and spiders is fine, there are things in the real world that can be quite deadly if you aren't careful.
Getting killed by a dumptruck in reverse is far more likely to happen than being attacked by a vampire.

5 people got packets of Taco Bell Sauce instead of candy this year.
Pushing 30 and no costume?
Oh hell no, candy is out of the question!

Texting or talking on a cellphone while holding out your bag?
Taco Bell Sauce for you!

The saying is "Trick OR Treat", and it's our choice.
Follow the long-established rules and you get the good candy.

We also gave some to the tiny tots who are so young that their parents will surely check every piece, just to mystify mom and dad.
(Don't worry--they got candy, too).


My new tiki torch was an improvement because it holds more oil and didn't need a refill at 8:00.
Apparently, Garden Ridge is the only place that sells them year-round. WalMart's had flickering LEDs instead of fire, which is totally unacceptable.

I added some spare stage lights this year to make everything more visible--it was tricky getting them dim enough to keep from overpowering the scenes and strobes.
Next year will see more work along this line as well as more sounds and another smoke machine.
The new scary-noises CD was pretty good--well worth a buck50.
Which brings me to the main thing--while we'll never come close to the commercial haunted houses, it's always the scariest home in the 'hood.

Have to keep my spending at around $20 for show improvements since we spend so much on the damned candy. SPURS tickets and parking and drinks are a better entertainment value, but Halloween only comes once a year.
So, I try to be creative on the cheap and slowly build and refine every year.

The best comment was from a little boy who said Boy, this house is some house!

Halloween 2009

We had less kids than 2007 (65 vs 100+) but it was a successful night.
My new witch Selma did a great job!
One time she whipped open the door and barked "What!?!" at the punkasses, which left them speechless.
The magic words "Trick or Treat" totally left their brains.
After some "Uhhh....Mmmm..." action, witch Josie said "Well??? Are you going to say Trick or Treat, or don't you know what you're doing?"
We laughed our asses off!

Only one or 2 kids got TacoBell sauce instead of a handful of candy this year, which is an improvement.
Hey--if your costume blows or you don't say the 3 simple words, you get tricked instead of treated.
I didn't write the rules, I just enforce them.


When they come near our house, scary noises coming from a speaker behind the headstone attract them rather nicely unless they are with one of those parents who's small mind is locked into only ringing doorbells if the porchlight is on.
I mean, don't they think the spinning light on the mailbox (not to mention flames) mean we might be playing Halloween? Yet numerous morons walk right past our house every year.

When kids run up our driveway, the blast of a 500 watt shoplight through my garage window always freezes their asses in place.
That's when we sometimes hear such gems as "Is that real fire?" or "I better not touch that or I'll get burned".
Well...duh.

Then they see a biker zombie pushing his skeleton victim into the flames of hell.
Strobe on zombie and a red bulb + amber strobe + smoke machine in the black box of doom under the skeleton.
This is my new scene for this year, and it looked pretty cool in action.

If they are brave enough to make it onto our porch, the simple yet effective trick of hiding sheets of big bubble wrap under a rug gives the little weiners a final scare.


For the future: More automation so I can actually see the kids instead of spending all my time pushing buttons to activate everything. And if I could be in a scary costume wandering around our yard, there's no limit to the mayhem.

I'm designing a mechanical Jack'O'Lantern that's chewing on Elmo.

From bands past I have some experience building and using dry ice fog effects on the cheap, so there's some more ideas floating around.

But as long as one new thing gets added each year, I'm happy.
The leftover candy is good, too.

San Pedro Springs Park 2

A couple of months ago I couldn't even imagine spring water gushing out of the ground like this.
But after September and October delivered almost an entire year's worth of rain, I'm confident that the drought of 2007-9 can be considered over.
Sadly, our farmers and river outfitters took a big financial hit, as did the fireworks vendors.

What's been weird is seeing the vegetation act like it's Springtime this late in the year.
Flowers and peppers and vines are exploding all over the place.
Usually I'm done with the lawnmower by now, but cutting grass was something I've really missed so weekly sessions are most welcome.
Good exercise!

Tomorrow is Halloween!
I had to work last year (and needed a break anyway) so I'm rested and fired-up to put on a good show for '09.
As I was gathering up my stuff for inventory/inspection, the accidental placement of 2 items sparked an idea for a new centerpiece element.
Three days of sawing and drilling and electrical work later, it's ready to go.
Benefitting from aquisitions/modifications made for the band, I've combined several pieces into a single scene that's pretty cool, with the bonus of eliminating all cables from the porch and through an open window.
Remotes rule!

A bunch of new people are coming over thinking "party", but it's all work.
The goal (as always) is to hear someone confess that they pissed their pants.

Chalk It Up! 2009

This is the 4th year in a row that we've gone to Chalk It Up!, the downtown art fair put on by Art Pace.














Check my archives (October 2006/7/8) for more photos.

Death Visits Views Of Texas

It's probably going to slow down again around here for some time.
Blog Death is here, and he's demanding my attention.

First, there's Los Spurs.
Pre-Season has already started and I've made a personal commitment to become an even bigger (and more annoying) fan than ever before.
After many years of depending on just cable TV and the SA Express-News for my data and opinion, towards the end of last year I stumbled upon a wild internet forum that's been good for keeping the black and silver components of my blood circulating during the long hot summer.
From there I recently found 48 Minutes Of Hell, which isn't bad for a blog written by some college kid.
The regular season starts before Halloween, which brings us to part 2.

Unlike 2008, it looks like I'm not working on Halloween Night.
After a much-needed year off I'm eager to terrorize the street again, then give them all good candy.
As always, my goal is to get at least one person to admit in front of their group that they momentarily lost control of their bladder.
It's happened a few times before and never fails to make me proud of my work.
Especially when it happens to a parent.
Much work is needed because until very recently my calendar had something pencilled-in for the 31st, and suddenly it's too late.

What I'm saying is that I need to get my head in the game(s) and can't predict if this means more pics of what I'm doing or less photos overall because I'm super-busy.
And how will I compensate for the loss of Witch #1, who got free tickets to the Notre Dame game at the AlamoDome that night?



Above pic is of my new skull.
It's good to finally have a spare after they discontinued parts for the one I have.
Much more anatomically correct than my old skull, this one's a little smaller than lifesize but close enough.
The single new aquisition in '09 and I only bought it for photos, with no idea how it can be used in the show.
Much work to be done...