So now then...

This is how it went...

Last night was only the biggest costumed success I've ever experienced. Arriving at the Chatterbox, my sister greeted me enthusiastically. Per my most humble request, she dressed as Gala, Dali's muse and wife. As soon as we walked into the Chatterbox together, heads turned; it was like Cinderella at the ball. Of course, I was shouting aloud, "BEHOLD! ONE AND ALL! THE GREAT DALI HAS ARRIVED!" It was amazing! People, some strangers, approached me with hugs and smiles as though I was a long-since departed friend, recently returned, of whom they had not seen the likes of in quite some time but had fond memories of. Dali came through, let me say that. As I made my rounds, seeking out my friends, decked out in their respective tributes to Donnie Darko, Dali shouted and romped about the room with wild glee and unhibited abandon, "YOU ARE ALL FRIENDS OF DALI! I WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO EVERYONE IN THE ROOM!"

There is a certain possession of the spirit that one assumes when you don such a costume, and become such a character. It was almost like a guaranteed anonymity. I could say anything, do anything as Dali that Ladd wouldn't nessecarily dream of doing. It was free, liberating, and after 2 draws of High Life and Pabst Blue Ribbon, well... In any case, my point being here, the response to my costume was amazing! It was definitely the best Halloween I've had in almost 2 years. There's a costume party tonight I'll attend as Dali, and after my court appearance on Monday, I hope I am afforded the time to don my costume at work for the costume contest, although I'm not sure how that's going to work out. Maybe I won't afterall. Who knows.

My pals the Prints of Apple Island played one of their best shows ever. Their theme this time around was Donnie Darko. It was phenomenal. Here's the rundown: Theo, Josh, and Tim all dressed as Donnie. Josh had the skeleton outfit w/ hoodie. Theo had a hoodie on, his hair colored black, and had the 28:06:42:12 written in sharpie on his arm. Olivia had an amazing costume on. She was Grandma Death, Roberta Sparrow. Not only had she faithfully fashioned a wig to resemble Grandma Death's wild hair, but had a mailbox, which she constantly checked during the set for NO reason. Also, Olivia had really gone the extra mile by devoting her time this week to constructing the jet engine from the film which nearly misses killing Donnie in the beginning after it crashes through the roof. The engine hung above the band throughout the set.

The cou de gra of all of this spectacle was Robert's costume. He was Frank, the 6 foot bunny rabbit. He created a ruckus from the crowd when he appeared on stage just as the set began. Sarah had made his costume from scratch and it was flipping AMAZING. The mask, a full figured costume, everything, it was totally hot hot hot. Underneath his rabbit mask, Robert had a grizzly eyepatch on, Frank's shattered eye, and a black wig on, which I donated for the cause. In the meandering half-light, he looked exactly like Frank. Anyway, It was an incredible set. They covered Tears for Fears "Head Over Heals," The Church "Under the Milky Way," and as a finale, the parred down, Donnie Darko rendition of "Mad World." Josh said he forgot the lyrics halfway through it, but most everyone was singing to it, so it worked out in the end.

So it goes. HAPPY HALLOWEENIE WEEKEND!

Oh yeah, that Most Haunted Live thing I mentioned... 4 hour live broadcast four nights in a row. The first one was last night, and they featured hauntings at Tower Bridge. Pretty cheeky. In addition to the MH crew, Evey, Derek, all of them, they also had a live studio audience. Here's what really cracked me up: They had a sort of live/interactive/multimedia thing where you could e-mail the crew observations/premonitions and a couple viewers from the UK, from places which looked or sounded like Surrey, Bosley, or Belfast (British sounding places) would send in messages which would scroll across the bottom of the screen. So as the crew was exploring the walkways across Tower Bridge, really stupid messages would scroll across that read: DANA IN SCARBOROUGH THINKS THE NAME CHARLIE WILL BE IMPORTANT IN TONIGHT'S INVESTIGATION....WILLARD AND BETH IN STRATFORD BELIEVE THE CREW MAY ENCOUNTER A HENRY ON THE BRIDGE, AND MAY FIND SOME SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER 32 TONIGHT.... Or this classic: RICHARD IN BLACKPOOL SAYS THE COLOR RED WILL BE IMPORTANT TO THE INVESTIGATION ON THE BRIDGE....
So, yes, what a bunch of bullshit. "OOOOOO, premonitions! I'm getting something OH OH OH, no, its my bout with gas. Somebody pass the Beano! False alarm everyone!" So in addition to viewer's hokey predictions scrolling across the screen, the MH crew was joined by MAX, THE GHOST-DETECTING GERMAN SHEPHERD! Max barked a few times at thin air, but otherwise I'm starting to believe this whole Most Haunted Live thing is just another one of those choochy, smarmy, cheezy, wishy-washy, slightly pompous, mostly over-rated things the British seemingly "pride" themselves on. Hopefully, by Monday night, they'll find Jack the Ripper's malevolent spirit, and if they do, I won't be suprised. If Max the ghosthunting dog can bark up the wrong tree whenever he sees a ghost, perhaps that's what the Most Haunted crew is attempting at the same time. Barking up the wrong tree when there's nothing there and the only thing they're really accomplishing is making a spectacle of themselves and the "exacting" science of paranormal investigation. I much prefer the hour-long episodes anyway. Four hours, live, for the next four nights, bullshit...The suspense is killing me... www.mosthauntedlive.net