Not my cup of tea* musically but fun just the same:
Hat tip to Michael Barton at The Dispersal of Darwin.
*technically no cup of tea is my cup of tea, as I loathe tea.
Category Archives: The Arts
Halloween Yard Haunt 2010
Well this year was a lot less stressful than last year, though it was still stressful and a lot of work (for one person). But I got most of what I wanted up and dressed, though a few detail were missed (my fog machine chose to fail for example) and it can always be better. Likewise the trick-or-treat level was OK for our neighborhood but I would still like to get a lot more traffic (I failed to get the yard haunt signs up at the ends of our street, which might have helped).
Anyway here are some pictures; I’ll start with the ones shot in low light to give you an idea of the desired look and then give a few shots with the flash so you can see more detail. Unfortunately I didn’t have a tripod or the photographic skills to get really good low-like pics (maybe next year). Click on the pictures for larger versions.
This year I brought my guillotine outside and put it front so the kids had to walk by it to enter the graveyard on their way to the front door.
Evolution Rap from the Galápagos
Halloween Yard Haunt 2009
Well, this year was bittersweet. I (mostly) finished a large new addition to our haunt (‘The tomb of the mummy’), however between that and the other little things I tried to do, I bit off way more than I could chew. The result was I didn’t properly finish anything and didn’t even get the old stuff dressed right (no glowing monster eyes, or spooky music etc., etc., etc.). Nor did I get the street signs up to attract more traffic.
Sigh…
I guess I just have to look at it as everyone keeps telling me: “hey you’re all ready for next year now.”
I’m not though. I still have to put finishing touches on several of this years additions and then there are the plans for next year that were already thought of but put off due to lack of time and money.
Still I want to acknowledge the help, not only physical and financial but also artistic, that our friends Don and Gaynell Frack gave us. I also want to thank them for putting up with my near meltdown when as the sun was going down I realized we weren’t going to make it to a proper finish. Thank you both!
Anyway here are some pictures (all taken by Don Frack):
Halloween Sarcophagus
A short video showing my progress so far on an Egyptian sarcophagus (to hold a life-sized mummy) for our Halloween yard haunt.
Metal Crocoduck!
Two things I enjoy: Heavy Metal and mocking clueless antievolutionists like Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron.
[Via Pharyngula]
Making Halloween “sausage”
Halloween is coming on fast and I am already behind. This year we have a nice new mummy (with glowing eyes) to add to our yard haunt and I have decided to make him a Papier-mâché sarcophagus and some other props and make a whole display of it.
Here is the sarcophagus lid as it is so far, just a, hum, ‘skeleton’ if you will.
Funny thing I just noticed. In the display cabinet on the left side of the picture you can just make out a miniature souvenir Mayan sarcophagus lid that my parents brought me back from a trip they took to the Yucatán.
And here is a “little” obelisk awaiting some paint and hieroglyphics:
Have to hurry up and get these done so I can maybe work in a little sphinx to go along and then I want to try and get this ghost effect I being thinking about for a couple years working.
Metal Mayhem Map!
I just ran across this over on Forms Most Beautiful. It is a map/flow chart of sorts of heavy metal band names.
I give it four “devil horns” up:
Indeed, “All hail” comedian Doogie Horner for its creation, it rocks!
Dinosaur song
It makes a number of scientific errors but it’s still fun and kinda catchy.
[Via the Smithsonian’s Tracking Dinosaurs.]
Tiktaalik (Your Inner Fish)
Because there are not enough songs about fossil organisms…
And you have to love the name of the band as well…
Playing Chess with Pigeons 