Tag: halloween
If I Could Save Time In A Blog Bottle
There never seems to be enough time
to do the things you want to do,
but there might be,
if I stopped blogging…
But I like blogging…
Yet it’s time-consuming…
Once you’ve let that blogging genie out of the bottle, there’s no turning back. I keep trying to get away, but blogging keeps pulling me back in.
I also like making people laugh, I might be the one during the apocalypse: “Knock Knock.” Random guy, “Who’s there?” “Zombie.” “Zombie who?” Me running, yelling, “Zombie, behind you, run!”
Then again, too much time isn’t always good, when I have time to think, I often feel like an alien in this world. Not the rubbery, gray, tall, skinny aliens, more like the ET-hey-I-landed-on-your-planet-I need-to-phone-home-wow-your-long-distance-plan-sucks-at-least-the-snacks-are-yummy-does-this-dress-make-me-look-fat-type alien.
Going out on a limb, I’d say I’m not the only one who’s ever felt they’re waiting for the mothership to take them back to their home planet.
If only I’d arrived with an instruction manual. I know my parents wish I did.
Time runs by us, screaming like a babysitter in a horror movie. And as another Halloween creeps up, let us pay our last respects to things gone, but not forgotten…maybe they’ll return someday (hopefully not as zombies):
1. Hairspray, you once permeated every part of our lives, especially our lungs…guess we’re kinda grateful big hair is dead.
2. Mixed tapes have gone to join the choir invisible – mixed emojis?
3. Adieu giving up your seat to someone elderly or disabled or pregnant; apparently now they must fend for themselves, Game of Thrones-style.
4. Farewell phones, attached to a cord, instead of our hand or head.
5. Once loved and adored, held up on a pedestal, billboards, race cars, own section in the grocery store…poor little gluten, now dead to many, a social pariah.
6. RIP, ‘Please’, ‘Thank You’, and ‘You’re Welcome’, now ghosts of civilities past.
7. Quiet time, without tweets, updates, texts, and emails has kicked the bucket…Remember? Probably not, with all the digital amnesia…
8. Showing up at your new neighbours with baked goods has shuffled off this mortal coil; no friendly greetings, just pepper spray, the police, and/or speech on food allergies.
9. Bereft of life are ‘Thank You’ notes, but I’m still thankful to people who say cardshark instead of cardsharp, so I can picture a shark playing poker.
10. Talking to plants is now pushin’ up the daisies, can’t we just text them, telling them 2 gro?
11. Not asking for gifts and money has kinda bought the farm – #gimme is society’s new hashtag.
12. Wobbly inside-out pools hidden under threads of Egyptian cotton; waterbeds gone to their watery grave.
13. Patience is at death’s door, but really, there’s nothing you could possibly have to do (or explain to a judge) that’s worth putting children at risk, on Halloween, or any time.
Please pay attention while driving, I promise that absolutely fascinating tweet, update, text, or email about:
-
how porcupines mate without stabbing each other,
-
the shape of dog’s poop,
-
a divine fat, gluten and dairy-free no-bake cheesecake recipe (can that still be called cheesecake?),
-
cats robbed of their dignity via the internet,
-
if Bon Jovi’s hair is still real (see #1),
-
which Kardashian is getting married or divorced (all of them),
-
if Taco Bell is health food (it’s not),
-
finding out who died on The Walking Dead (hint hint, no one, they’re actors),
-
Justin Bieber’s private parts (what part of private is hard to understand, Justin?),
-
discussions about Donald Trump’s IQ (rich doesn’t equal smart)…
will all be there later, sadly. If not, what did you really miss?
I guess we make time to do the things we want to do, so I’ll save every blogging day ’til blog eternity passes away, just to spend them with you, dear readers.
You Can’t Handle The Blogging Truth!
October conjures images of:
Fall leaves, crisp nights… pumpkins and pumpkin spice…Halloween, candy, black cats…sexy Hunger Games costumes, yeah, I’ve stopped asking why at this point…
Apparently, scary is definitely different for different people.
For some scary is:
The dark – where all the known and unknown creep.
Horror movies that make people hide their eyes, but have to peak.
The price of groceries or hydro (both terrifying).
Trying on bathing suits (could turn your hair white).
Dating, parenting, love…
Loss of those we love.
Christmas or any holidays with in-laws.
Elections, wars, politicians.
Loss of cellphone reception (The horror! The horror!).
Running out of chocolate (now that’s horror!).
Liars, vampires, aliens, monsters, sparkly vampires, zombies…
I started blogging to relax, reignite my love of writing, and to be rich/famous (not necessarily in that order) – 555 posts later, well, two out of three ain’t bad. No one warned it could be so scary!
Life doesn’t come with instructions, we have to grope our way through this at times terrifying funhouse – long strips of goodness, gooey badness, melty magnificence, and squishy horrors – blogging is pretty much the same.
It was a dark and stormy night…Start a blog they said. It’ll be fun they said.
1. You want the blog truth, you can’t handle the blog truth! By the flickering computer light and hum, something wicked this way comes…really, Shakespeare how would thou deal with: endless emails, trolls, glitches, and ghosts in the machine?
2. First, you find your way through the woods (aka the internet) to an old mansion (aka WordPress) where you start your blog. Soon, strange things start happening – stuff moves by itself, stuff disappears, and you find yourself alone, in the dark, and still, you hear the click, click, click of the keyboard…
3. Come up with a cunning plan, overly elaborate with, as a random example, a dog with a speech impediment; a drug-addled vegetarian with a groovy van; narcissistic metrosexual; frumpy geek girl who needs contacts; and constantly kidnapped drama queen.
4. Your loved ones look at you oddly as you repeatedly type: All work and no play makes Donna a dull girl…They complain you’re hunched over your shining computer, or using them for…inspiration.
5. Read aloud from online posts, only to realize, you’ve freed some ancient vengeful Babylonian deity…or worse, a telemarketer! Who you gonna call?
6. Invited to Bloggers Bash at a spooky mansion, you accept, bloggers are fun, right?
7. Pop over to Pinterest for a ‘minute’ to find an image or inspiration…later you’re found wandering through the desert and learn you’ve been missing for 7 years and still didn’t find the right meme.
8. Fall asleep at your computer and wake up in a dream where a serial killer is hunting you, or worse, you’ve lost all your followers!
9. You decide to take a break from writing and take a bath or shower, you know better, but it’s been a long day.
10. You ask for books to review, but then …One, two, writers are coming for you. Three, four, publishers knock at your door. Five, six, who do you pick? Seven, eight, accept your fate. Nine, ten, never sleep again.
11. You turn to run from the glowing ooze on your keyboard, but there’s a evil clown or worse, housework behind you…your furniture is moving on it’s own, but it’s not getting dusted…Why? Oh why?
12. Through a series of unfortunate events, you find out your blog is built on an old cemetery and an ancient burial ground where rituals were performed. You could run to another platform, but that’s a lot of work.
13. So I will think of blogging not as a horror movie, but more like a community garden. We all work together to grow something remarkable. There will be ups and downs, but in the end, we’ll all be part of something amazing…as long as nothing comes alive to eat us.
Lest We Forget…To Shop
The day after Halloween, before we’d even removed all the pretend fear,
Christmas is starting, carols are starting, earlier and earlier each year.
People say they respect soldiers and veterans,
but instead of respect – Christmas everywhere?!?
Everyone down in malls, the tall and the small,
will stand close together, Christmas sales ringing,
waiting in line, their credit cards zinging!
They spend! And they spend! And they spend!
They’ll spend on tablets! They’ll spend on smartphones!
They’ll spend on toys, clothes, TVs, and even on drones!
Instead of contentment and helping where we can,
filling our hearts with tech, plastic, chemicals, what a plan!
Stop for a moment, look at a soldier.
Dressed all in honour, from foot to head,
Poppy on their heart, to remember the brave dead.
The box of poppies sits below a chest full of medals,
honouring the past with each poppy they sell.
Christmas isn’t before Veterans Day.
Christmas isn’t before Remembrance Day.
Christmas is in December.
It begins on the 1st,
No, not of November!
Christmas blaring through the stores.
Christmas decorations, ads, displays.
Crass and disrespectful.
To soldiers fighting.
Families who lost soldiers.
Soldiers who fought for us.
Shop all year round if you must,
Black Friday, Cyber Monday,
Months of sales!
Leave Christmas until December,
Remember.
Can’t we wait for Christmas until after we’ve honoured our soldiers?
If we showed more respect to our soldiers and our veterans,
we might make our governments show them more respect as well.
Christmas Comes After Remembrance and Veterans Day.
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/11/02/christmas-comes-after-remembrance-day/
Welcome to my Nightmare
Around this time of year people often pose the question: what’s your worst nightmare? For me, something horrible happening to my son, and the rest of my family and friends.
My nightmares, when I actually sleep, are few, but they all start the same, running. Not jogging, all comfy shoes and music, but frantic, desperate, trying-to-get-away-from-something-running. I’m not scared of the running, but of what I’m running from. Maybe that’s why I love to walk, little chance I’m leisurely strolling away from a zombie, vampire, alien, mass murderer, serial killer, etc., right?
Luckily in the nightmares my son is usually running ahead of me; he’s fast, so he makes it.
I know what you’re doing right now…hopefully reading this:
1. The origins of Halloween are ancient and include: sacrifices, celebrating Harvest, fairies, demons, feasts, Druids, Celts, scaring away spirits, appeasing spirits, passion, death, and so much more…and this is for children now, hmmm.
2. In Medieval England hearing an owl’s call meant someone was about to die, well, duh, it was Medieval England, of course someone was about to die.
3. Ireland is believed to be the birthplace of Halloween so why does no one drink green beer on October 31st?
4. Harry Houdini died on Halloween 1926…coincidence?
5. We have carved: beets, turnips, potatoes, and pumpkins for Halloween, weird amount of veggies for a candy holiday.
6. Safety first, sadly, children are twice as likely to be killed in or by a car on Halloween.
7. Some animals shelters have stopped adoptions of black cats near Halloween, because people sacrifice them. What is wrong with…sigh, I have no words.
8. Orange symbolizes: Harvest, Fall, and strength. Black implies darkness and death, including the death of summer…I just like wearing it.
9.Witch comes from wicce which means wise woman. I know a lot of witches.
10. Halloween can cause poor behaviour and deindividualization. In costume, together, people care less about consequences of individual actions; doing things they normally wouldn’t do alone.
11. The Michael Myers mask in 1978’s Halloween was actually a William Shatner mask. And now he has a renovation show, William Shatner, not Michael Myers although it’s reality TV so who knows?
12. Some suggestions for definitely too-soon Halloween costumes: Sexy Hazmat suits, zombie Robin Williams, terrorist, Ray Rice dragging a doll…just don’t.
13. Halloween has had many names: All Hallows Evening, All Hallows Eve, Samhain, Witches Night, Lambswool, Haunting Night, Summer’s End, Snap-Apple Night, wait, doesn’t that last one just sound like Snapple Night? Mmmm, Snapple.
And if you inadvertently find yourself in a horror movie this Halloween, here’s some help: https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/03/20/25-ways-to-stay-alive-in-a-horror-movie/
Supernatural Calgon Take Me Away!
The supernatural has intrigued humans for all long as anyone can remember, but does anyone think of their side of the story? Do supernatural creatures ever get a chance to just kick back and enjoy life?
They seem too busy conjuring, hunting, and doing evil to just enjoy the little things. Maybe they should visit a supernatural spa, take a long supernatural walk, enjoy a stunning supernatural sunset, or read a supernatural book, give themselves a supernatural break.
Instead they enrage already angry mobs, dodge bullets, arrows, demon hunters! Avoiding being burned at the stake or getting a stake through the heart! Avoiding the sun, salt, garlic, silver, conflict with others in various realms – there’s a lot of avoidance behaviour there.
Just seems exhausting.
They must feel like saying, Supernatural Calgon take me away!
They just don’t seem like they get a lot of time to themselves.
So they’re creepy but are they happy?
None of that explains why we like the supernatural, superstition, mysticism, religion, etc. so much.
Does scaring ourselves let us come to terms with our fears in a sort of safe mode?
Can we sense the supernatural in the natural world and we’re trying to make sense of it?
Perhaps it’s the illusion of control? To believe in supernatural causality, that somehow one thing causes another to happen without any natural process between them, perhaps it’s comforting.
In the spirit of Halloween I’ve been reading creepy and kooky and sometimes even spooky books, including The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster), a sort of spin-off from The Mortal Instruments series where Bane (not one of my top characters at least in this series, but these historical follies were amusing), an immortal warlock goes on a supernatural bar hop scavenger hunt through time. I got a chuckle from the inference that he’s the reason we have the idiom, Bane of my existence…hmmm, I suppose that could refer to Batman’s Bane as well. But I digress…
Of course, reading this made me wonder even more why we can’t get enough of stories of: warlocks, witches, zombies, aliens, demons, demon hunters, ghosts, angels, monsters, fallen angels, werewolves, vampires and other supernatural beings?
Do we need to put a face and a name on the things that go bump in the night?
Try to calm the inner turmoil caused by our fight or flight response?
Or is dressing up at Halloween and scaring ourselves with movies, books, TV now merely entertainment?
This Halloween think of our supernatural friends…I know they’ll be thinking of you!
Religion, Politics, and The Great Pumpkin
Halloween crawls inexorably toward us, a wild beast about to attack with treats, costumes, and decorations, horror movies and specials.
As I re-watch It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for like the millionth time (sadly, this may not be as much of an exaggeration as it should be), this time I’m trying to see it through the eyes of a child, today.
So with that in mind, I’m putting aside the symbolic struggle represented for those whose beliefs are in the minority, as with certain religions, theories, or Linus and his Great Pumpkin; also, everything I’ve learned from this, including parts that, at times, seem a bit weird.
Here are a few older posts that look into that.
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/29/stuff-i-learned-from-its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/27/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown/
-
Do children now really like these older classics or are we transferring our fond memories to them, assuming they’ll like them as much as we did? Are they humouring us?
-
Lucy getting dog germs from Snoopy, is that still a thing?
-
How about the sucker getting leaves stuck on it?
-
Does anyone even remember what a Sopwith Camel is?
-
Do they think Schroeder should just use an app to make music?
-
Do they think the homemade costumes are bizarre?
-
That old-school animation is boring?
-
Do they need more sophisticated animation? Bigger musical numbers? Action? Adventure?
-
Is this show just too slow and too old-fashioned for modern audiences?
I guess I’m hoping in this frenzied, mixed-up world there’s still a place for the simple joy of Charlie Brown and friends…
Thankful I know enough to be thankful
Here in Canada we have Thanksgiving in October, weeks before Halloween…go figure.
A few things I know and things I’m thankful for, including but not limited to:
1. Happiness can be…a smile, a furry friend, snowflakes dancing against the darkness, absorbing books, family, friends, a movie that makes you laugh and cry, a TV show where you can’t wait for the next episode, a cozy bed, chocolate melting on your tongue, a slow dance, walking in the Fall and more.
2. Those who believe in fate or faith should never look both ways or check an expiry date.
3. Fear is more contagious than any disease and stronger than an army.
4. People make choices. How you feel about those choices or the consequences has little or no bearing. Really.
5. The Earth will still be here in one form or another after we’re gone.
6. Everyone has their own window on the world, with it’s own screen. You can’t make someone see through your screen and it’s impossible to see through theirs.
7. You can’t walk away from yourself the way you walk away from other people. If you’re going to stay, play nice.
8. Truth can be painful and can take you places you may not wish to go. Go anyway.
9. Even the most basic beliefs about reality aren’t true alone, our thinking makes them true in our experience. Hopefully this isn’t true about zombies.
10. We forget. Our mind is designed to remember and to forget, but too often we forget when someone has been there for us or not. Don’t forget.
I’m thankful my son makes me laugh and vice versa.
Thankful for family, friends, and virtual friends.
Thankful for things that keep my weary mind amused.
Thankful for what I’ve had, what I’ve lost, what I might have.
Thankful I know enough to be thankful.
It’s A Cat’s World…Adjust
It’s World Cat Day and I think that’s a tad unfair, isn’t everyday Cat Day, well, at least they think so.
I don’t currently share my home with any feline characters unless I count my son who has Asperger’s (see earlier post, https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/07/27/all-cats-have-asperger-syndrome/ ), but I’ve had a lot of experience in their world.
My friend George (loved Curious George) was pure black except for a white bib and apron. George liked to sit on the front porch, even more on Halloween where he got maximum effect. He lost one half of an ear being out in the cold; we lived in Coniston, near Sudbury, it was very cold at times. In those days most cats were outdoor cats, this also led to us calling his name or saying, bad George which got a hearty laugh from my Grandfather because his brother, George lived right across the street.
Other cat friends?
Candace, regrettably insane; eventually needed little kitty pills to keep her calm (those were sooooo much fun to give her). My Mom let my Dad take me to the SPCA to find a kitten. We were two big saps who came home with a tiny runt kitten who needed to be fed with an eye dropper for days and the SPCA said they would replace her when she passed away. I didn’t want her replaced, I loved her. Candace lived 17 years. I don’t think she had many other fans.
We had Tanis (yes, my Raiders of the Lost Ark phase, which I’m sort of still in) who my Mom (the only one of the family who professes not to be a cat person), saved when someone threw it out of a car. We couldn’t keep her because of Candace, er, aforementioned krazy kitty. We found her a good home.
There was also Xena and Luna who were lovely. Luna had to find a new home because she decided she wanted to play with my son as a baby, just his head. And Xena, her sister had to find another home when I found out my son had Asthma.
No cats since.
If you do get a kitten or cat, please, adopt from an animal shelter or rescue; or family or friend.
Our extended family has had so many beautiful cats over the years, we don’t think of them as pets so much as companions.
They think of us as staff.
Christmas Comes After Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day and Veterans Day are about honouring those who fought for their countries, for others.
You don’t have to agree with war or the reasons for it to remember those that fought and those that died.
I’m saddened and disappointed to see stores, malls, and streets decorated for Christmas before Remembrance Day has been respected.
The commercialism of Christmas is bad enough, but this is rude and disrespectful.
In Tacky Stores
In stores Christmas decorations flow
between the candy canes, row on row,
With disrespect to soldiers gone
Christmas cheer doth early don
Cries scarce heard amid the carols blow.
They are the Shoppers. Short days ago
Was Halloween and now before the snow,
Bought and were bought, and now they shop
In Tacky Stores.
Take up the quarrel with the stores:
Pushing Christmas tackiness galores
The dignity of those we’ve lost.
If ye break faith and ignore the cost
If Christmas before Remembrance tore
In Tacky Stores.
With all due respect to John McCrae and all those who fought, were wounded, and died in service to their countries.
Christmas comes after Remembrance Day.
ARMY OF DARKNESS
Army of Darkness (aka Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness) is a continuation of Evil Dead II where our, er, hero Ash is trapped in The Middle Ages in some bizarre, frenetic, hilarious, cheesy stuff.
There are a couple of endings, depending on where you watch it. I prefer the ending where Ash oversleeps, but the S-Mart ending (where he has to fight the shoppers, undead, whatever, hard to tell the difference most days I’m guessing) was seen as more positive by Universal. Director’s cut has both alternate universe endings.
Bruce Campbell (Weird Science, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Xena, Hercules, Bubba Ho-Tep, Spiderman, Evil Dead I & II, Charmed, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, American Gothic, My Name Is Bruce, Burn Notice, Fargo and well, everything) is an amazing, under-rated actor. Superb comedic timing and just really cool.
A perfect Halloween treat or trick depending on your point of view.
Edward Scissorhands
I sat watching Edward Scissorhands in 1990, mesmerized.
I laughed, I cried, I sighed, I railed against the injustice, and gave my heart to Johnny Depp. No worries, I’d given it before and since; it’s still in good working order. I’m sure he’d reciprocate if he knew I existed…or not.
Themes of bullying, prejudice, isolation, teen angst, self-awareness, hope, pain, betrayal, lies, dignity, honour, and love weave a dazzling web of stunningly brutal tragedy, comedy, and enchantment, in and out, in and out, each thread of this film somehow masses together in utter brilliant film magic.
The castle is gothic and delightful, but a place of secrets and loneliness.
The suburban neighbourhood is weird and flawed, but with creepy optimism and veracity.
The contrast shows that hope and love can flourish anywhere, as can pain and deceit.
Lauded, loved, mocked, hated, and parodied (best, when Depp reprised his role on Family Guy…you have to see it to believe it). And still it has stunningly stood the test of time.
Caroline Thompson, Stefan Czapsky, as well as the astonishing cast and crew did a superb task of articulating Tim Burton’s vision of Edward and his challenges and his triumphs. This film is truly a gift.
Vincent Price is categorically flawless in what turned out to be his last performance on film, ending a dramatic and spectacular career as the great gentleman of horror.
When Winona Ryder (Kim Boggs) is dancing in the ‘snow’ that Edward creates from the angel ice sculpture, it’s so heart-cutting because their love can never be, but they will always know it really is. Perhaps it’s so poignant because Depp and Ryder were a real-life couple at the time…and not meant to be.
This is a perfect movie for Halloween, Christmas, or any day of the year.
Love, love, love this movie. Did I mention I love it, not sure if that was clear.
The Walking Dead Again
AMC’s huge success, The Walking Dead 
is amazing, but if you get a chance, check out Boris Karloff in the 1936 film, The Walking Dead. 
Stuff I Learned From It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
This is what I learned from watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown way too often.
1. A young child can stay out all night alone, with no adult supervision, as long as it’s on Halloween night, in a pumpkin patch, waiting for someone to meet them…
2. Jumping into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker is a bad idea. Tried it once, turns out, very bad idea.
3. Charlie Brown should have gotten some candy at Halloween. I wanted to give him some of mine, what about you?
4. Pigpen, the child who walks around in a cloud of dirt is more likable than Charlie Brown.
5. If someone moves a football each time you go to kick it, Good Grief, stop believing them, it’s a theme. Same goes for many situations.
6. A person can have moral standards. Sally agrees to sit in the pumpkin patch with Linus, but threatens to slug him if he even tries to hold her hand.
7. Lucy actually cares about her little brother, Linus (even more than their parents). She goes and gets him from the pumpkin patch at 4am and sweetly puts him to bed. She gets him extra candy while trick or treating. It’s a whole other side of Lucy.
8. Charlie Brown is a hopeless optimist. No matter how people in his ‘community’ ignore, hurt, or bully him, he keeps believing and keeps trying. Or maybe he just has low self-esteem.
9. Dogs like to dress up as World War I Flying Aces for Halloween and fly around on their Sopwith Camels aka dog houses fighting the Red Baron. Who knew?
10. A signed contract doesn’t always mean what you think it means, there could be a loopholes.
11. It’s ok to give a child rocks for Halloween instead of candy. I’ve never tested this one.
12. Schroeder was a talented little dude, I always hoped he’s make it big until I realized he was just a cartoon, then I still hoped he’s make it big.
13. Linus wrote to The Great Pumpkin saying everyone tells him TGP is a fake, but he believes in him. He adds if TGP is a fake he doesn’t want to know. Is this denial or trying to hold onto his beliefs? People do it all the time, with politicians, God, family members, spouses, etc. Even if we know something is not true or wrong, we often don’t want to know.
I guess that’s why we love the sweetness and gentleness of things like Snoopy cartoons. We remember fondly those times when things were simple, when you could believe, trust, and hope. Life has become complicated. Peanuts is simple fun.
Happy Halloween!
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE
One of my fav Halloween flicks. Madcap and macabre, it gives laughs, groans, and an appreciation that some of the best movies were made long before you were born.
Released in 1944 (although filmed in 1941 due to Cary Grant’s availability) this film has withstood the test of time. Based on Joseph Kesselring‘s play; both the play and movie are ghastly joys, in their own ways.
Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster gives a stunningly awkward and charmingly frenetic performance.
Josephine Hull and Jean Adair portray Abby and Martha Brewster, Mortimer’s darling Aunts who also happen to be serial killers for a good cause, “It’s one of our charities”. They’re like the Dexter of their day. Their explanation of their murderous ways? They stop the suffering of lonely old bachelors by poisoning them with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch of cyanide” disguised in elderberry wine.
Uncle Teddy (John Alexander) who believes he’s Teddy Roosevelt unwittingly aids the Aunts by digging graves in the basement, thinking he is digging locks for the Panama Canal and burying yellow fever victims. Hull, Adair, and Alexander reprise their 1941 stage production roles.
Mortimer, whose ultimate dysfunctional family causes no end of headaches explains to his hapless new bride – “Insanity runs in my family, practically gallops!”
Peter Lorre and Raymond Massey are so sublimely creepy they really are Halloween.
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
I went to see this movie on opening day 1993 and a few more times in the following weeks. I had no children with me. I also bought the VHS tape when it came out, the soundtrack, and later the DVD. I may or may not have some small toys from the movie and a few TNBC T-shirts over the years, one possibly bought as recently as today.
To say I love this movie is too serene.
Like most Tim Burton films TNBC is funny, dark, deep, and stabbed full of obvious messages.
The main character is a skeleton named Jack Skellington.
He’s the Big Mouldy Cheese of Halloween Town, he’s the Pumpkin King, he has it all, fame, fortune, adulation. But he’s bored with his job. He wants more.
He discovers Christmas Town and sees it’s marketing potential. He figures this must be what he was destined to do.
So he rebrands himself and retrofits Halloween Town to do this new gimmick, Christmas.
Things go terribly, dreadfully, horribly wrong, of course.
The day or should I say eve is saved, mostly with the help of Sally who has loved Jack just as he was.
The Christmas brand is salvaged, as is that of Halloween.
Short story extended, Jack realizes he had everything he needed to make him miserably happy in Halloween Town all along. Cue a gruesomely romantic scene.
Crushed into all that? Lots of cool songs by Danny Elfman (sigh, I still love Oingo Boingo), mayhem, fun, drama, lots of funny lines…one of the best films every made.
I can’t make decisions by myself!”
~Mayor of Halloween Town
It’s a marketing dream in one nightmare.
The making of this film is almost as interesting as the film itself. Astonishing. 
Many have poached from, peeled back, and tried to copy the mastery of this movie in the 20 years since it’s release, but this masterpiece is incomparable.
Makes sense that it’s really just a remake of another perfect classic, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Can’t see it? Think about it.
TNBC combines Christmas and Halloween so naturally, I’m in.
yadadarcyyada 