white noise

Just in time for Thanksgiving, you can go re-live the Halloween party. The Halloween website even has a new, dedicated domain: http://NightmareBeforeHalloween.com. Go check it and don’t forget to put in your suggestions for next year from the home page.

The 80s era falls silent once again as the big Halloween festivities (the 8th if you are counting) have come and gone leaving us all with a post-partum malaise before the actual holiday was even here. The event was glorious and all the costumes inspired (and theme appropriate!). We’re really lucky to have such a great bunch of friends willing to participate in the silliness year after year.

The build up to the big event was very feverish. I took a total of three days off work and Donna and I worked countless hours on different projects. Many nights I was up until 3 or 4 in the morning. But it was not for lack of starting early. Some projects (like the Marshall amp stacks) were started two months in advance. Despite that, decorating continued until a half hour before the start of the party when we finally starting getting dressed.

The two projects that really put on the pressure coming down the stretch were the Billie Jean lighted sidewalk and the giant Rubik’s cubes for the game. In the past week a typical night would consist on Donna and I getting home from work unusually early, grabbing a quick dinner, then working on the cubes until close to midnight. By that time, Donna would crash out and I’d move on to the sidewalk for about 2-3 hours of work. Finally, before turning in, I’d try to put an hour in Flash to flesh out the game we’d be playing. But it all came together and no project was left unfinished.

As usual, we got some very key help. Suzie and company brought a bunch of food, as did Carol and Joe, Brian and Teri, and several others. Carol also made the Thriller zombie scene possible and Joe did his best to keep Donna from sliding off the roof while she was hanging the Back the Future clock in the rain.

For all the hard work, I certainly made up for it with some hard play. Once the formalities of the game and video voting were taken care of, I really cut loose. The further the night went on, the fuzzier my memory. The last of us crashed or departed at about 5:30am, and the last couple hours are a complete blur. I guess I did my alter ego, Slash, justice and truly partied like a rock star!

An update to the Nightmare web site should occur this weekend, complete with lots of photos, so stay tuned.

It’s August and we REALLY need to decide a theme for our annual Halloween party. Got an idea? Send it to us! Go to nightmare.xpsdesign.com and submit your idea on the right side of the home page. While you’re there you can check out the archive from last year.

We’ll be taking input for less than one more week then we’ll announce the official decision on the 13th.

The seventh annual Nightmare Before Halloween was a great success. One of the largest turnouts we’ve had. The nightmare site will be updated in a week or two, but for now I give you the costume winners, John and Kelly as Davey Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow.

The dead draw nearer. We hurry our preparations. 80% done with costumes, 90% done with props, 5% done with decorating.

The invites are going out for the 7th annual Nightmare before Halloween. Costume planning and prop construction is getting into full swing.

We’re resisting the urge to continue working on the basement now that it’s October, but we’ve made good progress in the past couple weeks. Everything has its second coat of paint, the wet bar is pretty usable (sink and all!), and we’re gradually cleaning and clearing space. It’s shame we still have the Willy Wonka floor to contend with, but it’d be a bigger shame to see a freshly laid hard-wood floor get trashed.

The date and theme are set for the next Halloween party. Check it out at nightmare.xpsdesign.com. Go ahead, scare us!

Another great party last weekend. Thanks to our of our guests!