Gone Feral In Idaho

From the New York Times N.Y. / REGION A New Perspective on Crime Scenes null Published: November 18, 2011 Using a camera called the Panoscan, the New York City Police Department creates 360-degree panoramic images of crime scenes. Click: 360 Degree Crime Scene Photography

Happy Thanksgiving! <<"insert: turkey.jpg">> << >> ;) Have a great holiday and be safe!

This is my favorite Monty Python sketch. I've used that headline before. The post from a few days ago with the same headline turned into something very meaningful to me. This blog started with gardening, then I added haunt and some work anecdotes. The readership has grown, modestly, and probably mostly due to Pumpkinrot's links and my activity on haunt forum. But the reason I changed the name of the blog was to encompass me and my life more. Please don't be turned off if I one day soon put up a post about something most people deal with every day but gets little attention. I'm writing about body image. I know guys, cringe all you want, but it is something I think most of us  have issues with, be it overly zealous about a perfect figure to self hatred. I'd like to point out some realizations I've made recently about my own self image and I would like to share some of my findings on this blog.  I am not changing the theme of the blog because ...

Our rouge vif d'etampes cured and are going to be slow roasted in the oven to prep them for some Thanksgiving pies. I hope they taste O.K. We had a small yield with one that got run over and scarred by the dog and one that never grew very large. When cut, they smell almost melon like. I tasted a bit and it was very mild and sweet. This project is obviously a multi-day one, so I'll post more later.

Kyle helped me set up the guest room into a bit of a workspace for me. Tonight we will embark on making a DIY dress form out of water activated packaging tape and Moi! The machine on the left is the new one from Costco. I know its a beginner model, but for the price, I couldn't resist. The dress form will go on the old haunt monster support that is in the left corner. Its a tight space, but with my work hours we use the room at least once a week so I can get a good nights sleep before my 14 hour shift.  No, we aren't responsible for the paint job of the room. Believe it or not, that's the way it came when we moved in. Its a rental so I don't mind.

There is an execution scheduled in my state that will have happened before I get up in the morning. The crimes took place years before I set foot in Idaho. I will have no participation in the event. Here are some news stories about it. http://www.ktvb.com/news/crime/Execution-of-Paul-Rhoades-set-for-Friday-morning-134078818.html http://www.ktvb.com/news/Brother-of-victim-dealing-with-pain-again-on-eve-of-execution-134095798.html http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/11/18/1883435/rhoades-last-hours.html This movie made me not like the death sentence, you'd have to watch the entire thing to get it. I'm just commenting on the idea of a death sentence, it just happens to be one of two carried out during my lifetime. Here is the other one I am aware of:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy .

Photo by Pumpkinrot Don’t you ever laugh as the hearse goes by, For you may be the next to die. They wrap you up in a big white sheet From your head down to your feet. They put you in a big black box And cover you with dirt and rocks. All goes well for about a week, Until your coffin begins to leak. The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, The worms play pinochle on your snout. They eat your eyes, they eat your nose, The eat the jelly between your toes. A big green worm with rolling eyes Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes. Your stomach turns a slimy green, And pus pours out like whipping cream. You spread it on a piece of bread And that’s what you eat when you are dead. Poem shared by a coworker

Even though I didn't go as far as Kim K and her recent mockery of the "institution" of marriage, some might find that I went a bit Griswald with the light show thing. Ms. K recently claimed that she got caught up in the magic of her wedding, enough so, that she lost sight of what was happening. I sorta did the same thing and realized that I was going for more of an ambient effect with the 2011 haunt, that I never made a good ambient sequence in the first place. We ended up on the big night playing the only 4 song sequences that I did "complete" so it would be more fun for the TOTs. Next year, I don't plan on making many changes with the props, but I do want to flesh out some good ambient spooky "soundtrack" and some effective slowly changing lighting effects to reflect the mood of the soundscape. I'm thinking green for creepy sinister, blues for ghostly sounds, reds for the basso nefarious sounds, etc...  So if you don't find any rock show...

I tried YouTube's video editor and used the "I'm feeling lucky" tool. It brightened it up a bit more even though the thumbnail looks worse than the original. For a free quick fix, it was well worth the time and price. Now, if they could only edit out the cars in the background.

Family Portrait I just packed up the haunt and we got everything up in the rafters and all the storage places we could find. I took down the Halloween wreath and put up the Thanksgiving one. I even changed the porch light from black light to warm white. We saved two of the corn stalk bundles and put them up on either side of the porch. All signs of yard haunt 2011 are gone.  We didn't get as many TOTs this year as last, but we aren't in a very enthusiastic neighborhood either. We did have a lot of people stop by during the weekend and got lots of great compliments. I got to take some photos and really tried hard at video, but I don't have the right equipment for that. Maybe next year. I met almost all of my deadlines, but there are always a few that time won't allow for. I now have 364 days to get more lighting sequences done, an next year will have a proper Halloween tree. I almost did too much this year and got pretty stressed with the pressure to finish. B...