Monday, October 27, 2008

Slashing Pumpkins

It's that time of year again! This weekend we carved up a new batch of pumpkins. I think we put last year to shame. A gratuitous action shot.

Our friend Scott picked out and carved pumpkins with us. I like how straight I made all of my cuts, but his turned out scariest. "And Darcy took home the "Too cool for school" prize with the sunglasses and cigarette.

Then we put the pumpkins out on the steps to guard our front door during the Halloween week. You can see Darcy's pumpkin better in this one too.

We also coerced Candice to carve a pumpkin later that night. She put us all to shame by completely finishing in 15 minutes, while we each spent about 40 minutes on ours.

And finally it got dark enough to light the candles and let the pumpkins shine. They look awesome. We also used Martha Stewart's tip about carving out the bottom of the pumpkin rather than the top. It works way better, plus, the top is the coolest part of the jack-o-lantern, so why hack it up just to pull the guts out?

I didn't even try to cook the seeds this year. I should have, but neglected my culinary duties. Last year I didn't come close to finishing my batch. I think it will only make me that much more dedicated to cooking them next year.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Beach Boys!

The past few days have seen me listening to my collection of Beach Boys albums. The Beach Boys may be my favorite "rock and roll" band. By which I mean my favorite band from the 50's and 60's. Why?

-They were a surf rock band that didn't actually surf.
-Their vocal harmonies are spot on.
-Every song is either super fun or hauntingly beautiful.

Their story is also one of the most fantastic in music history. Dennis, the drummer, had ties to the Manson Family, Brian used to put his piano in a sandbox to get an authentic "beach sound" and stopped touring with the band early on to write the music for Pet Sounds, the song Good Vibrations is (allegedly) about animals being able to psychically detect vibrations from humans and distinguish between good and bad vibrations, and on and on.

As a final note, anyone that's into music should own Pet Sounds and Sunflower/Surf's Up - my two favorite albums. (I don't count Smile because it is truly a Brian Wilson solo effort.)

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Circle of Steel Reserve

Last Wednesday, when I came home for my dinner break, I saw a curious brown paper bag on our doorstep. Written on the outside were the words, "For you." I was a teenager once, so I was immediately a little concerned about what the contents of the package might be. I gingerly opened it up, and found a Steel Reserve tall boy with a note attached.

The note reads, "To the folks who leave cans on the dumpster - Thank you. Today, while walking on the trail and picking up trash this Brown Bag was spotted, and ho - A large unopened can of Beer. Thought of you. Enjoy."

Pretty cool. We always leave our used cans on the side of the dumpster, so people who pick through the trash for cans don't have to get dirty and crawl through our other trash. I mean, they are recycling it, so everybody wins. And even though Steel Reserve is far from my drink of choice, when the weekend came enjoy we did. What's the saying, "Don't look a gift beer in the mouth?" Something like that.


Both Darcy and I seem very hesitant in the pictures; the beer was not very good. But I finished the whole thing, and then completed the circle of life by leaving it out on the dumpster with a thank you note.

Also, don't worry, I've been diligently listening to the B's in my iTunes. One regret? The Bacon Brothers album is already in the past. Oh well, maybe in a few years. Here's a list of the albums I've listened to since my last post:

Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (meh)
The Bambi Molesters - Dumb Loud Hollow Twang (awesome Croatian surf rock band recommended and loaned to me by my co-worker Sasa)
Band Of Bees - Free the Bees (good)
Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time (not as good as Band of Bees)
Basil Poledouris - The Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack (epic)
Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold (how is this not Tori Amos?)
Battles - Mirrored (even epic-er)
Bauhaus - Burning From the Inside, Gotham, and Mask (Bauhausian)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Oh my God, it's a fire! sale

Recently found and purchased from the Hastings bargain rack. Total cost $3.49.

Awesome.