Weekend Recap - Halloween 2011

This past weekend is one of BF's faves (if you couldn't already tell from his BF Corner Entries).

He's gotten into biking over the last couple years, and there's a fun Chicago activity that involved both on Friday evening. My work was nice enough to let me work from home on Friday which allowed be to be 'off' at 5:30 vs. fighting the traffic into the city. This was vital seeing as how we needed to be at the event by 6:30 pm.

So what am I talking about? Critical Mass! Basically everyone meets at Daley plaza in the financial area, just down the street from Macy's (Marshall Fields). They hand out maps, and as it gets later people start riding their bikes in the road together till they amass enough people to take over the road. There's no organization; this happens the last Friday of every month, except Friday's was Halloween themed! I've never done this before and BF says sometimes people wear costumes even when it's not Halloween but this was especially festive.

Daley Plaza was already in the festive mood changing the fountain to orange and hanging orange lights for a non related children's Halloween festival complete with free hot cocoa and apple cider!

Bf had joked a few weeks ago about being Pooh for Halloween, and I got excited and wanted to be piglet. So the joke became reality :). I even had some pretty sweet pink pants!

BF's dad even came out to ride with us. He was dressed as an "Occupy" protester.

After the ride, a lot of the riders ended up at Galloway Arms. Thankfully just down the street from BF's apartment. I say 'thankfully' because although I try to support BF in his love for biking, my butt doesn't necessarily agree, and even after ONLY 10 miles (+ the distance to the start and from the finish) I was in a lot of pain. As you may be aware from my Birthday gift for BF, the Nite Ride of 25 miles, I got a pink Schwinn because it had a bigger seat (in hopes of a more comfortable ride), however as BF always says (literally... ALWAYS) "it won't get better until you start riding more). But anywho.

Friday night, my friend MS came in and we proceeded to drink Hallowine (BF found it at Whole Foods and had to get it) and watch scary movies. Typically I'd WANT to put 'scary' in quotations, however I was not kidding. BF found this awful movie called "Trick or Treat". I swear I love him, but he's got something going on upstairs that I'll never understand with his LOVE for scary movies... he typically says it's because he wants to find the 'zipper in the back of the monster costume', however i just don't buy it.

Saturday, BF was kind enough to take MS to breakfast at Nookies as I met up with one of my future Brand Profile companies at Orange with A Peel. Although I didn't order them, I had to share their theme for their silver dollar pancake flight:

Notice the awesome Halloween recipes!

Afterward we all headed up to watch the Purdue game at Red Ivy. Although it started off good, our defense couldn't keep up the energy and we didn't show up for the second half (a sad trend I've been seeing).

MS and I went down the street to Corcoran's for a little while before going back for dinner. She went back out, while BF and I stayed in and cleared his DVR of Dead Files, Ghost Adventures, and Ghost Hunter Episodes. I even got to finally bake my apple pie for us to enjoy. For dinner I made a poor attempt at Hotdog Mummies. 

Sunday, BF & I watched the original Night of the Walking Dead, before making our way out to his parents in the Burbs for an evening of Italian and My Ghost Stories.

I sadly don't expect any trick or treaters tonight as I'm in a condo/apartment building, but I'm going to have some candy just in case.

What did y'all do this weekend? What did you dress up as? Was it EPIC?!?

The BF Corner Entry 3 - Happy Halloweenie

Happy Halloween Boys and Ghouls!

 

I am just about ready.  My costume is almost completed (I am dressing up as Winnie the Pooh and the Prep is going to be Piglet).  The candy is purchased and we are going to be passing out Dum Dums by the fistful this year.  I am interested to see just how many kids I get this year.  At my old place people lined the streets like it was something out of a movie.  This happened in part because I lived in a very family friendly part of town so there were lots of local kids, but kids from some of the more unfortunate part of Chicago would get bused in.  

Thinking back I have had some pretty awesome costumes.  As a kids some of my highlights would have to be Ninja Turtle, Captain American, and Predator.  My college/young adult years have had some real hits too primarily as a Ghostbuster and Mike Ditka.  There is a particular element of pride with the Mike Ditka costume because I actually grew out a real mustache for that outfit.

What the BF is Listening to - We Found Love (Rihanna)

Alright guilty pleasure time.  I enjoy pop music sometimes.  I wanted to put in something Halloween themed here, but reality is this is the song that has been stuck in my head the last couple of days.  Deal with it.

What the BF is watching - SCARY MOVIES!

As discussed in last weeks article, I am a fan of scary movies.  Over the next couple of days the following things will be watched:

Dracula (1931)

If you ask anyone over the age of 50 what the scariest movie that they have ever seen, there is a high probability that they will answer this movie.  It was the original big bad vampire movie.  No glittery heart throbs running through the woods in this movie.  Bela Lugosi defined what culture thinks of vampires and this is the movie that set all of the rules (holy water, stake through the heart, sleeps in coffins).  Beyond the impact it had on us from a cultural standpoint, it opened the doors for all horror movies to follow after it.  This was the first true horror movie to be released by Hollywood that was a full length feature film and not contain any comic relief.  Along with Frankenstein it launched the Universal Horror films that we still cherish today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xmz-p9FYW8&feature=related

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

While zombies have taken over as the biggest thing in movies and TV the last 5 years nothing comes close to the original.  Over 40 years old and it still stands the test of time as a scary movie.  The rules are simple.  Aim for the head and don't get bit.  Before this movie zombies were more thought of as a voodoo possession, but once we heard "There coming to get you Barbara" things changed forever.  Due to issues with filing the copyright to the movie it fell under public domain and is insanely available for people to enjoy it.  Do yourself a favor, watch this one with the lights off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYR3dorshwA

Halloween (1978)

This is the movie you should be watching on Halloween.  I could go on and on for reasons why you should be watching this movie, but the title of the film speaks for itself.  Light your pumpkin, make some popcorn, sit down and watch this movie.  (Note - If you watch the 2007 Rob Zombie remake over this, I will find you and punch you in the face)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHur-QBkgU8

GAME OF THE WEEK - Michigan State at Nebraska

Hmmm does my excitement over the Cubs getting Theo Epstein motivate me to watch the rest of this world series?  No, but I really hope the Rangers beat the St. Louis.  First, I cannot stand the thought of that drunk idiot Tony LaRussa (yes he was arrested for a DUI in 2007) getting another World Series ring with a crappy team that had no business being in the playoffs.  Second, I have some family that lives in Texas and root for the Rangers.

This weeks game of the week is MSU at Nebraska.  While I am going to be watching the Purdue/Michigan game, there should be some channel flipping during the commercials to this game.  After their monster game against Wisconsin last week, does MSU have what it takes to seize control over the Big 10 and beat Nebraska?  Is this the chance for Nebraska to get back into the Big 10 race?  Big questions are going to be answered here.

BF Corner Entry 2 - Halloween is almost here

OK so I am more than a little pumped for it to be almost Halloween.  While it isn't my FAVORITE holiday, it is very high on the list.  I feel like it is the one time a year that no one questions me liking scary movies, and ghost stories.  Even the Prep herself will sit down and watch a scary movie with me.  We can't just go full head on into any movie though, because she scares fairly easy.  Overtime I have had to make a ranking system to warn her what kind of movie we are in store for before she decides to sit down and watch it.  It goes as follows:

Level 1 or "See this is still in the spirit of scary movies" - This is typically reserved for non scary movies that have a paranormal vibe to it in some capacity.  She can make it through these fine.  Examples - Ghostbusters, Scooby Doo, stuff you would spot on ABC family.

Level 2 (stuff that should be level one, but was scary to her as a kid) - Haven't run into many of these.  Part of this is because I believe she has toughened herself over time.  Once in awhile though I will be left scratching my head on something.  Example - Had to change the channel during the scene where the little girl gets kidnapped by the witches in Hocus Pocus

Level 3 (old monster movies that don't scary anyone, but piss her off) - As a kid I used to love watching the old Universal Monster classics.  If they weren't playing on AMC, I used to get my fix on Chicago's version of the Saturday night creature feature "Svengoolie".  Once in awhile I think that I can slip these in as a Level 1 or 2 with her, but it ends with me turning it off because her patience has run out.  Once in awhile though we do make it through one of these, but she usually isn't happy.  Examples - War of the World (the original), The Invisible Man, The Thing From Another Universe, The Birds

Level 4 (Watches with fingers through the eyes) - While these movies typically are not intense through the whole thing, they typically will have music or something let you know that something scary is about to happen.  If it isn't going to be violence, but just kind of spookiness that is happening she will put her hand over hear face and watch through her fingers.  This is typically is a ghost show or a ghost movie.  This is right around where we end up because everything past here leaves her upset.

Level 5 (Face in Pillow and look away) - This the older brother to the Level 4.  Typically happens when there is a lot of Level 4 moments in a film, or something is going to be especially scary.  Examples - The Exorcist, Psycho, Paranormal Activity (funny side note, the Prep actually likes this movie, or least I am under the impression she does.)

Level 6 or "This is gross" - The Prep doesn't do violence in her scary movies.  The second it comes into play she is ready to peace out.  This is reserved for those movies that have just one or two obnoxious scenes in it.  Example - Misery, Halloween (original), Fright Night (both), Scream

Level 7 or "What is wrong with you?" - Big bad brother to the Level 6.  These movies have lots of people dying in them.  Think Zombie movies, slasher flicks, and stuff with gross out special effects.  These are the ones that I typically enjoy the most.  Only way these ever get watched is if DJ and myself are already watching one and she walks in.  Examples - All zombie movies, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Thing, The Evil Dead. (PREP IN THE MIDWEST NOTE: JOHNNY DEPP ALERT! :) )

Level 8 or "GF don't come in/I will turn this off right now" - Highest level that is in play.  This is for either the truly terrifying or the truly gross.  I sometimes don't even really want to be watching some of these movies.  The whole torture craze going through Hollywood right now feels like it is starting to run itself out, so hopefully we get back to smart scary movies.  While I do feel some of these movies are actually good, a lot of them are crap.  Violence for the sake of violence isn't scary, but the fear of what is going to happen to someone is.  Examples - Saw movies, Hostel, Takashi Miike films, The Devil's Rejects.

Alright time for the weekly breakdown of what the BF is doing.

What the BF is watching - The Walking Dead (AMC Sundays 8:00 CT)

This is one of the best shows on TV right now.  Being a big fan of the comic series that it is based off of I was looking forward to this show when it debuted last year.  It works so well in many ways.  First of and foremost it is a survival story that happens to have zombies in it.  Most movies today are 2 hours max and you are left with so little time to truly expand on the characters in the film.  Often times this leads to forgettable story lines that leave us only thinking of those that are zombie chow and those that lived.  The Walking Dead leaves us really exploring these characters and trying to understand who they are.  As a fan of both series (TV and comic) I am looking forward to this second season.  If it follows the books it should provide everyone with some real human moments, and solid scares!  If you haven't seen season 1 it is already out on Blu Ray and available for Instant Streaming on Netflix.  If you missed this Sunday's episode you can watch it on http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead

What the BF is listening to - Spotify

O Spotify, what would I do without you?  A popular music streaming service that recently made its way over to the US is currently one of my favorite things.  I have every song that I ever wanted to listen to available for me.  I gave the Premium subscription a test spin so I could stream music off of my smart phone.  This was HUGE for my recent road trip to STL with the Prep a couple of weeks ago.  It is free to download though and use on your personal machine.  You are fool if you don't try it.

http://www.spotify.com/us/

GAME OF THE WEEK - Purdue vs Illinois (Saturday 11:00 CT)

You didn't think I would force more hockey down your throat did you?  It is Purdue's Homecoming game, which would put it at #1 for my anyways, but on top of it they are playing Illinois.  While other people might look at Notre Dame or IU as our football rivals this is probably the biggest game that I circle every year.  I am literally the only person in my immediate family that didn't got to U of I.  Both of my parents went there, my younger brother went there, and it was pretty much assumed that I would have gone there too.  I have become the Black and Gold sheep of my family.  

Hopefully it is a good game.  I personally feel that they are the better team in every aspect of football, but funny things happen in football, and maybe this is one of those weeks that the ball bounces favorably for the Boilers.

Do you have a particular scary movie?  Please let me know.  I am always looking for new fun ones to watch.  Send us your recommendations and let us know where it would fall on the ranking system that I provided above.  Hope everyone has a good weekend!  Boiler Up!