Halloween - A Little on the Late Side

I love Halloween. As this is my second post concerning the dark, gothic, and - in the context of modern society - pointless holiday, I am sure that my affection is quite obvious. This year I decided to celebrate Halloween night as the Joker from Batman (as did millions of other males including Dwight, Kevin, and Creed). However, unlike the other copycats around the USA, I decided to show my respect for both of the amazing Jokers in the Batman Franchise - Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger - and create a costume that reflected both of those ingenious and engrossing performances.

In all truth though I just didn't have the time to recreate Jack Nicholson's joker or the materials to recreate Heath Ledger's, so I did my best and came out with an accidental inbetween look. It was a lot of fun though. I didn't let on to my family who I was dressing up as and as a result I was able to surprise a few of my family members as I snuck around a corner and let out a hyena-like laugh. When I took matthew (my little brother) trick or treating people kept stopping to stare at me and little 12 year old boys thought that it was hilarious (and surely impressive to the girls that were with them) to challenge me to a fight. I was also offered candy at virtually every house we stopped at as a sort of reward for the obvious effort that went into my face paint (the clothes are all courtesy of Hawaii and Florida thrift stores by the way - the thrift stores in Hawaii are awesome!)

The only downside to my get-up was that people at our church's trunk or treat avoided me because they were thinking "who is that wierd guy dressed up as The Joker and handing out candy?" People that I have known since I was in elementary school could not figure out who I was. The missionaries even approached me to thank me for coming and to find out more about me. These are missionaries I have talked to on several occasions!

Christina, I must say, did an even more impressive job with her costume and definitely got an equal amount of stares. I did not even recognize her when she walked up to me!! I was thinking "who is this weird geisha trying to get next to me, and why am I in Japan?!" Her kimono was given to her by the sweetest little old Japanese lady who we stayed with while visiting the big Island of Hawaii.

Anyway, Halloween is great, we are already talking about what we are going to be next year. I think next time we are going to avoid the copious amounts of white face paint though.

A Little Success

I have been working for my father for about 2 months now and though I feel I have added minute levels of value to the company by creating marketing tools and checking our service at the various facilities in which we operate, I finally feel like I have earned my keep somewhat. Today my dad's partner Bruce and I secured an account in Boca Raton, FL called Stratford Court. According to the Director of Nursing we sold her "hook, line, and sinker." Ahhh, I am no longer a useless oaf. Although I did not add much to the pitch (I feel) I was the only one who was able to secure an appointment with the DON after several attempts by Bruce and his marketer Anthony. A few weeks ago I was also able to get my Father and Bruce into a nursing home that is owned by one of my Dad's biggest competitors - Mobile X. That felt good, but unfortunately I was not able to participate in the actual presentation because of my strep throat. Still it is quite a coup to be servicing a nusing home owned by a competitor!!

My Favorite Halloween Film of All Time

Not only is Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein my favorite Halloween movie of all time, it is one of my favorite movies period. Christina and I have a tradition of watching this film every year on Halloween (we stole the tradition from my own family). I hated this movie when I was a kid simply because it was black and white and my sisters and I groaned whenever my parents sat us around for a family movie night in the month of October and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was the feature film. However, when I was on my own and I celebrated my first Halloween as a college freshman, I felt a big gaping hole in my annual Halloween experience. A little bit of introspection led me to the conclusion that this movie was the missing fabric. Every year I laugh harder and harder when I watch this movie (I've shed tears of laughter during the first 20 min of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein consistently for the past three years). I honestly believe that everyone must watch this movie at least once and no true Halloween lover should go without giving Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein its duly earned annual
screening.

Just for fun, here are my five favorite Halloween films of all time:

1. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
2. Young Frankenstein (Absolutely Hilarious)
3. Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride (Wonderfully Gothic)
4. Hocus Pocus (Cheesy, I know, but it reminds me of Halloween as a kid )
5. Beetlejuice - One of Michael Keaton's finest moments, with the exception of the first Batman.

Lacoste Fever!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Lacoste (seriously, or you really don't know me). Flip through any photo album containing pictures of me and I guarantee that, in the very least, I will be wearing a Lacoste shirt in 80% of the photos. My brother Steve made a comment when we visited him in Colorado not too long ago that every photo he has of me over the last few years feature me in either a black or blue Lacoste shirt (they were in fact variations of the same shirt, when one of the trusty black or blue gets too faded I just ask for another for christmas or my b-day).

The point I am trying to make here is that I love Lacoste, so you can imagine my surprise and glee when my mom handed me her awesome Lacoste glasses! I love these glasses, one, because they are Lacoste, and two, because they look different from almost every angle. They have alternating black and transparent stripes which are sometimes visible and sometimes not. The first day I wore them (after I had the lenses put in) I walked into the house to find Christina (my wife) and my dad talking. When they spotted me they immediately reacted - christina audibly and my dad visually. Christina commented that I looked like a metrosexual nerd and my dad's expression said everything. I told him not to worry, I did not go to see any of his nursing home clients with the glasses on - there was an audible sigh a relief at this revelation. No matter though, I love these glasses and my mom still dresses my dad so he can hardly be considered the fashion police.

Joe the Plumber

I could see McCain's reasoning in taking the offensive in tonight's debate. He is not going to beat Obama at portraying a cool, collected candidate. He is behind in the polls and I think he was trying to chisel out a more solid niche for himself as the aggressive, no-nonsense, "give it to me straight" candidate. There is obviously a large percentage of Americans who respond to that "strong-man," unabashedly aggressive behavior as that is our overwhelming international stereotype. Personally, I I find it hard not to naturally reject the sort of arrogant, overly antagonistic behavior displayed by McCain in tonight's debate - that, of course, is not what is important however, the issues are what are most important (although our president's behavioral quirks have a lot to do with how the world ultimately views us - President Bush is an excellent case in point).

I originally had a long post here describing my view point on what I thought were some of the more pertinent issues but then I decided that I did not want this to be that kind of blog. I want to entice people to read my blog about music, movies, books, and me rather than turn them away with my political views.

Not One of My Favorite Things

I just found out today - after spending about 20 hours in constant fear of the need to swallow and missing Mitt Romney at our LDS Church Services (can you believe that the one weekend I get sick is the weekend Mitt Romney decides to show up in our Ward and sit in the pew directly if front of my family!!) - that I have a nasty case of strep throat. It was not a huge surprise as my mom had the malady last week and frequently commented that she felt as though she were swallowing razor blades. I hold that analogy to be entirely correct. In fact, I am becoming so skilled at avoiding the urge to swallow and am doing so in such an infrequent manner that the amount of pain that accompanies each flushing of my mouthly fluids continues to surprise me!

I went to the MedExpress clinic this evening because the pain began to become unbearable, and truthfully, I was really hungry but terrified to eat. I have to mention that I think MedExpress is a great business idea - it is a homey emergency clinic open 9-9 that has some relatively reasonable set prices for seeing the doctor and they are typically able to see you shortly after checking-in (once again this is relative to the ridiculous waits experienced at hospitals). Anyways, MedExpress gave me penicillin and some pain killers but I can still only stand to swallow ice cream (at this I am not complaining as it is an excuse to eat as much of my favorite ice cream as I want without the fear of reprimand). As you can see in the picture above, my tonsils are red and swollen (what you cannot see is the delicious white puss that is oozing and coating the back of my throat).

The doctors said that strep throat is going around so make sure to wash your hands frequently and beware of who you kiss!!

Instamatic Karma

Anyone who claims to be acquainted with me in the slightest knows that I have a borderline healthy obsession with the Beatles and especially with John Lennon. When my mom handed me this book last week - who herself is a great John Lennon fan and must be at least partially credited for turning me on to the Beatles - I thought that it could hold nothing new for me. How wrong I was. The images in this book are simple and show John Lennon in '73 & '74 full of life and happiness while spending time with his largely ignored son Julian (ignored thanks to Yoko), other friends - including the previously shunned Paul McCartney (shunned thanks to Yoko) - and his designated companion May Pang (designated companion thanks to Yoko).

Interestingly, and what may be the selling point for all true Beatles fans out there - and therefore Yoko Ono haters - there is not a single picture of Yoko in the entire book! These photos were all taken during the famous "lost weekend" when John and Yoko split for 18 months (not really a weekend) and John traveled around and lived with May Pang. There are some seriously cool pictures of John in this book, and I truly believe that the good feelings that prevail throughout the book are due to the absence of that breaker of all that is good - Yoko Ono.

The Only Movie I Have Seen in the Past 2 Months

As some of you may know, Christina and I recently returned to Florida after spending the first 3 years of our marriage as a somewhat poor, but undoubtedly content, college family. Our last few weeks in Hawaii were fun and exciting as we attempted to do all the "touristy" types of things we never had time for when I was a full-time student. Those last few weeks in Hawaii were followed by a two week long roadtrip starting in San Francisco and ultimately ending in West Palm Beach via Orem, UT, Boulder, CO, St. Louis, MO, and Atlanta, GA.

For four weeks following the trip we tried to make sense of our new "two-income" and both "tired and unmotivated at the end of the day" lifestyle, while setting up a temporary residence at my parents house. All said, we never really had the time or the energy to go out and see a movie - one of my favorite things. So last weekend we decided to treat ourselves to the comedy "Ghost Town." It stars Michael Scott's equivalent on the British version of the Office - Ricky Gervais - who was equal parts wit and charm (very nerdy charm that is). I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the whip-like wit of English comedians as well as those who like to enjoy a little brain candy every so often without having to be ashamed when telling others about their weekend cinematic excursion.

I don't like to ruin movies for others so I won't say much about the plot, but rather I will gaurantee that you will enjoy this movie from the beginning to the end and you will not feel like the show was a precious $20 or so wasted.