I’ve always been a big fan of Halloween and Haunted Houses, so when our little theater started to look into doing something like this, I jumped at the chance. The very first “Haunted House” I went to was actually someone’s house. Just for Halloween they would bring in a real casket, and the owner of the house was dressed as Dracula. The candy dish was place on his chest. Every so often he would move to grab a kid. Sent you right through the roof. Of course you wanted to be that kid he moved on because his wife (a witch) would give you an extra candy bar.

Now on to other haunted houses and Halloween. Believe it or not, there are people who don’t like haunted houses. For some it has everything to do with their religion. Now, as long as they aren’t out there preventing my fun, my hat is off to these folks. To take a stand, because of their moral views, counter to the societal views is laudable. Others are simply frightened too much by them, and they don’t enjoy it. Nothing wrong with that either.

There is a third group. They may or may not belong to either of the two other groups. People who have experienced a loss of someone close (spouse, sibling, parent) may not like the idea of having fun with death. While I’ve lost a brother and both parents, the loss of my wife made me see this more. The other deaths could be explained away (didn’t help the grief, but the logic was there). My wife’s death was something out of the blue. Never saw it coming. Generally her family had very long life spans. I could then see how people would be upset and troubled with the fundamental ideas behind Halloween and Haunted Houses. The gravestones, skeletons, zombies, ghouls and ghost can all bring up some troubling memories. I can see where that would really change a person’s view on the whole Halloween event. And that doesn’t even go into the sight of seeing something in a Halloween display that reminds you of your loved one’s death. That is very troubling.

So I guess because of this, I do draw a few lines. I don’t like, and won’t go to a haunted house based on a hospital. I don’t like haunted houses with a lot of suicide themes. There are other things that can be just as scary that don’t touch these areas. It just takes a bit of insight.

Of course, even after my wife’s death, I couldn’t completely give up on Halloween, it was one of her favorite holidays. I can have fond memories of past Halloweens by carrying on the celebration of the day in the future.

Happy Haunting…

Tonight at our weekly haunted house production meeting, those of us who ventured  to Ghostly Manor discussed our satisfaction with the experience and evaluated what we thought could be done with our fright fest.  We were advised to check the website for another well-reviewed house of horror in Ohio, just considerably farther than Sandusky.  It seems that a location just east of Columbus in Pataskala, Dead Acres is a high ranking house dealing in the macabre.  On its website, it has a list of warnings that apparently should be heeded.  For instance, if you are in the least bit skeptical about whether or not to bring your children, you should LEAVE THEM BEHIND.  There is an addendum that states that the actors involved may occasionally come into direct contact with the visitors (something that our group was warned against doing) but that they should not try to become aggressive in return.  One aspect of this house that caught my eye is the haunted hospital wing.  So, as the month of ghoulish happenings, creepy things that go bump in the night, and other horrifying spectacles approaches, be sure to visit your area house of horror.

Today is the first day back to school (already?!?), and it’s really quiet around here.  I guess my oldest two are my loudest two, and we have reduced the traffic in the house by 50% since half the kids are now at school during the day.  Thank goodness for school; I’m enjoying myself already.  So far, I’ve gotten two loads of laundry done – folded, put away and everything, and I have somehow also found the time today to put away most of the clutter that’s been haunting our dining room table for the last week and a half.  I even got to work on my e-book a little bit, and it’s not even 1 o’clock!  And, the kids at school are learning stuff, getting exercise, and socailizing with their friends; they’re not vegged out in front of the tv or outside fighting in the wading pool.  Everyone wins!

While the oldest 2 kids are in school, I also have time to focus on my toddler, Disney, while her baby brother is napping.  Today, I got to sit on the floor and play puzzles with her; something we haven’t done together in months, almost a year because of my pregnancy and c-section.  And she was down for her nap by 12:30, which not only means some quality time together for me and baby Christopher, but also that my toddler should be to bed at a decent hour tonight.  Win-win!  While I was on the floor playing with my daughter, I was getting up to tend to the laundry and whatnot.  My daughter was following me around the house, and this is where my day becomes challenging – trying to keep our clingy almost 2-year-old out of my husband’s home office so he can work.  The home office isn’t  a room where he could close the door and utilize the out-of-sight-out-of-mind tactic.  The office is on the landing on our second floor, so if my toddler begins to head up the stairs or even looks up the stairs, she sees her best friend, Daddy, and it’s over.  She tantrums until he holds her, and he can’t get any work done.  Today she got upstairs and in the clutches of Daddy, so when I chased her down, of course she was upset.  But I used one of my favorite child-rearing techniques: redirection.  I taught her how to clean the toothpaste off the kids’ bathroom counter, which she happily did.  We went downstairs for a popsicle, puzzles, and Barney, and all was forgotten.  Wow.  I had totally forgotten about the magic of the redirection technique because the last 2-year-old I had in the house was our “spirited” child, Samantha.  Sammie was never re-directable.  She has always been so strong-willed that it’s literally impossible to re-direct the kid, let alone being able to trick her into helping around the house.  To this day, she will fight for her cause, whatever it may be, until she gets what she wants or she passes out.  And now that she’s older (she’s 4), the crying doesn’t last as long, but she will remember what it is she wanted and bring it up throughout the day (or week or month) until she gets it.  So I am actually enjoying Disney’s terrible twos a little bit – it’s so refreshing to have a kid who listens.  I know, she’s not yet 2 and things could get worse – so much worse.  But I’ve been there, done that, and after what Sammie put us through, no wonder Disney seems like a breeze.  And even if she does get completely crazy, soon she’ll be old enough to go to school, and we’ll start the terrible twos all over again with Christopher.  After 3 tantruming girls in their terrible twos, I’m curious to see what a boy will be like.  Probably no big deal, at least compared to Sammie 🙂

Tonight, I rented the DVD of a musical I have heard so much about but have never had the opportunity to see in any form. Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has all the makings of not musical theatre but an operatic tragedy. It tells the tale of a barber, Benjamin Barker, who was wrongfully accused of a crime and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The evil Judge Turpin was in love with Benjamin’s wife Lucy and had the barber put away so he could have the woman to himself.

As the movie opens, Benjamin (who has assumed the identity of Sweeney Todd) returns to Victorian era London aboard a sailing ship upon which he meets the young Anthony. While the title character was away, his daughter Johanna became the ward of the sadistic judge. Sweeney opens a new barber shop above the pie shop of one Mrs. Lovett who is known around the city for making “The Worst Pies in London.” It is in this barber shop where Mr. Todd plots to take his revenge against the man who sent him away while helping to keep Mrs. Lovett’s business thriving.

The aforementioned tragic character, the young lovers, and in particular the score itself is much more reminiscent of opera. The dark tones set by the entire piece is unlike most light musical theatre. In fact, audiences must be warned of the large displays of blood…. definitely not the “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” type of show. However, for those who can look beyond the obvious, what is left is well worth watching. Sondheim composed not only the music but the lyrics to some of his most beautiful songs in Sweeney Todd. “Pretty Woman“,”Not While I’m Around “, and “Johanna ” (one of my favorite Sondheim pieces) are three of the memorable tunes.

As for the marquee attraction, Johnny Depp who has had a looong standing cinematic relationship with director Tim Burton, was adequate in the role. His singing is better suited for a rock band then a musical stage production. Helena Bonham Carter had some of the more difficult songs to sing as Mrs. Lovett (who one could say is perhaps as villainous as anyone in the show). I was also pleased with the voice of Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony. In perhaps the closest moment of comic relief, Sacha Baron Cohan plays a scam artist named Pirelli who knows something of Sweeney’s past (those of you who know me KNEW I had to mention this bit that looks like a lot of fun).

Would I recommend this musical to everyone? Definitely not! As I said before, if you can look beyond the the blood, what is left is one of the best shows Sondheim has yet created. Sometime, I have been promised to watch a video of a stage performance with Angela Lansbury (who was the original Broadway Mrs. Lovett).

Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (Vocal Selections) Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (1930-). Songbook for voice and piano. 44 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (AP.VAL2020A) See more info…

Yes, hay fever season has started in NW Ohio. I’m not sure how bad it will be yet, but I have noticed additional sneezing and the itchy, watery eyes. My typical reactions to the Mid August weather.

Now I’m not complaining about this, it is something I’ve lived with most of my life. I’m used to the end of summer sneezing. No, I want to say something about the Optometrist I just went to. Actually not the Optometrist, but one of the office assistants. I’m not sure of their actual titles, but that really doesn’t make much difference.

Here is my story. Question 1 was “Is anything bothering your eyes?” Answer, “Yes, it is hay fever season and my eyes are irritated and watery.” Question 2: “Do you want to replace your glasses with contacts”. Huh!!??? I just complained of irritated eyes, and the very next question is do I want to put some foreign object in them? I’m sure it was on a list, but don’t people think anymore? I guess not. Anyway, the questions continue, and I’m asked again if I would be interested in contacts. I guess they didn’t hear the answer the first time they asked.

I have a feeling that contacts are a big money maker for the Optometrist and staff. To be asked this question twice, and get a rather strong no the first time, it kind of makes me wonder.

The rest of the visit went without incident, so I hope they now have on my chart that I really don’t want contacts. I did wonder though, do they make “reading” contacts? So far, that is the only thing I need my glasses for. Distance vision is still pretty good. They are putting me in glasses I will wear most of the time though. May be better anyway. I always forget to take them places, and that sometimes leads to some problems.

As a Christian, I believe we, as individuals and as a country, should put our trust in the Almighty God.  That’s why I was a bit disappointed to see that, though not a majority, a large number of people in this country do not believe this trust should be shown on our money.  This is the email forward I got today.  I removed some of the message, such as email addresses and other comments except the last.  Yeah, I know- where have I been.  Well, I’ve just been taking a break I guess.  Regular posting will resume soon.

MSNBC is taking a poll on weather we should remove In God We Trust from our currency.   Thought you might want to give your opinion too.  As Greg says a little lower, I am saddened by the results of this pole.

Here’s your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on ‘In God We Trust’ to stay on our American currency. Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off the web page.

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MSNBC poll is still open so you can vote.

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VOTE SEE RESULTS HERE:

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

I was one of the “Brave and foolhardy” souls that went through Ghostly Manor three times. I really enjoyed my trips through the haunted manor. Now I will admit that there were a few things that startled me, all three times we went through the manor. This is one of the best haunted houses I’ve been through. The 4 actors in the house did a wonderful job keeping us on our toes. This is a slow period for them, so they could pay attention to the groups that went through. To startle us more, they would pop up in different areas than the last time we went through.

This house is definitely a high budget, top of the line haunted house. The animated figures, and amount of work that went into this house are top of the line. I will have to admit to having a self serving motive for going through three times. Our Little theater (see links on the side) is in the process of planning our own “Haunted Tour”. Not the normal haunted house with dark mazes and tight winding hallways. We don’t have the budget or manpower to pull that off. We need ways to scare people that have more to do with theatrics, and less to do with the hardware. If this group of actors can’t scare people, I don’t know who can.

I think I found a few things that gave me pause during the tours, that could be done on a limited budget. On the second third trips, I was able to concentrate on the hows, wheres and whys of the way things startled me. The first time through I was letting go, just to have a good time. I think we even thought of ways to improve the house we went through. May have to go back to see if they listened.

Yep, I was also at the wild animal park with a couple of other bloggers on Tangent’s. Check out their stories here and here.

I had a lot of fun on my latest trip to the African Safari Park in Port Clinton. This year was a slightly different experience for me. Number 1 it was the first time I ever took my own vehicle into the park. Number 2 was that this year I had back window that could open all the way. My very first experience with this park was back in the 1970’s. They still had lions in an area you could drive through. Having lions right outside your vehicle is something else. I’m sure the insurance cost and the safety of the animals brought this practice to an end. As much as I like the big cats, I think this is a better park for not having them there.

Now on to what they did have. Lots of Elk. To have one of these large members of the deer family stick their head in your vehicle is really something. To have 4 of them at once, that is beyond belief. Of course they do want to be fed, and are looking, and smelling for handouts. One even took a whole bag of carrots, but we got them back, I don’t think she liked the bag.

Then there were some smaller deer and antelope roaming the area. They were a well behaved when compared to their larger brethren. They seemed a little bit shy this year, compared to last year’s visit. Maybe they were just well fed and had no need to come up to the cars and trucks.

On to the American Bison, and very large cattle. I had the “pleasure” of going face to face with an American Bison on the ride through the park. This does tend to make me a bit leery, since I know someone who has a bison ranch, and I’ve seen first hand what one of those animals can do to a truck when they want to. These bison seem very friendly, but they do have terrible breath. They really seemed to like walking with the vehicles as they drive through. We had one that was only interested in the carrots, and would not take the other dried pellets the park sells. The cattle were something else. I saw two types, both had very large horns, but one had very long hair. My youngest called him Ludo last year, because he reminded her of the Large creature from the movie Labyrinth. We did manage to save a carrot for him. The other two long horned cattle had horns about 4 to 5 feet long each and the base was at least 12 in circumference. Big horns. That did stop these fellows from sticking their head too far into the truck, but they had very long tongues to make up for that.

Then on the the area where the other animals were enclosed away from the vehicles. Among these were Giraffes, Zebras and a Giant Eland. Even they got close to the fences looking for handouts.

Everything about the early part of the day was great fun. Everybody got to get as much of the animal experience as they wanted, and I think we went away happy. A little damp, from drool, but happy.

And I got a photo of me with a rather large snake. Not that I really think these would make a good pet for me, but I am strangely drawn to these fascinating creatures.

I’m trying to find out the names of the large cattle, hopefully they are on the brochure. They don’t appear to be on the website

After the drive-through animal safari (see my previous post).  We were SO ready for dinner, but instead, we headed to Ghostly Manor in Sandusky, Ohio, hoping to beat the Saturday night crowds.  It’s weird because it’s a haunted house that’s open year-round, and it’s in the middle of a roller skating rink / arcade.  You pay your admission, and then you wait in line for your doom (insert evil laugh here).  Someone raps at the door to signal your turn in the haunted house, and let’s be honest – it’s so much better than we could ever do at the haunted house (or haunted tour, as we are calling it) that is planned for October’s weekends in Williams County Ohio.  But, we have a teeny-weeny budget, so how can we possibly compare?  Also, we cannot have narrow corridors (nor the “birth canal hallway”; something they had that I was not thrilled with, but would be a very scary tool if we could work with it.  But I wouldn’t want to really try because it totally seemed like a lawsuit waiting to happen…), so that makes it a different type of haunted house to begin with.  But anyway…  they say it’s the 4th scariest in the nation and I believe them.  Although I have to admit to being curious about the top 3 haunted houses on that list…  what is so scary?  Let me know which haunted houses are rated the scariest; as soon as you find out.  I do know that while traipsing through Ghostly Manor, I grabbed my husband’s shirt (he was in front of me), and I didn’t let go…  I let him lead me through the birth canal, past the skeletons and falling maggots, and I actually pushed him (hard!) past the vibrating floor boards (another something we can’t do because of low budget).  He ventured through the lair several times after that without me, and I don’t know what his experience in the Ghostly Manor was like without my pushing, shoving, and screaming, but he said it was better with me along…

Either way, it was a really fun day, and we came home with lots of ideas for our haunted tour.  Ours will be touring in October, so check it out on October 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, and 31-Nov. 1 in Bryan Ohio.  See ya then!!!!!

Thus sums up the life of John McClane the anti-hero of the four action packed Die Hard films. The latest (I can’t believe I have not seen it before now) Live Free or Die Hard could as easily gone with its working title of Die Hard 4.0. NYPD senior detective John McClane (played as always by Bruce Willis) is aided by a twenty-something computer genius to stop the evil plans of a cyber-terrorist group to totally disable the nation’s computer infrastructure. Led by another computer genius (Timothy Olyphant) with a chip on his shoulder, the villains succeed in taking control of much of the East Coasts transportation, finances, and utilities. This is a three-pronged plan called a “fire sale.”

Next to the original, this is the most interesting and action-packed episode of the bunch. There is a mixing of the old school philosophy of shoot ’em up and pick the bad guys off one by one with a snide one liner (McClane’s signature line “Yipee-ki-yay, _____ is muffled in a key sequence). However, the addition of the detective’s reluctant assistant (played by Justin Long, the “Apple Guy”) brings a touch of new school action as the duo attempt to stop the nefarious scheme.

While the first two films centered the action around Christmas, this adventure takes place on the 4th of July holiday, convenient when most of the government is off. Speaking of the government, it always seems that in these movies, the federal agents are portrayed as nitwits who always call in the local law enforcement to handle the catastrophe at hand.

The best thing to me about the series is that there is no hiding the fact that Bruce Willis ages between films. He is no longer the spry actor he was when he saved his estranged wife from the huge skyscraper in the original Die Hard. He is bruised and battered but still keeps ticking especially when something personal is at stake.  McClane is not disposable and not needing to be replaced with a fresh face every other film.

The action pieces are not bad, either. There is sooooo much going on this time that not two minutes go by when along comes another cliffhanging moment. Cars flying at you in a tunnel, seemingly defeated villains popping back up for one more slug-fest. My favorite involves a police car doing battle with a machine-gun firing helicopter. Not to mention the antagonist’s frustration at McClane’s apparent immortality.

So, action fans should not be disappointed in the latest installment of this entertaining series.

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