I am an Art Snob

I have decided that I am an art snob. I joke with a guy at work that he is a food snob, a tequila snob and is a snob about various other items. Now, I have realized that I to am a snob.

I really like the Autumn because my two favorite events happen this time of year. Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. My only problem is that I am very picky about the type of decorations that I like. First of all, they have to be fairly unique. Second, they can't just be slasher type items. I like the items to have a folksy or almost cartoon feel to them. They need to have unique colors and textures and have to tell a story.

I think this is why I am drawn to Dia de los Muertos so much. Most of the artwork for this "holiday" is hand made and has a Mexican folk art feel to it. I really like this style a lot. I wish that there were more Halloween decorations with the same feel available.

I have scoured the internet looking for items that I like. I have tried ebay and etsy with not much luck. Most of the items on etsy are just really small. I have found some I like, but I need things that are larger in scale for my home. I like the work by Flor Lario which can be found here. I also like the work of Lupe Flores. I would like to be able to purchase larger, original paintings by these two artists, but I have only found the smaller pieces and prints of their paintings.

I am not giving up. I will start looking much earlier next year. I think I may even try to construct a Dia de los Muertos alter for next year.

Read more...

Halloween Recap

We spent our first Halloween in our house and I am exhausted. Because Tina's mom is in Mexico for Dia de los Muertos, we decided to do Halloween night at our house. We also decided to have a friend birthday party for Meg at our house in the afternoon.

The afternoon friend party went off without a hitch, but Meg's friends are a wild bunch. I see why she likes them. They played hide-and-go-seek, bounced on the trampoline and just ran around the house playing. The parents picked up their children at almost exactly 3:00, so we had some time to rest before the night crowd started showing up at 5:00.

Everyone started gathering around 5:00 and the kids were ready to go trick-or-treating by about 6:30. I wasn't sure what to expect since it was the first year to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. Some of our neighbors went all out with decorations. I would say a little more than 50% of the people were home. There was a pretty good crowd of kids walking through the neighborhood. The trick-or-treating at our house was over by about 8:30 which was surprising since it was a Saturday night.

Meg was the daughter of Captain America, I was Nacho Libre the monastery cook and Tina was Sister Encarnación. My parents showed up dressed as Superman and Supergirl. Kathleen and Lisa were both dressed as witches and Jaime was a vampire. Most people did not get who I was, but that was OK. It was a long night.

The Halloween song playlists I prepared disappeared into the background, which I thought would happen. They did help to set the mood.

Read more...

Halloween Playlist 2

For the evening festivities, we can get a little more creative, and macabre, with our song choices. It will feature some songs from horror movies mixed with some from The Nightmare Before Christmas and others. We might even enjoy Thriller by Michael Jackson. Here is the playlist:

Whispers - Midnight Syndicate
Howdy Folks - film track
Welcome - Disney's Haunted Mansion
Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
Halloween 1 - Theme Main Title - John Carpenter/Alan Howarth
Blackest Rose - Midnight Syndicate
The Omen Theme - Jerry Goldsmith
Halloween Montage - John Carpenter/Alan Howarth
El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama - White Zombie
Walt Disney World® - Disney's Haunted Mansion
Myer´s House - John Carpenter/Alan Howarth
Fantasia for Strings - Hans Werner Henze
No One Lives Forever - Oingo Boingo
Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie
Tubular Bells - The Exorcist Original Theme - Robert Miles
Dead Girl Superstar - Rob Zombie
Bonus- Jason's Hack Track - Harry Manfredini
A Mother's Love - Harry Manfredini
Oogie Boogie's Song - Ed Ivory/Ken Page
Everybody Scream (Theme from Dr. Wolfenstein's Creature Double Feature - Rob Zombie
Prophet Of Doom/Introduction to Horror - Friday the 13th Main Theme - Harry Manfredini
He's Alive - Harry Manfredini
Run, Rabbit, Run - Rob Zombie
Dr. Satan - film track
This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman
Call of the Zombie - Rob Zombie
Amityville Horror Theme
Born of the Night - Midnight Syndicate
Transylvanian Transmissions, Pt. 1 - Rob Zombie
Nightmare On Elm Street -Freddys Coming For You
Little Piggy - Rob Zombie
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Goodbye-Goodbye - Oingo Boingo

This playlist should set the scene well for a night of trick or treating and a birthday fiesta. I think there is enough diversity here to satisfy the kids and the adults. It will just be background music, but I know some of the songs will catch the ear of people. It should be fun.

Read more...

Halloween Playlist 1

Since Meg is having two different parties on Halloween for her Birthday, I need two different music playlists. Her official party will be in the afternoon for her school friends. This is really the first party she is having for school friends, so it is a big deal.

We need background music for the party, and the kids may even start dancing on the back patio if they feel it. This playlist will feature the entire Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack as well as some other songs. We may even have to put on some Miley Cyrus or other dance music. Here is the playlist

Welcome - Disney's Haunted Mansion
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Walt Disney World® - Disney's Haunted Mansion
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
The Addams Family Theme - Vic Mizzy
Halloween Dance Macabre Organ
This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman
Otherworldly Music - Disney's Haunted Mansion
Overture - Danny Elfman
Opening - Danny Elfman
Jack's Lament - Danny Elfman
Doctor Finklestein/In the Forest - Danny Elfman
What's This? - Danny Elfman
Town Meeting Song - Danny Elfman
Jack and Sally Montage - Danny Elfman
Jack's Obsession - Danny Elfman
Kidnap the Sandy Claws - Catherine O'Hara; Danny Elfman; Paul Reubens
Making Christmas - Danny Elfman
Nabbed - Danny Elfman
Oogie Boogie's Song - Ed Ivory/Ken Page
Sally's Song - Catherine O'Hara
Christmas Eve Montage - Danny Elfman
Poor Jack - Danny Elfman
To the Rescue - Danny Elfman
Finale (Reprise) - Catherine O'Hara/Danny Elfman
Closing - Danny Elfman
End Title - Danny Elfman
[Untitled Hidden Track] - Danny Elfman
Beetlejuice Theme - Danny Elfman/william Ross

I don't want to get to morbid with the kids, since I don't really know them or their parents. Speaking of parents, I don't know if they will be staying for the party or not. Last Saturday we had 17 kids at our house before the Harvest dance and we ended up with about 10 or 11 parents as well so you never know. My next post will be the playlist for the night gathering.

Read more...

Halloween

I have been really busy updating our decorations for Halloween, and Meg's birthday which are one in the same. I find most of the Halloween decorations to be either ugly or just cheap looking. Most people have no problem with this, but I really do love this time of year and am very particular about what I buy.

On our last trip to Disneyland, we added a few items from the Nightmare Before Christmas movie. We bought a Jack Skellington bobble head and two Jack tea light holders. They are just Jack's head. In addition, my sister bought Meg both a Jack doll and a Sally doll for her birthday.

I mix in my collection of Dia de los Muertos items and masks from Mexico along with our Halloween docorations adn they go great together. I am more partial to creative Halloween items rather than just the horror type items a lot of stores sell. It is really hard to find stuff, so this will be a collection that grows as the years go by. Maybe at some point I will just start creating my own items. Who knows?

I can't wait until Meg is ready to go to her first haunted house/forest/attraction. The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is just not scary at all.

Read more...

El Dia de los Muertos

I really love the idea and imagery of Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican celebration of loved ones who have passed away. Many people may see the sugar skulls and Catrina dolls and think that this is a morbid holiday. It is quite the opposite.

For Dia de los Muertos, grave sites are decorated very elaborately with marigolds, sugar skulls and the favorite food and beverages of the departed. Pan de Muerto bread is eaten and the life of the person is celebrated. It is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day, which occurs on November 1st, and All Souls' Day, which occurs on November 2nd.

The celebration can be traced back to an Aztec ritual to honor the deaths of ancestors. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as the "Lady of the Dead." This is the origin of the modern Catrina dolls.

I have collected a few Catrinas on my trips to Mexico. I really like them and what they stand for. They are very traditional and the good ones are extremely delicate. I have spent many days gluing fingers back onto the dolls after they have been broken in transport. I don't think I have one that has not been broken.

Two of the best Dia de los Muertos celebrations take place in Tzintzuntzan and Janitzio in Michoacan. I have really wanted to visit there for the holiday and will make it there sooner than later.

Read more...

Good Food, Good Drinks & Good Conversation

We decided to have dinner at Henry Salazar's last night. I ordered a michelada and because we sat near the bar, I could here our waiter, the bartender and one of the owners of the restaurant discussing how to make the drink. I heard one of them say something about Clamato, so I got up to tell them I did not want Clamato in the drink. They gave me the option of a "bloody beer" or a beer with lime in it. I decided on the "bloody beer."

After our waiter brought me the drink, the owner came to our table and asked me if that was what I was looking for. I told him it was. I told him that in different parts of Mexico they have different recipes for the drink and that in Mexico City it was a beer with lime and ice in it and in Guadalajara it was made with tomato juice and spices. We started talking about Mexico and he asked me when was the last time I was in Mexico City and what I thought about it. I told him that after my first visit I was very disappointed, but on my second visit I actually got to take a tour and really got to see the good side of the city.

He said that he was scared to go from everything he had heard. He asked me where to go and what hotel I stayed in. I told him to stay in Polanco and that I stayed in the Camino Real next to Chapultapec Park. I told him it was a great place to stay.

A little later, we overheard him telling someone else about our conversation. He and the other gentleman came over to our table. He introduced us to his partner, Henry Salazar. We started talking about Mexico again. We talked about Michoacan and Mexico City. We talked about the art, Dia de los Muertos and many other topics. They told us that they buy most of their decor from a store named Polanco in San Francisco. We told them about Del Sol, where we have bought pottery in Visalia. It was a great conversation. We definitely will not wait so long to go back.

Read more...