Courgettes or Zucchini? You choose.

Today was a very good, albeit exhausting, day. For my first lesson, I showed my 1st year gals part 2 of Sleepy Hollow. A much greater majority of them were watching and not snoozing, so I'll call that a win.

Lesson 2: my hard to please 2nd year gals. I nuked a half dozen Sweet Potatoes and they were still hard as rock. So the kiddies nuked them again in the cafeteria. All is good. I forgot to bring the cutting tools. We improvised with some cutters and small spoons, and a few disposable knives and spoons. One potato collapsed in on itself when digging out its guts.The biggest one didn't cook at all. That left four success stories. Everyone enjoyed eating the innards of the spuds (I brought margarine) and squeals of glee and accomplishment when I lit the candles were music to my ears.

  

After lunch, I gathered up my wardrobe and allowed the lads in Engineering to gear up for Trick or Treat. They added nunchucks, samurai swords and other weapons to their repertoire and we strolled down to the office for a couple of marshmallow sweets. The staff obliged.

 I'm the guy in the Terrifier (I think) mask.

After work, I stopped off at a cheap clothing store hoping to get some ideas for a costume this year. I did not. I dozed at my desk and then cracked down on carving more veggies before they go rotten.

I did finish the aforementioned big Sweet Potato, but it's a fairly pathetic result. Also its guts were inedible. 

 

Hold on, did I buy a courgette zucchini a few days ago? Sure enough. Can you recognize the almost indecipherable theme song? (Click here.)

Yes, it's a ZuScreami!
 

It's guts were fried up with a bit of Soy Sauce.

 They really needed to be much larger to carve properly. These Fun Guys tried to oblige.

 

They sautéd nicely.

My final creation was an Avocado. Much to my surprise, it had not turned black and disgusting.

You can see a little vid of my Avocad o' Lantern here. And it was quite consumable.

Let's see, most avocados come from Mexico. So I need a segue to today's monster. How about Quetzalcoatl? 

 

Oh nice, a YouTube with only the monster scenes. Here ya go.

 

I missed yesterday's link to a Countdown blogger. How about Action Figure BBQ or Count Gregula? (Did I link to them earlier? I've lost track.)

I have a day off tomorrow so...laundry! 

Not Very Dull(ahan).

I showed my students Sleepy Hollow today and about half dozen enjoyed it, the rest were sleepy at their desks.

"Heads will roll" is a great tagline. If you'd like to watch the Disney Cartoon from '49 with Japanese subs, try this, I'm unable to embed it.

I think I'll watch this Jeff Goldblum version later. I don't think I've seen it.

 

I rather like this Headless Horseman called the Dullahan. Some of the myth here seems to have been adapted by Washington Irving (eg. unable to cross a barrier)

Be sure to click the pic to embiggen it.

A bit of history:

 

Cute!

I watched the second episode of Crystal Lake and since a bear plays a part, it's time to bring back a friend of this blog, Gloomy.

Back in the Gatcha machines, Gloomy has made a splash in a few.

 

 

 

I think I got the best one.

Gloomy and friends are at Village Vanguard.

 

 

 

Not CHEAP!

A tad less expensive are the goods at the 390 Yen store.

Here's a rack of snacks for your snack attack. 

 For a slightly more artistic Countdown, check out Domino Arts

Tricks or Treats.

I was showing off my carved veggie o' lanterns to my students tonight and taught them about the origins of Trick or Treat. I was basically correct (missed guising) and this Britannica article helped clarify. Here is the Peanuts comic mentioned in the article.

 

And here is the Donald Duck cartoon.

 

I scammed a few vintage Halloween greeting cards. My students found the idea of bobbing for apples to be incredulous.

 

 

Ah, remember the good ol' days when there was an apostrophe between the two Es in Hallowe'en?

Here's a picture of my carved Radishes. (Ignore the scribbles on the paper, I didn't write them.) I couldn't get "Totoro" on the left to light up.

Proudly showing off my Peanut Kabocha.

And I'm emulating Edvard Munch's Scream. (Did you know Japanese, and mostly likely Germans, pronounce Munch as MOONK, not as MUNCH. I always said Moonch, I'm happy to now know the correct pronunciation.)

 

I should have had my hands on the sides of my head covering my ears, but I only have TWO hands.

Here are some of the parties I'll be attending next week:

I'll probably get up to some hijinx elsewhere as well...

If you're at all a crafty person, you might enjoy Spooky Moon. 

I'm going to show my students a movie tomorrow (maybe Sleepy Hollow) and I have a snack for them to share.

 Ciao