The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[Rich T]

I have no candy left for Trick or Treaters, so I turned off the house lights and just relaxed in the dark playing Animal Crossing’s Halloween event... but then I ran out of virtual candy for the villagers, so now my Animal Crossing character is sitting in his virtual house in the dark playing Animal Crossing...

 

[TP2000]

Oh my gosh, Halloween is back in full force and I'm pooped!

I'm just now sitting down with a glass of wine after several hours of craziness at my door. Dozens and dozens of kids were out this year, and I loved it!

As a way to prevent myself from being pranked by the local high school kids (Go Spartans!), I always give out full-size candy bars; either Hershey's With Almonds, or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The precious children of 2013 who got those big Hershey bars from me are now the crummy pumpkin smashing teens of 2021, but they leave my house alone because of years of goodwill that I literally bought when they were younger.

Cultural Trends of 2021: Star Wars is dead. A few years ago that's all I got at my door was Star Wars costumes, but it's not happening this year, America has moved on (don't tell Chapek or WDI). Marvel was huge, lots of Captain Americas and various superheros. That Squid Game thing of track suits and fencing masks which I really don't understand was well represented this year by the older kids. Also lots of Princesses, Pixies, Fairies, etc. for the girls. Oddly, I saw three different examples of Flintstone costumes this year. And video game robot things that are hard to explain, but I bet you got them at your door too.

I also give out gift baskets of See's Candy, one for Best Girl Costume, one for Best Boy Costume, and one for Best Family Costume. The 2021 winners were...

Best Girl - A young girl who showed up as, bizarrely, a Toddler's N' Tiaras beauty pageant contestant. Complete with those fake teeth they wear, and a giant Dolly Parton wig. And she did that creepy head bobble and huge smile. I know the family from one street over and know their daughter is otherwise completely normal, so I could tell she was making fun of it to great effect. Winner!

Best Boy - This young guy who had this giant inflatable dinosaur costume, about 7 feet tall. It was the oddest thing, it was literally an inflatable dinosaur somehow powered by a small onboard air compressor, a towering Tyranosaurus Rex. With a window he could look out of in its chest, like a Disneyland character. And after he said "Trick or treat!" he said "I may be extinct, but I still need candy!" The biggest thing that has ever been at my door on Halloween, that's for sure. Winner! (And his proud Dad seemed to be more thrilled at winning my See's Candy basket than the kid did.)

Best Family - The Flintstones. They weren't the only ones wearing Flintstones outfits this year (Is this a thing again?) but they were the cutest. Dad as Fred, Mom as Wilma, son as Bam Bam and daughter as Pebbles. All done in full Stone Age regalia. They were adorable. Winner!

Happy Halloween one and all! P.S. Star Wars is dead.

 

[TP2000]

Also, for the record, not that anyone thought this would happen, but I got absolutely zero kids showing up as an Avatar blue alien. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Again.

Don't tell John Cameron. Or Bob Iger.

 

[TP2000]

View attachment 597141
I have no candy left for Trick or Treaters, so I turned off the house lights and just relaxed in the dark playing Animal Crossing’s Halloween event... but then I ran out of virtual candy for the villagers, so now my Animal Crossing character is sitting in his virtual house in the dark playing Animal Crossing...

Fabulous!

I turned off all the outside lights at 9pm and saved myself one big Hershey's With Almonds chocolate bar, and with a glass of red wine I am watching the Paul Lynde Halloween Special from 1976 on YouTube. It's horrible, but it's good!

 

[Sharon&Susan]

They weren't the only ones wearing Flintstones outfits this year (Is this a thing again?)

Must be a mourning tribute to Fred after his recent untimely death.


FYI This is apparently a real show.

 

[DrAlice]

Oh my gosh, Halloween is back in full force and I'm pooped!

I'm just now sitting down with a glass of wine after several hours of craziness at my door. Dozens and dozens of kids were out in force this year, and I loved it!

As a way to prevent myself from being pranked by the local high school kids (Go Spartans!), I always give out full-size candy bars; either Hershey's With Almonds, or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The precious children of 2013 who got those big Hershey bars from me are now the crummy pumpkin smashing teens of 2021, but they leave my house alone because of years of goodwill that I literally bought when they were younger.

Cultural Trends of 2021: Star Wars is dead. A few years ago that's all I got at my door was Star Wars costumes, but it's not happening this year, America has moved on (don't tell Chapek or WDI). Marvel was huge, lots of Captain Americas and various superheros. That Squid Game thing of track suits and fencing masks which I really don't understand was well represented this year by the older kids. Also lots of Princesses, Pixies, Fairies, etc. for the girls. Oddly, I saw three different examples of Flintstone costumes this year. And video game robot things that are hard to explain, but I bet you got them at your door too.

I also give out gift baskets of See's Candy, one for Best Girl Costume, one for Best Boy Costume, and one for Best Family Costume. The 2021 winners were...

Best Girl - A young girl who showed up as, bizarrely, a Toddler's N' Tiaras beauty pageant contestant. Complete with those fake teeth they wear, and a giant Dolly Parton wig. And she did that creepy head bobble and huge smile. I know the family from one street over and know their daughter is otherwise completely normal, so I could tell she was making fun of it to great effect. Winner!

Best Boy - This young guy who had this giant inflatable dinosaur costume, about 7 feet tall. It was the oddest thing, it was literally an inflatable dinosaur somehow powered by a small onboard air compressor, a towering Tyranosaurus Rex. With a window he could look out of in its chest, like a Disneyland character. And after he said "Trick or treat!" he said "I may be extinct, but I still need candy!" The biggest thing that has ever been at my door on Halloween, that's for sure. Winner! (And his proud Dad seemed to be more thrilled at winning my See's Candy basket than the kid did.)

Best Family - The Flintstones. They weren't the only ones wearing Flintstones outfits this year (Is this a thing again?) but they were the cutest. Dad as Fred, Mom as Wilma, son as Bam Bam and daughter as Pebbles. All done in full Stone Age regalia. They were adorable. Winner!

Happy Halloween one and all! P.S. Star Wars is dead.

The inflatable dinosaur thing has been popular at my daughter's school for a couple of years. She came home on Friday (Halloween costume day at school) telling stories of how this year, several of the dinosaur kids met up on the playground at recess and tried to "fight" with their tiny T-Rex arms.

My daughter was an astronaut in a shuttle-era orange flight suit and plastic helmet with moving visor. (In support, I was Flight Director at Mission Control, and my husband was Mars. haha)

 

[TP2000]

The inflatable dinosaur thing has been popular at my daughter's school for a couple of years. She came home on Friday (Halloween costume day at school) telling stories of how this year, several of the dinosaur kids met up on the playground at recess and tried to "fight" with their tiny T-Rex arms.

It was the first time I'd seen one. And right there on my porch, face to face. It was impressive!

My daughter was an astronaut in a shuttle-era orange flight suit and plastic helmet with moving visor. (In support, I was Flight Director at Mission Control, and my husband was Mars. haha)

I love that!

There's something about the families that all dress up together that just warms my cold bachelor heart.

 

[josh2000]

Also, for the record, not that anyone thought this would happen, but I got absolutely zero kids showing up as an Avatar blue alien. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Again.

I understand that it's not wise to bet against James Cameron, but Avatar is deader than dead.

It's very difficult to see how Avatar 2 is supposed to be successful when the IP has essentially been inactive for 13 years. The only thing we've gotten since the original film is Pandora at Animal Kingdom. At the very least, they could have put out a TV show or spin off movie of some kind to keep up interest in the property. But no, they just let it slowly fade from memory.

Rant over now.

 

[mickEblu]

Oh my gosh, Halloween is back in full force and I'm pooped!

I'm just now sitting down with a glass of wine after several hours of craziness at my door. Dozens and dozens of kids were out this year, and I loved it!

As a way to prevent myself from being pranked by the local high school kids (Go Spartans!), I always give out full-size candy bars; either Hershey's With Almonds, or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The precious children of 2013 who got those big Hershey bars from me are now the crummy pumpkin smashing teens of 2021, but they leave my house alone because of years of goodwill that I literally bought when they were younger.

Cultural Trends of 2021: Star Wars is dead. A few years ago that's all I got at my door was Star Wars costumes, but it's not happening this year, America has moved on (don't tell Chapek or WDI). Marvel was huge, lots of Captain Americas and various superheros. That Squid Game thing of track suits and fencing masks which I really don't understand was well represented this year by the older kids. Also lots of Princesses, Pixies, Fairies, etc. for the girls. Oddly, I saw three different examples of Flintstone costumes this year. And video game robot things that are hard to explain, but I bet you got them at your door too.

I also give out gift baskets of See's Candy, one for Best Girl Costume, one for Best Boy Costume, and one for Best Family Costume. The 2021 winners were...

Best Girl - A young girl who showed up as, bizarrely, a Toddler's N' Tiaras beauty pageant contestant. Complete with those fake teeth they wear, and a giant Dolly Parton wig. And she did that creepy head bobble and huge smile. I know the family from one street over and know their daughter is otherwise completely normal, so I could tell she was making fun of it to great effect. Winner!

Best Boy - This young guy who had this giant inflatable dinosaur costume, about 7 feet tall. It was the oddest thing, it was literally an inflatable dinosaur somehow powered by a small onboard air compressor, a towering Tyranosaurus Rex. With a window he could look out of in its chest, like a Disneyland character. And after he said "Trick or treat!" he said "I may be extinct, but I still need candy!" The biggest thing that has ever been at my door on Halloween, that's for sure. Winner! (And his proud Dad seemed to be more thrilled at winning my See's Candy basket than the kid did.)

Best Family - The Flintstones. They weren't the only ones wearing Flintstones outfits this year (Is this a thing again?) but they were the cutest. Dad as Fred, Mom as Wilma, son as Bam Bam and daughter as Pebbles. All done in full Stone Age regalia. They were adorable. Winner!

Happy Halloween one and all! P.S. Star Wars is dead.

So how do you know if they re the best if you don’t know who else might pop up by the end of the night? Have you ever given a gift basket only to see a better costume after? Do people have a worse shot of getting the gift basket earlier in the evening since you re waiting to see who else might show up? Have you been doing this so long that you just trust your instinct? Have you been doing this so long that people in the neighborhood not only dress with your gift basket in mind but also possibly develop tactics such as showing up maybe in the middle of the evening where you have seen enough costumes to proclaim a winner?

I need to know.

 

[mickEblu]

Why isn’t a train going around the top of the new Plaza Point Christmas shop?

 

[TP2000]

I understand that it's not wise to bet against James Cameron, but Avatar is deader than dead.

It's very difficult to see how Avatar 2 is supposed to be successful when the IP has essentially been inactive for 13 years. The only thing we've gotten since the original film is Pandora at Animal Kingdom. At the very least, they could have put out a TV show or spin off movie of some kind to keep up interest in the property. But no, they just let it slowly fade from memory.

Rant over now.

I'd been tracking Avatar characters at my door on Halloween for over a decade now, since they announced that WDW would build an Avatar Land for no apparent reason.

Unsurprisingly, I have never had anything Avatar show up on Halloween. I doubt anyone has.

Avatar is like the Auto Club. Many of us are members of the Auto Club, we like the Auto Club and acknowledge that it provides a needed service, but we aren't huge fans of the Auto Club or dress up as Auto Club employees for Halloween.

So why would you build a theme park land based on the Auto Club? Or Avatar?

Automobile Club of So. California

Plan your next trip with us. Find inspiration, travel deals and reviews to help you make the most of your travel destination.

travel.calif.aaa.com

 

[mickEblu]

So do we think that Pan is getting an extended queue in the old Castle Heraldry shop? I believe @Magic Feather was hinting at that earlier this month. I remember many of us being surprised when the Q wasn’t expanded back when they originally closed the shop before it become the holiday store

 

[TP2000]

So how do you know if they re the best if you don’t know who else might pop up by the end of the night?

Oh, what an excellent question. To be honest, I only started the See's Candy award baskets about a decade ago, I think it was Halloween '09 or '10. And I'd lived in this house for over 15 years by then and knew the neighborhood and vibe well.

Have you ever given a gift basket only to see a better costume after? Do people have a worse shot of getting the gift basket earlier in the evening since you re waiting to see who else might show up?

So, basically, the gift baskets go to that Tween demographic that starts showing up after 6pm or so.

Have you been doing this so long that you just trust your instinct?

As I said, I started this after I'd lived here for about 15 years, so I knew how the evening basically played out. I guess I do trust my instinct. But it's a prize that usually goes to the Tweens, that 10 to 13 age range where the kids start showing some real personality.

Have you been doing this so long that people in the neighborhood not only dress with your gift basket in mind but also possibly develop tactics such as showing up maybe in the middle of the evening where you have seen enough costumes to proclaim a winner?

I have a hunch that there are families that do that. Tonight's winner for Best Boy Costume had a dad who seemed ecstatic over the prize. I really think he was hoping his son would win, but was trying to be polite. It was hysterical.

Funny story, I heard through the neighborhood grapevine about five years ago that there was a lady nearby, we'll call her Karen, who was complaining to a few women in the neighborhood that the candy basket idea was too "decadent". She drives a Bentley and has a face full of Botox. You can imagine how seriously I took her concern about decadence. She's been quiet for the past few years, because I think she realizes I'm not stopping. I also think she was mad that she didn't think of it before me.

I need to know.

You have valid questions. The process just flows. It's natural. You know how the night is going by about 6pm, and you make a gut judgement call by 7pm, and you stand behind it. Will there be a year where I call a race too early and regret my decision? Perhaps.

But that's why I always leave myself an extra Hershey bar and some red wine, to reflect on the evening and learn for the next year.

And again, I have a front entry still lined with pumpkins that I know will be completely safe from the marauding high school kids late tonight. They know I'm one of the good guys.

 

[Rich T]

Fabulous!

I turned off all the outside lights at 9pm and saved myself one big Hershey's With Almonds chocolate bar, and with a glass of red wine I am watching the Paul Lynde Halloween Special from 1976 on YouTube. It's horrible, but it's good!

Awesome! I’m watching that weird 1966 Alice Through the Looking Glass with the Smothers Bros., Jimmy Durante, Agnes Moorehead and Ricardo Montalban. And Jack Palance as the (singing)Jabberwock. The one where they threw the book out the window and just made crap up. And Alice says “Golly!” a lot.

 

[Sailor310]

I tried to google See's gift baskets and didn't get anything meaningful. May we have a picture, please?

 

[Dear Prudence]

An oldie, but goodie! Siouxsie Sioux in Disneyland in the pre-New Fantasyland era Disneyland.

Siouxsie Sioux at Disneyland with Kid Congo Powers — Post-Punk.com

Faith, trust, and pixie dust, we've got a sweet (and silly) treat for you. Iconic rock photographer Donna Santisi has released a charming collection of Our Lady of Goth, Siouxsie Sioux, having a blast with Kid Congo Powers and other friends in early 1980s Disneyland. Witness the glory of the...

post-punk.com

 

[Magic Feather]

So do we think that Pan is getting an extended queue in the old Castle Heraldry shop? I believe @Magic Feather was hinting at that earlier this month. I remember many of us being surprised when the Q wasn’t expanded back when they originally closed the shop before it become the holiday store

That was purely speculation on my part. But it would make plenty of sense.

 

[James Cameron in a sub]

I understand that it's not wise to bet against James Cameron, but Avatar is deader than dead.

It's very difficult to see how Avatar 2 is supposed to be successful when the IP has essentially been inactive for 13 years. The only thing we've gotten since the original film is Pandora at Animal Kingdom. At the very least, they could have put out a TV show or spin off movie of some kind to keep up interest in the property. But no, they just let it slowly fade from memory.

Rant over now.

Avatar 2 will be out next Christmas and I was able to enlist a great group of new actors to join Sam, Zoe, Stephen, Giovanni and Sigourney. Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Kate Winslet Jemaine Clement and this badass, Edie Falco as General Ardmore are all in Avatar 2 and the following sequels.

 

[TP2000]

I tried to google See's gift baskets and didn't get anything meaningful. May we have a picture, please?

This is where it gets silly. I just go down to my local See's and have the lovely See's ladies pull together some baskets for me. I start with a little 6 piece box of chocolates in a Halloween box, and then add a few suckers and foiled candies to each grouping, and they wrap them all up for me in big clouds of celophane. The See's ladies get a real kick out of it every year.

Then I plop the wrapped up candy in a plastic pumpkin bucket and put a ridiculous bow on it with a tag that says "Best Girl Costume 2021", "Best Family Costume 2021", etc.

I didn't think to take a picture for this forum, but next year I will!

I just tried to go to the See's website, but they've already removed all their Halloween stuff (they move fast for little old ladies wearing orthopedic oxfords). But here's a picture of the little box of candy that formed the base for each of my baskets. They have a version of this every year...

 

[DrAlice]

@TP2000, I can GUARANTEE that if I lived in your neighborhood, my daughter would be ALL STRATEGY about getting one of those gift baskets.

As it were, she was happy to get lots of compliments on the Astronaut costume. I think the fact that she chose something that wasn't Marvel was enough to make her stand out from the crowd. One man actually said "FINALLY! I've been waiting ALL NIGHT for someone to be an astronaut! Well done!" and gave her some extra treats. She was over the moon.**

** oof... pun wasn't actually intended... lol