My first pair of Blundstones, which I've had since early 2002, kicked the inside of the (waste) bucket today. They've been underperforming for some time (making funny squishy sounds and not really keeping the water out), and the leather around the toe had turned from black-as-my-Christmas-spirit to a tarnished-penny-green colour. They were still ungodly comfortable (the worst of buzz words from "What Not To Wear") despite their faults, but I knew they were done for some time, and had been contemplating a new pair for some time (I did buy a new pair of wedge-toes about 2 years ago, but they've just never fit properly on one foot (the leather just too tight over the arch, and it's yet to stretch out, and they're a little too nice for everyday rugged wear). Some people like sneakers, me, I like my Bluntys... they served me well. But it was today, flipping them over to take a good look at the soles for the first time in ages, only to notice sections of the sole completely worn away... as in not even there. Squish, Squish, Squish. I could no longer in good conscience keep these fading boots on life support anymore. I pulled the plug and binned them with a single tear shed for dramatic effect.

Let's hope the wife got the numerous hints about what I be really wanting for Christmastime. There will be no replacing Bluntys, except that's exactly what I'll be doing, because they're shoes. They don't have feelings, nor can they reciprocate any emotion projected onto them. I've let them go, time for new ones.

Working in downtown Toronto provides lunch options a-plenty, and working in the same building as my new bride allows us the enviable (well, enviable depending on how much you enjoy spending time with your wife, but I love it so, yes, I say enviable) capability to eat lunch together. These are the places we routinely frequented and some we didn't exactly frequent, and others which just don't make the cut (of course this was all before we realized we were spending $100 a week on eating lunch):

Fusaro's Kitchen: long line-ups are expected from noon to about 1:30, but in under 20 minutes you've usually paid for and received your food. Have an alternative place ready to take with your take-out, especially once the patio is closed as there aren't many chairs and tables inside to eat-in. The cuisine is extra-Italian and well worth the extra buck or two. Daily sandwich and pasta and meat specials are on the board with all the regular favourites available. I've crafted my own "Graig special" over the past four years, which is a meatball and an arancini (breaded rice ball with mozzarella in the centre) for $5.50. The gnocci is always a good alternate.

Famous BBQ Express: No, I don't really know where the "Famous" part of it came from but this place is indeed great, with David the owner being one of the most genuinely pleasant chaps you could meet, calling every male customer "brother" like a much less annoying Hulk Hogan. The menu has Korean inspirations (bulgogi is a particularly tasty option) and our favourite, the steak sandwich is crave-inducingly fabulous. Their Canadian burger special is awesome when they have it, and their fries are particularly tasty. Short line-ups are common and take-out is generally your best option with only a half doze tables kicking around.

The Sandwich Box: a peculiar surprise when it first arrived, both a craft-yourself salad bar and sandwich bar with daily soup specials. This was Toronto's first real taste of gourmet sandwiches, with over a dozen breads to choose from and your choice of 8 or 9 spreads, cheeses and meat and veggie options. The salads are way too expensive, but the sandwiches are always worth it. The line-ups have dissipated over the past few months, somewhat inexplicably, and there's a little more chaos behind the counter these days, but it still tastes the same. I'm enjoying the fresh-made juice mixes and lemonades as of late.

Fox and the Fiddle. Ever since the Bishop and the Belcher moved to Church and Bloor, the Fox has become our "beer lunch" joint of preference. Above average pub food with a few different options. The crispy chicken sandwich coated in (thankfully mild) hot sauce was distasteful at first but now one of my favourites (accompanied with excellent wedge fries). The beef dip sandwich is a favourite amongst the gang I go with (they declare it one of the best in the city) and other selections have all proved tasty eating. Not an hour lunch place, though.. at best an hour and a half.

Swatow: Many call this the best Chinese food in Toronto, and they might be right. Served fast and tasty, you may have to wait 20 minutes for a table during the lunch rush but when you want the good stuff, this is the good stuff. My palette for Chinese is still developing so I still routinely partake in the gwilo-expected rice dishes. The General Tso is my favourite in the city, and Aden loves the black bean beef. Their crispy fried noodles are nice and I've yet to try it, but the Fuk-kin fried rice makes me giggle every time I read the menu (it's a mix of peas, shrimp, crab, scallop, chicken and fried egg apparently).

The Ave (Avenue Diner): A homecookery of the European sort, Aden and I go to the Ave with "the boys" to talk hockey over smoked meat, ribs, burgers or whatever the special of the day is. Sometimes soup is involved, sometimes fries, but regardless there's always more than enough no-frills, no-nonsense belly-filler. The place is tiny, with three booths and a sit-down stools, but usually the line-up is there for the take-out. Cost is usually about $6-$8 per meal and usually in and out within 40 minutes.

Java Hut: Aden and I would hit here when we had the craving for breakfast for lunch. Sometime during the two years we've been eating at this joint the pancake plate went from three pancakes to two, but, two panckakes, two eggs (or bacon or sausage or ham) and fruit salad all come for about $5. They have a great selection of teas (an utterly potent ginger tea), and probably coffee too (but don't really know). An atypical selection of thai food also adorns the menu alongside schnitzles and sandwiches... all better than you'd expect for the price. There's always room to sit (the patio fills up in the summer though), and service is average speed, getting in and out in under an hour.

Occasional favourites

The Secret of Asia - $7 thai plate with spring roll or soup starter. Good food, rarely busy, but not exceptionally expedient.
Ackee Tree - Jamaican jerk chicken, roti, and other spicy assortments. Tasty, but about $10 for takeout (discount for bringing your own container)
Burrito Boys - Always a line-up, but always worth it. A small should fill up the largest of appetites, a large means you won't eat dinner until much, much later. Try the halibut accompanied by with a Jumex Strawberry juice for dessert.
Mama's Pizza - they bake cheese into the crust... that's their secret. Good thin-crust slices, but only if they leave it in the oven long enough to melt the cheese again.
Ghandi's - don't even bother with mild-medium-hot mentioned on your order, this is one spicy roti.
Trimurtri - in the Queen Street Indian restaurant strip, Trimurtri is my fave. It's excellent indian buffet for less than $10.
Pizzaiolo - a thicker crust pizza with a great flavour. The Godfather deep-dish, stacked with meat is the best belly filler. Slice and a drink $5 plus tax.
New York Subway - not like the usual Subway franchise (one right beside it) but an excellent fusion of middle eastern cuisine and traditional sub/wrap fare. Not cheap, but about as much as a typical sub, so not so pricey either. I burned myself out on these by eating one per week for a year. Pace yourself
The Train Place (Xe Lua) - blunt service made up for by cheap, tasty and quick food.
HoSu - Korean and Japanses fusion. Decent but overrated.
East - overpriced Asian. Nice atmosphere, some interesting coctails, but the food is mediocre for the cost.
Le Gourmand - upscale cafeteria food. Interesting, perhaps good even, but not that good.

Not so wholesome anymore, are ya Landon?
(taken in Virgin Megastore, London, November 2006)

You know, when I was a kid I always wished my lightsabre had a spring activated blade... but apparently it's lame now.
(taken in the Superstore, Toronto, November 2007)

I've spent dozens of man hours (not all my own, thanks Toast) trying to migrate the RackRaids domain, data, and wordpress application to a new server. It's not been a smooth ride, but the site is up and running, the back-end is *mostly* working (with one exception, better than before) and overall I'm almost at peace with it.

Now the hard part begins. We're looking at adding advertising, both as available and unobtrusive. I also want to tweak the site, making it a little more distinctive, but I'm really not sure what to do yet.

It's been, well, a pain in the ass, but along the way I've octoupled my knowledge of WordPress and how it's put together, and I have to say, while it's not very n00b friendly (like Blogger, LiveJournal or MySpace) it's got it's perks with the whole plug-in bit. I still prefer Movable Type, but I see how interesting WP can be.

Festivus

Oy, the holidays are upon us, but traipsing through the Eaton's Centre yesterday surprisingly wasn't as nightmarish as it could have been. Of course the insipid pop-star X-Mas carols were enough to want to drive an awl through your brain, but other than that, not so bad. I guess everyone's heading down south of the border to shop this year.

The Inconvenience of Life and Death

My grandmother's husband has been suffering from Alzheimer's for a couple years now (probably longer, just steeply degrading a couple years ago though) and it's bean a rough ride for my Gran. Her husband is a sincere, gentle, kind and friendly man, and it's very difficult for those of us that knew him to see him the way he is, where he's barely cognizant of where he is or what's happening exactly most of the time, or even really understanding who in fact we are (although he still always greets family with a huge, wide eyed smile and firmly gripped handshake).

Though, relatively speaking, they've only been together a short time (a year or two shy of 15, I think), he's been wonderful to and for my Grandmother and an unquestionably welcome addition to our family. He's not my grandfather, but like any step-parent that takes an active interest in your life (as a teen he was always asking about my friends and how they were, which I thought was great) and treats their partner divinely, you greet them and love them like family. I haven't been home much to witness the decline, only having a very detached third-hand relation for most of it. When I have gone home, it was exception hard to see him reduced to what he is, and just as difficult to see the toll it's taken on my Gran. She's always been a tiny woman, but it's only after the past couple years that she's looked fragile. She's invested so much into keeping his quality of life as good as possible, to her own detriment I think... sometimes taking on more than she can handle. But, although hard to acknowledge, there's a strength in her actions, a proof of how strongly she responds to him being in her life, and a love like that is so rare.

The disease makes us so uncomfortable, though, because even more so than death, when you meet someone who's become such a void like that, you can't help but think of yourself in a similar condition, and it's like the same nihilism that terrifies people about zombie movies, basically having no control, and a diminished consciousness. Most of us, confronted with the thought, have said it's probably better to be dead than to have that happen to us. (Roger Ebert reviewed the Japanese film Memories of Tomorrow which follows from the perspective of the afflicted character as the disease starts to take hold, and it sounds depressingly relevant to understanding the condition and how we look at it).

He's taken a turn for the worse, in the hospital, now having contracted pneumonia, which is quite lethal for someone in his condition. It's a real topsy-turvy bag of emotions associated with the news. We who knew him have missed him for some time, none more so than my Grandmother who had the hardest time accepting his condition, but after a while we've come to understand that the physical shell is no longer the man, and have had no choice but to begrudgingly accept that awful fate. But, I don't want him to die, no matter how much I've accepted his fate, and yet, how good is his life right now? What purpose or reason does he serve? How will him living continue to affect my Grandmother? How will his death affect her? So many decidedly pointed and difficult questions with no answers. He could die tomorrow, or he could shake the pneumonia and live for years more, or he could live until Christmas. There's no telling, and, depressingly, no scenario is a good scenario.

It's all just bitterly awful, and there's nothing nice in any of it. For me, at the busiest time of year (personally and professionally, with more things seemingly piling up every day) it's inconvenient, which is a horrible thing to say... but it's the truth, the inconvenience of death. I've made people aware that I may have to leave suddenly, but it's horrible, because I just don't know when and any frustration with not knowing point blankly makes me feel like an awful person. All I do know is that when it happens I have to go, out of no familial pressure or any of that but for my own peace.

Regardless, though, life moves on.

Something else

On other things:
Glenn Kenny of Premiere magazine tries to explain away the ending of No Country For Old Men.

Caught this New Zealand comedy duo on tele on Friday, and found them quite funny (this song is particularly hilarious). According to the old wikipedia, Flight of the Concords have had an award winning BBC radio series and currently have their own HBO series (now available on DVD).

A video demonstration of the Amazon Kindle tells me much of what I need to know about this new paperless reader. It's a nifty gadget for sure, and its potential is great, but I do have a few issues:

1) subscriber rates to read blogs or feeds... as selected by Amazon (it would like it if I could convert my blog into a "Kindle friendly" blog, and my friends could do the same, or if I could set up a feed that would convert the content into Kindle format)

2) how many books are actually going to be available on Kindle?

3) Comics? Yeah, didn't think so. If Kindle could partner with comics makers to provide digitally available comics that were easily read on Kindle, that would be an easy sell for me.

4) The fact that it will allow you to convert your Word docs and other files to Kindle format is great, but it also for a fee. Also, since you can't un-convert your file it's not really transportable (I guess the idea is for Kindle to be just a reader and not a file transferrer, but still, in this world things should be that flexible). Also, they should sell or provide a Kindle converter you can put on your own computer and then upload to the unit rather than having to constantly pay them for converting your own files.

The electronic-paper display is pretty sweet, and the tabbing and notes function of the unit is pretty impressive (but can you extract your notes?). Autoconnecting to Wikipedia is fab, the on-board dictionary and lookup function, equally bril. The connection being more like a cellular rather than wi-fi is an excellent idea.

I'm not sold (especially at $400), as I think something less proprietary is in order, but good on Amazon for getting the first to market with a rather well thought out product.

more on Kindle

via: Toasty

The buzz the past couple of days has been about the "Sesame Street: Old School Volumes 1 and 2" self-imposed warning that states "These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child."

I can attest that no, the episodes aren't exactly relevant to today's kids, lacking a lot of today's sensibilities about child safety and attitudes we would like our kids to have. Cookie Monster has an eating disorder, strange men approach Ernie in the park offering him things under his overcoat, kids are shown playing around trash heaps, Oscar's disposition isn't something we want kids to emulate... etc. But at the same time, it's entertaining, not just to adults who grew up on the show, but to small children. I seriously think we're not giving today's youth enough credit to watch, and interpret storyies, sketches, and songs, and we're also giving them too much credit that they may read things into the show that clearly are beyond a child's understanding. Did we have any issues with watching Sesame Street? Nope, it was bright and colorful educational entertainment. We didn't think that Ernie and Bert were a couple when we were little, there was nothing about Mr. Snuffleupagus that made us think he was a drug induced hallucination, and we certainly didn't think Gordon was the resident drug dealer (seriously, dude never had a job, but always had nice clothes and was hanging out on the streets all day). These are thing that we, as adults project on the show, but as kids, it's all just fun and sillyness.

Quite frankly, the wee one loves watching these old Sesame Street shows, and we love watching them with him... and that's the problem with today's parents... it's cliche, but seriously too many parents think of TV as a babysitter. I know when my step son is watching TV or a DVD, he's got questions, wondering about what's happening, why it's happening, why something is funny or why people are sad, etc. That's why you watch with them, so you can answer questions instead of leaving them alone to passively take it all in without really understanding everything they see. Even if it's something he's watched a dozen times, sometimes he still has questions...

If we know he's seen someting a few times, we're a little more liberal about leaving him to watch something on his own, but still, we check in on him or he'll come seek us out if he still has questions.

The New York Times probes the overreactions to how damaging our youth was to us...

...in part at least:

"Blog-era indie fans are among the most promiscuous music listeners around, and it's precisely this insatiable need for new bands among both fans and blogs desperate for more content that's forced Black Kids into this position. For every major band that fits Pareles' description like the Arcade Fire, where fans tape their photos to their lockers like they were Soulja Boy, there is an endless progression of "important" next big things to be forgotten about with the next iPod cull."

Proof that spam is evil:

DROOL

If I had my druthers I'd completely ignore Christmas altogether.

Yes, it's that time of year where the old "X" slaps us in both our secular and non-secular faces alike for all too long of a period.

I've probably talked about this before but the commercialism of the season has far overwhelmed its religious connotations so I'm no longer offended by Christians and their symbolism slapping me in the face over and over again every year of my life. But the whole commercial aspect gives me the heebie jeebies. Halloween wasn't even over when Canadian Tire was already putting up Christmas displays... MID-FLIPPIN'-OCTOBER!

Seriously, not cool.

If I had my druthers, which I don't, my participation in X-Mas would be, well, nil, as would my family's. I think the glut of stuff (and in general about one or two-thirds of it is shit we either don't need or want or both) we receive is atrocious, and then there's kids who are these days doused with things they will never give each enough attention to really be worthwhile....

So in the spirit of this discussion, I thought I'd mention that I picked up the gifts for my stepson that I'm going to get him. He's a toy car nut, so I got him a die-cast helicoper, because he doesn't have a helicopter yet. He's also getting a big Tonka dump truck, because his little plastic one has been used to pieces and really isn't going to last the winter.

He keeps jawing about a table-top train set he's seen in the Toys-R-Us catalogue but we've no room for it to start, and he's already got enough tracks and trains and accessories that there's not much more he really needs anyway. The other thing he's been agawking at is some Lego-town stuff he's seen on TV. The problem is this delightful child is so incredibly finicky and he won't just build stuff with Lego, no, it has to be built EXACTLY like it is on the box, which he can't do himself. And he's a little too young still to understand Lego's fragility, so he's rough with them and they fall apart quickly, and Aden or I or Uncle B (the "B" stands for Basement Dweller) are left to put the pieces together. So yeah, none of that.

It sounds kind of cold hearted, but this well-loved child is surrounded, sometimes literally, with toys. Not only does he have a closet full (literally) of stuffed animals, a couple drawers full of small cars, shelves full of big cars, action figures galore (thanks to Aden and I), giant Star Wars vehicles, three baskets full of trains, three big baskets full of tracks and accessories, and still more stuff arriving all the time (recently the Richard Scarry Busy Town playsets my sister and I had as kids), which isn't to mention the plethora of kid-friendly cartoons and TV-on-DVD I have and books and comics which he's going to at some point soon be able to read himself (recently added the Sesame Street Library vol. 1-12 plus a half dozen issues of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew to the stacks, which he's loving). He's got plenty to keep him occupied and happy, so you'll forgive me if we don't spent hundreds of dollars on him just because advertisers tell us we should.

Aden and I have been very diligent about walking to the subway every morning for our commute downtown to work. It's about a 20 minute, 1.5 KM walk which, I can tell you, is much better than standing around waiting for the Sheppard bus, which can often take about 15 to 20 minutes, be jam packed with high school kids and generally an uncomfortable ride (and in the looming winter, it'll be better to be moving than standing still).

We walk along the residential streets, crossing one major street (Wilson Heights Blvd.) along the way. At the traffic lights of the intersection of this major street and the residential street, there are signs posted permitting no turning or straight through traffic from the major to the residential street from 7am to 10am. I noticed these signs back in late spring and also noticed a high number drivers ignored the signs. There are quite a few schools in the area, so there's a lot of parents taking the road to drop their kids off, as well, the street bridges the gap between Wilson Heights and Bathurst street, which makes it an attractive alternative to the often backed-up Sheppard Ave. But I imagine the "no turn" signs are intended as a traffic calming measure in the neighbourhood, and they weren't working. Until recently.

Okay, they're still not working, only now there's a police officer (or two) stationed about a half-block in on the street pulling over the bulk of motorists who decide to ignore the signage. Aden and I take great pleasure every morning walking past the row of cars the cops have pulled over and are giving tickets to, and then stopping (and usually waiting) at the lights at Wilson Heights keeping a eye out for any other traffic that decides to turn down the street, and keenly observing whether they get busted or if the cops are already too busy to pull more over.

It brings us great joy, this misery of others. It's a great start to my day, I must say. I think the highlight was the one day a short bus full of children was pulled over, I imagine much to the delight of the kids inside. Another day a mini van was pulled over and the mother had her three kids scramble out of the car and make their way to school on foot, as she was fourth in line to be served her ticket. Today a man in an Audi (or Lexus maybe) was pulled over and got out of his car and proceeded to debate with the cop about why he got pulled over. A few vehicles behind him, a Puralator van.

When we were standing at the Wilson Blvd. lights, I noticed two Bell Canada vans in the left turning lane waiting to turn onto the residential street. I was smiling because I knew these guys were going to get busted but I also noticed the front driver having a look around. When he looked at me I smiled and pointed up towards the sign and then indicated he should drive straight through. At first he was a little annoyed, as if to say, "whatever, it's just a sign" but then I think he caught sight the officers down the block walking between their pullovers. A third Bell van, unable to see down the road, was confused as to why the two vans in front of him suddenly turned right instead of left from the left turning lane and he continued on his path, noticing immediately the trap awaiting him and sharply turning into a driveway and turning around before he could get caught.

Yes, this is what makes my day a happy one from the get go.

(that's supposed to read like "this is a review someone else did on my coverage of the TADFF" which is a convoluted mouthful)

10 days ago when I started covering the TADFF, my darling wife decided that if she wasn't going to see me at all as I spent hours in a darkened room sitting on my ass, then she might as well go visit her folks. While there, she was keeping updated on my activities by reading the coverage I did over on CHUD (I didn't ever have enough time to call her but a few text messages were bandied about.. oh the wonders of technologies and their influence on the modern relationship). While there she mentioned to her father what I was up to, and as a film buff himself he was curious about what was going on, and even more so to read what I have to say on the matter.

I pretended like that was cool when she told me, but to be honest I was a little intimidated. Her dad, my father-in-law, has a very well-defined entertainment palette, which overlaps my own in many respects, but having a much greater fondness and appreciation for classic cinema and less of a tolerance (I'm assuming, anyway) for kitsch and ironic cinema, which, let's be honest, is what the bulk of horror cinema is these days. So yeah, it was fret worthy. I mean, what if he were to read what I wrote and think me a fool for wasting my time with crap, or even worse, that my musings on it weren't worth the effort. Add another dozen or ten worries to that pile and that's what was racing through my mind at the thought of him reading my daily recaps.

My wife's father is in the entertainment industry, in a sense, an actor in smaller-theatre plays, a player in advertising for a long time, and doing plenty of voice work (probably best known for the voice of Canadian Tire "There's a lot more to Canadian Tire than tires"), his opinion matters as both a new family member, as an entertainment junkie and as a professional. So, you can bet that when Aden sent me his response to it all that I sighed in relief before smiled a broad grin and choked back a tear.

although I have little knowledge of the subject, Graig's words made it easy to understand and his sense of humour and personal situations added greatly to the material. they were fun to read.

You know, if I ever had a book that was a collection of reviews, that would definitely be my cover quote, attributed to "my father-in-law". It explains everything about my style of reviewing, and Toast has often complimented me on my style, so I know I must have one... It's really one of the most meaningful praises I've ever received.

Comments are now working over at geekent's Buy Nothing Year

(BNY will be taking over geekent.com come December, but you can preview it now, now, now!)

The annual Silver Snail costume gala/Hallowe'en geekout hit on Saturday and, just like last year, it was a good time had by some most all. It was a busy Saturday all-around, with Aden and myself having more than plenty to do before we could get suited up in our regal wear and hit Toronto as only two barely-known comic-book characters could.

My costume is deceptively simple and deceptively complex. The idea for the Phantom Stranger came back in July when Aden and I were shopping around for a wedding dress (she found one, I didn't, btw) and I saw this huge honkin' gold medallion at Le Chateau (fancyness for "The House") and said to Aden "that would be perfect for a Phantom Stranger costume".

Due to wedding madness, I kinda put the whole costume thing out of mind for a while, with the vague notion of going as Robin, since George (manager of the Snail) thought this toy looked like me, and I thought it would be funny, but, well, yeah, finding tiny green underwear isn't that easy...

So anyway, I did a mild hunt for Phantom Stranger wear but you know what, finding a (cheap) 70's blue suit from the thrift stores isn't easy, also not easy only more so is finding a blue hat, and even more than that finding a blue cape. Some of our time in Thunder Bay, which really was the only down time I've had this month, was spent thrift store shopping, where I found the cape medallions ($1), the suit jacket ($4), white turtleneck ($7), the pants ($7) and the gloves ($2). I didn't buy the medallion when I should have and I visited about 2 dozen other places looking for a replacement, but eventually found a Le Chateau that still had the original (and best) and bought it there ($25). The hat came from Kensington Market for $10, and the coup des gras, the white hairspray which gave the Phantom Stranger phantom dandruff all night cost an outrageous $10 (white hairspray was incredibly hard to come by on Saturday for some reason, so if you need white stuff next year, buy it early). The cape was actually home made, since it had to be. Capes are incredibly hard to find, and so yeah, I spent some time with chalk, scissors, some bristol board (comic book backboards to be specific), thread and a needle and made myself a cape.

The end result, deceptively simple in look (as in, it's not spandex) but complex to put together:

Of course, I didn't sell it *completely* with white contact lenses, but I'd say pretty authentic all things considered.

Aden's costume was the current Mary Marvel iteration from Countdown which she was pretty keen on for two reasons: simplicity and that Mary Marvel is one of the few brown (not black) haired women in comics.

Her costume came together easy as pie. A trip to American Apparel, a few dresses tried on and it was practically over before it started. We had to buy some yellow fabric, and using the lightning bolt cut out of an old, old, old Captain Marvel t-shirt of mine found in Thunder Bay as a stencil, Aden cut out and stitched it to the uniform. She bought herself a new pair of boots, which happened to aide the costume and add a pair of black gloves, voila, it's complete.

It was a devilishly windy evening, with a biting crispness that chilled instantly any exposed skin. Aden dressed warmly in her new winter jacket, although her knees remained vulnerable. I was dressed in four layers (undershirt, turtleneck, wool suit jacket, cape) so I was having no problems save the white temporary hair powder blowing out. In fact, I heartily enjoyed having a cape flap in the wind. It's a fantastic sensation, feeling that drag from behind, or having the cloak whip around you in embrace, or flap off to the side like a flag. It's so fucking cool, I can't even explain. If I could get away with it, I'd wear cape every day. Jeans, t-shirt, cape. Trousers, button-down, tie, cape. Swimming trunks, flip-flops, cape (this isn't Sparta). Awesome. Capes need to come back in style and stay there. As it stands, my $4 jacket is now a part of my regular wardrobe, and the rest of it's going into the costume tickle trunk.

It was, in fact, my flowing cape which brought Aden and I to the attention of the CITY TV reporter trying to get a Hallowe'en festivities puff piece on Saturday. They saw me walking along, cape flapping in the wind and chased us down. Aden directed them around the corner to the Snail party where there'd be even more costumes, and that's where they interviewed me, having me flap my cloak in front of their camera. It was all very geeky and I'm sure I came off like any old comic con freakshow in my interview, but I can't find it on-line so, I guess I'll never know.

The party was a good time as always, plenty of free food and giveaways, lots of gawking at all the other costumes (my favourite was the Friend Record from Size Small and Babs and Liza) and some big-time prizes (3rd place: $100 gift certificate, 2nd place: $300 gift certificate, 1st place $500 gift certificate). I was certain my authentic-looking Phantom Stranger would be worth one of the three... strictly on authenticity and obscurity scales. Alas, no, the prizes went to a good Clockwork Orange costume (although, really?), a rather clunky Killing Joke Barbara Gordon and Joker (points for creativity, I guess), and, okay, I'll admit, a killer Dr. Strange costume rightly won the big prize, however the fact that Toby won the Snail staff contest last year with a Dr. Strange costume (Kody won this year with his Thor costume) did rankle me a bit. Alas, no dice for this McCracken, so I went home with my cool cape and my grumbles.

Aden and I have already decided, I think, on our costumes for next year:

Power Girl and Iron Fist...a play off of this comic
only subbing the black dude for this chick, our own DC/Marvel crossover: Maybe she'll modify the outfit to be an amalgam of Power Girl and Power Man's... that'd be hilarious.

Maybe I do IF more like this if I'm feeling bashful...
...but I'd probably get more points if I did the full -on collar and tattoo business.

So, for my last trick-or-treat... here's a sideways shot 20 second video of Springfield Villain Montgomery Burns threading the needle.

oh, and more costume photos on Flickr)