Happy Halloween

Time was, Halloween wasn't about dressing like whatever superhero/-villain was popular that summer (guys) or as Slutty Cat/Nurse/Freddy Krueger (girls). Then again, some options are far, far worse. And sick. And five kinds of wrong.



(I think I need to put bleach in my eyes now.)

I love Halloween -- candy! Dress-up! Spooky stories!-- but haven't had much call to dress up in recent years. Growing up a book- and movies-obsessed kid with a mom who's a skilled and imaginative (not to mention patient) seamstress led to amazing costumes, which in retrospect were a little odd. What seven year old girl wants to be a Can Can Dancer? At least it made a change from the procession of fairies, princesses, and fairy princesses that I also went as for much of my kidhood.

But probably my childhood favorite was a Wonder Woman costume made of swimsuit material that then had a second life the following summer as a bathing suit. Dad made me the tiara and bracelets out of cardboard covered with gold contact paper. It was teh awesomez.

As an adult I went through a pretentious, too-clever phase that included going as the Stock Crash of 1929, which consisted of a black flapper dress accessorized with a 20's-style headpiece and boa made from the stock pages from the newspaper. A friend and I went as Death and Destruction one year in college, costumes that were utterly indistinguishable from our normal goth-girl outfits except for more makeup and temporary hair dye. I went once as Crazy Jane from Grant Morrison's run of Doom Patrol, and you get warm comic book fuzzies from me if you know what the hell I'm even talking about.

Halloween usually sneaks up on me, so I don't really plan like I did when I was a kid. I have a lot of vintage clothing, so I can usually pull together a Rosie the Riveter or Random Swingdancer pretty easily. I also still have my stage makeup box from my theater days so I can do Undead Swingdancer or Rosie the Riveter with the Plague. An easy and comfortable costume one year was Suburban Vampire Victim: pajamas, robe, hair in curlers-- and dead-white makeup with bloody neck punctures.

What's your favorite Halloween costume? Past or present, worn or seen, doesn't matter.

And if you say creepy full-body Papa Bear suit, I am SO calling the police.

EDIT: Fixed the Krueger spelling...

MADness

Nikki Finke is reporting that Lionsgate is shopping around for a showrunner to replace Matthew Weiner on MAD MEN. Lordy.

If a Sexy Vampire Can't Survive, No One Can

Appropriately enough for Halloween week, the CBS Friday 9pm Death Slot has claimed another victim: the network's yanked THE EX LIST from the schedule.

Let the MOONLIGHT fan I-told-you-so's begin.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm sad when any show gets canceled. So much time and sweat and vision goes into everything you see on TV -- yes, really -- and add that to the straight-up economic and psychological suckiness of getting laid off, and it's happy times for no one.

My comments are more about the vagaries of this season and the mysterious and often harsh alchemy of network programming. There's nothing to say that MOONLIGHT would've fared any better.

I Love Halloween Except For Crap Like This

"Sexy Miss Kruger"?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Truthful Title Cards

Some Friday fun for you.



More, courtesy of Glark.org.

Your Life Sucks! Come to Australia!

WTF, Baz Luhrmann?



Tourism FAIL.

Fall TV Ups and Downs

The Live Feed has compiled a list of the fall shows with the biggest gains and losses in viewership so far:

Gainers

1. CW SUPERNATURAL 1.2 to 1.7 = 42%
2. CBS CRIMINAL MINDS 3.5 to 4.7 = 34%
3. CBS HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER 3.3 to 4.0 = 21%
4. CBS CSI: MIAMI 4.6 to 5.2 = 13%
5. CBS NCIS 3.2 to 3.6 = 13%
6. CBS TWO AND A HALF MEN 4.8 to 5.3 = 10%
7. CBS CSI: NY 3.7 to 4.0 = 8%
8. CW GOSSIP GIRL 1.6 to 1.7 = 6%
9. CW ONE TREE HILL 1.6 to 1.7 = 6%
10. FOX AMERICAN DAD 3.1 to 3.2 = 3%

Droppers

1. ABC PUSHING DAISIES 4.4 to 2.0 = -55%
2. FOX TERMINATOR 4.2 to 2.4 = -43%
3. FOX DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS 2.9 to 1.7 = -41%
4. CBS WITHOUT A TRACE 4.7 to 2.8 = -40%
5. CBS OLD CHRISTINE 3.2 to 2.1 = -34%
6. ABC DIRTY SEXY MONEY 3.6 to 2.4 = -33%
7. CW AMERICA'S TOP MODEL 2.5 to 1.7 = -32%
8. FOX SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER 2.5 to 1.7 = -32%
9. NBC HEROES 7.3 to 5.0 = -32%
10. NBC MY NAME IS EARL 3.8 to 2.7 = -29%

Not sure if there are any trends to be discerned there -- although I am happy to see reality shows taking a tumble -- but time will tell.