two tickets to ride!

Common to the Samarkand

I have always been a rational person, but this made me question that.

I had moved into a house in the Samarkand area and was really happy to be living in such a great space. It wasn’t long though before I started getting eerie sensations on my evening dog walks within the uniform stillness prevalent to the area. I couldn’t put my finger on it; but at times it felt like something was trailing me through the undulating solitudes of the Samarkand. Occasionally I would perceive dark figural gloom in far off corners under the dipping trees that seal the neighborhood.

This culminated one night as I was reading in bed when I heard sounds that made no sense to my mind THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Was coming from my roof! It took me a second to realize that what I was hearing was someone running circles on my roof! With my walls trembling I propelled out of bed with heart in hand. This was no simple rodent or raccoon, that I was certain.  I flew out my front door and quickly turned to see who was causing such a fright…Nothing-there was nothing up there…I was deeply shaken. This happened three times with no physical finding.

Soon after this I became friends with a neighbor named Chumana, a Native from SB.  I expressed my concerns as she grinned, then informed me that what I experienced was ghastly spirits running from roof to roof trying to take flight, quite common for this area. I’m still not sure what I believe it was, but that dreadful description sure fit that horrible sound.

I now can’t help but look up at the trees and wonder if ghastly spirits observe my evening strolls through the half shut eye of the Samarkand twilight.

 

Trick “OREO” Treat is Baskin-Robbins’ Flavor of the Month

Sucker for fall foods? Me too — or wait, maybe just for cookies and candies mixed in with ice cream.  Sounds like I’m going to like the October Flavor of the Month at Baskin-Robbins.

 

Ready for a scary good creation? Vanilla ice cream packed with orange créme filled OREO® cookies, Baby Ruth®, and Butterfinger® candy pieces. It’s terrifyingly delicious.

scare of the day

Lords of Salem Trailer

First trailer of Rob Zombies Lords of Salem. Bits of Kubrick mixed with lots of Argento. Sure looks promising.

scare of the day

Dead patch

Tipsy Jack

 

Fall is here (even if it’s still reaching over 75 degrees outside, grrr), and you’re probably celebrating the seasonal change with some brews, like you celebrate a change in anything else. Or if nothing changes...or if there’s nothing to celebrate, really. Pumpkins are going to become widely available pretty soon, and instead of just carving that grinning face into it for Halloween, you could do something a little festive and turn it into a keg.

The process isn’t too difficult. You’ll simply need a pumpkin, beer, a pumpkin carving kit, a marker or pencil, and, obviously, a tap.

If you can carve a jack-o-lantern, you're already ahead of the curve!

The fairly easy steps are as follows:

Supplies:

one large pumpkin

marker or pencil

carving kit

Plastic Spigot (aka tap)

lots of Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer, or your fall beer of choice.

Directions:

Step 1: First, draw a ring around the top of your pumpkin. This will be your guide to carve the lid. Try to keep this pretty close to the top of the pumpkin so you optimize the hollowed out space that will hold the beer.

Step 2: Once that's done, carve it! If you're sans carving kit you can use a serrated knife. Whatever your tool of choice, poke it in at an angle and work your way around the ring.

Step 3: Pop the lid off once you've gone all the way around and clean out your pumpkin. Make sure you get all the seeds out and most of the pulp, but don't worry if some of that's left behind since it's responsible for flavoring the beer.

Step 4: Now, find the spot where you want to place your spigot. Using your pencil or marker, trace around the rim once you've decided upon the spot. Cutting the hole here will require a pretty fine serrated knife, so the carving kit proves really worthwhile at this point. Make the hole as clean cut as possible, then pop in your spigot. If your pumpkin is as thick as ours was you'll have to thin out the pumpkin's inner wall to fit the spigot properly. Don't be afraid to dig in - the pumpkin can take it.

Step 5: Once your spigot is secured, you're ready to go! Pour in your Sam Adam's Oktoberfest (because that IS the official beer of fall as far as we're concerned) and pop the lid back on your pumpkin.

Step 6: Celebrate fall and all your hard work with a cold brew from your new pumpkin keg!

Witch Hanging 2012

The Witch Hanging at Knotts Scary Farm 2012 was great. The actress playing the witch was great too. Skip to 3:43 if you want to see her transform into the bad witch, or watch the whole thing for a good time.

Disneyland Halloween Swag