all hallows eve

halloween is different here. growing up, i used to a little fanfare on the front lawn, similar to the image at right. a jack-o-lantern, maybe a ghost. the weird families might have a witches' cauldron on the porch.

here, the house at the right is the minority. these families are butchering bodies on the front lawn in the name of all hallows cheer, see below.



seriously, those are heads on stakes! maybe they hate trick or treaters so much that they've placed the embalmed, severed heads of last year's victims in the front yard to ward off any newcomers--richard the lionheart style.














because everyone needs a good graveyard at their stoop...and a weird einstein mask on their lion statue.















whoa there! giant spiders!?

if those things lay eggs...















a ghoul's ball! this one is pretty awesome, except that the ghosts look like little klan members 'dancing' in front of someone's house--yikes.














this one is actually not that amazing. but usually that orange thing is a giant pumpkin. it drives franny crazy. the skeleton coming out of the ground doesn't make her happy either. she stares at it pensively when we walk by.











this freak show is the masterpiece. i couldn't capture it all in one shot and even multiples don't do it justice. see the video below. yes, that is theme music you hear in the background. people live here.













do you think they call their house "haunted valley?" i hope so.

party like its 1517

on friday, several of us st. louisians went to concordia seminary's oktoberfest bash. it was my first oktoberfest, sectarian or non, and i was not disappointed. most of us watched the covenant v. concordia soccer match that evening (a note of seminary soccer: given the opportunity they will take the fall just like regular soccer players). so by the time we made it to the celebration, the crowd had thinned. luckily, there was plenty of beer still on tap and we managed to scrounge together some of the remaining bratwurst and sauerkraut. we had a great time.

not only was the food and beer free, but it was brewed by schlafly of st. louis. these guys know what they're doing when it comes to beer. i had a few pints of their excellent oktoberfest and pale ale.

the seminary rocked the block in style. in the quad they had a legitimate polka band in leeder hosen. by the time we got there, most of the groupies had moved on, but the band played on as if it was a full house. they were still playing when we left.

st. louis finally feels like fall: a cool evening with good beer and friends.





that's right, the band played on.

elections

we're finally approaching zero hour. four years ago these nuts began announcing their "exploratory committees," which i think is the political equivalent of a debutante ball. i guess we only have ourselves to thank for paying attention.

politics is a pretty dirty business. talking about is typically the equivalent of driving a dump trunk through the celica of whatever conversation you were having. because i mentioned my candidate in an earlier post, i thought i'd go into the reasons i got behind him in this one. i even had the damn thing typed up. in the end, the dump truck was too big, even for me. i gave up. it just sounded too tired.

i've been fed up with the "election question" for a while now. i burned myself out way too early pouring over the caucus and real clear politics. by the time clinton and obama got to their third debate, the media's campaign catchphrases had become torture devices. the words "pantsuit" and "change" made me want to drown myself in one of those plastic kiddie pools. don't ask why, it just seemed dramatic.

then there was romney and mccain. one was the old guy that everybody liked to talk about as if he was already dead, praising his service to the country. the other everyone wished would play dead. do you remember when the big news story was that romney had illegal immigrants working at his house? are you serious?

yeah, that was back in february or march. i was tired of it then. my exasperation turned to anger, and i turned to apathy and cheap beer to deal with it. sadly the race went on, and sadder still, i followed it more and more. even though i'd heard the candidate positions on all the big issues, it became vitally important to read all the latest articles. why did he say this? what does the absence of that mean? how many point will that cost in the national average? those were the questions.

so instead of lambasting you with my expertly formed political opinoins, i think i'll throw all my energies into the local elections. all i know now is that we're electing a new governor and that somebody want me to vote 'yes on a,' which i'm pretty sure just puts a cap on the amount of casinos we can have and how the money is spent. gambling for education, that makes sense...

things that make me laugh part iii

on the front lines: the vp debate

on my afternoon bike ride yesterday, before i busted a brand new tire (REI, i'm coming for you), i was assaulted by a mass of people carrying signs, shouting, and using car horns like madmen. i'm pretty monotonous in my bike route day after day. the only thing that changes is the direction in which i start my trek through forest park. usually the only people i see are young, college-aged girls with youngish college-aged guys in tow, doing their "exercises." though sometimes i do see the middle aged man running or biking in spandex--a sight not to be missed.

well, yesterday i thought the door had been left open at the local asylum. people were shouting and generally carrying on like fools. and then it hit me, vp debate.

well, why did the freaks have to interrupt my beautiful biking afternoon (further put on hold by a flat tire)?

as i made my way further down skinker and deeper into the crowds, it was clear that the obama side had a distinct upper hand in representation. and i really mean upper hand. there were tons of them. sadly for mccain, i only saw two groups of supporters for him: an old woman waving a little flag in front of her house and a small group of students who were sheepishly trying work their way past the army of obama supporters, like four workers crossing the picket lines.

for disclosure purposes i should probably tell you now that i'll be voting for mccain. i know, i know, lecture me. i'm not going to defend myself here. but in spite of that, it was pretty cool to see all the obama supporters out there. they clearly came from a wide range of backgrounds. not only were they loudly and adamantly obstructing the bike lanes, but they were pretty excited to do it. i had a fun time watching them.

i shot a couple videos on my phone, so they're a bit scrappy.







iupat had a ton of union members on site, proudly chanting for obama.



you can barely hear them, but at the beginning they are shouting, "yes we can." then they start, "o...bama, o...bama."



my wife and i went down the street to watch the debate in par--which is actually just a poorly named bar. i would have loved to see it in person, but the small number of seats that were not claimed by either party or reserved for the press were raffled off to students--spoiled brats.

the debate seemed to go well for both sides. vp debates have always seemed pretty dubious to me. just another chance for either side to hit home whatever their candidate is harping on and less about the vp contenders themselves. it's not really a debate so much as two sides talking past each other, just stating campaign promises.

but for the gop, i guess there was a bit more at stake-- it's pretty bad if an interview with catie couric makes you look dumb. so in that sense, the gop got more out it. one big, "hey, our candidate's not a moron" party.

but the dems did alright as well. no big gaffes for joe, who i thought would have never received the vp tap after one particularly big mistep early on in the primary.

anyway, enough pseudo political hash. word from the front line: watching a nationally televised debate in your city is about like watching a nationally televised debate anywhere, except for the party before and after.

hot lava, on repeat

thanks once again to indie surfer, i've been on a steady dose of hot lava's "apple+option+fire." go to indie surfer if you want to know more about them--i can't add anything of value. if you like good pop music, you'll probably like these guys.

apple+option+fire

website

balloon glow

a couple weeks ago, stl had a balloon race. the night before, the ballooners got the party started with a good old fashioned balloon. they filled up their hot air receptacles and synchronized their torches to a horn that went off every ten minutes. it was petty amazing and also provide some good fodder for the camera (and yet another excuse for a tripod).



anyway, enjoy the show. i've been traveling quite a bit over the last few weeks, so hopefully (regrettably for some) i'll be able to get back on top of the blog world. and by "on top" i mean continue to post about things that only concern me.