Greetings and salutations - we begin our month long blogging adventure highlighting an artist that I enjoy - Billy Pollard (October 1st, 2024)

Good evening and hello,

These great t-shirts are from The Ghost in You's TeePublic shop here. The sugar skulls t-shirt is almost worn out as my son wears it weekly (or more if I launder it fast). He's had it for years and it is one of the coolest t-shirts. I have a bunch of Billy's shirts. The quality is amazing and even though he doesn't get much from each purchase it's good to support a talented artist like Billy. Heck, I'd rather support Billy than buy a generic t-shirt somewhere else. I reached out to him today. His art and music are worth your support. I like to encourage talented people to keep going.

The t-shirts and print quality are fantastic. They are super soft.

I've written about Billy Pollard's art and music before (here).

To order his art and buttons visit The Ghost in You Etsy shop here.  

To order his art on t-shirts visit The Ghost in You TeePublic shop here.

To download The Ghost in You music shop here.

You can order his books “The Undead Adventures of Bone Boy and Ghost Girl” (here) and its brand new sequel, “Bone Boy and Ghost Girl meet Dead Dog” (here),

I hope you enjoy his art and music as much as I do.  If so, please support him.

Happy Haunting,

Mark Harvey

Halloween nightmare: Pumpkins in short supply

Greetings and good evening everyone.

I'm working on getting my blogging chops back since I've got to start getting entries done each day during October - a feat for sure.

I found an article (here) about pumpkins being in short supply on the East Coast due to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. As a pumpkin aficionado I would certainly hate to think of a world that had a lack of pumpkins. It just isn't fall without 'em.  Halloween without the Great Pumpkin? Unheard of!

Recently I brewed my first pumpkin ale and for the life of me I couldn't find any fresh pumpkin (I ended up using organic canned pumpkin).  I was told fresh pumpkins arrive in stores sometime around late September or early October.  I emailed a few breweries that make pumpkin beers (that use fresh pumpkin) to see where they pick up pumpkin early enough to brew, bottle and sell to stores, but unfortunately none of them replied. I figure they must get them from South America or something.  Pumpkin beers are in stores now and I plan to review 'em starting in October (early October to give readers time to find some to enjoy during the month).

Anyhow, I just thought I'd pop in to talk about pumpkins.  I sure hope the crop somewhere is nice.

Mark Harvey

Post Halloween "hangover"

Wow...I'm back...

After faithfully blogging every day (and sometimes more) I'm a little surprised to be back so soon.  I usually finish off the full month of blogging by posting on November 1st.  I give a post Halloween wrap up and then post my song "October's Over".  This year November first was REALLY busy and since I wanted to watch the World Series I didn't blog last night.  By the way, if you've been living under a rock The San Francisco Giants WON the World Series (or as my son calls it, "The World Serious").  As a lifelong Bay Area resident I'm pretty happy they did it!

So as to not break with tradition...here's "October's Over"...

On Monday I did the usual post Halloween shopping, but didn't really have much to hunt down this year.  I did have my eye on one thing - an Airblown Tree with Ghost and Pumpkins - something whimsical to add to the pumpkiny goodness of Pumpkinland.  I did manage to find one at 50% off so I was pretty happy about that. 

I found an Illusive Concepts Floating Witch (I don't do the Witch theme very often, but I liked the prop...so...).  I bought a few other odds and ends.  As the years pass there's not a lot that I really want for Halloween anymore - it has to REALLY grab me.

I'll try and get some Halloween photos posted in the coming days.  I took far more pictures than I used in October and I need to get them out into the world.

Hopefully you had a wonderful Halloween.  Now that the holiday season has been officially kicked off I wish you and yours the best this holiday season.

Mark Harvey

October 31st....final post of October

Greetings fellow ghouls,

Well, here's the final post of October. Let's start with a tune...


I'm all alone now...the kids are in bed after a long night of trick-or-treating.  My wife is asleep.  She has to work tomorrow, but I always take off November 1st.  It is a nice way to unwind after a long month and get things packed away for next year.

I feel satisfied.  I think this year was successful.  We had MANY more trick-or-treaters than I expected we'd have.  I guess the driveway and the stairs to my front door weren't enough to scare them away.  Or perhaps it was my decorations and music that brought them here.  Either way, I'm happy.

Now I'm going to sit back and drink a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale....yum!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN...it is 10:31 pm on 10/31....

October is nearly over...

Mark Harvey

October 31st...HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Rain Station

Happy Halloween one and all....

Here's a little Jib Jab video of "The Monster Mash" starring your favorite monsters and the guys from Rain Station (that's me and Jay).

Love yourself some Rain Station Make your own video at JibJab!

If you're havin' a shin-dig today log-on and pump up your computer speakers and have a listen to Rain Station's DARK RIDE (click the play button below)...


I want to wish you all the best today and tonight wherever your day and evening takes you.  Be safe, be kind and enjoy the best play day of the year!

Mark Harvey

October 30th....I love my October Bride

Greetings readers, lurkers and fiends,

Six years ago today I married my wife.  In hindsight I think we both would have preferred to pick a different day for our wedding anniversary.  There's always so much to do to get ready for Halloween (if you're like me) and our anniversary doesn't get the attention it deserves (we try, we try).  We did manage to steal away to Napa a couple of weekends ago and I'm sure we'll do what we can to make our anniversary special.

I love you honey, Happy Anniversary.


So since we're talking October brides...have a listen to "October's Bride" off  Rain Station's DARK RIDE CD.

If you've not taken the time to check out the DARK RIDE videos, please do. Visit JackoLantern.org or click the links below....

 CANDY

TRICK OR TREATIN'

THINGS

DAY OF THE DEAD

TOMB OF DOOM

HAUNTED MAN
MONSTER HUNTER
DARK RIDE

Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife and Happy 30th of October. TOMORROW is THE day! HALLOWEEN PEOPLE!!!!

Mark Harvey

October 29th...The weirdest Halloween laws in the country

Greetings creeps (and I say that with much love),

So...Halloween LAWS?  Are you kiddin' me? Well, evidently not according to this article I read.  Sheesh...c'mon people!

Here's the article....you can read it here if you like or read it here at Mark Harvey's World...I've added photos to make it more fun...

The weirdest Halloween laws in the country

by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff, on Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:16pm PDT

"Halloween is a time to be thankful... that you don't live in Walnut, California.
Trick-or-treaters in that town need a permit to wear a mask. The code strictly states: "No person shall wear a mask or disguise on a public street without a permit from the sheriff," according to Idiot Laws. So before you can even plan a costume, you have to plan a visit to the police precinct.

In Belleville, Illinois, you can't even trick-or-treat if you're in high school. The mayor of the county signed an ordinance banning kids past eight grade from asking for candy. "We were hearing more and more about bigger kids knocking on doors after 9 at night, and the people who lived in the homes were scared," the Mayor told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We believe that Halloween is for little children."
Several townships in Virginia agree, banning kids over 12 from participating in the sweet-treat soliciting.

In several towns in Oklahoma, celebrating Halloween on October 30, is encouraged this year.
Oklahoma City, Edmond, Midwest City and Yukon are all making the official day this Saturday, instead of Sunday, a school night. "We felt it was more convenient for families to do it on Saturday, and it only meant moving it one day earlier," one local Sheriff told The Oklahoman.

In Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Sundays are off limits for trick-or-treaters too. "If October 31 shall be a Sunday, such going from door to door and house to house for treats shall take place on the evening of October 30 between the hours of 6:00 p.m., prevailing time, and 8:00 p.m., prevailing time." That last part, the 6 to 8 window of trick-or-treating, however, is upheld every year. After 8pm, the candy-thon stops, by law.

Halloween celebrations during school hours was banned in a Seattle suburb in 2004 as well as in Los Altos, California in 1995. Both grew out of religious sensitivity. In California, it was out of respect for Christian Fundamentalists. In Washington, it was on behalf of Wiccans who were tired of the negative portrayal of witches.

Don't expect to see any Grim Reaper or Blues Brothers costumes in Dublin, Georgia. It's against the law to wear hoods or sunglasses. A law states: "It shall be unlawful for any person to be and appear on any of the public streets of the city or in any of the public places of the city wearing a mask, hood or other apparel or regalia in such manner as to conceal his identity, or in such manner that his face is not fully visible, or in such manner that he may not be recognized." Thankfully, kids under 16 aren't subject to the rule.

And Marie Antoinette is off the table in Merryville, Missouri, where women are banned from wearing corsets. The age old law is designed to prevent women from denying men "the privilege of admiring the curvaceous, unencumbered body of a young woman should not be denied to the normal, red-blooded American male." But men are subject to some laws too. Like no goofy mustaches that make people laugh in Alabama churches. And male staff-members of the Nevada Legislature are banned from wearing p---s costumes while the legislature is in session. There's got to be a back-story behind that one."

Wow, quite a grouping of bizarre laws.

Mark Harvey

October 29th...The History of Halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of the summer, the harvest, and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there. It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. Young women believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors.

In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything "frightening" or "grotesque" out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend $2.5 billion annually on Halloween, making it the Country's second largest commercial holiday.

Information courtesy of the History Channel.

Visit http://www.historychannel.com/

Thanks for reading...

Mark Harvey

October 27th....How old is too old for trick-or-treating?

Greetings,

Since we're nearing the end of October and I keep finding things to share I figure I'll just pop these additional blog posts out.

So, how old is too old for trick-or-treating?  Well, according to this article, Mayor Mark Eckhert of Belleville, Ill. thinks that anyone over the age of 12 is too old AND he is talking about creating an ordinance banning anyone over 12 form trick or treating AND threatening them with a $100 fine if they ignore the law. Woah!  I wonder, how in the world are the police going to deal with THIS on Halloween night?  Also, doesn't this discriminate again kids that LOOK older than they are (and those who look younger can get away with TOTing for a few extra years)?  Heck, my kids are HUGE.  My son would get fined probably around age 8 for goodness sake.

So, what do you all think?  What age is too old to trick-or-treat?  And the follow up question would be - what are those that are over that age to do on Halloween night?  Kids in those tween years are stuck.  What if they have younger siblings?  Are they to wander the streets with out a pillow case looking forlorn while their younger brothers and sisters gather candy?  Are they to stay at home and just sulk?  I mean really, I know how it feels when a teenager shows up to the house trick-or-treating...it does look a bit goofy, BUT if they're in costume I'll throw 'em some candy.  The ones that REALLY get me cranky are those who DON'T wear costumes.  In past years I would have a sign stating "No Costume, No Candy"...AND I would enforce it.

Comment appreciated...let the debate begin...

(and in the meantime, how about a little Trick orTreatin' for ya?)


Mark Harvey
(STILL wanting to trick-or-treat)

October 25th...Retailers Hope for Halloween Sales Treat...

Greetings everyone,

Well, we've got less than a week before HALLOWEEN and I feel the need to shop s'more. Today at lunch I visited stores in an attempt to finish off the things I need (uh, want) to buy before Halloween. I'll probably visit stores every day this week.

I was reading the Wall Street Journal today and it looks like this is going to turn out to be a very good Halloween season. From the article..."Retailers expect sales of Halloween candy and costumes to reach $5.8 billion this year, up from $4.75 billion in 2009, and hope the higher-spending trend will continue through the winter holidays. "From a business standpoint, it's an important event for us," said a spokesman for Wal-Mart, which, like other stores, is highlighting value and devoting considerable shelf space to Halloween items."
Click here to read the whole story.


I don't know about "highlighting". It seems that retailers are much more reserved this year.  I am hoping that this rise in spending will make next year better.  Most places I've visited have had less on the shelves, or in some cases less AND the same things as last year.  Dollar Stores pulled all their Halloween products out last week.  I visited five of them and couldn't believe Christmas had already come. 

Mark Harvey
Halloween Shopper

October 24th...REALLY?

Greetings blog readers and Halloween enthusiasts,

So I recently was made aware of this link (here).  The title of the story is..."Yard Haunters: Pathetic Shut-Ins and Sex Offenders".  Now, I take great offense to this - yet - in reading this blog I figure it MUST be satire.

As a Father of three kids I intend on teaching them Halloween MY WAY.  I'm no Bible thumper, but I do have deep religious beliefs.  I believe one can be spiritual AND celebrate Halloween.  I believe that one should not judge others lest you be judged.  Not everyone celebrates Halloween the same way - or my way.  I'm teaching my kids right from wrong - keeping a close eye on them.  I enjoy the fun and frivolity of Halloween.  I'm not into horror, blood or gore.  That's OK for some, but with young kids around I'd rather have them feel safe and look at Halloween as a fun time to dress up and pretend.  It is a creative holiday.  Nothing wrong with that.

Click the link (here again)...have a read...get mad and then realize it is all pretend...or is it?

Enjoy this track and if you hate Halloween...PLAY IT TWICE AS LOUD!


Mark Harvey
NOT a pathetic shut-in sex offender

October 21st...Pumpkin Beer...taste tests...

Greetings ghouls and beer drinkers (you can be both ya know...),

As many of my readers know I brew beer, enjoy beer and write about beer.  This is not to say that I drink A LOT of beer, but it is something that I have grown to really appreciate.

Each year I await the inbound shipments of pumpkin beers - not that I am a HUGE fan of them, but there's something about getting 'em, drinking 'em and having 'em available throughout the holiday season.  I headed over to the local BevMo and picked up the only four types they had.  I thought I'd go ahead and review them as well.  I've read about MANY others - would like to try MANY others, but unfortunately I can only get what's shipped to CA and rather than hunt down specialty pumpkin brews at small liquor stores I head to BevMo and buy what they get in.  If ANYONE located in NorCal can point me toward places that carry other varieties I'd be grateful.
So...let's begin...

Shipyard Brewing Co. Pumpkinhead Ale - 5.10% ABV - I was introduced to this beer while in Portland, ME on business.  It is the perfect beer to drink with a hearty meal on tap at Bull Feeney's on a cold Fall  night in Maine.  Pumpkinhead Ale has a very nice pumpkin pie spice scent, with a nice little hint of malt sweetness at the back. Great flavor, not as much spice in the taste as in the nose, and it matches well with the nice malt backing. These go down very easily and have the perfect balance of spice and flavor.  A nice addition to a Halloween party of holiday meal.  Shipyard is prolific and you can find their beer nearly everywhere.  I'm a fan of the Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin (Pugsley's Signature Series) - a 9% ABV (which is right up my alley being that is it HIGH ABV).  Those are sold in 22s so it is a drinking commitment unless you can find a pal to help you out.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale - "A full-bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon & nutmeg" pretty much sums this beer up. This beer weighs in at a nice 7% ABV.  Hmmm...smells like a pumpkin beer...tastes...great, but not as spice heavy as I expected.  Punkin Ale pours a great burnt orange - a nice white head and sticky lacing. The scents of cinnamon and ginger linger. The brown sugar and spices coming through in the finish. This beer is excellent and provides all the things I like.  Drinkability AND high alcohol content.

Wasatch Pumpkin Seasonal Ale  - comes in at 4% ABV. Let me start by saying that I LOVE Wasastch beer.  I visited Utah earlier this year and got to taste all of the beers (with low ABV) on tap and their double IPA in bottles - drinking a six pack in a few days was a feat, I must say. I love their Polygamy Porter and their sister brewing company's (Squatters) Hop Rising, but this seasonal ale just doesn't do it for me.  The spice scheme is all off.  The taste is unsweetened and mostly a watered down cinnamon-spiced pumpkin taste.  It has an empty finish that is jsut flat out sour. I don't enjoy it (and I have a whole six pack to deal with).  I wanted to like it, but I just don't.

Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale (America's Original) - 5.2% ABV. - This is one of the best of the best pumpkin brews (in my opinion).  The brewery is almost in my backyard and I enjoy a bunch of their brews.  Brewed with fresh roasted pumpkins and flavored with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg, it IS NOT pumpkin pie in a bottle. It pours to a golden orange color and has a very light head formation.  A wonderfully spicy nose that reminds me of freshly baked pumpkin pie. With a firm crystal malt background the pumpkin and spices take center stage. They meld nicely with the pumpkin flavors right on into the perfect spice-balanced finish.
For some reason the reviews of this beer online have been grim.  I'm not sure why. 

What I'm REALLY looking forward to is the release of their Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  I tried 6.5 ounces of it (that's all they serve at a time) the other night at the pub and I tell ya, it is GOOD.  At 9.8% ABV is packs a wallop. 

Since Buffalo Bills is local I figured I'd post a little something I found about the brewing of their brew...
This taken from HomeBrewTalk.com (here)
Brewer: Geoff Harries of Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in Hayward, California.Geoff homebrewed from 1981 to 1987. He became the head brewer at Buffalo Bill’s from '87 to '89, then the GM and head brewer at Brewpub on the Green from '90 to '93. He bought Buffalo Bill’s and is now the owner and head brewer.

" Our pumpkin beer is brewed at several locations for us, but one definite rule is that we always use fresh, whole pumpkins. The kinds vary depending on the season and what is ripe, but we like to use Atlantic Giants and Big Macs. Both are jumbo in size and have lots of fiber. Especially the fiber makes for easier mashing.
We roast the pumpkins, since a raw pumpkin is really nothing but a squash and if you try to use them raw, nothing comes out of them. Roasting converts some of the starch inside the pumpkin, and lets us extract sugars and sweetness. We cook them to the point where they’re kind of done—maybe a little brown around the edges, just when they are starting to caramelize. But we don’t want them turned to mush. Since pumpkins come in all different sizes, cooking times will vary. Once they are ready we cut them open and pull out the seeds.

For six-and-a-half barrels, we use about thirty pounds of pumpkins, though this will depend greatly on the pumpkin. This is a bit more than one-half pound for a five gallon batch, but once you start brewing you’ll realize you don’t want that much pumpkin anyway. Remember, this is a beer, not a vegetable beer. The pumpkin is there to complement the malts, not take them over. Besides, too much pumpkin makes for a tough sparge.
We always experiment with the base beer, but it’s generally a red ale/amber beer. We are looking for something with an orange to red hue. All the color in the beer comes from the malt. None comes from the pumpkin.
We go through the standard sparge. We have had trouble with this stage in the past, and what we have discovered is if you overcook the pumpkin it gets all mushy and causes the stuck mash. So, it’s important to not over roast.

Hops should be low-key. Be subtle, just to balance the malt sweetness. You don’t want the beer to be bitter. Think pumpkin pie in a glass, and shoot for that flavor profile. The dominant character will be the up front malt flavor, followed by a finish that highlight the spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. And speaking of spices, we use whole spice. This year we’ll put them in a big sparge bag, and then hang them in the conditioning tanks, after the boil. This is the way to get that nice, spiced character because it’s kind of like dry-hopping."

Well, I enjoyed the process of drinking these four beers (minus the Wasatch) and bringing these beer reviews to you.

Grab 'em if you can find 'em and CELEBRATE!  Halloween is NEARLY here!

Mark Harvey
Brewer and Beer Drinker

Enjoying an Imperial Pumpkin Ale
at Buffalo Bill's Brewery

October 20th...more Halloween groovin'

Oh my...we have only have 11 days left until HALLOWEEN! 

There is always a major push before Halloween - costumes, accessories, more decorations...I find myself a bit frenzied (self imposed) because I want to experience and get as much as possible before it all goes away for another year.

I'm awaiting an email from the company I ordered my Halloween contact lenses from.  I ordered them a week ago and today got an email from them saying they're out of stock!  They said they'd have them by the 25th.  I'm not sure if I'll get 'em before Halloween.  Eeesh!

I ordered a 6' standing scarecrow (made by FITCO) and wouldn't you know it, it was broken when I took it out of the box.  The face was also slashed and pushed in.  I told the company I ordered it from and they're going to send me a call tag, but they didn't offer to send me another one.  So now I am without a killer 6' standing scarecrow.  How will I survive?

ARE YOU READY?

Have you decorated your house?  Have you decided what you're going to be for Halloween?  Do you have POUNDS of candy (and candy wrappers) lying around your house? 

What are your plans for Halloween?  Are you going trick-or-treating?  Are you going to a Halloween party?

Comment and let me know!

In the meantime...here's an unreleased mopehead track called "Monsters".



I hope you DIG it.

Mark Harvey

FREE CD - contest ends at MIDNIGHT

CONTEST ALERT - Giving away a copy of Rain Station's DARK RIDE (maybe a few!). How to win the CD? Check it -
Contest starts at 10:31 pm on October 13th and runs until MIDNIGHT October 20th.

To qualify to win this prize, you must comply with all of the following requirements:

Have an accessible blog or leave an email address with each entry.

Have a mailing address in the US

Send me an email (here) with your favorite song off DARK RIDE and quote your favorite line from one of the songs off DARK RIDE (can be the same song) - that'll get you an entry.

For extra entries you may do any or all of the following (please leave a separate comment for each):

BONUS entry - "Like" Rain Station on Facebook - here - please provide your name or username for validation in comments or via email.

BONUS entry #2 - Review DARK RIDE on iTunes - here - please provide your email account or username on iTunes for validation in comments or via email.

BONUS entry #3 - Blog about this giveaway, leaving the URL to your post in comments or via email.



Good success to everyone,

Mark Harvey

October 19th...Halloween Groovin'

Creepings and salmutations,

Who doesn't like groovy Halloween jams?  I know I do.  I got into a phase where I was doing all sorts of groovin' Halloween tracks - instrumentals.  They have a funky beat and you can REALLY bug out to 'em.



"Halloween Groove" is just such a track.  Visit here to download the FREE MP3 of this track.

Mark Harvey

October 18th...FREE MP3...

Happy Monday!  It is hard to believe it is October 18th...this month is REALLY racing by.
So, what are you planning on being for Halloween?  Are you dressing up for work or school or are you only getting dressed up on Halloween? 

Yesterday my wife and I spent some time in Hancock Fabrics looking at patterns for costumes.  She typically won't purchase costumes and prefers to make them.  The quality is so much better and since she's got the sewing skill set, why not?  Part of our family is "themed" - the baby girl will be Tinkerbell, my boy will be Peter Pan and my oldest girl will be Wendy.  My son has been telling everyone that I'm going to be Captain Hook, but I don't really want to be Hook.  When looking at patterns yesterday we figured we'd need SO much to make a Hook costume that it could cost upwards of $200+ just to get the jacket right.  That's some serious dough for something I have no interest in being.  So it looks like my wife and I will be vampires.  I always prefer being a vampire at Halloween.  It is always my go to creature.

While we were out shopping yesterday I picked up a vampire costume for my son.  I couldn't resist.  He spent the evening running around the house claiming to be a vampire.  It could take some doing to get him into his Peter Pan costume.

Oops....

I'm sure he'll be like is Daddy...creatures of the night are much more fun.

I've decided to get really vampired out this year.  I purchased some special effect contact lenses.

Hopefully they won't mess with my Lasik surgery I had.  My eye doctor is going to check on me to make sure I'm good to wear them for an extended period of time.

I ordered some fangs from Dental Distortions (here). I'm really looking forward to getting the fangs and contact lenses to see how things turn out.  This stuff sure beats what we had available when I was a kid.

Speaking of VAMPIRES...here's a FREE MP3 for everyone - a fitting track for today's blog - "Mark of the Vampire" by MITCH - my rock alter-ego....

Click here to download the FREE track.  The link below is from Bandcamp and will let you have a listen to the track before you download it.



Enjoy the FREE track and drop me a comment.  I'd like to hear about your costume plans.

Mark Harvey