X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

08/31/2006: August Megaparty #31: The Grand Finale!

And here we are, the end of the 2006 potentially first annual X-Entertainment August Megaparty. I guess my little scheme worked: Nobody complained that there weren’t any “real” articles this month. Actually, those facts are mutually exclusive — it’s been a more insanely busy month that the blog update rate would suggest, and I wouldn’t have had time for the big ones anyway. Just worked out that way.

This month, we saw everything from Pokemon’s 10th anniversary party to Hostess Grizzly Chomps, Pepzi Jazz, Zany Zappers and beyond. I’ve had fun, and it’s taught me that updating the blog on a very regular basis from this point forth is a good idea. Frankly, some of the best times I’ve had doing this site are when I’m just trying to find stuff to write about. I’ve gotten to do that everyday this month, discounting those occasions when I updated without really updating. Like I mentioned earlier this week, I plan to keep this spot very active from now on, Megaparty or not.

We’re not going to go out with a bang, but we’re going to go out with a post. Here it is…

(click to enlarge)
It was a very light day at work, mainly because half of the office took off for vacation, and the other half were so close to the last big weekend of summertime to notice if I was actually doing anything worth paying for. My wallless office cubicle looks like the junior version of my office at home; it’s cluttered to the brim with all the things that make me me, along with all the things coworkers were planning to throw away until my open arms made a difference. A lot of the junk is stuff I slowly brought in from home — anything that would fit into my laptop bag-sized bag, because it’s not like I was going to carry giant Leatherface statues bare on a crowded morning bus. Other things consist of freebies looted from other workers, including that swank and gigantic inflatable “Scream,” based on the yelling dude from Edvard Munch’s oft-stolen masterpiece painting.

Whenever work is really light, I start digging around my desk for things to occupy my time with. Such festivals usually end with me sneaking a Friday the 13th DVD onto my screener TV — I long ago lent the boxed set to a coworker, and either due to laziness or pure foresight, never bothered to bring them back home after he returned them. There’s good feelings to be had with watching the scene in F13 V where Jason impales the Michael Jackson wannabe as he’s taking a shit in the office of a kids’ network. A combination of naughty and awesome, I guess.

After watching various death scenes for a while, I started to crave something a little more hands-on. And I found it, right behind an empty, turtle-shaped container from the old Ninja Turtles cookie collection.

Pee-wee’s Playhouse Colorforms! My former boss, whom I parted ways with after switching departments, gave me this set for Christmas in 2004. She knew it was a great gift, and so did I. As she stood there watching me unwrap, I detected the horror on her face as I immediately tore into the mint sealed box and started removing Colorforms pieces from their protective sheet. I knew the set from eBay; it wasn’t worth very much. The look on my boss’s face told another story: She bought it at an antique shop, meaning that she paid something in the realm of RIDICULOUS for my Pee-wee Colorforms.

I closed up the box and turned it into a for-display-only item on my shelf, totally trying to ignore the fact that I’d already ripped the bitch open and that the damage was done. I’m sure she moved on five minutes later, but I always felt a little bad about it. Of course, there’s statutes of limitations involved with feeling bad, and almost two years later, I thought it was safe to finally pull all the Pterri Colorforms out and make them do obscene things to Cowboy Curtis.

Though Pee-wee’s Playhouse is currently airing on Adult Swim, I haven’t sat down to watch it. I own some of the DVD sets, but I haven’t watched those, either. I’m not sure why this is. Maybe it’s because I loved the show soooo damn much as a kid, I’m afraid to feel anything different for it than what I remember feeling for it. I don’t want to watch it and turn it into irony. Doesn’t mean that Pee-wee’s Playhouse still doesn’t hold up as one of the finest programs in the history of fine programs, and even though I’ve got my weird rule, I’ll always make an exception for the Christmas special. I can watch that thing everyday. On most days, I do. Because Grace Jones was supposed to go to the White House.

As far as Colorforms go, this is a pretty rockin’ set. An outdoors shot of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse both served as a wonderful backdrop for hot Colorforms action, and confirmed for me that some of the pillars seen in the opening credits were indeed giant lava lamps. It’s also one of the rare sets where you arguably get too many Colorforms to fit on the board. This is not something to complain about, ever. They even dug deep into the show’s more obscure recurring characters, and committed the terrific mortal sin of mixing Penny’s world with Pee-wee’s world, which never happened on the show because it kind of would’ve been blasphemy.

It’s one of the best Colorforms playsets I’ve ever seen, partly because it’s so inherently maniacal that it doesn’t matter if you stick the characters on sideways, upside-down or backwards — everything feels like it fits. Even when I positioned the King of Cartoons in such a way that he appeared to be jamming two film reels into the eyes of the giant sphinx, I never got the impression that I was being rebellious.

As good as the Pee-wee Colorforms were, I couldn’t kill more than fifteen minutes or so with ‘em. After that, I went back to another well — one I wrote about last month…

Yeah, my coworkers and I are still playing that plug-and-play Street Fighter 2 Genesis thing. I kicked all kinds of ass for many weeks, but admit that the competition has grown a bit fiercer lately. This is mostly due to the fact that we’ve come up with all sorts of rules, regulations and variations. It started with us outlawing the “cheap” guys, like Honda, Blanka and Chun-Li — warriors who can defeat entire planets simply by hitting their internal “A” buttons over and over again. Eventually, we learned that every warrior in Street Fighter can be a cheap bastard if they tried hard enough. Something had to be done to keep the game interesting, otherwise we’d have nothing left to do but, you know, work.

We always play tournament mode, meaning that two players rail against each other with teams of six warriors each. To make things more unpredictable, we’ve now taken to drawing the warriors’ names out of a glass. Sometimes, someone will end up starting with one of the cheap characters, and the games won’t be much different than they normally are. Other times, some poor schmuck will have to begin their journey with Balrog, a man who is completely unaware that his feet exist and can be used in battle. The teams shown above aren’t for example purposes — they’re teams my friend and I actually drew this afternoon. I was the left column, and let me tell ya, Vega can jump like a sissy all he wants — dude don’t stand a chance against my Blanka and his amazing ability to remain perfectly still throughout entire rounds but still kill people because he is swarming with high volt electricity.

When you’re playing in tournament mode, there’s no greater shame than losing all six of your guys to your opponent’s first-up. By the time Blanka was done, Ken, Dhalsim, Chun-Li, Honda and Bison felt like Savio Vega, Fatu and Henry Godwinn at the 1995 WWF Survivor Series. Most of you won’t get it, but I’m okay with that.

The August Megaparty may be over, but THE FUN DON’T STOP HERE. And remember, we’re just a short time away from the 2006 Halloween Countdown — the event that may very well cause me to finally crack.

Guess I will actually read this article now Matt since I officially posted in it… HA!

Good to see that others make ridiculously organized video game tournaments (that aren’t for ridiculously huge amounts of American currency).

Have I been deleted? OUCH! Anyway, this is a blog more suited to my hubby. When is the Halloween stuff starting? I am already staring at Christmas items at my local store! GEES!

Oh fuck I’m soooo excited for the Halloween countdown. I’ve got last year’s skeleton gloves right here at the ready. My friend said that Jones Halloween is back at Target already, but I haven’t been able to verify that yet.

You should definitely give Pee Wee a shot, Matt. I used to really dig it when I was little (and not at stupid soccer practice :/) and it still hasn’t lost any of its charm. After watching it you’ll realize where all these people with ADD came from. Five minutes might include a skit, cartoon, special guest, and about 86 bouts of screaming. Such an awesome show!!

Well, I’ve seen episodes here and there through the years, of course, but considering how much I love the show, it’s just weird that I don’t watch it more often.

Yes, more regular updates thanks to the august mega party experience! Wooo! Anyway your office looks awesome. In the â€œan empty, turtle-shaped container from the old Ninja Turtles cookie collectionâ€ image it looks like that packet of Sharkleberry fin is giving Boba Fett a lap dance. Now that, my friends, is hot. I also like how the smart gremlin is wearing a spider ring. In regards to colorforms, the only one I have is a Bat man one. Itâ€™s good enough for me, Mr. â€œI have a pee-wee’s playhouse color form that is way more awesome than your crapy bat man oneâ€, oh well. Awesomeness all around.

How about one post a day in October in honor of the dark holiday? It was really nice to check XE every day to see what you had procured! You have quite a collection of “treasure” in your pic. Who dusts all that? HA! JK!

I’ve been watching some of Pee Wee. I remember watching it as a kid on Saturdary morning, but I don’t remember being obsessed with it or anything. However, going back and watching it now, I find it very DISTURBING, on multiple levels. That is some messed up shit.

Oooooh MATT! I am HONORED that you acknowledged me! I have been reading but not posting since your Disney “adventure”. That was GREAT by the way! But Disney in your face can get overwhelming at times so it was cool to see your other posts! Some I can relate to and others… not so much! Anyway, from your Disney posts I am dying to see the Polynesian again. I had been there before (strictly cruising through…not a resort guest so to speak) but didn’t get quite the rush you had felt. Maybe it was the prices in the giftshop that brought me down! HA! Anyway, love your site! Keep it up!

now that I’ve read the article instead of being the douche bag kid that runs to the front of the line to be first.

Also, thanks for the picture of the glass you draw names out of, because as I was reading, I was all like “wow, i wonder what that glass looks like?” and then BAM, there it is.

Dhalsim is your weakest link. Honestly that was the worst draw ever for the other guy.

On a side note…I truly did enjoy it, Matt. Gave me something to look forward too on those long, lonely night in the broadcast studio. Can’t wait until Halloween!!

Ahem. Anyway, as someone who’s been watching Peewee on Adult Swim, allow me to put those fears to rest. Unlike G.I Joe :(, PeeWee loses nothing through adult eyes. watching it brings me right back to childhood and alot of the humor is still quite funny.

The only major difference, to me, is now that I’m older I’m noticing the occasional very-mild sexual innuendo that went right over my head as a kid. But, yeah IMO Peewee’s Playhouse is one 80s kids show that lives up to the memories.

I’ll join in on the chorus of people saying thanks for the August Mega-Party. I didn’t post much this month because of all the OT I had to work, but I still at least read the main blog post every day, and it always made me feel a little better.

Speaking of OT, does anyone else have a boss that tries to make you feel guilty for not working more for free? This guy actually tried to compare my group to the engineers at NASA during the Apollo 13 mission, saying that they probably didn’t complain that they weren’t getting paid. He didn’t say it, but he implied the fate of the whole free world rested on us working at least 10 hrs a week extra without compensation. What a jerk.

I was nearly ready to crack, which brings me back to something Matt said. He said the Halloween countdown may cause him to crack. I wonder exactly what a nervous breakdown would entail for someone like him? He seems reasonably non-violent, so I’m betting it involves mixing old Kool-Aid flavors together while wearing a Jason mask. Heck, that might make a funny post for Halloween, ala the old first-person posts he made where he was pretending to be a zombie wearing paper He-Man (or was it She-Ra?) masks.

Ah, the memories. The insults, the bickering, the greymatter, the threats. I went into this fully expecting to be banned at some point. But we did it!

And we got Colonel back on the boards for the first time since the forum. We’re gonna be talking about this years from now, you know that right?

That’s all I have to say, really. I just wanted to get in on the last Megaparty thread

Wow. I appreciate the spot-on Survivor Series reference. That made my night…It’s been a long night.

As for The Pee-wee colourforms, totally kick ass. I gotta get me the show on DVD, it’s been too long since I watched.

I really enjoyed the megaparty, Matt. Thanks for doing it. =)
I’m seeing so much Halloween stuff already and I wonder if I’ll get sick of it by the time the actual holiday comes around. I don’t know if it’s possible, I love it so much. But I am so very excited to see the things you’re going to cover for the countdown!
In either case, I really hope that the Halloween countdown doesn’t make you crack. We’ll all understand if you need a break, or can’t post. =)
PS. I was always scared of Pee Wee.

Grrrr. This is what I get for missing the pre-show. My Chem broke out the new shit!!! Welcome to the Black Parade, from their new album The Black Parade which comes out October 24th!!!!! Yes, Lemur, I’m still talking about them

Now if Kris would just get off his butt and get a distribution deal signed for Welcome the Night.

And of course, the August Megaparty was the best party I have ever attended. Draw your own conclusions! Huzzah!

Thanks for all of the work you put into the site this month! And for showing us your desk!

Is August over already?? Geez!!
Anyway, I really enjoyed the Mega Party too. Great job!

I just got done watching Playhouse. HBO Comedy seems to be having a small Pee-Wee marathon. They just showed Big-Top Pee-Wee and are about to show the 80s HBO special he did that can sorta be called the Playhouse pilot.

Does Noone know the secret to defeat Blanka’s electric squat? Depending on who you are, there is always a way through the Halo o’ electricity.

Chun-Li - Jump in the air and press down + low kick, she does this weird kinda head jump, it also acts as a bitch slap if you do it as the last hit because it goes into slow mo.

Anyway the point is, there is always a way around the electro shock seizure enducing brazilian.

I really enjoyed the Megaparty, even though I didn’t really post at all. I can’t wait for the Countdown. I’ve already seen a few signs of the Halloween approaching - mostly random candy corn sightings and the annual transformation of a nearby warehouse into a Halloween superstore, but it’s still all good. I’ll keep lurking, even if I stay hidden….

I don’t think I ever gave Pee-Wee a chance when I was little. I always made the “Ugh!” sound and flipped right on by when I came across him. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, at all. I could beat the people at Williams Street for airing this - I actually watched a little bit of it last night, and was reassured that I made the right decision way back then. Sorry…

I, too, wanna thank you for the daily updates, Matt.

It made August zoom by, and takes us soon into fall. I am sooo happy about this, as most people here are. I hate summer with a passion, but you made each day worth looking forward to. Glad to hear that the updates will be more often, too.

My first Halloween-buying excursion of the year: I went to Michael’s last night and got a “Monster Scoop” with a free blinking, magnetic pumpkin pin. Yes, I’m definitely carving a pumpkin this year, and this scoop gaurantees that your pumpkin will be clean so fast, it’s scary! The pin is way bright and blinding… more like a strobe light. I think I’ll wear it to work closer to the most wonderful time of the year.

I also got some of those foam kits where you make Haunted Houses and stuff. They are pretty cool. Also got a mini resin tombstone. I’m totally going back Sunday or Monday - they had a Labor Day 50% off coupon for regular priced items, and the other 40% off coupon, too.

Fare thee well, August Megaparty!
It’s been great to read. Matt, you, and your desk, are amazing. Somebody smart can confirm; that poster’s Monet, right? I really like it, especially with everything else, it’s a lovely contrast to all the other clutter.
They talked about Gein again on Most Evil tonight…They found a box of noses under his bed!

I went to Target tonight and got Creature From The Black Lagoon pajamas. And speaking of wrestling games,I spent the last couple hours playing Ultimate Muscle for GameCube.

I forgot I had questions about the office picture. I’m dying to know what the “list” behind The Scream says… “Because Kids S” lol the only word I can think of is Suck.

Also wondering why the calendar is on January - not that flipping it seems to be an easy job, and what the hell is around The Scream’s head? Looks like he’s drunk in a college dorm. Poor Scream…

i WAS going to complain that there were no “real” articles once. but then i figured it would get me nowhere. and then i figured that i was getting more little articles that would have outweighed the “real” ones. so all was right in x-e land.

and matt, pee-wee still stands up. in fact, i believe it is all the more enjoyable nowadays. there are some really strange and sexual jokes going on that i know i would have missed as a lad. like miss evonne; she is one sex starved lady. and for a kids show… makes it all the more racy.

oh btw. blanka’s electricy can be easily defeated with any of the characters that have a slide-kick type move. vega, m bison, (and dee jay in the super version) all have this move, and it cuts through those “cheap” moves like butter.

Oh, no, I have to tell you, I used to watch Pee Wee as a kid. Now I watch it on Adult Swim, and they are awesome! This is the only show I used to watch as a kid that wasn’t shit as an adult. You should take the plastic off those DVDs and go for it.

Whats driving me nuts is, who’s phone number is in the picture with the glass? Is it someone important? Shouls I call it? Knowing this site it’s probably connected to the Freddy Kruger hotline or something.

does anyone remember that? I believe it was only a pre-recorded message from a Freddy sound alike, but it still scared the holy bejeezzus outta me.

Haven’t caught Pee Wee on Adult Swim yet. I still have a audio tape of the Hawaiian show (I found strange uses for my Fisher Price tape recorder).
Nice to see the red Imperial guard made an appearance in the office.
Looking forward to your eventual crack and desent into madness…
Adieu, Megaparty and thank you.

DUN-TA DUN-TA DUN-TA DUN-TA, SIXTY DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN,HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN SIXTY DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN LA LA-LA LA

Is today fucking over yet? I want my three day weekend. I have a lot of Darkwing Duck and TaleSpin to watch.

*grump* I wish I could move out so I could have hoards of useless junk, too. My mother has a ritual of coming into my room to “clean” but it’s really just her excuse for coming in and going through all my shit. Then later on she tells me to grow up and makes inquiries about why I own toy wrestling rings and shit. Which is funny, because I could have sworn I was paying her rent to keep her OUT of my shit.

Hey, Matt, great August. I’m glad you liked the daily updating thing, because it sure helped the month go by, what with the baby being sick, then the wife, then me…
THanks a bunch, bud, from your Brazilian pal.

Oh by the way, forgot to tell ya, about two weeks ago, I translated Rosemary’s Baby! It was my first time seeing it, and I really can’t figure out why people dread it so. Ok, so there’s the Horned One raping Rosie, but I thought they were gonna show the baby or something…

K-Neg –Good on you, man. I was only teasing you to begin with. Like I’m anyone to criticize someone else’s musical tastes — I listen to Bon Jovi for Christ’s Sake!

As for Pee Wee, one of my buddies in school has a huge collection of episodes taped off the TV that we wore out. Good times. Though I don’t think I could watch now without a case of beer to keep my brain from going into overload. I wish I could stay up for Adult Swim, but commuting sucks. I envy y’all.

Thanks for an awesome Mega-Party, Matt!

And you guys slammin’ in with the comments to keep things hopping, too. I’ve learned to much. My mind is pulsing.

I’m glad this month is over, but sad to not have something new every day. I’m sure we’ll all find something to talk about anyway. I did the chicken line this morning to the lady at the gas station. I was actually buying a small bag of the new Doritos so it wasn’t that much of a stretch, but she still looked at me weird. Haven’t tasted them yet, I’m not sure they go with coffee.

Thanks for August, Matt, it’s really been a lifesaver at work the last couple of weeks. And Knegative and LemurCat, I’m glad you’re not going to start a music snob war!

I can’t wait ’till Halloween. I think I’ll go to Wal-Mart tonight to see if they’ve got anything out yet. I might even hit the Target.

Speaking of Target, does anyone have a target that has a grocery section in it? Ours does, but I’ve never been in another one that did.

In honor of the August Megaparty, (have you considered a trademark?), I have decided to forego my usual lurker tendencies and actually post. I started out just reading Masters of the Universe Articles, a few years ago, but quickly got sucked into the others, enough so that I was simply typing in the article numbers in the address bar to read each article consecutively…boy that took a while. Once I realized that worker’s outside my office were noticing me in here laughing to myself, I knew I was hooked. Anyhow, Congratulations on a thoroughly successful Megaparty!

Um…don’t want to cause trouble, but my last post never showed up. :( Then tried to repost it, and was told I “just said that.” ????????

Anyhoo, August has been great. Really helped me get thru a couple of rotten weeks at work. Can’t wait for Halloween, Matt, but don’t feel bad about taking a break. We will find ways to busy ourselves and stupid tangents to go off on.

Thanks for August, Matt. It was great to have something to look forward to every day, and it made my least favorite month enjoyable.
I agree with the Pee-Wee stands up consensus - the few episodes I have here and there on DVD and VHS are still as hilarious as ever, even moreso since as a kid I never caught all of the innuendo.
Do you have a cleaning staff in your building, and if so do they have to dust all of your odds and ends? I hope not.

That Scream painting was found just recently in Scandanavia, so they can return it to its owners. Now how on earth would they keep on stealing it when you’d think the owners would learn to watch over it more carefully?

I have not seen any Christmas stuff in stores yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did real soon.

2) Munch’s “Scream” was recovered today. Quite a coincidence how you post your version on the same day, Isn’t it? ISN’T IT!!

3) You guys sound terrible at SF. Learn the useful special moves. Learn to sweep Blanka out of electricity. The only good characters are Ryu, Ken, Guile, Sagat, and maybe Blanka, Vega, Chun Li and Bison.

4) Ok, so that’s most of them. Sue me. I could probably wreck your tourney with Zangief.

5) Nice Undertaker reference. I only remembered Superfly. Silly to involve a legend like him in a squash match. Didn’t he deserve better?

Dude, your Star Wars kleenex thingie is linked on Fark today (under the entertainment tab).

Why the close-up screen shots? Is someone embarassed of a still kinda visible Offspring sticker?

Every morning this month I have had something to look foward to when I get to work. (Since I never can stay up late enough for the late night posts.) Thank you for entertaining us, Matt.
Last night I went to Party City to look for some fall-related decorations, they were in the middle of putting up all the Halloween stuff. It was a great sight. AND they had 5 dollar costumes on clearance, if your into costumes-in-a-bag.
I listen to Bon Jovi for Christ’s Sake!
Lemurcat There should be more of us.

McDonald’s now has Super Mario toys in their Happy Meals. I do believe this is the first time McD’s has done a Nintendo Happy Meal since Super Mario Bros. 3.

Can’t wait for the holiday weekend either, though I’ll probably be watching Arrested Development Season 3 myself. Supposedly, Target is giving out $5 gift cards when you buy it

That is so cool about Scream being recovered! Doesn’t quite make up for the Pluto news, but it helps.
Jester, that hotline has made a site appearance (but it might have just been mentioned in conjunction with one of the other hotlines written about?). Try a site search.
Roddy, Rosemary’s Baby is one of my favorites! I think the horror is mainly psychological…it IS about dread, and the fallibility of perception, and paranoia, and fear of the unknown. Satan is just window dressing.

:’( Tears of woe beget (not a word, so sue me… you know where I’m going with this…) my first (but not really) post… lemme break it down like this: I’ve been sort of a fairweather friend of this site for YEARS… fairweather being whenever there is something halloween related being displayed. I share a sick love of all things halloween with the readers/creator of this site… and other than that, I tend to enjoy anything with action figures talking… but lately, via circumstances of EXTREME BOREDOM, I have read a whole heck of alot more than just that on this site, and I have loved all of it. What the heck was I doing, wasting my time on lesser sites lo these many years when I could have been reading reviews of horror movies I thought I was the only person to have ever seen… speaking with, Matt, if you are ever looking for new bad material to review, I have got the perfect things….
But I digress… after reading INSANE ammounts of everyone else’s posts, I decided to join in the fun, only to be met with a white screen, denying my efforts, while at the same time telling me that I HAD posted, and therefor, could not post again. Yet my post is not there. Am I missing something, or have the great internet gods forsaken me once more, this time swallowing up what was probably never going to be read by anyone in the first place.
Augh.

Woohoo!!! Thanks for the Megaparty Matt, August was the best month of my year thanks to you! I just don’t want to think about chicken while I’m eating Doritos. (hehehe, yeah, I’m gonna keep finding reasons to say it).

I’m already getting excited about Halloween, and the countdown. Just an idea: maybe you should make a couple of articles in advance, so that you don’t have to feel bad about taking a day off, since you will still be posting…

1000 hand slap, chin li’s “ya!” kicks, and Blankas “electric eel beast” attack go in the pantheon of “Cheap ass shit” moves.

-constantly low sweeping someone in MK (any version)
-doing Scorpions teleport punch constantly
-general dickery when ti comes to fighting games of all sorts: using one button to win; button mashing(yes, you can sweep, high punch to victory, but did you win, or just hit the buttons like a blind monkey?)

-how the computer, in any game you’ve ever played, pulls that sudden “oh shit, you’re going to win….sike”; be it madden, super spike volleyball,whathaveyou, even PONG!!; the computer is a cheating fuck.

Just a follow-up for those that wanted to know about Wisconsin Death Trip from a couple of blog posts ago….

Tedious movie about interesting subject matter. Far too many dramatic recreations and not enough actual photos of the town and people. When discussing specific people and their deeds, they show close up photos of a person you think the film is talking about. Bogus. A disclaimer during the credits states the the photos shown do not correspond with the townspeople being discussed. Horseshit. When I watch a documentary, I want a documentary. Many of the stories were interesting and I want to read the book now. However, I feel that shouldn’t happen. A good documentary isn’t a tease to go find more information. It IS the information.

Been waiting for your comments on WDT…that sucks that it pretty much sucks. I did notice on the promotional website that it seemed they were “recreating” an awful lot of the stuff they already had pictures of. The whole appeal of the subject matter is the quirky way that crimes and deaths were documented in newspapers/text and captured with pictures. It seems false to make cheesy recreations of it all. There are plenty of successful documentaries that intersperse still photos with location footage and narration without re-enacting anything. It sounds like they could have done better.

Like kb, I looked forward to coming in to work every morning to read the day’s post.

I get excited just thinking about my favorite holiday, all the fun dark tricks and treats, and the general “fall feeling”.

*standing in the middle of the suddenly-appeared Hallowe’en candy aisle in Wal-Mart*
IT HAS BEGUN!

This was the only Colorforms I ever owned. It was a “sick gift,” like we were discussing a few blogs ago. I remember being kinda disappointed that it wasn’t an interior of the playhouse, though. Then after I was bored with it, maybe a year later, I ripped each Colorform into pieces (except for Conky) and had one last death scene.

I just got an idea. Being that I’m stranded inside today due to Tropical Storm Ernesto (Puta!) I’m going to check Ebay for the Playhouse Playset. No one’s answered at work, so I GUESS I should be okay about not showing? God, I wanted that playset so bad when I was younger. Didn’t you do an article on it, Matt? I swear you did…

Also, hit Target last night. Extremely disappointed to find that the sole Halloween product was a kid’s party-ware set (paper plates, cups, plastic silverware, etc.) How does that make sense?

Oh, and Kneg, Swedish Fish are indeed still sold there….if you’re looking for a 2lb. box. For some God-awful reason, our Target’s gotten rid of the movie theatre sized boxes of candy; the ones you buy from there before leaving for the movies. Oh well.

I don’t know if matt did an article exclusively on the playhouse set, but he did do one where Skeletor visits the playhouse, it’s one of the best.

Nintendo sent out my new/repaired DS and I’ll have it back tuesday! You know what that means, dohopoki won’t be around 1/10th as much! Win/Win.

Thaaaat’s what I’m thinking of, doho. Thanks for clearing that up and saving me hours of combing through archives.

Great job on the mega party. I have enjoyed the daily posts. Take a break now, you deserve it very much. Can’t wait for Halloween, only 30 days separate us from the “dark month” as threebees put it. Keep up the good work.

Finally “Buried Treasures” is coming along nicely. Picked up some more skeletons today and I am working on my pillory now.

Just wanted to echo everyone else’s sentiments and say thanks for throwing a great party. You were the rare host who provided the drinks, the chips, the candy and the all-important entertainment. And that Grizzly Chomps commercial will go down as the greatest party favor in history.

Just to remind one and all, you don’t have to start celebratin’ the ‘We’en, but you can stock up now at your favorite retailer. Buy some Candy Corn today!

Cowby Curtis: You know what they say about a man with big boots…
Miss Yvonne: What?
Cowboy Curtis: Big Feet!

I’m so sad the Megaparty is done, but all the articles were great. It gave me something to actually look foreward to every day after I come home from evil school. Thanks, Matt! Awesome office.

I know we’re all bummed about Pluto no longer being a planet… BUT there’s still hope~ click on my name to read more.

Sorry for the double post, and sorry Yooka, I didn’t notice that your post was left on the first. I guess now I know the secret word. My ignorance of this is absolutely “ridiculous”.

Ugh, don’t get me started on tropical storms and hurricanes. Ernesto is doing his worst on the South Jersey area as I type this. It’s been raining pretty much all week. We desperately need the rain…but not all at once.

I’m glad you’re going to continue updating on a more semi-regular basis, Matt, because I sure enjoyed the MegaParty. Your office is awesome. Some day, I’m going to have an office, instead of just a stupid bunch of cash registers.

The colorforms are just cool. I miss Colorforms. We had a couple, but the one I remember best is our Mickey and Minnie Mouse House. It was old school (30s-style) Mickey and Minnie and all the wacky things in their pastel-colored, old-school house. I particuarlly liked the kitchen, with it’s weird oversized cakes and foodstuffs.

“Pee Wee’s Playhouse” was one of the shows that kept my sisters and I permanently glued to CBS on Saturday mornings, but I haven’t seen it since it went off the air. I don’t know if I’d be as crazy about a weird man-child screaming the secret word now as I was as a kid, even if Laurence Fishburne does show up in a cowboy outfit.

I saw the first sign of Halloween down here. We went to Applebee’s and they had “Spooky” coloring books for the kiddies.

Hit some department stores tonight…most are still going through their back2skoo phase, but you can smell it — there’s spooky cereal and limb-shaped decorations in the stock room.

I went to the grocery store tonight and saw a display of Count Chocula. The packaging was…weird. I don’t know how else to put it. Just different from recent years. Very simple, and too boring. (IMHO)

I was at walmart last month and got a 3 pack of Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Frankenberry. I wished they still put toys in cereal.

I get the WWF reference Matt… and it shames me greatly. I marked out for H.O.G. and P.I.G. at one time in my life… Now I have to throw myself off something impossibly high and hope to crack something vital open satisfyingly. Farewell, cruel, horrible gimmick existing in world.

God, if it weren’t for this constant downpour outside, right now, it would be PERFECT. I don’t think it got above 65, if that(!), all day! AOL is telling me it’s 57 right now. (I’m in central MD)

There are 3 main things I look for, to confirm for me, that Autumn is indeed here. 1. Apple Cider shows up in the grocery stores. 2. I can start to smell smoke from the neighbors chimney 3. I wear a long sleeved shirt/sweater and don’t end up getting too warm.

Yeah, Fall is here when I can start wearing my hoodie 24/7. My family hates it for its rattyness and my friends hate it for the patches and pins. It should have been thrown out long ago, but I’m gonna wear it til it rots off. I’ve been known to sleep in it and wear it instead of a shirt.

Hey everybody. I hit up Target tonight. Couldn’t believe it but it was a fucking Halloween wonderland. Picked up all 4 of the Jones soda special editions, candy corn, spider cider, berried alive and gruesome grape. They had a whole Halloween section devoted to candy, horror movies and such. I even saw corn chips shaped like bats, pumpkins and ghosts. God I can’t wait.

So do it!

Those new flavors sound yummier.
It was still hot as blazes here, but the Halloween store does open tomorrow. I’m actually expecting treaters this year so I should probably look for decorations.
Happy Friday-before-a-three-day-weekend!

We had a Jones party last year with the national and regional packs. We had a bonus round of Japanese sodas including Tamarind and Aloe Vera. Yes, Aloe Vera. You had to chew it, but it tasted like a lightly sweetened tea. Oddly enough one of the few palatable flavors.

IMHO, the Salmon Pate tasted like car exhaust. I know because everytime I’ve smelt car exhaust since then, the flavor returns to my mouth instantaneously.

No more chestnuts roasted! Special late night bonus updates! And I thought it would be a slow night.

So that colorforms thing just made me remember that I have the south park “stickyforms” book. Best colorforms ever.

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