I have not been here in ages!  I have dropped in everywhere else, but it's tough to spread one's self around.  At any rate, I'm here now and that's all that matters.

Just a quick report to say that The Scream Extreme 2006 was a success!  What does "success" mean?  If it means making a financial profit, then no, it wasn't a success.  BUT, we raised more than 2005 and our attendance was up as well.  Our days were up, also -- from three days in 2005 to 11 days open in 2006.  So, naturally our profits and attendance were up.  It was very tough being open for so many days.  We more than tripled them and my body and mind were feeling it.  I was quite on edge and grumpy many nights due to having to get the actor's roster together every time as well as doing the makeup.  Most nights I had to juggle the actors around as there were always actors who flaked on the schedule and only had one night where all the places were filled.  Me being an actress, I have always favored actors over animatronics as they have perfect timing (if the actor is good) and can execute a scare at the right time.  However, by 2006's end, I had decided to incorporate more animatronics into the haunt and not be so dependent on actors.  I have kept to my word as now I have five animatronics as oppose to the one we had last year.

If you contribute success to how many people we absolutely terrorized, then YES, we where quite successful!  We had many to take the emergency exits and one lady to even faint on us.  One young man came out having an asthma attack.  I would have normally been quite concerned, but he had his inhaler with him and was warned before entering that anyone with a respiratory illness should not enter.  And get this....We even had to two EMTs, a man and a woman,  to park their ambulance in the front and go through.  I thought for sure they could never be scared as they see the real stuff everyday --- They screamed and jumped just as loud or louder than everyone else.  LOL!

If you think a successful haunt is one where no one gets hurt, again a huge YES.  Even though we are always insured, it is always great when no injuries are reported.  I and the crew go through the haunt with a fine tooth comb every night we're open to make sure there are no stumbling hazards or any other type of problems that could cause an injury.  Some feel I am overly cautious, but I say there is no such thing.

I am looking forward to next year.  There will be a few changes, one of which I will tell you about in my next blogging......

So, how was your day?

Peace!

I'm sitting here thinking of all that has to be done and all that is on my plate.  Here's how I see it:

1) I need to write to the businesses on the three corners about a block from me to get them to agree as they did last year to donate their parking lots for our haunt.  Due to zoning, this is the only way we will be able to have our haunted attraction here.  I need to stop procrastinating and do that this week.  In fact, I AM going to do that this week.

2) We are going to be airbrushing our makeup this season.  That means less masks, less messy grease makeup and happier actors.  I purchased a Paasche Airbrush along with an airbrush compressor from Harbor Freight.  I've had it for a week, but have only practiced with it once.  I need to get a wiggle on learning how to use this as August 30th we will be debuting our creature makeup to thousands of baseball fans at Raley Field.  I have yet to receive the airbrush makeup I ordered, but he said it should have been shipped the last part of last week.  If I don't receive it in a few days, he will definitely be hearing from me.

3) Speaking of Raley Field and not hearing from someone...

I've left several messages for the head of marketing of the Sacramento River Cats, our baseball team.  He and I had agreed that I would call him the first of August so that we could finalize our plans for August 30th.  I've left him two messages last week and he has yet to return my call.  I'm getting a bit concerned....

4) The two avenues we thought would be certain to bring us a bus to put on our haunted trail have gone cold.  One has completely closed and we doubt the other avenue will come through.  So, I'm doing all I can by putting up ads in hopes that someone will have a bus that they can either loan or donate to us.  We begin building August 26th and we must have the bus in place by then or forget it.  Once the walls go up, it will be impossible for any vehicle to pass to get to the back for the trail.  I'm getting so desperate that I'm even thinking about having my son in law park his big klunker of a car to replace the bus.  We will have the front, side and back windows concealed by black material and view the from the backseat to the front concealed by a black curtain.  Each person will have to crawl in the back seat and exit the other side.  A monster will be in the front seat behind the curtain, of course.  This could be a great scare since it is in such close scaring quarters.  However, it will definitely slow down traffic and I'm not sure the fire inspector will approve it.  Oh, well.  We'll see.....

5) We bought 600,  22" glow necklaces as a fundraiser to get items we need for the haunt.  We have yet to be successful with selling them.  I'm going to our drive-in on Tuesday and see if they will give us permission to sell them there.

6) As I mentioned earlier, construction begins August 26th.  The haunt will go up much quicker this season as we dont' have to build the walls this year for the expection of a few and we have an actual construction team this time around.  Two guys on our crew who build for a living have friends they say owe them favors and will be happy to pitch in and help.  Wooohoo!  I'm hoping they will have it up and solid in four days.  That comes out to two weekends.  That will leave us with four weekends to get all scenes, decorations and tweaking together before Media Night on October 6th.

There's so much more on my plate that I could write about, but I'll keep it for another day.

So, how has your day gone so far?

PEACE

Emp

I have neglected my Blogcrypt long enough! 

Every so often, I will write happenings and going ons in my Myspace Blog, but I feel as thought this is the place that I can truly put down what is going on and not just on the outside, but on the inside, as well.

With that said, here's what's happening....

First off, I'm feeling so much better!  As long as I take my iron and eat liver occassionally , I'm okay.  Yeah, I eat too much junk, consume too much salt and suck up too much alcohol, but just as soon as I can get this season's haunt under my belt, I'm going to start treating my body better.  At least, that's what I keep telling myself and promising my 14yr old son.  We're (me and my two sons) are planning on taking our first vacation together during the week of Thanksgiving.  We've spoken of Disneyworld and even received their DVDs on what they have to offer and how to go about planning your vacation.  But, there's something that just doesn't sit right with me on being there.  It just doesn't seem like a REAL vacation to me.  I'll have to come back home to rest after being there, I just know it.  After this season is over, I'm gonna need to relax and be pampered and catered to instead of it being the other way around.  I've thought about taking a cruise, but I'm not sure how my little Emilio would fair on one.  To cast all doubts aside, I'm going to call my old travel agent, Francine from Galaxy Cruises and see what she has to say.  She has always directed me in the right direction.

Onward to Haunt Business....

All interviews and auditions are over.  At least the main ones.  We are still getting new people who want to be a part of the haunt.  Our 1st meeting last week had 13 people to show with six of them being new.  I just hand them an application with liability waiver and give a quick interview and they are good to go.  Our next meeting is this Saturday with more saying they'd like to join.  That's great since the more the merrier!  We have lots of ground to cover in this haunt and trail and that means lots of people.  Speaking of ground....

Last year, we had lots of room to work with in my backyard.  BUT THIS YEAR...we have THREE times as much!  Why?  Because there use to be a fence that seperated what I was using as a backyard and oodles of trees, bushes and what have you behind it.  Well, the fence has been torn down as well as all the trees.  That means we have just that much more room to play with.  And when I say "room" I mean an area large enough to put another three or four bedroom house WITH a front and backyard.

I've been pondering as to what to do with all this extra space since my current floorplan was drawn without knowing about the impending area.  Scenes like Jeepers Creepers 2 and the first part of the Dawn of the Dead remake popped in my head and that was when it hit me that I should park a bus back there.  After brainstorming with my sis, we thought the best place to find a bus would be through my niece's former school.  The owner of the school loved my niece (she passed away two days after this past Christmas ) and told my sister at her Memorial that if there was anything he could do to let him know.  Well, I gave him a call yesterday and he said he's going to help us get a bus.  HOORAY! 

Now comes the part of creating several powerful scares using the bus.  It shouldn't be much of a problem seeing as a good scare starts with a good prop and the bus within itself is enough to make folks panic.  I'm gonna have fun with this part of the haunted trail! 

BUT, there's still a great portion of the area left.  The ground on this portion is rather bumpy with tree roots and rock poking up from the ground.  Too dangerous for any customers to walk on, but......perfect for a graveyard!  I've never been one to really jump on the graveyard bandwagon, but the area, with it's ivy covering the surrounding back gate and sides of the shed next to it and the rough terrain cries out to be one.  I'll have to come up with an idea of a scare for this area.  But, again, the atmosphere lends itself to being scary, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

At our meeting this coming Saturday, we will be getting the cars and ourselves ready for our first appearance in a 4th of July parade.  I'm pretty excited about it and nervous at the same time.  I'm sure they've never had a haunt to participate in one of thier parades and I'm just wondering how we will be accepted.  We'll be throwing candy at the onlookers as well as passing out flyers, coupons and advertising postcards.  We also hope to scare a few, too!

I've been chatting with Kane Hodder, Jason Vorhees from Friday The 13th, off and on for several months.  He's an awesome man!  I thought that I might would be able to get a hockey mask out of him for our Yell Like Hell Screaming Contest, but  he sent us several autographed pictures instead..which is GREAT!  In fact, he and I are talking about bringing him here to our haunt in 2007!  Since we are planning on this being our last year here at this location and residing in a building, bringing him here would be great.  We will definitely have to look for a location with lots of parking since Kane is a huge public draw.

Well, even though I have lots more to write, my fingers are tired.  I will write again soon and give you the skinny on what else is happening with me and The Scream Extreme.

So, how's your day going so far?

Peace!

...the 1st of the interviews for the 2006 season are over!

Five folks showed up and I liked every single one of them.

The guy that has a motor trike that says he wants to ride in the parade we're gonna be in on July 4th did not show up.  I was quite disappointed, but I'm hoping he will sign up for one of the other interview days on June 3rd or 4th.

If there is any indication how the haunt will be by the enthusiatism those that showed up had, WE ARE GONNA BE THE BOMB!

So, how was your day?

PEACE!

I was looking at someone's website the other day and noticed that they had created a group on Yahoo.  I'd thought of the idea of creating one myself before, but put it off as not having enough time.  But, after seeing this person's group and realizing that there needs to be a group such as the one I had in mind, I decided to give it a whirl.  So, introducing....

~Charity Haunted Attractions ~

Hello, Fellow Readers!

Can you tell I'm in a good mood?  Well, if you can you're right on because I'm feeling really confident about this season's haunt as you can tell by the subject of this blog.  Why am I so confident?  Well, let me lay it on ya...

First, for those of you who may not know, we're opening October 13th.  That's FRIDAY the 13th.  It's the last Friday the 13th in October for the next seven years and we didn't want to miss the opportunity of capitalizing on such a special day.  So, we have planned for opening night the one and only Yell Like Hell Screaming Contest!    Trust me when I say that there isn't another contest like this around.  It's not your ordinary screaming contest.  Besides being special within itself, the prizes sets it off from all other contest, as well.  Now, get this...  The top prizes are autographed memorabilia from Mr. Kane Hodder himself, better known as Jason from Friday the 13th!  WOOT!!   He has graciously donated items to our contest in hopes of bringing in more contestants to further our cause of helping the kids.  HECK...i outta enter the contest myself!  LOL!

Okay that's one piece of news down.  Here's another...

We have been invited to participate in the Carmichael's Gala Parade Celebration on July 4th!  Plans are already in the works to change my Ford Escort Wagon into an "Econo Hearse."  It will be carrying one of our Toepincher coffins in the back and will be all decked out to look like a mini hearse.  There will be monsters walking on both sides of the vehicle throwing candy and passing out flyers and coupons.  There will also be a motor trike driven by one of our actors decked out as the Grim Reaper.  We are gonna have sooo...Much..FUN!

And finally, the last piece of news....

Our baseball team here, The Sacramento Rivercats, agreed to let us attend their August 30th game...in costume!  This is the next to the last game so you KNOW it's gonna be packed.  The head of Marketing said that they can set a table up for us, we can walk around and pass out flyers and coupons PLUS..he said we can even do a small little skit with Dinger, the Mascot on the field!  Can I hear a "WOOT?!"   Dinger is scheduled to be here at the haunt on October 20th and this is a great tie into his appearance. 

We are gonna have so many folks here this season.  I'm almost scared that we may have TOO many people.  This will definitely be our last season here at this location as we will have outgrown it by the season's end.

I will keep you informed of any other developments that transpire.  At the rate things are going...I'll be writing again really soon!

So how's your day going...?

PEACE

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well this one pretty much sums up the success of our 2005 Haunt, The House.  All the hardwork paid off in a big way!  Not so much in raising funds for our program, but in so many other ways.  I learned A LOT!  So much so that I could write a book. (I'm thinking about it....)  And out of all that I learned, I want to leave these few things with you:

*If you've decided to advance from a yard haunt to a walkthough, remember that if your scares are powerful and well placed, going into great detail to decorate each and every scene is not necessary.  Start them off with the first room fairly detailed since this is usually the room they will spend the most time in. (Waiting room/Rules room)  The second room will be looked at, as well since they will be wondering where the heck the scare is coming from.  Once their curiosity has been satisfied..BOOM...they're on their way!  And if your scares are powerful and placed correctly, they won't look back.  This was a lesson I learned in 2004 and carried it over to 2005 and beyond.  My second room this season doesn't have to be detailed at all since it's a Decontaminiation Chamber filled with fog and a red laser moving to the sound effects being played.

*It unnerves your patrons to hear a MAN scream inside the haunt.  LOL!  Think about that for a minute....

A man is suppose to be the strength ~ the backbone of a relationship, the family, etc..etc.  Well, everyone becomes quite uncomfortable and, well...scared, when they hear a man scream.  It gives the message that if it's horrible enough for him to scream, what is it gonna do to me??.  I learned this while video taping several people going through.  At a certain point, one of our male actors will scream in agony off in the distance.  They all felt as though he was a customer like them and thus, was afraid of what was ahead. 

I recently introduced a survey to MySpace friends asking ten questions, one of which was, "What would you like to see/hear while waiting in line?"  Several said, "Screams from inside the haunt."  I'm glad to know this since that's what we gave them last season and have planned for this season, as well.

Speaking of this season....

There are several changes taking place.  One of which being our name.  I have seperated the Nonprofit's name from the Haunt's name so the haunt is now an entity of it's own.  It will not longer be "ShadowBox Theatre Company Presents."  The haunt is now known as: THE SCREAM EXTREME. 

After searching around with polls on forums and chatting with friends, I came up with the name because that's exactly what we heard last season ~ Extreme screams!

Another change that's taking place is the way that I'm marketing our attraction.  I knocked myself out last year trying to get the word out about us only to have approximately 500 people to show up in the three days of operation.  Grant it, that's ten times as much as what we had the year before, but much less than what I had anticipated.  This year will be much more successful.  How?  Here's several reasons:

*Dinger, the Mascot of the Sacramento River Cats Baseball Team is coming here one night to sign autographs!

*Several local bands are coming here to perform!

*We're in Operation this season for three weekends plus Halloween ~ opening night being Friday the 13th!  That's a total of ten days!

*Opening night will be kicked off with the Yell Like Hell Screaming Contest. 

Prizes will be:

Hockey Mask signed by Kane Hodder, Jason from Friday the 13th

Autograph pictures from Elvira, John Carpenter, etc

And MUCH more....

Things are progressing quite nicely.  BUT, it's still quite stressful.  However, I feel all my hardwork will pay off in dollar signs this year.

And how is your day going....?

PEACE

Thanks to Pandora, who has made me come up for air, I'm writing an update on what is going on with me and my adventures into charity haunt professionalism.

I can pretty much sum it up in three words..."It ain't fun!"  It's not exactly "hell", but it's sometimes a struggle, occasionally depressing and often stressful.  To be an organziation that is trying to accomplish what we are trying on such a shoestring budget leaves room for only two ways to go ~

Beg Street and Borrow Avenue.

The endless calls to make...the mounds of paperwork cluttering your life...emails, emails, emails...the sleepless nights (it's currently 2:26am).  It all adds up to...

probably the most noble thing I have ever done in my life.

To say starting this nonprofit has changed my life is an understatement.  For years, I often wondered why I was put on this earth.  Besides giving birth to four really great individuals, there had to be another reason, another cause, for my existence.  Now, when I see the work I am doing with ShadowBox Theatre Company, I am no longer perplexed.  I'm here to help children with Autism and their care-givers.  No "ifs", "ands", or "buts" about it.  And what better way to help them in October than to include them in my 30 year passion...Haunting the living nightlights out of anyone who dares step foot on my property.

"The HOUSE", the name my haunt is donning this year is coming along slowly and is in the midst of a major floorplan change at this late date.  We open October 29th and have not even created half the walls necessary.  At least I don't believe we have since like I said, the floorplan is undergoing a major change.  I've had to create another floorplan of my entire property on graph paper so that I can have a proper plan of "The HOUSE" to give to the Fire Marshall to pass inspection and the County for our temporary permit.  The deadlines to jump through all hoops and make our haunt "legal" is upon us and I'm to turn in our applications with fees and plans on Friday.  That means pulling an all day(er) on creating the new floorplan.  I'm going to be partially utilizing a floorplan technique called the "Triangle Grid."  This technique creates walls that are set at different angles wether than all right angles.  I, like most, prefer right angles, but feel it would be quite interesting and take away my customers' "comfort zone" if I through in a room every so often with walls on an angle.  This is going to be quite interesting.....

This time last month, I was very concerned about the amount of volunteers I was garnering for our event.  Five people cannot run a haunt the size of "The HOUSE."  I'm happy to report that things have definitely changed on the volunteer front.  Thanks to Volunteermatch.org and craigslist.org, I have over 20 individuals who are dedicated to making this fundraiser work.  Yes, we are behind schedule and yes, sometimes we don't know what the hell we are doing, but we're determined to make "The HOUSE" the best damn charity haunt this community has seen in years.

A week ago, I was pulling my hair out and about to cry because we had run out of wood and had no money to purchase any.  Companies that promised donations of wood pallets only delivered pallets that looked like they had been sitting out in the elements since the Civil War.  But, whoever said "What a difference a day makes" certainly knew their stuff.  Because the days of disappointment were followed by miracles and the kind heartedness of those who truly care.

Thanks to a few individual companies, we now have what we believe to be enough wood.  WHEW!

Unfortunately, the begging and borrowing isn't over yet.  We yet have things that are required by Fire Marshall regulations on our "To Get" list.  That means more knocking on doors, chats on the phone and faxing up a storm in my future.  Next year, if we do not have a budget that will keep me from having to do all that I have to, to keep us above water...there will NOT be a haunt.  Not to this magnitude.  However, I don't anticipate next year to be as this one.  I've gotten a lot of experience under my belt this time around on how to run a charity haunt and what is required.  Hindsight is 20/20.

Well, I'm off to the frig for a soda and to try this sleep thang I've been hearing about again.

So, how will your day go for you....

PEACE!

That's right!  I am on the mend.  I'm getting stronger and stronger each day and I think that I'm gonna be all right.  Thanks go out to all of you who prayed

and sent good thoughts my way.  I wuvs you!

Although I was down, I was not out.  When I had no strength to leave the house, I was propped up in my computer chair in front of the 'puter with my

phone on one side and paper and pen on the other. 

I've made several arrangements for our nonprofit including having a space donated to us at Carmichael's (where I live) 97th Annual Founder's Day Celebration on September 17th.  Last year's event had 5,000 visitors show up along with TV stations and Radio.  I think being there will be good for our organization.

Either today or tomorrow, I should be getting a notice that our 5,000 postcards have been mailed.  If you don't remember, scroll down a few days and you will see what our postcards look like, front and back.  We'll be passing them out at the Celebration and also at California's State Fair.  We'll be at the fair September 3 - 5th in costume. 

Today (Friday), is business as usual.  I have a meeting with the Students Activities Director of a junior college here to discuss us gathering volunteers from the campus and him putting our volunteer flyers in all 60 of the clubs and organizations mailboxes.  I'm really hoping this will pull in quality volunteers.

I'm also suppose to call KCRA Channel 3 today to see if they will accept our commercial as a PSA.  Please send out prayers that they will.....

TALON SCALE:

I'm not going to elaborate on the movies I've watched.  I'll just give a quick critique.

The Pacifier: 1 Talon

Cute.  I'm speaking of Vin Diesel, of course.  So was the movie...a little.  I had a really hard time accepting Vin as a "family man."  He's rough and tough and I like him that way.

Guess Who: 3/4 Talon

This movie was mediocre, at best.  Bernie Mac..uugh!  I have nothing against the man, but I really didn't like him in this role.  He didn't look comfortable and his acting skills just aren't up to a role such as this.  The rest of the cast was so-so.  If you miss this one, no big loss.

So, this is how my day is going.  What about yours....?

PEACE!

......to take off a few days from the haunted attraction and the organization.  I need to rest. 

I had blood work done again yesterday as well as a doc appointment.  Good news is that I'm now a boarderline anemic.  My iron is on the rise!  Confusing thing to my doc is that I still don't have any energy.  Yesterday was really tough..tough to walk, tough to breathe, tough to do anything.  When the nurse told me to get completely undressed for the doc, I told her "NO!"  I explained to her that it was tough enough GETTING dressed.  Let alone getting undressed and dressed again.  I have another doc appointment on Friday...

I don't know if any of you experience this, but it is soooo hard to stay away from anything dealing with my haunted plans.  I make these promises of staying away and before I know it, I'm back on it again!  Case in point ~ here I am writing on this blog.  THIS is haunt related!  Oh, well...what they don't know won't hurt them.   I have a few phone calls to make this morning and I have to run our tax information over to a guy who's trying to drum up donations for us.  Oh, and he's giving us a working color copier.  On Friday after my doc appointment, I have to go over to a lady's house that's donating several drills to us and on Saturday, I'm picking up a Dewalt Radial Arm Saw that's being donated, as well.  I did have the sense to cancel the crew meeting I had scheduled for Saturday.  I decided it was too much too soon.  I'll wait until the end of this month to hold another one which will include acting and dancing auditions.

PROPS ~

I made five more LED Spotlights yesterday which is probably why I crashed and burned late in the afternoon.  That comes to a total of eleven:

UV ~ 2

Radioactive Green ~ 3

Red ~ 3

Blue ~ 3

They light up an area GREAT!  I totally recommend making a few..or a LOT...for your haunting experience.  I have plans to make more.  Not right away, of course, but soon.  My plans are to not only use them for the haunted trail, but to rig them to hang on walls inside the haunt. 

The last "mini" haunt we have is called, Onslaught.  Onslaught will be made completely of 2x4 frames covered with translucent flame retardant plastic.  Now, when I say "translucent", dont' think of plastic that is clear and can be seen completely through.  This plastic is not.  It has a milky color to it and with dim lighting behind it, causes all sorts of shadows.  The lighting will consist of Red and Green hanging LED spotlights.  Onslaught will be the "gorey" mini. There will be no doors, but rather the same plastic, bloody and hanging for them to push aside.  It promises to be quite a different experience.  I'm getting goose bumps just thinking about it.

So, how is your day going....?

PEACE!

Just as the heading indicates, I haven't felt that well for the better part of the day.  And for that very reason, I'm going to keep this entry rather short.  I did do some work though, regardless to my physical condition.  I completed my six LED Spotlights.

If I feel well enough this evening, I'll fire them up and see how well they look on some of my props.

I have plans to make quite a few more since they should be great for throwing accent lighting on creatures in our Haunted Trail.

There's one more thing I'd like to add while I'm here.  My blog will normally not be a place where I'm advertising or promoting anyone or their services, but I will speak of someone if I believe their work is exceptional.  And such exceptional work is by a man simply known as Virgil.  Virgil's music for all haunted occasions is beyond compare.  I've had the pleasure of hearing his awesome creations.  In fact, our haunt's dancing team called Zombie 6 will be dancing to one of his clever selections.  Virgil has written scores for movies and commercials, as well.  Check him out! 

www.virgilmusic.net

He has something for everybody!

So, how did your day go....?

PEACE!

My goodness! 

It has been Waaay too long since I've written here.  I'm so darn busy these days, but then...who isn't?

Lemme give you a taste of what I've been doing lately and then we'll get down with the Talon Scale.

I've been working on getting the artwork together for our Postcards we'll be debuting at our State Fair on September 3~5.  Our haunt has been granted permission to pass these postcards out to people when they enter and leave the Fair.  We will be in costume and in complete character.  I will be picking only the best actors for these three days to interact with the patrons.

FontGeek has gratiously made the back of the postcard for us. FontGeek is so freakin' talented!!  He always has a way of making my thoughts clear on paper.  Thanks so much, my dear FontGeek!

We had our 1st Reaction Faction (haunted crew) meeting this past Saturday.  It was a bit disappointing since just a few people showed.  However, there were those who wrote letting me know ahead of time that they would not be able to make it.  And then, when college kicks in again in about a week, there are several clubs and organzations that I hope will join our efforts.  We already have a Frat from Sacramento State University on the crew and for that I am truly thankful.  They have spoken of possibly being interested in Crowd Control....and they're all females.  BUT, they are a frat that's centered around Criminal Justice.  SO...I'm guaranteed to have the best looking security crew in town! 

I finally got up the courage after burning my fingers really bad on the soldering iron last week, to give it another go with my LED Spotlights and guess what??  I soldered six pair!  I'm so hooked on it now.  All I have to do now is go buy more PVC couplings and find suitable stakes.  Oh, and bolts/nuts.  I think I'll go with wingnuts so that the head can be adjusted up and down easily.

One of the things I've been doing more of is resting.  Grant it, not nearly as much as I should.  But, I occasionally make myself stay in bed when I awake at three or four in the morning.  Other times, I have so much on my mind and so many emails to write that I get up anyway.

The reason I have been forcing myself to get more rest is because of the results I got from the blood test I took last Monday.  The Doc said I'm severely anemic. That would explain my craving for ice all day long and...dirt.  Yup, dirt.  Thank goodness I live in a adobe brick house.  Brings new meaning to the saying, "Being eaten out of house and home." 

Anyway, the Doc put me on iron pills and prenatal vitamins. (I thought I was finished with those suckers 9 yrs. ago!)  The news of being anemic wasn't the final blow.  She also told me that I'm diabetic.  DAMN!!  There goes my booze!  No more hanging out with Jim Beam after hours or watching a flick with Paul Mason....  But, my health comes first.  I'm seeing the doc this Friday again and I'll find out what she wants to do about my diabetes. 

Okay...TALON SCALE!!!

Constantine - 1 Talon

I'm not a big fan of Keanu Reeves and for good reason.  He couldn't act himself out of a paper bag.  Sorry all you lovers of Keanu.  Now, I have nothing against the guy and after watching this movie, I feel the same way.....nothing.  The movie was predictable and not really all that entertaining to me.  I gave it the 1 Talon for special effects.

House of Flying Daggers - 1 3/4 Talons

If you like Asian flicks, then don't miss this one!  Kick-Ass Martial Arts!  Ziyi Zhang, the young lady who played in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is absolutely AMAZING!  Is there anything this woman can't do?  Pretty, smart, talented and limber all spells Awesome with a capital "A."  If you're into romance and love triangles, this movie has that, too.  Although the plot wasn't as tight as it could have been, none the less, it's a must see!

Dead Birds - 1 1/4 Talons

"A group of robbers on the run make the mistake of using an abandoned mansion as their hideout.  Something terrible living inside the walls awaits them with a fate more frigtening than the one they may find on the outside."

Starring: Henry Thomas, Patrick Fugit, Isaiah Washington and Nicki Lynn Aycox.

The only two I knew from this cast is of course, Henry Thomas and my buddy Isaiah Washington who usually plays some kind of hood.

This is a good horror movie.  It won't knock your socks off, but it has some pretty good special effects.  It surprised me.  OH I guess I should say that it's set in 1863.

xxx - State of the Union - 1 1/4 Talons

And all of those Talons belongs to ICE CUBE!!!  Oh, my gosh, oh my gosh!!  When they showed his face on the screen...I must had said every four letter word I could think of.  With this scowl and flaired nostrils...the MAN looks so good I could sop him up with a biscuit, take a bite and save a little bit for later on!!!  Who gives a care the plot was just so so and the acting was mediocre.  ICE CUBE had it goin' on!!! 

I did like the opening graphics and how they presented the credits at the end.  I also rather enjoyed the soundtrack even though I'm not much of a rap lover.

Next movies in line to watch:

1) Guess Who

2) Monsturd

3) The Pacifier

Remember...no spoilers!

So, how did your day go......?

PEACE!

Hitch the movie, that is!  Time for the Talon Scale......

Hitch - 1 1/4 Talons

For those of you who know me, you  know I gave the 1 Talon to Will Smith.  OH, my goodness!!  The man is just a complete hunk!  When he was kissing that lucky creature on the movie, I could feel it myself all the way down to my toes.  Why?  Because he is a cross between two men I have loved.  One when I was 19 and one when I was 39.  But, I won't hold it against him.  Jada Pinkett-Smith is one lucky child as far as having a husband in the looks department.

The movie?  Well, it was okay.  Predicatable and cliche'.  NOthing suprising here.  But, if you're a romantic, you'll smile.

Halloween stuff...

I took pics of my two static dummies I finally finished.  Not so sure if I will leave them the way they are.  But, Horas (the one with the head cradled in his arms) made my sister scream yesterday.  That was pretty much the stamp of approval. 

I've got to go over to our carpenter in the morning and take a look at the first coffin he's made for us.  He says he feels it's too deep. I will have to see.  After spending a few moments with him, I have to go over to pick up a freecycle item.  A guy is giving us a carousel type clothes line.  I think it will fit in perfectly with our Texas Chainsaw Massacre scene.

So...how did your weekend go.....

PEACE!

I'm happy to announce that the tshirts.....ARE GONE!   They kept selling even after the ebay auction!  I sold the last one today.  I'm so thrilled and so very thankful.  First, unto God for his many blessings.  And one of those blessings is having all of you for dear friends.  Thank you, my friends.  I truly feel loved.  I'm all warm and toasty inside.  And NO it's not the Brandy!

Things are just really happening for Shadowbox.  I'm getting emails from people that want to volunteer including a Co-ed Fraternity at our local University.  If any of you remember my storyline for the haunt, having a frat volunteering is the soup du jour.

Before I do the Talon Scale, I wanted to share a pic of my little Emilio I took when he saw the hat I brought home.

And now...the Talon Scale...

The two movies I watched yesterday were:

Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events ~ 1 1/2 Talons

It was a fairly decent movie.  I really like the music.  Jim Carrey was good, although his characters, movements and voices just wasn't fresh.  What I mean by that is that he didn't go beyond what he has already done. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of his characters and funny body movements that use to amaze me.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ~ 1 3/4 Talons

I know, I know...I don't really have a 3/4ths of a Talon on my scale, but it just wasn't good enough to add the extra 1/4 to it.  For one...where the heck was Professor Snapes???  Sure, they showed him, but BARELY!  I'm in deep lust with Alan Rickman...his lips when he speaks..the way he purses them...uh,oh..I'm feeling warm and toasty inside again!

At any rate, the storyline was fine and it was nice to see Gary Oldman.  Me, not being a Potter fan enjoyed it the way I guess a nonfan would.

The next movies in line to watch are: 

1) Constantine

2) House of Flying Daggers

3) Hitch

Remember, NO SPOILERS!!!! 

Halloween Stuff~

I took my car over to our carpenter and it turns out he's a jack of all trades.  He put brake pads on my car like it was nothing and didn't charge me a thing.  Yippee!  I also took him the fence pickets and 2 x 4s to rip so he could build us a few coffins.  He said he would get started on the morrow.  I'm so excited since this will be our first noncardboard coffins.  Wooden coffins...who would have thunk?!

So, how did your day go........

PEACE!

I haven't written here in quite a while.  I've been very busy with the organization including trying to move our current Tshirts on ebay.  The selling of the shirts hasn't gone as well as I hoped.  But, we have gotten a lot of support from other avenues due to them.  Avenues I had no idea would open up.  If you don't believe in God, then maybe you should skip the next paragraph.  However, if you're a Believer....

Praise God!  He has truly blessed us in ways that I never knew were possible.  Yes, we are still poor, but rich in love. Most of the time, I haven't an inkling why things happen the way they do.  But, time after time God has proven to me that he has my efforts at heart and that all will work out for the best.  Maybe not exactly the way I desire them to be, but for the best.

Okay, if you had reasons to skip the last paragraph, you can start reading right here...

Talon Scale Time

These are the two movies I watched yesterday:

Primer - Declawed!!

This movie sucked!  I rented it due to the fact that it's an independent film and I was under the assumption that the guys who made it came for this area.

It's about two highly intelligent dudes who build a time machine from things around the house like microwave ovens.  There wasn't any action to speak of at all.  It was mainly them talking and analyzing.  Uuuuggggh!  I got so sick of the sound of their voices!  Avoid this movie if you can.

Phantom of the Opera - One Talon!

I was rather disappointed in this movie.  I heard that it was very good and my sister kept talking about it.  So, I rented it.  Now, I like opera and at one time was training to become an opera singer.  So, it wasn't the fact that they were singing all the time.  I just didn't believe in the characters.  They weren't developed enough.  For example, Raoul and Christine....how did they know each other from in their youth?  They never showed a scene from the past that we could connect to.  It was just like, "Oh, there's Raoul!  He won't remember me."  And, "Is that Christine?"  And BOOM!  They're in love! (insert violins, please)

As far as the Phantom, he was the most believeable of all the characters.   He made or rather sang a comment about not ever having had a woman to touch him.  Poor guy.  He didn't look that bad!

I have yet to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events.  I'm trying to tie my thirteen year old down so he can watch it with me.  But, he's so busy playing pool and video games with his friends.  Such is life...

On the prop building side, I must say that I've done very little.  I made 10 felt fraternity banners to place on the walls of the haunt.  Some are made out of white felt with red letters and others are made with red felt with white letters.  They say things like, "SCREAM", "STOP!" and "BEHIND U."  There are two that are to be placed on a closed door.  One says, "KNOCK" and the other says "5 TIMES."  They, of course, won't make it to the fifth knock before a drop panel comes down from the right side.  There's also a few with arrows pointing the way.  I have several more to make including one that the bucky sitting in a recliner will be holding that says, "DIE KAPPA!"

(In case you didn't know or haven't guessed, my theme this year is about a fraternity that accidently kills another.)

So...how has your day gone so far.....?

PEACE!

There are things that I have done today that concerned ShadowBox Theatre Co.  In fact, everything I did concerned Shadowbox.  Including help move all our wood here, finishing my first static dummy of the year(he needs improvements!) and setting up a meeting time and place for our first crew/staff meeting August 6th.  But, what I spent most of my time on is far more important.

What I'm about to say is quite serious.  I choose to put it here on my blog so that it will not be so much in an area where a certain individual or individuals will not be hurt and effected.  If you are here due to a Private Message invitation, I'm glad you were able to make it.  If you are here because you just wandered over to see what the Empress was up to..well...this will explain it all....

Fellow Haunters,

as most of you know, I'm the Founder/Executive Director of ShadowBox Theatre Company.  We're a nonprofit that funds field trips for students with Autism in the public school system.

Most of you also may know that I've been a haunter for over thirty years, but this will be the first time I'm haunting under my own nonprofit's name.  We are tiny, we are young (at heart) and we are in need....

....Of YOUR help!

About 2 1/2 months ago, a member of the forum decided that he was in the tshirt business and wanted to drum up customers.  ShadowBox, being in the poor house, jumped at the chance to have tshirts made.  This would bring in revenue.  Or so we thought....

When we received the tshirts, they all had small little white imperfections on the logo.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  I contacted the member, showed him the pictures I had taken of the shirts and he said he would accept them back.  We waited approximately ten days after mailing them back and had not heard a word from him.  I wrote him an email asking if he had received them.  He said he had, but due to personal issues, had not looked at them yet.  Several more days pasted.  It was at this point that we decided we wanted our deposit back for the shirts.

To make a long story even longer, he gave us a run around saying that he was doing this tshirt venture for a "friend" and not an organization and if he knew it was for an organization, he would have charged us ALL of his fees.  So, instead of giving us our full deposit back, what he wanted to do was take out all these sudden "fees" and send us back what was left which would have been pennies.  His final word was to accept the fees or he would send the shirts back to us as is and we would have to deal with them the way we saw fit.

After a meeting, the board and I decided that we would not accept his terms and have him to send the shirts back to us.

So...
after approximately 10 weeks from the time I placed the order, we finally have a product that we hope will raise us and the children funds.  But, not without your help.

Please note that each tshirt has a few tiny little white specks on the logo.  It, however, does not affect the wear of the shirt.

You will find our auction on ebay through Mission Fish at:

 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5599870626

We have chalked this whole experience up as a learning one.  We will know better the next time.

THANK YOU!

Empress Nightshade

First off, let's get the Talon Scale straight. 

There are four ratings:

Declawed : The movie SUCKED!  Avoid at all cost.
1/2 Talon: Not worth seeing
1 Talon: A few good spots along the way
1 1/2 Talons: Good
2 Talons: A winner!
Bald Eagle: The movie is flyin'!

Now, I saw National Treasure and I must give it 1 1/2 Talons.  It was good.  Especially for historians and those that just like an Indy Jones type treasure hunting flick.  I kept waiting for there to be some sort of booby trap or two along the way.  But, no.  Nicholas looked pretty good.

The next movies to be sent are:

Phantom of the Opera
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Primer

Now, I will not allow spoilers!  If you have seen the movie and you'd like to leave a comment about the movie, that's cool.  But, talking about certain scenes, etc...that's a no-no.  Spoiling scenes is the main reason why I won't tell my sister what I'm about to watch anymore.  She's notorius at doing that!

So....how did your day go....

PEACE!

I awoke to a nice cool breeze outside for a change!   It's only going to be 98 degrees today and I am so thrilled!  Compared to 107, I'll take 98 anyday.

So since it was cool, I took advantage.  I cleaned up my carport area in anticipation of our lumber being delivered tomorrow.  Yippee!

I got my two masks and corpse hands from Death Studios yesterday.  That inspired me to begin creation of my static dummies the masks and hands will be placed on.  For the forms, I'm placing foam padding on the PVC pipe to give it a more realistic look.  It's a lot more labor intensive than what I anticipated.  I even cut my finger a bit which let's me know...they're gonna be good props!  One will have on a yellow three piece PVC pipe suit for the Bio Chem Lab scene and the other is wearing Hodgman Waders w/gloves and cap (he will be standing in between bushes like a Hunter).  I hope to finish the Hunter today.

I watched two of my three blockbuster movies yesterday.  One was the second installment of Miss Congeniality.  I give it one talon up and that talon is for Regina King.  She was awesome!  She really changed her body for this role as a bad ass kickin' agent. 

The second movie was The Machinist.  And I give it two tallons up.  This was really a good movie.  If you have not seen it, I recommend it.

I'm about to take a Halloween break and watch my third movie, National Treasure.  I'll let you know what the tallons say later.

So,how has your day gone so far.....

PEACE!

THAT'S the forecast for today!  Needless for me to say that I will be doing most of my work and errands before 10am so I can come in the house, sit down and watch three movies I have from Blockbuster Online.

2 HOURS LATER......

Okay,it's been two hours since I wrote the above.  I've cut three cardboard tubes that are 13" in diameter and approximately 13ft. long down to 9ft.  I've primed them and will spray paint them black on the morrow.  They will join several fun noodles as pipes for my UV Bio-Chem Lab accident.  Once they're painted black, I'll squirt some spots with expanding foam to make it look like toxic waste is oozing and paint it with the UV paint.

I finished my rotten pears in a crate that will be placed in the kitchen scene.  I rubbed Minwax gel stain into the wood of the crate and touched it up with walnut spray paint.  I then took my handy little torch and singed twelve plastic pears I bought from the 99cent store (four for 99cents).  They look all moldy now.  Mmmmmm...Yummy!  I then placed a brown type packing paper in the crate while it's laying open on it's side and placed the pears in it.  I'll place flies and roaches for a finishing touch.

Speaking of roaches!  I got mine in the mail the other day.  576 HUGE SUCKERS!  And all for only $59.60 including shipping.  That's the cheapest I've found.  Most are 500 for $75 and even one place sells 500 for $99.  And we're talking about the same roach!  It pays to shop around.

I finished my fireplace yesterday.  It's generic, but it definitely gets the point across.  All I have to do now is cut a 4ft long piece of plywood for the mantle, paint it, add L brackets and when we're ready to attach the fireplace in place, screw the mantle on the wall touching the top of the fireplace.  This will give the illusion that it's pretty much one piece.  Now, all I have to figure out is how to attach the styrofoam fireplace to the wall.....

Great news on the beginning of my construction crew!  I started a new thread on Haunt World asking how I could go about snagging a construction crew.  Low and behold, a guy who lives in Southern Cali (I'm in Northern Cali), will be working close to me in a few weeks.  He will be traveling back and forth between here and his home.  But only every other week.  That means he has free time on his hands.  Mind you, this guy has lots of construction experience and acting experience with haunts and is currently involved with The Haunted Vineyard in Ontario, CA.  He volunteered his services to us!!!  Hooray!  He asked me to fax my floorplans of which I did and he will be calling me this evening on his thoughts.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  I'm not the best at floorplans.  But, if anyone can help me on this, it would definitely be him.

How is your day going.......

PEACE!

Well, the heat isn't quite as bad as it has been for the past several days.  I think we might have hit the upper 90's.  But, it didn't stop me from completing a prop and starting a few.

I finished my metal cabinet by adding a curtain to it.  I will be putting a dummy in it that will be backlit from the inside to cast a shadow and give the patrons the idea that something is coming out from the stained white curtain.  Aaaaah, but we KNOW better, don't we?  MWAAAAHHAAAAHAAAA!

I began and almost finished my crate of rotten pears for the kitchen scene and have glued two pieces of 1 1/2 thick styrofoam together to make the fireplace.

See???  I've been busy!

I went to KFC yesterday evening at the request of...yup, you guess it...EMILIO!  It was the worst experience I've had at a fast food place.  All I could keep thinking was that, "DANG!  Their chicken ain't all that! My chicken is MUCH better!"  But, when the little man wants something, what can you do?  I even told him when he asked for it via his computer, "Mamma doesn't have any money."  He threw a Canadian penny at me!!!   NO LIE!  I didn't even know my autistic honey knew what money was!  I know I'm shamed! 

I'm suppose to be picking up a choir robe from a lady on freecycle tomorrow morning.  I'm looking for four choir/graduation robes for my Death Reapers. Getting stuff done before 10am is the preferred time since I just cannot deal with the heat.

I'm also trying to drum up a construction crew.  So, I've been cruising around the college websites here for names and telephone numbers of certain departments and clubs to contact them on Monday.  I'm hoping the staff and students will jump on the bandwagon of our cause.

PEACE!