Listening to: Blue Drag (1935)

Featuring Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, founders of Quintette du Hot Club de France and the originators of the musical style that came to be known as "gypsy jazz".

"Blue Drag" was originally composed by Russian composer Josef Myrow circa 1932.  There have been several recordings by different artists before and after Reinhardt/Grappelli, but theirs remains my favorite.

For no clear reason, I've always associated this song with Halloween, imagining it being played at a vintage masquerade soiree.

Personally, I listen to it whenever I'm carving pumpkins... on loop.  It just feels right. *shrug*

Short Autumn Poem

 by @writers_cobweb

Scarecrow Lighting Tests

I've been keeping busy the past week in preparation for the big night, which is why the blog has been a bit sparse these past few days.

I did, however, want to share some quick shots I took while testing out some lights for this year's display.  I think these two turned out pretty decent.

Witch jars and scarecrows inspired by Pumpkinrot

The Great Pumpkin Project: October 17th

Busy weekend, but finally have some time to post my most recent GPP placement.

Local park has a "railway" theme, complete with a set of tracks that terminates on a narrow hilltop/ramp.

Today, I went to check on it, and yet again found my pumpkin adjusted, but not removed.  And just like the last time I found my GPP jack o'lantern moved, I prefer the "updated" look:

Someone placed a rock in the mouth with the candle on top.  Interesting.

Finding the pumpkins in different spots than where I left them feels like I'm getting a little bit of that Halloween mystery directed back at me... knowing someone has interacted with my pumpkin, but never knowing who...

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: 200th Anniversary

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving was originally published in 1820.  Though Covid impeded a larger celebration in 2020, a small gathering was held at Irving's grave this weekend to celebrate the story's 200th birthday.

Click below for @visitsleepyhollow's post. Cake by @bakehouse.us, created for the historic occasion.

The Great Pumpkin Project: October 14th

Placed on a plain ol' rusty park bridge.  Plenty of pedestrian traffic, should hopefully make for some increased project exposure.

Another homemade tag.  In addition to the Instagram hashtag, I've started writing "Do Not Disturb" on the back of each tag.  My hope is that if someone where to consider removing the jack o'lantern, this message would give them pause.  

It also has an added bonus to anyone who reads the tag, as they begin to wonder, "'Do not disturb'? What's so important about this pumpkin? Why is it here? Why can't it be moved?" thus adding to the Halloween mystery...

Swung back by this morning, and the jack o'lantern was still there.  Had to reattach the tag (presumably blown off).  I might start drilling a hole in the stem for the tag string, as I've seen others do.

Listening to: It's Always Halloween Podcast

This wonderful weekly podcast by Lucé Tomlin-Brenner has become a quick favorite of mine.  The podcast consists of two kinds of episodes... There are Halloween history episodes, where Lucé shares the historical facts, stories, and cultural impact of certain Halloween-related topics, such as skeletons, witches, trick-or-treating, etc.

Then there are the Small Frights episodes.  Each week, listeners call in or write an "EEEEKmail" to the podcast, and their messages are read/played by Lucé every Friday.  This has lead to a very inclusive sense of community, were like-minded Halloween fanatics can share their stories and seasonal musings in one place.

I really love that this is a Halloween podcast, not simply a horror podcast.  On this podcast, plenty of emphasis is placed on the not-so-spooky side of the holiday, which often goes underappreciated.  

If you want to be put in a fun seasonal mood, click the image below to go to their Anchor.fm page, where you can find links to listen on your preferred platform.

The Great Pumpkin Project: October 10th

 Placed late last night...

Don't have a printer at the moment, so I had to improvise
my own tag

Went back to check on the pumpkin this morning, and someone had moved it to the center of the steps...

Click here to learn more about The Great Pumpkin Project

Listening to: Halloween at High Noon

HaHN is probably my favorite producer of Halloween music.  Their music works great as background music for a haunt, but is just as good as tunes to jam out and carve pumpkins to. 

An instrumental fusion of electronic, surf rock, ambient, rockabilly, western... It's hard to truly quantify their sound, so just give them a listen yourself. 

They just released this year's album, Plasmatronic.  Click the album art below to see their Bandcamp page.

The Great Pumpkin Project

For those who aren't aware of The Great Pumpkin Project, it is a wonderful annual tradition started in 2015 by Adam L.  In short, it involves the anonymous placement of a jack o'lantern at a spooky and/or highly-visible location in order to generate some seasonal mystery and spread the Halloween spirit to others.

For more information on how to participate, visit The Great Pumpkin Project website.  Also make sure to check out @greatpumpkinproject and #greatpumpkinproject on Instagram for some great placement inspiration.

Tag design from 2015. Tag designs from previous years can be printed from the website. (image: instagram.com/greatpumpkinproject)

Tags are tied to the stems of the jack o'lantern to spread the word about the project. (image: instagram.com/greatpumpkinproject)

The pumpkin is then placed in a Halloween-y location, and is left for others to discover and enjoy.  Here's a recent contribution of mine, placed October 2nd 2021.

Thanks again to Adam for starting this project. Stay tuned here on the blog for more placement photos throughout October.