Finally, Halloween weekend has come to an end (and finally, I got my pictures posted). Here are a few of my favorite costumes:
First United Methodist Church (right), with talking fire barricade (“Everyone stand back from the church.”) The burning church won several costume contests this weekend.
Greek gods? Roman gods? I should’ve asked them. Anyway, they were contest winners as well this weekend.
When this person came up to say hello, I at first thought it was a man. But I was wrong – it was my neighbor, Mary Jo. Great costume.
This guy had on one of the most original costumes I saw – Sudoku.
Edward Scissorhands, one of the finalists in the Flying Saucer’s Halloween contest. I have more to say about that contest in a moment.
Here’s a pic of me with Pam from Pam and Terry.
Now. Let’s talk about the Flying Saucer’s Halloween costume contest. It was an absolute mess. The categories advertised in their Memphis Flyer ad were not the ones that were actually in the contest (“Funniest Current Event,” for example). They did have “Best Saucer Chick,” which I won, and the prize was a tanning package. I talked to one of the managers and he said something like, “Um, yeah, we don’t actually know what the exact prize for that will be, let me take down your number and we’ll call you.” For Best Overall, five finalists were selected, and the audience was told that the finalists’ pictures would appear on gomemphis.com and voting could be done online. But then the following day (Sunday) the Saucer put the five finalists’ pics on a poster board near the door and started telling people that you could vote with each beer purchase. The pics never appeared on gomemphis.com or on the Saucer’s website.
Finalists were told to be at the Saucer Tuesday 10/31 at 7 pm for the announcement of the grand prize winner (who would get a trip to the Bahamas). They were told that voting-via-beer would run up until the announcement. Then on Tuesday management decided to cut off voting at 5:30. Then they decided that they would announce the grand prize winner at 9 rather than 7, causing all the finalists and their friends to have to rearrange their schedules (and miss other Halloween parties) to accomodate the Saucer.
The burning church, who I campaigned everyone to vote for, actually didn’t win – in fact, he wasn’t even in the top two. Edward Scissorhands, pictured above, was the winner – but wait, he was in the bathroom when management hastily made the announcement. They then said “Wellhe’snothereandyouhavetobepresenttowin Goingoncegoingtwicegone Andthegrandprizegoestothesecondplacecontestant.” All of maybe 15 people were aware that the grand prize announcement was going on.
For a place that usually delivers a consistently quality experience, the Saucer totally dropped the ball on this contest. If they do it again in ’07, they need to write down in advance exactly what is going to happen and when, and distribute a copy to every manager, bartender, waitress, doorman, and radio station co-sponsor. And then they need to stick to what they wrote down and not change it. Otherwise, it’s going to be a repeat of this year when no one seemed to know what the hell was going on.
Down the street, I wrapped up Tuesday night at Big Foot, where I expected to find one of the best Halloween parties of the season and they didn’t disappoint. Frosty the Snowman was getting down on stage and everyone was drinking 34 oz. Big Foot Beers.
I took the day off work today, and had intended to stay out until the wee hours last night (I remember telling people that I wanted to close down the Black Diamond, which would have meant staying out until 5 or later). But, about 11:30, I just got a feeling of, “You know what? It’s over.” And I walked home and got a good night’s rest.
Now I need to start thinking about what to do for Halloween next year. I could dress up as legendary Downtown homeless guy Scratchy (if you’ve spent ANY time at all in the downtown core, you’ve seen him). Or, I could bring back the Beer Goddess for one more year, and partner up with a charity with all the tips the Goddess receives going to that charity. Or, I could do something else. I’ve got 360 days to think about it, I guess.
Now that I don’t have to wear my hair in pigtails anymore, I have a haircut appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 5:30.
Don’t forget, Halloween candy goes on sale for 50% off today at many stores around town. So stop by Walgreens, Rite Aid, or wherever on your way home and pick some up, so they can get the candy off the shelves and make room for Dancing Santa, Chia Pets, and other items that tend to show up around Christmastime.
Mr. Roboto, the Thursday Night Fever blogger from Nashville, apparently has problems with a lot of Halloween costumes this year. He has problems with people who wear Western wear as a costume. That’s fine, I can live with that. He has problems with me dressing up as the world’s ugliest pretty woman. That’s fine too. But he also has problems with women who dress up in only a bra and panties and call it a costume. Roboto, that kind of opinion is just plain un-American. A bra and panties as a Halloween costume is perfectly acceptable, and in fact I think it should be encouraged. Besides, the girls he has pictured as an example are not wearing ONLY a bra and panties; one has accessorized her outfit with black and white stockings, the other with fairy wings.
And with that, I’ll bring the Halloween post to a close. I have plenty of non-Halloween topics to post about as well, so check back often.