Halloween antics, pumpkins, visitors, shopping and TV on Film!

November 3/12.

Spooky times!

For Halloween, just HAD to hit up It's My Party on the Danforth! Fabulous store filled with colourful costumes,

and they always do it up big when it comes to their spooktacular window displays! (even through the glare of the glass, it was a frightening show!)

with gross, decomposing bodies,

and horrifying faces everywhere!

Inside, I checked out the Wall of Wigs to find a Morticia-style witch look. I got yelled at for taking a photo in the store, but as Auntie Ray always taught me, "Don't ask! Apologize later!" Bought a cute, short & sexy witch costume on sale at Shoppers for $20, (haven't worn a costume in years!) -

and poof! I'm a witch with tattered fishnets, about to put a spell on you! - Never had black hair before!

Max dressed up as Peter Pan,

and took his sweet and stunning girlfriend, Robyn out trick or treating in the neighbourhood. She was Tinker Bell!

Kate chose to dress as a Drag Queen and spent the evening answering the door to trick or treaters with her boyfriend, Damian. They were a big help to me, so I didn't have to run to answer it every five minutes. I was busy hacking up a pumpkin, which I'll show you in a minute!

Kate abandoned her original costume - Jane Lane,

from the animated show Daria. Not sure why she gave up on it,

but I do know that singer Katy Perry made the same Halloween choice! (I think MY Kate looked better!)

My 17-year-old nephew, Lee (Carrie's son) dressed up in the prison stripes uniform I was given when I flew to L.A. to cover the Johnny Dangerously junket starring Michael Keaton - (1984)! Can't BELIEVE 28 years later, it suddenly comes in handy as a costume for Lee! He's with his gorgeous girlfriend, Emily, (who is hiding her painful broken toe behind her single shoe). The next day, she was scheduled for toe surgery! Poor girl! They spent Halloween evening handing out candy to the kidlets and watching scary movies together. MY kind of horror night!

Emily's family pumpkins (Emily made the Batman one, Lee made the ghost) - WAY more incredible than my psycho-carved loser! (coming soon, below)

Some of the houses nearby us were decorated for the season, with spiderwebs,

crazy little characters,

and this one, which tossed in a reindeer for an ultra-early Christmas look! WTF?

As for MY place, the only decoration was my pathetic attempt at a pumpkin! Just five minutes before the first trick or treaters arrived, I was working,

Norman Bates psycho-knife-in-hand, madly slashing out a face! Stuck a black hat on him and called him Rupert (Pupkin) (from The King of Comedy). What a laugh.

Meanwhile, my neighbours across the street put my little guy to shame with this fabulous jack 'o lantern, carved by Ellen, their artistic daughter! LOVE it! Yoo Hoo!

My sister, Carrie, (who "masquerades" as a nursery school teacher in one of her many jobs), dressed up as part Cruella de Ville and part....clown, I think! Quite sure her little students were impressed with her new 'do!

On Halloween Day, I went to Zorba's for the first time - a Greek restaurant on the Danforth, to meet my old high school pal, Dean Rogers.

He had a half price coupon for the place, so we enjoyed quite a feast and a long chat, mostly about the loss of parents. His Dad passed away recently. The funeral was October 13th, (the same day as Auntie Ray's Celebration of Life). We had some laughs throughout the lunch, but shared our sadness over moving forward without some of those we love most in our lives. Dean helped me pick out the witch costume after lunch!

And so ends another Halloween! - with tons of candy leftover!!

Earlier in the week, we invited my Dad-in-law, Ben Bornstein, to our place for dinner. (Max showed him his Peter Pan hat! - don't think Dad was impressed!)  We served up burgers and hotdogs, but Dad liked the dessert of Halloween treats better!

I was almost afraid to open the door to him, as this is the very first time in 30 years he's visited our home without Mum. (she passed away October 15th). We tried our best to cheer him up, but we all have an empty hole in our hearts without her here.

On October 30th, I had the chance to attend a special media event called The TV on  Film Project. The brainchild of my old friend, TV critic and historian, Bill Brioux, a long time collector of 16 mm films, dreamt up this idea to increase awareness of the importance of archiving and preserving Canada's TV heritage. Many fabulous shows have been lost or destroyed over the decades and he hopes to salvage some of  the treasures and save them for posterity! Bill's ultra-talented daughter, Katie, created the TV on Film projector logo (above) for the invites and poster.

Bill was impressed by the enthusiastic help he received from Rogers. Michelle Lomack (far right) and her PR team, opened up the doors to the comfy, red-seated Velma Rogers Theatre inside the Rogers Bloor/Jarvis headquarters. Rogers even provided pre-Halloween snacks - candy, drinks and popcorn - with butter - to make this inaugural screening more fun for the crowd!

This particular screening featured old CBS footage.

First, we saw the 1972-73- "Have We Got a Fall for You" sneak preview reel introducing new shows including M*A*S*H. Amazing to catch the very first glimpse of Alan Alda as Hawkeye and a different actor (George Morgan) playing Father Mulcahey - (later taken over by the great William Christopher).

The reel also featured clips from Bridget Loves Bernie (Meredith Baxter and David Birney), created by our own Canadian writer/producer, Bernie Slade, born in St. Catharines. (He also created The Partridge Family).

We saw clips from Maude,

The Bob Newhart Show

and The Waltons, among many other shows. It was a VERY good year for TV series! Bill referred to the preview reels as "time capsules".

Introduced to the audience by Malcolm Dunlop, Executive Vice-Pres, Programming, Television at Rogers,

Bill took the stage, no notes in hand and just talked off the top of his head about the early days of TV when previews and TV episodes were shipped to stations in big heavy 16 millimeter canisters - before video tape took over.

He even threaded up the projector himself (machinery on loan from his pal, exhibitor Reg Hartt, whom I've interviewed many times over the years about  his cartoon collection). Reg allowed Bill to use his Elmo projector so the films could be seen clearly on the 12-foot x 16-foot screen. Reg still shows movies at Cineforum at 463 Bathurst Street. I often pass his ads, tacked up on posts around Bloor & Bathurst every time I'm in the area to get my hair done. Bravo to Reg for braving the biz this long! Reg has his own website:

http://reghartt.ca/cineforum/

After rushing back and forth, up and down, to thread the machine, Bill shouted out, "You can see why DVD caught on!"

Part two of the TV on Film Project show was a fabulous and hilarious screening of a 1961 episode of  The Dick Van Dyke Show ("Buddy Can You Spare a Job"?),  from the '72-73 season.

The show featured Len Weinrib in a hysterical turn as insult comic "Jackie Brew Brew" (it's a long story!) seen here doing his schtick, driving "Mel Cooley" (Richard Deacon), crazy with his antics.

The show was uncut, so included original (and very funny) commercials for Camay soap, Crest toothpaste and the best being a rather haggard, ragged looking housewife, trying to get her family's clothes clean of those awful yellow stains by using Blue Cheer!

We also saw some weird old TV commercials including tons of Barbie/Mattel products

 like the Barbie Country Camper,

Barbie Pool Party,

the Sunshine Family Van,

the gold medal Barbie with Olympic gymnast set

and the Jewel Magic Machine (perhaps the most politically incorrect spot on the roster. You hadda see it to believe it).

Great reaction all around. I caught up with lots of old radio and TV friends including CHFI's Erin Davis and her husband, Rob Whitehead, (who gave my husband, Sam, his first job in radio!), ex-Globalite Dave Hamilton - now of TVO,  publicist/communications specialist Maureen O'Donnell, TV journalist Eric Kohanik, critic John Doyle and many others. Twas just a blast!

It's Bill's goal, (which he says is near and dear to his heart), to locate much more lost footage and to keep, restore and archive it for generataions to come. He hopes to stage another TV on Film event in the Spring, and maybe even showcase some early, made-in-Canada TV shows. He explained that almost every episode of Tiny Talent Time and 

Party Game (starring one of my comic heros, Billy Van), 

Watch the brilliant Billly here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAuhhDU0ubs

 has been wiped out over the years, so we might need to watch some old 

Friendly Giant (Bob Homme here with good old Jerome and Rusty),

or The Littlest Hobo episodes! Go get 'em Bill!

Bill's take re: the TV on Film project on his blog here.
http://tvfeedsmyfamily.blogspot.ca/2012/10/rogers-opens-doors-to-tv-on-film-project.html

Also this week, was forwarded some extra pics taken at our Mum's "scattering of the ashes" event at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Sam took these.

Shot just inside the admin building (left to right), Paul Nodwell (Carrie's partner), our good friend, Mary Spence-Thomas, Max, Kate, me, Carrie and her son, Lee, just before braving the rain and cold out in the rose garden.

Holding the scattering urn for the first time.

One of those moments - wonder what was going through our heads here? It was all so emotional.

The actual procedure.

This pic of Kate brought a tear to my eye. She wanted to be there for her Gramma to the very end. They had a very special relationship.

This is Mum's temporary marker. Next Spring, a special engraved granite marker will be placed here in her memory.

We think Mum would have approved of this choice for the scattering - the pretty rose garden, surrounded by trees. She was always a nature lover.

Now, it's back into real life, a new month - chilly November. Already had to drag out the winter coat and some boots to go shopping at No Frills! I don't WANT to cover up! (I'm secretly planning a trip to a hot beach someplace where I will wear as little as possible). Care to join me?