I have been wanting to get one of these boards for a while. It is called the Raspberry Pi and it is one of the smallest computers around. And for only 35 bucks. What can it do? What ever you want it to do, as long as you can program that is. I am not sure I know what I want to do with it, but I thought I would ask Santa for one and sure enough I got one, early...
Also today I got this for Christmas. It is a controller. Mainly for lights but I can use it to control motors as well. Was thinking about using it for a few of my projects. Will post progress.
Getting closer to Thanksgiving and I still have been trying to thing of new things for next Halloween. I think this year I am certainly going to build a crypt next year. I have the floating ghost just about done. She just needs to be worked on a bit so she doesn't look like a sheet. I still have the motor from my first FCG. I hope it still works. I would like the crypt to look like my first one but still a bit different. I know building a crypt from first hand, it takes a lot of time to complete. But I really need to build one for next year. Picture above is my first crypt so I am going to use this as my model.
Some other idea is a talking routine (skeletons) that I have the kids telling jokes. The mouth will move back and forth so it looks like they are really talking.
I must say it is really cool that I have neighbors that like to get into the spirit of Halloween. So I have to take this time to give kudos to my neighbors and show their stuff too. After putting my Halloween stuff away, I walked down to their houses and took photos. Thanks neighbors for joining in on the spirit of Halloween and making me not such a freak. LOL
First off, I wanted to share a newly discovered friend's scary stories. I really loved listening to
Justine’s Halloween stories. If you would like to check out her stories please check out her blog by clicking here.
After listening to Justine's stories, it reminded me of the skeleton jokes we made for my RF Radio station, Halloween Radio this year. Basically it is two girls telling jokes. One is Nora Body, which is played by my girlfriend's little girl Cheyenne. And Ima Goner is played by Cheyenne friend, who just happens to live next door. Her name is Lea. I made a skit for them to play out. They did a good job for 9 years olds. What I plan on doing next year is making a workable prop from it. So I will do is take the red skeleton's that I just bought (shown above) and make them talk. I think it should be pretty cool. If you would like to listen to the skit, you can listen on the youtube link below.
First off, I always have to say something about Google's Halloween image. Well here it is. You could click on the witch and then you can make your own game. It was really cool.
The rain was really bad this year in Chicago. It rained for 2days. So Halloween was a bit moist. But we still had a lot of kids come over. The rain did stop for a few hours to allow me to put out my crawling zombie guy. It was the hit of the day. I had him sit in the front yard. When someone came by I would have the head follow them to the door. It really freaked a lot of people out. One lady thought it was just a motor and stopped. Of course the RC crawling zombie did the same. So it really freaked her out. And when she walked toward him, that is when it crawled toward her. It really freaked her out.
Two of my props were retired today. My stirring cauldron guy and my Unborn prop. Both are old and needed to be retired. So today I started to disassemble them.
Already started to prepare for next year. I bought a few of these skeletons from Target. It is actually a costume but my plan is to make them into talking zombies. I have my girlfriend's daughter and her friend doing jokes. So they will be the skeletons telling jokes. It should be fun.
I have a few neighbors who also do Halloween. Wanted to show you a picture of one of them. He actually has a monster in a box. Really nicely done.
Got the Crawling Zombie done today. He needs a nip and tuck on the clothes but it shouldn't take long. So here you go. And the head moves. Have not seen too many do that.
I got a lot of stuff out in the yard. Have a few other things that have to go out, but I am just about there. Also got the kids to make a commercial for me for my Radio station. Let me see if I can uploaded it for you to hear. It might be a bit later but I will post.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
I finally got most of my Halloween stuff out. And I officially bought tickets to Transworld which is in March. All I have to do now is get the head put on my RC crawling dude.
Believe it or not, today I got a hotel in St. Louis to check out Transworld again. This will be my third year in St.Louis. Transworld is so awesome. I have been to the Transworld haunt show in Chicago (Many times) and I went when they were in Vegas in 2008. So to remember all those good times at Transworld, I am going to post some videos that I made from Transworld over the years.
The girlfriend got me sick this weekend. Really killed Sat. Thought I would have more time. Got a bit done, but not like I would have liked. I did get the Unborn Guardian dude done. He's cute, but not as scary as I had imagined. You know how that goes.
Oh, and I bought some stuff for the TOTs. I got some light up horns and some cute Halloween hats. I got it from Virginia Toy and Novelty. I had seen them from Transworld and decided to buy from them again. Pics are below.
Been doing very well with props lately. Except for this weekend. Had a problem with leaky faucet. Which really wasn't too hard to fix. Thought it was going to be a pain, but it didn't cost too much or take too much time. But it is fixed.
Anyway this weekend I was able to test my Ghostly Apparitions DVD. I must say it came out really nice. I replaced the curtain with a shower curtain that I got at the dollar store. It works pretty well. Here is a bit of taste of what it does. Keep in mind that the audio will be sent by my RF Transmitter. So you wouldn't be able to hear it if you were in the yard. But I might change that on Halloween.
Next, I finished up a groundbreaker and one of the kid's tombstones. And I was able to start cleaning up my Unborn prop. He really needed some help. (Pic seen here) I fixed the hip bones, feet, and a few other things. As you can see by this pic I am trying to patch him up. I couldn't paint today it was raining. Will start working on him tomorrow.
I keep seeing the countdown to Halloween and I keep thinking I have more time, but I really don't. It is starting to come down to about three weeks. Things are getting done but slowly. And boy was it hot today. Suppose to be hotter tomorrow.
Today I worked on the motor guard for my Unborn Guardian. I know, go figure. A guard for the guardian. Anyway, I used my furnace filter guard as a guard for my Unborn Guardian. I know.. Any more guards, and my tongue will be tied. It does look like it worked. I just need to add another piece of shower curtain for the left arm, to of course cover the motor.
The Unborn guy that is going to go along with the prop is better now that I fixed a lot of its issues. I didn't think it was that bad siting in the garage all summer. Most everything was shot. I just need to paint a few things and I should be good.
Today I started bringing out all the props that needed fixing and trying to get his guardian prop going. It still needs some or something, not sure what but I think he is going the way I wanted. I only have a shower curtains to work with. So it is the best that I can come up with. The motor also needs a guard to it. I caught it trying to bind up with the shower curtain. I think it just needs is some chicken wire.
The prop that I was going to use it in conjunction with is my Unborn prop. It seriously needs some work. But I got a lot of done today. I had to make new hip bones and feet. I got those fixed today. But it still needs a few coats of paint. Will have to do that next weekend.
My stiring cauldron guy had also some TLC it needed. PVC pipes were out of the joints and the motor's shaft had come out. Had to fix that. OH, my God. I need a nap!!!
Here are some photos and video of the day. I am thinking if I have time I would like to make more barbwire. That is if I have time. I think the Guardian needs it.
If you can't tell what he does by the video, the Guardian has barbwire connecting to the Unborn guy and he pulls it back to control him.
I know I shouldn't just start working on another prop without finishing the other, but I went a head and started my Unborn Guardian. I had called him something else before but now he is the Guardian. The main goal is to have him be rapped in barbwire and holding that same barbwire as leash on the The Unborn prop I made a while ago. I will first post a pic of the Guardian with video and then I will post a pic of the Unborn guy. I don't have him total setup, so bare with me.
As you can see his hand raises and lowers to hold the Unborn buy back.
This is the Unborn guy I made before. The barbwire will wrap around the neck of the Unborn dude.
So I was getting my Grim Reaper out to video the wings going and when I got back after taking photos and hooking up all the wires, I noticed the dog had knocked him down. The PVC pipe that was holding his right wings cracked. Enough that it won't hold the right wing in any more. So it looks like I am headed to Menards next weekend to get it fixed. Damn it!!!!
But here are the photos I took before the mishap. Damn Dog!!!
I think it always does this. Every year I get sick just before Halloween when I need to be busy. But I was able to start another project. I am hoping it gets done before Halloween.
Today was another day to run around and try to get things done. First, Spirits opened today. They actually opened a store in the same town for once. What did I buy. Well, I bought this silver skull head which lights up. I modified it so in can be put in the lantern.
I was able to get my tombstones down for this year. I am glad I got it done. I also got the Reaper kind of done. He just needs a motor for the wings and I am down. Will start on a static prop tomorrow. bought some clothes for him. Maybe it needs to be painted.
