Half a million people crammed onto Santa Monica Blvd between Doheny and La Cienega? Kevin Federline performing onstage? I'm expected to don my puerile and demeaning costume, again? And I have to work tomorrow?

Yee hah. What are we waiting for?



I'd never been to the West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval [sic], despite (or because of) its reputation as the nation's biggest and craziest, rivaling even the annual affair in Greenwich Village. But this year Hermione and I had robes and wands, and just sitting and waiting for Ogden Drive's dozen or so trick-or-treaters (who was that guy from Seinfeld who came by, again?) wasn't gonna cut it. Plus, we had a Jedi with post-traumatic stress and the city's largest pair of bowling balls to protect us. Even if the Punisher had opted to leave his arsenal, and costume, at home.



What I saw and recorded exceeded the hype. A grander display of inventive, culturally relevant and visually arresting regalia has surely never been witnessed within the borders of this humble nation. I mean, there were enough seven foot-tall drag queens with peacock feathers to make Bill Orally run screaming for the hills in someplace comparatively tame like, say, San Francisco.



Fair and balanced. America's fast food industry was well-represented.



Miss Granger was thrilled to make the acquaintance of Disney's most notorious villainesses. (Hmmmm, their voices were a lot lower than I remember. . .)



Maude felt an odd sense that space and time had folded back upon themselves.



Jedi Sobchak was always ready for danger.



Your holiness? I get that you needed a break from enraging the Muslim world, but, uhh. . . Somehow I didn't think this was your scene.





Who invited the freaks?



There were, indeed, a few political sentiments expressed.



Harry and Hermione were actually quite popular. Many yetis, dead-tyrannosaur-bearing employees of Isla Nublar, Betty Boops and other scantily or excessvely-clad denizens of the night were more than eager to have their pictures taken with yours truly and his witchcraft-practicing, Judeo-Christian Tradition-mocking companion. I felt like Mickey Mouse.

It's never too early to start campaigning. I remember back when Cthulhu was considering a bid, the popular sentiment was, "why vote for the lesser of two evils?"



For a city of sin and sodomy, WH ran quite a good show. The half-million revelers were largely well-behaved and sober. The cops were around but seemed to be enjoying watching the fun. I didn't see any fights, roudiness, or even an exchange of unfriendly words. Viva Samhain.

-jw

For all of the celebratory ventures undertaken under our humble roof, we had never before tackled a costume party. Somehow, this year, the will was there. So we decided to make the annual "Birthday Blitz," celebrating the many fall birthdays in our midst, into a Halloween shindig as well. For my part, I'm pretty reluctant when it comes to donning a Halloween costume. It's usually half-assed or nothing. And Liz and I were stumped as to what to do. It seemed like couple-coordinating was obligatory. Hmmmm. Then a light bulb went off above Frankie's head. I was filled with some trepidation but Liz took the idea and ran with it -- ran all the way to a specialty store in Santa Monica, in fact, that deals strictly in merchandise pertaining to a particular series of books you may have heard of. Incriminating photographic evidence is below. But don't feel too compelled to look closely.

Gregg had been growing his beard in preparation to transform himself into Walter Sobchak and also spent a good deal of time helping Abbey prepare the bowling balls for her incarnation of (dream sequence number two) Maude Lebowski. Everyone (well, I mostly took pictures) pitched in to decorate the Casa and environs, and the results were quite impressive, if we do say so ourselves. Special thanks to Abbey's sis, Eliza (hooker cop in blue below), who was visiting that week, for her inspired work. Not everyone was thrilled with the bajillion spiders hanging from the ceiling (sorry, Christian) but an atmosphere was certainly created.



Looking back on that Saturday night at the end of October, it all now appears rather surreal and Fellini-esque. Maybe that's because about half of the revelers were in costume and half weren't (not that there's anything wrong with that). But we had a great time and thanks to everyone who came. Thanks as well for the many cards and gifts. You guys rock.





It may be apparent that some costumes seemed to evolve as the night wore on. . . .



-jw

Have you heard this story? It's been in the news cycles for awhile now. Sigh. Stuff like this is just too easy to make fun of, I know. But it's just such a glaring episode in the continuing saga of "What is wrong with people these days?!"

A homeowners association in Colorado demanded that a resident remove her peace sign-shaped Christmas wreath because, among other things, they identified it as a mark of the Devil. Thankfully, the forces of reason prevailed.

I can't resist posting a clip of what my favorite angry liberal, Mike Malloy, had to say about it:

Malloy on the Peace Sign Controversy (mp3)



-jw