Monthly Archives: October 2015

Happy Halloween!

Posted on by
Reply

It’s Halloween and I’m running late.

None of this is a surprise.

The good news is, I’m running late because of great times with people who matter to me.

Well, that and I’m getting old.

But, regardless, Happy Halloween everyone.

In today’s vlog, I muse a little about the meaning of the holiday. Yes, it does have meaning beyond an excuse to dress up in odd clothes and masks. A whole lot, in fact. Unfortunately, due to how late I’ve ended up running, I didn’t have time to really dig into the history and all the other related bits that I actually wanted to. (I even had some other video shot I was going to try to splice in!)

Guess that’ll all just have to wait for another time. Good thing the cycle continues and there’ll be another Halloween next year, right?

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

For the Love of Costumes

Posted on by
Reply

Once upon a time, I thought I’d have a career doing something with movies.

For a while, it was in the special effects department. Inspired, in part, by my love of horror films.

Sadly, that never came to be for numerous reasons. (Not the least of which was the utter difficulty in finding other people locally with similar interests and the “small” fact that most of the special effects resources were in California, where I was not.)

I do, however, still maintain a total love of the craft of creating costumes and creatures. It’s been a few years since I’ve really been “on my game” enough to really indulge, but I’ve surrounded myself with people who are infinitely more ambitious, talented, and hard-working than I am when it comes to such things.

So I live vicariously through them.

(Seriously, check out Stuido CosPlay if you’re in the DC area… this is how dedicated people I know are to this craft as a hobby!)

With Halloween merely one sleep away, I’m lamenting my slacker ways since I’m once again pulling together a costume or two last minute.

In today’s vlog, I ramble on a little about costumes and whatnot.

Oh, and that cover photo? That’s me and my sister, from 1983, in costumes my mother made for us. She’s a lamb. No, I’m not some sort of odd lion. I’m Ookla the Mok from Thundarr the Barbarian. 

Yeah, most people didn’t know what it was then, either… curse my love for the semi-obscure.

Both of those costumes got reused in various forms and parts for years following this picture. Kind of the first foray into modular costuming. 🙂

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

Holiday Creep

Posted on by
Reply

Once upon a time, I swear I didn’t have to walk through a Christmas village to make it to Halloween Town.

This year, I think I saw Christmas stuff out in September.

Just the other day, I went to do some Halloween shopping, kind of last minute (but it wasn’t my first trip) and the local K-Mart had their full set of Christmas regalia out–right between the rest of the store… and the (small few shelves) Halloween stuff.

Seriously? Seriously.

I don’t mid it as a plot to a (now classic) multi-holiday film (though it has been definitely pinned down to being a Halloween film), but in real life? Hate it.

This is an ongoing frustration for me, being a much bigger fan of Halloween than I am of Christmas. I know a lot of people who have the same problem.

How about you? What’s the most egregious case of “Holiday Creep” that you’ve seen? Why don’t you like it? (And where do you do your Halloween shopping?)

List to me rant on this for a little bit in today’s vlog.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

Shadow People: Definitely Creepy

Posted on by
Reply

There are a lot of strange things in the world.

Even mainstream science keeps finding new species and sub-atomic particles and bits of our past.

It’s that area of the Unknown–where science hasn’t gotten yet–where a lot of this paranormal stuff I talk about resides. Ghosts, psychic powers, magic, demons… and shadow people.

I was (apparently) seeing shadow people before it was “cool” to see shadow people. (Does that make me a paranormal hipster?) The Internet is now wild with stories of shadow people. Quickly looking over a lot of that it’s clear that most of the stories aren’t even close to what I and people I know experienced back in the 90s.

Some of those stories, though… some of them really match up far too well to be mere coincidence.

Of course, I don’t expect you to believe any of that. Especially if you’ve never seen a shadow person. Or a shadow “dog.” And that’s okay. Someday, I’m sure they’ll be adequately explained.

What would really make that easier, though, is if people would just stop making up stories about seeing them, apply some small amount of thought about their experiences before deciding they’ve seen a shadow person (or a ghost, or a demon, or whatever), and not totally freak out if/when it happens again.

Until that unlikely day, I’ll just keep an eye out in case they decide to show up around me again. It’s been a good many years now since I saw one. I’m really okay with that. Because, seriously, these things are creepy as all hell. I’ll take ghosts any day.

Take a few minutes and listen to me tell my tale and talk a little bit more about shadow people.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

From Nightmare Fuel to Saturday Morning Cartoons

Posted on by
Reply

Everything goes in cycles.

When it comes to entertainment, especially when we’re talking about horror, that cycles is from scary to funny.

There’s really not a lot of difference between horror and humor. Both rely on the unexpected to trigger a reaction. Both can change your view of a situation. And, more often than not, something that was once scary ends up being really funny somewhere down the road.

That cycle has played out two or three times now. The classic Universal Studios monsters, once the denizens of nightmares, became so ingrained in the general culture that they were no longer scary… and then took that extra step into being used in straight up comedies. Comedies for kids, even, if the roster of Saturday morning cartoons from the 80s and 90s are any gauge. (More so if you look at still-current permutations, like Monster High line of dolls and animated shows.)

The horror icons of the 80s aren’t that far behind. Jason and Freddy have already been parodied more than a few times and people far too young to have seen the films originally (or, technically, to even legally see the films now) know the characters and don’t show a bit of fear (not much awe, either, which is kind of sad) when it comes to them.

I had enough time to try a little something new in the vlog today. I actually added some pictures. They don’t quite look like I’d prefer them to, but, hey, I squeezed in some learning, so that’s a win in my book.

Anyway, check out my ramblings on how and why we have more funny vampires now than scary ones (and how we end up with scary ones again… have you seen The Strain? It’s like vampire zombies or something… definitely upping the creepy factor again.)

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]