Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No.1

Greetings, group! Well, it's the 3rd of October and I'm ready to start the Countdown To Halloween. All can be forgiven for my late start, as I just returned from a week-long vacation to my new favorite city, New Orleans, Louisiana. I'll be sure to post up pictures from the trip, including a walk through the oldest cemetery in the city, Saint Louis Number 1. These photos you won't want to miss.

Okay, as promised, we are going to start things off with a bang. I present to you our first Halloween podcast, Highbury's Halloween Punkcast Number 1. Basically I went through my collection and pulled the songs that had a Halloween theme (which in punk circles was all too easy). Click the link below to download the file, drop it on your iPod, then rage! And don't forget to grab the cover art.

Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 1:

The Misfits - Halloween

45 Grave - 45 Grave

Angry Samoans - Coffin Case

MDC - My Family Is A Little Weird

Void - Condensed Flesh

Social Distortion - The Creeps

TSOL - Silent Scream

Samhain - The Howl

Bad Brains - F.V.K. (Fearless Vampire Killers)

The Misfits - Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?

The Accused - Slow Death

Electric Frankenstein - Annie's Grave

The Faction - Dark Room

Zodiac Killers - Genetic Mutation

The Orphans - Plans For My Funeral

Riot .303 - Nightmares Of Another Kind

Los Olvidados - Personal Genocide

The Misfits - All Hell Breaks Loose

The Freeze - Halloween Night

Samhain - November's Fire

SNFU - Bodies In The Wall

The Accused - Grinning (Like An Undertaker)

Angry Red Planet - Mummy From Hollywood

The Effigies - Body Bag

The Germs - Lexicon Devil

Samhain - Archangel

Meander over to here to download the 56mb zip file. Got a request for Number 2? Drop it in the comments. 28 days to go!

Tombstone No. 3 And A Movie Review!

Okay group, here's a real quick update on a prop that I just finished painting last night. It's another updated tombstone, this one being a smaller piece to accompany the two other larger stones that I've done. I also threw in some of the flicker tealight candles that I just finished, using PVC pipe, hot glue and cut foamcore disks. I used white, tan and brown paint for the candles and will place them around the tombstones in the front yard. This way Scrapes and I won't be constantly relighting real candles as the wind keeps blowing out the flames.

On a side note, I follow a lot of great horror blogs, and I've decided to join in on the movie review fun. The first movie that I'm going to review is George A. Romero's Diary Of The Dead.

My review? CRAPTASTIC.

Okay, so there you have it. Another new tombstone, new candles and an in-depth movie review. I'm pulling the plug on this one, because I'm powering down and heading out for a much-needed vacation. I'll be back on October 2nd with some great new posts to start off the Countdown to Halloween, so get your iPods ready!

It's a Major Award!

Okay, it appears as though someone is following this blog! We have been given the Versatile Blogger Award, and as the rules state, we must do the following:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Tell people seven things about yourself.

3. Give this award to fifteen other deserving blogs and tell them.

 

So here we go. A big, big thank you goes out to cynniegurl at Never Sleeps Again for recognizing this mess of a blog! Stop by her site and tell them that Highbury sent you! She probably won't know what the heck you're talking about, but that's okay.

 

Next, seven things about me. Well, we're going to split this one up, as I can't forget old Scrapes who writes here, too. So:

1. Scrapes and I are actually brothers. He's 5 years younger, but if you ask me, he looks 10 years older than me. (Ha! Ha!)
 

2. In our college years, we both played in a local punk band. He was the drummer and I played bass. We were awesome, but more about this later.
 

3. Scrapes once sold a steering wheel on eBay for $821 (A steering wheel he took from an old barn. It turned out to be an original rare, old steering wheel from a Mercury).
 

4. On September 11, 2001, I was in London, England on my honeymoon. We were scheduled to fly home on September 12. We got stranded in London for 6 more days until we could find a flight back to the States. When we did get a flight back, it was to Newark, New Jersey. You could still see the WTC smoke from that airport.
 

5. My nom de plume, Highbury, actually comes from that same honeymoon trip. While in London, I became a huge football ("soccer" to us Yanks) fan, especially to the London team, Arsenal (Come on, you Gooners!!). The famous old stadium they played in was named Highbury. Highbury also became the name of my Halloween home cemetery haunt and the name of this blog. And now you know.
 

6. I've been collecting punk records (yes, vinyl) since I was about 14 (I'm 37 now) and my collection is currently growing towards 1,000 records. Nothing too rare or expensive, but I still pull them out and listen to them all the time. Now I even convert them all to mp3 and drop them on the iPod. Scrapes on the other hand, only listens to Motion City Soundtrack. Whoever that is.
 

7. Yes, I once got to be a model in a Japanese snowboard magazine. It was at Mt. Hood, Oregon. I got to wear the next season's snowboard gear. They took pictures of me and a guy from Santa Cruz, California named Casey (I think?). We got paid $50 each, and I couldn't stop laughing when the magazine actually showed up at my door, post marked from Japan. We scored a two-page spread.

 

Okay, and finally, on to the fifteen blogs that we will pass this award on to (maybe we'll do 10, because a lot of the blogs we follow have gotten this award already):

Halloween/Horror

1. Wouldn't You Like To See Something Strange?

2. Monster Brains

3. Final Girl

4. Monster Cereals

5. A Patchwork Of Flesh

6. Monster Crazy

 

Punk Rock

7. Killed By Death Records

8. Good Bad Music For Bad Bad Times

9. Punk Not Profit

Obligatory Cleveland Sports Blog (from our good friend Peter)

10. Cleveland Frowns

Okay, you lucky chosen few. Go forth and spread your versatility!

I'm off to attend my first Make & Take with the Northeast Ohio Haunters. I'll post up some pics if my camera battery doesn't die. Which it is prone to do. Even after a full charge.

Halloween Prop No. 2

Halloween prop number 2, a sister piece to our Pratt Tombstone, is in the books! The newest member to be buried in Highbury Cemetery is none other than Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko.

I updated another one of our old, blank tombstones with the same mache skull and the same finishing/painting techniques as the Pratt (check out the link above to see all the details). I used a set of green LED lights for the eyes on this one and found out that they are much brighter than the red LEDs we used for the Pratt stone.

I intend to make one more tombstone with the same skull and another set of green LEDs, so I think it will look pretty cool with two green-eyed tombstones flanking one with red. The first shot is in regular light to show the weathering and detailing techniques that were used, and the second and third shots are with the same multi-color LED spotlight that we shot the Pratt stone with. Enjoy the pictures as I'm off to start tombstone number 3!

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

I hope everybody had a great, labor-free Labor Day weekend. Mine couldn't have started any better, as I scored my first (and second and third) four-pack of Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale. I was really waiting for this one to come out, especially after the disappointment with Bell's Octoberfest Ale. The Punkin Ale is a full-bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon & nutmeg. I know this because that's what's printed on the label.

From their site:

A full-bodied brown ale with smooth hints of pumpkin and brown sugar. We brew our Punkin Ale with pumpkin meat, organic brown sugar and spices. This is the perfect beer to warm-up with, as the season cools.

It's a great, hearty brown ale that finishes with a nice, slightly spicy note of pumpkin, cinnamon and brown sugar. What's great is that it doesn't have an overwhelming brown sugar sweetness or a mouthful of pumpkin pie filling. I really like the fact that it's still a beer first that gives a hint of the pumpkin, cinnamon and sugar. Well done, Dogfish Head. You've again supplied me with the ale that will take me through to October 31st!

I also saw that Chris Baker, G-Host from the now supermondo infamous Hauntcast gave his glowing review of Brooklyn Brewery's Post Road Pumpkin Ale. So I guess I'm throwing down the challenge. Dogfish Head vs. Post Road. I haven't seen Post Road anywhere here, but I'll keep an eye out. I'll update you all when I find it and put the two in a head-to-head competition. And may the best Punk win.

Got a pumpkin ale you think is even better? Hit us up in the comments.

An Easy Lighting Prop

Okay, as promised, here's a REALLY quick and easy idea for a lighting prop. You'll need a mason jar, dark colored paint, a little mulch or dirt, coarse twine and a battery operated LED flicker tealight (which you can get at a dollar store or at any craft store). Start with the mason jar and give it a wash of heavily watered down paint. I used the same brown that I used for the Pratt tombstone. You'll want to make sure that the jar is still semi-transparent so that light can still escape. When it dries, tie the twine around the lip of the jar. Then put a small amount of dirt or mulch in the bottom of the jar and drop in the LED flicker light. In no time at all, you'll have a dirty, old lantern light for your haunt or party. For an eerie lighting effect for this year's haunt, I intend to make about 12 of these, hanging 6 apiece from two large trees in my front yard. Be sure to stagger the lengths of twine and hang the jars at different heights from whatever you'll be attaching them to. A cool effect that takes very little time and money to produce.