Dino Drac’s Daily Halloween Thing!
Caturday, September 24th:
It’s a big weekend for Halloween the Cat. I set up a couple of those pet camera thingies so I can check in on him when I’m not home. This will (hopefully) let me stay out for more than a few hours without being completely 100% convinced that he set the place on fire.
I’ve done a few test runs with those cameras, and this is what I’ve seen so far:
1) Halloween getting his version of the zoomies, which involves flopping like a fish before jetting into the nearest wall.
2) Halloween staring towards the door, sadly awaiting my return. I’m the Giver of Treats, after all.
3) Halloween finding the only eight-inch area in the entire room that the cameras can’t catch, and staying there just long enough for me to panic.
On the whole, though, he’s doing great. He’s now over two years old, which is insane for a cat that used up like eight lives in his first month. Healthy AF, energetic AF, and he’s learned to compensate for his condition well enough to occasionally leap onto couches.
He’s a good boy. Tonight we’ll throw on a horror movie and pay no attention to it. I’ll fiddle with my phone and he’ll chew some cardboard. Typical weekend.
Friday, September 23rd:
Yesterday was the first day of autumn. I probably should’ve mentioned that instead of blathering on about Kool-Aid. Oops.
In my defense, it didn’t really feel like fall, yesterday. Today it does, with the temperature blissfully under 60 degrees for the first time in decades. (God, that was a long, hot summer.)
Since we’re now undeniably in the spooky season, I thought I’d toss you this old network promo for the original Halloween. Between the choppy edit, the grain, the muffled audio, and the extremely odd summary of the film, the promo makes it seem even creepier!
There won’t be a new video from me this week, as I was handling the Funpacks and now we’ve got a couple of podcasts to record. (Already know what the next vid will be about, though. It’s solid!)
PHYSICAL CHALLENGE: To celebrate autumn’s arrival, you have until Sunday night to do something OUTDOORS. Specifically, something that’s tied to Halloween and/or autumn.
Could be as simple as a walk at dusk. Could be as ambitious as a trip to a roadside farmers’ market to buy weird pimply gourds. Whether it takes ten minutes or ten hours, just make sure it happens outdoors. Report back by Sunday night with your results!
Thursday, September 22nd:
That image of a revamped Ghoul-Aid Jammers box leaked months ago, but I’m starting to doubt that we’ll see it in stores this year. I haven’t heard about any sightings, and I can’t find a single photo that isn’t just a rendering.
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the prior version of Ghoul-Aid Jammers, either. I suppose there’s a chance that Kraft is holding off until October, but that would be pretty unusual for them.
In any event, I still wanted to celebrate that “Brew Berry” redesign. It’s gorgeous, nostalgic, and I enjoy the idea of the Kool-Aid Man becoming the Kool-Aid Witch. There’s a Beistle-like quality to all of this, too. It’s just such a handsome box.
After a nine year streak, will 2022 come and go without any Ghoul-Aid Jammers? It might be time to pour one out. Just wish I could do that with, you know, Ghoul-Aid.
Wednesday, September 21st:
Just a reminder that Garfield’s Halloween Adventure now lives on YouTube, and it was uploaded by Garfield himself, so it’s HQ and in no danger of getting yanked.
I used to hold off on viewing the classic Halloween specials until later in the season, but October very frequently becomes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of month. Better to just run with ‘em whenever you’re in the mood than risk missing the specials entirely!
While Garfield’s Halloween Adventure obviously means the most to those who grew up watching it, that’s hardly a prerequisite. Hell, if anything, the internet’s unending stream of Garfield memes might make it an attractive choice even to Gen Z’ers.
I love this cartoon. I watch it and the air suddenly smells of dead leaves and Wax Fangs. I’m eight years old and I’m not doing my homework. Count Chocula still tastes like it used to.
Tuesday, September 20th:
I used to hate the smell of pumpkin guts. Like, to the point where it made me gag, reflexively, as if it were my body’s way to warn me of a nearby poison.
That didn’t stop me from carving pumpkins as a kid, but it did complicate things. On a good year, I’d be able to convince one of my parents to scoop out the hideous insides. On a bad year, I’d do it myself, but outside, using whatever breezes October offered to stifle that horrible smell.
Was it just me? Keep in mind, I’m not just saying that I “disliked” the smell. I’m saying it made me feel instantly nauseous. All of my childhood jack-o’-lanterns were basic and badly carved, because I could only stand that smell for so many minutes.
What’s odd is that it doesn’t bother me at all, anymore. I expect it to, but whenever I cut into a pumpkin, it’s just like, “Oh yeah, that’s what a pumpkin smells like.”
I can’t imagine that my olfactory senses have dulled that much, so I’m wondering what kind of messy physiology caused young me to die upon smelling pumpkin guts, and adult me to brush it off like it’s no biggie. I mean, I actually like it, now.
This was all just the long way of saying, “Man, I can’t wait to murder another pumpkin and stick fire inside of it.” Soon!
Monday, September 19th:
Every time I get some old taped-off-television horror movie, I cross my fingers that the end credits were left intact. It’s not because I’m dying to know who the line producers were – it’s because the credits were so often interrupted by local newscasters, usually in jarring fashion.
These newsy interruptions captured the spirit of their time even better than the commercials that aired during the movie. If you watched my Amityville 3-D video until the very end, you saw a good example, but here’s another.
As part of WPIX’s Shocktober marathon back in 92, they ran Friday the 13th Part VI. During the end credits, Kaity Tong pitched a sneak preview of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. And since she had our attention anyway, she also teased info on a car accident, a celebrity shooting and Ross Perot.
It’s such an odd, crystallized slice of 1992. Also, note that all of this plays out over Alice Cooper’s The Man Behind the Mask. I suspect it was the only time Ross Perot was scored by Alice Cooper.
Sunday, September 18th:
Well, if you missed the big news (which I posted about over on Instagram), it looks like McDonald’s is planning some kind of retro release of their famous Halloween pails! Details are sketchy and nothing has been confirmed by Ronald himself, but it definitely looks like SOMETHING is brewing.
Based on the available evidence, I’m confident that we’ll have a shot at getting retro-style Halloween buckets this year. Where things get dicier for me is *how* they might be rolled out. It’s way too early to assume that this will be a straight-up national Happy Meal with no other hoops or hurdles, so we should definitely wait for more info on that part, at least.
As for what the pails will look like, here’s a leaked photo. They’re obviously paying homage to the classic set shown above, which wasn’t the first set of spooky buckets McDonald’s put out, but is probably the most beloved.
So like, be excited, but be realistic, too. I only say that because I’d hate to see a promo we’ve been waiting on for so many years get blasted if it isn’t *exactly* the way someone wants it to be. Let’s go with the flow, because this could be the perfect cherry on an already great season.
PS, if it happens, it sounds like it’ll be in late October!
