Haunting Music

While thrifting recently, I found another copy of the "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House" record, which is a collection of spooky sounds that was released by Disneyland Records. The fun thing (for me) is that these albums actually pre-date the Haunted Mansion attraction (that I love so much!). The ride was an idea in progress, and the Sound Effects Department over at Disney had started collecting sounds that could be used in the ride itself.

The first album was released in 1964 (5 years prior to the official opening of the Haunted Mansion attraction). It became so popular that Disney re-released it in 1973 and again in 1976. I don't have a copy of the 1964 version, [It's easy enough to find on eBay, but I try to limit some of my collector's tendencies by allowing things to 'find me' and stumbling across them in thrift stores is a great thrill!] but I do now have copies of the 1973 and 1979 printings!

The 1973 version has an orange cover and my particular version does not have the yellow sunburst on the left corner pointing out the 'spooky party hints'. This was a slight change from the original pressing which has a white cover. The album in it's entirety is posted as a free download here, in MP3 files.



The 1979 cover was entirely new. It features a scene from the graveyard with a skeleton who is working his way out of the coffin and a crow standing sentry from the tree limb. This, of course, is very similar to scenes from the Haunted Mansion attraction. You can download a free MP3 version of this album here, courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan.



For everything you'd ever want to know about the Haunted Mansion, check out Doombuggies.com, where I found their history of these various "Chilling, Thrilling" recordings. *It's worth noting that Doombuggies.com cites the release of the final album as 1979, however wikipedia says it was 1976.

CHOC Walk

This past Sunday was the Childrens Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) annual fundraiser - the CHOC Walk in the Park, so named because it's a 5k walk through Disneyland and California Adventure. It's a wonderful cause that I have supported for many years (7, I think!) not just because it's a charity to benefit children, but the entire CHOC philosophy of care.

So I proudly helped raise money (donations still being accepted on my personal fundraising page through 10/29!) and joined the walk.


More than 14,000 walkers were in attendance, and many were there representing children who had been helped by CHOC.

At the official starting line, Donald and Mickey were there to cheer us on. The announcer (red shirt) would also call out the various teams and organizations as they passed.

All along the route, the Disney characters were out and waving and cheering everyone on. Because of this, it's a slow walk. It's a 5k, but it takes more than an hour (probably about 90 minutes) to complete. I tried to snap pictures as we walked by, so we didn't slow down the people behind us. But as you can see, the castle was a popular spot for team photos.

Over at California Adventure, there were more characters waiting to cheer us along, including the Incredibles family.

After the walk, we were pretty hungry, so we went and had breakfast at the Whitewater Cafe inside the Grand Californian Hotel. It was surprisingly good for mass-produced theme park food. I especially liked the Halloween cups, with the Disney characters dressed as various villians. I was surprised to see Goofy as Chernabog, who isn't represented much inside the theme parks.


After breakfast, we went back to the parks which were now open for general admission, and decided to check out the pumpkin carvers and their interesting creations.




I think this is my favorite so far this year. Kaa, from the Jungle Book.














The Haunted Mansion pumpkin got my gears turning... so now I'm going to have to get out my carving tools and see what I can come up with!

Movie Monday

This weekend while petsitting for my parents, I was able to take advantage of their on-demand movie subscription and I watched Monica & David, which I had just read about.



It's a documentary about two adults with Down Syndrome who get married and following the events in their life for their first year of marriage. It's hard to say it's a "sweet" movie without feeling like I'm pandering. It was a completely fair documentary, which is to say that it was documented footage of two people. There was no intention of whipping up controversy or tugging at heart-strings and I completely appreciated that. The movie really let the story unfold on its own, which honestly isn't a big story - two people get married, they move into a new home, and want to get jobs - but the way these two people approach it all is very special.

Monica and David themselves are charming. They are very gentle, kind people who really try very hard and because of that, it's easy to imagine them as your own children -- sort of an Everyman, although if this documentary were about the neighbors' kids, it wouldn't have the same impact. To see two people get married and move into a new home isn't really that interesting, frankly. But seeing it through a fresh perspective makes it interesting. We're seeing the difficult transition for people who are so bound by their routines and constants that the slightest change can make them miserable, and yet they keep going.

One of the fine lines for any documentary, and especially a piece about people with any kind of challenge or disability, is the "am I exploiting these people?" factor of it, and with this film, I really felt good about what I was seeing. The filmmaker is Monica's cousin, so it was personable and didn't feel advantageous or explotative. Like I said earlier, it felt very 'fair' and was a straight-forward record of this moment in time. No invented drama or editing intended to make someone a villian and someone a hero. It was hidden camera aimed at two adults making a new life together.

And yes, it was sweet.

Halloween decorations

You probably already know this, but I love Halloween. And I love chotchkies. And I love decorating. BUT! I am also extremely lazy. Last year, we were so busy that I never even got the Halloween decorations down from the garage rafters. This year, I grabbed 'em down, but was limited in my set-up.

I have little houses and buildings and junk that light up (you know, like that whole aisle at the craft store that you HAVE to stop and peek at every year?) but I am limited on where I can put them. I have lots of shelves and stuff, but I also have a kitten who has no respect for decorations. Fortunately, he doesn't know that he can climb on the fireplace mantel. Ha! So that's the focus of this year's decorating efforts.

I found these awesome, glittery purple cardboard chandeliers at Target for a buck!

Under the Haunted Mansion Stretching Room portraits is the rest of the stuff that I was able to cram on the mantle. Lots of the big stuff had to stay in boxes this year. (Speaking of which, the FedEx box barricade is because the kitten insists on climbing in the fireplace. What is with orange cats??)

My Sock Zombie is always on display, but now he has a jack o'lantern! And it lights up!

This little graveyard scene has a path in it that is supposed to lead up to a haunted house. I usually fill in my own Haunted Mansion toy here, but again, there's no space and kitten can't be trusted if I put it on a table.

Part of the buildings and stuff that I have, have a gingerbread man theme to them. Here's the Halloween cake.

And the headless horseman! No sword here, just a half-peeled banana!

And the pumpkin-pie carving kids.

I'm hoping that the kitty will calm down a bit before Christmas, so I can get all my fun Christmas decorations out. Fingers crossed!