Over at BoingBoing, Xeni Jardin has been blogging her fight against breast cancer. She finished her treatment a couple of months ago, and a friend presented her with a great “Kicking Cancer’s Ass” medal. He made it simply by finding an appropriate award medal (in this case, “Science”) at a site that specializes in trophies and awards; the message and her name was part of the standard customization.
This is a gift I’d never thought of before, and I love the idea. It turns out that there are a lot of Halloween-themed medals, trophies, plaques, ribbons, and other awards, primarily meant to be used as prizes for costume contests or parties. Crown Awards, Trophy Depot, and Dinn Bros. all have nice selections, and searching “Halloween award” will turn up plenty of other vendors. (Most cities also have a trophy shop or two, in case you’d rather go the low-tech route.) Most of the awards are surprisingly inexpensive, as well.
These would make a lovely and unique gift to help someone celebrate a special achievement. (It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as beating cancer; even “Congratulations for not strangling your boss!” would be just fine.) It’s a great way to make someone feel extra-special; who doesn’t like getting a medal?
When I go out, I always carry a note that says, “THIS WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT”, so the police will have something interesting to do if I die.
— rolldiggity
Christmas toy idea: a Tickle Me Kristen Stewart Doll except when you tickle her she just stares.
— prodigalsam
If you live to be 100, you should make up some fake reason why, just to fuck with people… like claim you ate a pinecone every single day.
— GuyEndoreKaiser
The best thing about alcohol hand gel in hospitals isn’t the hygiene, but that everyone walks around like they’re hatching a dastardly plan.
— ChribHibble
If you want your waiter to be extra attentive, begin your order with “Well, considering this is my final meal…”
— bridger_w
All underwear is edible if you’re willing to persevere.
— mrnickharvey
It’s not a walk of shame if you do a victory lap of their house as you’re leaving.
— Paxochka
If I was a capricious god, every time someone said they had to see a man about a horse, I would make them poop a tiny horse.
— sween
James Bond Coca-Cola? Good idea! For as we all know, his catchphrase is “Coca-Cola: Shaken not-Oh for fuck’s sake it’s all over my tuxedo.”
— MrMichaelSpicer
From now on, I’m only supporting celebrities I think would let me in their mansion during a zombie apocalypse.
— lifeserial
David from Dark Artifacts dropped me a line to let me know about a truly insane case currently going on in his part of the world. It’s worth mentioning here because something similar could affect many of us.
Rémy Couture, a horror makeup artist in Montreal, posted photos of some of his work online. Someone in Germany ran across the site, mistook the makeup–which was apparently labeled as, y’know, makeup–as photos of a real crime, and reported it to Interpol. Canadian police arrested him and he is being charged with “Corruption of Morals,” which is not only an honest-to-goodness law in Canada, it carries a sentence of up to 4 years in prison.
My gob, it is smacked.
There are so many scary implications for this case it’s hard to know where to begin, but the idea that “corruption of morals” outweighs “freedom of speech” is right up near the top. (Not to mention that somebody in a whole ‘nother country can cause you trouble if they don’t like what you’ve posted online.) David rightly points out that if Remy is convicted it could adversely affect the art community and create restrictions and censorship of horror fans and producers.
This kind of law has been floated in a number of countries, and it behooves us to pay close attention to them and fight their passage. Posting something that somebody else doesn’t like should very definitely not be penalized.
David discusses the case more fully here, and you can read more about the case (and donate to his legal defense) at SupportRemy.
The matches for our Secret Santa Can Suck It exchange have been made and sent to their assignees. After everyone posts about their “gift,” I’ll list all of the entries to peruse. To kick things off, here’s mine.
My giftee is Pensive Pumpkin. Rivaling her love of spooky things is her love of running, so my gift is a spooky running package.
We’ll start with a new workout wardrobe, with skulls featuring prominently:
Next, a new iPhone…
…loaded with helpful workout apps, including Zombies, Run!.
After that, an extended trip to Europe to participate in the marathons of her choice and spend her downtime visiting gothy locales like cemeteries and catacombs and castles.
Finally, she needs a personal trainer and workout buddy, and really the best possible choice would be Alan Rickman, whose bona fides are easily seen in clips like this and this (both NSFW). He’ll be available as necessary for morale-boosting and soothing massages.
Happy Holidays, Pensive! I hope you enjoy my “gift!”
Just like the last edition, here’s a bunch of images I’ve run across which don’t quite warrant a post of their own (click to view larger). Several of them have no attribution, so if you happen to know the source for any of these please leave a note in the comments.
Fireplace Ghost
This was all over Pinterest, and I finally learned it’s called an Immortal Morton. There’s another view (and cheaper price) here, which makes it look significantly…less daunting. It should be possible to DIY something similar with wire, plastic skeleton parts, and cheesecloth.
NMBC Violin
Attractive, presumably handpainted, violin.
Skeleton Hand Cookies
According to this photostream, these were done by Stan’s Bakery. Although a bit time-consuming, they wouldn’t be hard to DIY.
Spider Cookies
These appear to be made out of fondant; this would look good on a cake too.
Skeleton Hand Bra
Possibly DIY-able with rubber prop skeleton hands. I’m pretty sure this is the same type of bra; there’s also another shop which has something that looks more like applique or fabric paint (which would also be DIY-able).
Dia de los Muertos Cake
I didn’t find an original source, but whilst searching I did run across some other nice examples.
Raven Tattoo
I did dig up a source for this one: It’s by Polak One of Harai Tattoo; his gallery has some other neat stuff too.
The Hairpin occasionally does “Get This Look” articles which feature style suggestions based around a particular theme: Royalty or Rainforest Animals or what-have-you. Last Halloween they did a few inspired by famous ghosts, and I love the idea of building a spook-themed outfit. My only quibble is that their combinations might be somewhat problematic to actually wear (or it’s possible that I simply don’t get invited to the sorts of parties where a ballgown and knitted armlets are appropriate).
I’ve put together a couple more, based on other famous ghosts.
Black Aggie is a shrouded statue which used to be used as a grave marker in Maryland. It was long rumored to be haunted and since so many people broke in to the cemetery at night to visit it, the exasperated family finally donated it to the Smithsonian.
La Llorona is a Mexican legend about a woman who drowned her children in order to be with her lover. Regretting her decision, she now wanders forever, weeping and kidnapping children.
Anne Boleyn is probably too well-known to require much of an introduction (at least on this blog). She runs around headless, yo.
Screaming Jenny is a ghost in Harper’s Ferry, West VA. She’s said to have been a woman whose dress caught on fire; in a panic, she ran out of the house and onto the railroad track where she was struck and killed by a train, which is an extremely Wile E. Coyote way to meet one’s demise. Her fiery phantom is said to still haunt that section of track.
Over at 
