Day Of Syn 2010

Well today was the Dymchurch Day of Syn, the culmination of a bi-annual local village festival based on the series of Dr Syn novels by Russell Thorndike who lived in the village and based his tales around local smuggling history and legends. His first book, simply called "Dr Syn" was published in 1915 and successful enough to warrant the writing of 6 other Dr Syn novels, all prequels as the character Dr Syn died at the end of the first book. The popularity of the Dr Syn story made for three films in which George Arliss portrayed the vicar-cum-smuggler in 1936, followed by a Hammer adaptation in the 1960s starring Peter Cushing, and a Walt Disney TV series starring Patrick McGoohan that was also edited into a film for theatrical release in the 1960s.

With rumours of Disney still guarding the film rights and contemplating another film adaptation and with the novels out of print and as rare as hens' teeth (apart from a 2010 reprinting of the original "Dr Syn" novel), it is heartening to see the people of Dymchurch put on effectively what is a village fete with acted out scenes from the story at various places throughout the village, such as on the beach, outside the local pubs and a parade through the main street, to keep their moment of fame alive in the 21st century.

The whole feel of the day is one of homely amateurism. The village hasn't succumbed to selling out and becoming over commercialised. The fete is still a free event and yet attracts thousands. The programmes have a feel of cheapness about them and that they could be so much better designed and printed in the modern age; and yet that is part of their appeal.

The only sad aspect is that when the villagers dress up as characters from the period, I did hear children's voices cheer at seeing someone dressed up as a rather out of place Captain Jack Sparrow (from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films) and one even piped up that he wanted to see more of Captain Jack, but "who on earth was the person dressed up as a Scarecrow supposed to be!"

Monday 30th August 2010

Philip Glass' Dracula world premiere

Another gem from the archives! The flyer for the world premiere at the Royal Festival Hall back in 1999. (I do have the full programme too.) I attended with my then girlfriend and we just happened, by chance, to be sitting behind my ex-manager and his wife, and neither of us had any idea the other would be at the concert. The Universal Studios film was shown with the new score perfomed live by Philip Glass on piano and the Kronos (string) Quartet. Ironically when the soundtrack was released, it was just of the Kronos Quartet playing the score. Subsequently there has been a release of Michael Riesman playing the score on solo piano, but no combination of the two!

Sunday 29th August 2010

The pumpkin basket...

Well I dusted off this little beauty yesterday as I have started to harvest some of the smaller varieties of squash in my garden and needed somewhere to start storing them after they've hardened off in the sun.

Now this handcarved basket has a tale attached to it! I first saw it in the early 1990s in the window of a shop in Guildhall Street Folkestone that sold furniture. I must admit I didn't spot it first - that was down to two friends of mine who were even more into horror and halloween than I was, and they discussed this fabled wooden hand carved jack-o-lantern basket with awe and wonder yet tinged with some disappointment that it didn't seem up for sale as it had no price tag attached. (Now remember, Halloween decorations in the early 90s were a lot harder to find than today and usually complete tat, and the commercialisation that we see in the major supermarkets today was at least a decade away.)

Anyway, I used to get my haircut in a barber's shop in Guildhall Street that is now a café. And whilst sitting in the dowstairs waiting area passing time looking out the window into the street, my eyes caught this wooden jack-o-lantern in the window of the shop opposite. So ensuring I wouldn't lose my place in the queue if I popped outside for a minute, I dashed across the street into the shop opposite and took a closer look. There was no price tag, but an assistant soon pounced on his one potential customer, so I asked. Frankly I can't remember the price he made up on the spot but it wasn't expensive, and around the £10 mark I think. The owner of the shop actually appeared relieved to have gotten rid of an item he'd been unable to shift for some time!

So to my next Halloween party... imagine the surprise for my friends to see the fabled item sitting amongst the room's decorations! (In fact I had noted a melancholy about their pre-Halloween party discussions as they had noticed the disappearance of the wooden jack-o-lantern that they had stared so lovingly at through the shopfront.)

And the incident always reminds me of a Halloween episode from "Roseanne" where Dan and Rosie win the fancy dress competition at The Lodge and a $100 cash prize despite spending a disproportionate amount on their costumes! And Roseanne's retort is "Well we didn't do it for the money, we did it for the envy!"

Thursday 26th August 2010

Tatted Skeleton

Found this little creation the other day. A friend who lives near Whitstable is constantly knitting and tatting and creating various things in her spare time for charitable causes such as blankets for old people and scarves for prostitutes. And over the years she has created a small knitted Cthulhu for me, lots of tatted snowflakes as Christmas tree decorations and this was her first gift of a tatted skeleton for Halloween.

Wednesday 25th August 2010

Hammer Horror Exhibition

Going through a folder of old leaflets and Halloween related stuff I came across this leaflet for the Hammer Horror exhibition that I went to back in 1998 housed at the fabulous Museum Of The Moving Image on the Southbank in London which is sadly no longer there. Not only was the special exhibition about Hammer Horror films but the rest of the exhibition covered the whole history of cinema and television and was one of London's best and most interactive exhibitions. You could fly like Superman using "blue screen" technology, and even climb inside a Dalek and use the voice modulator to shout obscenities such as "Fornicate!" (Well I did!) On two other occassions I visited MOMI - for other special exhibitions:

Doctor Who in about 1990 just after the Sylvester McCoy series had finished where it was great to see all the old monster suits and props, but some from the Pertwee years in quite a state of degradation and probably borrowed from the Blackpool and Longleat Dr Who permenant exhibitions.

The Muppets - which was held, I think, the year after Jim Henson's early death and was a fantastic tribute to the great puppeteer and his creations; and again very "hands on." You could actually stroke Kermit, Miss Piggy and Big Bird. Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street sets and puppets were also there as were props and puppets from perhaps some of his lesser known work like "The Storyteller."

It's such a shame that MOMI is no longer in exisitence - and don't be fooled by the new London Film Museum in County Hall by the London Eye. It is a very poor, and overpriced effort in comparison with rather long corridors connecting large rooms with only a handful of props or costumes in each.

Although the Harry Harryhausen exhibition, which I visited in July, and is still on at the moment will be of interest to those who appreciate Stop Motion animation, and will probably be the only chance people get to see the great man's original models. However, the models are spread out over just 3 rooms and it would be difficuly for even the most avid fan to spend more than 20 minutes in these three rooms reading all the captions and watching the short video clips!

Tuesday 24th August 2010

Christopher Lee book

Yesterday I was given an old hardback anthology book from 1977 compiled by Christopher Lee. It contains the usual fare of M.R. James, Saki, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury e.t.c., and I haven't yet had the time to read it. But for 50p from a charity shop, it's got to be worth the purchase for the cover alone!

Monday 23rd August 2010

Halloween Toblerone

Does anyone else remember back in 2002 when Toblerone produced their Halloween packaging that glowed in the dark? Not too sure about the potential health effects of phosphorescent chemicals near food... But then around the same time GAP did produce Halloween boxers shorts with phosphorescent designs on them that can't've been good for one's sperm count ! (And don't ask for pictures for that one!)

Monday 23rd August 2010

Dawn of the Dead

Sunday 22nd August 2010

Well it seems the time has come to join the internet age and start blogging in time for Halloween. The reason... well amongst a small group of friends I have there is some healthy competition to find the best Halloween gifts, and also the earliest date Halloween decorations hit the high street. So this blog will serve as a chance to share such finds year by year, but also go over the gifts of Halloween past and share some rarities too. So to start things off, here is an original poster book from 1978 promoting George A. Romero's "Dawn Of The Dead" movie. It was given to me a couple of years ago by renowned Hollywood make up artist and sometime actor Tom Savini in a bookstore in London. I had no prior knowledge of his trip to said store and was just killing some time before catching a train home. Tom Savini had a whole box of these poster books all in mint condition that he had apparently cleared out of George Romero's garage.