On Friday Beth and I attended a Halloween party organised by The Friends of the Coliseum. The Coliseum Cinema in Porthmadog was built in 1931 and remains a fine example of an Art Deco style that harks back to the golden age of cinema. Admittedly I wasn’t a patron of this fine establishment until 2005 but I was instantly blown away by its look and design and so I was saddened to hear of its closure and uncertain future. Thankfully some of Porthmadog’s residents decided they would do something about it and so they formed a group that raises funds and awareness. The event was called ‘Spirit of the Coliseum’ and was held at Portmeirion’s Hercules Hall a one night only fancy dress disco with all proceeds going directly towards saving and re-opening the Coliseum.
For a costume I decided to go as Ash Williams from the ‘Evil Dead 2’ movie complete with chainsaw hand made from various things I found around the studio. Using the dvd for reference I applied the necessary tears to my shirt and cuts to my face. Then from boomsticks to broomsticks Beth decided she wanted to go as a witch but not the ‘conventional’ witch one would normally associate with Halloween instead going as Samantha Stephens from the television show ‘Bewitched’ wearing a beautiful 60’s evening dress and supporting a broomstick worthy of Elizabeth Montgomery!Hercules Hall was a magnificent venue with its dark wood panelling, portraits and carved ceiling that complimented the music provided by DJ Y Bwgan. There was an excellent turnout, great many imaginative costumes to be seen and everyone was having a great time. I was also able to meet up with some of my fellow zombies from the ‘Zombies from Ireland’ shoot back in July. A little later into the evening partygoers were invited to view the premiere of the mini documentary about the Coliseum, which was shot recently by local filmmaker Stuart Murray, the film highlighted what the Coliseum meant to the local residents.
Then it was back to the dance floor to dance the night away, we had a “groovy” evening and I ‘doff my hat’ to the organisers who managed to raise £1055 for the cause!
If you would like to find out more, sign the petition or better yet make a donation please follow the link.
The big day! It was time to carve pumpkins! I love carving pumpkins (second only to decorating Christmas trees!) and this year I thought I would add some life to our jack-o-lantern by creating a mutant pumpkin complete with glowing mutant green eyes, mouth and twisting roots ready to catch a Trick-or-Treater that dared to get too close! He kept guard on the table as we tucked in to a bowl of home made mutant pumpkin soup.Unfortunately the weather cut short my daughter’s plan to go out Trick-or-Treating so it was back to the house for a warm drink and bowl of popcorn!
Later on I then joined a National Séance that is quickly becoming an annual tradition for me! To celebrate the nineteenth anniversary of Ghostwatch's first UK television broadcast the Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains site repeated the success of last year’s event!Just like many other Ghostwatch fans I like to watch Ghostwatch on Halloween night, so this event allowed us to do so along with countless other fans by taking part in a 'live' simultaneous repeat viewing! All that was required was a Ghostwatch dvd and a Twitter account set your Ghostwatch dvd to start at 21:25 (the time it originally aired in 1992) and then tweet comments and share thoughts on the proceedings as it plays. Great fun, lovely to see so many fans joining in! I anticipate next year’s 20th anniversary!
I now plan to return to the sofa and watch a few more dvd’s before the first of November arrives, Happy Hallowe'en to you all!
© Arfon Jones 2011. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.
