Cruft Manor has once again returned to our Halloween traditions. Every year, we give out full size candies, made a listing of all costumes, and make a timelapse movie.

I let the kids choose their favorite candy themselves. This can sometimes lead to a prolonged choosing process and discussion. It's awesome to hear them debate the pro and cons of various candies.

As has become tradition, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. This year, I started when the first trick or treaters appeared around 5:30 PM. Former Nanny Rachel was here to help in the beginning.

Early on I ordered a pizza for dinner but it took a long time to arrive. Once it was here, I was so busy with kids, I couldn't get up to eat. Syd arrived around 7:30 and spelled me for a bit while I wolfed down a pizza slice. To our Halloween horror, we realized that I was out of Rye and we could not make our regular Manhattans. We cracked open a bottle of Glenfiddich and enjoyed some scotch on the rocks.

I had wired up the GoPro camera to make the timelapse movie and had have power full time. Unfortunately, in my haste I forgot to flip the power strip on, so the camera ran out of battery before the evening was over. The video captures just over 2.5 hours of the 3 hours we were handing our candy.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.

This Halloween makes it 12 years of data to compare, going back though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Here are the top ten costumes for the last eleven years compared.

This year, Dwarves take the top spot. A bit of an outlier, a family showed up with a toddler dressed as Snow White accompanied by 7 adult dwarves. Each dwarf had a custom and correctly colored costume made of felt. They put a lot of work into the effort, all for a toddler that seemed bewildered by the whole thing. I considered not counting the Dwarves, but considering the time they took, decided to count them all.

The rest of the list are perennial favorites with Witch easily taking second place. I was pleased to see Zombie Adam Sandler make a return visit from last year. Amazingly, there was not a single politics themed costume. It seems children aren't into the nonsense.

Our total number of visitors was up significantly, into 200s easily. Getting back to a weeknight for Halloween has seemed to improve the numbers.

This year's complete costume list of 211 people:

7 Dwarves
6 Witch
4 Batgirl
4 Captain America
4 Death
4 Días de Muertos
4 Elsa
4 Minnie Mouse
4 Princess
4 Vampire
4 Zombie
3 Batman
3 Iron Man
3 Spiderman
3 Superman
2 Animaniacs
2 Bumblebee
2 Cat
2 Devil
2 Dorothy
2 Elena
2 Fairy
2 Harley Quinn
2 Indian
2 James P. Sullivan
2 Jason Voorhees
2 Minion
2 Monkey
2 Ninja
2 Police Officer
2 Skeleton Boy
2 Snow White
2 The Flash
2 Wonder Woman
1 $100 Dollar Bill
1 50s Girl
1 Alice in Wonderland
1 Amelia Earhart
1 Andy Biersack
1 Angel
1 Anna
1 Anonymous
1 Assassin
1 Astronaut
1 Baby
1 Baseball Card
1 Bear
1 Bela Legosi
1 Belle
1 Black Panther
1 Bunny Hopper
1 Butterfly
1 Buzz Lightyear
1 Candy Corn Fairy
1 Charizard
1 Cheeky Chocolate
1 Cleopatra
1 Cloud
1 Darth Vader
1 David Beckham
1 Deadpool
1 Doctor
1 Dora the Explorer
1 Dracula
1 Eastwood
1 Elmo
1 Evie of Descendants
1 Ghost
1 Ghostbuster
1 Halo Soldier
1 Hot Dog
1 Hulk
1 Ice Cream Cone
1 Insane Asylum Inmate
1 Irish Dancer
1 Jabberwocky Dancer
1 Jack Skellington
1 Jasmine
1 Jedi
1 Jeffrey
1 Jester
1 Joker
1 Josh Dun
1 Katniss
1 Killer Clown
1 Kings Hockey Player
1 Kubo
1 Kylo Ren
1 Leo - TMNT
1 Lifeguard
1 Light Up Pumpkin
1 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Mad Scientist
1 Mass Murderer
1 Mickey Mouse
1 Monster High Skeleton
1 Monster Hunter
1 Mr. Grimm
1 Negan
1 Noah Syndergaard
1 Obi Wan Kenobi
1 Optimus Prime
1 Ostrich Rider
1 Panda
1 Party Animal
1 Piggy
1 Pikachu
1 Pirate
1 Princess Leia
1 Queen of Hearts
1 Rafael TMNT
1 Reaper
1 Rey
1 Robin
1 Ryu - Street Fighter
1 Saint
1 Samantha
1 Scarecrow
1 Scary Skeleton
1 Scream
1 Sheriff Kelly
1 Skeleton
1 Skull Man
1 Slinky the Dog
1 Soldier
1 Spider Cat
1 Squirtle
1 Stitch
1 Supergirl
1 Surgeon
1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
1 Thing 1
1 Thing 2
1 Tokyo Ghoul
1 Transformer
1 Turtle
1 Tyler Joseph
1 U of Wisconsin Fan
1 Viking
1 Waldo
1 Yoda
1 Yokai
1 Zombie Adam Sandler
1 Zombie Cheerleader
1 Zombie Prom Queen
1 Zombie Skeleton


211 Costumed Visitors

Cruft Manor has once again returned to our Halloween traditions. Every year, we give out full size candies, made a listing of all costumes, and made a timelapse movie.

I let the kids choose their favorite candy themselves. This can sometimes lead to a prolonged choosing process and discussion. It's awesome to hear them debate the pro and cons of various candies.

As has become tradition, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. This year, I started when the first trick or treaters appeared around 6:25 PM. Michele was here, as was our friends Kate & Syd to help. Piper & Lulu the dogs were supervising.

Children arrived in clumps, as usual. We had a great dinner of steak, salad, and corn to help prevent eating only candy. Syd made me a few delicious Manhattans to drink. We watched John Wick and the beginning of Inside Out.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.

This Halloween makes it 11 years of data to compare, going back though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Here are the top ten costumes for the last eleven years compared.

Surprisingly, perennial costumes like Cat & Witch were fairly low on the list compared to previous years. The Purge masks arrived in full force, surrounded by other common costumes.

Our total number of visitors was up a little, but not into the 200s as in previous years. Many kids in our neighborhood are growing up and out at parties and college now.

This year's complete costume list of 185 people:

6 Ninja
6 Skeleton
6 The Purge
5 Batman
5 Spiderman
4 Jason Voorhees
4 Minnie Mouse
3 Elsa
3 Princess
3 Scream
3 Superman
3 Witch
2 Angel
2 Bee
2 Belle
2 Chuckie
2 Clown
2 Construction Worker
2 Day of the Dead
2 Devil
2 Grapes
2 Grim Reaper
2 Indian
2 Iron Man
2 Kitten
2 Little Red Riding Hood
2 Pirate
2 Storm Trooper
2 Supergirl
2 The Joker
2 Vampire
2 Walker (Walking Dead)
2 Zombie
1 A Bush
1 Akatsuki from Naruto
1 Angry Bird
1 Anonymous
1 Ariel
1 Army Guy
1 Assassin
1 Bat Fairy
1 Baymax
1 Beta Pig
1 Blue Man
1 Blue Man Superhero
1 Boba Fett
1 Boogieman
1 Bunny
1 Buzz Lightyear
1 Cat
1 Cat in the Hat
1 Cavegirl
1 Charlie Brown in Costume
1 Cheetah
1 Cher from Clueless
1 Cheshire Cat
1 Chewbacca
1 Cinderella
1 Color Runner
1 Cop
1 Cowgirl
1 Creeper from Minecraft
1 Dead Basketball Player
1 Dead Clown
1 Dead Schoolgirl
1 Deadpool
1 Demon
1 Destructive Monster
1 Dinosaur
1 Doll
1 Elementary School Teacher
1 Emoji
1 Flash
1 Frankenstein
1 Friar
1 Gypsy
1 Half Reptile Half Woman
1 Harley Quinn
1 Harry Potter
1 Hippie
1 Hulk
1 Indiana Jones
1 Inmate
1 Invisible Man
1 Killjoy
1 Kung Fu Panda
1 La Muerta
1 Ladybug
1 Little Flower
1 Manga Character
1 Mardi Gras
1 Mary Lennox from the Secret Garden
1 Masquerade
1 Maybelle from Gravity Falls
1 Messi (football)
1 Minion
1 Napolean Dynamite
1 Nerd
1 Neymar (football)
1 Ninja Turtle
1 Ninja Turtle - Leonardo
1 Ninja Turtle - Michelangelo
1 Penguin
1 Phantom
1 Pin-up Girl
1 Police
1 Rapunzel
1 Ren
1 Ruby from Steven Universe
1 Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas)
1 Scorpion
1 Sinister Jester
1 Skeleton with red mowhawk
1 Soul Taker
1 Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
1 Supervillian
1 SWAT
1 Timmy Turner
1 Tony Esposito (Blackhawks)
1 Unicorn with wings
1 Waldo
1 Wanda from Fairly Odd Parents
1 Wild Kratz
1 Wizard
1 Zombie Adam Sandler


185 Costumed Visitors

Today I went to my local police station and asked for them to take my guns and have them destroyed.

The task was fairly simple. I explained I had guns I wanted to get rid of at the front desk. They made a copy of my driver's license and then walked out to my car with me to retrieve them. We went into the station to an interview room where we looked at the guns and they wrote down the serial numbers. They looked up the serial numbers to check for any issues, found none, and I left, no longer a gun owner.

Over ten years ago, I saw an ad in the paper for a WW II rifle on sale for under a hundred bucks and decided to buy one. As an engineer, almost everything about firearms is interesting; the history, the design, the operation, and the effects. I took it to ranges and shot it several times. I let friends shoot it. A few years later, I got the idea that I needed a shotgun to go hunting and shoot clays with. I took it to ranges and shot it alongside the rifle a few times. I even took photos of myself with them as gags on social media.

Most of the time, they sat in my attic, locks in place, with the ammo in another place. For a time, I pondered getting a handgun and browsed the internet.

Last week, I sat in a hotel room and watched the President talk about the latest mass shooting and how they had become routine and the concern that nothing would change. I started to shrug it off and pretend in my mind that there was nothing I could do. But the idea that gun culture doesn't bear some responsibility for these killings didn't make sense to me. I didn't want to be a part of gun culture anymore.

I was never going to use these guns for self-defense, they were safely locked and out of reach. I don't hunt. I don't shoot clays. There are no dangerous animals where I live. There are no zombies. I'm not a police officer or soldier. I am not part of a well regulated militia. There's no reason for me to have them.

So I got rid of them. Firearms are no longer a hobby of mine.

Many years ago, my wife's grandmother, Popo, would make Chinese style riblets. She'd have the butcher split the baby backs in half and marinate them in soy sauce and sugar and then cook in a pot until they fell off the bone. They were delicious and I loved the idea of the ribs being split into appetizer size.

I came up with a way to smoke riblets that has become a fun treat for parties. Michele requested it for Christmas Eve this year. Who am I to refuse?

So here is how I smoke riblets.

I pick up standard baby back ribs from the market and have the butcher split the ribs with the band saw. When I get home, i wash the ribs well to get off any debris and blood.

An important step is removing the membrane. I pat the ribs dry and use a paper towel to get a better grip.

I put my smoke rub on the ribs. Not heavily, just enough for a thin coating.

After letting the rub sit on the ribs for an hour or so, I cut them in half and place into my smoker.

I let the ribs smoke for about 2-3 hours. Just one box of chips in the box until I pull them out and bring them back into the kitchen.

The trick to good riblets as appetizers is to cut them individually BEFORE they go all off the bone soft. If you wait until later, everything tends to fall apart.

The riblets are now placed in a basic 'Texas Crutch' setup where they are wrapped in foil, in a pan. I pour in a cup or two of apple juice to help keep them hydrated and add a tiny bit of sweetness.

I put the pan back in the smoker and just keep the heat at 200-225° for 8-10 more hours. No more smoke, just heat.

When it's about a half hour before dinner, I pull them out and open the foil to let them rest. When it's time to eat, I place them in a serving dish, warm up some BBQ sauce to accompany, and the riblets are good to go.

Cruft Manor has once again returned to our Halloween traditions. Every year, we give out full size candies, made a listing of all costumes, and made a timelapse movie.

As has become tradition, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. This year, I started when the first trick or treaters appeared around 5:30, so there is some time until the action gets started after dusk.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.

This Halloween makes it 10 years of data to compare, going back though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012and 2013.

Here are the top ten costumes for the last ten years compared.

Many predicted that Elsa would dominate, but I only saw 3 Elsa costumes. Cat and Witch again dominate as the go to costume for girls. There was more variety, as you can see when costumes with 2 people wearing them make it into the top ten.

No one showed up without a costume, except one father who appeared quite new to the concept of Halloween and was simply interested in the free candy.

This year, we saw a dip in visitors. I had thought that Halloween on a Friday woudl lead to big numbers, but maybe people went to parties or other things instead of heading out. Another factor may have been the rain forecasted. Some may have stayed home due to that as well. This was the first time under 200 people in several years. I have a lot of candy left over.

While I waited in the doorway, I watched The Shining and 47 Ronin. The Shining was better. Thanks to Cousin James who helped me set up for the night and keep me company in the beginning.

After giving out ~200 full size candies, the rain started around 9:15 PM and I closed up for the night. Outside a few groups were scurrying home to get out of the rain.

This year's complete costume list of 177 people:

1 "I Don't Know"
1 50s Girl
1 Alien Soldier
2 Anna - Frozen
1 Annie Oakley
2 Ariel
2 Assassin
1 Astronaut
1 Ballerina Bat
1 Batgirl
2 Batman
2 Belle
1 Biker Girl
1 Black Mask Guy
1 Box Troll
2 Broken Doll
1 Broken Porcelain Doll
1 BumbleBee
1 Bunny
1 Burglar
1 Buzz Lightyear
2 Captain America
1 Carebear
9 Cat
1 Catwoman
1 Cereal Killer
1 Cheetah
1 Chinese Girl
1 Cinderella
2 Clone Trooper
1 Comic Book Character
1 Commander Cody
1 Cowgirl
1 Dad
1 Darla from Nemo
3 Darth Vader
1 Demigod
1 Demon
1 Dipper from Gravity Falls
1 Doctor
2 Dorothy
1 Elmer
3 Elsa
1 Fairy
1 FBI Agent
1 Finn the Human
1 Fiona - Adventure Time
1 Fireman
1 Floating Sheet
1 Football Player
1 Goth Zombie
1 Greek Goddess
1 Green Ninja
1 Guy w/ Cigarette & Tux
1 Indiana Jones
1 Iron Man
1 Jabberwocky Dancer
1 Jason Voorhees
1 Killing Guy
1 Kitty
1 Koala Tamer
1 Lilo
1 Link
2 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Lizard
2 Luigi
1 Luke Skywalker
1 Magician
1 Mangaverse Spiderman
1 Mario
1 Matt Harvey of the Mets
1 Merida
1 Mermaid
1 Michaelangelo - TMNT
1 Mike Tyson
1 Minecraft Creeper
1 Minnie Mouse
1 Monster High
2 Monsters Inc.
2 Mouse
1 Mulan
3 Nerd
3 Ninja
1 Panda Bear
1 Paper Doll
1 Pikachu
2 Pirate
1 Pokey
1 Policeman
1 Power Ranger
1 Princess
1 Queen of Hearts
1 Rafael - TMNT
1 Rapper
1 Red Power Ranger
2 Robber
2 Sailor
2 Scarecrow
1 Scary Clown
1 Scary Hockey Player
1 Scary Rice Picker
2 Scream
1 Severed Hand Guy
2 Skeleton
1 Skeleton Girl
2 Snow White
1 Soccer Player
1 Soccer Referee
4 Spiderman
1 Starlord
1 Stitch
1 Sub-Zero - Mortal Kombat
1 SWAT
1 Sweet Scare Crow
1 The Devil
1 The Doctor (11th)
1 The Purge
1 The Reaper
1 Thor
1 Tuxedo Guy
1 Union Soldier
1 Unusual Kind of Alien from Homestuck
2 V for Vendetta
2 Waldo
1 Werewolf
1 Whoopie Cushion
5 Witch
1 Wolverine
1 Woody
1 Zombie Bride
1 Zombie Doctor
1 Zombie from the Core

Many post gift guides before Christmas, but I found myself unable to do so. I did think about it and write a few notes down. So, exactly one month after Christmas, I present the official Cruftbox Gift Guide!

Liberty Puzzles

Liberty Puzzles take the hobby to the next level, providing heirloom quality puzzles that look and feel like artwork. The term 'jigsaw' puzzle comes from the fact that early puzzles were cut from wood sheets by a jigsaw tool according to a pattern drawn on them. Liberty continued that tradition but uses a laser cutter to get the precision needed to cut what they call 'whimsy' pieces. Whismy pieces are puzzle pieces that are cut into a shape that is in line with the picture on the puzzle. Holiday images are made of holiday shapes. Japanese woodblock prints are made of Japanese icons and shapes. Liberty puts a huge amount of effort into creating a cohesive puzzle that doesn't use repeating standard shapes, instead using a unique set of shapes literally designed to accompany the puzzle image.

If you know someone that likes puzzles, they will love getting a Liberty Puzzle. They aren't cheap, but they are most definitely worth it.

Tonx Coffee

Tonx is a subscription mail order coffee company. Met the founders, Tony & Nik in of all places, a coffee shop, when they were just getting started. They find and roast great coffees from all over the world and ship them directly to their subscribers. Personally, I love the lighter roasts with more flavor and notes than the heavy dark roasts you find at most chain coffee shops and beans you get at the super market. Tonx provides just this kind of coffee.

I love the delivery aspect of the business and the serendipity of not knowing exactly what you are going to get. In a world where people spend endless hours analyzing before purchases, it's fun to simply put yourself in the hands of an expert and try new thigns.

It's more spendy than the average bag of coffee, but I think it's worth it to get the quality. Just like wine or spirits, spending a little more for quality can be worth it and much more enjoyable.

You can give a gift subscription or subscribe for yourself. You can use my referral link if you want to try it for free.

Victorinox Swiss Army Knife - Rambler

Everyone should have a small pocketknife with them at all times. Be Prepared is not just the Boy Scout Motto, it's a good way to look at life.

I recommend the Victorinox Rambler. This knife doesn't have a single 'wasted' slot, filled with tools you'll use on a daily basis. Just a bit over two inches long, it has a perfect assortment of bits. The small blade and scissors are probably most useful. The bottle opener and file aren't used as much, but when they are needed, nothing else will suffice. They are nicely topped with small flathead and Phillips screwdriver heads. Rounded out with the traditional tweezers and toothpick, the Rambler is all function, no fluff. It's great on a key chain or in a purse to solve life's minor inconveniences.

See's Candy

See's Candy is a Los Angeles institution. The familiar black and white shops are scattered across the Southland and are a welcome sight to any Angeleno. Everyone has a favorite candy (mine is the Scotchmallow) and for most brings back memories of the free samples in the store. While See's has maintained a very traditional brand with uniforms, limited hours, and an emphasis on customer service, they have a great online store where you can get anything packaged and shipped. Besides ordering the standard boxes, you can also make a custom mix of just the chocolates that you think would be best.

Pretty much everyone loves a box of chocolate, and See's is the perfect mix of tradition, personalization, and wonderful tasting candy.

Cool Tools by Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly is an amazing polymath, having been involved in the Whole Earth Catalog, Wired Magazine, and writing one of my favorite books, What Technology Wants. In Cool Tools, he's taken the reviews he's gather in the last decade on his Cool Tools site, and actually printed them out into a gigantic catalog of, well, cool tools. Prefect for a coffee table or a bathroom read, the book is something that engages your mind in the possibilities of making new things and new ways of doing familiar things.

Today marks the anniversary of starting my weblog, Cruftbox. I've been blogging for 14 years now. Posting stories about my life actually started a little earlier, with this one about The Most Expensive Cup of Coffee back in 1997, but it wasn't until January 2000 that I got rolling with a real fervor and software to help.

Things have changed a wee bit since those heady days, just past the Y2K scare, when mobile phones were used for talking, the wail of a modem connecting was common, and Napster was a new idea.

I'll come right out and say it, personal weblogs, for the most part, are dead. [queue the furious responses] I can almost hear the keyboards typing in fury in response.

But it's true. Social software has replaced the role of weblogs in documenting and sharing an individual's life.

Yes, there are still people with personal weblogs out there, but for the most part they focus on a specific topic or issue the person is interested. A person's interest in a sport or fitness program, or their food adventures in eating out or cooking, or even facing illness or other tough circumstances are the kinds of things that is what makes up the fewer and fewer number of personal weblogs out there.

That said, it's not a bad thing. Change is inevitable and generally we forward in a better direction. Twitter, Facebook, and other modern sharing systems are fun.

I do worry that the ephemeral nature of social networks does lead to a tremendous amount for information being lost and unretrievable. Weblogs at least have a chance of staying up long enough to get indexed and maybe even backed up on archive.org.

Many weblogs exist today as adjunct to the main focus, which is social media and getting posts to go viral. They are not about having a conversation anymore. Here, I actually turned off comments because no one used them except spam robots. No one said a word when I did.

I spoke to my daughters about my weblog. They are 15 & 18, growing up immersed in the internet and connected as long as they can remember. I asked what they thought of Cruftbox. They said that it was neat, but that no one does this anymore. I asked what they considered their 'home' on the internet, where people coudl best get a view of who they are. One said her Tumblr site, another said Facebook. This it the foreseeable future. You can rage against if you want, but the coming of age generation sees personal weblogs as an anachronism.

Now we shouldn't take that to mean that people should stop blogging, simply as a sign that change is happening. Just as at one time, your .plan file and your usenet signature were important identifiers in a way that many can't comprehend today, weblogs are heading down the same path. New things continue to appear and allow your voice to be heard, weblogs are clearly not the only way.

So face up to the reality that most personal weblogs are run by tech saavy middle aged folks, slowly watching an era end. This is not something to be sad about, for new amazing things are coming. Think of it like the leaves of fall on the ground being the fertilizer for the flowers of spring.