Today is the last day of Movember. The Mo is in full bloom.
Please consider donating to help fight prostate cancer.
These things are worth your time to read:
Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving - This literally brought tears to my eyes as I read it and laughed so hard I snorted. Be sure to catch this one about Simple Dog as well.
20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web - An amazing example of HTML5 and good explanations of the current internet to less tech savvy people. If only the whole web worked this way...
Color names if you are a man or a woman - Even made Michele laugh.
Two Hipsters and a Bong - Youtube clip 1:46 long, worth it
The Great Cyberheist - A superb NY Times article on criminal hacking.
Why is November a hard month at Cruft Manor? Because it's Movember, the month when I grow a mustache for charity.
This is the third year I've grow a mustache to help raise money to fight prostate cancer. Prostate cancer hits 1 on 3 men. Most people know a man in their family that's been affected by this terrible disease. The Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG use the money to help men with cancer and fund research.
I'm asking you to donate to the cause.
As you can see from the pictures on the Movember site and below, facial hair comes on strong with me. As my brother Matt says "Pusateri facial hair is an relentless force of nature. You can't stop it; you can only hope to contain it."
So far I've been asked if I'm an Air Marshal when checking into a flight at the airport, and as you can see above, I'm rocking the school principal look now. As usual, Michele and the girls eagerly await the end of the month when they can shave it off, like in previous years: 2009 & 2008.
I know money's tighter for many than it's been in the past, but if you can spare a donation, I'd be grateful. Thanks in advance.
Halloween was last night, and we were up to our usual tricks. For year six of handing out full size candy the magic continues. Children are wowed and often shocked at the idea of receiving and full size candy bar when the rest of the night is filled with minis. The cries of 'awesome' and 'look Mom, it's a big one' are great.
Due to technical difficulties (the camera could not be found) I was unable to make the timelapse movie of handing out candy. next year, I vow to start preparing to make the movie before 5PM on Halloween.
As I have in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 I asked every person what they were dressed as and wrote down the answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see. I now have six years of data to compare.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last six years compared.
It seems that Witch once again remains in the top spot with a surprising challenge by Minnie Mouse making a run for the crown. I was happy to note that besides the one Grabby Grandma who reached in a grabbed a candy bar without saying a word or even looking at me, everyone was in costume. No one said they were dressed as nothing this year. The nerd costume was new as it involved a shirt buttoned to the neck and large black glasses. The majority of costumes were homemade and a lot of thought went into most of the non-scary ones. The scary ones are basically a mask with a bloody or ripped shirt.
Nate the son of one of my riding buddies came dressed as Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python & the Holy Grail. I forgot to snap a picture, but he had the headgear perfect. I also enjoyed these two homemade Rorschachs.
Well played Gentlemen.
At first we feared it would be a slow night due to Halloween being on Sunday, but by 9PM when we closed up, out of candy, over 200 people had stopped by.
This year's complete costume list of 212 people:
10 Witch
7 Minnie Mouse
7 Pirate
5 Clone Trooper
5 Princess
4 Nerd
4 Ninja
4 Spiderman
3 Alice in Wonderland
3 Belle
3 Fireman
3 Jessie
3 Jester
3 Ladybug
3 Mario
3 Scream
3 Snow White
3 Woody
2 80s Girl
2 Bumblebee
2 Cat
2 Dracula
2 Freddy Krueger
2 Harry Potter
2 Indian
2 Indian Chief
2 Lightning McQueen
2 Luigi
2 Queen of Hearts
2 Raggedy Ann
2 Rorschach
2 Skeleton
2 Wolfman
1 "Obama is the Anti-Christ"
1 "the Grudge"
1 20s dancer
1 50s Rockabilly Girl
1 Abby (Sesame Street)
1 Angel
1 Ballerina
1 Bear
1 Belly Dancer
1 Bloody Guy
1 Blueberry
1 Buckethead
1 Butterfly
1 Cat in the Hat
1 Cheerleader
1 Child of our Generation
1 Cinderella
1 Concert Master
1 Cookie Monster
1 Cow
1 Crystal Skull
1 Cut Guy
1 Darth Maul
1 Darth Vader
1 Dead Sailor
1 Demon
1 Devil
1 Dinosaur
1 Doctor
1 Doctor Superman
1 Dodger
1 Dragon
1 Elmo
1 Evil Goat
1 Fairy
1 Flying Monkey
1 Football Player
1 Frankenstein
1 Gangster
1 Ghost
1 Ghoul
1 Go Go Girl
1 Grabby Grandma
1 Grampa
1 Guitar
1 Half-Reaver
1 Hippie Girl
1 Hobo Zombie
1 Iron Chef
1 Jailbird
1 Jason Voorhees
1 Joker
1 Ketchup Bottle
1 Kitty Cat
1 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Mad Hatter
1 Masked Person
1 Mickey Mouse
1 Miss South Pasadena
1 Monster
1 Monster Ninja
1 Moose
1 Mummy
1 Optimus Prime
1 Oscar the Grouch
1 Peacock
1 Pirate Lady
1 Pirate Wench
1 Pocahontas
1 Prisoner Clown
1 Prussia from Hetalia
1 Punk
1 Punk Girl
1 Punk Rocker
1 Reaver
1 Referee
1 Robert Plant
1 Russia from Hetalia
1 Sailor
1 Sally
1 Scarecrow
1 Selene from Underworld
1 Sheep Herder
1 Skater
1 Skeleton Boy
1 Skeleton Zombie
1 Slipknot Guy
1 Smurfette
1 Snow Queen
1 Soccer Player
1 Thomas the Tank Engine
1 Tiana
1 Tim the Enchanter
1 Tinkerbell
1 Unicorn
1 Vampire Victim
1 Venom
1 Victorian Queen
1 White Rabbit
1 Winnie the Pooh
1 Witch Vampire
1 Wizard
1 Zodiac Killer
1 Zombie
1 Zombie Princess
1 Zombie Skeleton