Halloween was quiet around here. As usual, no trick-or-treaters passed through our gate, which means more candy for us. We took the kids out to visit a few of the neighbors' houses, and they got whole handfuls of candy at each one. Jen and I reminisced about our childhood Halloween experiences, when it took much longer to get the same amount of candy due to the fact that people handed out candy one piece at a time back then. Later, we took the kids to granny's house (not over the hills and far away, but oh well...) where the neighborhood was a bit more hopping. Lots of kids out ringing doorbells there. Now we're home, and the Jacks O' Lantern have been extinguished for another year.

I get to do it all over again on Thursday at work, when we will host a Halloween party for the science camp kids.

Over the weekend, M and I went to see Sleepytime Gorilla Museum at The Attic in Santa Cruz. They'd just gotten back into town after a national tour. Luckily we ran into Carla and Matthias outside (actually in Streetlight records downstairs from the club) and they put us on the guest list. Nils, we soon learned, had contracted pneumonia in New York and had been touring across the country with it. He was feeling a bit better, but was glad to be nearing the end of the tour. Their show was great, but marred by the rhythmic intrusion of the dance club downstairs. Carla now plays a trumpet violin on some songs, which is just what it sounds like - a violin with a trumpet attached to it making the sound uni-directional and allowing it to be miked more effectively than a regular violin could be. It sounded like something out of a 1920's music hall. The electric violin and the nyckelharpa where still in evidence as well, which is good. Shinichi was along for the tour as well, and for the first fifteen or twenty minutes of the show he hung upside down in a structure that resembled a glassless aquarium, suspended from the rafters. I think that would cause me to pass out if I were to try such a thing. Beautiful movement and music, and great people one and all. Who could ask for more?

Speaking of beautiful music, Current 93 are in town and are playing at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco along with Om, Six Organs of Admittance, Baby Dee, Simon Finn, Pantaleimon, and Maja Elliot next Friday and Saturday. This is good. They're all great people too.

Happy Halloween, however you celebrate it. I always feel a bit rushed myself. The photos were taken in our yard tonight. More images on Flickr.