Octobercountry:

I also find myself identifying with Mr. Halloway. I think he is one of the richest characters in the entire Bradbury canon. He wrestles with past demons -- the largest of which is regret and an almost incapacitating sense of worthlessness and lack of connectedness. As I get older, I look back at decisions I should have made differently and sometimes wonder how my life would be different -- given different decisions. I also look at the redemptive elements of Charles Halloway -- his ability to stand up to Dark, his ability to become refreshed and start his life anew, his goodness as a person throughout the novel. I think he is one of the most richly painted and fleshed out of all Bradbury's characters.

Mr Dark, my problem is I identify with Mr Halloway as he is earlier in the film--still haven't come to that state of acceptance about getting older. If the carnival showed up in my neighbourhood, I think I would be in trouble!

Those pumpkins were carved with the help of the PumpkinMasters patterns. (Those are the ones where the pattern is on a sheet of paper, which you transfer to the pumpkin by poking thousand of little holes through the paper and into the pumpkin all along the pattern lines, and use tiny saws to cut out the design.) I've done original patterns, but don't have any photographs of those ones. And there are so MANY patterns available from this company, a person can find something to their liking no matter how their tastes run.

I'm the only one in the family who ever had the patience to do the really complex patterns, but once you get into the swing of the process you can whip them off pretty rapidly...

Those are amazing designs, Octobercountry. You are very talented!! I wish I lived in your neighborhood so I could see them in person!

I marched with my co-workers in our town's Halloween parade last night (it's a big deal here 10,000 or so in attendance) and dressed as the flier from, "The Flying Machine." Chinese garb and a dragon-flying machine I made out of a large Chinese kite. We won third place.