just reading some interesting info to pass along from History channel about Halloween:

The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.

Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. . .

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I flew down to the studio this weekend to do finish two songs and record all of the dialogue for “The Super Secret Seashell Cave” with our entire cast (no small scheduling feat, as our marketing maven Karena can attest).

The voices behind the puppets:

Zee flower!

James the Flower – the lanky, wickedly funny, and frequently off-color voice master named John Taylor.

Uncanny the Singing Can – a hat-wearing-Irish-blooded-self-proclaimed-butch-lesbian wearing a “Green Eggs & Ham” t-shirt and plaid shorts named Monica Todd (Mo!), who was working with us before working into the night to set up a show at the Greek theater – also a worry spot since she had had a bad throat the night before.

Motilda the Mouse

Motilda the Mouse – the super talented, super sweet Georgette Perna (and great roomie at Kids Summit last year), who drove up from Long Beach.

Randal with composer AllyRandal the Beaver – winner of “vegan with the most unusual name” – Boomie Aglietti.

Dottie's Magic Pockets' director and her bagel

Flying in from Portland I was thrown off by the 90+ weather, wondering what that would mean in the Valley, where it is always hotter. Luckily, the studio A/C had been repaired that morning, so we showed up to a cool space with bagels and liquids, ready for a speedy, efficient 11-4pm session which, according to our beloved, highly organized director Andrea, might even end early! Andrea and I were naively armed with lists of pick-ups (voice recordings needed for the new Dottie web game and trailer) to do during our ample, extra time.

11AM. “The Goodbye Song” and “The Cowbell Song” and the first few scenes…

Dottie!

2:30PM (1-1/2 hours left). Three and a half hours into a 5-hour session, we hit the halfway point of the script. Roo-roh.

Despite our table-read the night before, there were many script changes – including the catch du jour when Boomie realized that James was about to say in French “I have died” instead of “I am finished”– er, what a difference a verb makes.

Peter getting ready to play "a dignified, old bat."

5PM. The Bat, played by the absolutely magnificent “bitchy old queen” Peter, waited patiently for 6 hours until his part came up. Meaning, of course, that he just started recording when we were supposed to be out eating celebratory sushi. His husband Elliot was waiting in the control booth, having already played his part as Squeaky Squirrel (a Charlie-Chaplin-as-used-car-salesman character with a nervous squirrel tick), prompting Peter to “play the Bat like that Ms. Marples’ character!”

6PM. Two hours over time, everyone cheered and the session ended! With only two takes lost to the Harley Davidson revving nearby.

Unncaaannnny!

It is so amazing to work with these people. Everyone agreed to stay for two more hours (on low project wage, not hourly) on a busy Saturday in the sweaty Valley for little more than ify KooKoo Roo leftovers and witty banter.

Only one more song session until we wrap the whole CD – tofu next time, Boomie, I promise tofu!

Randal with composer Ally

This is amazing and bizarre and a little disturbing… in that gremlins getting wet way.

Gummy Bear in Molten Potassium

santa would love to surf

Ah, poo. We’re going to miss the Holiday blitz. The Dottie CD was initially slated to be done by September, which is when we began recording. And of course I chose shells as the major art theme (the CD is called “The Super Secret Seashell Cave”), which Wayne (the Creative Director) has informed me is one of the most difficult objects to use in design for our cover art. Poo.

New date to be off press: Dec. 15.

Can’t we just move Christmas to June 25^th?

Here it is, 11PM and I’m watching Law & Order SVU (again), only this time I happen to know the guy playing the crazy guy. In real life he’s super sweet and into transcendental meditation. On TV he plays a Manson-haired, insane, religioso. The separation doesn’t elicit more than a shrug from me, a seasoned adult. But what about the person-spirit-actor relationship for a child?

This week, I found out.

Two days ago, my son Oliver’s other mom called.

“Oliver asked about Santa. How he flies around the world in one night. If he is real. He said he thought Santa was more like a spirit… (here she pauses, a long time) so I said (again, pause) he was right.”

Not Santa, I thought.

Oliver just turned 6 a few days ago. And now there’s no Santa.

She continued, quietly: “So I told him that the Santa Spirit fills us up and we go and find Santa gifts for him… Then he asked how we found such special Santa candies [the chocolate rocks]. I told him the Santa spirit filled us…”

Uh-huh.

“And that is who Santa is…”

Uh-huh.

My mind: six years old – no Santa … six years old – no Santa. Flashback to being told there was no Easter Bunny when I was 9. Immediately turning to my parents, tears in my eyes: “So there’s no Tooth Fairy either? What about … S…S…Santa?”

But Oliver wasn’t devastated – wasn’t left feeling tricked and mocked. He was just interested in this Santa Spirit and, after some thought, said: “When I’m a man, I will get filled with the Santa Spirit and fly all over the world finding gifts for you.”

Then that afternoon he and I were making omelettes, he asked: “Mama, so how does Dottie become Dottie?”

“Magic?” I say, knowing that wouldn’t wash – and really, it shouldn’t. So I continue: “Dottie is a actress who loves children and always wanted to make them laugh. And she can do balloon animals and sing and play guitar. So she bought clothes and built a special house and got other people she knew to be puppets and play a fun pretend game … ah, you know your friend who can turn himself into a mouse? Games like that. Only, ah, not about fitting into super tiny mud-houses with leaf roofs and Q-tip chairs.”

“Uh-huh.” Oliver stirred the eggs while standing on his big boy chair. “Mama, I like when Dottie pulls things from her pockets. It’s like magic – it’s pretend but not everyone knows it’s pretend. I like to pretend.”

“It is fun to pretend,” I say.

“OK… Mama, I’m hungry.”

And that was it. Santa and Dottie lost in one day… well, not really lost but re-cast.