'Tis the Season

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I don't know if you could tell by the all caps, bold print, or any previous posts but I LOOOVE this time of year. IT'S MY FAVORITE! Halloween is hands down my favorite holiday. I think most of it is the abundance of horror movies everywhere. I'm not sure when I become such a big horror nut. Skits on Sesame Street used to terrify me. We'll blame... puberty? Sure. Why not.

Anyway I love Halloween. I love horror movies. I love candy. I love dressing up in ridiculous costumes. One of my favorite things about the season is the MUSIC. I have two playlists on my computer devoted to only ghoulish music for the Halloween season. If you don't have such a playlist... 1) what is wrong with you? and 2) you can grab a few ideas from the following list! You lucky duck!

1) "This Is Halloween" 

The Halloween season isn't complete without at least one viewing of The Nightmare Before Christmas. And what luck. The opening song is a great song to start off a Halloween playlist! See? This is so easy!

2) "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.

Um, duh. That is all.

3) "Season of the Witch" by Donovan

Another fairly self-explanatory selection.

4) "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett

Everybody do the Mash!

5) "Halloween" by The Misfits

A song that caused an outcry when relesased, this song is pretty tame nowadays. Rock on!

6) "Ghost Town" by The Specials

Silly, spooky, and oh so fun!

7) "I Put A Spell On You"

This song is a classic of course, but it was made popular once again thanks to Bette Midler in 1993's now cult classic Hocus Pocus.

8) "Witch Doctor"

Might as well stick with the witch theme here. Now this song is stuck in your head. You're welcome.

9) "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult

Thank SNL and Will Ferrell for bringing this great song back in the limelight. It's also featured in many horror movies including the original Halloween.

10) "Dream Warriors" by Dokken

Sticking with movie soundtracks, next up is Dokken's awesome rock ballad from the best of the Nightmare sequels.

11) "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

A wonderfully eerie song prominently featured in each of the Scream flicks.

12) "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

One of the band's biggest hits has been used on numerous movie soundtracks, including An American Werewolf in London during one of the most impressive transformation scenes EVER.

13) "Purple People Eater"

Another silly, family-friendly classic for the list.

14) "Get Down Goblin" by Jan Terri

If you don't know to what I'm referring stop reading right now, go straight to Youtube, and search this utter piece of genius. It's quickly become one of my favorites.

15) "Thriller" by Michael Jackson

Because MJ.

Okay! There's many Moore where that came from, but I figured that list is plenty to get you started on your own Halloween playlist. For more just Google "Halloween music" and get started on one spooky evening. Have fun and stay safe, you foolish mortals!

DEBBIE!!!

This past week has been completely crazy, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

1) Remember Christy, my awesome redhead babe who I drove at least 30 hours total to surprise for her birthday? Well she was in town this past week. So Tuesday evening a whole bunch of her closest friends met up with her at none other than the Ale House for drinks, eats, and fun. Mostly drinks of course. I mean... to see her!

The evening was so much fun! Tons of people (mostly fellow friends from Fantasmic) showed up to catch up with their dearly beloved friend. There was also kareoke, which we were not expecting. And as usual the locals stunk up the place with awful country music and slow songs that should just never be sung at kareoke ever. Really people? Kareoke is supposed to be fun. Don't take it so seriously! Says the guy who's currently lamenting people taking kareoke seriously. Don't worry though. Andie and I sang "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" to lighten the mood. It was awful! We rocked it.

2) The Enzian is showing mostly horror movies during the month of October (DER), and Wednesday night they were showing The Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, arguably the best of the sequels. So of course I had to go! 

But before that I got to deal with... *drumroll please* Moore car problems! Because what's a day of fun without your car not cooperating? Fortunately I went to a really awesome garage just down the road. They were really personable. Way more personable than any garage has ever been to me. I really wish I could've afforded for them to fix my car then and there. But alas. It is October. Which means I have zero moolah.

Fortunately movies on the lawn at the Enzian are free! So my pff bff (Andie, der) and I enjoyed an incredibly campy 80s slasher flick despite Heather Langenkamp's awful acting. Seriously, girl. You were fine in the first Nightmare. What happened?? Oh well. You rock it a few years later in New Nightmare so all is forgiven.

3) NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!

This year was the first time I attended the Magic Kingdom Halloween party since 2009. 6 whole years! Obviously this oversight had to be remedied. So the Belcher girls (from the best show ever "Bob's Burgers, and I don't even have time to explain it to you if you don't know what I'm talking about) got all gussied up and went out for girls' night!

Linda, Tina, and Louise had an absolute blast! Linda was her usual crazy self, making sure she stayed hydrated the whole time and trying to get her kids to dance with her. Not gonna happen. Tina was her shy, awkward self, especially when it came to meeting scary villains and checking out their butts. Louise had a great time with the other Belcher girls, the two members of her family she doesn't usually hang with if she has a choice.

But seriously people. Not So Scary is fantastic this year. Boo To You parade was so awesome the Belchers had to watch it twice! Great job, guys! And thanks to the performers who accentuated their butts to Tina. That was greatly appreciated. And then of course there's the Hocus Pocus show at the castle stage!! Like whoa. You guys. Even if you didn't grow up watching Hocus Pocus every day of your life (like me) you would still love this show. It's the best thing the Dinsey parks has put out in a looong time. Go see it!

So yeah. Crazy week. Even with all that going on, I still had to work, and I had to continue my horror movie watching. I'm watching one a day this month, remember? One movie I have to stress is The Final Girls. It's an homage to 80s slasher flicks (especially Friday the 13th), and it is so much fun! What sets it apart from the usual horror comedy is an unexpected emotional element. The flick wears its heart firmly on its sleeve, and that was mucho appreciated by this horror buff. If you haven't heard of the movie, look it up and check it out! Definitely worth the watch.

Oh, and if anyone knows who Debbie is, tell her Linda Belcher has a score to settle with her. DEBBIE!!!

Toss Me In the Loony Bin

Here's Part Deux of my crazy week last week. 

So you know how I bid adieu to JTA last week? There was a party for it last Monday at the Celebration Tavern, and it was oh so much fun! I couldn't stay all night though becaaause I had an all-night drive up to Germantown, Maryland to surprise my one and only redhead friend on her birthday! 

As I've already said, my week was crazy. I am crazy. My friend Tish is crazy. We're both crazy. But spending all day Tuesday celebrating Christy's friendship was totally worth it!

We got in town around 1pm. Christy's fiancé Ryan had told her to wake up, clean  up, and look nice so she knew something was happening. But the look on her face when she opened the door... she had no idea. It was awesome! She screamed and cried and startled some poor old woman walking up the stairs behind us. She held the two of us in a warm embrace and would not let go. It was wonderful. 

Ryan had already asked us when he was planning the surprise if we wanted to see any of the DC sights. Both Tish and I said no. We were there to do whatever Christy wanted to do. Well we saw most of the DC sights anyway! We toured the American History Museum before walking along the National Mall, taking pictures in front of the Washington Monument, the White House, etc. 

We had a delicious dinner at Clyde's before having a couple of drinks at the Iron Horse. I definitely recommend both, especially the latter. It has such a fun atmosphere. Also skeeball. You can't say no to skeeball! We also got a free backstage tour of the Sidney Harman Hall. Sooo yeah. It was a pretty awesome day.

Then there was the drive back home on Wednesday which wouldn't have been so bad if we had just stuck to the route we took driving up, but nooo. We had to be adventurous and cut through South Carolina highways. Bad idea. It's fun to laugh about it already so at least there's that. And I think I'm finally caught up on sleep so there's that too.

Anyway, I'm so happy we were able to surprise you for your birthday, babe! Thanks for an awesome 24 hours, and here's to seeing you for your 2nd magical 24-hour birthday surprise in a week!

Never Gonna Give You Up

I can't believe how far behind I am on this blog. It's October so life is crazy enough. Many things have happened this past week alone so first thing's first!

Sunday, October 4th was the last day of the Jedi Training Academy show at Hollywood Studios. Let me rephrase. The 4th was the last day of JTA as we know it. The show is closing to be "re-imagined", and the new version should be opening by the holiday season. Hopefully the new version will be bigger and better while keeping what made JTA such a popular show these past 10 years.

I was first introduced to the Jedi Training Academy family in 2007. At the time the show was only around for the annual Star Wars Weekends. In October it would join daily operations at MGM (it was still MGM at that point) Studios. That's when it took off and became the little show that could. Families planned their vacations around signing their children into this show. There's nothing more exciting than to see the looks on both kids' and their parents' faces when Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers appear. It's a pretty awesome feeling to say the least. I could not be more honored to have been a part of this show for the past 8 years.

Here's a shout out my awesome fellow cast and crew. You guys are some of my favorite people. Some I've known for years and not necessarily from JTA. Others I've met at JTA and become close friends. The point is, we've all become a tight-knit family. Sure there may be drama every now and then but what family doesn't have its spats here and there? We've remained close to each other through a lot. From having a closet for a breakroom to having no breakroom at all, from doing shows in the rain to performing in 100+ degree heat, and from our many cookouts at work to rocking it out kareoke style at Retro Room. Who knows where the future lies for us and for our show, but here's to many years of friendship and many, many Moore ;)

So yes. I'm going to miss this show very much, but I have so many wonderful memories that I can cherish forever. And who knows? Maybe I'll get the honor to perform in the "re-imagining". If not, just know this. I'm never gonna give you up!