[Ed Note: This post is about Halloween in the Castro, what went wrong, & how to fix it. If you are more interested in my Halloween pictures, or my costume or how I made it, scroll or click to the previous post. Also, if you are interested in the future of the event send email to info AT halloweeninthecastro DOT com & ask to get on the list.]

Halloween is my favorite holiday. This year was no exception. It was getting stale doing the big costume thing and the mega-fun thing. So this year San Francisco decided that Martial Law was the new way to party!

The massive police presence in the Castro on Halloween night was like a snuggly jackbooted baton-wielding blanket on a hot summer night. The biggest highlight? Maybe the formation of cops in full riot gear aggressively marching past me at Café Du Nord. Or maybe it was the cop who screamed at me to not step off the curb, or the cops who screamed at me turn down my small Disco Ball speakers. It’s a toss up really. Hmmmm actually more choices come to mind: Maybe it was when city officials bullied various merchants into joining other merchants who decided to close, or forced BART to shut down - bypassing the wishes of BART’s democratically elected leadership…. such a hard call….

Ugh. It sucked.

I’m left angry at the City, disappointed the idea that “nothing else could be done”, and hoping that everyone helps turn this thing around next year…

(Read on for my thoughts on what went wrong & how to fix it)

Click HERE for more…

[Ed. Note: 11/18/2010: As awesome as this Disco Ball 4.0 costume is - it is obsolete You should check out my new and improved, crazy awesome DISCO BALL 5.0! ]

[Ed. Note: what follows is me geeking out on making a Halloween costume if that is boring, just check out the pics or read the post about how Halloween went down in the Castro)]

  

So earlier this year, I decided to pop on my Disco Ball 3.0 costume and roam the streets for a friend’s Birthday bash – very quickly I learned two things:

• Just popping on Disco Ball 3.0 and randomly roaming the street playing music is a BLAST!!! (here is a movie of 3.0 in action so you get the idea – sorry no movie of 4.0 )
• Disco Ball 3.0 was a bit of a pain to deal with!

Clearly, at some point I needed to revisit the costume & do it better! Basically, the problems were that it needed to be more durable (it got scuffed up easily), it could look better, & it was hard to get into and out of. There had to be a better way I thought & it was too much fun to leave behind.

Click HERE for more…