Halloween is becoming steadily bigger business, it's second only to Christmas among consumers — and that's largely credited to adults.
According to a study by the National Retail Federation on Halloween spending, 47 percent of people ages 45 to 54 said they would participate in Halloween this year, and a quarter said they would dress in some sort of costume, each spending just over $30 a costume. With costume companies across the country reporting that their adult lines have overtaken or are about to overtake their children's lines, it appears that Halloween has grown up.
The U.S. Census Bureau says the number of young trick-or-treaters across the country is declining. The estimated number of 5- to 13-year-olds decreased by 381,000 from 2003 to 2004. In Austin, the number of 5- to 14-year-olds slipped from 78,335 in 2000 to 76,354 in 2004.
Earlier this year, the head of the Toy Industry Association told its members that "Halloween has expanded from a one-day event for mostly younger children (trick-or-treating) to a celebration that involves teens and adults as well. Halloween parties in homes, schools and offices allow all age groups to 'act like kids again.' "
Halloween "gives people who are normally stressed out and/or emotionally restrained a chance to let loose, get spooky, scary, naughty and even sexy without being judged," notes the Web site of the Reno-based Halloween Advertising Agency.
Last September I purchased a new Dell computer. It came in a cool box, sleek and gunmetal gray. Everything on it was wireless and worked seamlessly with this little box in my office with the blinking lights. I was happy as a clam for almost a year, and that is when the computer developed a mind of it's own.
It would freeze...alot. Sometimes it would decide it wanted to shut itself off and would do so smack dab in the middle of a very long typed letter or something. Then it would make odd "whirring" noises for hours on end.
The last straw was yesterday morning when I tried to turn it on for the day and a very loud, piercing, continuous beep came out of the box housing my computer. Seriously, I have no clue why. The computer itself never did turn on.
After waiting on hold for 30 minutes for a Dell technician I was given the news...Alas, I did not purchase the Dell extended warranty...and it has been a year since purchase. A year and a week actually. Bummer!
No more Dell's for me. This is 2 now that have died in a years time.
Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee's Bend Quilts and Beyond exhibit celebrates the women artists of Gee's Bend, a small African American community in rural Alabama where, even today, only a single road leads in and out.
Accordingly, the region's quilts reflect the passing of time slowed to a trickle; local creative traditions have persisted without interruption since the 19th century. The aesthetic visions of "the Benders," as they are known, borrow as heavily from West African textiles as from modern, bold jazz refrains.
Last evening, nearly a dozen of these fearsome needle-and-thread talents arrived in Austin. Spanning generations, they traveled from Alabama by bus (a few of them are afraid to fly). And, though probably exhausted from the journey, they still managed to hug everyone in sight when they made their first official stop at AMoA this morning.
Consider joining in their good-vibe fest. A virtual olympiad of Gee's Bend activity descends upon our city until Nov. 5 at the AMOA.
Our own Austin Energy will snip the ribbon to their newest, most greenest power plant on Tuesday. Christened the Mueller Energy Center, part of the gigantic Mueller redevelopment project, the design and function of the building sports some pretty radical new fuel-saving developments. Utilizing the best technology available, the capabilities of this project point down exciting new avenues in energy conservation. Then again, this is what people have come to expect from Austin. This is how we roll. Greenstyle.
Apart from the fact that the onsite plant will provide 100% of all the energy requirements of the new Dell Children's Medical Center, it will also serve as an auxiliary power station for other Mueller facilities if the grid goes down. Exhaust fumes from the natural gas-fueled station will be used to both heat the hospital and chill water for air conditioning. A breakdown: the plant will produce 4.3 megawatts of the good stuff, but produce 40 percent less in carbon emissions, and use 20 percent less fuel than equivalent operations.
Sandra McKee is such a huge fan of the '60s-vintage TV horror sendup The Munsters that she decided to build a new house that looks just like the one on the show. And now she's living in it with her husband Charles. Remember the Munsters? The main characters were a collection of horror-movie rejects.
It's not an exact replica. The kitchen looks pretty normal since they have to actually live in this home. The TV show kitchen had cabinets falling down which isn't too user friendly.
The suit of armor at the top of the stairs doesn't rotate yet like the one on the TV show, and the creepy stairs leading up to it don't lift up yet, either. But one day the stairs will rise eerily when the pneumatic equipment is installed. And eventually the suit of armor will twirl. Sandra and Charles, a plumbing contractor, still have a lot of work to do before the 5,825-square-foot house is finished. So far they've invested $250,000 in the project.
They do have the dungeon installed (which is a storm shelter and sunk in the ground.)
Sandra came up with the design for the interior of the house by rewatching episodes of the show. She and Charles started building the place in 2001, and they moved in in 2002. On Halloween 2002 they had a big Munsters party. Al Lewis, who played Grandpa Munster, and Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster, were invited and showed up, along with 500 to 600 other folks in costume.
Oh, that downstairs closet door that appears to be made out of a coffin isn't really made out of a coffin. A funeral home wanted to donate a coffin but they decided they coudn't handle looking at that every day!
The Austin History Center Association exhibit “The Avenue, Austin’s Main Street since 1839” is now open and runs through January 10, 2007.
Congress Avenue is the heart of Austin. It has served as the city’s center of commerce and staged our city’s most soulful demonstrations – from street parties celebrating the end of wars and the new millennia to demonstrations opposing the Vietnam War and supporting civil rights. The Austin History Center Association will present the “The Avenue: Austin’s Main Street Since 1839,” a major exhibit celebrating the history of Congress Avenue at the Austin History Center. The exhibit will feature more than 75 photographs from the acclaimed history center collection.
Congress Avenue has been described as “Gateway to the Capitol and the City,” “Austin’s Main Street,” “The Avenue,” a “royally wide highway” (by Amelia Barr in the 1850s), and “Austin’s Milky Way” (after merchants installed new electric signs over the sidewalks in 1913).
The Austin History Center is located at 810 Guadalupe Street, on the southwest corner of Guadalupe and 9th Streets in downtown Austin. The exhibit is free and open to the public Mon–Wed: 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sat: 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sun: 12 noon –6 p.m. (except holidays).
Austin might not have any theme parks or large zoos, but America's largest urban bat colony has become the city's best-known (and ecologically correct) tourist attraction.
It all started in 1980, when the team of engineers designing the Congress Avenue bridge unknowinlgly created the crevices that would soon become the home to the largest urban bat colony in North America.
More than 1.5 million bats emerge each night at dusk as they have for more than two decades from the bridge's underbelly. The bats blacken the otherwise red sky as they take off in search of food.
The hotter and dryer the weather is, the hungrier the bats are, and the earlier they must emerge to hunt. During the best flights, up to five columns of emerging bats can be seen for miles as much as 45 minutes before sunset.
Bats consume their body weight in insects nightly, including vast numbers of yard and garden pests, from moths to mosquitoes. Depending on the season and colony size, these bats consume between 10,000 and 30,000 pounds of insects nightly! We love bats!
Every once in a while I stumble across something that makes my life so much easier! Today I found "Hello Austin". This is an online site that has all of the info you could possibly want to know about Austin, Texas. (Restaurants, weather, music, art, where to shop etc.) This is the absolute best thing for clients who are relocating.
Then, after tooling around on the site I realized that they do 550 different cities and 7 continents. Go to www.HelloMetro.com and see if your city is on there.
Single professionals relocating to Central Texas are in luck. According to relocation industry groups, Austin is among the best cities for relocating singles.
For a third year, the two industry groups have paired to identify the cities with the most to offer relocating singles.
The groups used statistical profiles of the largest 100 U.S. metro areas, focusing on criteria most relevant to singles, to define the rankings of cities with the highest probability of a smooth transition and a successful relocation.
In addition to Austin, other top cities for relocating singles include Nashville, Atlanta, New York and Houston.
Relocation experts take glamorous factors, like nightlife and sports, and pit them directly against everyday concerns, like rent, to identify places where the quality of life is both exciting and sustainable. Other statistics used in ranking the best cities include population criteria such as the local percentage and growth trends of unmarried residents ages 25 to 34, male-female ratios, the number of newcomers to the area, and diversity and density; as well as economic criteria and quality-of-life criteria.
Some of the smoke surrounding the vagaries of the smoking ban has cleared. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled today that some of the enforcement provisions were "unconstitutionally vague."
The ruling did not overturn the existing ban, but it did state that bars must take greater measures to make sure they were in compliance with the law.
It also appears bars won't face the brunt of the law if they can't get patrons to quit smoking. That'll fall on the smokers.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Some of the smoke surrounding the vagaries of the smoking ban has cleared. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled today that some of the enforcement provisions were "unconstitutionally vague."
;)
;)
