Okay, sorry, but the Halloween minions haunted my computer, and you readers had to wait until now to get a rundown on the Hall of Fame, and Shame, descriptions of what costumes were worn the weekend after the holiday. (We’ve already covered the same turf on what was hauntingly happening on Oct. 25 and 26).
– We must start with the bartender at Dick’s Bar and Grill, off duty, dressed as a dead ringer for Prince. He even made his own guitar, and was surprised to find that actual guitar strings can be cheaper to buy than regular white string. (He didn’t try to compete with the band for the night, The New Skinny, so he stowed the Styrofoam instrument behind the bar until they’d finished their last set). And speaking of Skinny, it’s a good thing the lead singer Josh is just that, at least a little bit, because of a prank ala Legally Blonde. His bandmates told Josh they were all going to dress up as babies, but then showed up instead as clowns, and much to his chagrin, Josh was the only toddler on stage.
– But Ellie’s on Main has the most over the top costume-winner selection process, where the dance floor is cleared at 1 a.m. and the night’s qualifiers get to strut their stuff in phases while their numbers are pared down, all the while getting encouragement from the dee jay. He sometimes had to offer reverse encouragement for non-competitors to stay off the dance floor. Sometimes those in the contest strutted such stuff in twos or threes, and speaking of putting it out there, how about the more-than-lifesize (however you define that) condom who was dancing with a dispenser? Two zombies also joined closely together, with one replacing the body parts the other had missing. Also of “zombie” note were the patrons at Green Mill who were following the bartender’s cue on the Sunday nights — right before midnight — that fell before and after Halloween. They were keenly observing The Walking Dead, at least until their eyes fell out, OK just kidding.
– A patron leaving Ellie’s was dressed as a popular cartoon character — you’ll find out who in a moment — and prompted the comment, “Hey, I’ve actually found Waldo.”
– Waldo was actually going across the alley to Dick’s, where there was another condom or two that ended up being about seven feet tall. As one was trying to get under the doorway and stopped for a moment to pay cover, someone behind quipped “just push it in there!”
– At Woody’s in Bayport, which had their party on Friday night, a scene from Coyote Ugly unfolded, with numerous people getting on top of the bar and dancing. The costume contest winner was a Minion, who did not make quite a million, but did resemble the one-eyed Mike Wazowski of Monster’s Inc. in one unforgettable way. There also was the two-robot sex show, with silver feet made of cardboard boxes, a Marge Simpson beehive, also almost seven feet tall, and a man packing a six-pack, in a place about a foot below the abs. Sadly, the beer bottles were only about six ounces, OK just kidding again.
– After several days of costume parties, the award for the Most Out There dress-up goes to a patron at Guv’s Place in Houlton, on the first such night. He is missing about half of one arm due to an earlier actual accident, but used that to his (costumed) advantage by showing up as a zombie.
– Also of note is spa and boutique right downtown that did a banner business with professional-style face painting, especially on the first Saturday afternoon for costume parties held that night.
– And now, I must bid ado with the following quip. When I was leaving the last of the costume parties held in Hudson and around, I made the remark to the bartender, without knowing what I was saying, “Bye, I’ve got to turn into a pumpkin!”