Ed is Undead!!!

I dressed up as a zombie for a Halloween party last Saturday night. Thankfully, I'd recovered enough from my cough that I'd developed during the week to go.

Growing up in Australia, we never did any Halloween crap, so this was the first time I've ever dressed up for Halloween. I figured that I couldn't go wrong with a zombie...the undead are always in fashion, I think.

I have a costume shop near my place called Party Mania and I popped in there at about 4:30pm on Saturday. It was, indeed pretty manic inside the small shop. I managed to purchase some liquid latex, stage makeup and fake blood. At home, I grabbed some old t-shirts and an old shirt that I didn't mind getting "blood" on.

Kate (who went as Michelle from 'Allo 'Allo) spent some time helping me paint latex on my face over some foundation to make me look pale and ghoulish. After a few coats, we left it to dry and then dusted it with powder to make it matte. She then tore holes in the latex and we used red makeup from the costume shop and stuck some Vaseline in it to make it look gooey. I also used purple and green makeup to make my eyes look sunken and black and purple to make my lips ghastly. As a finishing touch, I used fake blood trickling out of my nostril. Pretty standard zombie look I guess but it turned out OK, I think.

After we arrived at the party, I realised that being a zombie is a great idea and why it's a an enduring favourite.

Firstly, I usually go a bright shade of pink after a beer or two but as a zombie, my make-up and latex meant that I looked the same shade of undead at the end of the night, at least until I got in the shower and washed it all off.

Secondly, you can stagger around, bump into people, drool or do whatever. Everyone thinks that you're sticking to your character.

Thirdly, you don't have to talk much if you don't want to...you just have to groan a bit and mumble "Brains, brains" every now and then. If you do feel garrulous, then you can say "Tonight, I'm expanding the paradigm and being Eloquent Zombie" or something else suitably witty.

Thanks to Nerys, Hamish and Katie for the party and Happy Birthday Caroline, who was celebrating it that night. Thanks to Kate for the makeup artistry!

More pics in this Flickr photoset

Bicycle Repair Man

"In a world of Supermen, there's only ONE TWO bicycle repair man/men"

Had a nice time tonight with Gerard (above left) and Andrew at Wolfson College's weekly bicycle repair night, I fitted some mudguards (fenders) and fixed a couple of punctures for beer money.

Mr T does yoga

Ever since I bought a copy of Mr T: The Man With the Gold, Mr T's autobiography, from a second-hand book store in Northcote in Melbourne in about 1999...I've kept an eye on what Mr T has been up to. Anyone remember his phone card advertisements?

Anyhow, behold a clip from his new reality show, I Pity the Fool which just started in America. Who's seen it? It should make it over here, but probably not on the BBC! I've got a freeview digital box but not cable, so not sure what my chances are of seeing it.

06:57 Keflavik airport

Despite what the timestamp on this post says, it's 06:57 (07:01 by the time I finished it), local time in Iceland.

I did get the Macbook in New York, which is why I'm able to use the lovely, free, Icelandic wi-fi network to post this fantastic shot of Kate and I at Keflavik airport. Had an excellent couple of nights here in Reykavik last weekend, on the way to New York. More on that later. Now we've another 40 min before the plane leaves for Heathrow.

At the Apple Store in NYC

HI FOLKS. I'm at the Apple store on 5th Avenue in New York...contemplating bagging myself a MacBook. I borrowed the photo from here: ...will add my own soon.

What your browser says about you...

I'd like to post about:

• The Hindu wedding, Kate and I went to or
  
• Hillwalking in the Lake District or
  
• Stornoway getting a mention in the NME or
  
• Liddington at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford

but I don't have enough time to write some interesting shit about them so instead here's a slightly esoteric (depending on who you are) link .. What your browser says about you

Cheers! Ed (Firefox 1.5.0.7 since Firebird 0.6)