Jason had to work late, so Andy and I hit a small club in Palo Alto called Q for a $1000 costume contest. Before we even got into the place, we had people driving by shouting out "Who ya gonna call?!" from their car windows. Well, that, and pieces of the packs were already falling off. After all those months of work, I had been reduced to seeing the packs in terms of parts, not as a whole, and was really worried that some of the details that weren't in place would make us look bad (i.e., missing cables, different cake pans, unavoidable stuff like that). I was wrong--when they saw us, nobody gave a shit. It was instant recognition and gratification for us. When we went into the club--which is hard, going into a crowded club with a giant plywood backpack on--all eyes immediately turned to us, and cameras started going off. People in really elaborate costumes came up and said they thought we looked awesome. I couldn't believe it. One drunk girl screamed "Yes! Keepin' it alive! Ghostbusters RULE! Whooooooooo!" We got away from her as quickly as we could.
We didn't come close to winning--there were too many good original costumes, and even though I'm really happy with the way ours came out, it's still derivative. When you're up against a papier mache man wrestling himself, a dude covered in foam tiles going by the name Acoustic Man (and going up to people in the club saying "Shhh!"), and the mind-blowing winner--a guy dressed as a truck mudflap, complete with a chick in a silver bodysuit who jumped into his arms to complete the pose--well, your little GB suits don't mean squat. :) That, and we got there a bit late so we don't think the judges ever saw us. But the crowd loved it, and that was gratifying. Plus, we got to shoot pool in costume. "Successful test."
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1999
Jason wore his outfit to work, and got lots of compliments (even though his was falling apart too, and he wasn't exactly sure where some of the parts were supposed to go back on). I went to my office party and won best costume (Kat won best group for her Blair Witch film crew) but with only seven or eight people who dressed up, it was kind of a low-key victory. That's okay, I did it for the fun of it anyway.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1999
From the beginning--that is, from when I pitched the idea to the gang over Andy's dinner table last spring--we all agreed it would be really funny to go around town in the GB outfits doing mundane, everyday things--shopping for groceries, going bowling, eating in a restaurant, stuff like that. When we hit the alley Saturday night (this time, all three of us, plus Kat, Bissy, and Dana as Lara Croft), any eyes that weren't on Dana's inflated chest were on us, and again, people shouted out catchphrases. One dumb-lookin' guy asked, "Do they shoot anything?" I said, "Yep, they shoot lethal Silly String. No, actually, they don't shoot anything." Andy then proceeded to explain his plan/hope to have them shoot Silly String at some point, to which our new friend responded, "...so does anything come out?"
Bowling with the backpack on was just as hard as shooting pool, if not harder.
At the pizza place where we stopped for dinner, the owner asked us to use our leafblowers on his parking lot. One of the other guys asked, in all seriousness, "Do you guys work for George Lucas or something?" No, but we'll take that compliment.
At around 12:30, we got coaxed into doing a karaoke version of the theme song in the bowling alley's bar. God help us, this was immortalized on videotape. It would have gone better had Jason ever actually heard the song at any point before he picked up a microphone, but hey.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1999
Our local shopping mall was hosting a trick or treat session for kids in the area, so we figured it would be a good opportunity to put in an appearance. What we found when we got there were 400 kids, most dressed like Pikachu. Even though it was packed, we got a lot of gape-mouthed stares and people tugging their friends' sleeves and pointing. Best moment: Three little kids in gray sweatshirts and sweatpants with Ghostbusters logos and cardboard proton packs came by with completely stunned expressions on their faces. Their mom got a photo of us together, but sadly, we didn't. I gave 'em business cards and told them that when they got old enough, they should give us a call. Bissy went around with a boom box playing the theme music--sort of like the trumpeter in a royal procession. Kat also got some more footage on the video camera which we might use in a little web movie project. When we can get stills from that camera, they'll be posted here too.
Thursday night at Q's: Costume contest losers. |
We lost the costume party as a group, |
Kat's awesome business card, which we handed out to select folks. |
Dan's ass makes a special appearance |
They stacked up so nice in the |
Ghostbusters get all the chicks. |
Jason racks the gun while the |
 What, I have to explain this? |
 Patrolling the local mall. |
The mall is once again safe |
 "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!" | |
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