Halloween 2010

I remember when I was 11 years old living in Richmond, B.C., attending William Bridge Elementary School. I know it was a long time ago, but I do remember somethings in my old age.

It was Halloween night, I was thin like a Popsicle stick, walking door to door, getting free candies from total strangers. I do not remember being cold, but I remember holding hands with my brother and my sister, saying the secret pass word for free candies, "Trick or Treat!!!". Looking behind me and feeling safe and secure with my grandparents keeping a watch on us.

Pretty much fresh off the boat, "Halloween" is completely new to us, but the lure of candies, and dressing up as a fairy was better than sitting at home watching TV. My English was pretty bad, so I did not understand what was on TV anyways. Oh, dressing up as a fairy was my sister, not me!! Not, there is anything wrong with that, ha!! Ha!!

The streets were alive with kids in costumes, and parents were herding their kids from one house to another. There was an atmosphere of family, excitement, joy and fun in the air.

At the end of the night, my BAG was so full, that I needed help to carry it all back home. My only decision when I got home, was which candies do I want to eat and which ones should I trade with my friends.

My grandparents are gone now, so I just like to give them a shout for old time sake, "Stop hiding my candies, I know how many were in my BAG!!". Obviously, I said it in Chinese, because my grandparents don't speak English very well, nor do I at that time. Their English got better over the years, and eventually their Chinglish got pretty good. Hey, I am Chinese, so I can make fun of my own race and my grandparents!! Ha!! Ha!! I love them and I miss them very much!!

Now, let's press the forward button to Halloween 2010!!

Five groups of kids rang my doorbell, FIVE!!!! Either people are not having kids or my house is just too dam scary. I guess back in my day, there is nothing better to do on Halloween except watching TV, so everybody was out in the neighborhood Trick or Treating.

Nowadays, Halloween's competition is much stiffer!! Hundreds of TV channels, Pay TV, Nintendo, PS3, Xbox, Iphone, computers, Facebook, Twitter, Trick or Treating in malls, and much, much more that I can't even imagine.

Back then, I do not remember my parents worrying about, child molesters, candy safety, neighborhood safety, the cold weather, and most of all, other kids. The only thing we worried about was cavities!!!

These days, kids are so precious, that Trick or Treating in a mall is the safest place to be. Now, the costumes are more important than the spirit of Halloween!! People are paying big bucks for costumes and going to parties to show off their costumes are the main focus these days.

 Far less people are venturing out into the cold, dark streets, therefore, sooner or later, we will all stay in and virtual Trick or Treat each other!!

 I am in costumes most of the time, so just about everyday is Halloween to me!!



 Last week, I worked two long nights on "This Means War" and it was great!! Well, it was great, because I saw some eye popping stunts, not great, because I didn't get to see Tom Hardy, Chris Pine or Reese Witherspoon.

I was working on 2nd unit and it was all stunts, exploding cars, car stunts, stunt man hitting a car, and base jumping off a building!! Wow, now I know why stunt man gets pay so much!!

The first night was cold, so thank god for my long johns and thermal underwear. Second night was not as cold, and most of the time, I was playing cards, ha!! Ha!! Some of the stunts don't need background performers, because we are too important to be hit by cars, ha!! Ha!!

Had a great time, but I hope I will have a chance to see the main actors up close when I work next.

 Here are some actors up close!!