Halloween Mood Table 2014

I've had this set up for a while, but finally got around to photographing it. Since becoming a boring, stupid adult, the Halloween Mood Table has been one of my favorite traditions. Here's this year's, illuminated mostly by the blue glow of my television.



There are still purple string lights and of course speakers underneath for Halloween music. Aside from my anatomically correct werewolf hiding in the shadows beside the ghost, I switched it up this year with the action figure choices. The ghost is actually a candle holder my family has had for decades. My sister and I dug it out of the attic.

Faces Of Peppermint

I definitely wasn't expecting to find anything that would top the slang word, song, and hilarious sheet music cover, but when I looked up jelly beans on wikipedia, I also looked up candy canes. Not only did I find their history, but I also found this masterpiece.



The child clearly was so excited upon seeing the sign that he dropped his books, and his mittens just fell right off his hands. And whether or not they have that stance and clenched, possibly trembling fists, if you see that look in anyone's eyes, you'd be wise to stay out of their way.

I looked up jelly beans on wikipedia.

I learned that "Jelly Bean" was a slang term in the 1910's and 1920's, meaning "a young man who dressed stylishly to attract women but had little else to recommend him." I might have to start using this term.

Author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who wrote the popular novel The Great Gatsby and the short story The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button also wrote a short story in 1920 about this type of character called The Jelly-Bean. I had never even heard of it.

There's also a song called "Jelly Bean (He's a Curbstone Cutie)" which was written in 1920 by Jimmie Dupre, Sam Rosen, and Joe Verges. I love the artwork for the sheet music. The guy on the front cover really amuses me, and the splatter font that the title is written in is awesome.

A version of the song done by Phil Harris was popular in the 40's. I primarily know Harris as the voice of Baloo and Little John in the Disney animated movies The Jungle Book and Robin Hood.



Listen to the lyrics. "Won't drink that big old beer or wine, just eats his ice cream all the time." What's not to like about this young man? He dresses stylishly and eats ice cream all the time? I've gotta say, I kind of relate to this Jelly Bean character, being a stylish gentleman who doesn't drink but loves ice cream. If the ladies don't go for him, I think they probably just have bad taste.

Ode To Jelly Belly

A while back, my sister and her boyfriend gave me a Jelly Belly jar.

I love Jelly Belly, but only certain flavors. I refuse to get the 20 Flavors or 40 Flavors assortments, because they contain so many flavors that are unappealing, like buttered popcorn, coconut, and black licorice.

All three of those awful flavors are in that BeanBoozled assortment where all the jelly beans are put in pairs that appear the same, but one is supposed to be a "tasty" flavor and one is supposed to be a gross "weird and wild" flavor. It's some kind of demented party game. Somehow, all three of those awful flavors are considered "tasty" ones in the game, but in my opinion they don't seem much better than their "weird and wild" counterparts. Honestly, if it's between coconut and baby wipes, I am not sure which one I'd rather eat. It's a toss up.

The Jelly Belly assortment I love most is Soda Pop Shoppe. Every flavor is delicious, and each one is based on popular soda flavors. 7UP, A&W Cream Soda and Root Beer, Orange and Grape Crush, and Dr. Pepper. It's very rare that I see them in any stores though, so the Jelly Belly jar has been empty most of the time I've owned it.

Until recently when I found a Snapple assortment.



Curiously though, all of the flavors are based on Snapple fruit juice drinks. I do love some of the juices, such as Kiwi Strawberry, but I think iced tea flavors could be amazing. Imagine the Snapple raspberry iced tea in Jelly Belly form. Yum! Truly a missed opportunity, but I enjoy this Snapple assortment anyway.

Halloween Mood Table 2013

I wasn't sure Matt from Dinosaur Dracula was going to put together or post about a Halloween mood table this year, but I'm really glad he did. It has become an important tradition for me, even though I have only been doing it for a few years. So last night while listening to music that I consider to be seasonal and sipping apple cider, I put my Halloween mood table together as well.



Not a lot has changed. Same scarf and table I always use. There are speakers under the table again, so I can plug in my iPod anytime and blast the aforementioned music. This was probably the most exciting improvement last year, and it's still just as exciting. Trick Or Treat, Chickadee.

The werewolf figure is back weirding everyone out (or turning them on) with his tight, unbuttoned shorts.

Behind the werewolf is a half-eaten bag of Starburst candy corn. I really dislike regular candy corn, but it's such an iconic Halloween candy that I always feel like I'm missing out. This year, Starburst gave me another chance! I was afraid I still wouldn't like them, but they're not bad. But that's probably obvious from the fact that I ate half of them before October even started.

The LEGO minifigures are back, including last year's LEGO Dinosaur Dracula. But hold on, a new horrifying minifigure moved into Table Town. A glow in the dark ghost! It's such a classic figure, and it's from one of my favorite sets when I was a kid, Black Monarch's Ghost.



One obvious new addition is the adorable paper lantern. I actually got that last year late in the Halloween season and neglected to post about it. My sister bought three of them from a dollar store, kept one, and gave the other two to our cousin and me. Lantern buddies!



My sister's is the jack-o-lantern, our cousin's is the ghost, and of course mine is Frankenstein's monster.

Another new addition is two scented candles in jars that the same cousin mentioned above gave me. They're merchandise from the very Halloweeny movie The Nightmate Before Christmas, and each candle has different art on its label, which is very cool. The scents are Mountain Berry and Black Cherry.