Halloween adventure

Friendly chat, questions, reviews, find old friends or relatives. Not limited to Sydenham only issues but keep it civil!
Falkor
Posts: 1371
Joined: 10 Feb 2006 17:45
Location: Surrey Quays

Post by Falkor »

Many thanks to Julia, John, Rachel and Xanthe for a wonderful evening--most especially, Julia, for putting on a great show! :D :D :D

Image
Julia in her new stunning costume! Unfortunately, she left the hat and white wig behind somewhere...

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
John strangling his newly found friend; he prefers enemies who are dead rather than friends who are alive.

Image

Image
The Light World.

Image
The Dark World.

Image
Rachel, Xanthe and the decapitated Tango Man.

Image

Image
People.

Image
Ghosts.

Image

Image

Image
Stalagtites re-visited!

Image
The end of the tunnel reached for the 2nd and last time.

Image

Image

Image
John being buried alive.

Image

Image

Image

Image
John discovered some polystyrene stuffed in the corners of the walls!?

Image
Some extra graffiti discovered by John, albeit illegible.

Image

Image
Older bricks on the left; newer bricks on the right; was the inside of the entrance perhaps rebuilt at one time or another?

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Very spooky! :shock:

Image
Approaching the runway.

Image
Suspended Animation.

Image
There is light at the end of the tunnel!
Last edited by Falkor on 2 Nov 2006 15:42, edited 1 time in total.
Greg Whitehead
Posts: 474
Joined: 11 Apr 2005 15:44
Location: SE26 5RL

Post by Greg Whitehead »

Brilliant, just a brilliant idea. Well done to you all, it looks quite scary without even being there and you all look like you had a great time.
Juwlz
Posts: 749
Joined: 26 Oct 2005 20:49
Location: Outer Sydenham

Post by Juwlz »

Many, many thanks to all those who made the effort to come along to both the Halloween adventures - Falkor, John, Rachel, Xanthe, and 'the others' (you know who you are!). Yes there were 2 Halloween adventures - one earlier in the evening and one late, the attendees on the first one were especially brave and looked particularly horrible! I think its safe to say we all had a spook-tacular evening at this one-off opportunity!

Falkor thanks for putting up your photos - they're amazing! I particularly love the one with the spooky orbs all over and ' the dark world' and 'approaching the runway' and the one with the tiny glowing pumpkin face! Brilliant! I hope your camera has gone back to normal by the way.

I have some photos I took of the later event. Everyone said they loved it which made all the effort worth-while, and you can see the evidence here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34744624@N ... 357055915/
Falkor
Posts: 1371
Joined: 10 Feb 2006 17:45
Location: Surrey Quays

Post by Falkor »

Falkor thanks for putting up your photos - they're amazing! I particularly love the one with the spooky orbs all over and ' the dark world' and 'approaching the runway' and the one with the tiny glowing pumpkin face! Brilliant! I hope your camera has gone back to normal by the way.

You could make the "dark world" one into a corporate logo for one of your clients! :wink: BTW, I hope everyone caught the movie clips at the bottom of page 1--last clip has the sound removed--gives more idea of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I gave up and binned the camera; it done well during last months walkabouts and on halloween. I've kept the memory stick, and will just have to purchase another one in time for November 30th. :? Oh well, that's life (and then you die). I hope my captions hasn't made everyone feel depressed. :) There really is light at the end of the tunnel you know... :P
I have some photos I took of the later event. Everyone said they loved it which made all the effort worth-while, and you can see the evidence here:
Nice one! I see you got a good photo of John in the manhole, the "scary brick", and also of the girls (I've corrected the spelling of Xanthe BTW; first time I've ever heard such an unusual but pleasant name). Your photos show the dark world much better--especially with the accidental neon lighting effects--very spooky! :o

Please thank John and the girls for putting up with me... I forgot pubs closed at 11, but it's all good; everyone looked like they had a great time anyway. 8)
Juwlz
Posts: 749
Joined: 26 Oct 2005 20:49
Location: Outer Sydenham

Post by Juwlz »

Oh my god! - Falkor you are a genius!

I only just saw your original post with the videos!!! On my computer it came up with the second page and so I didn't even see your first post! Even when I saw your photos for some reason the whole lot didn't show until I viewed a second time. And I have broadband.
Falkor- your videos are AMAZING!!! I had no idea you were even taking them (so glad about that or I would've gone all self-conscious!). Its so brilliant to hear the sound of the scrunching gravel underfoot - it totally brings back the whole atmosphere of the place to me! (even my own ramblings I can bear!) And you have captured so much that the stills don't do on their own. WOW!! I can relate to what you were saying about your slight reticence about coming along - I imagined a lot of people would feel like that - as shown by the non- attendnce of certain people who'd previously shown interest, I think they wanted to know what it was about without commiting themselves - a common condition! I don't blame them but they're not made of the Falkor stuff! I am chuffed to bits because now I have a lovely record of the whole evening. thankyou a million times!

Ps. No wonder your camera died - it was probably exhausted! It certainly didn't die in vain!!!
Falkor
Posts: 1371
Joined: 10 Feb 2006 17:45
Location: Surrey Quays

Post by Falkor »

Oh my god! - Falkor you are a genius!
...I dunno what to say... thanks Julia! :oops: I've been called many names in my short time on this earth, but never a genius, so I'm very flattered. :shock: Albert Einstein is still the main man in my books. I'm just a bum--an ordinary bum. :?
Falkor- your videos are AMAZING!!! I had no idea you were even taking them (so glad about that or I would've gone all self-conscious!). Its so brilliant to hear the sound of the scrunching gravel underfoot - it totally brings back the whole atmosphere of the place to me!
Thanks; I'm glad you enjoyed the videos. :) I was pretty quiet that evening, but there was a lot of thought processes occuring in my mind. As soon as I figured you had gone to so much effort, I tried to think of a way to make it even more special. Given the circumstances and time constraints, I wondered what to do with my favourite gadget before the candle light was naturally extinguished; I wanted to make the most of it. :idea: At first--if you remember--we were both coming up with poor results due to the limited light. It was only later, after the "double flash" of enabling Red Eye Reduction that some satisfactory photos were finally taken. Anyway, I hastily decided to switch to video mode for the first time, but the quality of using my digital camera as a camcorder was comparable to using a mobile phone as a digital camera! :( To achieve some good views of both the "light world" and the "dark world", I thought about choreographing the photos and videos more close-up to the objects. I am very pleased with the overall results. The last video has it all, visually, including some blue and red neon effects--similar to the photos you took. You can even see the flashing red light of "The thing" you had hanging up on the wall. :lol: I assumed you had hired your costume and all the accessories, but was shocked to find out you had actually gone and bought all this stuff on your own! I find that very generous, considerate and thoughtful of you--was beyond the call of duty. Before arriving, I envisaged everyone bringing along their own pumpkin lanterns, and us all walking around the tunnel and woods without another soul in sight; that same night after our previous walkabout, Tony and I bravely took the Riverside Walk from Southend Road to Catford Bridge, but never encountered a single person. I wasn't even worried about being mugged--it was probably the safest place to be that night. On Halloween, I was looking forward to seeing that extra special lantern you had carved for me, as you know I can't even peel a potato let alone a pumpkin. :x We were all wondering what the hell you were doing when you told us to wait outside for so long. On finally entering and seeing the fact that you had completely decorated the entire end of the tunnel gave me such an aura of surprise. As Xanthe said, "Julia, I really like your tunnel!", I also felt you owned it for that one night. Also, I'm starting to wonder about the supernatural, as neither of us can remember the girls crossing our paths---what an eerie experience that was.
(even my own ramblings I can bear!)
I must say you are very well spoken, although I wouldn't say you were posh or anything. Throughout that aimless wander, notice you never mumbled once! I wish I could speak as well as you. I always mumble too much, and can even stutter on some rare occasions--helps if I know what I'm talking about though. I was always good at Maths--never English or Art (another one of your qualities hence your profession). If I thought any of these videos seemed embarrassing, I would never have uploaded them by the way. Notice again, you were really in your element in the 3rd video!! *edited*
I don't blame them but they're not made of the Falkor stuff!
Everyone is made of Star stuff; we are all equal, but I'm sure most people had more important things to do that evening, like, earning some money. :wink:
I am chuffed to bits because now I have a lovely record of the whole evening. thankyou a million times!
It really was nothing... It's the least I could do for you! But I understand how you feel. As any historian like Steve Grindlay will tell us, keeping a photographic record of events is very important. If we never had the evidence of raw, unedited footage showing the World Trade Centre on 911, I would never have believed there were bombs going off inside the buildings or thermite reactions taking place or molten metal etc. Seeing photos of one's birthday and a video of one's 3rd birthday--as I have done--really stresses this importance. However, I remember the day it really hit home... I had so desired to own a video of the first ever modern day Kung Fu film shot in colour, but unfortunately it was never commercially available. All we had were posters, stills and lobby cards as a tantalising glimpse. My opportunity came when one of the last surviving 35mm film prints was shipped from Hong Kong to UK, via USA, for a special screening here in February 2004. I smuggled my friend's camcorder into the National Film Theatre at Southbank to record the entire film from the back row. Another so called "friend" who attended the event with me tried to discourage me, and when I ignored him, he sat 5 seats away in danger of being potentially arrested alongside me. But nothing was going to stop me from achieving my number one ambition at the time. My attempt was successfull. On analysing the footage along the east Golden Jubilee Bridge after leaving the theatre, I was feeling ecstatic and euphoric! I will never forget this; it was the greatest moment in my life!! My friend apologised and took a copy. It's been over 35 years since the premiere, but this historically important film remains unreleased.
Last edited by Falkor on 4 Nov 2006 14:59, edited 2 times in total.
Juwlz
Posts: 749
Joined: 26 Oct 2005 20:49
Location: Outer Sydenham

Post by Juwlz »

Falkor
Thanks for the nice things you have to say apart from the bit about me getting carried away and not knowing about the the screaming! Its touching that you think I was just carried away with the event so I don't want to shatter any illusions but I have to defend my sanity a little bit - I may be mad but not that mad!
I admit it was quite fun trying out the acoustics of the tunnel and thats why I was so pleased about the videos because they capture that.
The denial of the screams was a very poor attempt to try (unsuccssfully) to wind up Rachel and Xanthe into thinking it wasn't me! Unfortunately they were doing the same thing (remember Rachel's blood-curdling scream?) apparently she was really impressed with herself and then the pair of them thought they could convince us it wasn't them. So we were both trying to do the same thing. unsuccessfully.
I was got the impression that no-one seemed particularly scared of going into the tunnel, espcially since most of us have done it before. The thing for me was the fact that I had to put all the stuff in their on my own in the dark beforehand. I didn't really think it through but there was no other way to do it. I honestly don't know how I mustered up the courage - since I have had a lifelong fear of the dark - but now I think I may have finally conquered it!

By the way I went to see a Chinese art exhibition at Battersea Power station yesterday. I wasn't really interested in the exhibition I just wanted to go inside the building. Its the last chance to see the building before the do it all up. Its quite amazing what they've got planned for the whole area. I think you'd have loved it - it was an amazing photo opportunity!(ok so not Sydenham, but still) Unfortunately I didn't realise quite how much so until I got there and only had my mobile for taking photos.
leaf
Posts: 590
Joined: 6 Jul 2006 16:17
Location: Not so far away.

Post by leaf »

julwz
you definitely deserve a bravery award for going into the tunnel alone to set things up!
Falkor
Posts: 1371
Joined: 10 Feb 2006 17:45
Location: Surrey Quays

Post by Falkor »

Thanks for the nice things you have to say apart from the bit about me getting carried away and not knowing about the the screaming! Its touching that you think I was just carried away with the event so I don't want to shatter any illusions but I have to defend my sanity a little bit - I may be mad but not that mad!
The denial of the screams was a very poor attempt to try (unsuccssfully) to wind up Rachel and Xanthe into thinking it wasn't me! Unfortunately they were doing the same thing (remember Rachel's blood-curdling scream?) apparently she was really impressed with herself and then the pair of them thought they could convince us it wasn't them. So we were both trying to do the same thing. unsuccessfully.
Oh what!? You were just playing mind games with each other?? Oh well, I guess I was too dumb to figure that one out. :? Sorry. :oops: Either way, you're not mad, but just enthusiastic, which is really a good thing. I've met too many boring individuals in my life, so it's good to meet an interesting person like yourself. Please take it as a compliment... didn't mean to offend you in any way, but like Greg, I sometimes have the tendency to open my big mouth too far without any awareness and consideration for other people's feelings. I've edited my comments above.
By the way I went to see a Chinese art exhibition at Battersea Power station yesterday. I wasn't really interested in the exhibition I just wanted to go inside the building. Its the last chance to see the building before the do it all up. Its quite amazing what they've got planned for the whole area. I think you'd have loved it - it was an amazing photo opportunity!
Sounds good... I'm sure I would have enjoyed it. The Chinese are very artistic, which is the reason I watch their films. Western culture is so boring in my opinion...

I'm just settling down in my WONDERFUL new house! :) It's really nice here, in Orpington, with a pond and MASSIVE front and back garden!!! :D But I still want to move back to Sydenham some time in the future... I don't really belong here. :(
Last edited by Falkor on 4 Nov 2006 15:20, edited 3 times in total.
leaf
Posts: 590
Joined: 6 Jul 2006 16:17
Location: Not so far away.

Post by leaf »

i cant watch your clips falkor :(

dont know why,but i dont get past the connecting stage?
Falkor
Posts: 1371
Joined: 10 Feb 2006 17:45
Location: Surrey Quays

Post by Falkor »

leaf wrote:i cant watch your clips falkor :(

dont know why,but i dont get past the connecting stage?
They should work fine, so not sure what the problem is, but I need to take them down now anyway to free up some webspace...
Post Reply