In a type of post Halloween celebration, I took Seth and met up with Helen and Carmel at Alfred Deakin Place on Saturday afternoon to celebrate the colourful Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) event that was held in Ballarat this weekend. Dia de Muertos is a Mexican national holiday where people honour the memory of their dearly departed friends and family members, and it is truly a colourful and lively spectacle of epic and magnificent proportions.
It is commonplace for Mexican people to visit the graves of lost ones at this time of the year to decorate their graves with elaborate imagery and offerings. Altars called ofrendas are constructed in homes and adorned with photos, calaveras (skull representations), golden aztec marigolds, incense, food offerings and gifts. There was massive and highly ornate ofrendas constructed at yesterday's celebration in memory of the dead, it was so beautiful and had a massive cross at the foot of the altar that was surrounded by rice and salt to keep the evil spirits at bay.
We perused the gorgeous authentic mexican crafts and cultural art pieces, checked out the massive dirt and bark skeleton installations, listened to the animated mariachi band, watched a performance of an authentic Mexican Day of the Dead dance and tried some 'Grandmother's' chocolate. Grandmother's chocolate, I was told by the very helpful young lady that was running the stall, is a traditional Mexican spiced hot chocolate that is only drank on Dia de Muertos and is usually drank with 'Dia de Muertos Bread' - a sugar and spice encrusted mini sweet bread that is baked and left out in an attempt to persuade the dearly departed to visit your home with its irresistible aromas. I purchased a loaf to leave out overnight in the hope that it would entice my nanna to visit, but unfortunately I can't say that I saw her. Perhaps Mexican sweet bread is not that alluring to her.
We rounded out our Dia de Muertos celebrations with a delicious lunch of Chimichangas and Hendrix Muddles aka Hendrix Summer Mules, which is now my new fave cocktail and will be my summer go to drink for sure - so refreshing! Followed that deliciousness with a visit to the Ballarat Art Gallery to see the new Romancing the Skull exhibition, which was also terrific and I highly recommend a visit to. Then finished it all off with a quick pop over to the local Spanish restaurant for coffee and hot churros. Yummy!
Got home in the early evening with an over stuffed gut and still had time to spare for some utterly ridiculous D grade horror that was so very bad that I cannot even remember the name of it now! What a perfect day! Seth fell asleep around 10.30pm and I crashed into bed around 11.30pm and slept just like the dead myself.
It is commonplace for Mexican people to visit the graves of lost ones at this time of the year to decorate their graves with elaborate imagery and offerings. Altars called ofrendas are constructed in homes and adorned with photos, calaveras (skull representations), golden aztec marigolds, incense, food offerings and gifts. There was massive and highly ornate ofrendas constructed at yesterday's celebration in memory of the dead, it was so beautiful and had a massive cross at the foot of the altar that was surrounded by rice and salt to keep the evil spirits at bay.
We perused the gorgeous authentic mexican crafts and cultural art pieces, checked out the massive dirt and bark skeleton installations, listened to the animated mariachi band, watched a performance of an authentic Mexican Day of the Dead dance and tried some 'Grandmother's' chocolate. Grandmother's chocolate, I was told by the very helpful young lady that was running the stall, is a traditional Mexican spiced hot chocolate that is only drank on Dia de Muertos and is usually drank with 'Dia de Muertos Bread' - a sugar and spice encrusted mini sweet bread that is baked and left out in an attempt to persuade the dearly departed to visit your home with its irresistible aromas. I purchased a loaf to leave out overnight in the hope that it would entice my nanna to visit, but unfortunately I can't say that I saw her. Perhaps Mexican sweet bread is not that alluring to her.
We rounded out our Dia de Muertos celebrations with a delicious lunch of Chimichangas and Hendrix Muddles aka Hendrix Summer Mules, which is now my new fave cocktail and will be my summer go to drink for sure - so refreshing! Followed that deliciousness with a visit to the Ballarat Art Gallery to see the new Romancing the Skull exhibition, which was also terrific and I highly recommend a visit to. Then finished it all off with a quick pop over to the local Spanish restaurant for coffee and hot churros. Yummy!
Got home in the early evening with an over stuffed gut and still had time to spare for some utterly ridiculous D grade horror that was so very bad that I cannot even remember the name of it now! What a perfect day! Seth fell asleep around 10.30pm and I crashed into bed around 11.30pm and slept just like the dead myself.
TRICK 'R TREAT
Release Date: 2007
Rating: R 18+
Running Time: 82 mins
A slasher anthology of all things macabre, written and directed by Michael Dougherty. This collection of four horror based stories was a surprisingly fun jaunt through the bloody events of one Halloween evening.
After a grisly opening scene, the first story is 'The Principal' - a tale about a small town principal that is harboring a problematic lust for killing. The second story involves five children that are out for exciting and terrifying adventures entitled 'The School Bus Massacre Revisited.' The third tale entitled 'Surprise Party' has a surprise that you probably won't see coming, and the final story called 'Sam' is about a man that hates Halloween and is about to get a visit from the one thing that ties all of the stories together - Sam himself.
There are lots of twists and turns, as the stories mingle and interweave with each other; there are some reputable actors to add more credibility like Anna Paquin, Brian Cox and Dylan Baker and at the end of the day, this is just good fun Halloween storytelling. I had a really good time with this, it's a worthy horror watch.
FINAL SAY: Happy Halloween!
3.5 Chilli Peppers
Release Date: 2007
Rating: R 18+
Running Time: 82 mins
A slasher anthology of all things macabre, written and directed by Michael Dougherty. This collection of four horror based stories was a surprisingly fun jaunt through the bloody events of one Halloween evening.
After a grisly opening scene, the first story is 'The Principal' - a tale about a small town principal that is harboring a problematic lust for killing. The second story involves five children that are out for exciting and terrifying adventures entitled 'The School Bus Massacre Revisited.' The third tale entitled 'Surprise Party' has a surprise that you probably won't see coming, and the final story called 'Sam' is about a man that hates Halloween and is about to get a visit from the one thing that ties all of the stories together - Sam himself.
There are lots of twists and turns, as the stories mingle and interweave with each other; there are some reputable actors to add more credibility like Anna Paquin, Brian Cox and Dylan Baker and at the end of the day, this is just good fun Halloween storytelling. I had a really good time with this, it's a worthy horror watch.
FINAL SAY: Happy Halloween!
3.5 Chilli Peppers
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