Get your scare on at Beacon's Muddy Cup

I just got an e-mail from the Beacon Arts Community Association.

They are hosting a costume party fund-raiser at the Muddy Cup on Friday.

Tickets are $10 and include music, food and non-alcoholic beverages. BYOB.

The Muddy Cup is at 129 Main St. in Beacon.

More details to (hopefully) come.

If you feel like dancing and/or rocking out ...

I've got some Halloween-themed parties for you this weekend:

Friday

The Down in the Valley crew is hosting a Halloween Spooktacular at the reopened Coast in Tivoli.

DJ Mr Chips will be spinning "on the bubbling cauldron of beats." Costumes are mandatory.

Party starts at 10 p.m. and costs $5.

Kingston's Muddy Cup hosts Clubhouse's HallowGroove, described as a "night of debauchery" with DJ Lemar Soulflower (phat, dark beats) and DJ Lady Verse (hip-hop grooves).

Beer will be provided courtesy of Keegan Ales.

Cost is $10 with costume, $15 without.

Doors open at 9 p.m.

Saturday

Speaking of Keegan Ales, the Kingston brewery is hosting its own Halloween costume party Saturday night.

The bands White Knuckle Rodeo, Love Panther and Johnny Thursday And The Friday Nights are scheduled to play.

Also Saturday, the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock is throwing a Halloween bash with S'OVA, a two-man funk band with guitar and turntables; The Passage Project, a mix of jazz, funk, rock and electronica; and Funk Mafia, a five-piece funk band.

DJs Flaniman and Magic Juan will keep the costumed party-goers dancing.

Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20.

For you fans of rockabilly, The Greyhounds are playing a free 9 p.m. show at Hoe Bowl Mardi-Bob bowling alley, 45 Taft Ave. in Poughkeepsie.

Dress code is "Dress to kill."

If you know of any other adult-oriented Halloween happenings, please share and post below.

'Purple Rain' named best soundtrack ever

Could the timing be more perfect?

Just two days before the sing-along screening of "Purple Rain" at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, Reuters reports that the editors of Vanity Fair have named the soundtrack of Prince's cult film the best ever.

All hail the Purple One.

4 1/2 stars for Elephant

I took a deep breath after hearing the Poughkeepsie Journal's restaurant critic, Daniel Mochon, had reviewed Kingston's Elephant, my favorite place to sip and nosh.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Mochon knows his stuff and expects a lot from mid-Hudson Valley chefs and restauranteurs.

From his past reviews, I can conclude that bad service is his biggest bugaboo.

I am happy to report that he loved Elephant co-owner Maya Karrol's approach: "Her service was very attentive and thoughtful, with a professional poise and sense of timing that comes from years of dining room experience. With all of the small dishes, table busing becomes even more critical and Karrol did a great job keeping clutter to a minimum."

Read the full, glowing, review here.

Phew.

Now I can continue to eat there in peace.

(Poughkeepsie Journal photo by A.J. Soto)

Should I be The Kid or Apollonia?

Upstate Films in Rhinebeck is hosting three screenings of "Purple Rain," Prince's legendary film with the Oscar-winning soundtrack, next week: Oct. 26 at 11:30 p.m., Oct. 27 at at 11:30 p.m. and Oct. 28 (time TBD).

Audiences are strongly encouraged to dress in costume for the Friday night screening, during which dancing and singing along to "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" a la "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" will be welcome.

Prizes will be awarded for the best "Purple Rain"-themed costume, best Prince look-alike and the most creative costume overall.

All costumes are welcome, related to the film or to the 1980s in general, or not....

Cost is $6.

Wow.

Time to redecorate

Ah, our post-collegiate efforts to furnish that first house or apartment.

I know I've assembled a hodgepodge of hand-me-downs, thrift-store finds and Ikea purchases that admittedly make no design sense whatsoever.

At the same time, I have no interest in shopping at those big box furniture stores that supply the region's McMansions.

Could Suite Designs on Route 9D in Fishkill be the answer?

The store features products from artisan partners encouraged to use environmentally friendly processes and sustainable natural resources.

They include rosewood furniture from India, contemporary and traditional upholstered furniture from Canada and Mexico, silk pillows from Thailand, crewel rugs and pashminas from Kashmir, handcolored cotton bags from Colombia and stone, ceramic and woven treasures from four continents.

All goods are fairly traded, according to co-owner Jacklyn Faust, who attended Parsons School of Design.

Suite Designs also features fine art by Carol Pepper-Cooper, George Erikson, Stacie Flint, Adam Manley, Joshua Morris, Lara Rodrian, Linda Saland, Elayne Seaman and David Wiseltier.

Check out the store and meet some of the artists, designers and vendors this Saturday. The fall celebration will feature tastings of local wines and custom-blended teas as well as savory snacks.

Gone to the movies

Hey everyone. I'm going to spend the rest of the week posting on Peace, Love and Movies, a Woodstock Film Festival blog I'm sharing with Poughkeepsie Journal music writer John Barry and videographer Chrissie Williams (Odd Couple).

Expect lots of photos, movies reviews, interviews with filmmakers and some behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

Vassar College film professor Mia Mask has agreed to review a couple of movies for us and we will be meeting up with The Filmonista.

If you are heading to any of this year's venues in Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Rosendale or Hunter, please post comments about your experiences. We want to know EVERYTHING.

See you at the movies.

(Photos from last year's festival are by me. Yes, that's Matt Dillon. Yes, I got to meet him. Yes, I almost died.)

Talk about exiled hipsters ...

Trish Strombeck (a Hudson Valley native and one of my best friends) and her husband, Christoph Mayer, are featured in the City section of today's New York Times.

Here's the description of the story from the Times' Web site: "A small but growing number of hip young things have begun staring in the face of Staten Island’s lack of coolness and embracing it."

The online version of the story also includes mp3s of Trish and Christoph's irreverent, "anti-folk" songs about life in New York City's forgotten borough.

Learn more about this duo on their Web site.

I'm so proud.

(Photo courtesy Christoph Mayer)

R.I.P. Mole Mole -- Mt. Carmel

Just found out that Mole Mole's darling Mount Carmel location in Poughkeepsie has closed. Fans can still get their fix from the 805 Main St. location (no delivery) or try the new Mole Mole (yes delivery) opposite Marist College.

The phone number for the new location is 845-471-4255.

I recommend the enchiladas negras.

Peek at my weekend plans

This weekend I'm celebrating my birthday AND my wedding anniversary (my actual anniversary, Oct. 13, takes place during the Woodstock Film Festival.)

Tonight the festivities begin at Le Canard Enchaine in Kingston. But my husband and I won't be eating from the restaurant's French menu. We will be sampling the once-a-month fixed price Moroccan dinner, complete with Middle Eastern dance featuring belly dancing. I can't wait.

Saturday morning is a whirlwind:
An early breakfast at Sweet Sue's -- the best pancakes ever -- in Phoenicia, off Route 28. I'm sure we'll have to wait a while for a table.

Then we continue on Route 28 to Belleayre Ski Center to check out its fall festival and ride the lift with the other fall foliage gawkers.

Then its back to Kingston for a ride down the Hudson on the Rip Van Winkle.

Then dinner at the new Global Palate on Route 9W in West Park. I have had a wonderful brunch there. I'm really excited about dinner.

And last but not least, drinks at Elephant.

Phew!

Cheap eats update, Black Swan in Tivoli

A couple of Fridays ago I was jonesing for a great burger. Based on the recommendation of one of you lovely readers, my man and I headed to the Black Swan Pub in Tivoli.

When we arrived we saw a bunch of professor types enjoying large bowls of stew and platters of seafood and rice while helping the bartender out with the NY Times crossword.

We headed to the back kitchen and were greeted by Edwin.

"Can I order a burger and fries?" I asked.

Edwin looked at me with sad, disappointed eyes. "I don't do hamburgers and fries. Americans eat too much greasy, fried food," he said.

Instead he offered up to us the evening's two choices: venison stew or tilapia served with brown rice pilaf and homemade guacamole.

"How much for the tilapia?" I asked.

"Let me see, for you, $7.50," he said.

A pint later, Edwin delivered the gorgeous plate of food to the table. It was very fresh tasting and full of flavor.

He tells us he likes to do healthful Latin American-inspired fare instead of the standard pub chow.

He's in the kitchen Wednesdays through Saturdays. Bring cash.

The Black Swan is at 66 Broadway in Tivoli. Call 845-757-3777.

(Poughkeepsie Journal archive photo by Karl Rabe)