Holidays Galleries

Halloween 2009 Zombie Kitchen : For Halloween 2009 the theme was Zombie Kitchen. A group of friends who have been collaborating on Halloween events for years moved to a new venue in the same neighborhood of Sunnyvale, CA. Construction started on Friday and was finished about 5:30 PM on Saturday, Halloween. What evolved was introduced by a brightly lighted reception area. Nearby was a passageway where small groups of visitors (nominally up to 4) were queried for the level of "scare" they were willing to experience. An announcement of the desired experience was made and the group, with night blindness wiped out by the bright lights and a flashing strobe near the entrance, entered the venue. Their ankles were tickled by pneumatic tubes whipping around as they proceeded down the narrow passageway. They found two figures at the turn to the left, one a zombie and another about which one could not be so sure in the UV lighting. After turning left they passed a wall with air jets randomly blowing a different heights. Directly ahead was their first view of the Kitchen, the stove. The top of the stove popped open and a figure with UV makeup noisly emerged. Meanwhile, the zombie character followed them down the hall to surprise with a touch here, a nudge there. As the visitors reacted to the stove zombie, hands grabbed ankles from behind. Another left turn revealed a rocking char with only hands visible, a refrigerator, and another appliance. The rocker started rocking and the other cast members encourage them on. Another zombie popped out of the appliance on the right, the refrigerator to the left came alive, and the rocker turned out to be occupied by a player as well. Past the threats and out the door to the right led to the kettle full of Halloween candy, guarded by a motion sensing snake. Reachin for the candy caused the snake to strike with lit-up eyes and rattling tail. On out the gate to the lighted exit path led to a video monitor (using an IR camera) showing the next group arriving to greet the hall zombie and air jets. At the reception area, greeters monitored the progress of the group toward the exit using another IR video camera, and started the next group inside. The cast members were from the Homestead High School Water Polo teams. The house was supplied by Andrew Lynch. Photos (C) George Hamma are available for download and use by participants (First time with a new camera so more to learn)

Halloween 2009 Zombie Kitchen

For Halloween 2009 the theme was Zombie Kitchen. A group of friends w ...

Updated: Nov 01, 2009 5:18pm PST

Fireworks-in-Cupertino-CA-July-4-2009 : I took these photos of the fireworks put on by Cupertino, CA on the 4th of July 2009. Enjoy. (Next year we take a chain saw to that tree!) These images are Copyright George Hamma 2009

Fireworks-in-Cupertino-CA-July-4-2009

I took these photos of the fireworks put on by Cupertino, CA on the 4t ...

Updated: Jul 05, 2009 11:04am PST

Cumberland-South-4th-of-July-2009 : The residents of Cumberland South neighborhood in Sunnyvale, CA enjoy a 4th of July parade and pot luck each year. For 2009 the young ones also enjoyed an inflated water slide. Participants are welcome to download photos. If any are published, a photo credit to George Hamma would be appreciated. (C) George Hamma 2009

Cumberland-South-4th-of-July-2009

The residents of Cumberland South neighborhood in Sunnyvale, CA enjoy ...

Updated: Jul 05, 2009 10:08am PST

July-4th-2008-Celebration-Sunnyvale-CA-Cumberland-South-Neighborhood : On July 4, 2008, a parade was held on a closed street leading to a party with inflated jumping house, pot luck luncheon, and Sunnyvale fire engine. The event was organized through the Cumberland South neighborhood via the website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cumberlandsouth/ The participants are welcome to download and share these photos. If any are published a photo credit to George Hamma would be appreciated.

July-4th-2008-Celebration-Sunnyvale-CA-Cumberland-South-Neighborhood

On July 4, 2008, a parade was held on a closed street leading to a par ...

Updated: Jul 05, 2008 4:50pm PST

Halloween-2007-Brent-Ross-Mountain-View-Display : Brent Ross, who has been doing Halloween displays at his parents' house at Yosemite and Bush Streets in Mountain View, CA, won $50,000 in 2007 from fearnet.com for the presentation shown in a video entered into the competition. The presentation of the prize winnings was done on the Today show just before Halloween. These are a few pictures to give a flavor of the display. The haunting was written up in the San Jose Mercury News. More information about Brent's display and how you can purchase some of the components at: http://www.dcprops.com/

Halloween-2007-Brent-Ross-Mountain-View-Display

Brent Ross, who has been doing Halloween displays at his parents' hous ...

Updated: Nov 04, 2007 3:11pm PST

Halloween-2007-Deal-or-No-Deal-Trick-Or-Treat : This year's Halloween activity started with 11 aluminum Halliburton cases being donated to the cause. That inspired us to create a Deal Or No Deal type set, the Trick Or Treat version. We also had an infrared light and two IR video cameras donated, which inspired the dark tunnel entry/exit. The battlebot guys created a second-generation flame thrower to add some punch to the event. Combine that with an enthusiastic cast of aquatics athletes from Homestead High School and the event is complete.

Halloween-2007-Deal-or-No-Deal-Trick-Or-Treat

This year's Halloween activity started with 11 aluminum Halliburton ca ...

Updated: Nov 02, 2007 1:58pm PST

Sunnyvale-CA-4th-of-July-2007 : In Sunnyvale, CA, Mayor Otto Lee presented the State of the City address in Washington Park on July 4, 2007, followed by City Council members presenting awards honoring various civic activities and people. Among the honorees were Sunnyvale Sustainable Gardening for their work a the Charles Street Garden. There was also a BBQ and face painting in the park. These pictures are provided for the participants and the City of Sunnyvale to download and use as they wish. If any are published, a photo credit to George Hamma would be appreciated.

Sunnyvale-CA-4th-of-July-2007

In Sunnyvale, CA, Mayor Otto Lee presented the State of the City addre ...

Updated: Jul 07, 2007 5:18pm PST

Cory-Christmas-2006 : Inspired by putting up lights at our house at Thanksgiving, Cory decided to decorate his home with lights. Of course, he added controllers and connected them to a computer. Then he selected appropriate musical numbers and programmed the lights to accompany the music. Finally, he added a local FM transmitter so viewers could hear the music. Most nights Cory and Ashley set out a table with hot chocolate and cider. They made an arrangement to accept donations for the Children's Hospital at UC Davis.

Cory-Christmas-2006

Inspired by putting up lights at our house at Thanksgiving, Cory decid ...

Updated: Dec 31, 2006 9:23pm PST

Halloween-2006-Time-Machine : This year a group of us decided to make a Time Machine as a Halloween entertainment. We planned on a darkened, UV-lit, machine-theme entryway leading to the Time Machine itself. It would be a 4 foot by 4 foot room the victims/visitors would have to step up into. The room would be decorated internally with interesting electronic-theme stuff. At the time it is being entered the Time Machine would be held in an elevated position by a set of electromagnets. The room system would be installed on a wheeled base so that it could be spun around quickly. The pictures here show the construction of the Time Machine. There was, of course, more to the entertainment than just the Time Machine. A legend was created to explain why visitors seeking candy would have to go back in time to retrieve their treats, with just 30 seconds to find and get them. When the Time Machine was occupied, the room would drop about 2 inches and then be spun around to face a darkened, UV-lit, jungle-theme space populated with UV-makeup people. There were several areas, or "scare points" where the search for the candy could be interrupted. There was a flame thrower in the open area above this space that would jet a couple of seconds of flames for effect. When the candy was collected, the visitors re-entered the Time Machine, it was spun back around, and they were permitted to exit. While they were exitingl, the room was re-suspended by the magnets.

Halloween-2006-Time-Machine

This year a group of us decided to make a Time Machine as a Halloween ...

Updated: Nov 05, 2006 2:01pm PST

Halloween-2006-061031 : These are some images from Halloween. Included are the cast from the time machine event, many from the Homestead High School Water Polo team. There are also some photos of an annual display on a nearby front lawn.

Halloween-2006-061031

These are some images from Halloween. Included are the cast from the ...

Updated: Nov 01, 2006 10:21pm PST