The Galef Oceanside Asylum

2007

Welcome to our webspot. Our continuing mission is to explore our universe and even if we don't boldly end up where no one has gone before, we hope to make some new friends on the way. We are Janis and Frank Galef, and we live in Oceanside, California. Our son, Jeff, finished his Master's degree in Environmental Resource Engineering at Humboldt State University and is doing modeling for the Department of Water Resources in Sacramento. Sharing our home is a big striped Cichlid, a pond full of goldfish, and Macho. Macho is an oversized, but not really overweight, Chihuahua. For the record, Macho NEVER vibrates, although in some circles he might be considered a bit yappy. Macho has his own webpage! See our site links below.

ABOUT US (not our day jobs)

Janis has a long-standing interest in vocal music.. She has been a fan of Connie Francis since childhood. If a friend hadn't shown Janis that there was a Connie Francis Webpage on the Internet it is unlikely that she would have permitted Frank to get a computer just to pursue paleontology and other alliterative activities. Janis has always enjoyed singing along with her favorite songs and has taken vocal performance classes at our local community colleges. While her interest in Pop led her into her studies, she is now interested in Blues, Jazz, and Opera as well.

Frank has a longstanding interest in the past, the distant past. He has been fascinated by dinosaurs since he was a child and now enjoys learning and teaching about the ever-changing pageant of life on Earth. He has been collecting fossils and building models of dinosaurs for years. Some of his collection can be seen at his office and through our links. With the rest of his free time he enjoys discovering exotic cuisines, gardening and playing badminton (not for wimps).

HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN 2007

For those of you not up to date on your Cordon Bleu technique, the writing on the steps reads,

"La Méthode Française de tailler le citrouille".

Bon appetite!

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Here are some links to some of my other pumpkins from the past:

2006: Aztec Calabeza Carver. After spending several days in Mexico City where the Aztecs once spent a lot of time making ritual sacrifices, this depiction of the source of pepitas seemed to make a lot of sense. Chac mol is keeping the priest company and awaits his share of the filling.

2005: Samurai Pumpkin Carver. This is also called the Zen of Kabocha Seppuku.

2004: BAD Halloween. Birds Are Dinosaurs. This was my spin on the classic Knight rendering of dueling Laelaps, an early name for Allosaurs.

2003: Hellvis. Condemned to play the accordion for eternity.

2002: Death Takes a Holiday. Hey, this IS Oceanside, remember?

1992: Tilting at Windmills. Just because you are tilting at windmills doesn't mean there aren't any dragons!

1991: Rubbed the wrong way! Be careful how you wish for what you want.

1990: Dueling Dinosaurs. A somewhat modified version of a John Gurche painting. I substituted a Triceratops for the Styracasaurus.

Also, if you want to see another take on Pumpkin Carving, check out my brother Barry's website, Jack O'Lanterns by Barry Galef! Barry goes for a more high concept type of approach. He seems to be in the Opera Seria genre, while I tend more to stay in the Buffa style.

During the years that Jeff was at Humboldt State University, we made a lot of trips up and down this 750 mile long state. An important part of our history is the Mission system that was Spain's attempt to colonize California while stopping the Russians from encroaching from the north. There is a lot of controversy about the Missions and the people who were here first, but the old buildings and the museums associated with them are among the most fascinating places you can visit. Between the 1770's and 1820's, twenty one Missions were founded between San Diego in the south and Sonoma in the north. We were able to visit all of them, and some of our impressions are here, at Style Elements of the Missions.

The Galef Oceanside Asylum

LINKS