Johnny Depp and Tim Burton were among the guests of President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle for the Obamas’ first Halloween celebration at the White House. Quite an honor! Guest accounts and Tweets state that Johnny was in costume as the Mad Hatter (with makeup covering his facial hair) and took part in an Alice in Wonderland tea party, while Tim donned a heart-shaped eyepatch and a bright red tie in lieu of a costume. The cast and crew of Chicago’s famed Redmoon Theater group brought their performance art to the festivities, which were a closely guarded secret until Saturday night. “It was absolutely a Halloween I will never forget,” Frank Maugeri, artistic director of Redmoon Theater, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “When the official [White House] photographer shot the picture of all of us from Redmoon with the president and Mrs. Obama I just said out loud, ‘This is the best day of my life!'” The photo shows Tim Burton with a member of the Black Bear Combo, musicians who entertained at the festivities; to see a larger photo of Tim with the group, CLICK HERE. Many thanks to Emma for breaking the news, and to AliceSprings and SallyNightmare for photographs. You can read more on the Zone’s News & Views forum. –Part-Time Poet

The Johnny Depp Zone is delighted to celebrate the 6th birthday of Oprah Noodlemantra’s Book Club, the first such group ever founded to read works associated with or recommended by Johnny Depp. The first book ONBC read was Stephen King’s novella Secret Window, Secret Garden (also known as Two Past Midnight) because Johnny Depp had just finished filming his role as Mort Rainey. Liz posed ONBC’s first question about Secret Window, Secret Garden at two past midnight on November 1, 2003, and she and DeppintheHeartofTexas have been delighting and challenging us ever since!

ONBC is currently reading a series of short works in their “Autumn Authors” series: last week featured Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Ligeia,” and this week they are investigating William Saroyan’s “Why I Write.” To see a display of the books ONBC has read over its six years, CLICK HERE.

We congratulate Liz and DITHOT and thank them for their outstanding leadership and hard work for the past six years. Well done! We can’t wait to see what ONBC will read next year–it’s always a fascinating journey. –Part-Time Poet

The Johnny Depp Zone is delighted to celebrate the 6th birthday of Oprah Noodlemantra’s Book Club, the first such group ever founded to read works associated with or recommended by Johnny Depp. The first book ONBC read was Stephen King’s novella Secret Window, Secret Garden (also known as Two Past Midnight) because Johnny Depp had just finished filming his role as Mort Rainey. Liz posed ONBC’s first question about Secret Window, Secret Garden at two past midnight on November 1, 2003, and she and DeppintheHeartofTexas have been delighting and challenging us ever since!

ONBC is currently reading a series of short works in their “Autumn Authors” series: last week featured Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Ligeia,” and this week they are investigating William Saroyan’s “Why I Write.” To see a display of the books ONBC has read over its six years, CLICK HERE.

We congratulate Liz and DITHOT and thank them for their outstanding leadership and hard work for the past six years. Well done! We can’t wait to see what ONBC will read next year–it’s always a fascinating journey. –Part-Time Poet