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[OT] My first Halloween
Halloween wasn't celebrated here when I was a kid - we knew it simply as an
American holiday. But, seeing a marketting oppourtunity, the shops (and therefore people) in the last 5 years ago have started making a 'fuss' about Halloween, and we've had the occasional trick-or-treater knock on our door for the last few years that we've been totally unprepared for. But this year, Cary has watched enough American cartoons to realise that Halloween about dress-ups and getting free candy, and hasn't shut up abou tit. And since its throughout the shops its been hard to avoid, even if we tried (first time I've ever seen a proper orange 'carving' pumpkin ina supermarket was this year!). Unfortunately, though, Halloween celebrtions are not yet so imbedded in our culture yet that knocking on virtual or total stranger's doors (ie, the neighbours) would work, particularly since he's only 5 and goes to bed before it gets properly dark these days. So I organised for a friend to host a Halloween Party for the kids (I don't have a back yard, so a kid's party wouldn't work here). I made 'witches fingers' - short bread shaped into fingers, with a bit of red-coloured shortbread tuck on the end like a nail, 'chocolate spiders' - which are friend chow mein noodles covered in chocolate (the adult ones also having rum in them) and 'rats lungs' - raspberry jello and evaporated milk whisked into a froth and then set. Yum Yum. The Yowlet begged for - and got- a commercially made costume, "Snake Eyes" from Gi Joe. I had wanted him to go as a Mummy, because the Chapman clan *prides* itself on dress-ups. We win costume parties all the time, and I wasn't to be outdone. If he wasn't going to play *real* dress-ups then it had to be me. I made myself into 'road kill' by ripping up my clothes ont he left side, applying liberal amounts of black, green, purple & brown eyeshadow for bruising (I knew purple & green eyeshadow was good for *something*), with eyeliner, lip liner, bright red lipstick for various wounds and bruises, talcum powderto make my face pale, blue eyeshadow on the lips (and blue eyeshadow is useful too!) and the black & brown stuff in the eye sockets to look kinda dead. But the peice de resistance was the goop & glop. I made a good paste cooking cornflour & water, with a generous splash of red food colouring, the lump staying white. Once it had cooled, I smeared it generously all down my left side, with extra gloop in my hair and ear. It was itchly as hell, but it had the disturbingly real tendency to fall off in small, red ,cold, squishy peices. It looked *fantastic*. I walked into a fast food joint to order lunch with it on and had to repeat the order several times because the staff were too distracted by the glop falling off me to remember my order. The Yowlet thought it was great, and very scary. I think I was the cause of several near-crashes as the traffic noticed my get-up on the way to the party. But when I got there, I was the only grown up in costume. And within half an hour, the kids had shed their hot costumes to romp around in the pool. So I had to stay the whole party dressed up as 'road kill' where everyone else was normal. But I don't care because *by definition* I won the costume competition! (and the scary food competition, because no-one else bothered). I had *ball* doing Halloween, I can see why you Merkins love it so - what a great excuse for dressups and being scary and gross. Wish the rest of my friends could bring themselves to being a bit silly just for fun, but no mind. The Chapmans had fun, and we're gonna do it bigger & better next year! Photos of me as road kill (bad camera, and taken after the party when the makeup had faded, but still): http://www.flickr.com/photos/yowie96...7622707912752/ Happy Halloween! Yowie -- If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones. |
[OT] My first Halloween
"Yowie" wrote in message
... Halloween wasn't celebrated here when I was a kid - we knew it simply as an American holiday. But, seeing a marketting oppourtunity, the shops (and therefore people) in the last 5 years ago have started making a 'fuss' about Halloween, and we've had the occasional trick-or-treater knock on our door for the last few years that we've been totally unprepared for. But this year, Cary has watched enough American cartoons to realise that Halloween about dress-ups and getting free candy, and hasn't shut up abou tit. And since its throughout the shops its been hard to avoid, even if we tried (first time I've ever seen a proper orange 'carving' pumpkin ina supermarket was this year!). Unfortunately, though, Halloween celebrtions are not yet so imbedded in our culture yet that knocking on virtual or total stranger's doors (ie, the neighbours) would work, particularly since he's only 5 and goes to bed before it gets properly dark these days. So I organised for a friend to host a Halloween Party for the kids (I don't have a back yard, so a kid's party wouldn't work here). I made 'witches fingers' - short bread shaped into fingers, with a bit of red-coloured shortbread tuck on the end like a nail, 'chocolate spiders' - which are friend chow mein noodles covered in chocolate (the adult ones also having rum in them) and 'rats lungs' - raspberry jello and evaporated milk whisked into a froth and then set. Yum Yum. The Yowlet begged for - and got- a commercially made costume, "Snake Eyes" from Gi Joe. I had wanted him to go as a Mummy, because the Chapman clan *prides* itself on dress-ups. We win costume parties all the time, and I wasn't to be outdone. If he wasn't going to play *real* dress-ups then it had to be me. I made myself into 'road kill' by ripping up my clothes ont he left side, applying liberal amounts of black, green, purple & brown eyeshadow for bruising (I knew purple & green eyeshadow was good for *something*), with eyeliner, lip liner, bright red lipstick for various wounds and bruises, talcum powderto make my face pale, blue eyeshadow on the lips (and blue eyeshadow is useful too!) and the black & brown stuff in the eye sockets to look kinda dead. But the peice de resistance was the goop & glop. I made a good paste cooking cornflour & water, with a generous splash of red food colouring, the lump staying white. Once it had cooled, I smeared it generously all down my left side, with extra gloop in my hair and ear. It was itchly as hell, but it had the disturbingly real tendency to fall off in small, red ,cold, squishy peices. It looked *fantastic*. I walked into a fast food joint to order lunch with it on and had to repeat the order several times because the staff were too distracted by the glop falling off me to remember my order. The Yowlet thought it was great, and very scary. I think I was the cause of several near-crashes as the traffic noticed my get-up on the way to the party. But when I got there, I was the only grown up in costume. And within half an hour, the kids had shed their hot costumes to romp around in the pool. So I had to stay the whole party dressed up as 'road kill' where everyone else was normal. But I don't care because *by definition* I won the costume competition! (and the scary food competition, because no-one else bothered). I had *ball* doing Halloween, I can see why you Merkins love it so - what a great excuse for dressups and being scary and gross. Wish the rest of my friends could bring themselves to being a bit silly just for fun, but no mind. The Chapmans had fun, and we're gonna do it bigger & better next year! Photos of me as road kill (bad camera, and taken after the party when the makeup had faded, but still): http://www.flickr.com/photos/yowie96...7622707912752/ Happy Halloween! Yowie -- It's a lot of fun, isn't it?! I think even moresoe for adults. Here in the U.S. adults have as much (if not more) fun with costumes as the kidlets. Over the years I worked in several offices where most of the people dressed up. And didn't hesitate to go out to lunch as a group, all dressed up. Costumes are fun! In the 1980's one man came dressed as a woman (no, he wasn't a cross-dresser). I think he borrowed the clothes from an aunt. None of us knew the VP was going to take the entire department out to lunch. There he was, a 6 foot tall former Marine wearing a dress, a wig, flowery hat and high heels, carrying a handbag. He was embarrassed at first but took it all in good stride. After all, we all looked a bit mad ;) There was a year between office jobs when I worked as a hostess in a restaurant. The employees dressed up, but the customers coming in really took the cake! One man had bought a second-hand suit jacket for a really tall man. It had no head. His actual head (painted stark white and bloodied with makeup) was held inside a cardboard box with the front cut out, being held by the pinned up arms of the oversized jacket. (And he was actually able to eat since he left a way to get his arms free.) It was a wonderful costume. Those were the days! Jill |
[OT] My first Halloween
I made myself into 'road kill' by ripping up my clothes ont he left side,
applying liberal amounts of black, green, purple & brown eyeshadow for bruising (I knew purple & green eyeshadow was good for *something*), with eyeliner, lip liner, bright red lipstick for various wounds and bruises, talcum powderto make my face pale, blue eyeshadow on the lips (and blue eyeshadow is useful too!) and the black & brown stuff in the eye sockets to look kinda dead. But the peice de resistance was the goop & glop. I made a good paste cooking cornflour & water, with a generous splash of red food colouring, the lump staying white. [...] http://www.flickr.com/photos/yowie9644/sets/72157622707912752/ You have to wonder how many accident victims get left lying in the road on Halloween because people think the blobs of brain are made of dough. ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts ****** I killfile Google posts - email me if you want to be whitelisted ****** |
[OT] My first Halloween
"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
... I made myself into 'road kill' by ripping up my clothes ont he left side, applying liberal amounts of black, green, purple & brown eyeshadow for bruising (I knew purple & green eyeshadow was good for *something*), with eyeliner, lip liner, bright red lipstick for various wounds and bruises, talcum powderto make my face pale, blue eyeshadow on the lips (and blue eyeshadow is useful too!) and the black & brown stuff in the eye sockets to look kinda dead. But the peice de resistance was the goop & glop. I made a good paste cooking cornflour & water, with a generous splash of red food colouring, the lump staying white. [...] http://www.flickr.com/photos/yowie9644/sets/72157622707912752/ You have to wonder how many accident victims get left lying in the road on Halloween because people think the blobs of brain are made of dough. Not funny, when you read this story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,3558556.story Neighbors thought dead man's body was part of Halloween display The body of Mostafa Mahmoud Zayed, 75, an apparent suicide, sat decomposing on his Marina del Rey balcony for days because neighbors thought the lifeless figure was a dummy and didn't call police. |
[OT] My first Halloween
"Yowie" wrote in message
... Halloween wasn't celebrated here when I was a kid - we knew it simply as an American holiday. But, seeing a marketting oppourtunity, the shops (and therefore people) in the last 5 years ago have started making a 'fuss' about Halloween, and we've had the occasional trick-or-treater knock on our door for the last few years that we've been totally unprepared for. But this year, Cary has watched enough American cartoons to realise that Halloween about dress-ups and getting free candy, and hasn't shut up abou tit. And since its throughout the shops its been hard to avoid, even if we tried (first time I've ever seen a proper orange 'carving' pumpkin ina supermarket was this year!). Unfortunately, though, Halloween celebrtions are not yet so imbedded in our culture yet that knocking on virtual or total stranger's doors (ie, the neighbours) would work, particularly since he's only 5 and goes to bed before it gets properly dark these days. So I organised for a friend to host a Halloween Party for the kids (I don't have a back yard, so a kid's party wouldn't work here). I made 'witches fingers' - short bread shaped into fingers, with a bit of red-coloured shortbread tuck on the end like a nail, 'chocolate spiders' - which are friend chow mein noodles covered in chocolate (the adult ones also having rum in them) and 'rats lungs' - raspberry jello and evaporated milk whisked into a froth and then set. Yum Yum. The Yowlet begged for - and got- a commercially made costume, "Snake Eyes" from Gi Joe. I had wanted him to go as a Mummy, because the Chapman clan *prides* itself on dress-ups. We win costume parties all the time, and I wasn't to be outdone. If he wasn't going to play *real* dress-ups then it had to be me. I made myself into 'road kill' by ripping up my clothes ont he left side, applying liberal amounts of black, green, purple & brown eyeshadow for bruising (I knew purple & green eyeshadow was good for *something*), with eyeliner, lip liner, bright red lipstick for various wounds and bruises, talcum powderto make my face pale, blue eyeshadow on the lips (and blue eyeshadow is useful too!) and the black & brown stuff in the eye sockets to look kinda dead. But the peice de resistance was the goop & glop. I made a good paste cooking cornflour & water, with a generous splash of red food colouring, the lump staying white. Once it had cooled, I smeared it generously all down my left side, with extra gloop in my hair and ear. It was itchly as hell, but it had the disturbingly real tendency to fall off in small, red ,cold, squishy peices. It looked *fantastic*. I walked into a fast food joint to order lunch with it on and had to repeat the order several times because the staff were too distracted by the glop falling off me to remember my order. The Yowlet thought it was great, and very scary. I think I was the cause of several near-crashes as the traffic noticed my get-up on the way to the party. But when I got there, I was the only grown up in costume. And within half an hour, the kids had shed their hot costumes to romp around in the pool. So I had to stay the whole party dressed up as 'road kill' where everyone else was normal. But I don't care because *by definition* I won the costume competition! (and the scary food competition, because no-one else bothered). I had *ball* doing Halloween, I can see why you Merkins love it so - what a great excuse for dressups and being scary and gross. Wish the rest of my friends could bring themselves to being a bit silly just for fun, but no mind. The Chapmans had fun, and we're gonna do it bigger & better next year! Photos of me as road kill (bad camera, and taken after the party when the makeup had faded, but still): http://www.flickr.com/photos/yowie96...7622707912752/ Happy Halloween! Yowie -- If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones. Glad you guys had fun (albeit itchy fun) |
[OT] My first Halloween
Good on ya, Vicky! Halloween is a big deal here in the USA. I had Dear Heart
do the honors of answering the doorbell and doling out the candy, as I did it for the last 10 years when he was in another state working! It is a lot of fun for the kids and I know the grownups have huge parties to celebrate the day. Glad you and the Yowlet had fun. Lily & her mama "Yowie" wrote in message ... Halloween wasn't celebrated here when I was a kid - we knew it simply as an American holiday. But, seeing a marketting oppourtunity, the shops (and therefore people) in the last 5 years ago have started making a 'fuss' about Halloween, and we've had the occasional trick-or-treater knock on our door for the last few years that we've been totally unprepared for. But this year, Cary has watched enough American cartoons to realise that Halloween about dress-ups and getting free candy, and hasn't shut up abou tit. And since its throughout the shops its been hard to avoid, even if we tried (first time I've ever seen a proper orange 'carving' pumpkin ina supermarket was this year!). Unfortunately, though, Halloween celebrtions are not yet so imbedded in our culture yet that knocking on virtual or total stranger's doors (ie, the neighbours) would work, particularly since he's only 5 and goes to bed before it gets properly dark these days. So I organised for a friend to host a Halloween Party for the kids (I don't have a back yard, so a kid's party wouldn't work here). I made 'witches fingers' - short bread shaped into fingers, with a bit of red-coloured shortbread tuck on the end like a nail, 'chocolate spiders' - which are friend chow mein noodles covered in chocolate (the adult ones also having rum in them) and 'rats lungs' - raspberry jello and evaporated milk whisked into a froth and then set. Yum Yum. The Yowlet begged for - and got- a commercially made costume, "Snake Eyes" from Gi Joe. I had wanted him to go as a Mummy, because the Chapman clan *prides* itself on dress-ups. We win costume parties all the time, and I wasn't to be outdone. If he wasn't going to play *real* dress-ups then it had to be me. I made myself into 'road kill' by ripping up my clothes ont he left side, applying liberal amounts of black, green, purple & brown eyeshadow for bruising (I knew purple & green eyeshadow was good for *something*), with eyeliner, lip liner, bright red lipstick for various wounds and bruises, talcum powderto make my face pale, blue eyeshadow on the lips (and blue eyeshadow is useful too!) and the black & brown stuff in the eye sockets to look kinda dead. But the peice de resistance was the goop & glop. I made a good paste cooking cornflour & water, with a generous splash of red food colouring, the lump staying white. Once it had cooled, I smeared it generously all down my left side, with extra gloop in my hair and ear. It was itchly as hell, but it had the disturbingly real tendency to fall off in small, red ,cold, squishy peices. It looked *fantastic*. I walked into a fast food joint to order lunch with it on and had to repeat the order several times because the staff were too distracted by the glop falling off me to remember my order. The Yowlet thought it was great, and very scary. I think I was the cause of several near-crashes as the traffic noticed my get-up on the way to the party. But when I got there, I was the only grown up in costume. And within half an hour, the kids had shed their hot costumes to romp around in the pool. So I had to stay the whole party dressed up as 'road kill' where everyone else was normal. But I don't care because *by definition* I won the costume competition! (and the scary food competition, because no-one else bothered). I had *ball* doing Halloween, I can see why you Merkins love it so - what a great excuse for dressups and being scary and gross. Wish the rest of my friends could bring themselves to being a bit silly just for fun, but no mind. The Chapmans had fun, and we're gonna do it bigger & better next year! Photos of me as road kill (bad camera, and taken after the party when the makeup had faded, but still): http://www.flickr.com/photos/yowie96...7622707912752/ Happy Halloween! Yowie -- If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones. -- Irulan from the stars we come to the stars we return from now until the end of time. |
My first Halloween
Hallowe'en is a good time in Canada too. We lived in an isolated area growing up, so every year I put on a costume and climbed into my dad's truck, where he would drive me around to the homes of his relatives, friends, and people from church, and we'd wind up at my grandpa's house. Last night, after ritual (I'm a Wiccan, so Samhain--the festival of the dead--is the same day as Hallowe'en) I went to a costume party. I was a Japanese princess and DP was a marathon runner. The cleverest costume was a beer keg, in which the guy had a funnel on his head and inside the funnel was a real beer, so when he pushed the spigot on his beer keg, real beer came out of it. I love GI Joe BTW :) --Fil Happy Halloween! |
[OT] My first Halloween
I'm glad you enjoyed yourself!
I haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was about 10 or 11, and stick to the way it was celebrated when I was a child rather than adopting the increasing tendency to decorate houses and have adults - or at least the unfortunate adults working in the places that expect them to - dress up too. Unlike yours, my family is NOT noted for skill or interest in costumes and costume party! We always had it pretty strictly as a holiday for young children to dress up and go from door to door getting candy, although some teenaged boys sometimes participated. I don't remember any tricks, although my grandfather had tales of tricks from his youth like overturning outhouses. I haven't actually given out candy myself in years. Sometimes I lived in out-of-the way places; most often, I was rarely home myself during the busiest hours. Today, I live in an area with relatively few small children, although some are brought in by car by parents to visit specific houses where, I expect, relatives live. The only Hallowe'en candy I bought this year was a couple of kindereggs in Hallowe'en packaging for a child in a family I happened to be visiting anyway! I think in a way Halloween is celebrated less than it was when I was a child, in spite of the differences, like decorations for houses and adults dressing up to work in stores, give out candy at home or go to a party. There seems to be less of the door-to-door visiting than there was when I was a child. But times change, and we're not only a more mobile society, but one that tends to be a bit paranoid about children. -- Cheryl |
My first Halloween
I think you're right. It's becoming more popular to have parties at
someone's house or a community centre, than to do door to door. I even see malls doing events where parents can bring their kids as a trick or treat alternative. My own dad made a habit of only taking me to the houses of people he knew, though if they lived in duplexes I'd get candy from their neighbours too. My dad always made a policy of checking over my candy too before he'd let me eat it. I think that if parents go out with their kids and check candy before it's eaten, trick or treat is perfectly safe. Fewer people give out homemade treats and more people buy prepackaged treats for this specific reason. As a teenager I was always happy to babysit on Halloween because it meant I got to wear a costume, go trick or treat and get candy too. --Fil |
[OT] My first Halloween
Yowie wrote:
Halloween wasn't celebrated here when I was a kid - we knew it simply as an American holiday. But, seeing a marketting oppourtunity, the shops (and therefore people) in the last 5 years ago have started making a 'fuss' about Halloween, and we've had the occasional trick-or-treater knock on our door for the last few years that we've been totally unprepared for. But this year, Cary has watched enough American cartoons to realise that Halloween about dress-ups and getting free candy... [snip, for brevity only] Oh, what a great post! Great story, I love it. And thanks for the pix, too. LOL. Joyce -- "Sentimentality" -- that's what we call the sentiment we don't share. -- Graham Greene |
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