[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