[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.

"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

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 ******

"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.

Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message

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.

Oh, that's really gross. The only "comfort" I can take from it is that
at least he was already dead, and not *dying*. It's not like someone
was allowed to lie there and die when they could've been saved, because
people thought it was part of a joke.

Joyce

--
"Sentimentality" -- that's what we call the sentiment we don't share.

-- Graham Greene

wrote:
Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message

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.

Oh, that's really gross. The only "comfort" I can take from it is that
at least he was already dead, and not *dying*. It's not like someone
was allowed to lie there and die when they could've been saved, because
people thought it was part of a joke.

There are periodic reports of people who are found months or years after
they died - generally, they're inside, though. So it's not that unusual
for neighbours to assume everything's OK with someone who's been dead
for a long time.

Some people think that people dying alone and not being found is
becoming more and more common with smaller and more scattered families,
and basic payments like mortgages or rent coming directly out of bank
accounts. It's more of a problem with natural but sudden death, than
suicide, I think, since suicides can plan to be found. If the person is
still working, the employer might send someone over, but friends and
acquaintances tend to assume they just haven't heard from someone in a
while, and not to take action.

I'm always suprised that the smell isn't noticed sooner, but to judge by
news reports, the body is usually discovered when the money finally runs
out and the business to whom the money is owed starts legal action.

--
Cheryl

Cheryl wrote:

There are periodic reports of people who are found months or years after
they died - generally, they're inside, though. So it's not that unusual
for neighbours to assume everything's OK with someone who's been dead
for a long time.

Some people think that people dying alone and not being found is
becoming more and more common with smaller and more scattered families,
and basic payments like mortgages or rent coming directly out of bank
accounts. It's more of a problem with natural but sudden death, than
suicide, I think, since suicides can plan to be found. If the person is
still working, the employer might send someone over, but friends and
acquaintances tend to assume they just haven't heard from someone in a
while, and not to take action.

That's why I try to stay in much closer touch with my friends, or at
least a few of them. I do have a some friends who, if they didn't hear
from me for a week, would start worrying about me. Of course, a week
is a long time to lie dying, or in a "fallen and can't get up" situation.

Modern culture fosters much more superficial relationships than I think
people had in earlier centuries because they *had to*. I do what I can
to fight that superficiality in my own relationships.

I'm always suprised that the smell isn't noticed sooner, but to judge by
news reports, the body is usually discovered when the money finally runs
out and the business to whom the money is owed starts legal action.

There's an old Unix fortune that says, "If you think nobody cares whether
you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments."

Joyce

--
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he
grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto a freeway.

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in
message 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. Oh,
that's really gross. The only "comfort" I can take from it is that
at least he was already dead, and not *dying*. It's not like someone
was allowed to lie there and die when they could've been saved, because
people thought it was part of a joke.

There are periodic reports of people who are found months or years after
they died - generally, they're inside, though. So it's not that unusual
for neighbours to assume everything's OK with someone who's been dead for
a long time.

Some people think that people dying alone and not being found is becoming
more and more common with smaller and more scattered families, and basic
payments like mortgages or rent coming directly out of bank accounts. It's
more of a problem with natural but sudden death, than suicide, I think,
since suicides can plan to be found. If the person is still working, the
employer might send someone over, but friends and acquaintances tend to
assume they just haven't heard from someone in a while, and not to take
action.

I'm always suprised that the smell isn't noticed sooner, but to judge by
news reports, the body is usually discovered when the money finally runs
out and the business to whom the money is owed starts legal action.

--
Cheryl

I've worried about that sometimes. It would be horrible to find somebody -
especially a loved one - who had been dead for a long time. My kids and I
had a habit of calling or emailing occasionally, and we get together for
birthdays and some holidays, but quite a bit of time could go by if I should
suddenly drop dead. Now I have indoor only cats, it's even more of a
concern. Some time ago, I finally made an arrangement with my kids. I
email them every evening, just to check in, and let them know if I'm going
anywhere in the next couple of days. The idea is that, if they don't hear
from me by the next morning, they email me. If they don't get a response
within a few hours, they call. If they can't get hold of me either one of
them comes here or they call my next door neighbors, who have a key (because
they feed my cats when I go away.

Joy

"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)

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.