The Song Fight Bulletin Board

did every one sleep in today?*

truck is in the shop at midas getting brake work and oil change. a measly $220!

trying to figure out my halloween costume still.

*i guess this could also serve as the qotd, since i don't have a better one at the moment.

qotd: *yawn / stretch what day is it?

I have a QOTD. WTF is Halloween? Can someone explain it to me? (OK, I know I could Google, but....)

We don't celebrate it here - but thanks to US television/movies etc - it is becoming a defacto part of our culture, even though, like me, I doubt that anyone would have any idea what the whole thing is actually all about.

Where I live, in the bayside suburb of Manly - there is actually an annual Halloween street parade (we had it last Saturday) which is fun. And I have heard that in some suburbs, kids even do the "trick or treat" thing - though I have never seen it (good thing too - all they'll get from me is a boot up the arse).

All I know is that it has some religous significance, because it is held on All Saints Day and there are supernatural overtones - a combination that I find unusual in a country like the USA known for it's fundamentalist nutbags who want to ban Harry Potter. WTF is it all about?

For Kids: A chance to dress up in a costume and get candy.
Though the traditions vary from rural to inner city the basic idea is the same.
Kids get together and have fun by eating and drinking things that aren't necessarily good for them in the name of a Holiday.

For Adults: A chance to dress up in a costume and get drunk.
Though the traditions vary from rural to inner city the basic idea is the same. Adults get together and have fun by drinking things that aren't necessarily good for them in the name of a Holiday.

However there are significant differences between the adults and the kids in regards to costume and beverages.

©aravan®ay wrote:All I know is that it has some religous significance, because it is held on All Saints Day and there are supernatural overtones - a combination that I find unusual in a country like the USA known for it's fundamentalist nutbags who want to ban Harry Potter. WTF is it all about?

I'm pretty sure that Nov. 1 is All Saints Day. From what I understand, Halloween comes from an old-school pagan holiday called All Hallows Eve, where they wore creepy masks to ward off demon-spirits. I'm not sure if that's true - it's what they taught us in elementary school.

If you're not sure all that goes on with halloween - this pretty much sums it up -

1. Dress up
2. Get pillowcase/bag/bucket
3. Walk outside in the middle of the night
4. Go to people's doors and scream 'trick or treat'/politely ring the doorbell
5. They give you candy and put it in your pillowcase/bag/bucket
6. Repeat until you have ridiculous amounts of candy.
7. Go home/gorge/be fat.

Or did you already know that?

EDIT - It looks like Hoblit pretty much summed it up. I'm not quite old enough to be involved with the scandelous side of Halloween though.

Occassionally we get kids trick or treating around here. It irks me to no end. So this year if any of the little blighters turn up, I am going to treat them to a burnt CD of SongFight songs. The more offensive the better. Any suggestions?

©aravan®ay wrote:WTF is it all about?

Many things. Trick-or-treating is common in urban areas, although there seems to be much less of an emphasis on actually performing tricks on people who don't give you treats. Now it's just treat-or-treating, really. Kids who live in rural areas go what is called (among other things) "trunk-or-treating": since sometimes people live too far apart for kids to get enough candy, people will drive to a central location like a church parking lot and fill up the trunks of their cars with candy. The kids in costumes then go around to the cars and do their candybegging from the trunks.

It seems to be on the decline a tad, but Halloween is also traditionally a night for women to dress up in overly sexy fetish gear. Some people use it as their one night a year to dress sexily, and by sexily I mean "showing as much skin as possible".

erik wrote:

©aravan®ay wrote:WTF is it all about?

1. "trunk-or-treating": since sometimes people live too far apart for kids to get enough candy, people will drive to a central location like a church parking lot and fill up the trunks of their cars with candy. The kids in costumes then go around to the cars and do their candybegging from the trunks.

2. It seems to be on the decline a tad, but Halloween is also traditionally a night for women to dress up in overly sexy fetish gear.

1. I saw this when I stayed at a hotel in St. Petersburg last weekend. Right downtown there was a church that had Trunk or Treating going on. Trunk or Treating in the City? It made me sad.

2. Not in my town. Ybor City (a popuplar party district in Tampa) has Guavaween. (the weekend before Halloween) Its a party where several bands play at different ends of the strip and even offers a parade. 2/3 the population of girls in Tampa dress as sexy as they can possibly get away with.