Happy Halloween!


I might post this on Christmas, too, just to fight back against it encroaching upon my favorite holiday.

I'm "meh" on Thriller and pumpkin flavored stuff, but with on everything else. Yay, Halloween.

Apologies for taking so long to get back to this. People distracted me with other topics and I haven't had a lot of time to respond with Ski Patrol training, running Spooky Skate, prepping my own house for All Hallow's, and raking and lawn mowing.

Anyway, before I forget, I thought of an appropriate(r) "slut it up" day: Mardi Gras. Duh! (This "Duh!" is directed at Haven for not thinking of it earlier; not Vlad.)

I'm aware of Halloween's history. Much like the hot dog thing, I'm probably more aware than most people would/should be. There's much current thought on the history of All Hallow's that says history actually indicates that the long held belief that the day evolved from Samhain is unfounded and All Hallow's is more a spawn of Catholicism and Catholisicm alone. The similarities are just coincidence in much the same way the every culture has a dumpling, many cultures have harvest festivals. They share similar aspects because they are similar. That does not mean, however, that they were spawned from each other.

So, if it is solely a Catholic spawned day, it basically HAS been handed down in stone! (Trust me, I was raised Catholic, they write just about everything in stone at some point.)

Yes, it has mutated and evolved. But part of evolution is useful mutations being passed on, and useless ones being driven out. I'd like to see people at large be smart enough to let the Christmas light thing die in much the same way that I think people should be smart enough to tell retailers that if they put out Christmas stuff before Halloween has even happened, that they won't be shopping in their stores at all. You (and I) don't like how Christmas has evolved. Are you telling people how to have fun? I could take your view of the thing. Christmas Encroachment adds to the enjoyment of many people and doesn't harm anyone else. But I stand with you, uselessly, against the tide of Christmas Encroachment because I don't want to see Christmas stuff getting put out and July 5th.

I've also watched Halloween "evolve" (Quotes because the theory of evolution is supposed to be a natural thing. Humans destroy lots of evolutionary opportunities, leading to Devolution.) and I don't think it's good. It also "hurts" me. I may post a poorly lit video of my house from last night. Damn, I knocked it out of the park. The front yard was its own Fright Fest (for those of you familiar with Six Flags) and the handfuls of children and parents who stopped by had a great experience from what I can tell.

But, for several reasons, people have eschewed Trick Or Treat, moving into malls, different days, or not doing it at all. Well, that hurt this goofball's enjoyment, since I decorated and guised for basically nothing.

Halloween is Halloween. Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving. I'm fine with Christmas being Christmas. It's "devolved" into something that becomes less and less for me every year. I'm okay with basically avoiding it and/or celebrating it in my own way. Easter has already basically turned into another Christmas. I don't want to see the same thing happen to Halloween.

If it's not my place or yours to do anything about this, whose is it?

Much like Charlie Brown, I refuse to let commercialism ruin my holiday. Or maybe I'm like Linus, and I'm the guy who tells people what Christmas (or Halloween) is actually about. Or maybe I'm like Linus sitting alone in the pumpkin patch until four in the morning suffering from hypothermia for his unpopular beliefs.

TL:DR Haven's a psychotic rules guy. What are you; new? If Wizkids gets to make unfounded, conflicting rules that people stand behind and enforce, why can't Haven make some rules that people stand behind and enforce?

Lame, Man. I feel for you (Chaka Khan) especially after my experience last night.

Bela Legosi Dracula? Cool! Got pics?

I'm totally fine with store bought costumes. Not everyone is the seamstress (seamster?) that I am. I have much more respect and interest in the costumes like yours where I can tell that someone did not just buy one kit and put it on.

Excellent. Nice catch.

It's weird, I know you're not particularly fond of him, but this is exactly the response to this that a certain Mr. Barnstable would have had.

He's also one of the few people to catch this one:

Haven's Rules Of Comedy:

1. The joke is only funny when it's taken too far.

2. The joke can never be taken too far.

No one.filler

Sweet! Can I send a list to you detailing all the local municipalities that tell children that they have to Trick or Treat on the Sunday before Halloween instead of Halloween itself?

I'm certain that they are unaware of this information.

Also, I'm confused as to how this perspective matches up with your views on Christmas.

I've tried to make it clear that I'm not to be taken too seriously on the Christmas thing, hence me going into the speech from Animal House at the end of my rant. It does bug me, but that's my problem, not anyone else's.

If I haven't mentioned it previously, I'm feeling lousy.

I just took some cough syrup.

I drink Dr. Pepper like it's water. I tell people I AM Dr.Pepper. It's fairly accurate. People either like it and can't get enough of it, or thoroughly despise it. I do not know anyone who can take or leave Dr. Pepper.

Anyway, one of the things I always hear from people that don't like it is that it tastes like cough syrup.

That's bull. The cough syrup I just had was nasty. I wish cough syrup tasted like DP.

Actually, that would be bad. I'd be totally tripping balls 24/7.

I'm actually ambivalent on Dr. Pepper. It's not my preferred carbonated beverage, but it still ranks well above root beer, which I typically would not drink even if I was paid to do so.

I prefer Doctor Pepper to cola, but love root beer above all else. Another counter example!

I prefer fountain DR Pepper over all others.

Nehi Grape is pretty high on the list as well, when I can find it.

I'm a sweet tea man.

I like Dr. Pepper. Back when I drank soda, I would drink it on occasion. Sounds like Haven likes to surround himself with imagined battles. People in the streets battling over whether or not ketchup should be on hot dogs, or if Dr. Pepper should be imbibed. Only a Sith sees the world in such absolutes.

I know Dr. Pepper people who won't even drink Pibb and look down on me for doing so. I think they're loony. McDogfood used to have Pibb, back when I actually ate there fairly regularly I'd get it. Then they stopped carrying it.

The lack of Dr. Pepper had a cooling effect on my trips to SicDonald's, but I still went from time to time, and when I asked for Pibb they kept suggesting Root Beer instead. Their thought process pretty much consisted of, "It's a brown pop that isn't cola, it must all be the same."

Grr.

Does a Sith also jump to such conclusions about people?

I don't imagine this. Did you click on the link about "Ketchupgate"? Personally, I thought people were taking that action WAY too far. But the battle exists.

Also, many people that I encounter agree fully with my assessment. In general, Dr. Pepper fans are Dr. Pepper fans and people who aren't fans absolutely despise the stuff.

But I'm speaking in generalities and if one wants to search exhaustively for the nymphs of exopterygotes, then I guess I'm opening myself up to as much.

Another example of this same kind of thing are Stooges fans. Personally, I'm relatively indifferent. There's are Stooge episodes that I like and some that I don't. But it's been my experience that people who don't like the Stooges despise them in an absolute manner and those who do like them tend to be rather obsessive in their affinity.

Is there supposed to be a hyphen or a comma in there somewhere?

I'm a sweet-tea man.

I'm a sweet tea-man.

I'm a sweet tea, man.

I'm a sweet-tea-man.