Everyone please read this!!!!!!!!!!Scary!!!!!!!misleading!!!!!!

[artvandelay]

"i think my favorite costume as a kid was the blow-up monster that you tied on top of your head and put make-up on...i forgot what they were called, but they were out for just a spell."

I had one in grade school, and mine was called a "Kooky Kostume". I hated it, I wanted to be like the other kids who had masks and could barely see. I think I was always disappointed with my costumes, except E.T.

[tscrilla]

Originally Posted by NYtoAZ2007

You can't reason with kids, so they want the costume they want, irregardless of how it will work in a rainy 40-degree night! So many a Halloween you would end up with your costume hidden under, or as one poster stated, stretched over, a coat!

We've been in AZ for less than a year and every occassion such as last night I just sigh and think what a great decision we made! It was wonderful to be out in shorts, talking with neighbors vs rushing from door to door before we got too cold and/or wet!

Can't wait to mail or Christmast photo cards - taken poolside!

Trust me, the taking of pictures poolside during the winter months and showing off to your family and friends doesn't last long. Phoenix sucks after the fun of sun and palm trees dies off. In fact, it gets worse and you'll be dying to leave. After 5 years I'll never go back, not even to visit. So glad I don't live there anymore. I am free. Hey, I just saw on the weather channel that Phoenix hit a record yesterday, 91 degrees. Man, that sucks.

I remember people telling me the heat lasted for 3 months. Oh how wrong they are. More like 3 months of 110, 2 months at 100, 2 more months of 90's and the other months are ok. So you might have 4-5 months of decent weather. But the real downfall is that you don't have the daylight to enjoy it when it is nice. It's dark so early in the winter months.

[Arizona Annie]

Originally Posted by Auntie Freda

Oh it's not that, Annie. Gee, it IS only one night of the year.
It's not that bit of momentary interference that I object to.
It's the never-ending Americanisation of our Aussie identity and culture.

Until the last year or two, Halloween was never recognized here.
Nobody would have known what date it was.
There is nothing intrinsically WRONG with it I suppose.
It's just peeves me that we have allowed Yank TV and media to impose this sort of stuff upon our children.
We have more than enough McDonalds and Kentucky Fried and such.
And junk 'rap' and hip-hop' "music"
and caps worn backwards,
and obesity
and ........

Before I even START on the political toadying that successive Australian governments have indulged in.
Grrrrrrrr

Ahhhhh, now I see what you are saying.

[Arizona Annie]

Originally Posted by Dazgaz

My son just spent his first Halloween in AZ from the UK. He dressed as a cow, in full costume. Apparently he was a little on the warn side, but the sweets made up for it. He's 19 years old by the way and managed to borrow two youngsters off a friend as a cover for his own trick-or-treating!

Good for him! I hope he had a grand time!!!

[Arizona Annie]

Originally Posted by Great Joy

Arizona Annie, you are so funny! I completely agree with your entire post. We, too, went from "will you be warm enough?" to "will you be too hot in this?" When we lived in colder states, we also tried fitting the coat underneath the costume as well as a coat over it. And, what's the point of even wearing a costume when you have a coat covering it? I remember one Halloween when it was so cold that our children only went to 2 houses because they were froze!

And, about the revealing costumes today, no it's not your imagination. I also think the costume manufacturers have gone over the decency line with their short skirts and low tops. I was shocked this year when I noticed they even started using sexy words to name their costumes in their ads!

Even the boy's costumes have taken a major dive. Almost every costume is either violent or extremely scary. Each year they've gotten more horrific.

For pete's sake, these are costumes for kids, not adults! Shopping for costumes (and normal clothing) is not fun anymore because it takes a long time to find decent items.

Anyway, we ended up making the costumes for our children this year and had a blast trick or treating with our friends throughout our development.

Thank you! That is so sweet.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they are going too far. I noticed the names of the costumes too, and was shocked. I think it's wonderful you made the costumes for your children. I am sewing challenged and could not have even attempted such a feat. I'm so glad you had fun trick or treating! It can be such a fun family activity!

[Ponderosa]

At the risk of being labelled as a party-pooper -
Until quite recently, Australia has been totally free of this Halloween nonsense.
Just not part of Aus culture.
But inevitably, it is starting to creep in.
Perhaps the result of American TV programs turning our kids' brains into mush.
And no doubt there will be those who will make money from it.
Whilst the chipping away of our identity continues apace ..............



Halloween is not an American tradition. It came to this country with Irish immigrants - carving of pumpkins into the Jack O'Lantern. Trick or treat is also thought to have originated from ancient Irish or Scottish traditions that were carried to the new world. No doubt Americans sanitized it and commercialized it well beyond anything it was. Very few traditions in the US are actually homegrown but came from immigrants or from the indigenous population.

Think of it as payback for "Men at Work" and those stupid Crocodile Dundee movies.

[Auntie Freda]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Halloween is not an American tradition. It came to this country with Irish immigrants ... No doubt Americans sanitized it and commercialized it well beyond anything it was. Very few traditions in the US are actually homegrown......

Think of it as payback for "Men at Work" and those stupid Crocodile Dundee movies.

Having pondered that, the fact remains that it has come to AUS from the Grand Ole USA !
You're only miffed at "Men at Work" for two reasons.
No vegemite
and the Americas Cup.

Yep, we LOVED snaffling all those Yank dollars for drivel like Crocodile Dundee.