meta-dad

Masquerading Season is Upon Us

Scottish folklore involving Halloween, revolves around the ancient Celtic belief in faeries “Sidhe” or “Sith” in modern Gaelic. Children who ventured out carried a traditional lantern (samhnag) with a devil face carved into it, to frighten away the evil spirits.

These customs included offering the spirits parcels of food to spare the house another year. Children too were given the added protection by disguising them as such creatures, in order to blend in with the spirits. If children approached the door of a house, they were also given offerings of food – Halloween being a harvest festival – which served to ward off the potential spirits that may lurk among them. This is where the origin of the practice of Scottish “guising” – a word which comes from ‘disguising’ – or going about in costume arose. this, of course being the key feature of the tradition of trick-or-treating practiced here in the US.

When my wife and I met in NYC, she and her friends had a strong tradition of getting dressed up (I’ll spare you the pictures) and having a big bash and then going to the big NYC Halloween parade down 6th Avenue. It was always a great time, albeit it a chilly one, but there was always plenty of local “spirits” to keep us warm.

Now that we are married with a cackle of kids are attention has turned to our little ghouls and goblins. We have started our window shopping for costumes at a few select halloween costume stores but have yet to settle on a theme. Farm animals seem to be a favorite costume for the toddler set, while superheros and popular TV characters seem to dominate the choices for the older boys.

It is fair to say mom and dad will be into the guising as well but I guarantee the costumes will be a bit less revealing as they were a few years ago – it’s a family production now and rated G.

Cinematical Halloween Costume

It’s quite simple. Dress up your kid for Halloween (and yourself, for that matter), take a picture of yourselves and send it to them. If you win, you get a bunch of horror DVDs – how apropos. There are winning categories for both kids and adults and the movie titles are appropriately rated (i.e. Gremlins and Monster House for kids and Nightmare on Elm Street – Box Set, and The Exorcist for adults amongst others).

Sited Links:
Cinematical | Third Annual Halloween Costume Contest

The Long Halloween

The Long Halloween is heavily influenced by film noir and films such as The Godfather and was the inspiration of the 2005 release, Batman Begins. The series continues the story of Carmine Falcone introduced in Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. Set early in Batman’s career a few months after the events of Year One, the story revolves around the gradual transition of Batman’s rogues’ gallery from simple mob goons to full-fledged supervillains.

It is also the origin of Two-Face, adding along to the story in Batman: Annual 14. It follows the events in a few months following Year One and examines an entire year of Batman’s career as a crime fighter, so it could be considered a “Year One”/”Year Two”, in some form. This story has been accepted into continuity after Zero Hour erased the events of Batman: Year Two from the canon. The plot follows Batman’s struggle to find a mysterious killer, while Harvey Dent’s and Jim Gordon’s marriages are strained during the process. As the story unfolds, Carmine Falcone hires “freaks” (Poison Ivy, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, and the Mad Hatter) in an attempt to stop the Batman and restore power back to the family, only to discover that the freaks are more powerful than he expected. [Overview courtesy Wikipedia]

(Batman; The Long Halloween Via Amazon.Com)

Pom Pom Pumpkins @ LiquidPaper

(Pom Pom Pumpkin Tutorial Via LiquidPaper.Com)

ThingamaGoops!

(Via BleepLabs.Com)

Great Ideas For Halloween Costumes

Substitute Teacher – Dress conservatively like a teacher (hair up in a bun, skirt and sweater, glasses on a chain around your neck). Then, stick a paper airplane in the back of your hair, put a note that says “Kick Me” on your back, cover your hands and face with chalk, and put chalk eraser prints on your clothes. Attach staples and paperclips to your clothes, with broken pencils sticking out here and there.

Nick Nolte Mug Shot – Wear a Hawaiian shirt. Put tons of gel and baby oil in your hair and blow dry it upside down making it look as crazy as possible. Hang a small sign around your neck that says “Nolte, Nick” with a case number.

Mary Catherine Gallagher – (The nervous Catholic school girl from Saturday Night Live.) Wear a red headband, short full plaid skirt, white knee socks, horned-rim glasses, Peter Pan collar, white shirt, vest, etc. [Ideas courtesy of CostumeIdeasZone.Com and images courtesy of FamilyFun.Com]

Sited Links;
CostumeIdeaZone.Com
Family Fun | Kid’s Road Trip Costume
Family Fun | Fancy Fairy Costume
Family Fun | Little Duck Costume

Helpful Sites;
CostumeZee | Costume Ideas and Community