Sleepy Hollow puts kibosh on 'Munsters' bash New York Daily News Take a look at an interesting article we found.
'The Vampire Diaries': The undead don't always rise Zap2it.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
My dream Halloween costume New York Post Take a look at an interesting article we found.
October 31, 2009
I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world. If you don't have such a place, I suggest you get one.
In the meantime, here's a little something that I found for you that demonstrates Halloween memories, from the country of its birth, run deep.
See you on Monday.
J. Peterman
From: The Irish Echo
Understanding Pagan Holidays sabbatarian.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Halloween Food and Snacks foodnetwork.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Halloween History history.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
still thinking about today...
Great story. Irish folklore is so rich.
The Irish have a talent for uniquely processing information, perhaps an adaptation to the bittersweet history of their country itself. I think I shall carefully read this story, it may be of assistance as I turn around a prism in front of me, uncertain of how best to be of service to a dear friend in a faraway place. The biggest reason why enhancing our inventory of human experience with the experiences of others is valuable, jmo, is that it all comes back when the chips are down to get us through a crisis.....or the crisis of a damsel in distress.
Its amazing how Halloween is celebreted in different cultures. I like the Irish stories but there is nothing like walking thrugh a Mexican neighborhood on Halloween. I work in Southwest Brooklyn in a predominently Mexican neighborhood that is bordered by and Irish enclave. The kids and adults have been planning Halloween ceebration that mix fun (dancing, art contests, stroy telling) and cultureal appreciation.
In Red Hook, Brooklyn (a little further from where I work) the parade starts with a historical theme and a salute to Henry Hudson. I just saw the parade designers on the NYC channel and it looks quite elaborate. More like a Disney theather set than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Several people are dressed as the waves in the ocean.
In Bay Ridge, Brooklyn where I was raised, Halloween was a night of shenanigans. No one dared venture up and down the city streets unaccompanied by a few friends, lest he be forced to encounter foes with socks filled with flour and the body pounding blows that followed. Today, in the suburbs, cans of shaving cream have replaced the loaded socks, and I may only presume that getting covered with this foam is less painful than getting pounded with those flour socks of old. We did our "trick or treating", but it was done with a wary eye. It retrospect it was kind of fun, but it was not really something I looked forward to. In short, it does not compare to the marvelous and compelling tradition of the Irish as recalled in THE IRISH ECHO story.
Zeit, Julia, thanks so much for sharing...... All of is need roots, traditions, and the lack of them contributes greatly to the selfishness that prevails in so many of our "neighbors." Stick around and check in here, once my "usual" emergency docket is finished, I may want to pick your brains.
correction: "All of US..."
Dia De Los Muertes is the name for Halloween in Mexico and its a celebrated as a holiday on two day before Dia De Las Almas, All Souls Day. As every Catholic knows November 1 is All Saints Day. The Irish are great story tellers with a tradition of handing down oral histories. Zeit, I don't know when you left Bay Ridge but might be interested in knowing that they still have the Ragamuffin and Norweigen Day Parades there but I don't think Halloween is big deal anymore.
Halloween starts with 'haitch' in Ireland.
The Villgage Halloween Parade starts about 7 tonight. This is one of the most spectacular parades in the city. I used to love this when I was a teenager. Now, I'd rather watch it on television as it always seems to be cold and damp October 31. Its really a abig event where people show their creativityand sense of humor.
In my neck of the woods, there are many churchgoers who associate Halloween ( all Hallow's Eve, a Christian- named day) with devil worship and evil. These folks are not too far from the ones who think of Harry Potter as dangerous and espousing witchcraft. What is funny, is that they have to have parties to compete with the bad guys, so they have... HARVEST FESTIVALS, a pagan rite with no Christian aspects at all.
Happy Halloween Eyeland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x27zZI-MpMc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpvdAJYvofI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P756K8ysjs
It's just can't be Halloween at the Eye without having Poe's Raven posted as recited by the Great Vincent Price.. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FID1CiB4bcU
Have a safe & Happy Halloween everyone.
httAnd then there's "THE HIGHWAYMAN" a must for the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYUmP-Nk0-U&feature=related.
Korrthal ~ I haven't even thought of that poem in ages.. THANK YOU ~ I forgot how beautiful it is & I am now in LOVE the sung version you posted...
Happy Halloween, everybody!
I went to a midnight viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show last night. We did pretty good for a small, reserved, Nebraska crowd.
I suppose I should get some candy for tonight. Not to hand out. Just for me. I heard on NPR yesterday that the average American eats 24 lbs of candy each year, and I've been slacking.
More Halloween Fun:
http://vimeo.com/6218894
http://vimeo.com/6218993
At the risk of aging myself, Julia, I moved from Bay Ridge to Huntington, L.I. in 1955! I used to go back to visit as I got older and was on my own, but it's been many years since I've been there. I can't even imagine how much it has changed.
I've got my camera and candy ready.
I've never had a trick or treater in the 23 years I've lived here but there are kids across the street, so maybe this year.
They're really cute little ones.
If not I'll have a lot of Reeses peanutbutter cups for myself.
Great for my diet.
Happy Halloween.
When I was young I'd had to memorise this poem.
Mother was a taskmaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rN0xvne0gI.
The best Halloweens ever were the ones in San Francisco, whole nights spent wandering from the pagans in the Mission to the gays in the Castro to the artists on the waterfront, with a 2am break to meet up with friends at Hamburger Mary's (another death to be mourned this year) for a much-needed burger and salad. The spirit loosed into the city tonight will be something beyond sacred and profane, though thoroughly garbed in both. It's one of the few things I really miss about the place.
Those of you who have memories of Halloweens in New Orleans, back in the days before it all, may disagree. You are more than entitled to do so; I'm sure as hell not going to argue.
I have my black cut-velvet frock coat, brocade corset, and stilleto witch boots still waiting in the closet -- but there's no place around to wear them these days. I suspect this is a clear sign that I am mis-spending my middle age.
rings, thank you for Poe, nevermore...
bwaa haa haa...
and korthal! Beautiful! Loreena McKennitt is a gift to us all, she's a modern day troubador. This version of "The Highwayman" was something I'd not heard, I have the shorter version in my little old ipod, I intend to find this one, too. Thank you, korthal -- and I've already tried out our Reese's peanut butter cups, just to make sure they're up to par. And they are....
McKennit has made so many wonderful albums, her "A Midwinter Night's Dream" is my new favorite hoiday album. If you don't like the songs, which would be hard to imagine, the artwork on this album is breathtaking...
Happy Halloween, Eyesters, one and all!
MRS . ROBINSON:
I'm sure we'd all like it if you'd post a picture of you in THAT costume!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You could wear it to the sepiatrain costume party to be held in the club car which has been decorated to a crypt and gallows.
We'll have Texas Bloody Marys, Texas Virgins, Wild Night Outs, Zombies, and all the different dawn drinks.
Korthal: Youtube is being mean with your link. It makes me sad. So, I shall mum out of season in protest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxTpvA-pUG0
Mrs. Robinson, aadly Halloween in San Francisco isn't fun any more. The Castro celebration got shut down as too many drunks with guns.. same thing in other area's.
My neighborhood is perfect for trick or treating but, the neighborhood association ruined it by having a parade to the park with pizza afterwoods. I used to go through bags and bags of candy and parents /kids from all over would come. It was so much fun to see everyone and of course the greyhound thought everyone was coming to visit him. Now we get a handfull so some of us have taken to begging the families with small children to come by.
I have the biggest spider i have ever seen spinning a web on the front porch. If I can figure out how to do it I will post her picture.
So I'll try it again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rN0xvne0gI.
Well now, that's weird. But it is holloween and I'll have to try something else.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rN0xvne0gI&feature=email
Try this one.
Now I think you've got MATILDA.
I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0thH3qnHTbI&feature=player_embedded
PL:
Could we shag to that?
and do the shing-a-ling too.....
Too bad we have people out there to spoil haloween. We xray candy in my little community, to look for imbedded hazardous objects - that's so demoralizing. But every year I try to start over, assume good and not evil lurks in the minds of men, and set out to our security station to help out. Sort of like any other day anymore, I refuse to let a few thugs orchestrate how I live my life. "Go ahead, punks, make my day...."
Well, that'll learn ya, that "Matilda."
<scared>
"The Mummer's Dance" oh Michael! More McKennitt, another good one. Thank you, sir.
Even more McKennitt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qQHlWkSM_o&feature=related
I watched a Halloween cooking type show on television last night, they talked about "soul cakes" and the tradition of giving them out to beggars on Samhain...and I recalled an old Peter, Paul, and Mary classic song called "A Soalin'" about the holiday tradition. Somehow in the song, going "A Soalin'" for cakes evolved into "Wassailing" for well, wassail, or whatever warmer-up from the liquor cabinet that the house owners cared to share.
Wassail is a whole nother subject and recipe; soul cakes and their story are here:
"Even at its most lighthearted, Halloween has a chilly soul. There is no denying it: All Hallows' Eve belongs to the lord of death, who masters us all in the end. We may cope with our servitude by laughing at death, fearing it, respecting it - or, in time-honored tradition, by throwing sweets at it.
Long ago, however, at the beginning of the Christian era in Britain, Druidic rites were a fresh and vivid memory. Four times a year, bonfires banished the ill-tempered spirits hiding in the night. The Halloween, or Samhain, fires might have been a way of whistling in the dark, laughing in the face of the oncoming cold and scarcity.
Samhain was the festival of the dying sun god, and its dark power stayed potent even as the old ways faded. Samhain became All Souls' Eve and All Souls' Day. The practice of gathering round a bonfire waned. Instead, night visitors of the Dark Ages began to venture abroad, going house to house. If they were lucky, they would be met at the doorstep with a plate of sweet and steaming soul cakes.
Explanations on the origins of soul cakes vary. Some say that cakes were baked for the bonfires and that they were a lottery: pick the burnt cake, and you get to be the human sacrifice that ensures good crops next year. Or, soul cakes may have been tossed around an area to appease evil spirits condemned to wander in animal form.
By the 8th century, though, soul cakes had been sanctified and civilized. They were used to pay the beggars who came around on All Souls' Eve and offered to say prayers for the family's departed. One cake given, one soul saved - cheap at the price."
I should say so, cheap at the price. Here's how to make the cakes that save souls:
Makes 12 to 15 2-inch soul cakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground fresh if possible
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground fresh if possible
1/2 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch of saffron
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup currants
For the Glaze:
1 egg yolk, beaten
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the flour, the nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Mix well with a fork.
Crumble the saffron threads into a small saucepan and heat over low heat just until they become aromatic, taking care not to burn them. Add the milk and heat just until hot to the touch. The milk will have turned a bright yellow. Remove from heat.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon (or use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment). Add the egg yolks and blend in thoroughly with the back of the spoon. Add the spiced flour and combine as thoroughly as possible; the mixture will be dry and crumbly.
One tablespoon at a time, begin adding in the warm saffron milk, blending vigorously with the spoon. When you have a soft dough, stop adding milk; you probably won't need the entire half-cup.
Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and knead gently, with floured hands, until the dough is uniform. Roll out gently to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Using a floured 2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out as many rounds as you can and set on an ungreased baking sheet. You can gather and re-roll the scraps, gently.
Decorate the soul cakes with currants and then brush liberally with the beaten egg yolk. Bake for 15 minutes, until just golden and shiny. Serve warm, with cold pumpkin juice.
** I have never had pumpkin juice, I didn't know there was such a thing, I imagine anything warm would do tho, like cider. As for the history of soul cakes, this is one of the versions, as is the recipe, both from the NPR website. I'm sure there are a hundred others if not more, and all will do the trick.
Here's the good part: "A Soalin'" : Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and the late Mary Travers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO4u-N_VGJY
Michael, I'm jealous, I didn't think you could find a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show anymore. I remember doing the time warp every Friday night when I was a teenager. It was a ritual before trying to sneak into CBGB's or Max's Kansas City. I haven't seen it since my undergraduate days.
Zeit, you'll never believe how Bay Ridge, Sunset Park and Williamsburg have changed in the past 10 years. Halloween is very low key, mostly family style parties but a big night at the bars. Its very multi-cultural. You can hear at least 5 different languages standing in line at Key Food! Still a great neighborhood.
When we were young, trick or treating for Halloween started the week before and went on up to the night of the holiday. It relatively was safe, it was fun and the best was when someone would run out of candy and give us a nickel! Costumes were home made, sometimes treats were as well....things have sure changed.
This morning's paper talked about local law enforcement keeping an eye on registered sex offenders, it has drizzled here all day and most of tonight and the doorbell is broken meaning I have to leave the door open and rush to it if I hear people coming.
Thanks for putting the happy back in Halloween!
I enjoyed the holiday as a child, school parades, etc. then we went on our first date on Halloween to avoid trick-or-treaters so we've been fickle until the kids made it fun again. Now they are watching a movie and I'm surrounded by candy...Sorry I'm typing with my mouthful.
Just came back from the neighborhood parade...oh so cute.
Kim: did you take pictures?
Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1941)
A scientist's investigations into the nature of good and evil turn him into a murderous monster.
Cast:
Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp
Dir:
Victor Fleming BW-113 mins, TV-PG
If you haven't seen this version with Spencer Tracy as the seriously bi-polared (kidding) doctor, it's a good one, better than the March version, I think, because for one, his facial changes are subtle, very subtle, and too, it's just shocking to see Spencer Tracy as this debauched deviant...it's very creepy. Very creepy.
So if your mouth is busy eating candy, turn on TCM right now, and give your eyes something to do.
Enjoy!
If I were a good Italian-American, I'd hand out anchovy pizza slices to the kids on Halloween, dripping with cheese.... I'd probably have the unending enmity of the mom's ("Don't wipe your hands on your costume, Jimmy, I paid good money for that and it has to last for your little brother next year!"), but the kids would never forget 'the weird guy who gave out pizza'. Now the anchovies might be a problem. (Yuck, you know what THEY are? DEAD FISH!)
On the other hand, I could give out turrone (both hard and soft)... or baclava, dripping with honey and covered in pistachios.
Park4: I was with the dogs and the little one was trying to figure out what all these dogs looked so strange...so no camera. I promise i will next year.
Doc Nolan: When we first moved here 22 years ago there was a family that gave out pizza to everyone and the empty boxes seemed stacked a mile high.
Park4...why the dogs looked strange. My brain isn't attached to my fingers.
DOC- we always had anchovies on our pizza from the time I was little & I adore them. Yesterday after school I stopped by wal-mart- no anchovies. Today we went into town for lunch & other things & stopped by Big Star for anchovies- NONE!!! I hope I have a tube of anchovy paste hanging around because a pizza w/ out anchovies is like a prom w/out a slow dance to "Stairway to Heaven."
Anchovies-- bwaaa, haaa, ha....
True story from Texas: I took a friend to a local Pizza Hut for lunch and ordered pizza with anchovies -- and they had them! I was amazed and kept going back once or twice a week for months and months. One day I order my 'usual'. The owner (who I knew by now) comes out an apologetically says they don't have anchovies any more. "Will you get more in?", asked? He then told me the Story of the Anchovies.... "I once had a customer who ordered anchovies for his pizza, so I decided to get some. He came in a couple of times and then never came back... then you came in and started ordering achovies. Well, we'd ordered a big tin and you've been the only customer that orders anchovies, so.... I can't order a large commercial can of anchovies for only ONE customer." It was then I realized, like Dorothy, that I wasn't in Kansas anymore (or should I say New Jersey). Now, on the odd occassions I want anchovy pizza, I buy a tin and bring them along when ordering pizza. But it's just not the same :-(
No goblins came to my door tonight.
More candy for me.
Anchovies too. That's a staple in my house.
Ceasar salad with homemade dressing.
Lots of garlic, lemon and anchovies.
What is it about this group ...I get hungry reading posts.... though not after the bull fighting one. Does anyone want my leftover candy?
Ran out of candy 2/3 of the way thru the seemingly hundreds of costumed tykes...started out by giving a handful of those mini candybars to each, but started being stingy when I saw teams,and then was giving singles...those little candy bars are pathetic, and there was 150 in the bag....I felt so bad hiding,with the lights out,as those little starving minipeople rang and rang and rang....
AI bought 3 bags... a little left
I mean "I"
RY- love that last line,"little starving minipeople... it really made me laugh out loud.
KIM- I'm like, did I miss this new person A1?
I am soooooooooooo sick of baseball... my husband sadly is not...
Just34me: Fix that doorbell soon, ok? I hate to sound like a "wet blanket," but crimes of opportunity befall people for whom a simple deadbolt & peephole aren't functioning.
Bebe: if I find A!1 I will let you know... Candy almost gone.
yes...have no interest in tv sport...sorry those of you who do.
Don't you find listening to a golf tournament on the radio exciting?
roadYacht....no
About ten years ago, in the Halloween gloaming, a large school of greedy asian trick-or-treaters swept in and on trailed by one very short, very fat little moon-faced boy done up as an excellent Chef Boyardee.
I don't know how they did it but there he stood under his toque blanche, in a stiff white up-collar chef's coat, sporting a perfect pencil mustache puffing: "Ahm-a so fatta."
Just getting along and keeping his clan in sight was almost too much for him and the front steps looked like more then he should be asked to try.
"Hang on there, Chef, I'll come down."
I put a couple of Melty bars in his plastic pumpkin, patted him on the shoulder and as he began to waddle off he turned: "Grazie."
A year or two later, I saw his clan in the parking lot at the Pig and looking around, asked: "Where's the little fellow?"
They stopped, folded their hands, usher-style, before them bowed their heads and said: "Dead." Then, snapped to, piled into their van and drove off.
I save a couple bars for him every year... just in case.