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Halloween Roundup
Herewith a selection from the holiday-themed submissions today. severedfinger writes, "CNET reports that this Halloween some people are using the alphabet-search system on the new iPods to communicate with the dead. The writer uses an iPod nano to test the new craze. He plugs it into a loud stereo system to 'increase the scary quotient when a spirit picks a track,' and the editorial staff begin to talk to a spirit called 'Brad.'" And markmcb writes, "If you've never read much about the history of Halloween, Nick Dilmore offers an entertaining and snarky summary of how the holiday came to be. From the article, 'Halloween, that festive time of the year when kids dress up in fantastic costumes, bob for apples, and go trick-or-treating. Well, unless they live in a community that has done away with Halloween because some Christians say it's a holiday for Satan, or some Jews say it's too Christian, or some Wiccans say it makes fun of their religion (which has as much to do with ancient witchcraft as P. Diddy has to do with Bluegrass...).'" Finally, check out MAKE's geeky / tech DIY guide to "amazing costumes, scary tech, pumpkins, and gross food."
While these halloween decorations are a bit over the top, /.'ers
might find 'em entertaining and worthy of "News for Nerds"
... so far,
it has raised over $14,000
for the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Disease.
7000 lights along with giant inflatable Pumpkin, Frankenstein, and Homer Simpson - D'OH. View with three webcams, control (yes, turn 'em on/off & inflate/deflate) with X10, send Instant Text Messages via webcam, view Google Map of surfers, and enjoy or cuss at the Franken-Homer cursor & Adams Family Music.
Website suggests sending your trick-or-treats to charity
found it :D
http://www.entertheninja.com/ninja_fun/shirt_ninja .shtml This makes for a cheap and effective Halloween costume.
I have always found it ironic how evangelical/fundamentalist churches often shun the Christian aspects of the holiday (dead people) to embrace the pagan aspects of the holiday (the harvest). I don't know whether to laugh or . . . well I just laugh.
I would have to say that if you're going to criticize any holiday for consumerism, Halloween is probably the least. Compare it with the gifting orgy of Christmas, the "buy me love" fest of Valentine's day, and the complete card-sale fabrications like Fathers', Mothers', Secretaries', etc., and some candy and a costume is rather tame. What's more, the halloween costuming aspect at least gives people a chance to engage their imagination and creativity. Yeah, there'll always be those that buy a plastic lobster-bib that says "I'm Superman(tm), no, really" on it for godawful-dollars, but I've seen (and been) plenty more that will take the time to make something crafty and original for themselves or their children.
Information wants to be free.
Entertainment wants to be paid.
You just want to be cheap.
Or, we could just do what most Christians do (including my father, a Lutheran minister): have fun with it, and don't take it too seriously.
As a actual Wiccan I can say it definitely has a lot to do ancient witchcraft, it is just that our religion isn't afraid of change and it helps our religion evolve and change over time and not be stuck in some 5,000+ year old paradigm that is totally unpractical.
So, what you're saying is that it actually doesn't have anything to do with ancient withcraft, but claiming an ancient lineage makes it sound cool? Is using paragraph breaks offensive to Wiccans too, or is that just a personal thing?
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Wow! That is the worst looking, most over-cluttered website I have ever seen. I think you just gave me ADD.