Terrible Analogies

Here’s hoping you don’t get any razor blades in your candy this year:

Horror Movies Pumpkin Carving
Mealy Monster Land  -  My Living Nightmare Of Encouragement
20 Amazing Pumpkin Carvings  -  Meat Hand  -  Panic Face King
Halloween Closed  -  Halloween Cocktails  -  Egg Ghost
Couple Takes Gravestones To Build Patio  - Walmart Caskets
Halloween Hoodies  -  The Best Halloween Costume – 80′s Halloween Songs
5 Creepy Halloween Candies –  Aurora Monster Models  -  Shrunken Apple Heads

Happy Halloween, everyone!  

There’s been quite a bit of talk these past few days regarding a halloween costume called “Illegal Alien Adult Costume”, manufactured by Forum novelties.  Frankly, I don’t see what all the fuss is about:

Apparently the immigration activists are up in arms about this costume, strutting around in feigned exasperation and anger, because they perceive this costume as an attempt to mock illegal immigrants.  Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but this costume appears to be of an extraterrestrial in an orange jumpsuit.  On the jumpsuit of this extraterrestrial are the stenciled words “Illegal Alien”.

Get it?  Extraterrestrial.  Alien.  Hence, “Illegal Alien”.

How is this a swipe at terrestrial illegal aliens?

I think that the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, the people most “offended” by this costume, lack a sense of humor.  Honestly, if they want to play this game, let’s be fair across the board and demand that stores stop selling other tasteless, inflammatory, and offensive costumes such as:

The Indian snake charmer costume

The African-American costume

The Japanese sumo wrestler

and the ugly America tourist costume.

Where is the “anger” and “frustration” from any activist group regarding these costumes?  Each and every one of them takes a condescending, disparaging dig at stereotypes, belittling a wide swath of the American populace, yet I don’t hear word one from any so-call activist group demanding that these costumes be removed from any and all stores immediately, and that a public formal apology be offered to anybody who might have been offended by these vulgar, objectionable costumes.

Come on, guys.  It’s either all or nothing.  Where do the activists stand on this?  Do they at all?  Or is this a case of them cherry picking a “so called” controversy to drum up support for their pet cause?  What if this alien costume was trying to bring to light the issue of German, Swedish, or Samoan illegal immigration?  Why does the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles automatically assume that this costume is poking fun at Mexican illegal aliens?  I wonder…

…when the local grocery store is tempting you with a huge display of Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry (my personal favorite) cereals.  I, being the weak-willed influential chump that I am, purchased one of each.  Yay for me!

And so, in keeping with the Halloween spirit, Karin and I have begun to crack into our Halloween boxes of goodies.  We’ve got the spiders, skulls, eyeballs, bats, creepy crawlies, laser lights, strobe lights, and gobos out and ready for use.  

Unpacking one of our Halloween boxes. Now, if only I can find that stash of spiderwebs...

We’re planning on a small get-together the week before Halloween proper to share in some spooky food & drink and a blu-ray screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas.  On Halloween night, be sure to drop by for some great swag!

Oh, and…as an aside, have you tried the new Dole Pineapple & Creme and the Peaches & Creme?  Let me tells ya, that’s some good stuff.  I know this is totally off-topic, but check it out next time you’re at the grocery store.

A sure sign that Halloween is on its way is the annual opening of the Spirit Halloween stores.  These seasonal stores, open only during the months of September and October, seem to pop up overnight, providing a wider selection of Halloween frights and delights than your typical big chain store.

Not being one able to resist a good freak show, Karin and I stopped by a local Spirit store that had just opened in the recent days.  Hedging our bets that, because Halloween was over six weeks away, and that the average American typically waits until the last minute to purchase their Halloween gear, the store should be relatively quiet.  Thankfully that turned out to be the case.  Everything displayed in the store was freshly out of the boxes, intact, and functional.  But give them a few weeks and I’m sure the kids will have destroyed the cool displays.

It’s amazing to think that the Spirit chain opens in over 700 locations countrywide each year.

The few kids that were in the store this past Sunday afternoon were running around, having a great time.  Several of them approached us, claiming that the masks, creepy decorations, and displays were, and I quote here, “more annoying than scary.”  I guess jaded kids are a sign of the times…

This was, by far, my favorite display.  The man inside would occasionally shake and plea to be set free “before they come back and eat me!”  Heh….

I’m a sucker for Halloween.  It’s probably my most favorite time of the year.  I think we’ll be decorating the front of the house in the next couple of weeks, stock up on candy, and hook up the porch speakers for some eerie mood music.

Hope everyone had a great father’s day.  

To celebrate I made up a special batch of my Budino desert.  This bad boy is composed of 12 egg yolks, three cups of heavy cream, two cups of sugar, 16oz. of chocolate, whole vanilla beans, and a generous dollop of whipped cream.  It’s a heart attack in a cup, but death never tasted so good…

Knowing my dad likes this desert, Karin and I surprised him by dropping by unexpectedly bearing gifts and budino.  There’s nothing like making your pops day with love and chocolate!

Of course we stowed away a couple Budinos for ourselves.  I managed to squeeze eight servings from this batch, and figured my dad wouldn’t know if this offering we delivered to him was two cups light