Busytown by Jolisa Gracewood

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Busytown: Trick or treat (Electoween 08)

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  • Raymond A Francis,

    Americans, got to love them
    Mad as meat axes

    Why don't they have their elections on Saturday like us?

    45' South • Since Nov 2006 • 578 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    sigh - Halloween may be the one thing I really really miss about living in the US - with little kids it was just the most wonderfull occasion - we got to go out and meet our neighbours - all the houses are lit up with real pumpkins, the kids got to to do something a bit scary (the parents hang back and they walk up a scary decorated path in the dark not knowing what's there - but with the possibility of lollies as a payoff). I think it's one of the few real american holidays that hasn't succumbed totally to commercialisation (though I think it looks like it has from a NZ perspective).

    When my son was 4 we talked up going trick-or-treating for the first time - we made a big deal about dressing up and pumpkins - 2 days before he comes him from pre-school and confides in us the big secret he's found out "there's gonna be candy" - and boy there was - more than he could carry .... his parents were quite ill that night.

    When we were travelling in India with the kids we carved water melons - they work great - but with a redder glow

    This year Lisa found 2 honest-to-god orange pumpkins - but sadly this is the first years the kids were too old to want to help carve (sob! they're growing up) preferring to hang out with their friends - we got maybe 8 sets of trick or treaters twice what we got last year - lots of ooohs and aaahs at genuinely carved pumpkins - with candles even though the sun was still out - they looked great later at night when no one was there

    I think we need a movement to move Halloween in NZ to the end of April - not only will it be dark and scary but pumpkins will be in season

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    .

    For an 11 year old, this kid has a sound grasp of the issues

    Superb, Stephen. Great logic he has.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Asterix & Obelix? You nailed it.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • JohnAmiria,

    When we were travelling in India with the kids we carved water melons - they work great - but with a redder glow

    As much as I'm opposed to embracing this BS American tradition called Halloween I'm willing to concede that the horse has already bolted.

    So if we __are __to have it, any chance we could embrace our Pacific roots and use water melons here, instead of pumpkins? (Not that watermelon really is that pasifika, but ...)

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    love the cosytumes for your boys Jolissa (I am a devout fan of Obelisk in the original! - and other incarnations-)- but truth is, Halloween means diddly squat to ANZers.

    So, Paul C, it's a lost cause here, entirely commercially - and unsuccessfully - driven. It just doesnt FIT with our seasonal round or - may I strongly suggest- our current (and long may it continue) irreligiosity?

    Look what happened to a pack of Marqueseans/Tahitians when they turned up here! Organised religion got chucked off the waka - and i descend from those fellas-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I like John's watermelon idea. It could make all hallows eve more locally relevant.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    I think we need a movement to move Halloween in NZ to the end of April - not only will it be dark and scary but pumpkins will be in season

    I like your line of thinking. How about Good Friday? Seasonally appropriate with a side order of sacrilege...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Seasonally appropriate with a side order of sacrilege...

    I quite like the balance of superimposing a pagan festival back onto easter.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    What I'd really like is for Matariki to be an official holiday. About time we had a local one rather than all those northern hemisphere imports.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Kerry Weston,

    What I'd really like is for Matariki to be an official holiday.

    Yeah! Proper time of the year for a decent feast, fireworks, singing and dancing and carrying on.... in fact, I reckon we should replace Xmas with Matariki. Public holiday too.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Keep Xmas, replace Queen's Birthday - haven't met a single person who cares about that one other than as a day off. One or two of those in mid-winter would be most welcome (which I suspect was part of the motivation behind xmas).

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    in fact, I reckon we should replace Xmas with Matariki. Public holiday too.

    Hear, hear. I'd leave Xmas where it is, but Matariki has the makings of a true national day/month, and without the surrounding commercial crapfest.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Kerry Weston,

    I believe they do a good job of Matariki in Napier - bonfires on the beach, sculptural stuff, lotsa food, fireworks, music....everyone getting cuddled up by the fire or dancing to get warm. Some of that haunting bone flute music round midnight to wind things down....

    Scrumpy, mulled wine, star gazing, polar bear swims, sparklers....

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Kerry Weston,

    Going for Matariki - replacing QB - would be a great moment in national togetherness, a declaration of independence in choosing our own celebrations, thank you very much.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Matariki. with fireworks. is already the celebration pf choice= among US! ALL of US!
    OK. any pf us=

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Keri, don't tell me yr keyboard is on the way out as well as the lemon's power supply.. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Kerry Weston,

    No public celebrations of Matariki in my neck of the woods :-( too bloody dour and conservative. I've had the odd bonfire at home, but it was too wet and slushy this year. If enough communities celebrate, maybe it will become a new national holiday by popular will - everyone will just take the day off regardless!

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Might be one sensible thing to use a referendum for.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Best celebrations/holidays are those we just go do-here, Matariki and Hogmanay (you've got that nice wee time between'em) along with birthdays, The Season, & such, are how *we* celebrate The Year- everybody makes their own up-

    I do think a national holiday should be celebrated during our winter- and Matariki is the obvious swing-around-the-star: my tribe has this lovely little song:

    "Pipiri te whetu
    te marama i te raki-
    Pipiri hokioi
    ta wa wairua e-"

    conjunct that with newly created songs/dances/whoops/whatever and make our midwinter a playful celebratory look-forward to spring thing-

    speaking of which, whitebaiting has been ratshit - but all good to us all -

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Jolisa,

    Oh, agreed. I love the winter holidays, all that fire and atmosphere, lengthening shadows and flickering jack-o-lanterns.

    We get so short-changed in the southern hemisphere. Guy Fawkes' Day in particular was always a bit of a bust, and while I love a summery Christmas, you don't get to do the whole hot dinner plum pudding thing. Plus, if you don't ritually light a candle against the darkness, how can you be sure the sun will return? An official Midwinter Matariki sounds excellent to me - tie it to a weekend, like Queen's Birthday, and we're golden. How do we start the petition?

    Could you make lanterns out of kumara? (You can make a really cool one out of a mandarin.)

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report Reply

  • Jolisa,

    Asterix & Obelix? You nailed it.

    Ta! Although sadly nine out of ten people we passed said "Ooh, look at the Vikings," and the other one was invariably a European of some sort...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report Reply

  • Kirsten Brethouwer,

    peppers make cool little lanterns and start smelling nicely like roast pepper after a little while.

    I'm having halloween in the northern hemisphere with my kids that are now really getting it and going to an international school with lots of american kids so we had a proper halloween and I carved my first pumpkin. Always been skeptical living in NZ as it just didn't fit, but all of a sudden it made sense.

    re. Matariki..ABSOLUTELY I'll be signing that petition.
    One of my problem with winters in NZ has always been the lack a real heartwarming celebration in the middle of winter that cuts the cold/ rainy season in half.

    Waiheke Island • Since Nov 2006 • 35 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I'm having halloween in the northern hemisphere with my kids that are now really getting it and going to an international school with lots of american kids so we had a proper halloween and I carved my first pumpkin.

    I trust you were quite safe and nowhere near Piazza Navona. But... are you telling me you can go treat or treating in Italy these days. And if you do, what do the little nippers say when the door opens?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

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