Happy Halloween, Gang of Five!!

Flathead770 · **Reply #1 on:** November 01, 2019, 12:02:40 AM

Happy Halloween! No pictures from me as I never dressed up or anything. Only had a couple of kids come to the door as well so now I'm overloaded with chocolate haha

ImpracticalDino · **Reply #2 on:** November 01, 2019, 12:09:54 AM

Happy Halloween, StardustSoldier! That is quite an interesting costume you're wearing there. I assume it's a Harry Potter character?

And also, what Halloween event were you attending in those photos?

And regarding the holiday itself, it is quite sad to know that less and less people are trick or treating each year. I remember when plenty of people would stop by my house with their cute outfits and we would hand out candy to them. Nowadays, not one single person comes by at all. In fact, I don't think anybody walks past the entire street I live in on Halloween anymore. It really doesn't help as well when you become "too old" to trick or treat, when society condemns you for committing to something you enjoy because it is "childish". Not only that, but parents and adults don't trust older people as they may be dangerous or suspicious. These combining factors really kill the motivation of Halloween. It goes to show the ever more fearful society and a growing dangerous world we live in. For a person who really "doesn't" care for trick or treating or Halloween anymore, I'm actually showing a lot of concern at this point about the outlook of it.

Sigh...For the times they are a changing... couldn't ring any truer at this point.

But even still, we have a bowl of candy waiting near the front door just in case anyone shows up. If not, we devour all the candy the next day! (mostly me though)

This is just my 2 cents on the matter. Anyone else would like to add or discuss this further?

OwlsCantRead · **Reply #3 on:** November 01, 2019, 12:47:25 AM

I saw the dot before logging in and thought that was the post, then I logged in and whummp comes the attachments.

That's not a bad costume, btw! The pointy hat sells it.

StardustSoldier · **Reply #4 on:** November 01, 2019, 12:56:56 AM

Thanks Owls. I agree the pointy hats are the best part.

Despite my Harry Potter fandom, it's not an HP character I'm dressed as. I'm not dressed as anyone specific. It was my mom's idea for us to wear matching witches hats and spider webbing with little spiders in them.

The first three photos were taken at this restaurant where Mom and I went out for supper. After that, her and I went to visit this elderly couple we're friends with. We hung out in their living room and chatted for a while.

I don't feel the world has gotten more dangerous, necessarily. But I do agree that, in some ways, society has become more fearful. Likewise, I agree that becoming "too old" for trick or treating is silly at best. Although that said, even when I was a kid, I wasn't the biggest fan of it. I certainly enjoyed getting candy, but walking from house to house on a cold night over and over would get tedious for me and my brother pretty fast. By and large I don't miss trick or treating all that much. I still love Halloween in general.

Sneak · **Reply #5 on:** November 01, 2019, 04:21:53 AM

Happy Halloween, everyone!

noice costume!

StardustSoldier · **Reply #6 on:** November 02, 2019, 03:29:08 AM

Just came back from a post-Halloween Halloween party and I had Mom take another couple photos of me in my witchy getup.

ImpracticalDino · **Reply #7 on:** November 02, 2019, 01:43:12 PM

Nice photos, StardustSoldier. Do you celebrate Halloween every year the same way? By going to some kind of Halloween party?

And thanks for your input on the holiday itself. I stopped trick or treating in 2012, probably because I didn’t care/it got boring at that point. I really don’t remember the exact reason.

StardustSoldier · **Reply #8 on:** November 03, 2019, 12:34:43 AM

I more or less do the same thing every Halloween, yeah. The elderly couple, Mom and I have been visiting them on Halloween night for our third year in a row now. As for the Halloween party I went to, it was hosted by a friend of mine I've known since high school, and we've been doing Halloween parties at the same house for fifteen-something years now.

ImpracticalDino · **Reply #9 on:** November 03, 2019, 12:44:45 AM

That’s actually a pretty awesome way to keep the Halloween tradition alive I suppose. Trick or treating may be on the decline, but at least the spirit of the holiday lives on.

On a related note, I was watching the intro of The Addams Family on YouTube. I was listening to Christmas music beforehand, but YouTube decides to recommend me Halloween content for some reason.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ5IWRz78DY

StardustSoldier · **Reply #10 on:** November 03, 2019, 12:57:05 AM

Dang! I forgot how catchy that theme was. *snaps along*

Never heard the end credits remix before, although I think I like that one even better.

Mumbling · **Reply #11 on:** November 03, 2019, 02:25:46 AM

Bit late but Happy Halloween! Cool that you shared your costume with us, Ian! Halloween is not a holiday that is celebrated here (though it is definitely gaining popularity due to popular American shows), so no such shenanigans for me!

Anagnos · **Reply #12 on:** November 03, 2019, 03:08:34 AM

Happy Halloween from me as well. We don't exactly celebrate Halloween in Finland either, although I see people still dress up and act like it's the norm here, which I cannot understand as it's not a big thing here at all and I don't see the point of celebrating something like that in this country. It would be almost the same as if Americans suddenly started to celebrate Midsummer Day. I imagine that perchance Finnish Americans celebrate Midsummer Day in some form, but as I don't have any real information on the subject, I cannot confirm that.

StardustSoldier · **Reply #13 on:** November 05, 2019, 06:46:38 PM

@Anagnos: What is Midsummer Day like? We don't have that here in Canada, but I'm intrigued to know more.

Anagnos · **Reply #14 on:** November 06, 2019, 10:16:59 AM

@StardustSoldier

I'd imagine that certain northern European countries have different celebrations than we here in Finland do, but I think it's safe to say that they are likely similar for the most part. Midsummer is the period of time centered upon the summer solstice celebrations that accompany the actual solstice or take place on a day between June 19 and June 25 and the preceding evening.

In the Finnish Midsummer celebration, bonfires are very common and are burned at lakesides and by the sea. Often branches from birch trees are placed on both sides of the front door to welcome visitors. An important feature of the midsummer in Finland is the white night and the midnight sun. Because of Finland's location around the Arctic Circle the nights near the midsummer day are short (with twilight even at midnight) or non-existent. This gives a great contrast to the darkness of the winter time. Many Finns leave the cities for Midsummer and spend time in the countryside. Nowadays, many spend at least a few days there, and some Finns take their whole vacation at a summer cottage. Traditions include bonfires, cookouts, sauna and spending time together with friends or family. Heavy drinking is also associated with the Finnish midsummer.

Many music festivals of all sizes are organized on the Midsummer weekend. It is also common to start summer vacation on Midsummer day. For many families Midsummer is the time when they move to the countryside to their summer cottage by the sea or lake. Midsummer is also a Finnish Flag Day: the national flag is hoisted at 6 pm on Midsummer's Eve and flown throughout the night until 9 pm the next evening. This is an exception to the normal rule of flying the flag from 8 am to sunset.

I hope this was an interesting experience to learn about our culture and traditions!

Flathead770 · **Reply #15 on:** November 06, 2019, 01:20:31 PM

That actually sounds pretty cool Anagnos! Seems like a lot more of a celebration then any of the ones in Canada.

People like to go out camping on Victoria Day weekend in May, though that's just because it's the first long weekend for spring/summer and I'm sure it has nothing to do with actually celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday

ImpracticalDino · **Reply #16 on:** November 06, 2019, 03:48:11 PM

That is very intriguing Anagnos, thanks for sharing! It seems like a lot of fun. Do you celebrate Midsummer Day every year? I take that Finland and other European countries are more collectivist, contrast to the more individualist North America?

StardustSoldier · **Reply #17 on:** November 07, 2019, 12:12:36 AM

Very cool. Thanks for sharing, Anagnos. That kinda makes me wish we did have that here in Canada.

Anagnos · **Reply #18 on:** November 07, 2019, 10:36:24 AM

@Flathead770

Thanks! For an outsider who has never heard of Midsummer Day, it can certainly sound quite a handful. I'd be interested to learn more about how your culture and traditions work in Canada, as I have not explored that part about your country yet.

@ImpracticalDino

No problem! Generally, my family and I tend not to make a big deal of Midsummer Day anymore, therefore we spent more time at home than anywhere else. Except when other people are generous enough to invite us in, which is a never-ending occurrence. About your other question, I am not so sure about that. I guess you could call us Europeans as collectivists rather than individualists, but I think that's a matter of opinion for the most part. I also wouldn't mind if you could shed some light into how you celebrate different celebrations.

@StardustSoldier

I'm glad you thought so highly of our tradition! I'm sure you would be more than intrigued by the chance to see this worthwhile tradition in action. Finland may not be your number one choice, but I assure you, experiencing the Midsummer Day is something special that I believe everyone should experience at least once in their life. Like I already said to Flathead, I would be curious to learn about some of your traditions at some point.

ImpracticalDino · **Reply #19 on:** November 20, 2019, 05:12:35 PM

@Anagnos: I would love to, but unfortunately me and my family only celebrate the most common and traditional holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and etc. I may look upon other traditions to celebrate in the future, but probably not until I don’t live with my parents anymore and I no longer attend school. Unless you meant how I would celebrate the holidays personally, but honestly it’s not much and it looks pretty boring from the perspective of literally everyone else.