Halloween is OVER, BRING ON CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

[krosfyah]

I guess I am an exception as well since I also know about Boxing Day (from having an inquisitive mind) and Junkanoo (through visiting both the Bahamas and Jamaica on several occassions).

But back to Christmas, I just bought 2 new Christmas cd's. I try to buy 2-3 per year and am listening to "The Best of Burl Ives" right now.

AWESOME (both about Junkanoo and the cds!)

When I was a kid I hated watchng sports on TV and I dreaded boxing day because i thought they showed boxing on tv all day!

[iron_pride]

Yeah I love this time of year. From Halloween until new Year's day. Bring it........

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

I know about Junkanoo, the Bahamas' amazing festival -- which really makes Mardi Gras and Carnival pale by comparison, imo -- because I lived in Nassau for a year and also because two years ago my production company was hired to shoot a documentary on the event. Junkanoo has a huge historical significance for the people of the Bahamas and it is their premier cultural event of the year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkanoo

During the months leading up to Boxing Day, my production crew and I went behind the scenes into the shacks where the costumes and floats were being constructed and into the neighborhoods where the music and dancing is rehearsed. We met and interviewed many government officials and also top Junkanoo leaders.

Then on Boxing Day I broadcast from a raised platform on Bay Street, which is Nassau's main street and the site of the festival, with Debbie Bartlett -- who's the Katie Couric of the Carribean -- and a Junkanoo expert. My wife Kim -- an award-winning producer in her own right -- broadcast from the street, right in the heart of the dancers and musicians, along with a Bahamian celeb.

During the course of our eight-hour shoot we taped the entire event with much color commentary. Kim also interviewed top Bahamian government officials on the ground as well as Congresswoman Maxine Waters, whose husband was once America's ambassador to the Bahamas.

Afterwards we went into three months of post production and the result was JUNKANOO!, a dynamic and kinetic documentary.

Throughout it all, the Bahamian government was so cooperative, providing us with police assistance and escorts. It was a huge amount of work, but it's what we do and it was a joy to be working with many of my old friends in the Bahamas again. Being put up in a luxury suite at Atlantis Hotel & Resort helped, of course.

These images give a very small sense of the vastness and beauty of Junkanoo. Everything you see in them is the result of countless small strips of colored paper being hand-pasted to costume forms and float skeletons: http://www.google.com/search?num=10&....1.Ai23v1XcBvE

I am SO impressed that you know Junkanoo!!! they do it in Jamaica too!

[MOTU_Maniac]

AWESOME (both about Junkanoo and the cds!)

When I was a kid I hated watchng sports on TV and I dreaded boxing day because i thought they showed boxing on tv all day!

Haha. That's funny Oh, and I can't wait until tonight. I am going to buy some more decorations and lights for the outside of the house...which we won't put up until Thanksgiving....but I just LOVE this time of year

Being put up in a luxury suite at Atlantis Hotel & Resort was nice, of course.

Atlantis is a BEAUTIFUL hotel! The "Michael Jackson" suite is out of this world!

[Divia]

Please, stores were already selling Xmas stuff back in Sept. I'm surprised they don't just eliminate Halloween altogether so they have more time to push Xmas. I mean, they already only give Halloween decorations a small space at stores these days anyway. Not to mention the health nuts are trying to ruin it by talking about how bad candy is for someone instead of just shutting the blank up. What is the point?

Yep. In fact the Halloween stuff at my local wal mart was put in the furthest back corner of the store so they could put the x mas stuff up front as soon as you walked in. I think this happened in early Oct. Sad really.

At the TRU I work at the occasional christmas song started popping up on the radio starting Tuesday....so before Halloween. I try not to think about Christmas till AFTER Turkey Day!

Uggggghhh. I remember those days and I dont miss them. Its the same dumb songs being piped through the store. After a 6 hour shift you want to take a pin to your ears.


I like the lights of x mas, but I hate the shopping and the crap. In fact, I find x mas kinda depressing actually. I feel sorry for people who have no one and are sitting home alone. Its a sad time for a lot of people. Not everyone has family and not everyone has a spouse. Not everyone can afford gifts. And many of us have lost loved ones that can no longer partake in the festivities. So, where is my Prozac...

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Well I think a lot of it is about what one is celebrating. While I won't get to far into Tar Swamp territory, many celebrate what they believe is the birth of the Son of God. For others, I kind of like what Bill O'Reilly once said about, "If you don't believe in the religious significance of Christmas, then perhaps it's okay to celebrate the birth of a man that brought a message and philosophy of peace and harmony to the world." In the same sense, if I knew the birthdate of Moses, despite my not being Jewish, I would certainly celebrate his birth.

Yep. In fact the Halloween stuff at my local wal mart was put in the furthest back corner of the store so they could put the x mas stuff up front as soon as you walked in. I think this happened in early Oct. Sad really.



Uggggghhh. I remember those days and I dont miss them. Its the same dumb songs being piped through the store. After a 6 hour shift you want to take a pin to your ears.


I like the lights of x mas, but I hate the shopping and the crap. In fact, I find x mas kinda depressing actually. I feel sorry for people who have no one and are sitting home alone. Its a sad time for a lot of people. Not everyone has family and not everyone has a spouse. Not everyone can afford gifts. And many of us have lost loved ones that can no longer partake in the festivities. So, where is my Prozac...

[lorde trooper]

The point of their talking about how bad and unhealthy candy is -- even when enjoyed in moderation during a festive holiday such as Halloween -- Dr. Kain, is that some people are only happy when others are unhappy. It's not about their genuine concerns about health or the welfare of others. Quite the opposite. In their twisted minds they view all of life as a zero sum game, which is to say they feel that if others gain happiness -- whether it's from candy, relationships or anything at all -- then it somehow detracts from their own happiness.. which sadly and ironically, because of their sociopathic view of life, it does.

These people really require their own zipcode. We all would be well advised to not even enter into discussion with them as that is precisely what they want and, too, such discussions are futile as these people are intractable and incapable of listening to logic since that is not their goal. Rather, their goal is to vampire-suck happiness from others.

Ultimately, the punishment for such individuals is that they must awaken every day and be themselves -- filled with enmity and consumed by toxic loathing of their fellow men (and women), while people like you and me are rewarded with getting to wake up and be ourselves.

I feel this way about ALOT of Australians at Halloween time, its slowly converting over to a more and more excepted tradition but we forever have the ones that say we dont support Halloween because its an American tradition. How about you get over it and be happy for the kids to dress up and help carve pumpkins and so on.

I had my local postie come around and said that my house was by far the bast he saw in town, mind you there was only a couple that set up, but for me i have kids and love stting up the house for them.