All Hallows Eve

I remember being young and getting ready to Trick or Treat on Halloween. My mom always made some elaborate and amazing costume for me and my sisters. Black cats, mermaids, Cleopatra, belly dancer, Toucan. Generally, aside from decorations, Halloween only took place on October 31st. We'd trick or treat then race into our rooms to escape seeing our dad looking quite frightening in his hunchback costume and creepy mask. There was, however, the year we threw the amazing Halloween party at my house complete with a fortune teller, dry ice, a haunted house, face painting and crazy games...I think I was 10.

Now that I'm older, Halloween seems to span the length of a full week, depending on when October 31st falls. This year, it falls on a Wednesday so the Friday and Saturday before provided plenty of costume party options. I hate to say it, but Halloween's have been lacking for me since leaving college. This year, however, could prove to change that. On the official day of ghosts, goblins, ghouls and everything in between, I will be attending the Village Halloween Parade in NYC with a good friend of mine. It has been voted as one of the Best Events in the World, and something I look forward to checking off the list of Festivals to see before I die.

On that note, Festivals I hope to see before I die (list continuing to grow):
- Carnaval in Rio. Check
- Village Halloween Parade, NYC. Soon to be checked
- Full Moon Festival, Thailand.
- Burning Man, Nevada.
- Oktoberfest, Germany.
- Mardi Gras, New Orleans
- St. Patricks Day, Dublin.

Stay tuned for photos from my upcoming NYC Halloween.

Note: A "ghoul" is the original word used to describe what we now call a "zombie"...in case you were confused.

Passion

Last night I saw "Across the Universe" at the Roxy.
It was a really great movie...a nice change from the movies of late. In some ways it reminded me of Moulin Rouge with its musical outbursts, dances amidst the normal story telling, general dialogue intermixed with flashbacks and dreams and floating objects.

I think one thing that really stuck with me about the movie was that era...the 60's and early 70's. It was a time when people believed in something and didn't just internalize those beliefs...they did something about them. The most obvious of that being the opposition to the Vietnam War...the protests and rallies and anti-draft actions. It makes me sad that, when in a similar situation (minus the draft), a war that so many people are against yet a generation that is proactive, we aren't as passionate about showing our opposition as they were in the 60's. They were fearless. Jail, police, tear gas, death...none of the potential consequences of their actions deterred them.


Not only was that time about passion for their feelings of the war, but passion of everything. Whether it was for sex drugs and rock and roll, or art, or a cause, people had passion and a lot of it. Society didn't dictate what they did like it does now. Sometimes I wish I lived then...a time when love was free and hitch hiking was safe. Art was less commercialized. Anti-establishment was a way of life. Peace and harmony were truth.