Happy Halloween, everybody! As I'm sure I've said in the past, Halloween isn't much of a thing in our house. Dave and I usually huddle in the back room in the dark, watching television, to discourage any prospective trick-or-treaters.
I haven't had a trick-or-treater come to the door in years and years. I couldn't tell you the last time -- maybe in the mid-'90s when I lived in Florida. I remember some kids came to my apartment in Venice and, trying to be a proponent of healthful eating, I gave them little boxes of raisins. When I told my friend Sue about this later, she was horrified. "They're going to key your car!" she said. But they never did. I wonder if they ever ate the raisins.
We've had some amazing weather over the past few days. I went out yesterday at lunchtime for a sunny walk around St. John's Wood with my camera. It was nice to feel the sun on my face on a workday! I may do it again today, if the weather cooperates.
As I lie here in bed writing, with Olga by my side, there's something in our garden making very strange Tarzan-jungle sounds. I think it's a bird -- it's too consistent to be a fox. Or maybe it's a goblin?
Speaking of goblins, the news has certainly been eventful -- charges in the Trump/Russia investigation (yay!) and an accusation of sexual misconduct against Kevin Spacey. (In case you missed it, the actor Anthony Rapp says Spacey put the moves on him at a party in the mid-'80s, when Rapp was 14 years old.) I'm annoyed at Spacey for using this charge as an opportunity to come out as gay. Gay men too often get branded as sexual deviants and pedophiles by the religious right, and Spacey has unfortunately bolstered that stereotype. Do I even need to say that it's wrong for any adult, gay or straight, to hit on a 14-year-old?
(Top: Pumpkins in St. John's Wood. Bottom: Pedestrians left, goblins down in West Hampstead.)
My only comment about Kevin Spacey is that I've always disliked him.
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween to you!
Is it possible to have a "Happy Halloween"? I thought the whole idea of this pumped up, commercialised and film-fuelled plastic phenomenon was to tune in with ghouls and demons. You can have a happy birthday or a happy Christmas but with reference to the dark and scary underworld of spirits, skeletons and cobwebs, the possibility of associated happiness is surely extremely remote.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me re started on Spacey
ReplyDeleteSpacey's action was beyond thoughtless. I wonder if he'll ever work in Hollywood again.
ReplyDeleteDespite what YP said- Happy Halloween! I do love a pumpkin grinning in the dark.
Damn. I always liked Kevin Spacey and now I have to despise him. I can't wait until sex with robots is perfected and then all those men who can't keep their hands and tongues and willies to themselves will have the playmates they need and leave the rest of us alone.
ReplyDeleteMy friend David and I had a discussion about the Kevin Spacey event last night and we had much the same thoughts as you about using that incident to 'come out'. We also had a discussion about what a 14-year-old was doing at the party without supervision in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you should have mentioned London's weather. For the first time in months, I took a look at the Abbey Road webcam yesterday and noticed that it looked like a beautiful day. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon your time and the sun was shining and the same silly crowds were blocking traffic to pose for pictures. I even saw that old guy who passes out flyers for his Beatles museum. It looked like a perfect day for a walk.
This Halloween we're celebrating by turning off the lights, closing the blinds, and hiding in our bedroom. Just not up for all the little ghosts and goblins, witches and rock stars banging on our door for hours. Enough. Kevin Spacey is a schmuck. If he was going to "come out" about his sexuality, he should have just started with, "I'm pedophile."
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't know what Spacey was thinking. Trying to plead drunkenness and then coming out in the same breath. Wrong on so many counts.
ReplyDeleteWe will not be giving out candy this Halloween either, now that our own kids are grown. Too much temptation to nosh on the candy ourselves.
lWe're sort of ambivalent on Halloween trick or treaters. We bought some candy but I'd rather eat it myself!
ReplyDeleteI will risk pointing out that a lot of 14 year olds look much, MUCH older these days. And they don't necessarily tell the truth about their age, if asked. And I will also risk pointing out that ordinary people don't have a monopoly on stupidity; actors and actresses can be dumb as a brick. I don't know why people idolize them as they do. There, I am done being grumpy.
ReplyDeleteI do love those Jack-o-lanterns. To me it looks like two of them are trying out their scary faces and the third one is laughing at them. Not unlike a trio of kids!
since I shun holidays, it's no surprise that I don't participate but even if I wanted to, there are no small children on my street or maybe even the whole little neighborhood. i used to car a pumpkin every year whether I/we did anything else. my older sister still does. it's been about 6 years. maybe I'll do one next year.
ReplyDelete