In Mexico Nov. 3 it will be the day of the dead, a better holiday than Holloween because they will be sincerely honoring their dead relatives, Which I think is great. But since I’m not hispanic I truely want to celebrate a dead theory — the Big Bang. Not long gone (actually presently revered) but very soon to be forgotten, I hope. It must be replaced!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

forrest underscore forrest at netzero dot net.

“What was THAT?!?”
“An Iridium flare”
“A what???” – starting a long explanation, but everyone left a little more knowledgeable, and convinced that their neighbor is every bit as eccentric as they believed.

I wish I had thought of the Face of Bo before I carved this years boring pumpkin.

1) It is technically demanding with menaces

2) The elderly are frightened by hoards of kids descending on them after dark

3) How do I know that the little band of Trick or Treaters are not trying to find out who is in and who is out, with a view to kicking in the door and grabbing what they can. As I have to go out tonight, it looks like I will have to drag the laptop with me, just to keep it safe should this fear be realised.

Clear Sky Clock is giving us two 5′s and a 4 for tomorrow night. Too bad this year’s festivities will be hampered by the Daylight Savings Time offset. If I have a shot at it, I can usually pick off Jupiter prior to twilight, but it’s probably going to be well west of the narrow corridor of view I have. Holmes will be available most of the night, but probably 50% of the traffic will have already passed by the time it gets dark enough to locate. That earlier hour of darkness would’ve helped. But it’ll be fun, nonetheless!

http://community.livejournal.com/yeah_that_way/4185.html

(not mine, not my page, but may be doing a Rose pumpkin tomorrow)

J/P=?

BaldApe: I use Silly Puttyâ„¢ in class for that purpose. After demonstrating how it will stretch when pulled slowly but break when pulled quickly, I’d mold it into a tall roughly cylindrical lump and set it on the table at the front of the room and let them watch it flatten under its own weight as I went on lecturing. However, there was the one night when rather than flattening into a puddle it drooped over the edge to the accompaniment of embarrassed giggles from the class . . . not helped by it being the default light pinkish color that Silly Puttyâ„¢ comes in . . .

I FINALLY saw Comet Holmes last night through 20×80 binocs….spectacular!

Hey — maybe the LA can go as a comet? White dress and a long flowing veil….

I hope this gets a little brighter – I was glad no one on the street asked me what I was looking at because it was so dim on the busy street I live next to I’d never be able to point a novice to it with binoculars.

Tried that one year, ended up doing eighteen months. Stupid midget vice cops…

For a different take on pumpkin carving, skip the whole hollowed-out deal and just engrave into the skin. Far more control, no parts to break off, and they tend to last longer. The paler flesh underlying the rind works quite well to set off your design, but it helps if you have a “flat” blade to shave larger areas.

If you’re stumped for costume ideas, you can do what Robert Schaeffer did at a convention and go as an MIB. Hold up a penlight vertically and ask the kids to pay attention “right here,” see how many go for it. If you’re creative, you can get the flash unit from a disposable camera (most of the photo labs will be able to provide one) and trick it out to really work. Kinda. Easy to shock the beejebus out of yourself if you short that capacitor, though, so mind the exposed circuit board.

Halloween isn’t quite as big in the UK as it is in the US. I don’t have a problem with it (although some of my more “precious” co-workers do) – I just wish it weren’t another way to fleece everybody (along with Christmas, Valentines, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s day etc.)

But show them some science while they are holding you hostage for candy – brilliant!

Seriously.

I hope you have clear skies to make this a truly excellent halloween.

The innards of the pumpkins makes an excellent soup and the seeds can be roasted with a bit of oil and salt in the oven for a great snack.
Don’t waste the soup and seeds on the Halloween monsters though, they only want candy.