Flare Sci-Fi Forums: First Harry Potter, and now this.

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Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

http://www.thestar.com/thestar/back_issues/ED20001031/news/20001031NEW01b_CI-COSTUME.html

Only in Toronto.......

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"My Name is Elmer Fudd, Millionaire. I own a Mansion and a Yacht."
Psychiatrist: "Again."

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

Boy, that country is screwed up...

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Pilot: You're sure they were Americans, eh?
Fraser: They were all wearing new boots, they were driving a Jeep Wrangler, and they carried big guns.
Pilot: Americans it is.
- "due South"

Posted by Vacuum robot lady from Spaceballs (Member # 239) on :

Yes, yes it is. We're just preparing ourselves for our eventual union with you.

Fuck you.

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Equality, Cooperation & Benevolence.

Vote Communist Party of America 2000.

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

Oh, get a sense of humor.

Under any circumstances, what else can you call a country that doesn't allow kids to say "Merry Christmas"?

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

"...many students can't participate because of Halloween's 'pagan' origins."

Well, by definition, the word "Halloween" means "the eve of All Saints Day", therefore it is a solely Christian (maybe only Roman Catholic?) holiday. I mean, Christmas was planted at a common time for pagan rituals intentionally. No-one ever talks about its "pagan origins"...

"'They use their weapons, they're kids, they play and it's difficult for one teacher to control the kids,' said Velvet Spring, who has two sons aged 5 and 7."

WTF? How on Earth do weapons relate to Halloween costumes? I someone going to dress up as Julius Caesar and bring in a group of centurions to slaughter everyone?

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"Yeah...apparently Sizer is very hard to say, so they replace it with 'Is Mr. Caeser home?'
Sometimes I'll say that no, he has, in fact, passed away.
'My apologies.'
'Oh, that's ok, I'm over it. Brutus is still a wreck though.'
Then I hang up."
-Simon Sizer on telemarketers, 1-Nov-2000

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

Under any circumstances, what else can you call a country that doesn't allow kids to say "Merry Christmas"?

A multicultural country that can't celebrate Christmas because other religions deem that such fanfare over one religion's holiest holiday over their own as truly *ahem* retching.

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"My Name is Elmer Fudd, Millionaire. I own a Mansion and a Yacht."
Psychiatrist: "Again."

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

Yes...because when I was in school, my only thought around Halloween or Christmas or Easter was to crush the differential belief systems of the kids around me like Rome heading into Gaul. It had NOTHING t'do with all the LOOT...

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"Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much."

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

'Under any circumstances, what else can you call a country that doesn't allow kids to say "Merry Christmas"?'

Judging from the amount of American TV I watch, I'd call it the United States of America.

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"If every vampire who said he was at the Crucifixion was actually there it would've been like Woodstock. I was at Woodstock. I fed off a flower person and I spent six hours watching my hand move." - Spike, BtVS

Posted by Vacuum robot lady from Spaceballs (Member # 239) on :

Wait a minute. We say 'Merry Christmas' all the time here. I said it twice today to passerby. They looked at me funny, surmised that I had been reading too much Harry Potter, and locked me in a basement filled with Maple Syrup and flannel. As much as I'd like to knock Paul Bunyon, the man had good taste for good tasting shirts. Especially with syrup.

Anyway, it seems to me that greeting people with a salutation based on a fictional persons birth is perhaps not the best greeting.

Perhaps "Hey fuckhead, I'd like to do your wife!" or "Hello. My Grandpa has a magic lap." Would be better.

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Equality, Cooperation & Benevolence.

Vote Communist Party of America 2000.

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

It rises with the tides...

Posted by Jeff Raven (Member # 20) on :

Political correctness is stupid. I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna worry about 'offending' someone, when quite frankly, one can take offense no matter WHAT I say. Fuck it!

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Intelligence, Integrity, Responsibility.
Vote Bush/Cheney 2000

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

I find that language offensive. Police! Arrest that man!

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Francesca: He was born on the tundra, that's where he belongs. You'll kill him if you take him to Toronto.
Thatcher: That's a bit drastic, don't you think?
Francesca: Look, I've been to Toronto. Trust me, nothing can survive there. - "due South"

Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :

I'm on a donut-break now. But here, take my gun.

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So, how's that Survivor-contest coming along, Newt?
-Well not very well at the MOMENT, everyone seems to have died.
-Gee, that's bad. Those Aliens bugging you yet?
-Not really, they mostly come at night mostly...

Posted by Diane (Member # 53) on :

Well, you know, the secular celebration of Christmas consists mainly of Santa Clauses and Christmas trees and presents and family stuff. Sure, it's overbearing, but it's not really forcing Jesus Christ on anyone. Heck, I celebrated Christmas in Taiwan (though it's not nearly as important as Chinese New Year). Never knew it was about Jesus until I got here. I like having Halloween with pagans though. We get to go around saying "happy new year."

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"The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
--Albert Eistein

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Can't we all just get along? Or barring that, pick on some loser country like Chad? I mean, come on, when you're named after the biggest loser in the whole high school, you're just asking for trouble.

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
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Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

I thought Chad was the cool kid. Right up there with Cory.

The loser kid in our school was always called Martin. Or Keith.

Posted by LOA (Member # 49) on :

That's not too surprising to me.... I'm more surprised that they've been allowed to WEAR costumes 'til now. I was still in elementary school when my school district banned the wearing of Halloween costumes. It's a good point they bring up about kids being fidgity and distracted by costumes. I know I always was.... and the school wasn't completely trying to cut out Halloween festivities.... they still brought in special story tellers and made a special day out of it. If the kids can't wear their costumes to school, then life goes on.... worse things have happened.

~LOA

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"The purple elephants have conquered my pants! Weasels to the rescue!!!" ~TSN, Oct. 23, 2000

Posted by Diane (Member # 53) on :

Well, you know it's just one day that kids get to wear costumes. It's like saying why don't we abolish vacations because kids are fidgety on the last day of school.

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"The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
--Albert Eistein

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Yeah. That's the reason they USED, not the REAL reason. The real reason is that they didn't want some lame-ass pseudo-Christian Fundie or some other zero-baseline religion that looks upon Halloween as 'evil' because it's based upon a Christianized pagan holiday (just like Yule and Eostre became Christmas and Easter Sunday, but they ignore that) pitching a fit and giving them bad publicity.

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"Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master

Posted by Xentrick (Member # 64) on :

it's always about those Fundies.

or maybe it IS partially rooted in political correctness, as happened in some Ohio school districts *years* ago: Kids couldn't dress as hobos because (as the overly-sensitive spokesperson for the district said "A hobo is just a homeless person.")

No witches, because that's a stereotype of the Wiccans. No cowboys, because that's offensive to the Indians. Well, not the real Indians, but to white people who feel that they should be insensed on the Indians' behalf. No ghosts or skeletons: too disturbing. etc, etc.

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

You're right, there's probably a bit of both..

But the PC crowd generally don't ban Halloween, they just set up massively restrictive costume limitations.

The Fundies try to do away with the thing entirely.

And those of us who are normal and just want to enjoy ourselves stand back and gape in amazement/amusement.

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"Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Actually, we've never worn costumes on Halloween. I think it's an American thing.

Also, when we do have Halloween parties, everyone goes as something "scary", whereas in the US, Halloween fancy dress seems to allow anything.

But that's not interesting.