ePluribus Media Community || citizen journalism, for the people, by the people

Discuss -- A very different take on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 06:54:03 PM EST

Originally posted Tue Oct 30, 2007 at 05:01:54 PM CST - Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween

According to the History Channel our modern Halloween finds its origins in the ancient Celtic ritual of Samhain ... the Celts marked November 1st as their New Year, and the eve of Oct. 31 was believed to be a time when the lines between the real world and the spiritual realm were blurred. The celebration involved bonfires and sacrifices.

"During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter."

It wasn't until the 800's when Pope Boniface IV declared November 1st All Souls Day that the ritual practice of Samhain died out and our modern Halloween (All Hallows Eve) slowly began evolving. The American tradition of "Trick-or-Treat"ing undoubtedly found its roots in the English "All Souls Day" parade where it was customary for the poor to line the streets and beg for food or money.

On a lighter note, Robert Gillis brings us a satirical look at one of television's Halloween classics in his column on the ePluribus Media Journal. Gillis begins the column with:

"[...]But upon closer inspection, Charlie Brown’s world is a little odd, and that got me thinking (never a good thing on a slow news day) what if Charlie Brown and his world was real? How would a newspaper report the events of that fateful Halloween?"

Read the column -- A very different take on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and then come back here to discuss.

BOO!

commentary :: :: :: buzz-it!

Previously published in the Boston City Paper, Foxboro Reporter and at FanFiction.net.

Discuss -- A very different take on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)

Great Pumpkins! (5.00 / 2) (#1)

What about Pigpen?

Fun read, thank you!

by susie dow on Tue Oct 30, 2007 at 12:14:04 PM EST

My kids (5.00 / 1) (#2)

are watching it right now...

Guaranteed to be plastered all over the Internet
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
by Connecticut Man1 on Tue Oct 30, 2007 at 07:54:10 PM EST

Some more Charlie Brown humour: (5.00 / 1) (#3)

Via The Strange Death of Liberal America, an excerpt from...

It's the Great Bumpkin, Georgie Bush
With his love for wearing costumes it somehow seems appropriate that this President is now the figure most chosen to be Photoshopped by creative and not-so-creative people on the Web, who grafted his face on to everything from porn sites to a montage called bushorchimp.com. The chimp seems to be winning.
But nothing personifies the Great Bumpkin better than the War in Iraq. He keeps promising peace will appear and every time he says it millions of Americans have believed him, but as this fiasco has stretched into the longest war history that belief is wearing thin. I ran into a teacher at a reunion of leadership fellows yesterday and she told me that she had been teaching GIs for over a decade and that servicemen with twenty years experience were saying to her, "Korea, Vietnam, sort of made some sense, but this one smells."
This Halloween a lot of Americans are wondering if the Great Bumpkin isn't preparing to try on a new costume, this one resembling Richard the Lionheart, the crusader who tried to win back the Middle east for Christendom. The Great Bumpkin will invade Iran and conquer the infidels. He has used the word crusade almost as often as Richard and certainly believes he can recover a piece of the true cross.
Today the Net will be full of images of pumpkins with Bush faces on them. I Googled Bush pumpkin and in turned up 58,000 pages-a pretty good indication of where he stands. There also will be a goodly number of Halloween scary stories about Bush. Some even come just short of saying he's the Devil himself.

Just some suggested reading. :)

Guaranteed to be plastered all over the Internet
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
by Connecticut Man1 on Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 01:37:04 AM EST

I can just see the Faux News logo (5.00 / 1) (#4)

as this story replaces anything else in the headlines for weeks...

by GreyHawk on Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 04:19:05 AM EST

Total laugh riot (5.00 / 1) (#5)

That was SO great!

There is one adult though - the teacher that you never see. The WahWahWah one.

We had the lightest showing for kids last nite - maybe 30, but then it was very windy and cold. Kidlet was proud how far he went with Dad and what his haul was. He won't eat it though - maybe a few - but he's not a candy 'holic. I may have to sacrifice myself.........

by kfred on Thu Nov 01, 2007 at 03:14:37 PM EST

Discuss -- A very different take on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)

Support ePluribus Media -- Support Citizen Powered Journalism!