Random Thoughts on Seasonal Candy, Pretzels and Chips

I wasn't looking for either of these things, but I could not help noticing them today at Walmart. I'd never seen Doritos or Cheetohs in large  boxes with Halloween designs on the boxes, and pretzels in a bag with a pumpkin in them.  I had no compulsion to buy them and have a feeling that people will say not to hand these out to trick-or-treaters.  Just the same I could not help noticing them.  Not much else to say, however, as I have not been a big pretzel eater, though I enjoy them sometimes.   Looks like these kinds of snacks comes in holiday-themed bags or boxes, something I've noticed mostly with candy.  Oddly, I did see a customer pick up a bag of the pretzels to buy. 

I could not find any Halloween Marshmallow Peeps, which I'd been hoping to find for a blog entry (perhaps this blog idea occurred to me a little too late).  Though I have noticed how the Peeps candy has found its way into other holidays besides Easter. One year I bought the chocolate black cat Peeps.  I found this image of the different Peeps made for Halloween.

I hope to get some if I can find any over the next three days.  I just did not think of this until now.  But I know the Christmas ones will be on the shelves soon.  I really liked the gingerbread cutouts Peeps when I bought these one year.  And one year I came across the Valentines Heart ones (the only time I recall seeing those particular ones.

From the wikipedia entry on Marshmallow Peeps"

Peeps are produced by Just Born,^[1] a candy manufacturer based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Peeps were introduced nationally in 1958 by Pravin Pant Sr., a Nepali immigrant. When Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Company in 1953, they automated the process (originally the chicks were formed by hand) and mass-produced them.^[2] The yellow chicks were the original form of the candy — hence their name — but then the company introduced other colors and, eventually, the myriad shapes in which they are now produced.

Just Born has expanded its product line to include bats,pumpkins, and ghosts for Halloween; hearts for Valentine's Day; eggs for Easter; trees, gingerbread men, snowmen, the word "JOY", and stars for Christmas; and red, white, and blue chicks and stars for the 4th of July.

Wow, I've never noticed the July 4th ones.  That holiday seems to  overlooked when it comes to seasonal candy. Has anyone ever seen red, white and blue candy corn?  Speaking of which, I saw some of that at Walmart, both the Halloween one and the Indian Corn (darker-colored) version.  This candy seems to be made for most other holidays. My store has already been getting the Christmas version, Reindeer Corn. 

And would you believe that such a holiday as National Candy Corn Day exists? It's the daybefore Halloween, the holiday for which most candy corn is purchased. 

Earlier this month, Rite Aid had bags of Mellow Creme Pumpkins for 0.99. This is another Halloween candy favorite of mine. I bought one that day.  While Googling these, I came across this blog.  

And with Halloween in just three days, it's time to start getting candy to hand out to the kids. I suspect I will wit until that afternoon to get it so I will not feel compelled to eat any myself until the kids stop coming for the night.  I know not to hand out unwrapped stuff, so if I get to buy some candy corn or Peeps in the next three days, it will be for me. 

"Time Warp" from "Rocky Horror Picture Show"

In honor of last night's episode of "Glee," one of the few current TV shows I regularly watch, I have uploaded this video of the song "Time Warp." 

I as really excited to see this episode last night, after  one week worth no new episode of the show.   Overall, I thought the episode was not too bad. 
 

I only once ever saw "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" on VHS around 1991.  After admitting to this, I was chastised by two different people in college for not watching at a midnight showing.  Had that been the case, however, I would have gone to the showing totally clueless about the audience participation.   And As far as I know, no movie theater near me, including the one in my town, has ever done one of these midnight showings.  

Quiz: Are You Spooky or Kooky?

You Are Kooky

You are all about sweet treats on Halloween. You don't mind if people get a little scared, but no one should get PTSD from a haunted house! You believe that Halloween should be about fun not fight. You love to dress up in an amazing costume and go out to show it off. You've even been known to take in a scary movie or haunted house, but only if it's well done and not too freaky. You'll pass on anything too gruesome. Your favorite thing about Halloween is watching the tiniest kids have fun. Looking at them makes you feel a little bit younger too!

Are You Spooky or Kooky?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

Neighbors' Haunts--and Political Signs

For a mobile home park with over 235 units, it may seem hard to imagine that so few

people have decorated for Halloween.  But such is the case with the said kind of dwelling in which I live. Today I took a walk around the park today and shot a few photos of some of the few that were decorated with more that a mere pumpkin or two on the window ledge  or a just a fake spider web hanging from the porch coverings.  

Some were limited to mere pumpkin decorations in the window as seen in the photo at right, but the porch (below right) of this same unit was more somewhat elaborately decorated with the skull face, mini-pumpkins, the witch 

hanging from the covering and the big pumpkin hidden behind the brass-looking cowboy boots.  I've never met the owners of this home, but I'm guessing that the boots are always on the porch along with the brass-looking cowboy statues.  And that other decoration hanging above the porch--its back is to the camera so I have no clue what it's supposed to be. 

Not a very fancy decoration, but I could not resist taking a shot of this  the green skeleton on the railing of this unit.  

Now this next unit (in the photos below) had a very interesting decoration: a fountain surrounded by a pirate skeleton, several skeleton head stakes, a large  fake spider, a skeleton with a sign reading SPOOKY.  Indeed.   This was the most elaborate decoration I could find.   Granted, I didn't expect to see every single unit decorated, but there were very few that did not even had a pumpkin in the porch or decal in the window.  

I then took a walk across the street and went to view some of the homes behind the 

grocery store across the the park.  I was a bit tired and did not walk very  far, but did manage to get some shots of a graveyard setup in one front yard.  The yard was surrounded by a metal fence. The graveyard included light-up pumpkin stakes and RIP headstones.

In that short walk, I seemed to see fewer Halloween decorations than political signs promoting candidates for the upcoming election. As you know, there is an election every year on the second Tuesday in November

 and there always seems to be  a lot of 

campaign signs up.  Promoting an upcoming in November election seems to be the next biggest thing in October after Halloween.  Being in California, I have over the last month been inundated by TV ads for the California gubernatorial race.  I vote by absentee ballots, which I received three weeks ago and filledout and mailed the same day.  And in the photos are signs promoting several local candidates for sheriff and the school board of San Benito County.  Strangely there were none of these signs in the trailer park.  When it's a presidential election year, the election seems to 

overshadow Halloween, though the then-current candidates sometime seem to inspire costume ideas for Halloween.  This was so the case during the 2008 presidential election. There seemed to be more talk about the race than about Halloween that year.  The Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was said to be a popular costume idea, though I did not

see anyone in this disguise. I never see the supposedly popular ones, not that I really wanted to see that one. 

This was the most  was able to get, as I was a bit tired from work and from not having slept very well last night.  I'd been meaning to write on this and even though I was home all day Sunday, rain kept inside the house most of the day. 

Quiz: Are You Black or Orange?

You Are Black

You are a serious and thoughtful person. You spend a lot of time in quiet reflection. You are a friend of the honesty, and you don't sugar coat anything. You prefer the truth in all its complexity. While you may relate to the color black, it doesn't necessarily mean you're a dark person. You just don't hide from the dark side of life. If anything, you tend to be sophisticated and classic. You don't follow trends, and you have your own style of doing things.

Are You Black or Orange?

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Quiz: What Crappy Halloween Treat Do You Hate Most?

You Hate Toothbrushes

Not every day of course, but there's nothing worse than getting a toothbrush for Halloween. You believe that Halloween is a time for fun, and you don't want it be ruined by a severe slap of responsibility. Of course you'll brush your teeth. You don't need a stranger to remind you of dental hygiene. But before you brush your teeth, you'll eat enough candy to give a dentist nightmares. Hey, it only happens once a year... so you'll treat yourself.

What Crappy Halloween Treat Do You Hate Most?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

This is one of those times I actually agree with one of the results. I so would have hated receiving a toothbrush in my bag and as a grown up I have not attempted to ever hand out toothbrushes. And you can be assured I will never do it.

This actually came up in my local newspaper last year at Halloween time. I wrote about this on my blog then.

13 Halloween Costumes That Have No Business Being 'Sexy'

13 Halloween Costumes That Have No Business Being Sexy

I agree with a lot of those

Why must everything for women at Halloween be sexy?  Even male characters (see link)  are being made into sexy versions for women to wear.  I guess that's what costume maker have  to resort to once nurse, firefighters, and the like have already been repeatedly made sexy.  A coworker of mine today said she got a Ninja Turtle costume for her son.  I then told her about the sexy Ninja Turtles for women that are shown in the link above.  She reacted with disbelief, thinking that the Turtles were just a men's thing. Yes, they are male characters, but I have nothing against a woman donning a man's costume.  I personally would not want to be a Ninja Turtle, but I see no reason why I could not wear a beer can or a banana costume.  I tried on one of each of these at both my local Kmart and Target stores, as well as a hot dog though I went with none of them.  Another year, perhaps.  And I see no reason why a woman has to have a "tank-dress" version of a bag of Skittles or M&Ms,  Crayola Crayon,  a game board or dartboard.   Google any of these costumes or click here to do a search and you'll see examples of these along with men's versions that fully cover the shoulder.  I'm getting the men's version if I ever decide to be one of those one year.  Or better yet, I'll just make one out of  colored cardboard or fabric, or paint the M&Ms logo on a trash bag.  Sounds much better, don't you agree? 

An interesting quote from that link:

Yeah, it seems that it's illegal for women to wear Halloween costumes that aren't "sexy."

It's kind of like how women now have to wear pink versions of university shirts rather than school colors.
Sometimes it feels like the entire feminist movement was erased from history...

I cannot even begin to give all my opinions on the whole sexy women's costume trend that has been going on for several years now.  I've read numerous articles on this subject, including how this trend has spread to young girls as well.  That despite not having children; if I did I do not know what I would do if they wanted these sexy costumes.  Then again, I have made my own costumes in past years, something I would likely do if I have kids. 

Last year I ordered the Pumpkin Spice costume. It was rather shoulder-exposing, but not too short on. This year I settled on a Dorothy (Wizard of Oz)  dress from Kmart.  It lacks the high-neck feature on the dress from the classic film, but at least the shoulders are covered.  It also has the faux-corset feature on the chest, which I had to unlace to get the dress on.   The lacing is supposed to make the thing sexy, I suppose.  Kmart also has a similarly constructed costume for Little Red Riding Hood.  Just glad not to have gotten stuck with something like this one.