Old time Disney halloween cartoon (8 minutes) from 1956:
https://youtu.be/aSkXw1bk_NE?si=bn9-Nc1LUp-YztHe
Boy it is 9 days until this election ends. I think we all need an hour or so break from the election. Let me do what I can to help you step away from the real world for a few moments and relax. I found this story online about how one of Halloween’s most ubiquitous icons came to be. From a post on democraticunderground.com
My 6 Year old granddaughter asked why witches wear pointy hats
A little too dark to explain to a child, but we can see nothing changes in over 500 years.
So if you traveled back in time to the Middle Ages or the Renaissance and went to a market in England, you’d probably see an oddly familiar sight: women wearing tall, pointy hats. In many instances, they’d be standing in front of big cauldrons. But these women were no witches; they were brewers. They wore the tall, pointy hats so that their customers could see them in the crowded marketplace. They transported their brew in cauldrons. And those who sold their beer out of stores had cats not as demon familiars, but to keep mice away from the grain. Some argue that iconography we associate with witches, from the pointy hat to the cauldron, originated from women working as master brewers.
Just as women were establishing their foothold in the beer markets of England, Ireland and the rest of Europe, the Reformation began. The religious movement, which originated in the early 16th century, preached stricter gender norms and condemned witchcraft.
Male brewers saw an opportunity. To reduce their competition in the beer trade, some accused female brewers of being witches and using their cauldrons to brew up magic potions instead of booze.Unfortunately, the rumors took hold. Over time, it became more dangerous for women to practice brewing and sell beer because they could be misidentified as witches. At the time, being accused of witchcraft wasn’t just a social faux pas; it could result in prosecution or a death sentence. Women accused of witchcraft were often ostracized in their communities, imprisoned or even killed.
Some men didn’t really believe that the women brewers were witches. However, many did believe that women shouldn’t be spending their time making beer. The process took time and dedication: hours to prepare the ale, sweep the floors clean and lift heavy bundles of rye and grain. If women couldn’t brew ale, they would have significantly more time at home to raise their children. In the 1500s some towns, such as Chester, England, actually made it illegal for most women to sell beer, worried that young alewives would grow up into old spinsters.
A fuller story can be found here.
And now some questions, including many on Halloween.
A) Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate came up with his own “October Surprise” claiming that he has a “secret list” of what?
B) One of the high lights of the week came as a McDonald’s near Philadelphia hired what new employee?
C) A couple of days later McDonald’s issued a warning and pulled Big Macs in the central US because of what food borne illness?
D) Most people know that what vegetable was used to carve jack-o-lanterns instead of pumpkins by the Irish?
E) Former Trump Chief of Staff General John Kelly raised quite a ruckus when he said Trump wanted to govern like a what?
F) Last week was quite a week for sports fans. In the WNBA, the series went 5 games, plus OT in the final game before what franchise claimed heir first WNBA title?
G) Pumpkins are one of the symbols of Halloween. Last year the largest pumpkin ever measured was the heaviest pumpkin ever. Any idea how much it weighed? (Hint: between 1 and 2 tons)
H) In a speech in 2017, what current Wisconsin senate candidate said “it was a bad idea to commercialize alcohol.”?
I) In another really strange departure from reality, Candidate Trump expressed admiration for Arnold Palmer because of what?
J) New York Magazine parted company with Olivia Nuzzi because she crossed what line?
K) What ancient Celtic festival did Halloween supplant as a religious holiday?
L) One of the drawbacks to electric vehicles was a limited supply of lithium. However a major deposit of lithium has been discovered under what US state?
M) The Russian initiated war against Ukraine may have ratcheted up several notches as what nation was rumored to send troops to help Russia?
N) Who was the first First Lady to decorate the White House for Halloween?
O) What tech billionaire reportedly donated $50 million to the Harris/ Walz campaign last week?
P) The novel “Frankenstein” was written by whom?
Q) Iowa State University students protested what policies in Ames Thursday?
R) “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.” What famous play did those words come from?
S) Cable companies and internet providers are launching stiff resistance to what Federal Trade Commission rule approved last week?
T) Who is “Jack” in the name of ”Jack-o-Lantern”?
In case you had forgotten, Candidate Trump will hold a rally in NYC’s Madison Square Garden that is conjuring memories of the Washington Birthday Nazi rally of 1939 (February.20, 1939). The rally starts at 5PM. This may be a scary trip down memory lane.
Tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com
Answers:
A) more than 2000 names of illegal voters who may try to vote this year in Iowa. Pate is keeping the names secret. LULAC is trying to force him to divulge theses names.
B) Candidate Trump! He lasted only about 15 minutes in fake set up.
C) listeria. Scientists are trying to track down the source of the cause.
D) Turnips
E) fascist
F) The New York Liberty
G) 2749 pounds by Travis Gienger of Minnesota. This year’s entry was a bit lighter
H) Eric Hovde. Bad Idea to call out one of the state’s leading industries. Another black mark for Hovde is that he lives in California
I) the size of Palmer’s penis – make your own jokes
J) She had an affair with the candidate for president she was assigned to cover (RFK,jr.)
K) Samhain (pronounced saw wain)
L) Arkansas – Southwest corner to be exact
M) North Korea – some rumors say as many as 12,000 troops
N) Mamie Eisenhower in 1958 – Eisenhower was born in Boone, Iowa in 1896
O) Bill Gates
P) Mary Shelly
Q). The anti-DEI bill that passed the Iowa legislature last session
R) “MacBeth” by William Shakespeare
S) the “click to cancel” rule that subscriptions must be as easy to cancel as they are to subscribe to.
T) Stingy Jack ( I will post at the end)
While the Supreme Court in Brazil has ruled that Bolsonaro cannot run for president until 2030, the Supreme Court in the U.S. has granted a convicted felon full immunity. So, which is the banana republic? – Captain Obvious
Tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com
This is The Legend of Stingy Jack:
Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who loved playing tricks on anyone and everyone. One dark, Halloween night, Jack ran into the Devil himself in a local public house. Jack tricked the Devil by offering his soul in exchange for one last drink. The Devil quickly turned himself into a sixpence to pay the bartender, but Jack immediately snatched the coin and deposited it into his pocket, next to a silver cross that he was carrying. Thus, the Devil could not change himself back and Jack refused to allow the Devil to go free until the Devil had promised not to claim Jack’s soul for ten years.
The Devil agreed, and ten years later Jack again came across the Devil while out walking on a country road. The Devil tried collecting what he was due, but Jack thinking quickly, said, “I’ll go, but before I do, will you get me an apple from that tree?”
The Devil, thinking he had nothing to lose, jumped up into the tree to retrieve an apple. As soon as he did, Jack placed crosses all around the trunk of the tree, thus trapping the Devil once again. This time, Jack made the Devil promise that he would not take his soul when he finally died. Seeing no way around his predicament, the Devil grudgingly agreed.
When Stingy Jack eventually passed away several years later, he went to the Gates of Heaven, but was refused entrance because of his life of drinking and because he had been so tight-fisted and deceitful. So, Jack then went down to Hell to see the Devil and find out whether it were possible to gain entrance into the depths of Hell, but the Devil kept the promise that had been made to Jack years earlier, and would not let him enter.
“But where can I go?” asked Jack.
“Back to where you came from!” replied the Devil.
The way back was windy and very dark. Stingy Jack pleaded with the Devil to at least provide him with a light to help find his way. The Devil, as a final gesture, tossed Jack an ember straight from the fires of Hell. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip…one of Jack’s favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. From that day forward, Stingy Jack has been doomed to roam the earth without a resting place and with only his lit turnip to light the way in the darkness.
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