Halloween Safety - Just cause, Crime and Stuff

Halloween is an awesome festival where kids go knocking on people's doors while in costume to get candy and say 'Trick or Treat'

However, as much as we like to believe the world is like a Disney movie/ children's book, there are crazy people out there and there have been cases of people going missing, getting killed/ hurt during Halloween.

Here's some sarety things to remember when your kids go Trick or Treating - from the Wellesley Police Department.

• Walk on sidewalks whenever possible, but be cautious of possible debris, tree branches and wires that may still be on the walkways, sidewalks and roadways.


• Trick or Treat close to your home, on streets that you and your family are familiar with.


• Avoid trick-or-treating alone. Walk in groups or with a trusted adult.


• Bring a flashlight with you and keep it on at all times to help you see the pathways and walkways better and others that may be out Trick or Treating.


• Always WALK and don't run from house to house.


• Fasten reflective tape to costumes and bags to help drivers see you.


• Wear well-fitting masks, costumes and shoes to avoid blocked vision, trips and falls.


• Look both ways before crossing the street. Use established crosswalks wherever possible.


• Go out early when there is still some daylight and return home early to keep everyone safe.


• Don't stop at dark houses. Never accept rides from strangers and only enter homes if you are with a trusted adult.

Just a reminder. You can have fun but don't forget to note the safety stuff too

UPDATE 11/24 : A kind gentleman by the name of Matthew Pelletier dropped me an E-mail today to pass me a link to an even more comprehensive list of Halloween safety tips. Check it here! It's really great!

Upcoming Event - Anime Festival Asia - Singapore

Woo hoo! The next big con will be Anime Fest Asia in Singapore on November 9-11. I got my costume ready and I'll be going on Sunday!

It'll be at Singapore Expo waay east near the airport and lots of A Star guests will be there from Shinirou Watanabe (Director of Cowboy Bebop), Danny Choo, Kaname, Mikoto, Reika and famous JPop bands like Baby Metal, Flow, T.M Revolution etc.

Check it out!

Article - Killing Sexy Halloween - The Atlantic

 
First, I'd like to say: My heart goes out to New York City. That storm looks horrific and you guys got hit pretty bad... stay strong! Hope the power comes back on!

Tomorrow is Halloween. I'm actually dressing up for work (because I can!)

Anyway, here's a great article featured in 'The Atlantic' about Sexualizing Halloween

Here's a section

"Sexy referee. Sexy tiger. Sexy hamburger. Every year, Halloween costume companies offer women a host of skimpy outfits to wear on October 31st. And every year, a lot of people—concerned parents, writers at the New York Times and CNN, cable talking heads—try to convince women, especially young women, not to buy them.

"There's always the mommy bloggers who get really angry, and then there's people like me who get really angry," says Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes and an expert on adolescent sexuality and self-esteem. But, Wiseman admits, the complaining about sexy Halloween ends with "limited success." Young women keep buying, and wearing, suggestive costumes.

That's probably because most of the anxiety about the sexualization of Halloween comes from adults—the very people teenagers are inclined to ignore. If sexy Halloween is going to die, girls themselves will have to kill it.  "

Well, what can I say. The media promotes sexy Halloween, businesses also sell Halloween as sexy cause it makes money. It's tough to make it go away just like that. Also, if Halloween was un-sexy then well, it's not 'fun' enough.

Here's that infamous clip from 'Mean Girls' that sums up Sexy Halloween


Cosplay and dressing up is 'fun' because you become someone you're not. Just for 1 day. As harmless as Halloween sounds, its really turned into this big, commercial making festival that it just loses its true meaning and just becomes an excuse to party, dress up and have fun.

here's another great clip from 'Modern Family' and sexy halloween outfits


It's really hard to draw the line at this stuff sometimes. Halloween is generally supposed to be a family friendly affair but it's also an excuse to party, let loose and have fun, the 'grown up' way.

Whatever side you're on, if I were a parent, I won't allow my teenage daughter to wear sexy Halloween outfits. That's just me.

Read the full article here

Showcase - London Comic Con - UK

Really nice photo FarukHussain!

 And thus, another con comes to a close... in fact many cons happened over the weekend but London Comic Con was one of the big ones!

Mr Hunk! - Resident Evil

Jessica Rabbit - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Star-shine-girl)

Princess Mononoke and the Wolf God! (cosplay-xbox-life)

Merida - from Brave (Ladycrenshaw)

OOGIE BOOGIE!! - Nightmare Before Christmas

SPACE CORE! - Portal

Team Furry!

Really nice outfits! Don't know where they're from though

BANANAS IN PAJAMAS!!!

Tinkerbelle!

Phyco! - Borderlands

The Shinigami from Death Note

Lady Loki!

Good stuff everyone! If I had the opp to go to UK for a con! I TOTALLY WOULD! Someone sponsor my crazy expensive air ticket though!

What an Event! - Zombie Cosplay Walk - Singapore

Aww I was working Saturday so I wasn't able to go to Neo Tokyo Project's Zombie Cosplay Walk yesterday!

Check out the Channel News Asia clip bout the event! Boy it sure did look like fun!

Found at the Con! - London Comic Con - Day 1 & 2

It's here! London MCM Expo is now ongoing! Here's some of the EPIC cosplayers spotted at the con from Day 1 and 2. More to come Monday!

Great photos from Collider

SKYRIM! - (Stacylala)

Team CATS!

Cutesy Maid

Ooo Mystique and Magneto

Ok that kinda looks like David Tennant Dr Who

Dark Eldar Incubi - Warhammer 40K!

Ferry girl!

Darth Revan - Knights of the Old Republic Star Wars

TOO AWESOME - Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Hey! It's Danni from Game of Thrones TV

Steampunk Kimono girl

Scorpion VS Sub Zero - Mortal Kombat

SLENDER MAN

Evil Silent Hill nurses

Nice Armor!

Team Bleach!

Lara Croft! - Tomb Raider

Lady Death and Medieval Guy

It's Belle from Beauty and the Beast!

I think this guy is from Silent Hill as well

List - Halloween Costume Trends 2012 - Seminole Chronicle

 
The Seminole Chronicle (town in Florida, USA) decided to do a small report about this year's Halloween Costume trends. It lists in ranking, the most 'in' costume trends:

1. Superheroes

2. Video Game Characters

3. TV Characters

4. Pop Culture Phenoms 

5. Political Figures

6. Zombies

7. Princesses

8. Monster High

9. Hunger Games


Hm. Yup, Superheroes is really popular now thanks to all the Superhero movies - eg. Avengers, Batman, Spiderman etc. And Superheroes are classic so you can always jump into an outfit any Halloween/ Cosplay event

Video game characters - sure! Lots of cool games released this year  - Diablo 3, Borderlands, Resident Evil etc.

Now TV shows is interesting. I haven't seen that many TV show characters around other than Dr Who. The article does state people are wanting lots of 60s style Mad Men outfits. Hmm. And also 1920s style Boardwalk Empire gangster stuff too.

Pop culture Phenoms. - Yup, Gangnam Style PSY is a big deal, also the Meme stuff is really big

Political Figures - yeah cause the US elections are on now. So lots of Obamas and Romneys will be about.

Zombies - cause zombies are frackin everywhere!

Princesses - just cause there are lots of princesses to choose from and some how, little girls like to be princesses (I'm not one of those people though)

Monster High - whoa, what is this stuff? Never heard of it? Oo. it's like Monster Bratz ok got it. Guess it's a tween thing

Hunger Games - yeah, the trend is sorta waning but that would be lots of Katniss's and Effis about.

Well you don't really have to follow 'trends' to be the 'in' halloween cosplayer. Just where classic stuff I says, classic stuff ain't never get old!

Article - So Why DO We Cosplay? - Philadelphia Weekly

 
Wow, I've been really pooped from work but it still brings a smile to my face when I talk about cosplay and when I see some really good outfits!

Philadelphia Weekly just published this interesting article about 'Why Do We Cosplay?' - so what is the psychology behind wanting to cosplay?

The article claims that people just want to be 'recognized' - We want attention, in other words.

Here's a great except from the article:

"It seems counterintuitive. Especially in this age of online handles and anonymous comments, when we’re constantly hearing about trolls and identity thieves hiding behind false facades. Surely masks and costumes are not meant to reveal ; they exist to hide, to obscure, to transform.

And yet, when we select our Halloween costumes, we are consciously choosing how we wish to be seen. We want to be recognized, not as schoolchildren or underpaid interns or office workers living lives of quiet desperation, but as the scary, sexy, colorful people we know we are on the inside. We don’t want to disguise ourselves—our very selves—we want to unveil them."

Yeah now that's interesting. In today's age, people want to be 'invisible' online. To be another persona from their real life and be allowed to do something out of their ordinary life. Some people troll, bully, talk crap about others just because they know they're just a false name and number on the internet. 

And yet when it comes to selecting a character to cosplay as, you subconsciously choose something that's iconic, recognizable and that people will see you as that character rather than 'average joe X'. Bizarre isn't it?

The writer goes on to talk about his Batman outfit and why he wears it

"While I have worn this costume to Halloween parties and science-fiction conventions, I didn’t make it for any one specific event. I made it because I want a Batman suit. Which of course really means this: I want to be seen as Batman. Sure, I’m not a vigilante champion of justice—but I do help the people I meet, in my own small way. Giving $10 to someone on the street or helping a friend get a job is not the same as saving the city from deadly laughing gas, I realize. Which is why I don’t don the cape and cowl every day."

 

Yeah it's true, you don't really want to be Batman EVERY DAY. You just want to be Batman for a short while. Being Batman every day is a different story : )

Great little article, go check it out!

 

Join in the Fun! - Fun Stuff to Wear to a Con

So maybe Cosplay is too expensive for your budget, but that doesn't mean you can't wear something to a con to join in with the festivities!

Here's some options that you could check out!

1. Wear a gamer/ anime/ comic book shirt - lots of people do this, it's cool to wear a shirt with your favorite pop culture stuff on it to a con. Show your geek pride!

2.  Wear special head gear - Neko ears, gamer hat, viking helmet, headband. The options are endless! You could even wear a wig!

3. Wear a funky mask - The Meme masks are pretty popular especially the troll face masks and I see tons of people wear them to a con and it really is quite funny. You can also wear something simple like a Bleach Hollow mask or even a pirate patch and that's still fun.

4. Wear a cool pop culture accessory! - A scarf, watch, tie, pair of earings, socks, shoes. Lesser stuff that hopefully isn't too expensive that's pop culture related. Special patches, pins, key chains etc.

5. You can even paint your face, temp tattoo - if you're feeling up to it : )

6. Girls, you can do your nails! - There's all sorts of pop culture related nails and things you can do on your own too!


I personally feel better when I something fun when I go to a con even if I'm a civilian just to join in, ya know?

Article - How to Be Your Cosplay Character - Cairdiuil

So I started a new job as a retail assistant and something I thought that was really interesting that the store manager told me was that when you're in retail, it's not about you, as a civilian, selling something to someone. It's about you representing a brand to sell something to someone and that comes with switching on the 'friendly retail person' persona. You speak in a bright voice, you greet customers sincerely and pleasantly when they enter and leave the store, even if the customer has an attitude problem, don't take any of it personally because you represent a brand and you still have to be nice to people. It's basically like unconscious acting.

Having thought about this, I thought it would be interesting to share an article on Cosplaying in character. The difference between cosplay and just wearing a Halloween costume is when you cosplay, you ARE the character. You're no longer you, you become this persona of your favorite character.

This is an article written sometime back by Cairdiuil of 'All About Cosplay' blog about 'how to play your cosplay character' here's an except

 "What really helped me with playing my character was I didn't just constantly watch footage of Rei (from Evangelion) in the series and seriously studied her mannerisms, I would look at cosplayers who portrayed Rei really well. I would save their photos onto my computer and study the photo and ask myself, "Why I am I getting a Rei vibe from this image?" "Is it the lighting, her pose?"

What also helps is study your body in front of the mirror and take lots of photos of yourself. Practice your facial expressions and see how their come out. The more time you spend in front of a camera, the less shy you will be! Get a family member or friend to take photos of you in your cosplay and try acting as your character. Even at home or when along in your room, in the bathroom say some lines as your character, acting as them. Well known theater actors and film actors like Danial Day Lewis do this, when coming up to a play they walk around staying in character. I try do this subtle when coming up to a shoot."

It's a helpful article written by a fellow Singaporean, very cool and thanks for sharing!