I've always been a big fan of making my own Halloween costumes, and I'm also a big procrastinator, so what better way to get your spooks on then cobbling together a last-minute eco-friendly costume? Who needs all the plastic waste and boringness of store-bought costumes, when with a little ingenuity you can impress the superhero skivvies off your Halloween date. Gina also has some excellent costume ideas to dress for the New Depression. So dig through your closet, your recycling bin, or a nearby thrift store, grab you canvas bag for candy and ring those doorbells!
1. Non-GMO Corn (pictured): Borrow my idea from last year when I was an ear of corn! Paint a strip of large-bubble wrap with non-toxic yellow paint, tape it around your torso, wear green pants and a green hoodie for the husk, and a blond wig for the silk. Extra credit for keeping it organic with a non-GMO sign.
2. Christmas Tree: I wish I had the pictures to share, but in college I borrowed my brother's idea and went out as a Christmas Tree. Real simple. Green shirt, brown pants, and a strand of energy-saving LED Christmas lights wrapped around your body. Watch the crowd light up when you plug yourself in at the party! I added a little extra flair and taped hand-drawn paper ornaments to my chest and a star to my forehead, but I leave the details up to you.
Gina wrote about I.O.U.S.A this summer. It is an amazing film about the US's rapidly growing debt. (Currently, the US government currently has $53 trillion in financial obligations. 53 TRILLION!?!?) With our current financial meltdown, this film has never been more pertinent. The filmmakers just released a 30 minute version of the film online. It's free, it's frightening and if you haven't seen it, I urge you to watch it. As Reuters said, this is "to the U.S. economy what 'An Inconvenient Truth' was to the environment."
Is this some kind of secret anti-abortion, pro-life movie? Also what is Gary Oldman doing there?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHVZcyqew1M
I'm not sure what it means that this movie trailer was released 5 days before the election? What do you think?
I think you should takepart to make sure that women can keep their reproductive rights (while still supporting women so we can have less abortions (or unborn as they movie would suggest).
Whether you’re dressed as a zombie John McCain, an Exxon Mobil executive drowning in dollars or a devil (which could look quite similar to a certain Tina Fey character), everyone seems to love to eat candy on Halloween. And, I don’t want to rain on your parade, but Halloween provides yet another opportunity for the Social Action snapshot to promote one more cause for you to consider. A large percentage of commercially sold chocolate (think Nestle, Mars and Hersheys) is made from cacao beans harvested in West Africa by child labor. These kids work under harsh, unethical conditions for very little money. However, consumers can make an easy choice today by buying from only the sweetest chocolate companies (sweet, that is, to labor rights).
takepart Click here for this chocolate list so that you can avoid the most bitter companies and have a truly sweet Halloween!
The Rainbow Warrior, one of Greenpeace's three ships, has seen a wedding, a funeral, a sinking by the French military, and, oh yeah, a few protests. The 180-foot eco-schooner's latest mission is campaigning against new coal-fired power plants in Southern England. And seriously, if your going to take a noble stance for environmental justice, it might as well be at the bow of this bad-ass ship:
While sailing the high-seas in defense of Mother Earth is surely exciting and rewarding work, More
Late last night and early this morning two minor earthquakes rumbled the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, but so far no major injuries or damage have been reported. The U.S. Geological Survey measured last night's quake as a 2.5 magnitude quake, and one just after midnight weighed in at 3.0.
Although earthquakes are rare in Northern Texas, one did occur this past April, and geologists have warned residents to prepare for aftershocks resulting from last night's activity.
Here's one way to celebrate Halloween: stay up until 2:30am carving a personal pumpkin tribute to the man cobbling together our economic recovery, Hank Paulson. I can't disappoint the neighbor kids, can I?
Funny how he turned out looking older than he does in real life. Perhaps the brain transplant aged him.
After watching a Food Network pumpkin carving competition the other night--this guy won, by the way--I thought to myself: how hard could it be? Turns out: very, very hard. This took about 5 hours all together and was done with an X-Acto knife, sculpting tools and any scrape-y thing I could lay my hands on. I was completely covered in pumpkin goo and whimpering like a Wall Street trader by the time I was done.
If you want to give it a shot yourself, takepart and have a Happy Halloween!
Back when The Da Vinci Code movie came out, I was at Lincoln Center for a screening of Elem Klimov's Agony, The Life and Death of Rasputin (a super intense movie about a crazy Russian monk) and after the film, a man stood up and loudly proclaimed "Now that's the real Da Vinci Code:"
I kind of decided he was probably right and I never caught the Tom Hanks film, meaning I probably won't catch this one:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbK-r651sNI
Eh? Not sure why this needed to be made other than people wanted to make money.
takepart to see a Tom Hanks film I like - Charlie Wilson's War!
Today is Halloween, as we've discussed, which means tomorrow is the first day of the eleventh month of the year...the month known as Movember. Movember, of course, is the month in which men across the globe grow moustaches to raise awareness, and money, for prostate cancer.Now, I joined in on the action last year, and you can read my article about it at the Huffington Post (I'm almost positive that every man, woman, and child is constitutionally guaranteed at least one article featured at Huffington) if you'd like, in which I interviewed Adam Garone, one of the co-founders of Movember. Garone makes the whole thing sound pretty whimsical, but I can tell you, the charity is doing great work.
Since Movember's inception in 2003, almost 200,000 men around the world have sported a Mo and more than $29 million has been raised globally for prostate cancer research, including $740,568 raised in the United States last year. Movember is the biggest international event supporting prostate cancer.
That's a lot of money for a great cause. And, ladies, you're certainly not left out. Movember wants you to be a Mo Sista and support your Mo Bro as he grows his 'stache. So, please, takepart and visit Movember's website, and if you'd like to donate to my moustache personally, you can email me at andy [dot] kondrat [at] gmail [dot] com and ask me how. More
Whether you need something low-key to do tonight or you need some cool down activities after a weekend of fun, this list of Halloween friendly cinema is sure to have something to please your celebrating self. They're not the most conventional Halloween films (those are all on TV as we speak) but they're all guaranteed to creep you out, scare you and make you squirm.
Let me know if I missed your favorite and 3 cheers for Halloween and cinema!
10) Scarlet Street - A horror film for those who dream of being an artist of some kind. Fritz Lang's pessimism about love and art can scare anyone with idealism. Also, the last scene is perfect for Halloween!
