f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

.…… a little news, then the treats:

• Realizing that a sign with a big orange pumpkin on it might actually attract children to a house, Maryland parole agents sent out a pumpkin-less version of the sign this week to sex offenders, merely saying “No Candy at this Residence”.   Strangely, SO’s apparently have the option to use the pumpkin sign.  Parole officials deny they were affected by a Saturday Night Live skit poking fun at their sign (with Seth Myers saying “They are also being required to take down the signs that read, ‘Knock if you can keep a special secret.’”).  See: “Halloween & the Law, Part Deux: Targeting Sexual Offenders“ (Wall Street Journal Law Blog, October 30, 2008); and “Maryland Sex Offenders Under Close Watch on Halloween” (wamu.org, Oct. 31, 2008, with audio)  [see our prior post for an image of the pumpkin sign and a discussion of this scary Halloween law]

half-moon Halloween –
a young face painted
like yin and yang

… by dagosan

• David Brooks ably argues today in his New York Times column that any “stimulus package” include funds for improving our nation’s highway and bridges. “A National Mobility Project” (NYT, Oct. 31, 2008).  Such a Mobility Project will create jobs and make us a lot safer on the roads:

“In times like these, the best a sensible leader can do is to take the short-term panic and channel it into a program that is good on its own merits even if it does nothing to stimulate the economy over the next year. That’s why I’m hoping the next president takes the general resolve to spend gobs of money, and channels it into a National Mobility Project, a long-term investment in the country’s infrastructure.”

two pirates smooch
on the overpass –
the Pumpkin Patrol closes in

……… by dagosan

• Besides the Presidential Pumpkin Patterns that we told you about on Wednesday, check out Yes We Carve for lots of Barack-o-lantern pictures and stencils. (via Ed at Blawg Review)

McCain mask at the door
no thank you
when we spread the wealth

… by dagosan

daddy
gets all the treats –
first Halloween

by dagosan (with help from Cyndi & Anny Miner, 1991)
(original in b&w at MagnaPoetsJF, Oct. 20, 2007)

starless night-
Mars and Milky Way
in the goblin’s bag

… by Yu Chang – Shiki Kukai (2nd Place, Oct. 1999)

the aroma
of roasting pumpkin seeds
jack-o-lantern’s grin

… by DeVar Dahl – Shiki Kukai (October 1999)

halloween party –
the shrink dances with a witch
and a cheerleader

Poem: David Giacalone
Photo by Cynthia Miner (1992)

……see the orig. haiga at MagnaPoetsJF (Oct. 28, 2007)

seeing ghosts …
grandma recalls
Hallowe’ens past

.. by Hilary Tann – Shiki Kukai (October 1999)

..

mistaken for a mime –
the vampire bites
his tongue

.. by dagosan (orig. at MagnaPoetsJF, Oct.26, 2007)
Photo by Cynthia Miner (1992)

. . .

“No Costume No Treat”
goth kids
at my door

Photo: Mama G. (1955); Poem: David Giacalone

(orig. haiga in b&w, at MagnapoetsJF, Oct. 31, 2007)

halloween —
part of the moon
follows a bicycle home

… by Matt Morden – Morden Haiku

p.s. One last treat: We posted two new photos of Prof. Yabut’s new friend Wendy Savage, Esq., yesterday.