I hate Halloween

No historical explanation for Halloween craze...
Love for the October 'holiday' will baffle future generations
Your kids are probably depressed right now, what with it being the Day After Halloween. All those days and weeks of buildup, all the talk of costumes and parties and treats -- and now it's over.
Years ago I noted that Halloween had made the transition from minor league holiday to having its own season. Now I'd say it's the second-biggest holiday in most homes, behind only Christmas (or whatever end-of-year holiday you celebrate... Gotta keep the Jews happy).
Hundreds of years from now, historians will look back at this period and try to figure out why we spent so much time, money, energy and enthusiasm on some weird, end-of-October "holiday" involving costumes and candy and haunted houses.
And they'll come to the conclusion that we were just batty.

According to a Sun-Times story, the top five Halloween costumes for 2007 were Princess, Spider-Man, Pirate, Witch and Fairy. Talk about a list that could have been pulled from about 1967.
A lot of costumes were verboten in Chicago-area schools Wednesday, as administrators engaged in politically correct overreaction. Some schools banned costumes that were too scary or even hinted at violence -- because we all know if that if a kid wants to dress up as a bank robber or a vampire, it's a short leap to a life of crime. (Or vampirism.)
Of all the restrictions, my favorite was the no-political-figure-mask rule at West Elementary School in Glencoe.
"It's just not appropriate for kids that age," the school's principal told the Tribune. "Eight- to 10-year-olds should just be having fun."
The principal added that he'd also frown on "inappropriate characters like a pimp . . ." I'm not sure how we made the transition from a Dick Cheney mask to a pimp, but there you have it.
Hard to see how an 8-year-old in a presidential mask is inappropriate. However, it would be kinda scary. Not the mask itself, but the fact that your 8-year-old would want to be somebody like Nixon or Bill Clinton for Halloween. That would be one politically obsessed kid.

For my girls.... look closely... and let me know when you realize who it is!!! Our favorite Chicagoan.


We report rumors, you decide
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says a boy playing with matches admitted he started a Southern California wildfire that raged across 38,000 acres.
On the Fox News Channel, there was immediate speculation the boy and/or the matches could be linked to al-Qaida.

That was a joke. As far as I know, no Fox anchor said anything like, "Who is this kid and why won't they give us his name? Are they protecting him? How do we know he wasn't recruited by al-Qaida when he was still a toddler!!!!"
However, last week a "Fox & Friends" co-host speculated about possible terrorism, and a Fox News correspondent said many on the Fox News blog were asking that very question.
Well. If you have anonymous civilians offering their opinions on a blog, there's your evidence right there.

My beef with Kobe
There's no way the Bulls can trade for Kobe Bryant without gutting the heart of the young, promising team they have -- so what's the point? To watch Bryant ring up 45-point games and listen to him complain about a lack of support?
Bryant is arguably the best player in the game right now. He's a scoring machine. He's also selfish, immature and prone to public whining.
The idea that he'd be the second coming of Michael Jordan in Chicago and that he'd lead a skeleton supporting crew to multiple NBA titles is laughable.