It's time, once more, to brave the hordes. And as halloween is on a Saturday this year it'll be busier than usual. And as clocks go back an hour, everyone gets another hour to. . .wait, it's Vegas, places don't necessarily close. I have a very mixed opinion of Halloween. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes it drives me crazy. Actually, most of the time it drives me crazy. It was never a big thing growing up in England. We didn't really trick or treat, and I don't remember if I ever dressed up. I guess I just don't get it.

I've gone off on holidays before, and I suppose this is going to be another one of those blogs. Sorry. Oh well, here goes: Halloween is just another example of a fake industry that's been set up for no other reason than to make more money. All the costume makers, and costume stores that sprang up about a month ago, and will be gone in a week, what do they do for the rest of the year? I think I could be more for halloween if people still used it as an opportunity to excercise their creativity, made their own costumes, scouring goodwill etc. for things to make their own costumes. None of this buying a little plastic bag with the costume all there, ready to be donned for one night then discarded. And I'm bored with the whole 'sexy...............' costume thing that goes on in Vegas. Honestly, you see half the women going into the clubs wearing dresses they obviously aren't too comfortable wearing most of the time, so why do they need a license to do it one night a year and not be embarrassed.

Actually, it's quite funny in a slightly tragic way to see them, standing in line with a bunch of their friends waiting to go into a club, looking around nervously and pulling the hem down because there's no way they would wear something like that back in Indiana and they're only doing it cos it's Vegas and everyone does it here and I really need to get inside because it's dark in there and noone will see how short my dress is and I need a drink too so I feel more comfortable. Funny and tragic. What's not funny is a couple of girls wandering around a casino wearing nothing but pasties, g-strings and body paint, and being asked to leave. I mean come on, that's not a costume, it's a cry for help.

Anyway, we need more originality with our costumes. Here's a suggestion: Next time someone has an 80's party, dress like you're 80 years old, complete with Zimmer frame (a Walker for all the Americans). Don't do the side ponytail and neon everything.

Actually, scratch that, we need more originality with our everything. TV needs a kick in the arse. Take a leap, do something different. Don't do another bloody CSI. Don't take a bad reality TV show and recycle it-- there's rumours of a reality show about Jon (of Jon and Kate +8 notoriety) and Nadya Suleman (the octomum) dating. Double-you. Tee. Eff. Seriously. Have we really stooped so low as a society that our idea of a fun fancy-dress party is to buy the bloody thing prepackaged and ready to go, and our idea of entertainment is to watch two incredibly sad people possibly date?

Shit, if we're going to keep on with the reality dating TV shows, let's make it really interesting. Make Jon date an alligator. Make Tila Tequila date a panther. And while we're at it, let's change a couple other things on TV. Real survivor, where they're abandoned on an island somewhere and actually have to survive, instead of backstabbing each other. Make 'em have to eat another contestant. THAT's my idea of entertainment, and I don't even like blood that much. Course, I'm also all for making baseball more interesting by playing it on a minefield.

But I digress. I just ask that this year, for halloween, spend a little bit of thought on your costume, come up with something original, and don't just buy a prefab one and have it shipped to you, then wait impatiently while UPS buggers up the shipping.