Anyone know what they're gonna be for Halloween yet?

[Jaye Jang]

Originally Posted by skoteinh

I decided to throw a Halloween party after all!

I'll be Mrs Lovett, from Sweeney Todd: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm760715264/ch0028297

I already have an old theater costume dress I had bought from a second-hand shop in Southampton that looks like Mrs. L's, my hair is curly and I have a rolling pin!!

Good for you. Have fun.

[skoteinh]

Originally Posted by Jaye Jang

Good for you. Have fun.

Thank you Jayne! You're invited! : )

[I_Zik]

Ahhhhh
*swoons*
Mrs. Lovett

[vindicatedxjin]

I can"t believe halloween is this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Divine Ms. M]

I finally got mine last night: I was gonna go as swine flu put it seems all the pig snouts have been taken so I got a cow snout, gonna paint my face white w/black cow spots, then w/red paint I'm gonna put some red spots & trickles of blood coming down the sides of my mouth & going as mad cow disease. I'm hoping I can still find cow ears & horns...

[Jaye Jang]

Get devil's horns and paint them white and try felt for the ears, if all else fails.

[The Divine Ms. M]

Good idea thanks! I'll use my older pair from Halloween Haunt if I have too...

[vindicatedxjin]

I'm a VAMPIRE!!!!!!!!!!!! Muahahahahahhha!~

[the-nihilist]

There's no such thing as vampires, therefore you don't exist. I have been reading these nonexistant posts by a fictional character named vindicatedxjin who is nothing more than a product of my broken mind.

[vindicatedxjin]

You have a pretty cool mind.

[SmokenJester]

same thing I am every day the same dark creepy me

[erotomaniac87]

I was Trinity from The Matrix.

[Jaye Jang]

I went as a vampire undertaker.
..
"

[Red Menace]

I was a drunk for hallowe'en.

I went here: http://www.artisanbeer.co.uk/

They had a mini Octoberfest on, completely free to enter, with bands all day and into the night and tasty organic vegan beer.

[Ben Lahnger]

Um ... I have a question that may seem dumb. Since most beer is made from barley and hops with the occasional inclusion of wheat and sometimes fruit like lemon or orange and other vegetable matter, and not in almost any case that I've heard of does it include meat, wouldn't almost any beer be considered vegan? Since modern cultivation techniques don't require the use of animals, they aren't even used in the production of beer in any way (at least here in the United States) in most instances.

Since beer doesn't normally include any kind of meat in it's production, isn't calling it vegan the same as calling a lemon meringue pie vegan? Why use the word at all?

[Solumina]

Some beers do contain some honey, which isn't vegan, but I would imagine that most beer is actually vegan. Also lemon meringue pie is so not vegan, all good pie crusts have butter and it is really hard to make meringue without eggs, silly Ben.

[Ben Lahnger]

You know, I had a thought I was gonna regret not thinking about my analogy more. You're absolutely correct about the pie.

Why does using honey in something make it not vegan? If no bees are harmed in the harvesting of the honey, does it matter? Or is this some definition of vegan that means no animals can be involved in the process in any way?

Oh, and is it possible to make honey artificially?

[Solumina]

Honey is an animal byproduct as the bees actually convert nectar into honey, I'm not 100% sure how, and while honey is vegetarian, vegans don't use any animal byproducts, whether or not the animal is harmed.

I don't think there is any man made honey but now I'm curious, off to google I go!

[Ben Lahnger]

Well, I did a little research and apparently some Vegans do allow honey in their diet.

As the advocacy organization Vegan Action notes, "[m]any vegans, however, are not opposed to using insect products, because they do not believe insects are conscious of pain." -
SOURCE

and ...

Is honey vegan? Again, it depends on one's definition of vegan. Insects are animals, and so insect products, such as honey and silk, are not traditionally considered vegan. Many vegans, however, are not opposed to using insect products, because they do not believe insects are conscious of pain. Moreover, even if insects were conscious of pain, it's not clear that the production of honey involves any more pain for insects than the production of most vegetables, since the harvesting and transportation of all vegetables involves many 'collateral' insect deaths.

The question remains a matter of scientific debate and personal choice. However, when cooking or labeling food for vegans —particularly vegans you don't know— it's best to be on the safe side and not include honey. - SOURCE

So I'll know not to assume honey is Vegan unless I check with the individual of concern.

But one has to wonder; if the definition of what is not allowed in a Vegan diet includes anything an insect has a role in producing, doesn't that eliminate any vegetable or fruit that requires pollination by insect? It seems to me there are degrees of adherence here that might make it hard for a human being to exist.

BTW, looks like no luck on the synthetic honey.

[Solumina]

Many "true" vegans call the honey eaters "beegans" (some as an affectionate nickname, some as something degrading) I think the whole thing is silly and it is pretty much impossible to be opposed to eating honey without being at least a bit hypocritical but that is a whole big issue that we really don't need to get into and I really don't want to offend Saya since well I adore here but we don't get along when veganism comes up.

[Ben Lahnger]

Well, I don't want to hurt or offend anyone. I think people need to agree to disagree sometimes. But I don't know how you get around the pollination thing.

Beegans? I think that's cute! ;^D

[Solumina]

I think the pollination is okay as the bees are doing it naturally and the bees are allowed to have all of the rewards of their efforts, but then we would have to get down to the fact that the US essentially has no wild honey bee population and most bee keepers these days make rather significant amounts of money from pollination (I even know a family back home who keeps bees that they use to pollinate neighboring farms for somewhat substantial fees and don't even harvest honey) so it is a pretty complicated topic.

[Ben Lahnger]

Agreed. So even if the relationship is symbiotic, there are people who have an ethical challenge with reaping the rewards of the insects efforts. Interesting.

Totally illogical, but interesting.

[Ben Lahnger]

BTW, in an attempt to steer this thread back on topic, here's a costume that has me considering becoming a beergan:

[Solumina]

Wow...I really don't know what to say other than just wow.