Halloween

(not Charlton related)

Halloween is a big deal in the US, or more pertinently it's a big deal for the retail sector, and as we all know Americans love to shop.

Coming from the UK, I typically associated Halloween with teenagers terrorising old ladies whilst wearing horror outfits (as opposed to the rest of the year when they terrorise them whilst wearing their usual clothes).

However over here, whilst there is still something of a 'horror' element (not least in the prices of Halloween-themed merchandise), it's more of an excuse to dress up in wacky costumes, and ogle cute women dressed as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. I once saw a guy walking down Sixth Avenue dressed as an IPod which remains one of the funniest things I've seen since moving here.

Fancy dress isn't really my thing. Whenever I'm invited to a fancy dress party (which not coincidentally doesn't happen very often these days), I usually recoil with fear, and then make the executive decision to attend as a plain clothed policeman.

I did once bid on Ebay for a set of original Zippy and George puppets from 'Rainbow', which would have solved my problem forever thanks to the quality of my impersonations, but I was tragically outbid by several thousand pounds.

However fortunately for him, my 8-month old son hasn't yet inherited his Dad's self-consciousness so he gladly dressed as a tortoise (see inset) for our apartment building's Halloween party, whilst I hugged the wall at the back of the room dressed as an undercover cop. Kids eh? Don't you just love them.