Halloween holdouts

Halloween is largely overlooked in Australia. Strange, considering children may be seen wearing superhero costumes to the supermarket on any given day. My guess is Halloween isn't recognized as a marketing opportunity, and therefore has been unable to establish roots in popular culture. Nonetheless, a few kids rang the doorbell today. One trio had to be instructed on what to say (if there's a spirit of Halloween, "We're here for lollies" doesn't capture it) and some forwent costumes. The kids above let loose a hearty "Trick or Treat!" as soon as I opened the door, so a photo was mandatory.

As Halloween passes without fanfare and Thanksgiving is something experienced only through 'The Simpsons' (as a guy at a wine shop told me yesterday), the marketing of Christmas begins in mid-October. [Note: Australia happily hails itself as a Christian nation -- there's not a 'Happy Holidays' or 'Seasons Greetings' to be heard come December.] Below is the seasonally decorated atrium of Blacktown's big mall, where Santa will be parking his Holden ute and walking through the automatic door this weekend.