The Cellar - View Single Post - November 6, 2006: Day of the Dead sculpture

Undertoad · 11-06-2006, 11:22 AM

It's not a George Romero film. It's an xoB/WaPo image, showing a temporary sculpture set up in Zocalo Plaza, Mexico City, to celebrate the Day of the Dead, Nov. 1 and 2.

I don't know why the Day of the Dead actually spans two days, and all I've ever known about it comes from the quirky computer game Grim Fandango, which the Day apparently inspired. It turns out that in Mexico and a few other places, the macabre Day is a happy celebration - and not at all a scary and sad remembrance - of the dead.

Is it coincidence that this freaky Day occurs near the same time as... Halloween, and the Catholic All Saints/All Souls Day, and the Celtic Samhain? After the end of harvest when the first frost has just happened?

In any case, we find a reason for celebration; and I think putting up a huge pink skeleton sculpture is a good idea any time.

11-06-2006, 11:22 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	November 6, 2006: Day of the Dead sculpture It's not a George Romero film. It's an xoB/WaPo image, showing a temporary sculpture set up in Zocalo Plaza, Mexico City, to celebrate the Day of the Dead, Nov. 1 and 2. I don't know why the Day of the Dead actually spans two days, and all I've ever known about it comes from the quirky computer game Grim Fandango, which the Day apparently inspired. It turns out that in Mexico and a few other places, the macabre Day is a happy celebration - and not at all a scary and sad remembrance - of the dead. Is it coincidence that this freaky Day occurs near the same time as... Halloween, and the Catholic All Saints/All Souls Day, and the Celtic Samhain? After the end of harvest when the first frost has just happened? In any case, we find a reason for celebration; and I think putting up a huge pink skeleton sculpture is a good idea any time.