rX_Golem
10-31-2004, 02:24 PM
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special1.jpg
Florida's Electronic Touch-Screen Voting Machines
Give Democrats in your neighborhood the chills with this adorable re-creation of a computerized, touch-screen voting machine! Just like the real ones, our voting machine costume leaves no paper trail and comes with easily hackable—but totally adorable—software!
To make this costume, visit your neighborhood moving and storage facility and purchase a dish barrel. Cut the box down with a utility knife to fit your child—don't forget holes for head and arms—then add a coat of flat black paint. While the paint dries, use PageMaker to print the black-on-white touch-screen display, which can then be affixed to the dried box with spray adhesive. Add tights, an old computer keyboard, and you're set!
Total cost: Under $5.
Total time: Under an hour.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special3.jpg
Capture the rebel spirit of New York City during the Republican National Convention with this wonderfully simple costume. With a broomstick from the hardware store, a protest sign, and some of your own child's suitably "grungy" clothing, you can transform your child into one of the thousands of demonstrators who greeted the GOP in NYC. To complete the look, wrap your little protestor in the same orange plastic construction fencing that New York City's finest used to corral and arrest demonstrators up and down the island of Manhattan. With one simple prop and a few dollars' worth of netting that can be purchased at any traffic- and road-sign supplier, your little boy or girl can sock it to the Man!
Total cost: Under $7.
Total time: Under an hour.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special6.jpg
Nancy Reagan
It's never too early to get your daughter into her first little black dress! This elegant approximation of former First Lady Nancy Reagan's moving moment alone with her husband's casket is as touching as it is scary. With just a flag, a casket, a simple black dress, and Grandma's old wig, any little girl can be America's Widow®!
Total cost: Between $25 and $25,000 (depending on the cost of the casket).
Total time: Under an hour.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special10.jpg
The Littlest Prisoner at Abu Ghraib
Your child will be the hit of the neighborhood costume parade in this recreation of the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal's most indelible image. As an added bonus this easy-to-make costume will remind everyone on your child's trick-or-treat route of our national shame! Simply roll a cone from a sheet of 24"x38" black cardstock, making sure to cut out a hole for the face. Drape with two yards of black felt, and add leftover wires from your last lamp-rewiring project. VoilÀ! So easy, so quick, and so terrifying!
Total cost: Under $20.
Total time: Under two hours.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special7.jpg
Ralph Nader
Put the fear of God in John Kerry and his Democratic supporters with this easy approximation of Green Party leader/Democratic ticket spoiler Ralph Nader. With just hand-me-down Sunday-best clothes and Grandma's old cocktail wig, you've got yourself a real live Ralph Nader.
Total cost: Free!
Total time: Under 15 minutes.
Florida's Electronic Touch-Screen Voting Machines
Give Democrats in your neighborhood the chills with this adorable re-creation of a computerized, touch-screen voting machine! Just like the real ones, our voting machine costume leaves no paper trail and comes with easily hackable—but totally adorable—software!
To make this costume, visit your neighborhood moving and storage facility and purchase a dish barrel. Cut the box down with a utility knife to fit your child—don't forget holes for head and arms—then add a coat of flat black paint. While the paint dries, use PageMaker to print the black-on-white touch-screen display, which can then be affixed to the dried box with spray adhesive. Add tights, an old computer keyboard, and you're set!
Total cost: Under $5.
Total time: Under an hour.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special3.jpg
Capture the rebel spirit of New York City during the Republican National Convention with this wonderfully simple costume. With a broomstick from the hardware store, a protest sign, and some of your own child's suitably "grungy" clothing, you can transform your child into one of the thousands of demonstrators who greeted the GOP in NYC. To complete the look, wrap your little protestor in the same orange plastic construction fencing that New York City's finest used to corral and arrest demonstrators up and down the island of Manhattan. With one simple prop and a few dollars' worth of netting that can be purchased at any traffic- and road-sign supplier, your little boy or girl can sock it to the Man!
Total cost: Under $7.
Total time: Under an hour.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special6.jpg
Nancy Reagan
It's never too early to get your daughter into her first little black dress! This elegant approximation of former First Lady Nancy Reagan's moving moment alone with her husband's casket is as touching as it is scary. With just a flag, a casket, a simple black dress, and Grandma's old wig, any little girl can be America's Widow®!
Total cost: Between $25 and $25,000 (depending on the cost of the casket).
Total time: Under an hour.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special10.jpg
The Littlest Prisoner at Abu Ghraib
Your child will be the hit of the neighborhood costume parade in this recreation of the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal's most indelible image. As an added bonus this easy-to-make costume will remind everyone on your child's trick-or-treat route of our national shame! Simply roll a cone from a sheet of 24"x38" black cardstock, making sure to cut out a hole for the face. Drape with two yards of black felt, and add leftover wires from your last lamp-rewiring project. VoilÀ! So easy, so quick, and so terrifying!
Total cost: Under $20.
Total time: Under two hours.
http://www.thestranger.com/current/special7.jpg
Ralph Nader
Put the fear of God in John Kerry and his Democratic supporters with this easy approximation of Green Party leader/Democratic ticket spoiler Ralph Nader. With just hand-me-down Sunday-best clothes and Grandma's old cocktail wig, you've got yourself a real live Ralph Nader.
Total cost: Free!
Total time: Under 15 minutes.