…and this is a 
Go spineless for Halloween
Category: Weirdness
Posted on: October 16, 2007 10:12 AM, by PZ Myers
I just got back from Madison, which is mad about Halloween, and then I was emailed this exceedingly cool Halloween costume idea: dress up as a jellyfish with flashing LEDs.
It looks easy: here are the full instructions, with the traditional hot glue gun and soldering iron, but no duct tape, which does violate the rules of home handicrafts, I think. The only drawback is that the LEDs cost about $2.50 each, which adds up. The jellyfish uses 18, but if you modified this to make a luminescent squid, you'd only need 10.
Another virtue for the paranoid parents out there, though, is that the late night traffic won't be able to miss seeing your kid when he or she is crossing the street.
Comments
Or, if you're a Democrat- go spineless all year round!
Posted by: Christian Burnham | October 16, 2007 10:28 AM
**crickets**
How 'bout that Christopher Hitchens then?
Posted by: Christian Burnham | October 16, 2007 10:49 AM
I can't see the link here at work but I can imagine the costume.
I have an ex-girlfriend who dressed up as a jellyfish a few years ago. She didn't have any blinky LED lights but did choose some shimmery and translucent fabrics that worked really well.
P.S. I have also seen some great FSM costumes recently.
Posted by: Diego | October 16, 2007 11:06 AM
Just don't wear one of these in Boston. LEDs are scary, y'know.
I'm assuming I don't need to provide links to the results of Boston's LED paranoia, but I can if people ask.
Posted by: Bruce Perry | October 16, 2007 11:48 AM
Here's">http://www.instructables.com/id/Super-quick-last-minute-Squid-costume/>Here's one with a squid. I definitely think you could work some duct tape into this one.
I'm not sure if the anatomic departures from reality here would disturb you like seeing legs coming out of a cartoon insect's abdomen disturbs me.
Posted by: Nutmeg | October 16, 2007 11:55 AM
HAH.. don't try to link with your 10 month old in your lap.
Posted by: Nutmeg | October 16, 2007 11:56 AM
Heheh.
I sent PZ that link. I'm glad he liked it.
And yes, "exceedingly cool" are the words I'd use to describe it.
Posted by: Paul D | October 16, 2007 11:59 AM
HALLOWEEN!!! This is one of my favorite holidays.
This is also one that the fundie death cults hate the most. Seems every year they try to get it abolished in one place or another.
I forget their reasons, probably because there weren't any understandable to a normal sentient being. Something about encouraging witches and demons or some such.
It is always amusing to see medieval fears and superstitions alive and well in those so called Xian churches.
Posted by: raven | October 16, 2007 12:18 PM
I wouldask, but then you'd just say "That's not a hair question."
Posted by: Rick @ shrimp and grits | October 16, 2007 12:30 PM
Posted by: kai | October 16, 2007 12:36 PM
That's really cool.
From step 3 on the instructions site:
I wonder if that's a common issue for cephalopods? :)
Posted by: truthilicious | October 16, 2007 1:25 PM
Halloween in the Deep South: sanctimonious parents and their snide kids standing in their doorway, putting bible tracts in the kid's bag while saying "MY children don't celebrate Halloween, but have fun!" Mine have outgrown it, but a FSM costume would be perfect.
Posted by: Suze | October 16, 2007 1:26 PM
Very nice, unfortunately I'm going as Zombie Jeebus. He died then came back to life AKA zombie. Plus I'm going to a party/concert where zombies get a free shot.... And I enjoy blasphemy.
Posted by: Kilgore Trout | October 16, 2007 1:39 PM
Suze: I assume the local punks know which houses to egg, then?
Posted by: Rey Fox | October 16, 2007 1:49 PM
Wouldn't EL wire work better for the tentacles?
Posted by: synapse | October 16, 2007 2:48 PM
When I first looked at this, even before watching it or reading what it was, the first image that sprung to mind was "is this a sort of Cephalopod version of an xmas tree?" Now that's an idea whose time has come. Wouldn't it be swell to have that in the corner of the living room with prezzies under it?
Posted by: Ron | October 16, 2007 3:51 PM
I had a jellyfish costume one year, but just with yarn. It was pretty cool, though.
Posted by: donna | October 16, 2007 8:10 PM
Before I clicked on the LED link, I was thinking, "Wow, that's pretty pricey for an LED". But then I figured it out. My daughter has requested that I dress up to take her out on Halloween. That would certainly solve my costuming dilemma. Hmmm...
Posted by: spyderkl | October 17, 2007 9:23 PM