Am I the only one?

[The Creeping Spleen]

And believe it or not, I'm back in Facebook jail for another 30 days.

This time somebody objected to me making a joke that dates back to the mad old bad old days of the Cold War.

[banjo]

yeah spleen,i for one think we dodged a bullet there by not getting eurovision.hotels fighting over themselves to get into mega rip off mode and a load of fly by night chancers following up at the rear.locals shoved aside during the media scrum that is this annual self importance fest for the drama queens ready to spit the dummy out when things dont go their way.wallowing in self pity looking for someone to blame and screaming fix when it all goes against them.altogether now awwwww didums.

[The Creeping Spleen]

Maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age.

Not that I voted for Brexit, but, if it'd meant getting the hell away from the whole Eurovision circus then I'd have leapt at it.

[Dot]

banjo,

Talking of hotels I think it is shocking that hotels in Liverpool have cancelled peoples bookings who made them in all good faith before the Eurovision cities were even announced.
I know some business owners are trying to claw back money they may have lost as a result of Covid but I think the price hikes are astonishing.
Is it fair for people to be ripped off when pretty much everything has gone up in price?

Spleen,
I didn't vote for Brexit either but I think it has caused a lot of problems here in N.I.
I do have relatives both here and in Scotland who did vote for it.
As for Eurovision I don't watch it to same extent any more just switch on nearer the last bit of voting.
Also why don't they call it a different name when countries like Australia are involved?

[The Creeping Spleen]

I think the last time I actively paid attention to Eurovision, was back in 2006 when Lordi won.

As soon as it was announced that Finland's entry was a heavy metal band in monster masks, I just knew people would vote for them out of sheer badness.

In hindsight I should've gone down the bookies and slung £20 on them to win.

[Dot]

Are people going to give out sweets for Hallowe'en in Glasgow?

I have just bought bags of things like Haribo Maoam and Starmix in recent years which I put in a little plastic bucket in case there are any callers. I prefer to give out wrapped sweets or sweets in sealed bags to keep things more hygenic.

I don't mind giving out sweets to little ones who have made an effort to dress up but can't really bothered with older children who just call at the door but have made no effort to disguise themselves and have no masks or outfits.

What do others think?
I know people in work who say they think the whole thing is more of an American thing and they probably won't bother.

I did give sweets out to various callers in last few years and I also had some packets of crisps in case sweets ran out.

[The Creeping Spleen]

Galoshans we called it when I was a kid, back in ye olden days of the 70s.

You'd dress up in a homemade costume, go round the a few of the neighbours and one or two surrounding streets - under parental supervision of course - chap the door and ask "Any galoshans?"

If you were invited in to the person's house, you'd to perform your party piece - sing a song, tell a few jokes, maybe recite a poem or a short comic monologue - then, and only then would you get your sweeties etc. If you were really lucky, you'd maybe get a 50p piece.

Then you'd politely say your farewells, and move on to the next house.

[Dot]

That's very interesting Spleen and hadn't heard of that before.

There is a big Hallowe'en event over here in Derry/Londonderry and people seem to come from all over to see it.
I think they are expecting something like 100,000 visitors which is quite a crowd for a small country like ours.
It is the biggest Hallowe'en festival in Europe but have never been and think it is one of many things I need to do one day.

[The Creeping Spleen]

The whole galoshans (or possibly galoshuns, I've seen it spelled both ways) seems to be confined to the Greenock/Gourock/Port Glasgow area.

I'm assuming that Glasgow and the surrounding area had a different name for it.

[banjo]

i deter trick or treaters coming to the house by answering the door in the nude.oh look here comes another two dressed as policemen.

[motman]

we called it guising in sunny Govan 60 years ago

[Grahame]

Galoshans we called it when I was a kid, back in ye olden days of the 70s.

I confess I'd never heard of that term until this year, when I found myself working on the Galoshans festival in Inverclyde. I only heard the term 'guisers' used when growing up in Knightswood.

Galoshans does seem to be just an Inverclyde thing - according to The Dictionary of the Scots Language, the word originates from the province of Galatia in Turkey, where 'Galatians' would perform a kind of mummers play at Halloween and Hogmanay.

[The Creeping Spleen]

Hmm, so that's where the word comes from. I didn't know that. Thanks Grahame, much obliged.

I don't know that there's any Greek presence in the area, but I suppose - historically speaking - since Greenock was a major shipping hub there'd probably have been the odd few sailors who liked the town enough to stay and make a home for themselves.

[Dot]

I thought that was an amazing story about the antique chandelier sold for £250.00 in a charity shop which then went on to sell for something like over £2 million in an auction house.
It was apparently linked to the work of a Swiss sculptor.

Anyone on here every bought anything which they knew or suspected to be valuable for a knockdown price?

I bought a couple of pieces of Belleek China once at a village fair. I asked lady on the stall how much she wanted for the two things. She had no clue and I reckoned she had undervalued them so I made a donation which she was happy with.
I didn't know myself how much they were worth and later found out I did alright as one of the items alone was worth around £50.00.

[Dot]

Does anyone ever come out of a shop and there is a beep?
It seems to happen to me a lot and often wonder if my keys or something triggers it.

Today as I came out store I went to leave shop and the beep sounded.
As there was a security guard I handed him my keys, then my handbag and also my shopping.
He gave me back my keys and bag as couldn't find any problem.

Then he took my shopping bag and found receipt. He counted items and tested each individually.
One still beeped but as I had paid and everything was accounted for he said he was happy.
I said if he was happy then fine by me and he thanked me for my cooperation.