(Photo by zoomar) Halloween fast approaches. The costume panic is setting in. You look to recent events for ideas, trying to find that perfect balance -- recognizable, with a wide appeal, yet unique. "Aha!" you exclaim. "I've got it! I'll go as Michael Jackson!" We hate to tell you, but... er, you are not alone. Everyone and their sister will be dressed as MJ this year. Yes, Michael in "Bad." Michael in "Beat It." And hundreds upon hundreds of Michaels in "Thriller." Yes, we're sure. We know, it's a great costume. It's a great video. We love it, too. But... before you don the shiny red suit and zombie makeup, remember to always think twice. Do you want to be wearing the same costume as half of the Halloween revelers you see? What if they have better clothes, better makeup... an entourage of dancing zombies behind them? Wouldn't you feel a little silly being the second-best "Thriller" at the party? We're not saying you can't have a MJ-themed Halloween. It's hard to resist, we know. It's all anyone could talk about all summer and there's so much fodder for tribute, parody, and reference. But consider something a bit more obscure, more tangential. A twist perhaps.... Twenty ways to rock a Michael-themed costume without looking like a clone: Go as Bubbles. Go as Weird Al in "Eat It." Go as another Jackson sibling. Try Janet: Go shirtless with some strategically placed gloves (or get a friend to walk close behind you). ... or invest in some suspenders and a Jheri curl wig and go as Jermaine. ... or add some extra mascara and a long wig to a Michael mask and -- voila! -- you're La Toya. Enlist a Paul McCartney and go as the snake oil salesmen from the "Say Say Say" video. Gather a group of friends and go as Michael's celeb buddies: Elizabeth Taylor, Macaulay Culkin, Princess Di, Corey Feldman, etc. Get an even bigger group to go as "We Are the World." Go as young "Ben"-era Michael, carrying a pet rat. Go as Scarecrow Michael from "The Wiz." Go as knocked-up obsessive fan Billie Jean. Go as MJ filming the ill-fated, hair-burning Pepsi commercial. Attach a section of fence to your chest and dangle a blanket-covered baby doll over it. Go as a HIStory statue. Go as a can of soda with a crown. (We didn't say they were good suggestions.) Go as beer maven Michael "The Beer Hunter" Jackson. If you must go for a Thriller theme, go as Michael's date... ...or Vincent Price. ...or a Filipino inmate. Go as an astronaut. (You know, moonwalking. Get it?) Surely you can beat those. Share your costume ideas in the comments. Suggested Sites... Costume Watch: Halloween's "Thriller" Night - Yahoo!'s own Buzz Log reports on the interest in Michael Jackson costumes this year. Hot for Halloween: 2009 Halloween Costume Trends - which costumes will take the place of last year's Joker and Sarah Palin? Make a Michael Jackson Costume - ...and join the MJ army. How to Make a Michael Jackson Costume - if you insist on going as Michael, this Threadbanger tutorial will show you how to do it right.

Directory categories: Michael Jackson, MJ Memorials and Tributes, Halloween Costumes, Costumes for Sale, Costuming

Archived under: Clones, Clothing and Accessories, Costumes, Dead Celebrities, Halloween, Make-Up, Michael Jackson

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(Photo by Ian Ransley) If you’re a typical American, you eat about 27 pounds of them a year. But beware! Bananas are on the road to extinction -- in ten to thirty years, that tasty banana you had for breakfast may no longer exist. How is this possible? After all, there are over 1,000 varieties of banana that grow in more than 100 countries, and the Cavendish (what you know as the generic "banana") is only one of them -- and is actually looked down upon by many connoisseurs as being bland. But, in fact, the Cavendish is a relative newcomer. From 1880 to the 1950s, the banana known to our forefathers was the "Gros Michel" (also known as "Big Mike"). In the 1950s, though, "Big Mike" succumbed to a fungus that virtually wiped out the variety (it can still be found in small quantities on remote plantations). Banana growers searched for a replacement and came up with the Cavendish, in spite of the difficulty in transporting it. After much experimentation, researchers determined that if the Cavendish were taken from the tree (where they will not ripen; only a picked banana will do that) and sealed in containers or rooms filled with ethylene gas, the ripening process could be delayed while the fruits made their two-week journey from field to your supermarket. In their time, those banana growers have shown more powers than the ability to retard spoilage; their machinations in the late nineteenth century led to the control and overthrowing of more than one Central or South American government (hence "banana republic"). In fact, that's what inspires our exegesis on bananas today; on this date in 1932, martial law was declared in Honduras to stop a revolt by banana workers fired by the United Fruit Company (known today as Chiquita). The reason Cavendish bananas are endangered is that they all are genetically identical -- clones of one another, which cannot reproduce naturally. Without the help of humans, the Cavendish could not exist -- although that point may be moot if the banana fungus that wiped out the Gros Michel and the Cavendishes of Asia and Australia makes it across the Pacific. Dedicated banana scientists are working night and day to breed different genetic traits into the Cavendish to ensure its longevity and resistance to the fungus, but if you wake up some morning in the future and are faced with putting apples or grapes on your corn flakes -- well, don’t say we didn’t warn you … Suggested Sites... Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World - official site for Dan Koeppel's book on the social, political, and gastronomic history of the banana. Popular Science: Can This Fruit Be Saved - details the scientific efforts going into saving the Cavendish. NewYork Times: Yes, We Will Have No Bananas - well, maybe -- if we play our cards right. Snopes: Banana Peal - examines the facts and rumors around banana extinction. Bananas, A Storied Fruit with an Uncertain Future - NPR's Terry Gross interviews Koeppel about his book.

Directory categories: Bananas, Fruit, Extinction, Biotechnology, Food

Archived under: Anniversaries, Bananas, Clones, Endangered Species, Extinction, Food and Drink, Fruit, History

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