October 16, 2024 • 30 mins
Ever wondered how Halloween transformed from ancient rituals to a modern spectacle of costumes and candy? Join I'm Not Dumb But as they humorously unravel the spooktacular history of this beloved holiday, beginning with the Celtic Festival of Samhain. Listen in as we navigate through the eerie traditions of lighting bonfires and donning animal skin costumes to keep wandering spirits at bay, and share our own tales of trick-or-treating escapades. From the joys of pumpkin spice lattes to the unexpected twists of Halloween in suburban neighborhoods, we're serving up a cauldron of spooky stories and laughs that’ll have you howling with delight.
But Halloween isn't the only time people connect with the spirit world. Together, let's journey through global traditions that honor ancestors, from Japan’s Obon festival with its lantern-lit dances to Italy’s All Saints Day feasts. We'll reveal fascinating cultural differences, such as South Korea’s Chuseok, akin to a harvest Thanksgiving, brimming with family gatherings and ancestral rituals. Whether you're a fan of Dia de los Muertos in Mexico or looking to recapture the magic of childhood Halloween nights, this episode promises a blend of fun and reflection, reminding us that, above all, this season is about family, remembrance, and a whole lot of spooky fun.
Follow The I'm Not Dumb But Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/@ImNotDumbButPodcast
https://twitter.com/ImNotDumbBut
https://www.instagram.com/imnotdumbbutpod/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Victor (00:00):
Chris, what are we talking about?
Halloween, it's spooky season,everyone it's spooky season.
Chris (00:05):
Today we're exploring one of the most spooktacular time
of the year Tax season.
We'll take a closer look at howthis holiday is celebrated
around different cultures.
I'm not dumb, but what are thedifferent ways Halloween is
celebrated around the world?
Cesar (00:21):
Welcome to the.
I'm not dumb, but where wewon't claim to have the answers
to life's deepest questions butwe'll give you an exciting
journey into the realms ofknowledge you never knew you
needed Might be mainstream, butnot common knowledge.
From artificial intelligence toconspiracy theories, no topic
is too taboo for us to explore.
Let's get curious together.
Chris (00:42):
I'm your host, chris, and I'm joined by my fantastic
co-host, rob, of course.
Cesar (00:48):
Hello Wow, someone's sucking someone's dick, Am I
also fantastic yeah you're apiece of shit.
Chris (00:57):
Caesar.
Victor (00:57):
What's up?
And Victor, how y'all doing,how you guys doing, I'm feeling
spooktacular.
How y'all doing how you guysdoing.
Rob (01:05):
I'm feeling spooktacular.
I'm good man, let's getspooktacular.
Cesar (01:07):
Should I go get a pumpkin spice latte for this, or is
that optional?
Victor (01:11):
A headless pumpkin spice latte.
Cesar (01:14):
Ah, yes, you like that.
Chris (01:15):
You like that I heard that they contain like ammonia
or something.
Victor (01:20):
Oh good.
So I did hear something onTikTok and a woman was like
describing how pumpkin spicelattes in the US have like 3000
fucking ingredients, yet theones in the UK don't.
Of course, because apparently,to dye the yeah, the color, to
get the color, to get the color,yeah, they use like carrots and
we use like 3000 chemicals.
Chris (01:41):
And then one of them is ammonia or something like that.
Rob (01:44):
But which?
Victor (01:44):
one tastes better, probably the carrot one, but I
don't know.
Rob (01:49):
Have you ever had ammonia?
Shit tastes great.
Victor (01:51):
I put ammonia in everything.
Now it's poison.
Cesar (01:54):
What do?
Chris (01:56):
you guys think about Halloween Like is that one of
your favorite holidays, or is it?
Rob (02:01):
As a recent homeowner, I'm looking forward to the
trick-or-treating until one ofthese kids fucking eggs my house
.
Cesar (02:06):
Start egging your house.
I'm going to egg your house,yeah, with my son.
Victor (02:12):
By some of these kids.
It's going to be us.
Yeah Caesar, hey Rob.
It's going to be fourmiddle-aged men destroying your
house and then driving away.
Cesar (02:21):
Don't be stingy on the candy.
I don't want the little miniones, I want the full-size candy
bar.
Victor (02:26):
Are you a full-size candy house?
Have you decided what kind ofhouse you're going to be?
Rob (02:29):
No, we are fun-sized because we're on a budget, but I
did think about just gettingpizza and putting it outside.
I don't know if I can do that.
We were trick-or-treaters andthe building would give you like
a pumpkin to put on your doorand that meant like, yeah,
you're, you have candy for thekids and these fucking new york
(02:51):
city kids.
They come in, they got thefucking circles under their eyes
.
They look completelymalnourished and I bought all
these candies that I liked andthis little girl goes I'm
allergic to peanuts, do you haveanything else?
And all I had was like reese'speanut butter cups and the
fucking m&ms with the peanutsand I was like no, and she's
like you should really look into, like getting more stuff like
(03:11):
get the fuck out of here.
Victor (03:14):
I I immediately was just come and her poor girl just has
an allergy.
Rob (03:18):
I don't know why you're so aggressive towards her well,
it's the one I like, so go toanother house.
I don't know what to tell you.
Did you look at that stuff,were you like?
Oh, this one has fucking.
Victor (03:28):
I can't eat skittles you should give them vegan options.
Rob (03:32):
Grab it keep it moving.
Okay, let your parents eat ither dad's on the on his fucking
cell phone.
His guts out to here.
I'm like he could eat theseReese's peanut butter cups.
So yeah, I can't wait.
Chris (03:46):
It's fucking great.
So before I start talking aboutthe different types or
different ways cultures arecelebrating Halloween, do you
guys know how Halloween started?
Victor (03:56):
Doesn't it have to do with the nightmare before
Christmas?
Isn't that the origin story?
Rob (04:01):
for Halloween.
What's this?
What's this so?
Cesar (04:03):
Halloween originated about 2000 years ago.
What Isn't that?
The?
Chris (04:05):
origin story for Halloween.
What's this?
What's this?
Wake up, jack.
This isn't fair.
So Halloween originated about2,000 years ago what, yeah,
2,000 years ago From the CelticFestival of Samhain, celebrated
from October 31st to November1st, making the end of the
harvest and beginning of winter.
Rob (04:22):
Oh Okay, here we go.
Let me snap to the calendarwinter.
Chris (04:25):
The Celtics believed this was a time when the veil
between the living and dead wasthinnest, allowing spirits to
roam the earth freely.
That sounds like a nightmarescenario, yeah so, during this
time, the disease could returnto visit their families and the
rituals, including lightinglarge bonfire, which provided
(04:47):
warmth and protection, andwearing costumes made from
animal skins to disguisethemselves from wandering
spirits that might cause harm sothe costume was to hide from,
from the spirit so I thinkthey're welcoming them to come,
but they don't want to get hurtby them, so they have to wear a
costume so like the spirit showsup and is like, hey, I'm
looking for my great-grandson,but all I have is this wolf and
(05:11):
this goat next to me.
Rob (05:14):
This is kind of weird.
Victor (05:15):
Have you seen my grandson?
Cesar (05:18):
Puts on glasses and is like oh, you look familiar.
Oh there you are.
Yeah.
Chris (05:24):
I don Add another guy.
Cesar (05:25):
Is this some kind of joke ?
Chris (05:26):
And then families would leave food and drinks like
Coca-Cola outside to keep kidshappy and help ensure a good
harvest for the following year.
Victor (05:35):
Was that product placement you just did there,
man?
When I'm thirsty when I want towelcome spirits of my dead
ancestors, nothing welcomes themmore than a nice cold Coca-Cola
.
Chris (05:49):
About 2,000 years ago, the Christians established a
holiday called All Saints Day onNovember 1st.
It was to honor the saints andvictims, and this led to evening
before being called All HallowsEve, which later on shortened
to Halloween.
Rob (06:08):
Oh wow.
So hollow is honor, as holy Aquick.
Victor (06:13):
Google search says origin was All Hollow, even I
think even is for evening.
Chris (06:19):
Yes, that's how they got the name Halloween.
It's really a holy day, holyday, yes.
Yes, that's how they got thename Halloween.
It's really a holy day, holyday, yes, but now in America,
halloween's traditions haveevolved following the arrival of
Irish and Scottish immigrantsin the 19th century, so they
brought the same traditionsfestival of Samhain to America,
(06:40):
but throughout the years they'vebeen evolved to what we have
now, such as liketrick-or-treating, pumpkin
carving, custom parties andhaunted houses.
Rob (06:46):
So what happened was, I guess Samhain is the pagan
religion for the end of theharvest.
Then, when the Christians cameover All Saints Day, which is
around the same time of the year, and then Samhain, so then they
just kind of merged togetherand became Halloween, Kind of
like Christmas Is it.
Victor (07:05):
That's where all the trees and shit came from.
Yeah, oh, we have a tree asChristianity spread.
For them to appeal Christianityto the local populations, they
would just take traditions thatwere in their thing and they
would just add it toChristianity.
Rob (07:18):
It helped the pagans assimilate to Christianity.
Victor (07:21):
Yeah, you want to decorate a tree.
Fucking great Jesus loved trees.
Rob (07:27):
Jesus loved trees.
Cesar (07:28):
Jesus loved you just put a cross on the top of the tree.
Jesus loved coquito, coquito.
Victor (07:31):
Jesus loved that he created a bacardi christ, what
get the escalade we're out ofhere?
Chris (07:38):
as we explore how halloween evolved in america,
it's fascinating to see howthese customs have similarities
but different in differentcultures around the world.
While trick-or-treating andwearing a custom have become
staple in the US, the othercountries celebrate this time of
the year in unique ways,blending ancient traditions with
modern influences.
(07:58):
First country is Mexico.
Victor (08:03):
Grab your fucking sombreros bitches.
We're going to Mexico.
Dia de los muertos, I just takea shot of tequila.
Chris (08:10):
Where one of the most vibrant and meaningful
celebration occurs is Dia de losMuertos, or the Day of Dead.
Unlike Halloween, which oftenemphasizes fright and spooky,
dia de los Muertos is abeautiful and heartfelt tribute
to deceased loved ones, honoringtheir lives, and is celebrated
from October 31st to November2nd.
(08:31):
We do everything big.
Victor (08:33):
You're not Mexican.
What are you talking about?
Cesar (08:35):
No, I'm Spanish, I'll take it.
You guys celebrate it too.
In DR we celebrate Black Fridayand Thanksgiving.
Victor (08:42):
Wait, they celebrate Thanksgiving in DR.
Rob (08:45):
Yeah, for what?
For bringing over the corn?
For no reason, we justcelebrate.
Cesar (08:49):
whatever everyone's celebrating, who's the worst?
Rob (08:51):
deal ever.
Cesar (08:53):
We literally just everybody buys turkey.
We don't really need a lot fora party, bro.
Victor (09:01):
They're like they celebrate President's Day too.
Cesar (09:05):
If a holiday lands on a tuesday, everybody's like nah,
we rotate it to the monday, sowe have a three-day weekend.
Chris (09:10):
That's smart, that's how we, that's how we roll, because
I like to party so familiesbelieve that during this time,
the spirit of the departedreturns to earth to reunite with
their families and celebratenow?
Victor (09:21):
can someone go to the land of the dead to reunite with
their?
Chris (09:26):
family member?
Don't you need a guitar andstart singing?
Victor (09:29):
Yeah, isn't that the whole point of Coco?
Cesar (09:31):
I haven't seen that one.
I gotta see that.
I gotta see that.
I heard it's cute Tio Oscar,tio Felipe, oh, hey, miguel.
Chris (09:37):
The central to the celebrations are colorful altars
or ofrendes.
What are they?
They're altars.
Victor (09:43):
Ofrenda.
Chris (09:44):
So that families create their homes and cemeteries.
These altars are decorated withphotographs of deceased and,
along with their favorite food,drinks, personal items, ensuring
their spirit feels welcome.
The one iconic symbol of thisholiday is yeah, the skull.
Clasp right.
Yes, the sugar skull.
It represents the departedsouls in the circle of life, and
(10:07):
also in Spanish, they call itcalavera.
The skull is decorated withvibrant colors and designs, and
in towns and cities acrossMexico, the vibrant parades and
festivals are bringingcommunities together, with
people dressing as traditionalclothes, painting their face
with a resemble of skulls andparticipating in lively
celebration filled with music,dance and storytelling,
(10:30):
transforming grief intocelebration of life.
Have you guys been or seenanyone?
Victor (10:36):
No hablo, no hablo Mexicano over here.
Cesar (10:41):
Did you work?
Victor (10:42):
at a restaurant.
There was no Mexicans in thatrestaurant.
Were they Ecuadorian?
They were Salvadorian.
There was an Argentinian and Ithink there was a Guatemalan.
Cesar (10:52):
Yeah, they know how to cook and it was an Italian
restaurant.
Chris (10:54):
It was an Italian restaurant.
They're also in a Koreanrestaurant too.
They speak Korean too.
It's pretty funny Like fluentKorean yeah.
Rob (11:04):
Hello, mr George, have korean.
Chris (11:04):
Yeah, hello, mr george have you guys been part of this
celebration, or with friends,co-workers or anybody that you
know?
I've never been part of this.
Rob (11:12):
No, you know, what I really like, though, about it is that
they all go to the cemetery andthey just like chill there.
I think that's pretty fuckingcool.
What?
Victor (11:19):
do you mean?
Rob (11:19):
they like go to the cemetery and they set up the
altars and then they like partyin the cemetery oh, I didn't
know that, yeah, yeah.
And then like all, everything'sall like lit up with candles
and everything's decorated likefor halloween, we need to hang
out in a cemetery no thanks,yeah, I'm a pat I'll pass too.
Chris (11:37):
Yeah, I want to make movies.
Victor (11:39):
I'll stick to the uh mexican tradition of cinco de
mayo at a chili's southwestangles.
Rob (11:45):
Oh, they're the best this chili's three for me is the best
10.99 you can eat all right.
Next country japan theycelebrate something they're like
they're like very straight-edgepeople.
Victor (11:59):
No, they celebrate a lot yo, they have crazy parades
crazy fucking parades.
Yeah, they're super fun.
They have mad festivals.
They love their festivals.
Chris (12:09):
In Japan, the festival is called Obon, obon, the
celebration that honorsancestors, that has some
fascinating similarities toHalloween.
Although Obon is celebrated inmid-August, its theme of
remembrance and connection tothe spirit world resonates
strongly with the essence ofHalloween.
This festival has roots inBuddhist traditions, so it is
(12:31):
time for families to pay theirrespects to those who have
passed and welcoming theirspirit back home for brief
reunion.
During this festival, themust-do activity is lighting of
lanterns, which guides thespirits of ancestors back to
their resting places, so familyoften place these lanterns at
entrance and gravesite,illuminate the way.
(12:53):
They also features traditionaldance rituals, known as Bon
Odori, where communities gatherto dance in celebration and
remembrance.
So this joyful expressionhonors the spirits, celebrating
their lives and ensuring theyfeel welcome and cherished.
And through these activities,the oven emphasizes the
(13:16):
importance of familial bond andthe ongoing connection between
the living and the deceased.
Victor (13:22):
So there's a theme here.
Yes, Two of the countries we'vecovered so far.
It's a very ancestry,family-oriented celebration.
Ah, okay.
And then let's go to the West.
Chris (13:35):
Next country is Italy.
Victor (13:40):
Ah, italia, mamma mia, bippity, booppity, miscusi.
Chris (13:45):
Anyways, they have a holiday called Agni Santi, Agni
Santi, agni Santi.
Yes, bippity, boppity, mi scusi, anyways they have a holiday
called Agni Santi.
Rob (13:54):
Agni Santi, agni Santi.
Yes, thank you ArrivederciBravo, bravo.
Victor (13:57):
I speak the most Italian too.
Chris (13:59):
So pretty much.
Agni Santi is All Saints Day.
It's celebrated on November 1stand this day is dedicated to
honoring all saints andsignificantly remembering
deceased loved ones.
Rob (14:10):
Do they do anything special for that?
Any lights?
Pizza.
Chris (14:13):
Yes, the biggest part of this thing is food.
Victor (14:16):
They eat fish for like two days.
They love fish.
Chris (14:20):
The food plays a central role in these holidays, with
many families preparing specialmeals to celebrate the occasion,
and traditional dishes mayinclude sweet bread like
pandimotti and various seasonaltreats.
Victor (14:35):
So cutlets.
Chris (14:36):
Cutlets.
Victor (14:37):
Pasta Antifast.
Yo, I could eat cutlets all day.
Yo, where's the cutlet?
Rob (14:44):
holiday, that's on November 2nd.
Don't eat that, that's for.
Cesar (14:49):
Thursday.
Chris (14:50):
And the influence of Halloween is becoming more
popular among the youngergenerations.
So many young Italians areincorporating Halloween costumes
, like wearing costumes andtrick-or-treating, into their
celebration.
Victor (15:03):
Oh, so they're stealing from us.
Chris (15:05):
Yes, they're becoming more West.
Yeah, so this blend oftradition highlights the
evolving nature of culturalpractice, creating a unique
fusion that respects the pastwhile embracing new influences.
Again, it's pretty much thesame idea as the Mexico and
Japan.
Victor (15:21):
Are they big on the pumpkins.
I don't know if pumpkins growoutside of the US, oh really.
Rob (15:27):
United States, china, ukraine and Russia.
Russia.
China produces over 9 milliontons of pumpkins a year.
Cesar (15:36):
Wow.
Rob (15:37):
And India comes in second place with 5 million tons.
Victor (15:40):
I can't picture India with pumpkins Me either.
The earliest domesticatedspecies are native to North
America, wow so lastly, we'regoing to Korea North or South.
Cesar (15:53):
I heard the North party like crazy.
Rob (15:55):
No party like a North Korea party.
Chris (15:57):
So in South Korea they call it Chuseok.
It's a major harvest festivalcelebrated in the fall.
Chuseok isn't directly relatedto Halloween, but it shares
similar theme of honoringancestors and connecting with
family.
Rob (16:12):
Does it vary on the day, or is it just in the vicinity of
the Halloween-ish time?
Chris (16:18):
No, it changes.
Victor (16:21):
It's the same kind of like customs as like Mexico and
Japan.
Chris (16:26):
Right, yes, this three-day celebration, often
referred to as KoreanThanksgiving, it is time for
families to come together andpay respects to their ancestors
and celebrate a bounty of theharvest.
Rob (16:38):
Is it a big holiday Like everyone's off for those three
days?
Chris (16:42):
It's a big holiday for yeah, oh, really yeah.
Victor (16:45):
Three days Is there like a festival, like a parade?
Chris (16:48):
They do festivals they do a lot of stuff.
Are there pumpkins?
No pumpkins, I don't think Huh.
But during Chuseok, familiesconduct ritual known as Chare,
where they prepare foodofferings and set tables for
their ancestors.
So traditional dishes such asrice cake and fresh harvest
fruits are laid out.
To show gratitude for blessingof the year.
(17:10):
They put like a photo of your,let's say, grandpa or something,
and that's the center of thetable.
They put everything, like hisfavorite food or expensive
fruits, pretty much anything youwant, and then you just lay out
, you just put it there on atable and then you pray whatever
you got to do, and then whenyou do that, you have to leave
your front door open so thespirit can come through and then
(17:33):
eat the food and chill, hangout.
Rob (17:36):
What if you live in a in like a high rise?
Do you have to like tell thedoorman?
Victor (17:40):
I'm sure they just leave the door open.
Cesar (17:43):
Yeah.
Victor (17:43):
And they're just like hey, this is this time of year
where you're leaving the dooropen.
Cesar (17:47):
Or the penthouse door open.
So they just land Act elevator.
Probably faster that way.
Victor (17:53):
It sounds like they just make this killer charcuterie
board.
Add a photo in the video and belike yo grandpa, look at that
rose I made with cold cuts.
You like that?
It's art.
Chris (18:05):
So this focus on family and connection, combined with
act of giving thanks, it makesChuseok a meaningful celebration
that embodies the spirit oftogetherness and respect for
those who came before us.
That's how Korean peoplecelebrate.
Rob (18:19):
Yeah, I think we've gotten really far away from all that.
Victor (18:22):
Yeah, do we know the origins of how?
How it came to be like this,commercialized by a bunch of
candy wearing these likeridiculous costumes?
Because I think at first itprobably started with like easy
costumes, like ghost costumesright, just cut holes in your,
like your bed sheet and then runaround like a ghost and then at
(18:43):
some point it turned into herecomes slutty nurse I'm mother
teresa.
Cesar (18:48):
Are you kidding me what?
Rob (18:49):
I'm her back when she was hot so the the trick-or-treating
came from the saw when thatchris was talking about.
They call it guising, where youput dress up as a costume and
you go door to door and you puton like a small performance and
then receive food or treats forthe performance, and then we
just kind of took out theperformance, put on the costume,
(19:11):
show up.
Give me candy.
Victor (19:13):
We should bring back the performance.
No kids getting candy without afucking show.
Do you have?
Cesar (19:20):
to perform like 200 times , then you're going to be a
grown man watching little kidsdance for candy.
Chris (19:26):
Yeah, that's not.
I don't think you can do that.
Rob (19:28):
It's like those holiday carolers that would go in front
of your house.
Have you ever had that happento you?
No, it's fucking annoying.
Chris (19:35):
When they come to your house.
Rob (19:36):
Yeah, you ever had someone sing in front of your house.
Cesar (19:38):
No, I don't answer the door.
I've never had that.
Rob (19:42):
Oh my, I'm going to start asking a bunch of questions.
Cesar (19:50):
I'm not interested in any of this.
You guys meet Thursdays.
Victor (19:55):
I would do it like America's Got Talent.
There's three X's above my door.
If you get all three X's,you're not getting shit.
You better show up with magictricks, singing comedy sketches,
whatever you got, I want to seeit.
Chris (20:12):
You get an X, you get the fun size and you get the pass,
and you got I want to see it.
You get the fun size and youget the pass, and you get the
party size.
Victor (20:18):
Yeah, you get the full size.
Cesar (20:21):
If you suck, look at those pennies, adam Wow that's
just cruel, that's just cruel.
Victor (20:25):
I unleash dogs on them.
Get off my property.
You're done.
It's definitely enough for medog.
Chris (20:31):
Do you guys have any traditions?
We're a diverse group here, sowhat?
Victor (20:35):
does that mean we're all from the same area?
Yeah, you're the only onethat's actually not from this
area.
Yeah, in the east coast,because it's fall time.
Uh, you just dotrick-or-treating like you'll
run around.
It's usually wet, there'sleaves everywhere, um, you go
door to door and then you starttrick-or-treating.
I don't think actually I don'teven think kids do that anymore,
(20:56):
to be honest, trick-or-treatingand they'll do something called
trunk-or-treat, where all thekids go to the school, the
parents basically open up theirtrunks and it has candy in all
their trunks in the parking lotand so they go around.
That sounds more dangerous no,it's parents of the school.
It's not like strangers justshow up and open their trunks.
Yeah, come on, kid, get in.
(21:17):
That's why they stopped youfrom going there.
Rob (21:20):
No, I don't like this.
Kids need to starttrick-or-treating.
Our parents used to just let usout and they're like here you
go.
Take a pillowcase and go outthere.
Chris (21:29):
We left at like 4 or 5 o'clock and came home at like
midnight.
Cesar (21:33):
My family was funny.
As kids we would all go out getcandy right and they would be
like you know what, let's putall our candies together and
let's give half of it to theless fortunate.
What we realized later was theytook that half and threw it out
.
They didn't want to say likecandy Whoa.
They were like we're going tosend some of these to the kids
in DR.
Oh my God, wow, they just threwit in the trash.
(21:57):
Yeah, they just threw out halfthe candy.
Oh, it's five kids hot on candy, come on.
Victor (22:02):
Yeah, that's supposed to last you into December.
You don't eat it all in oneweek.
Yeah, you eat your favorite and, as the time goes on, you're
eating your less favorites.
Rob (22:14):
You know what they should have done Actually, given the
candy to the less fortunate.
Chris (22:18):
Like seriously the kid out there with no candy.
So you get nothing.
Victor (22:22):
December would come along, and that's when I'm
eating three musketeers, becausethey're fucking gross.
Rob (22:27):
Yes, you're right.
Usually the last no threemusketeers was dope.
What?
Yeah three musketeers, get thefuck out of here.
Victor (22:33):
No, three Musketeers was dope.
What, yeah, three Musketeers,that was my game, that was my
go-to Snickers 100 grand, threeMusketeers.
Chris (22:38):
That was my favorite.
Almond Joy, that was a good one.
Baby Ruth, that was my favorite.
Baby Ruth, baby, yeah that wasfire.
Rob (22:45):
Yeah, airheads, I never got into the Airheads.
I never got into them, got it.
Victor (22:49):
I don't know smarties you were never a smartest person
.
No, took those like fuckingvitamins.
I was like time for my pack ofsmarties a day uh, they used to
have like the uh pixie sticks.
Cesar (23:00):
Those are crazy.
Chris (23:01):
Oh, those are yeah, I remember those too.
I was just straight sugar thoselittle boxes of nerds yeah yeah
, nerds are fire, so yeah.
Victor (23:08):
So, chris, how do they do it on the west coast?
Chris (23:10):
you grew up in oregon like I said, we usually start
start as soon as it gets darkand then we just run around, hit
as many houses as we can with apillowcase.
Victor (23:23):
Aren't you afraid, though, of vampires and
werewolves breaking out intofights?
Cesar (23:27):
Yeah, which team?
Chris (23:28):
were you on.
I was, what was it?
Victor (23:31):
We were trying to make a Twilight reference.
Apparently too close to home.
Where?
Cesar (23:37):
the hell have you been Loco.
Chris (23:38):
But what about nowadays, as you get older?
Do you guys prepare for it, forkids to come to your house?
Rob (23:44):
Nope, the house is decorated with pumpkins and
lights.
The thing is, you only go tothe houses with the lights on.
Cesar (23:52):
If the light was off, you stay away from them right,
Because they're usuallyJehovah's Witness.
Rob (23:56):
And then you go no, it's true, they don't believe in that
or whatever you know, so youstay away from the Jehovah's.
And then we have like the bigtray with the pumpkin on it and
you just I just went to Costcoand just loaded up up on candy.
I have no idea what these kidsare gonna eat.
Um, could be interesting.
Do you guys decorate yourhouses, though?
Cesar (24:17):
no, like for like, yeah, I can't yeah you don't decorate
the inside.
Rob (24:21):
No, not with halloween stuff.
Cesar (24:23):
We're like uh, fall stuff .
Yeah, you have a fall themegoing yeah, but nothing do you
have an autumn reef?
Victor (24:29):
do you have a cornucopia ?
Chris (24:30):
ah, bro, I don't need that but I I usually eat dinner
as soon as possible as soon as Icome home from work.
Right as soon as the sun goesdown, my light goes off, the
curtain goes on, I go straightinto my bedroom and Act like
there's no one in the house.
Victor (24:50):
You're like afraid of people on Halloween.
Oh my God, chris, I want tomake sure.
Chris (24:55):
And then I make sure no one knocks on my door.
Cesar (24:58):
That sounded for a second there.
That sounded like a regularTuesday night man.
How is?
Rob (25:05):
that different from every other day.
Cesar (25:07):
Get under the covers and no one can find me.
Rob (25:10):
Don't answer, don't even go in the kitchen.
You don't watch like scarymovies or anything.
Chris (25:18):
On Halloween?
No, man, but I usually hide sothat they don't bother.
Rob (25:21):
What are you hiding for From the kids?
What are you hiding?
Oh my God, You're like theworst house to go to.
Chris (25:26):
I live in the first floor and then so it was like free
for all.
I don't know.
We were in New York City, Idon't know.
Okay, it's not safe outside.
Cesar (25:36):
With kids is cool, because now you're like you get
to look at costumes for them andthen, like, go to these
Halloween parades that they haveall over the place, get some
candy and stuff.
So there was a couple of yearswhere I was like Halloween, this
fucking thing, sucks.
Victor (25:58):
Now that I have kids and stuff, it's uh, I'm excited.
I'm excited for the holiday.
There's some people that I knowthat still get invited to like
costume parties and halloweenparties.
Is that still a popular thing?
Or do you, as my friends arejust shitty and just don't do?
Rob (26:07):
your friends are shitty.
Yeah, I was never that cool toget invited to your shitty
friends you know,
Victor (26:11):
dude At this point in my life I refused to wear anything
.
Chris (26:15):
It was like so much work just to buy it.
Rob (26:18):
I went to my wife's friend's Halloween party a few
years back and she was like, oh,they're having people over,
let's go.
I was like, oh, this is goingto be stupid and they were like
you got to dress up.
I was like immediately, this isgoing to be stupid.
I went in that house.
It was literally like a TV showEverything I mean like soup to
nuts decorated.
(26:39):
They had like a smoke machinein the house.
They had like a cauldronbubbling.
It was the coolest thing I everseen and it was these people
did it up for Halloween, butsome people are into that.
Victor (26:51):
Did you stay for the orgy or did you leave before
that?
I left right before I leftright before.
Rob (26:58):
yeah, my wife stayed, though which was weird, I got
out of it.
Chris (27:03):
I'm sure she had fun.
Cesar (27:05):
You're not here for the orgy.
Chris (27:06):
Alright, so what did you guys think, victor?
Victor (27:09):
I think that we're doing Halloween wrong.
It seems like all these othercultures are really just
embracing this long tradition ofcelebrating ancestors and now
that I'm hearing that everyoneelse is doing this but except
for us and we're just likecommercialize the shit out of it
and just like we need to buycandy, we need to load up with
sugar and get us one step closerto diabetes.
(27:32):
This is probably not the rightway to do it, rob.
Rob (27:36):
No, we're doing it wrong, man, we're doing it wrong.
I just don't.
Yeah, we've commercialized it.
It turned into Costco size.
You know bags of candy $40costumes that are sold out in
July.
But you know what I think isthat it's one of those holidays
that I think everybody's got toget into it.
Like right now, chris, you sayyou go home, you don't do
anything.
You know my wife's big ondecorating the neighborhood I
(27:59):
live in, big on decorating.
Everyone's got Halloween stuffout and that's what just makes
it fun for the kids.
Now, I mean, the saddest thingI ever heard is this trunk or
treat thing.
Like that's ridiculous.
That is is absolutelyridiculous.
Like going door to door hangingout with your friends even your
parents were nearby.
Cesar (28:16):
That was the best part caesar, I have fond memories of
halloween as a kid.
You know it was always fun,going out with the family,
trick-or-treating and stuff.
And now, with kids, I havethose same memories and, uh, my
family never was like, oh, thisis for to celebrate the dead or
to celebrate your ancestors,maybe they said it, I don't
remember.
(28:36):
For the most part, it was allabout buying candy pumpkins,
costumes.
Are we doing it wrong?
I don't know.
Chris (28:43):
It's fun as we traveled the globe, we discovered that
celebration like Dia de losMuertos in Mexico, oven in Japan
, agni Santi in Italy andChuseok in South Korea, all have
one thing in common they knowhow to throw a party for the
ancestors.
So each culture has its uniquetwist, but they all remind us to
(29:05):
honor those who passed andwhile keeping their memories
alive Whether it's lively parade, heartfelt rituals or family
feasts its traditions show usthat death isn't the end.
It's just another reason togather and celebrate.
So this year, while you'reindulging in those Halloween
treats, make sure to rememberyour loved ones too.
Victor (29:26):
They might be behind you touching you, touching me,
touching you, grandpa, is thatyou, sweet Halloween?
Chris (29:38):
We want to thank you for listening and if you enjoyed
today's show, feel free to namedrop this podcast to your
friends and family To stayupdated on new content and to
join in on the discussion.
Check us out on YouTube at I'mNot Dumb but Podcast, and on
Twitter at I'm Not Dumb butPodcast, and on Twitter at I'm
Not Dumb, but Please rate, likeand review wherever you get your
podcasts.
(29:59):
Until next time, stay curious.
Cesar (30:03):
See you later.
Chris, what are we talking about?
Halloween, it's spooky season,everyone it's spooky season.
Chris (00:05):
Today we're exploring one of the most spooktacular time
of the year Tax season.
We'll take a closer look at howthis holiday is celebrated
around different cultures.
I'm not dumb, but what are thedifferent ways Halloween is
celebrated around the world?
Cesar (00:21):
Welcome to the.
I'm not dumb, but where wewon't claim to have the answers
to life's deepest questions butwe'll give you an exciting
journey into the realms ofknowledge you never knew you
needed Might be mainstream, butnot common knowledge.
From artificial intelligence toconspiracy theories, no topic
is too taboo for us to explore.
Let's get curious together.
Chris (00:42):
I'm your host, chris, and I'm joined by my fantastic
co-host, rob, of course.
Cesar (00:48):
Hello Wow, someone's sucking someone's dick, Am I
also fantastic yeah you're apiece of shit.
Chris (00:57):
Caesar.
Victor (00:57):
What's up?
And Victor, how y'all doing,how you guys doing, I'm feeling
spooktacular.
How y'all doing how you guysdoing.
Rob (01:05):
I'm feeling spooktacular.
I'm good man, let's getspooktacular.
Cesar (01:07):
Should I go get a pumpkin spice latte for this, or is
that optional?
Victor (01:11):
A headless pumpkin spice latte.
Cesar (01:14):
Ah, yes, you like that.
Chris (01:15):
You like that I heard that they contain like ammonia
or something.
Victor (01:20):
Oh good.
So I did hear something onTikTok and a woman was like
describing how pumpkin spicelattes in the US have like 3000
fucking ingredients, yet theones in the UK don't.
Of course, because apparently,to dye the yeah, the color, to
get the color, to get the color,yeah, they use like carrots and
we use like 3000 chemicals.
Chris (01:41):
And then one of them is ammonia or something like that.
Rob (01:44):
But which?
Victor (01:44):
one tastes better, probably the carrot one, but I
don't know.
Rob (01:49):
Have you ever had ammonia?
Shit tastes great.
Victor (01:51):
I put ammonia in everything.
Now it's poison.
Cesar (01:54):
What do?
Chris (01:56):
you guys think about Halloween Like is that one of
your favorite holidays, or is it?
Rob (02:01):
As a recent homeowner, I'm looking forward to the
trick-or-treating until one ofthese kids fucking eggs my house
.
Cesar (02:06):
Start egging your house.
I'm going to egg your house,yeah, with my son.
Victor (02:12):
By some of these kids.
It's going to be us.
Yeah Caesar, hey Rob.
It's going to be fourmiddle-aged men destroying your
house and then driving away.
Cesar (02:21):
Don't be stingy on the candy.
I don't want the little miniones, I want the full-size candy
bar.
Victor (02:26):
Are you a full-size candy house?
Have you decided what kind ofhouse you're going to be?
Rob (02:29):
No, we are fun-sized because we're on a budget, but I
did think about just gettingpizza and putting it outside.
I don't know if I can do that.
We were trick-or-treaters andthe building would give you like
a pumpkin to put on your doorand that meant like, yeah,
you're, you have candy for thekids and these fucking new york
(02:51):
city kids.
They come in, they got thefucking circles under their eyes
.
They look completelymalnourished and I bought all
these candies that I liked andthis little girl goes I'm
allergic to peanuts, do you haveanything else?
And all I had was like reese'speanut butter cups and the
fucking m&ms with the peanutsand I was like no, and she's
like you should really look into, like getting more stuff like
(03:11):
get the fuck out of here.
Victor (03:14):
I I immediately was just come and her poor girl just has
an allergy.
Rob (03:18):
I don't know why you're so aggressive towards her well,
it's the one I like, so go toanother house.
I don't know what to tell you.
Did you look at that stuff,were you like?
Oh, this one has fucking.
Victor (03:28):
I can't eat skittles you should give them vegan options.
Rob (03:32):
Grab it keep it moving.
Okay, let your parents eat ither dad's on the on his fucking
cell phone.
His guts out to here.
I'm like he could eat theseReese's peanut butter cups.
So yeah, I can't wait.
Chris (03:46):
It's fucking great.
So before I start talking aboutthe different types or
different ways cultures arecelebrating Halloween, do you
guys know how Halloween started?
Victor (03:56):
Doesn't it have to do with the nightmare before
Christmas?
Isn't that the origin story?
Rob (04:01):
for Halloween.
What's this?
What's this so?
Cesar (04:03):
Halloween originated about 2000 years ago.
What Isn't that?
The?
Chris (04:05):
origin story for Halloween.
What's this?
What's this?
Wake up, jack.
This isn't fair.
So Halloween originated about2,000 years ago what, yeah,
2,000 years ago From the CelticFestival of Samhain, celebrated
from October 31st to November1st, making the end of the
harvest and beginning of winter.
Rob (04:22):
Oh Okay, here we go.
Let me snap to the calendarwinter.
Chris (04:25):
The Celtics believed this was a time when the veil
between the living and dead wasthinnest, allowing spirits to
roam the earth freely.
That sounds like a nightmarescenario, yeah so, during this
time, the disease could returnto visit their families and the
rituals, including lightinglarge bonfire, which provided
(04:47):
warmth and protection, andwearing costumes made from
animal skins to disguisethemselves from wandering
spirits that might cause harm sothe costume was to hide from,
from the spirit so I thinkthey're welcoming them to come,
but they don't want to get hurtby them, so they have to wear a
costume so like the spirit showsup and is like, hey, I'm
looking for my great-grandson,but all I have is this wolf and
(05:11):
this goat next to me.
Rob (05:14):
This is kind of weird.
Victor (05:15):
Have you seen my grandson?
Cesar (05:18):
Puts on glasses and is like oh, you look familiar.
Oh there you are.
Yeah.
Chris (05:24):
I don Add another guy.
Cesar (05:25):
Is this some kind of joke ?
Chris (05:26):
And then families would leave food and drinks like
Coca-Cola outside to keep kidshappy and help ensure a good
harvest for the following year.
Victor (05:35):
Was that product placement you just did there,
man?
When I'm thirsty when I want towelcome spirits of my dead
ancestors, nothing welcomes themmore than a nice cold Coca-Cola
.
Chris (05:49):
About 2,000 years ago, the Christians established a
holiday called All Saints Day onNovember 1st.
It was to honor the saints andvictims, and this led to evening
before being called All HallowsEve, which later on shortened
to Halloween.
Rob (06:08):
Oh wow.
So hollow is honor, as holy Aquick.
Victor (06:13):
Google search says origin was All Hollow, even I
think even is for evening.
Chris (06:19):
Yes, that's how they got the name Halloween.
It's really a holy day, holyday, yes.
Yes, that's how they got thename Halloween.
It's really a holy day, holyday, yes, but now in America,
halloween's traditions haveevolved following the arrival of
Irish and Scottish immigrantsin the 19th century, so they
brought the same traditionsfestival of Samhain to America,
(06:40):
but throughout the years they'vebeen evolved to what we have
now, such as liketrick-or-treating, pumpkin
carving, custom parties andhaunted houses.
Rob (06:46):
So what happened was, I guess Samhain is the pagan
religion for the end of theharvest.
Then, when the Christians cameover All Saints Day, which is
around the same time of the year, and then Samhain, so then they
just kind of merged togetherand became Halloween, Kind of
like Christmas Is it.
Victor (07:05):
That's where all the trees and shit came from.
Yeah, oh, we have a tree asChristianity spread.
For them to appeal Christianityto the local populations, they
would just take traditions thatwere in their thing and they
would just add it toChristianity.
Rob (07:18):
It helped the pagans assimilate to Christianity.
Victor (07:21):
Yeah, you want to decorate a tree.
Fucking great Jesus loved trees.
Rob (07:27):
Jesus loved trees.
Cesar (07:28):
Jesus loved you just put a cross on the top of the tree.
Jesus loved coquito, coquito.
Victor (07:31):
Jesus loved that he created a bacardi christ, what
get the escalade we're out ofhere?
Chris (07:38):
as we explore how halloween evolved in america,
it's fascinating to see howthese customs have similarities
but different in differentcultures around the world.
While trick-or-treating andwearing a custom have become
staple in the US, the othercountries celebrate this time of
the year in unique ways,blending ancient traditions with
modern influences.
(07:58):
First country is Mexico.
Victor (08:03):
Grab your fucking sombreros bitches.
We're going to Mexico.
Dia de los muertos, I just takea shot of tequila.
Chris (08:10):
Where one of the most vibrant and meaningful
celebration occurs is Dia de losMuertos, or the Day of Dead.
Unlike Halloween, which oftenemphasizes fright and spooky,
dia de los Muertos is abeautiful and heartfelt tribute
to deceased loved ones, honoringtheir lives, and is celebrated
from October 31st to November2nd.
(08:31):
We do everything big.
Victor (08:33):
You're not Mexican.
What are you talking about?
Cesar (08:35):
No, I'm Spanish, I'll take it.
You guys celebrate it too.
In DR we celebrate Black Fridayand Thanksgiving.
Victor (08:42):
Wait, they celebrate Thanksgiving in DR.
Rob (08:45):
Yeah, for what?
For bringing over the corn?
For no reason, we justcelebrate.
Cesar (08:49):
whatever everyone's celebrating, who's the worst?
Rob (08:51):
deal ever.
Cesar (08:53):
We literally just everybody buys turkey.
We don't really need a lot fora party, bro.
Victor (09:01):
They're like they celebrate President's Day too.
Cesar (09:05):
If a holiday lands on a tuesday, everybody's like nah,
we rotate it to the monday, sowe have a three-day weekend.
Chris (09:10):
That's smart, that's how we, that's how we roll, because
I like to party so familiesbelieve that during this time,
the spirit of the departedreturns to earth to reunite with
their families and celebratenow?
Victor (09:21):
can someone go to the land of the dead to reunite with
their?
Chris (09:26):
family member?
Don't you need a guitar andstart singing?
Victor (09:29):
Yeah, isn't that the whole point of Coco?
Cesar (09:31):
I haven't seen that one.
I gotta see that.
I gotta see that.
I heard it's cute Tio Oscar,tio Felipe, oh, hey, miguel.
Chris (09:37):
The central to the celebrations are colorful altars
or ofrendes.
What are they?
They're altars.
Victor (09:43):
Ofrenda.
Chris (09:44):
So that families create their homes and cemeteries.
These altars are decorated withphotographs of deceased and,
along with their favorite food,drinks, personal items, ensuring
their spirit feels welcome.
The one iconic symbol of thisholiday is yeah, the skull.
Clasp right.
Yes, the sugar skull.
It represents the departedsouls in the circle of life, and
(10:07):
also in Spanish, they call itcalavera.
The skull is decorated withvibrant colors and designs, and
in towns and cities acrossMexico, the vibrant parades and
festivals are bringingcommunities together, with
people dressing as traditionalclothes, painting their face
with a resemble of skulls andparticipating in lively
celebration filled with music,dance and storytelling,
(10:30):
transforming grief intocelebration of life.
Have you guys been or seenanyone?
Victor (10:36):
No hablo, no hablo Mexicano over here.
Cesar (10:41):
Did you work?
Victor (10:42):
at a restaurant.
There was no Mexicans in thatrestaurant.
Were they Ecuadorian?
They were Salvadorian.
There was an Argentinian and Ithink there was a Guatemalan.
Cesar (10:52):
Yeah, they know how to cook and it was an Italian
restaurant.
Chris (10:54):
It was an Italian restaurant.
They're also in a Koreanrestaurant too.
They speak Korean too.
It's pretty funny Like fluentKorean yeah.
Rob (11:04):
Hello, mr George, have korean.
Chris (11:04):
Yeah, hello, mr george have you guys been part of this
celebration, or with friends,co-workers or anybody that you
know?
I've never been part of this.
Rob (11:12):
No, you know, what I really like, though, about it is that
they all go to the cemetery andthey just like chill there.
I think that's pretty fuckingcool.
What?
Victor (11:19):
do you mean?
Rob (11:19):
they like go to the cemetery and they set up the
altars and then they like partyin the cemetery oh, I didn't
know that, yeah, yeah.
And then like all, everything'sall like lit up with candles
and everything's decorated likefor halloween, we need to hang
out in a cemetery no thanks,yeah, I'm a pat I'll pass too.
Chris (11:37):
Yeah, I want to make movies.
Victor (11:39):
I'll stick to the uh mexican tradition of cinco de
mayo at a chili's southwestangles.
Rob (11:45):
Oh, they're the best this chili's three for me is the best
10.99 you can eat all right.
Next country japan theycelebrate something they're like
they're like very straight-edgepeople.
Victor (11:59):
No, they celebrate a lot yo, they have crazy parades
crazy fucking parades.
Yeah, they're super fun.
They have mad festivals.
They love their festivals.
Chris (12:09):
In Japan, the festival is called Obon, obon, the
celebration that honorsancestors, that has some
fascinating similarities toHalloween.
Although Obon is celebrated inmid-August, its theme of
remembrance and connection tothe spirit world resonates
strongly with the essence ofHalloween.
This festival has roots inBuddhist traditions, so it is
(12:31):
time for families to pay theirrespects to those who have
passed and welcoming theirspirit back home for brief
reunion.
During this festival, themust-do activity is lighting of
lanterns, which guides thespirits of ancestors back to
their resting places, so familyoften place these lanterns at
entrance and gravesite,illuminate the way.
(12:53):
They also features traditionaldance rituals, known as Bon
Odori, where communities gatherto dance in celebration and
remembrance.
So this joyful expressionhonors the spirits, celebrating
their lives and ensuring theyfeel welcome and cherished.
And through these activities,the oven emphasizes the
(13:16):
importance of familial bond andthe ongoing connection between
the living and the deceased.
Victor (13:22):
So there's a theme here.
Yes, Two of the countries we'vecovered so far.
It's a very ancestry,family-oriented celebration.
Ah, okay.
And then let's go to the West.
Chris (13:35):
Next country is Italy.
Victor (13:40):
Ah, italia, mamma mia, bippity, booppity, miscusi.
Chris (13:45):
Anyways, they have a holiday called Agni Santi, Agni
Santi, agni Santi.
Yes, bippity, boppity, mi scusi, anyways they have a holiday
called Agni Santi.
Rob (13:54):
Agni Santi, agni Santi.
Yes, thank you ArrivederciBravo, bravo.
Victor (13:57):
I speak the most Italian too.
Chris (13:59):
So pretty much.
Agni Santi is All Saints Day.
It's celebrated on November 1stand this day is dedicated to
honoring all saints andsignificantly remembering
deceased loved ones.
Rob (14:10):
Do they do anything special for that?
Any lights?
Pizza.
Chris (14:13):
Yes, the biggest part of this thing is food.
Victor (14:16):
They eat fish for like two days.
They love fish.
Chris (14:20):
The food plays a central role in these holidays, with
many families preparing specialmeals to celebrate the occasion,
and traditional dishes mayinclude sweet bread like
pandimotti and various seasonaltreats.
Victor (14:35):
So cutlets.
Chris (14:36):
Cutlets.
Victor (14:37):
Pasta Antifast.
Yo, I could eat cutlets all day.
Yo, where's the cutlet?
Rob (14:44):
holiday, that's on November 2nd.
Don't eat that, that's for.
Cesar (14:49):
Thursday.
Chris (14:50):
And the influence of Halloween is becoming more
popular among the youngergenerations.
So many young Italians areincorporating Halloween costumes
, like wearing costumes andtrick-or-treating, into their
celebration.
Victor (15:03):
Oh, so they're stealing from us.
Chris (15:05):
Yes, they're becoming more West.
Yeah, so this blend oftradition highlights the
evolving nature of culturalpractice, creating a unique
fusion that respects the pastwhile embracing new influences.
Again, it's pretty much thesame idea as the Mexico and
Japan.
Victor (15:21):
Are they big on the pumpkins.
I don't know if pumpkins growoutside of the US, oh really.
Rob (15:27):
United States, china, ukraine and Russia.
Russia.
China produces over 9 milliontons of pumpkins a year.
Cesar (15:36):
Wow.
Rob (15:37):
And India comes in second place with 5 million tons.
Victor (15:40):
I can't picture India with pumpkins Me either.
The earliest domesticatedspecies are native to North
America, wow so lastly, we'regoing to Korea North or South.
Cesar (15:53):
I heard the North party like crazy.
Rob (15:55):
No party like a North Korea party.
Chris (15:57):
So in South Korea they call it Chuseok.
It's a major harvest festivalcelebrated in the fall.
Chuseok isn't directly relatedto Halloween, but it shares
similar theme of honoringancestors and connecting with
family.
Rob (16:12):
Does it vary on the day, or is it just in the vicinity of
the Halloween-ish time?
Chris (16:18):
No, it changes.
Victor (16:21):
It's the same kind of like customs as like Mexico and
Japan.
Chris (16:26):
Right, yes, this three-day celebration, often
referred to as KoreanThanksgiving, it is time for
families to come together andpay respects to their ancestors
and celebrate a bounty of theharvest.
Rob (16:38):
Is it a big holiday Like everyone's off for those three
days?
Chris (16:42):
It's a big holiday for yeah, oh, really yeah.
Victor (16:45):
Three days Is there like a festival, like a parade?
Chris (16:48):
They do festivals they do a lot of stuff.
Are there pumpkins?
No pumpkins, I don't think Huh.
But during Chuseok, familiesconduct ritual known as Chare,
where they prepare foodofferings and set tables for
their ancestors.
So traditional dishes such asrice cake and fresh harvest
fruits are laid out.
To show gratitude for blessingof the year.
(17:10):
They put like a photo of your,let's say, grandpa or something,
and that's the center of thetable.
They put everything, like hisfavorite food or expensive
fruits, pretty much anything youwant, and then you just lay out
, you just put it there on atable and then you pray whatever
you got to do, and then whenyou do that, you have to leave
your front door open so thespirit can come through and then
(17:33):
eat the food and chill, hangout.
Rob (17:36):
What if you live in a in like a high rise?
Do you have to like tell thedoorman?
Victor (17:40):
I'm sure they just leave the door open.
Cesar (17:43):
Yeah.
Victor (17:43):
And they're just like hey, this is this time of year
where you're leaving the dooropen.
Cesar (17:47):
Or the penthouse door open.
So they just land Act elevator.
Probably faster that way.
Victor (17:53):
It sounds like they just make this killer charcuterie
board.
Add a photo in the video and belike yo grandpa, look at that
rose I made with cold cuts.
You like that?
It's art.
Chris (18:05):
So this focus on family and connection, combined with
act of giving thanks, it makesChuseok a meaningful celebration
that embodies the spirit oftogetherness and respect for
those who came before us.
That's how Korean peoplecelebrate.
Rob (18:19):
Yeah, I think we've gotten really far away from all that.
Victor (18:22):
Yeah, do we know the origins of how?
How it came to be like this,commercialized by a bunch of
candy wearing these likeridiculous costumes?
Because I think at first itprobably started with like easy
costumes, like ghost costumesright, just cut holes in your,
like your bed sheet and then runaround like a ghost and then at
(18:43):
some point it turned into herecomes slutty nurse I'm mother
teresa.
Cesar (18:48):
Are you kidding me what?
Rob (18:49):
I'm her back when she was hot so the the trick-or-treating
came from the saw when thatchris was talking about.
They call it guising, where youput dress up as a costume and
you go door to door and you puton like a small performance and
then receive food or treats forthe performance, and then we
just kind of took out theperformance, put on the costume,
(19:11):
show up.
Give me candy.
Victor (19:13):
We should bring back the performance.
No kids getting candy without afucking show.
Do you have?
Cesar (19:20):
to perform like 200 times , then you're going to be a
grown man watching little kidsdance for candy.
Chris (19:26):
Yeah, that's not.
I don't think you can do that.
Rob (19:28):
It's like those holiday carolers that would go in front
of your house.
Have you ever had that happento you?
No, it's fucking annoying.
Chris (19:35):
When they come to your house.
Rob (19:36):
Yeah, you ever had someone sing in front of your house.
Cesar (19:38):
No, I don't answer the door.
I've never had that.
Rob (19:42):
Oh my, I'm going to start asking a bunch of questions.
Cesar (19:50):
I'm not interested in any of this.
You guys meet Thursdays.
Victor (19:55):
I would do it like America's Got Talent.
There's three X's above my door.
If you get all three X's,you're not getting shit.
You better show up with magictricks, singing comedy sketches,
whatever you got, I want to seeit.
Chris (20:12):
You get an X, you get the fun size and you get the pass,
and you got I want to see it.
You get the fun size and youget the pass, and you get the
party size.
Victor (20:18):
Yeah, you get the full size.
Cesar (20:21):
If you suck, look at those pennies, adam Wow that's
just cruel, that's just cruel.
Victor (20:25):
I unleash dogs on them.
Get off my property.
You're done.
It's definitely enough for medog.
Chris (20:31):
Do you guys have any traditions?
We're a diverse group here, sowhat?
Victor (20:35):
does that mean we're all from the same area?
Yeah, you're the only onethat's actually not from this
area.
Yeah, in the east coast,because it's fall time.
Uh, you just dotrick-or-treating like you'll
run around.
It's usually wet, there'sleaves everywhere, um, you go
door to door and then you starttrick-or-treating.
I don't think actually I don'teven think kids do that anymore,
(20:56):
to be honest, trick-or-treatingand they'll do something called
trunk-or-treat, where all thekids go to the school, the
parents basically open up theirtrunks and it has candy in all
their trunks in the parking lotand so they go around.
That sounds more dangerous no,it's parents of the school.
It's not like strangers justshow up and open their trunks.
Yeah, come on, kid, get in.
(21:17):
That's why they stopped youfrom going there.
Rob (21:20):
No, I don't like this.
Kids need to starttrick-or-treating.
Our parents used to just let usout and they're like here you
go.
Take a pillowcase and go outthere.
Chris (21:29):
We left at like 4 or 5 o'clock and came home at like
midnight.
Cesar (21:33):
My family was funny.
As kids we would all go out getcandy right and they would be
like you know what, let's putall our candies together and
let's give half of it to theless fortunate.
What we realized later was theytook that half and threw it out
.
They didn't want to say likecandy Whoa.
They were like we're going tosend some of these to the kids
in DR.
Oh my God, wow, they just threwit in the trash.
(21:57):
Yeah, they just threw out halfthe candy.
Oh, it's five kids hot on candy, come on.
Victor (22:02):
Yeah, that's supposed to last you into December.
You don't eat it all in oneweek.
Yeah, you eat your favorite and, as the time goes on, you're
eating your less favorites.
Rob (22:14):
You know what they should have done Actually, given the
candy to the less fortunate.
Chris (22:18):
Like seriously the kid out there with no candy.
So you get nothing.
Victor (22:22):
December would come along, and that's when I'm
eating three musketeers, becausethey're fucking gross.
Rob (22:27):
Yes, you're right.
Usually the last no threemusketeers was dope.
What?
Yeah three musketeers, get thefuck out of here.
Victor (22:33):
No, three Musketeers was dope.
What, yeah, three Musketeers,that was my game, that was my
go-to Snickers 100 grand, threeMusketeers.
Chris (22:38):
That was my favorite.
Almond Joy, that was a good one.
Baby Ruth, that was my favorite.
Baby Ruth, baby, yeah that wasfire.
Rob (22:45):
Yeah, airheads, I never got into the Airheads.
I never got into them, got it.
Victor (22:49):
I don't know smarties you were never a smartest person
.
No, took those like fuckingvitamins.
I was like time for my pack ofsmarties a day uh, they used to
have like the uh pixie sticks.
Cesar (23:00):
Those are crazy.
Chris (23:01):
Oh, those are yeah, I remember those too.
I was just straight sugar thoselittle boxes of nerds yeah yeah
, nerds are fire, so yeah.
Victor (23:08):
So, chris, how do they do it on the west coast?
Chris (23:10):
you grew up in oregon like I said, we usually start
start as soon as it gets darkand then we just run around, hit
as many houses as we can with apillowcase.
Victor (23:23):
Aren't you afraid, though, of vampires and
werewolves breaking out intofights?
Cesar (23:27):
Yeah, which team?
Chris (23:28):
were you on.
I was, what was it?
Victor (23:31):
We were trying to make a Twilight reference.
Apparently too close to home.
Where?
Cesar (23:37):
the hell have you been Loco.
Chris (23:38):
But what about nowadays, as you get older?
Do you guys prepare for it, forkids to come to your house?
Rob (23:44):
Nope, the house is decorated with pumpkins and
lights.
The thing is, you only go tothe houses with the lights on.
Cesar (23:52):
If the light was off, you stay away from them right,
Because they're usuallyJehovah's Witness.
Rob (23:56):
And then you go no, it's true, they don't believe in that
or whatever you know, so youstay away from the Jehovah's.
And then we have like the bigtray with the pumpkin on it and
you just I just went to Costcoand just loaded up up on candy.
I have no idea what these kidsare gonna eat.
Um, could be interesting.
Do you guys decorate yourhouses, though?
Cesar (24:17):
no, like for like, yeah, I can't yeah you don't decorate
the inside.
Rob (24:21):
No, not with halloween stuff.
Cesar (24:23):
We're like uh, fall stuff .
Yeah, you have a fall themegoing yeah, but nothing do you
have an autumn reef?
Victor (24:29):
do you have a cornucopia ?
Chris (24:30):
ah, bro, I don't need that but I I usually eat dinner
as soon as possible as soon as Icome home from work.
Right as soon as the sun goesdown, my light goes off, the
curtain goes on, I go straightinto my bedroom and Act like
there's no one in the house.
Victor (24:50):
You're like afraid of people on Halloween.
Oh my God, chris, I want tomake sure.
Chris (24:55):
And then I make sure no one knocks on my door.
Cesar (24:58):
That sounded for a second there.
That sounded like a regularTuesday night man.
How is?
Rob (25:05):
that different from every other day.
Cesar (25:07):
Get under the covers and no one can find me.
Rob (25:10):
Don't answer, don't even go in the kitchen.
You don't watch like scarymovies or anything.
Chris (25:18):
On Halloween?
No, man, but I usually hide sothat they don't bother.
Rob (25:21):
What are you hiding for From the kids?
What are you hiding?
Oh my God, You're like theworst house to go to.
Chris (25:26):
I live in the first floor and then so it was like free
for all.
I don't know.
We were in New York City, Idon't know.
Okay, it's not safe outside.
Cesar (25:36):
With kids is cool, because now you're like you get
to look at costumes for them andthen, like, go to these
Halloween parades that they haveall over the place, get some
candy and stuff.
So there was a couple of yearswhere I was like Halloween, this
fucking thing, sucks.
Victor (25:58):
Now that I have kids and stuff, it's uh, I'm excited.
I'm excited for the holiday.
There's some people that I knowthat still get invited to like
costume parties and halloweenparties.
Is that still a popular thing?
Or do you, as my friends arejust shitty and just don't do?
Rob (26:07):
your friends are shitty.
Yeah, I was never that cool toget invited to your shitty
friends you know,
Victor (26:11):
dude At this point in my life I refused to wear anything
.
Chris (26:15):
It was like so much work just to buy it.
Rob (26:18):
I went to my wife's friend's Halloween party a few
years back and she was like, oh,they're having people over,
let's go.
I was like, oh, this is goingto be stupid and they were like
you got to dress up.
I was like immediately, this isgoing to be stupid.
I went in that house.
It was literally like a TV showEverything I mean like soup to
nuts decorated.
(26:39):
They had like a smoke machinein the house.
They had like a cauldronbubbling.
It was the coolest thing I everseen and it was these people
did it up for Halloween, butsome people are into that.
Victor (26:51):
Did you stay for the orgy or did you leave before
that?
I left right before I leftright before.
Rob (26:58):
yeah, my wife stayed, though which was weird, I got
out of it.
Chris (27:03):
I'm sure she had fun.
Cesar (27:05):
You're not here for the orgy.
Chris (27:06):
Alright, so what did you guys think, victor?
Victor (27:09):
I think that we're doing Halloween wrong.
It seems like all these othercultures are really just
embracing this long tradition ofcelebrating ancestors and now
that I'm hearing that everyoneelse is doing this but except
for us and we're just likecommercialize the shit out of it
and just like we need to buycandy, we need to load up with
sugar and get us one step closerto diabetes.
(27:32):
This is probably not the rightway to do it, rob.
Rob (27:36):
No, we're doing it wrong, man, we're doing it wrong.
I just don't.
Yeah, we've commercialized it.
It turned into Costco size.
You know bags of candy $40costumes that are sold out in
July.
But you know what I think isthat it's one of those holidays
that I think everybody's got toget into it.
Like right now, chris, you sayyou go home, you don't do
anything.
You know my wife's big ondecorating the neighborhood I
(27:59):
live in, big on decorating.
Everyone's got Halloween stuffout and that's what just makes
it fun for the kids.
Now, I mean, the saddest thingI ever heard is this trunk or
treat thing.
Like that's ridiculous.
That is is absolutelyridiculous.
Like going door to door hangingout with your friends even your
parents were nearby.
Cesar (28:16):
That was the best part caesar, I have fond memories of
halloween as a kid.
You know it was always fun,going out with the family,
trick-or-treating and stuff.
And now, with kids, I havethose same memories and, uh, my
family never was like, oh, thisis for to celebrate the dead or
to celebrate your ancestors,maybe they said it, I don't
remember.
(28:36):
For the most part, it was allabout buying candy pumpkins,
costumes.
Are we doing it wrong?
I don't know.
Chris (28:43):
It's fun as we traveled the globe, we discovered that
celebration like Dia de losMuertos in Mexico, oven in Japan
, agni Santi in Italy andChuseok in South Korea, all have
one thing in common they knowhow to throw a party for the
ancestors.
So each culture has its uniquetwist, but they all remind us to
(29:05):
honor those who passed andwhile keeping their memories
alive Whether it's lively parade, heartfelt rituals or family
feasts its traditions show usthat death isn't the end.
It's just another reason togather and celebrate.
So this year, while you'reindulging in those Halloween
treats, make sure to rememberyour loved ones too.
Victor (29:26):
They might be behind you touching you, touching me,
touching you, grandpa, is thatyou, sweet Halloween?
Chris (29:38):
We want to thank you for listening and if you enjoyed
today's show, feel free to namedrop this podcast to your
friends and family To stayupdated on new content and to
join in on the discussion.
Check us out on YouTube at I'mNot Dumb but Podcast, and on
Twitter at I'm Not Dumb butPodcast, and on Twitter at I'm
Not Dumb, but Please rate, likeand review wherever you get your
podcasts.
(29:59):
Until next time, stay curious.
Cesar (30:03):
See you later.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!