Halloween

Here are some pictures of my costume from this year's Halloween.

Most people incorrectly guessed that I was a sand-person (aka Tuscan Raider) from Star Wars. They were close in that I was dressed as a dessert dweller, but they were in the wrong fictional series.

The costume was of a Fremen, which is an entire culture of people found in the DUNE books by Frank Herbert.

Here are links to the works chronological order:

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The original "trilogy" by Frank Herbert:

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The expanded DUNE universe books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson:

Starting approximately 10,000 years before the events in DUNE.



Leading up to the events in DUNE:



Interspersed within the original DUNE "trilogy"

Between DUNE and DUNE Messiah:


Between DUNE Messiah and Children of DUNE:


Brian and Kevin's work to finish the original "trilogy" based on notes and passages left by Frank.

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A book on the process of creating DUNE



Frank Herbert's biography



An unauthorized look into the science of DUNE:

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The DUNE Movies

The 1984 version directed by David Lynch:


The SciFi Channel's miniseries:




Note: I have read all of the original "trilogy" by Frank Herbert. God Emperor of Dune is bad and it gets much worse. But the middle of that book is the worst part of the entire series. Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune both get MUCH better.

I have also read the Butlerian Jihad books and the three "House" books.

I have not yet read Paul of Dune, Winds of Dune, Hunters of Dune or Sandworms of Dune.

There is also an Encyclopedia of Dune that was published in the 1980s, but it is currently out of print.

I was not provided any copies of anything listed here for review purposes.

Perception of Value

I like Halloween.
I like Halloween because, even as an adult, I like to play "let's pretend" in my own mind.
I'm not much of an actor, but I enjoy the process of theatre.
Because of that I enjoy costuming.
Halloween is the one time of year that I can wear costumes out and about without anyone thinking it odd.

$100 is a lot to spend on a costume. Even if it were a costume I REALLY wanted I probably wouldn;t spend $100 on it at the Halloween store.

But I am CERTAIN I have spent more than that on all of the components that are making the costume I am going to wear this year.
One piece alone (not quite finished yet) has a $5 piece of PVC tube, 1 $10 piece of PVC tubing, a $5 PVC tube cap and a few PVC couplers ranging in price from $.90 to $2. There is, in this piece, a motor, some lights and a couple of switches. All in all, this one piece will probably have cost me $50 when I am done with it. Does this bother me? A little. A VERY small amount. Why? Because of perception.

By buying the pieces one at a time and assembling them I FEEL like I am saving money. I FEEL like each expenditure is insignificant (and, really, each ONE is; it's the summation that isn't).

I find it interesting that, even knowing that perception is the key to value, that I am still perceiving something that is A LOT of work AND costs more as being less wasteful than spending $100 on a costume at the Halloween store. Granted, this costume is not available in any store so I CAN'T just purchase it, but if it were I would have to examine the cost versus the amount of work.... and I would probably still choose the harder and more expensive route. Sigh.... at least I'm consistent in my behavior.