This was a dying excuse for an annual holiday. No?

A symbol of excess and needless consumer spending hyped by Wal-Mart and the dental industry?

Yet Halloween is HUGE in Vegas. (Masks no longer allowed in Casinos, though.)

I enjoyed the party hosted by Tom and Karen Otjes, escapees from frozen Canada. We were coaching colleagues in Calgary for years. Now Tom is Head Coach of Cirque du Soleil’s “O” at the Bellagio, the company’s largest production.

more photos from the party on Flickr

Meanwhile, in Saskatoon, disguised partiers raced around town in taxi-vans attempting to “beg, borrow or trick our way into getting strangers to give us stuff. Nothing counted if we didn’t get it on video tape.”

In this likely illegal contest, Warren’s team won.

photos of the revelry – Warren Long

» next travelogue post on this trip – Le Halloween est Mort