Bring Out Your Dead

Just yesterday, neighborhoods crawled with little candy-hungry mummies, princesses and Optimus Primes. Adults feted, too. At costume parties, dudes in clever numbers such as a "one-night stand" (get it?) tried to impress chicks slutted up in the ever-popular "sexy cat," "sexy nurse" or "sexy shark-attack victim." Well, maybe not the last one.Although Halloween has come and gone, those of Mexican heritage today observe El Día de Los Muertos, known to gringos as the Day of the Dead.The holiday isn't a melancholy or macabre affair. Rather, it's often a jubilant celebration of the lives of those who have passed. Loved ones decorate graves with marigolds and other ofrendas — liquor, candy skulls, toys or other mementos.The Day of the Dead actually lasts two days, making time for a couple of ways to whoop up the holiday KC-style: The Children's Museum in KCK (4601 State Avenue, 913-287-8888) displays a traditional Día de Los Muertos altar through November 9, with crafts for los niños at the museum's Creation Station. And tomorrow night at 5:30, representatives from the Mexican Consulate visit the Mattie Rhodes Center (919 West 17th Street, 816-221-2349) to discuss the holiday. A reception follows until 9 p.m.
Oct. 23-Nov. 9, 2007