response 1 of 41:

Oct 30 20:59 UTC 2003

yes it does.  Lots of things fall into that category.  rugs, chairs, blankets,
paintings, dishes, dolls.  Pumpkins I suppose could be considered folk art,
but they last so short a time...

NO.  Lighted mass produced pumpkins are not folk art.

response 3 of 41:

Oct 30 22:04 UTC 2003

Hey. *someone* artistic had to design those mass produced lighted 
pumpkins. Does something cease to be art when it is mass produced. What 
about "prints" or multiple sculptures made from the same mold?

(Dont tell the DIA that their "thinker" out front isnt art just because 
it isnt one of a kind)

response 7 of 41:

Oct 30 23:26 UTC 2003

I am reading a book on folk art, which can be defined as something communal,
based on tradition, but allowing modifications.  Yard decorations are in that
category.  If someone decided to put a large statue of a dinosaur in their
yard in October, it would not be recognized as a Halloween decoration, because
it is not traditional.  Traditions do change.  The Halloween tradition used
to be just things associated with death (bats, spiders, witches, ghosts,
gravestones) and pumpkins.  It seems to be spreading to include harvest
festivals as well - cornstalks. This year I have noticed a new genre of what
I think it supposed to be scarecrows, which are not related to death or
pumpkins.  These consists of store-bought creations with straw (real or
plastic, in various colors) sticking out where you would expect hands and
feet.  Today we saw orange pumpkin-faced ghosts.  There is also bleeding of
traditions between holidays.  Christmas lights - and now pumpkin lights. 
Pumpkins hung from trees (and plastic eggs). 
        What other sorts of Halloween decorations are new in the past few
years?  We are seeing a lot of plastic orange happy faces with smiles up to
their ears.

response 9 of 41:

Oct 31 00:56 UTC 2003

How many shithouses are big enough to contain a sense of community?

response 11 of 41:

Oct 31 01:18 UTC 2003

re9 :points at the whitehouse.

response 13 of 41:

Oct 31 10:58 UTC 2003

Why are scarecrows being tied to trees?

The folk art book considers the arrangement of purchased objects to be part
of folk art, including how you decorate your kitchen.  Certain objects are
considered appropriate for the time and place.  I have noticed rows of plastic
pumpkin-like round flat objects on sticks arranged around bushes at 3'
intervals in the same fashion as flowers, or fake flowers, or little
windmills.  I don't see them in straight lines across the middle of the yard,
or around trees.  There are accepted conventions of where to put things.
Also accepted categories of objects for certain times.  Christmas decorations
have to do with light and cold (and the north pole - do people decorate with
penguins as well as polar bears?).

response 15 of 41:

Oct 31 14:06 UTC 2003

mervyns used to have a christmas penguin in their stores for the holiday.

response 17 of 41:

Oct 31 17:21 UTC 2003

you *sent cards* in pre christian times?

response 19 of 41:

Oct 31 19:51 UTC 2003

Not that I know of. You obviously cannot keep water out of the connection
between the plug for the lights and the socket on the module if that is
exposed. I presume what you want is to protect the signal receiver and
control circuitry. I would think you could do that by just putting it in a
box that protects it from being sprayed directly with water. That could be
a box that is only open at the bottom, with the module set near the top. 

We don't use any receivers outdoors, but do have them in the (unheated) 
garage for controlling lights outside the garage (the original switches
for controlling lights outside the garage were in the garage, not in the
house). The garage interior is exposed to winter weather except for being
protected from water.

It is possible that "applicance modules", which control a mechanical
switch that controls the load, might be more resistant to weather than the
dimmable controllers, but I haven't compared their circuit layouts and
components. Those in our garage are dimmable wall-switch modules, and they
survive OK. 

response 23 of 41:

Nov 1 00:49 UTC 2003

Re #20: that would not permit the unit to dry out. Water could get into
the bag but could hardly evaporate from the bag, and temperature
fluctuations will cause condensation on the interior of the module. I
would recommend the box open at the bottom. You might even add a small
(3W?) lamp next to the module to keep it warm.