Rabbinic Purim Costumes 2009

[Here's a late celebration of yesterday's Link to Jack Day.]

Once again, I am stuck for a costume, the week before Purim.

So I looked back at my "Rabbinic Purim Costumes" post from last year, and found little I could add. In part, it goes:

The costume has to be fun, it has to say the rabbi really knows how to have a good time even if he spends the whole rest of the year squelching everyone else’s good time. But, on the other hand, he has to remain the rabbi even as he has that good time, because it’s in shul, because he’s going to read the megilah in costume, and because, well, he’s still the rabbi.

Which means:
-The costume can’t be pedestrian, a costume for the sake of a costume, as in the old standby gorilla suit.

-It also can’t be offensive; I’m not doing the kefiyyeh routine, which some would take very, very seriously. No drunks, no priests, no drunken priests. I would love to go as Obama, but blackface is very out.

-Oh, and it can’t be too much work. Definitely not too much work. No fancy makeup. I dyed my hair pink one year, and that wasn’t too bad, but it got all over everything.

-And it can’t be expensive. That Batman outfit was good, but it was a very expensive rental. I’m not going that route again.
...
I thought about shaving again this year, and going in drag; it would be good for some surprises and laughs, and there is plenty of halachic material supporting that sort of costume for Purim. But I don’t really need to have my community psychoanalyzing me for weeks afterward.

(See the whole post here. Make sure to read the comments; they were fun.)

Last year I ended up going as a Lehigh Valley Iron Pig, wrapped in tape and stickers from various hashgachot. That wasn't bad, for a last-minute job. But it's one more costume I can't use this year.

I have a neat costume for our shul's annual Purim Gala fundraiser, which is the Motzaei Shabbat before Purim, but it won't carry over well for Purim; the joke fits well with the honorees, but kids as well as people who aren't "in the know" won't get it. (I'll post a picture if it goes well, Gd-willing. Clue: Punchlines.)

So I'm stuck again. Time to search the JBlogosphere.

ClooJew has a great idea here for a costume that's just a little Halloweeny - but it requires that I get equipment... and that I remember to charge batteries in advance.

A commenter at Frum Satire mentions going as a pregnant nun, which isn't a bad idea, actually. Low-budget, if I just use a black sheet as the habit. Hmm...

Squad 51 mentions going as an economic stimulus package, and wants to know how to decorate the package. Frankly, though, I think a barrel and suspenders would suffice...

And there was a comment here suggesting a T-shirt with the logo, "Bernie Madoff stole my costume." Not bad, but, again, the kids won't get it.

I'm still thinking. Maybe I should just go to the Gemach here.