Halloween is today and the GF and I celebrated by throwing a small bash with a few friends last weekend - complete with halloween themed cookies, colored lighting, and a smoke machine we bought for $20 at Target*. A good time (and many beers) was had by all.
Part of any good Halloween fete is everyone's favoritepart - the carving of the pumpkins! We all grew up wielding sharp kitchen implements and cutting ourselves trying to carve three triangles and a smile into a smelly round gourd that somehow was able to be transformed into a delicious thanksgiving treat only a few weeks later**. And it was freakin *hard*! Then these "pumpkin carving experts" came along and carved elaborately complicated designs that surely no human being could carve with a mere knife - clearly, they were jedis who used their light sabers. I mean, just *look* at this picture from the "most popular" picture list on Yahoo:
Seriously, what sort of person has the time to make these things!? Surely such a complex art form must require days of preparation; starting with scale models carved out of grapes and apples, and working up to the full sized model. But wait...that middle one looks awfully familiar...
Oh yeah! That's because all of these designs come with the pumpkin carving kit that I bought at Target last week. The GF's roommate carved the middle design herself. Granted, she is a carving maven. But *I* was able to pull off a different design that came with the kit myself - the scariest design that was obviously too frightening for the AP photographer. See for yourselves...IF YOU DARE!
Yeah, if *I* can carve something that good, then something is seriously wrong with the jack-o-lantern industry. Honestly, I feel a little dirty resorting to a pattern I got from a retail kit. As god is my witness, I'll never do it again. Plus, I simply don't have the time to spend another hour carving a pumpkin that often.
Still, it's wicked scary, ain't it?
* Who says cheap chinese manufacturing is a bad thing?
** Mom never told you what she did with your jack-o-lantern, did she? That's right...SHE MADE YOU EAT IT FOR THANKSGIVING!
Part of any good Halloween fete is everyone's favoritepart - the carving of the pumpkins! We all grew up wielding sharp kitchen implements and cutting ourselves trying to carve three triangles and a smile into a smelly round gourd that somehow was able to be transformed into a delicious thanksgiving treat only a few weeks later**. And it was freakin *hard*! Then these "pumpkin carving experts" came along and carved elaborately complicated designs that surely no human being could carve with a mere knife - clearly, they were jedis who used their light sabers. I mean, just *look* at this picture from the "most popular" picture list on Yahoo:
Seriously, what sort of person has the time to make these things!? Surely such a complex art form must require days of preparation; starting with scale models carved out of grapes and apples, and working up to the full sized model. But wait...that middle one looks awfully familiar...
Oh yeah! That's because all of these designs come with the pumpkin carving kit that I bought at Target last week. The GF's roommate carved the middle design herself. Granted, she is a carving maven. But *I* was able to pull off a different design that came with the kit myself - the scariest design that was obviously too frightening for the AP photographer. See for yourselves...IF YOU DARE!
Yeah, if *I* can carve something that good, then something is seriously wrong with the jack-o-lantern industry. Honestly, I feel a little dirty resorting to a pattern I got from a retail kit. As god is my witness, I'll never do it again. Plus, I simply don't have the time to spend another hour carving a pumpkin that often.
Still, it's wicked scary, ain't it?
* Who says cheap chinese manufacturing is a bad thing?
** Mom never told you what she did with your jack-o-lantern, did she? That's right...SHE MADE YOU EAT IT FOR THANKSGIVING!
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I put up pix of The Boy in his Willy Wonka costume. Come see them!