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10/02/2006: “Spare Parts” Pumpkin Face Kit!

Gotta admit upfront, this could be an “interesting” week. I like to write most of the following week’s Countdown articles on the weekend, because there’s just no guarantee that I’m going to be lucid enough to write them when I get home from work. This past weekend, I wrote no Halloween Countdown articles. I had a family thing Friday, a friend thing Saturday and a pass out thing Sunday. If you notice any strange asides about death and about wanting death and about pleading for death during this week’s run of articles, you’ll know why.

Today’s feature came out okay, though. “Spare Parts” is a silly kit that lets people make jack o’ lanterns without actually carving them, Mr. Potato Head style. I wasn’t impressed, but I wrote about it anyway.

Oh, I have more to say.


I’ve already told you about Target’s Mountain Dew Pitch Black Freezes, but at the time, I didn’t know about these. They have official cups! Why is this important? I’ve held onto empty (and full) cans of the first two Pitch Black incarnations, and now, I’ll have a memento of the third. You should have that, too. I recommend buying an extra just for the cup. Don’t fill it, because it’ll be sticky forever no matter how many times you wash it. Keep one empty — that’d be your trophy piece. Your mantle’s gonna be freakin’ awesome.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 86 comments

You know, now that I realize it, I’ve been going to the same pumpkin patch for the past 16 years to get a pumpkin. It really makes you feel old. I love that place.

Ghosted by Phil G. @ 10/02/2006 9:41 PM EDT

At one Target, I got the cool cup, and at another I didn’t. I was totally counting on the awesome Halloween-themed cup to put my spooky icee in. =(

Those spare parts are cool in theory, but I’d much rather carve my pumpkin. I totally love your use of that pig snout, though. Kids might get a kick out of this though, but as you said, it might be hard for them to get the pieces in. It is a lot safer than using a serrated blade though! ;)

Ghosted by Christine @ 10/02/2006 9:48 PM EDT

I’m so glad I’m no longer in high school. (Pumpkin-carving was mandatory in my high school for some reason.) Without it being a forced activity I should have fun if I decide to get a pumpkin this year.

Ghosted by Katherine @ 10/02/2006 9:55 PM EDT

OK, I know now that non-carving of a pumkin is sacriligious. What is your opinion on the use of stencils to obtain one of these cool, Roseanne Halloween Episode-esque, type of actual pictures on them. I can basically make a stencil out of anything using photoshop, and actually carved a decent rendition of Michael Myers into a pumpkin last year. Am I a Halloween whore, or is this just the next evolution in carving?

Ghosted by Old E @ 10/02/2006 9:59 PM EDT

wow spare parts seems like kind of a cop out to the messy horrible smelling gloopy mess that is taking out the insides of a pumpkin.

Ghosted by danny @ 10/02/2006 9:59 PM EDT

Sorry, Old E, you’re just a whore.

Ghosted by Katherine @ 10/02/2006 10:02 PM EDT

The fact that they now have official CUPS makes me all the more upset that I can’t get that drink here….

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 10/02/2006 10:04 PM EDT

I don’t mind the stencils too much, so long as the stencils aren’t good enough to make the pumpkin look super polished. I like ‘em kinda gritty. Baby I like it rough.

Also, on the Dew Freeze front, make sure you look ALL AROUND for it — that includes the cups and the machines. Certain stores hide the Icee machines in the back of the cafeteria away from everything else, as if they’re something to be ashamed of.

Ghosted by Matt @ 10/02/2006 10:08 PM EDT

When I see the pumpkin with the spare parts in it, it just looks really wrong, I’ll stick with jabbing spare parts into a plastic potato, thank you very much!

That sounds nasty taken out of context.

Ghosted by IHAQ @ 10/02/2006 10:20 PM EDT

I like being jabbed with plastic body parts.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 10/02/2006 10:29 PM EDT

We JUST got these at the Target by my house on Saturday. I’m sick, but I’m still drinking the hell out of these things.

Ghosted by Matt2 @ 10/02/2006 10:30 PM EDT

My mom got me a Darth Tater the other day at a thrift store. Honestly, who gets rid of Darth Tater?

A plague on their house!!!

Ghosted by K- @ 10/02/2006 10:31 PM EDT

Did you think about just taking a nail and using it to puncture the rine of the pumpkin before you put the face piece on it?

Ghosted by Ronald MacKinnon @ 10/02/2006 10:34 PM EDT

Extra steps, thumbs down.

Ghosted by Matt @ 10/02/2006 10:35 PM EDT

I bet it’s because the pumpkin pie candle scent is probably more cinnamon and vanilla than straight pumpkin.
Think I’ll carve a pumpkin this year. I’m getting excited about doing all the stuff I haven’t bothered with since I didn’t get treaters; decorating, buying candy, maybe dressing up. I feel like doing a pumpkin pie from scratch, but my baking record is reasonable but unimpressive.

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 10/02/2006 10:37 PM EDT

I like the stensils sometimes, but I hate the little metal pokey thing the books come with. You’re supposed to hold the stensil to the pumpkin & jab along the dotted line. Not only does this take a ridiculous amount of time, but on a more complicated design, I got lost several times last year. :(

I agree with Matt though, ‘rougher’ looking carvings are more… attractive. I’ll never have the problem of a perfectly polished carving. My lines are always ragged, though I’ll blame the knives I use.

Hm. I wonder if my old Mr & Mrs Potato Head parts would work on a pumpkin… If I stabbed the pumpkin first with something roughly the same size, perhaps. I might have to experiment with this!

Ghosted by christine @ 10/02/2006 10:40 PM EDT

I carved a pumpkin last year, but I was so terrified of coming home and finding it smashed that I didn’t even put it out. I kept it in my house until it started to smell kind of… not funky… but more pumpkin-y? Then I cooked it down and made pumpking juice out of it… hooray for Harry Potter!

Ghosted by broomstickjockey @ 10/02/2006 10:41 PM EDT

I am way too excited about those cups. If only I had a mantle.

Ghosted by Ian @ 10/02/2006 10:41 PM EDT

Man, I know how you feel. Work is getting pretty frustrating especially since it never ends when there is a toddler in the house. :)
I haven’t seen these yet but they look pretty cool to me. Maybe your fatigue is tainting them and their legacy will improve with time???

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 10/02/2006 10:50 PM EDT

I’ve never carved a pumpkin. Until last winter, I lived by the beach, and things go bad easily when you’re a (almost literal) stone’s throw from the ocean. Plus, I’m terrible at cutting things. I’d probably end up cutting myself more than the pumpkin.

I’m debating doing a pumpkin for the first time ever on my own this year. Maybe just a small one in the traditional triangle-eyes-and-crooked-mouth design. My mother and sister can do all kinds of crazy, elaborate designs on pumpkins without the use of stencils. You should see the front of my parents’ house at Halloween. I don’t know if the huge witch Mom made is still out there and the “gravestone” made from an old boogie board (really), but for the two weeks or so around Halloween, kids will stop to look at scenes of witches, ghosts, leaves, and haunted houses on orange gourds.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 10/02/2006 10:50 PM EDT

I am so freakin’ craving a pitch black right now. Dammit.

Ghosted by freudguy @ 10/02/2006 10:53 PM EDT

My dad once showed me how to slice the rind away from the pumpkin to make teeth and eyes, and I hate him for it. It takes extra long, but a pumpkin doesn’t look “right” without them.

Ghosted by Matt2 @ 10/02/2006 10:55 PM EDT

Still haven’t got me a Pitch Black Freeze, but damnit I will! And they better have those cups or I’ll be pissed.

christine: When you use the stencils, poke the holes kinda close together and then when you take the paper off, use a grease pen or sharpie to connect the lines, so you don’t mess up! :) I love those stencils.

Ghosted by Ryane @ 10/02/2006 10:57 PM EDT

Everytime I carve a pumpkin, I never bevel the cut for the lid and my lids just fall through. So I end up nailing them on. And the bottoms are never clean as they could be, so I have a lopsided candle trapped inside a sealed container sitting on a wooden deck.

But I’ve always been a firehazard waiting to happen. My mother is a pyrophobe and I’m a pyromaniac.

“Don’t worry mom, everything important is in the fireproof safe. Why have one if you’re not gonna use it, right?”

Ghosted by K- @ 10/02/2006 11:01 PM EDT

You know, I can’t say that I remember the last time I carved a pumpkin. I think it must have been when I was in grade school or junior high. I was too “cool” to carve a pumpkin with my parents when I was in high school. Since they did it mostly to spend time with me, they gave it up after I lost interest. It sort of makes me sad. I think I’m going to carve a pumpkin this year to cheer me up.

Now I just need to find a place to put it. I don’t think I’ll mind when it gets smashed, I just don’t want to be cleaning pumpkin bits out of my grill for the next few months.

I know it will get smashed because the neighborhood has some real asshole kids that went around slashing tires and keying cars. One guy had a real nice custom paint job and it’s going to cost him close to $5,000 to get it fixed. My elderly next door neighbor had two of his tires slashed. He’s a REALLY nice guy, and he just bought a new truck last year, replacing the one he’s had since the early 80s. I would dearly love to break something really important that belongs to the jerk who thinks it’s funny to destroy other peoples’ stuff. By something important I mean a video game console, a cell phone, a leg, whatever.

So now I’ve gone from sad to pissed. If I was only jealous of something I could hit the trifecta of negative emotions in one post.

Ghosted by spaz307 @ 10/02/2006 11:20 PM EDT

Tales from the Darkside is on the Sci-Fi channel right now. and the “Nose” episode is coming on next!

Ghosted by Joker @ 10/02/2006 11:28 PM EDT

Wooo.

I went to Target yesterday, their candy (and Jones Soda) selection made my CVS look like a piece of crap. I’m goin back there tomorrow. BTW Josh Blue of Last Comic Standing 4 is performing at my college tomorrow! Whee!

Speaking of my college, my frat is gonna start its pledging season again soon, and now it’s gonna be my turn to inflict the fun!

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 10/02/2006 11:36 PM EDT

I have carved 3-4 pumpkins every Halloween for the last few years, but now I live in NYC and have no place to display them. I think I’ll still do it and just be content knowing it is alive in my apartment. I also have no choice but to buy it at a store. I feel like a failure, but I work really hard at carving them, and I have no car, so it’s not my fault.

Ghosted by Bryan @ 10/02/2006 11:42 PM EDT

When I used to cut the top out of the pumpkin (lid) to scoop out the “guts”, I found that once the pumpkin started to shrivel the “lid” would fall in. So now I cut the hole on the bottom of the pumpkin, scoop out the “guts” and place the whole completed jack-’o'-lantern over a candle (a candle that is smaller than the hole of course). WAALAA! Then I can light that glowy baby until it collapses into a gooshy mess! YAAA for Halloween! =) ;D

Ghosted by threebeesatdisney @ 10/02/2006 11:43 PM EDT

And now I have another reason to go to Target — besides Jones Soda and reduced priced Superman Returns toys.

Ghosted by Review the World @ 10/03/2006 12:10 AM EDT

Awww, nuts, this reminds me of the time I stayed up late to watch that movie “Pumpkinhead.” I was so disappointed that he was not, in fact, a monster with an actual pumpkin for a head.

I’m going to go do that now. Put a pumpkin on my head, that is.

Ghosted by Roadblock @ 10/03/2006 12:27 AM EDT

I looooove to carve pumpkins, but I don’t give out candy because I do NOT love children. Therefore, I have to carve my pumpkin and then give it to my mom so it can be cheery and festive with her pumpkins.

To make sure no one comes to my door I always turn all the lights out in the whole house… and I *still* get people knocking. Did no one tell these idiots that no porch lights means you just trekked across a lawn for nothing? Do you know how hard it is to have celebratory Halloween sex when there are constant interruptions?

Ghosted by Welsh Rabbit @ 10/03/2006 12:27 AM EDT

I’ve actually never noticed the pumpkin smell. It was always the guts I hated because they were hard to scoop out with your hands or even a spoon. Took forever to do. By the time the actual carving would happen I was bored by then.
Plus, roasted pumpkin seeds suck.

I did the stencils one year and liked it alot. One time I just painted a pumpkin with superhero symbols (The S-Shield, Batman’s bat, Flash’s lightening bolt, etc).

I tried the PB Icee the other day (didn’t have the cup) and was completely underwhelmed. I didn’t even finish it all the way. I think I prefer mine more slushie-like than like a soft snow-cone. Good things they’re cheap.

My Target has started putting Christmas stuff out. At this point it’s just an aisle, but I get the feeling they’ll be converted completely before Halloween :(

Watched the TCM franchise THS on E! last night. Basically the same stories you’ve heard before, although I was sorta shocked they didn’t mention that LOTR’s Viggo Morteson was in TCM 3. That one ain’t bad.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 10/03/2006 12:44 AM EDT

You really hate the smell that much? While I’m not exactly in love with the stench of pumpkin guts either, it’s sort of a Halloween-mood requirement for me. Kind of like you and…well…Halloween-themed beer commercials, apparently.

Although the thought of carving any this year is already making my shoulders ache. Damn things are friggin’ tough as hell to cut through, and it doesn’t help that I have twigs for arms. Course, maybe I shouldn’t always insist on getting the absolute biggest pumpkin I can find.

Ghosted by Monte @ 10/03/2006 1:57 AM EDT

I don’t have a lot to say about carving pumpkins, other than that I enjoy it and need to do one up right this year, but the sticker made me think of something. Has anyone else seen the It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown fruit snacks? There’s nothing particularly Halloweeny about them aside from the box, which was a little disappointing, they could have least tried to make a Charlie Brown in his ghost costume or a Lucy witch or something. But they were still cool to see.

Ghosted by GrrrArgh @ 10/03/2006 2:27 AM EDT

Holy Crap! My local public access station is having a Kung Fu Marathon!!!!

Btw, it’s the Kung Fu with David Carradine, not the cheesy 60’s-70’s style movies from china.

Why is this important?

Well it’s not really, But it is cool because it’s following hot on the heels of a Shaft marathon, which followed hot on the heels of a Charlies Angels Marathon, which followed hot on the heels of a Miami Vice Marathon!

I really love the term “Hot on the Heels!”

Anyway, PUBLIC ACCESS ROCKS!!!!!!

Ghosted by Jester @ 10/03/2006 2:38 AM EDT

Sorry bout hijacking the thread. I just needed to tell someone.

Ghosted by Jester @ 10/03/2006 2:39 AM EDT

We need to take an Americawide poll and find out how many other people have this crippling inability to stand the smell of pumpkin innards. Me, I have it so bad, my family has taken to calling pumpkins “Orange Kryptonite.”

You can always recognize my house on Halloween; it’s the one with the carved watermelon.

Ghosted by G'Tron @ 10/03/2006 3:44 AM EDT

People are disgusted by the smell of pumpkin innards?! I’ve never heard of that being a problem before. It doesn’t bother me at all. My only problem with pumpkin carving is scooping the innards out. It’s not gross, just a hassle. They’re so slick that it’s almost impossible to get more than a few seeds and sinews out at a time, and yet it sticks to the inside like glue.

Ghosted by TB Tabby @ 10/03/2006 5:33 AM EDT

OH YEAH LIKE WE REALLY LOVE THE FREAKING SMELL OF YOUR HUMAN HANDS AS YOU RIP AND SLICE US UP AND THEN SET OUR INSIDES ON FIRE!

Ghosted by Pumpkin Guts @ 10/03/2006 5:53 AM EDT

How can it be a ‘regular’ pumpkin and the Great Pumpkin at the same time?

Pumpkin is a fruit, right? Or is it a vegetable? Either way I hate digging out the Pumpkin Guts. Yeeeeck.

Ghosted by Julie @ 10/03/2006 6:08 AM EDT

Well, a pumpkin is a squash, and I believe a squash is a vegetable.

Ghosted by Jester @ 10/03/2006 6:21 AM EDT

Yeah a squash is a vegetable, How sad is that? I had to look it up.

Ghosted by Jester @ 10/03/2006 6:22 AM EDT

I’m up to 46 (no foolin) on that M&M game posted on Saturday ( http://us.mms.com/us/dark/index.jsp ) and some of them were really obscure!!! Lotta Lynch and some Hitchcock that DO NOT belong under the horror genre! So heads up yo!

Ghosted by Ponsonby Britt @ 10/03/2006 7:19 AM EDT

I don’t get as nauseous as I used to because smoking fourteen packs of cigarettes a day tends to dull a person’s senses and just about everything else

Yeah, we’re all going to be sad when you get lung cancer or COPD or some shit and die. I just want you to rest easy knowing that if for some reason you die of a freak accident, I have that one photo of you holding the penis ice mold from the AC article saved to my hard drive. I would hate for your funeral to pursue without a photo of you holding a plastic cock.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 10/03/2006 8:02 AM EDT

Man, pulling out the guts of the pumpkin is the best part.

That, and Pumpkin pie. Mmm…Pie…

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 10/03/2006 9:02 AM EDT

If there’s one big thing that I regret having never done during Halloween, it’s pumpkin carving. Sure, my family would always go to the pumpkin patch and each kid would get a pumpkin, but our parents never allowed them to be cut up in order to make the pumpkins last until December.

Ghosted by Brianq @ 10/03/2006 9:25 AM EDT

You knw that actuall are Mr Potato Head kits for pumpkins, right? The little link thing on my name’ll take you to the first site I found with them. I’m getting one this coming payday!

Ghosted by Erich @ 10/03/2006 10:25 AM EDT

I have personally carved a pumpkin for years up until last year. I kind of lot the Halloween spirit last year, and pretty much blew off the holiday. Shame on me.

This year I’m already getting excited about carving one up though.

Ghosted by Deuce @ 10/03/2006 10:57 AM EDT

I’s a gunna come afta yous matts! I’s a sneakin up undas yas noses!

bewars! issa commin fo yas! I’s a gots deaf on me mind!

Ghosted by pumpkin smell @ 10/03/2006 11:02 AM EDT

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 2nd, 2006 at 9:33 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.