More reasons to love autumn...
and for Tony to call me a geek.
1. Punkin Chunkin. Lets be clear, if you get drunk and destroy pumpkins by using them for target practice with your shotgun, that's redneck. If you take the time to build a trebuchet to launch your pumpkins vast distances and watch them explode upon impact with the ground, that's geeky. Sure, compressed air cannons are widely used for squash launching, but I prefer the trebuchet for artillery larger than my fist (maybe some other time I'll tell you all about my potato launcher and we can debate the combustible properties of Right Guard vs. Aqua Net).
You don't have to live in Delaware to enjoy Punkin Chunkin, you can find pumpkin launching in most rural areas, often at U-Pick pumpkin patches. Recognizing the lucrative business in tourist attractions like corn mazes, the pumpkin farmers have found a new way to sell their crop. After all, you may only buy one or two pumpkins for jack-o-lanters, but I bet you'll buy 8 or 10 just to see how far they'll shoot.
2. Pumpkin Bowling. This is fun for all ages. Of course adults often find it more fun when liquor is involved, just be sure your scorekeeper is relatively sober and immune to bribery by the other teams. You need a few smallish pumpkins, something you can palm fairly well and more or less spherical in shape. You don't want to use 10-16 pound pumpkins; you aren't going to be drilling finger holes in them (some websites recommend this, but it makes the game a lot messier, and beer bottles are slippery when you've got pumpkin guts on your hands). You'll also need 5-10 water bottles for pins (some people use empty 2-liter bottles filled with sand, but that's a lot more effort). I recommend playing on the lawn; you can play on concrete but you go through a lot more pumpkins that way. It's more fun than it sounds, and dorky shoes are completely optional.
Yes, I've done both. And no, I haven't gone cow tipping. Despite what you may have seen on Heathers, it takes more than two people to tip a cow. Do you realize how heavy cows are?
Happy Halloweenie
~Elphie
pumpkin trebuchet photo source: http://orca.bcnewsgroup.com/gallery/pumpkinfling/PB020875
Labels: geek bliss, halloween, punkin chunkin
posted by Elphaba at 2:12 PM
3 Comments:
So, it takes more than two people to tip a cow, huh? Well, what about two people with air cannons? ;-)
I don't know if two people with air cannons could tip a cow - I suppose they could shoot pumpkins at the side of the cow but I think bovine injury is more likely than successful tipping. And no way a cow would fit in the air cannon.
Take the cow out of the equation and two people with air cannons would be like the ultimate snowball fight, just with a much higher chance of injury. It's all fun and games until someone gets a concussion.
moo. I said moo.
~E
I would've tried the whole pumpkin launching thing, but I wasn't so sure about the clean up. Pretty sure I'd need more alcohol to distract myself from the mess than I would to enjoy the, erm... festivities.
Post a Comment
<< Home