Last weekend I went to my heaven in the form of a pumpkin farm. I think it was two months ago when I first started planning my fall activities.  I have been called Halloween addict and I admit it proudly.  So, I racked google’s brain for a good pumpkin farm and when I saw that Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm had the url www.pumpkinfarm.com I felt like it was a sign that I needed to be there and soon.  I mean really, isn’t that a very prestigious url?  Doing more research on the site I found out they had a pumpkin launcher and the best thing of all PIG RACING!
 
I was excited that my buds Alana and Abbey were on board to go as well.  We saddled up and drove (forever) to Homer Glen, IL (where?).  We might have wondered what this town we never heard of had to offer to us but when we saw the line of cars heading toward the farm we realized that this was serious business.  Bengton’s is a fine tuned machine, cranking out Halloween enjoyment, and we were in for some serious farm time.  Walking in it was almost as a light shown down from the sky and to me it seemed like everything from the dancing skeleton’s to the haunted barn we glowing this immaculate light.  It was an Oprah ‘Ah ha’ moment for real.
 
They had everything there and we did it all. We ate some good eats. We got lost in the corn maze. We rode the hay ride and saw the pumpkin launcher.  We watched a pig race with some of the biggest pigs I have ever seen (my pig won).  And finally we picked out our swag. I got two pumpkins, four gourds, and some Carmel corn.  It was all a pretty good time and took me back to when I was a kid.  All I need in life is good friends, good eats, and a pumpkin farm.  Thanks Bengton’s.

Earlier this month I attended ArtPrize, an open art contest that hands out the world’s largest prize: $250,000 to the grand-prize winner. ArtPrize is held once a year in Grand Rapids, MI. This may seem like a surprising place for such an event, but Grand Rapids is a community centered around art—from public sculptures and murals to numerous top-notch museums. Just to give you an idea of how enormous ArtPrize is, their website boasts 164 venues this year with 1582 artists participating. Its near impossible to see everything—and while I didn’t care for this year’s winner—I did have some favorites of my own:

Artist: Ghost of a Dream
Title: Dream Home
Venue: UICA

This “dream home” is made entirely out of lottery tickets! Its easy to get gimmicky with this kind of thing but the artists handled it well, the patterns the tickets create are so interesting. Above the home, which also reminds me a bit of a shrine, the words “Maybe Next Time” were spelled out in huge letters (I’m a sucker for typography!).

Artist: Jonathan Brilliant
Title: Have Sticks Will Travel
Venue: Kendall College of Art and Design

Another installation of something made out of something else, this piece is made entirely of woven coffee stirrer sticks and only held together by tension. The combination of the shear size of this thing and its fragility made me hold my breath as children ran through the room!

Artist: Tony Orrico
Title: Penwald: 4: unison symmetry standing
Venue: GRAM

This piece was really interesting because at first it looks like brains drawn directly onto the wall. But when you watch the video playing next to the piece you realize it was also a performance. The artist drew exactly the same thing with both hands at the same time. Its interesting to watch his methods of achieving this on video.

Artist: Mimi Kato
Title: One Ordinary Day of an Ordinary Town
Venue: Kendall College of Art and Design

This was my absolute favorite of the whole event. I love the over-all effect of this 7 paneled piece but the details are what is really great. What you see here is just one person (the artist) photographed in many different roles (from an old lady with a shopping cart to a bunny hiding in the bushes). The scenes are hilarious and bring a theatrical element to a printed artwork. I love the flat gradations of color that forms the scenery, and it was fun explaining Photoshop and Illustrator to an elderly couple who must have been able to tell I was in the know. Mimi Kato’s artist profile explains this piece more and its worth reading!

Round 5: Woolite’s  “Torturer” vs. Snicker’s “Grocery Store Lady”

DING! DING! Time for another AdWars, this time HALLOWEEN EDITION!  Commercials so spine tingling Wilburn Thomas is still recovering: Kristen screamed from behind her monitor, Guss had nightmares for weeks, and Lawrence was found shaking under his desk (Andy’s still missing).  Who is the creepiest creep terrorizing the nations television screens ( other than Charlie Sheen ) during this spooky season???  At first you will witness the twisted insanity of the Torturer who takes your clothes and… Oh god… that’s GUCCI! Clear winner, right?  But just wait. The second ogre will have you having panic attacks in Kroger parking lots and thinking “Maybe I’ll just Peapod.”
 
Both contestants would most definitely be something to be reckoned with if they started crawling out of your TV ‘The Ring’ style, but which horrific heavyweight scares the shriek out of you?
VOTE HERE   Please vote by October 30th. Winner announced on Halloween.

Contestant 1: Woolite’s  “Torturer”

Contestant 2: Snicker’s “Grocery Store Lady”

Recently, friends have mentioned that they’ve seen some changes in me. Some strange behaviors that don’t seem very “Andy-like.”  Don’t worry, I am still the hilarious, triple threat, creative genius that you all know and love. But, there have been some developments that make people go “huh!?”. No, I am not turning into a werewolf (as far as I know), BUUUT I think I might be turning into… A BRO. Dun dun dunnnn.   Here are 2 reasons:

1. During one of the many random conversations we have at WT, I revealed that my mother was a Metal Head.  I have distinct childhood memories of sitting in the back seat of the car, being scared that the Enter Sandman was going to get me. So I thought, what the heck. I ditched my usual morning Lady Gaga sing-a-long and filled my iPod with The Black Album and Master of Puppets. Either Metal Head-ism is genetic or all those years of back seat listening seeped into my brain. I somehow knew all of the lyrics and guitar riffs, and it was as if Metallica haunted my dreams. Now, I Ride the Lightning every morning on my way to work. Who would have thunk it? Good old, Kanye West loving, Beyonce obsessing, Andy.
2. It’s hard for me to even say this, but… I watched football the other night.  Background info: I am sports-deficient. I don’t know what came over me. I heard my neighbors going crazy and it was almost as if my thumb was possessed. Somehow, I found that I had ditched my BRAVO and was now on ESPN watching the Bears. How did I even know the channel?! After five minutes or so, I called my mother to try and get some sort of explanation.  My mom has the minimal amount of knowledge of sports  in order to have something to talk to her husband about.  She explained what she could about touchdowns, halfbacks, hunchbacks, and so on. By the end of the game I was excited about the win, and I may even watch again next week. I still don’t get the tights tho. I joke, I joke.

Are we seeing a theme here? Is this the beginning of a long string of changes? Will I wake up one day and realize that I am playing beer pong and fist pumping at the Superbowl? Am I becoming a bro-wolf? I guess we will have to wait and see, but for now I’m cool with a playlist of Metallica and Rihanna. Hmm, come to think of it, that could make an interesting mash-up.

Carving Pumpkins is a sacred Halloween tradition. It starts with finding the perfect pumpkin. Small or big, tall and skinny or short and fat, even misshapen—whatever speaks to you! Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to visit a pumpkin patch and ended up getting one from the local grocery store. Some people used templates, but the scars on the skin of the pumpkin ended up being the inspiration for our design.

Next gather your tools. I originally scoffed at the “pumpkin carving kit” but quickly switched over to it because a regular knife is a lot harder to wield. Then comes the fun part: digging out the guts. There’s nothing quite like sticking your hands into mushy, cold, and wet pumpkin innards. The hostess of the carving party gathered the seeds and roasted them as everyone continued to carve, so by the time we were done there were bowls full of delicious roasted pumpkin seeds.

My finished pumpkin had a devil’s lock and fangs and was among the favorites at the end of the night. Unfortunately the warm weather rotted it within a few days, but there’s still a chance to make another one before trick-or-treating!