World Pumpkin Carving Championship

The winner of the 2011 World Pumpkin Carving Championship is.... Pumpkin H - Jacqueline Shaben's "Holy #@*! My Head is On Fire!".  (Photo credit and pyrotechnic assistance goes to Michael Bartlett) This was a crowd favorite among the judges and was one of a few entries this year which will likely require us to tighten up the rules on what material you can use to 'light' your pumpkin up;) We are very pleased however with the creativity that people displayed this year, despite our hard nosed approach to the rules! For the second year in a row a silver medal goes to Lynn and Steve for their excellent entry Pumpkin O with that big friendly smile. Hopefully they don't decide to give up and will persevere for that coveted pumpkin cup next year!! Third place went to another first time entrant Sandra Sabau with her double trouble Pumpkin G. This entry utilized a mirror reflection and some excellent carving skills to get that special effect. Well done Sandra...

So a huge thanks to all the judges, especially those who responded promptly! Had we not been waiting for one judge, who I suppose shall remain unnamed, we could have posted the winner a couple of days ago, but he has now officially missed the deadline and been disqualified. Yes, we are sticklers for the rules with the judges and carvers alike.  Someone has to be when people seem to make a sport out of breaking them! So here is what the judges had to say this year. Some of these really cracked me up. See if you can guess who the winner was before looking at the next post... A  The “Apple Macintosh” pumpkin. This was a good, simple carving job and very timely as Steve Jobs recently passed away, however we could not find the funny in it. Pumpkin A: Clever and a nice photo too. Are you implying that Apple is going to self-destruct without Steve Jobs? Perhaps you’re confusing Apple with Blackberry, both fruits I know, so it can be a little confusing. A: It...

Well while we love people that carve pumpkins WAY more than average people, we are still firm on the rules to even the playing field. So we would like to thank everyone who participated, who slaved over their orange ball of fun, who spent hours mulling over what to carve and then threw it all away by not reading the rules. And we would like to thank the Academy, and of course our fans. We love you. But seriously, no foreign objects people! And no repeats of previously entered pumpkins! The world is your oyster, there are so many pumpkins out there to be carved. I hope you'll all come back next year.

Time to take your coffee break, gather your friends and coworkers around your glowing monitor and pass judgement on this year's FUNNY PUMPKINS! We have 15 official entries this year (Pumpkins A to O), all quite varied, and most of them funny. Four of the best however did not quite get past the co-chairs this year (XXX). We are tough on rules, sorry if your feelings are hurt. Many return entrants this year, but some newbies as well. Most exciting I think is that we are guaranteed to have a new Champion this year as Chris was unable to find to time to carve a masterpiece this year, and didn't want to hurt his reputation by entering something below par. Really I think the three-peat would have just been impossible with the tough theme this year and he was scared. Maybe that should be next year's theme... Chicken? Enjoy folks and we'll let you know when the results are in! Leanne and Sarah

So to get you all warmed up for the upcoming posts of funny pumpkins here is one brought to you all the way from the USofA! That is one pimped out gourd wouldn't you say?! Thanks Brenda and Harriet for passing that on. Well we have 18 entries this year, many of which are new comers with undiagnosed attention deficit disorder I believe, or maybe just an unwillingness to read the fine print. So while we figure out which pumpkin carvers have crossed the line enjoy this one;0