Hallowe'en is a Perfect Time for Making Skittlebrau

Okay, even though I have some great pumpkin suggestions now, I'm still having trouble deciding. Beetlejuice was a strong contender but I can't find enough good pics online at a decent size. At this rate, I'm gonna end up with something painfully easy just because I'm going to run out of time....I still have some tricks up my sleeve, though.

In the meantime -- do ya love The Simpsons? Or do you live with / spend massive amounts of time with an avid Simpsons fan who won't stop quoting weird words you don't understand? Check out this, a wikipedia compilation of all of the words the Simpsons writers have made up over the last 17 seasons. On a good day, I watch the show twice a day...and there are still some on there that I don't remember. Enjoy!

Bandwitch

Hey everyone, I'm carving a pumpkin for work and I need some help choosing what I'm going to do -- in fact, I have no freakin' idea.

So I'm looking for suggestions. The subject matter isn't really important, although it's better if it's current and recognizable by people of all ages. If I like your idea, I'll be sure to post a pic of the finished product here, so you'll get to see it in action. And if you're in the Ottawa area, I'll even reward your idea with a free pumpkin on Hallowe'en night...I won't need it after the potluck. Sounds good? Post a comment!

Check out some of my creations from 2002/2003 here. As for the ones from last year, they didn't come out well on film -- although I may still post them in all their blurry goodness.

Fix You

In a reboot, rebuild, refine kinda place. Here are some things that are smoothing out the waves right now:

• New Franz Ferdinand, new Broken Social Scene, new Metric, Bedouin Soundclash, Ivy, Feist....when do I find the time to listen to all this stuff? Workin' on it.
• A close friend seems to be doing much better after a bad brush-in with depression. I still don't know the whole story, but it seems things are getting more solid for him.
• Autumn weather. Kick ass. Bye-bye air conditioner, hello jacket and jeans.
• Finally saw Ted Leo and the Pharmacists in concert. But also found out I don't have nearly as much of their music as I thought I did...
• I went back to Kingston for Homecoming. All in all, I had a really good time (mostly thanks to GW's Kingston chapter, Sci 00 and Zoe's awesome friends) and caught Billy Talent in all their shrieky....well, shriekiness. There was a certain matter of a hailstorm of beer bottles, an overturned car and riot police that kinda put a damper on things on the Saturday night, however. I should have blogged about it, but what else can I say that hasn't been said (nationally)? I'll give a crib notes opinion, though: I think both sides were wrong, as much as I like a good street party. But that's kinda the point - it *wasn't* good. The students were boneheads for trashing their home turf and opening up their homes to booze-powered-anarchy, and the police didn't make matters any better with their militaristic posturing. I see it as a one fuels the other back and forth kinda thing. Here's to hoping next year's party won't be dampened *ahem* by police with water cannons. Play nice, students!
• I finished two games recently. Time to give the xbox a rest.
• Survivor, Amazing Race, and the Apprentice are back. I also found out that the families in Amazing Race left the US after all, despite appearances that they'd spend the whole show driving through the bible belt.
• I've made a personal commitment to spend more time doing things I want to do for myself. I guess blogging and photography have slid off the radar recently (along with everything else, short of keepin' on keepin' on), but I want to change that when my energy levels come back up again. Maybe I'll even paint?
• I'm gonna join a gym. A guym? Ohhhhhhh....a GUYM! Now all I need is someone with a gun against my head to make sure I actually do it.
• Road trip to Montreal comin' up soon.
• Fingers crossed on getting tix for Broken Social Scene at Capital tomorrow (decided to go too late). It's not looking good right now, though. Only unconventional avenues remain.