Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Pumpkins!

Large gourds at the State Fair, some giant...
I think the monster taking up a whole pallet on the left there was fourth runner-up and Miss Congeniality in the albino gourd competition.
 ...and some sculpted...
I don't know if you can make it out, but Frankenstein's Pumpkin has little pumpkin-stem arms and, yes, that's a strand of pumpkin meat he's stitching himself up with.
 ...and some giant AND sculpted.
That's the artist in the background. Ray Villafane was selling little kits with everything you need to carve pumpkins just like him! (Massive artistic talent and surgeon-like manual dexterity not included.)

9 comments:

John said...

Artistic talent at the Faire has come a long way from the Potholder Queen and best John Deere paint job on a kid's wagon. Not that I would turn down a nice Deere wagon, mind you.

Charlie Foxtrot said...

I'm pretty sure the first pumpkin is carved in the image of Jimmah Carter. Possibly after the much needed brain-transplant.

LCB said...

Wow. Awesome pics...thanks for sharing.

blindshooter said...

Off topic, I think the AMA flat trackers are coming to the IN state fair grounds this weekend. If I were close I'd have to see it. I've seen and even competed in 1/2 mile races but never a mile track. 140mph on a flat one mile oval has gotta be a show. I think the Indie mile was the last race Kenny Roberts rode a TZ750 before HD had the AMA put a stop to them.

Will said...

And Kenny was damn glad they did ban that bike. As he said: "they don't pay me enough to ride that thing".

JB Miller said...

I use to love going to the county fairs as a kid.

I gotta go next year!

Talitha said...

Yeah. I grew up where nearly everybody had an interesting hobby, and showed it off at the fair. Though those pumpkins are truly something special. Maybe I'm strange...but even the tractor pulls were interesting because there was always some old guy with this beautifully restored obscure and yet wildly complex farming equipment, with a nicer paint-job than was ever imagined by it's originators. Some say it's because internet is pretty scarce up there, and sometimes, doing a map of the US (complete with freeways and patchwork borders) in a quilt, or raising prize lop eared rabbits, is what keeps you sane when you can't leave your house for two to three weeks because the snow has covered up the door on the first floor of your house. Even if you can get out the door on the second floor, the car is pretty well buried.

Frankly, all nerds have their hobbies, and rural folk aren't any stupider than anyone else. They just have interests that relate to their traditions and families that city nerds might find... bewilderingly exotic. :P

Anonymous said...

Nice pumpkins but can Frankie sing "Putting on the Ritz"?

Rich

drjim said...

Only if you put him in a top hat and tails.....