Results of the 2011 Pumpkin Carving Contest

The results are in. It was a close race, but not really. Three of the four parts scored nearly the same. There was, however, one stand out part which really made a difference in the contest; the nose which was the consensus fourth-best part, scoring about half as much as the other parts. The results:

Who made each part?

Graig: Left Eye and Nose

Dan: Right Eye (crying eye) and Mouth


The scores:

Right Eye (Dan) - 69
Left Eye (Graig) - 66
Mouth (Dan) - 60
Nose (Graig) - 35

The totals:

Dan - 129
Graig - 101


The prize:

1 Milkshake*


The face Graig made when he found out he lost:





*Milkshake must be purchased with your own money.

2011 Pumpkin Carving Contest

The 34th annual Graig vs. Dan pumpkin carving contest is back. Please take a look at the pumpkin in the photos below, and then vote by ranking your favorite parts in the suvey. Graig carved 2 of the pumpkin features, and then Dan carved the other 2.

Remember, Halloween is the one holiday that really brings people together.




Click here to take survey

2010 Pumpkin Results

Well, the votes have been cast, the pumpkin has been sold to charity, and a winner has been determined. The winner of the 2010 Pumpkin Carving Contest is Graig. He did the Mouth and the Left Eye. An official tally is below.



Graig's Mouth scored 130, and his Left Eye scored 82. Dan's Right Eye scored 87, and his Nose scored 91. Graig's total was 212, and Dan's was 178.

Graig had both the best and worst features. But Dan had the mediocrest features, with is a pretty good achievement too. In hindsight, perhaps Dan's campaign slogan, "The nose isn't a witch. It's you!", was a poor choice.

It's Back - The 20th* Annual Graig vs Dan Pumpkin Carving Contest. In case you're new to this, Graig and Dan each carve 2 of the features on the pumpkin. Who carved what won't be revealed until after voting is complete (this is to prevent any of our enemies from corrupting the vote).

Please take a look at both pictures of the pumpkin and consider both the dark and light conditions. Determine your ranking for the features, and then vote in the handy (and hopefully fool-proof) poll below.


* Number of years has been doubled for dramatic affect.

Candle light

Front Shot

Mouth

Nose

Right Eye

Left Eye

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Who's the big winner?

After a lengthy voting period and with an extensive recount, demanded by the losing party, the pumpkin voting has officially closed and been tallied. The big winner this year were the kids in my neighborhood who got to see the pumpkin as it was perched on our lawn. The other big winner was myself, with a dominating eye-carving performance that was received nearly 33% more points than any other carving. My vision for the eye matched what voters were looking for in a pumpkin.

The final tally was:

A-left eye (Graig): 94 points

B-right eye (Dan): 62 points

C-nose (Graig): 56 points

D-mouth (Dan): 60 points

Total Points:

Graig – 150

Dan – 122

From the start, the left eye wowed the audience with its awesomeness. All the other parts, mired in mediocrity, fought for second place. Coming down to the last three votes, the mouth came from behind to sneak the bronze from the nose.

Next year’s competition will be fierce and hopefully the results will be tallied more quickly. It didn’t help that many ballots had hanging pumpkin seeds, making it difficult to discern voter intention.

9th Annual Awesome Pumpkin Carving Contest

It is time for the 9th Annual Pumpkin Carving contest. To date, the record is Dan winning 4-2-2 with many votes still under protest. The rules are as follows: The first picture indicates the possible parts; A, B, C and D. You can list your favorite parts in order from most favorite to least favorite.

For example, if I liked the right eye, then left eye, then nose and then mouth my vote would be A, B, C and D. If you liked the mouth, nose, left eye and right eye your vote would be D, C, B and A.

We have included pictures with natural (aka kitchen) light and candle light. Please take into account both pictures before casting your votes. Please vote carefully.

Tonski, Senator, Monkey Car, Mystikal Tarantula, BK, Murdock, and Bustin Steel

43 Fo Life

There are apparently some big Carson fans in Bloomington.

Dinner

Sometimes when you are a father, you really need to set a good example about what you can eat for dinner. For example, I want to make sure that Jeremy knows I eat a healthy mixture of vegetables, starches, protein and rice. Yes, rice is its own food group. On the Fourth of July, since Dan ruined all our traditions by going to a wedding, I had to improvise.

Traditionally, a group of us walk around Indianapolis to build up our hunger, then we go eat 1 pound hamburgers and french fries, then we walk that off, stop by the fancy Marriott visit their lobby and other facilities, walk around some more, have milk shakes delivered, walk around again, then watch fireworks.

In order to make up for a lack of 1 pound hamburger, I had to show Jeremy how a real dinner should be made. It starts with 4-5 brownies in a bowl. Add Angel Food cake, four scoops of ice cream, drizzle on some fresh strawberries and add the hot fudge. Top it off with whip cream, chocolate chips and some Hershey chocolate bar pieces.

Below, Amy faithfully photographically documented my Fourth of July dinner.

Tom approves.

Big Ten Tournament

Graig, Dan, Julie Johnstone, Matt (of milkshake delivery fame), Coach, Kramer's mom, and probably Michael Jordan all went to the Big Ten (formerly Shmig Ten) Tournament. It was very exciting.

First up was Illinois vs Michigan. Illinois won very easily, it only took about 10 minutes. For some reason, they kept playing. We all made friends with a psychopath from Illinois, then he almost killed us, then he got up and left. More importantly, giant hot dogs were eaten by all (even those who snuck off to eat them when they thought nobody was looking). Then all of a sudden, Graig invented bacon meatloaf, which is probably one of the best inventions ever.

It's important to use your laser-vision when taking on a giant hot dog.

Next up was Purdue vs Penn State. Penn State didn't have a lot of fans there. It wasn't their fault, though, because they never knew that the tournament keeps going after the Thursday games. Purdue won, it was their first Big Ten Tournament win at Conseco. Some of the highlights included Kramer dunking (without getting a concussion), coach probably getting interviewed for an upcoming issue of Playgirl, and Kramer's mom yelling a lot. We all had a lot of fun. And then on the way out we we might have been propositioned by a prostitute, which was really awkward.

In a rare moment of not yelling.

Looking good, coach.

Cracklin' Rosie

Back in 2002 Dan tried to set the world record of breaking into his neighbors' townhouse (we were friends so it was ok). Since there was no previous recorded time, it was going to be pretty simple to set the record, so old friend Matt, one of the Neighbor's boyfriends, set a time of five minutes (or so, I'm rusty on the memory) for Dan to break-in. Matt mainly wanted to get into the house so he could hangout. He had been locked out by Brianne because she was out doing something.

Dan, determined as ever, climbed through the Pienad ceiling and went right through the firewall, which had a nice whole cut through it to make fires spread more easily. He was well on his way to coming down and opening the door in well under two and a half minutes when he decided to hot dog it. Dan jumped down the last 5 or more steps and in the process tore his ACL. After he collapsed, he had to crawl to the door to unlock it, since we couldn't get in to help him. Once the door was open, Matt immediately stepped over Dan to go eat Doritos. I being, the good friend that I was looked at him, then I tried to help him up. Dan was having none of that.

Six years later, after saying he would have surgery for the last three years, Dan had surgery on Cracklin' Rosie. For more information on how that went, visit www.lubsenfamily.blogspot.com. Craklin' Rosie is dead, long live Cracklin' Rosie.

Update: Dan wanted to add that in addition to his torn ACL, he also bruised his pride.

Wooden Tradition

There was a big scare at the traditional Wooden Tradition this year. We always eat giant hot dogs while we watch Purdue play. We went to Hounds By The Pound, which is one of the city's finest restaurants, to buy our traditional giant footlong hotdogs. But when we got there it was closed! We were pretty upset. Graig tried to convince an usher to let us work at the hot dog stand in exchange for hot dogs. She laughed becuase she didn't know that he was serious.



Luckily after searching the entire arena, we were able to find giant hot dogs somewhere else and the day was saved. We were all really happy, especially Bryan who had a big smile. Also Purdue won.

Pumpkin Carving Contest Results

After nearly two months the results of the annual pumpkin carving contest have been compiled, recounted, challenged, recounted again, and finally decided. For the first time ever, there is a tie. After hearing that the contest resulted in a tie, Graig said "I never even knew that that was in the rulebook,'' he said. "It's part of the rules, and we have to go with it. I was looking forward to the next opportunity to get out there and try to win the contest.'' Dan still leads the series with a record of 13-4-1.

Baby Graimy

Big news. Graig's wife had a baby. This is a regular baby, not a coincidental baby like the one JFC an Kerri had. His name is Carson Pacey Lubsen. He is 4 pounds, 43 ounces, and he is 43 cm long. His hobbies include getting tossed up in the air and dangled over lofts. If you would like to get Carson a present for his birthday his wish list includes: season tickets to Golden Corral, a junior sized Sports implement, and camouflage diapers (to help him get ready for Wisconsin).

2008 Pumpkin Carving Contest

Traditionally Graig and Dan have a pumpkin carving contest. It's been going on for the last 43 years or so. This is the first year that most (not all) voting will be done through email.

Each contestant has carved 2 of the 4 features (each of us has done an eye, and one of us did the mouth, the other did the nose). Please look at both of the pictures below and rank the parts 1-4 (1 is the best, 4 is the worst). Please email your rankings to Graig and Dan. We'll add up all the scores and determine the winner.

Bacon Burger Dogs

Graig made Bacon Burger Dogs. It's a pretty complicated recipe, but I'll try to explain. Vienna Beef hot dog + ground beef + bacon = awesome deliciousness. I had been wanting to try one ever since I was a kid. It was great.