Underwater Pumpkin Carving for Halloween 2009...

Every year in Guam I join the annual underwater pumpkin carving competition put on by Guam Tropical Dive Station. This may sound odd. And it is. I bet you have no idea just how boyant a pumpkin is. Try diving with one and you will. When I rented my gear I asked for 20 lbs of weights. In scuba diving, that's a lot. Someone behind me said, "Sounds like someone needs to go to buoyency class..."

The rules state that you can not make ANY cuts into your pumpkin above water. Once you are out, however, you can dry and decorate the pumpkin as you wish. So even though this is an uderwater pumpkin carving competition, you'll see some very creative pumpkins that could obviously not have been completely constructed under the sea.

In the past, I have always done well. I don't usually win for the most creative pumpkin, but I do win a thing or two in the raffels that follow. Anna and I have a tradition of winning a hotel stay. We didn't want to ruin the streak. Even though Anna doesn't do a pumkin and does not dive, she still has fun with the competition too.

The previous years I've done impressive technological feats. My first year I made a Nintendo Game Pumpkin, Hallo-Wii-n Edition. I didn't win. The next year I did a techie computer with a working DVD drive, speakers and screen, and it was playing "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

My losing 2007 Underwater Pumpkin Carving Entry

Again, I lost. The winners are usually fish or underwater themed. So, I decided not to do a techie pumpkin. But I just don't have any interest in doing a fish pumpkin in an underwater pumpkin carving competition where the prize is for the most original. That's like awarding the most original haircut to a bald guy. Being the 17th annual, we've seen enough "original" fish themed pumpkins over the years.

So I decided to do a pumpkin showing another passion of mine, The Simpsons. I saw a few Simpsons pumpkins others had done and I wasn't impressed. And the pumpkin the dive shop gave me didn't lend itself to ideas I had for Simpsons charachters. Also, I was off island for work until the night before. So at 10:30pm the night before, I was looking at a blank pumpkin with no ideas.

I decided that I wanted to make it a pumpkin that would be easier to assemble than my last entries. I began to think of simple charecters, people or icons that had a distinct image that would be recognizable on a 2D, monochrome surface. Then it hit me; I needed an 8-bit Mario!

I found the perfect pixelated Mario for my pumkin carving needs. Then I cut out a 1/2 inch square of cardboard and did a bit-for-bit copy of that Mario. An hour or so later I had my template.

The next morning, I showed up at the dock ready to carve. After an hour at 15 feet deep I came out with an ugly and incomprehensible pumpkin. Even though I knew what I was doing I couldn't tell what it was.



Anna and I dried it off and went to work cleaning it up and finding a way to make it a bit more distuingishable. I wanted to stay true to the monochrome and 2D look, so I decided rather than use color, I'd just get a nice black marker and create this.

Making the top a 1-up mushroom was a late edition but a good enhancement.

As I was placing the pumpkin out for dispaly I wondered if anyone would get it. So I make up a quick and easy sign so people would hopefully get it. Not a good sign if you have to explain your pumpkin.

There are actually three categories to enter. The best prize is a free diving trip for two to Australia and since that goes to most creative, that's the one I and most others enter.

These are some other entries for MOST CREATIVE.

Bowling

Home Sweet Home

Clow fish (I think this should have won)

Fish on the hook

In a surprise and dissapointing judgement call (to all but the one person), the above pumpkin of a fish caught on a hook acutally won. I can see why the judges stay anonymous.

This is the FUNNIEST:

The Cat in the Hat

I don't know if the kid called this anything, but it won a dive trip for two to Chuuk.

Here are the entries for SCARRIEST:

Freaky Clown

Organ Harvesting

Angler Fish

Witch

Spier. The winning pumpkin and owner of a free dive trip for two to Palau

So, I didn't win the pumpkin, and some winners were a bit of an upset. At least I will win something in the raffel drawings, right? Nope. Some people won 3-4 times and we got nothing, nada, bumpkis. It was disapointing day. And despite the multiple loses of the day, I still had a good time and and am still proud of my humble 8-bit Mario pumpkin.