halloween teaser

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richard simmons needs you

Crazed exercise Deal-a-Mealer Richard Simmons is planning on hitting the pavement this Halloween, and he wants his public to decide his costume. To enter, one has to register on his official website -- with the winner getting a month of free access to his "Club House." Sweatin' to the Oldies!

Most people dream about undressing celebrities, but in this case, it seems highly appropriate that the contest is to clothe Richard Simmons.

qotd

Have you figured out what your (or your kids') Halloween costume will be this year? What's it going to be?

carve 'em, eat 'em, chuck 'em?

Halloween's most famous symbol (except maybe the white-sheet ghost) has several uses: front-porch prop, tasty fall vegetable, and carving medium. But chucking pumpkins is becoming a popular activity as well. And this is some serious chucking: The World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest last year attracted 50,000 spectators and 100 teams.

So what is pumpkin chucking? More than just tossing the orange vegetable, the "sport" incorporates launching machines like air compressors, catapults, centrifugal machines that spin the pumpkins before hurling them, and trebuchets. The contest's record for distance was set in 2003, when a pumpkin flew 4,434 feet.

Other chucking contests include:
Pumpkin Chuckin in Moab, Utah, Oct. 27.
The Bristol Pumpkin Festival, Bristol, Conn., Oct. 28. Contestants are invited to power their pumpkins with "springs, rubber bands, air, muscle, centrifugal force, brute strength, power architecture and bicycles."
Pumpkin-chucking weekend, Nov. 3-4, in Ellicott City, Md.
Pumpkin Chuck, Nov. 3, in Cincinnati's Stanbery Park. Oil up your sling and see how far your pumpkin can go!

One for the Road: Ghost Hunter's Guides

Halloween Rituals Around the World

MSN's 10 Places to Get Spooked

that's a lotta seeds

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - An Oregon man won the annual pumpkin weigh-off here, presenting a gigantic gourd that came it at 1,524 pounds. Thad Starr, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., set a contest record with the pumpkin. He'll get $6 a pound, bringing his winnings to $9,144.

"It's the thrill of the victory," Starr said after his pumpkin came out on top. "And it's the fruition of a year's work."

About 80 contestants competed for the first-place prize, according to festival officials.

Pumpkins were lowered by forklift onto a 5-ton capacity digital scale monitored by officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office.

The top five pumpkins at the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival will remain on display throughout the week.

The 2006 winner weighed in at 1,223 pounds, officials said.

i knew walmart was a scary place, but...

A North Texas mother said a Wal-Mart Halloween display gave her three daughters nightmares.

Adriana Whitney, of Hurst, said she and her daughters saw the life-size Halloween decoration while grocery shopping.

"It looked like a real, live monster," 4-year-old Grace Whitney said.

The display, complete with a gory head that popped off, was by Wal-Mart's front door. Adriana Whitney said she didn't expect to see something like it while shopping for groceries. She said it was too much for her three young daughters, the youngest of whom is 20 months old.

"At this age, you cannot explain that this is a toy, that's not real," Whitney said.

Whitney said her daughters had nightmares after seeing the decoration and couldn't sleep in their rooms.

"They had to sleep in my room because they were so scared," she said.

Wal-Mart moved the display from near the front door to an aisle with other Halloween items
after Whitney complained. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the decoration will remain in the Halloween section.