This past weekend at the Ione Celtic faire I won the Pumpkin games and as such was Crowed with the title of “Lord of the Gourd”. These games consisted of “The pumpkin Toss” a 5 pound pumpkin thrown for distance, where my longest toss was just over 64 feet. We then competed in Pumpkin Archery, firing at 3 pumpkins at 25 paces each assigned a different point value. Finally a Pumpkin carving contest with a 15 minute time limit. At the end of all 3 there was a tie between myself and Steve Moore (Of Myth & Magic) He and I took 3 more tosses where I out threw him by 2 1/2 Inches. Winning the title and a flowing robe of green and Pumpkin yellow and a staff topped with Gourds and pumpkin vines. I then reined over the rest of that days faire and all the next. Yet that is not what this tale is about...
Before and in-between the contests I was running the Pumpkin Catapult for Rusty Sword productions, The double, industrial strength spring loaded catapult, could throw a 2-5 lb pumpkin nearly 150 feet! All Saturday we were sending Pumpkins down range and watching them splatter and send seeds everywhere... Now here is the stupid part, on Sunday during tear down I was told by members of the crew that they had never had a chance to see the Catapult in action so we all walked down to the range and launched a few into the moonlight, While this was fun it was not as spectacular as I thought it should be... so I took one of the pumpkins from the carving contest and filled it with tiny pieces of news paper and added a few splashes of Lamp oil and set it alight then sent it spinning into the night... tiny pieces tailed like sparklers as it flew... to the Ohhs and Ahhs of the crew... Then the Lunacy began... I thought I would go down range PAST where they were falling and see what the looked like when they hit. 4 shots where fired each falling 10 to 15 feet from me a few seeds striking us (My step son had joined me) one piece of gourd actually rolled up and stopped against my boot. I took a few steps forward and called out for “One Last shot” I then took out my cell phone and started to film the final shot, I now have a great sound Bite (As the Moonlight was not enough to film by) of the sound of the Pumpkin soaring threw the air and Devin's voice crying out “Oh Shit” as it hit me on the left side of my forehead and face. That's right Boys and Girls On Sunday Night at approximately 8PM I took a 4 pound Pumpkin traveling at nearly 50 feet per second to the face. I now have a Black eye, a few new scars and when I feel my skull I feel 2 new ridges under the skin. I guess this means I was officially "crowned" Lord of the Gourd.
RenFaire Jackass the Movie, coming to theaters near you soon, produced and directed by Rusty Sword Productions