Halloween is supposed to be a bit of a weird holiday. But it just got a WHOLE lot weirder. This year's so-weird-you-can't-make-it-up trend? The Trumpkin. Jack-o-lantern artists all over the country are carving the presidential candidate's countenance in pumpkin. Have a look at a couple that are trending now:

Mark my words: you'll see a lot of Trumpkins out tomorrow night. Some will be painted instead of carved. Or some combination of both. Mixed media Trumpkins sport fake hair, eyes, hats and more. In fact, there are SO many of the Things out there (just Google #Trumpkin), it's hard to choose the best. But the folks over at SportsGrid.com have made their choice:

Ms. Hawk's creation took home top honors because she, "Used every bit of the pumpkin to make her creation." It is an entirely sculpted piece, without use of paints or toupees. Of course, art is completely subjective. But you have to admit: any artist who can sculpt a convincing combover out of pumpkin...that's pretty impressive.

While lots of people are already tired of Trumpkins clogging up their social media feeds, I'm enjoying them. Don't worry, Things will go back to normal and the Trumpkin will soon be displaced by LOL Cats and Dog Shaming. The way I see it, everyThing will be okay — as long as Starbucks doesn't start offering a Trumpkin Spice Latte.

Happy Halloween! See you next week,
Bobby

Wednesday was THE day for Back to the Future fans. In case you don't recall, November 21, 2015 was the day Marty McFly and Doc Brown landed in a very different world than the one they knew.

Turns out, it's pretty different from the one we know today, too. But there are a few Things from the movie that we recognize in everyday life now.

• Drones: Yep. Seems everyone has them now. In fact, the skies are getting so busy with drone activity that the government is considering forcing some drone owners to register the Things.
• Wearable Technology: Remember Marty's self-lacing shoes? Nike is set to release their "Mag" shoe sometime in 2016.
• Video Phones: FaceTime, Skype and other video chatting software made the phone calls of the future a Thing of today.
• Video Glasses: While Google has stopped selling their glasses for now, this technology is improving every day. It won't be long before the glasses replace cell phones and tablets as the main medium for ignoring your parents.
• Hoverboards: While not yet constructed as shown in the movie, hoverboards that move over conductive surfaces are a real Thing now.

To celebrate "Back to the Future Day", get out and fly your drone, do some "old school" skateboarding or just hang around and watch the entire trilogy.

See you in the near future,
Bobby

Now, I know we're all pretty much sick of politics already. And with the presidential election still a year out, we've already been bombarded with left and right foolishness for months and months and months. And months.

But here's a political tale that you just can't make up.

Randy Richardson agreed to run for school board in Riceville, Iowa only because he has two kids in school. He ran unopposed and on election day there were no write-ins. Yet Mr. Richardson failed to get a single vote. Not even HE voted for himself.

Richardson claimed he was just too busy to get to the polls on September 8. When other members of his community were asked by the The Des Moines Register why they didn't cast a ballot, the citizens of the mostly farming community said they had too much fieldwork that day. (Vote by mail, anyone?)

Since the vote was 0 to nothing, the other board members appointed Richardson to the position and that was that.

Sounds a lot easier than what we'll be up against next year.

Today is Curious Events Day. It's a totally made-up holiday. One of the most curious Things about it? No one knows who started it. But that shouldn't stop you from pondering the Mysteries of the Universe. Or at least the Curiosities of Life on Earth.

In celebration, let's ponder some of life's most Curious Things:

1. Does the Loch Ness Monster really exist?
2. Are crop circles made by aliens, people or some other worldly or otherworldly force.
3. Does curiosity really kill cats?
4. Is the entire world run by an alien race?
5. Does anyone really have ESP? 
6. What's really going on in the Bermuda Triangle?
7. How was Stonehenge created?
8. Did a UFO really land at Roswell?
9. Do ghosts exist?

What are you curious about? What makes you wonder? Honor this curious holiday by pondering all Things unexplained, unknown and curious.

See you next week,
Bobby

How would you like a little snake with your garden walk? Or how about a huge snake? Or maybe 27 huge rattlesnakes?

That's what the visitors at Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan face with their daily dose of foliage. See, the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes is protected by state law so the park's benevolent overseers decided to populate the park with about 27 of the rattlers.

Despite the fact that the park posted warning signs about the bitey beasts slithering about the gardens, surprise, surprise: people are getting bitten. The last was a woman who apparently took off her shoes to walk in the lush grass.

Now I'm all for conservation, but this silliness begs the question: while the park's staff is protecting the snakes, who's protecting the humans? Turning a garden walk into terror-inducing episode of "Wild Kingdom" in which you're chased and bitten by wild animals doesn't seem like a good way to attract visitors. Unless they're rattler wranglers!

For now, keep your shoes on in the garden. I'll see you next week,
Bobby

It's funny enough that the topic of jokes is a subject of serious academic study. That the academics can't agree on the "first joke ever" or even when humans developed humor is downright hilarious. There's nothing quite as funny as watching a couple of educated fools argue over such a silly Thing.

The University of Wolverhampton says the first joke was a fart joke (awesome!) dating back to the ancient Sumerians. It's told in the form of a proverb and it's thought to date back to 1,900 BC or earlier. It goes like this: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

Personally, I like the idea that the first joke was a fart joke, but I have to admit, that one doesn't fall so humorously on modern ears.

Some believe that human joking went a lot further back, insisting that even cave men told jokes. This conclusion is based on a study of the Baka tribe, a primitive hunter-gatherer society, which today remains much like their cave-dwelling ancestors.  The study revealed that the Baka are "funny, sarcastic, kind, sad, up for a bit of gossip" and not afraid of "taking the piss out of people." (Mocking or ridiculing someone.)

Back then, people made fun of farts, sex, each other and nearby villages. The poor made fun of the rich and the rich made fun of the poor. Political and romantic rivals made fun of each other to better their odds in contest. That's the most interesting Thing about the "scientific inquiry" into humor: it reveals our ancient ancestors laughed at the same Things we laugh at today.

See you next week,
Bobby

The Syfy channel is doing it again! For the eighth year in a row, they'll serve up 31 Days of Halloween starting on Oct. 1st!

I Am Legend, Orphan, and Insidious: Chapter 2 make their premieres on Syfy this year, which is totally cool. But we'll also get the staples we look forward to including Texas Chainsaw Massacre (a classic), Underworld (visually stunning), The Fog and Cabin In The Woods (totally creepy), The Omen remake (better than the original), and The Last Exorcism (classic sequel). Of course, there are tons more — I can't list them all, but I can watch them!

And there's more than horror: there's fake ghost hunting! On Wednesday, October 28 you can see special episodes of "Ghost Hunters" and "Paranormal Witness" back-to-back. For the full schedule, visit Syfy's web site.

Don't forget to look under the bed and check the closet before bed. See you next week,
Bobby