Big Media wins again

Well, they got me again.  Just like they do every year.
See, I'm not such a fast learner.  You all know this about me.  I know this about myself...yet, it happens again.Several times a year I see a deal or competition that I believe I can win something from.  Don't get me wrong, i'm not ridiculous.  I don't believe im going to win the lottery, and i don't believe that anything is a "sure thing"; but when I see a competition that actually has design or art built into it, I figure I at least have a fighting chance.

There have probably been 3 of these learning experiences this year between Tshirt designs, art contests and now pumpkin carving.
Just before Halloween the Canucks post on facebook that they are giving away game tix for the best carved pumpkin with a canucks theme.  We hadn't yet carved our pumpkin, so why not, right?  Well...many of you also know that i also don't go small on these things, so fast forward three days (really three sleepless nights) spent carving johnny canuck into the side of a pumpkin and here we are.

The home stretch ended much like any other stress-free attempt at doing something creative...
My sleep-depraved eyes trying to focus in the dimply lit room at 3am just enough to make sure i slice through pumkin with the razor sharp Xacto blade rather than the flesh of my finger.  Just as i'm feeling like the pumpkin is close enough (or at least that i need to give up and get some sleep before work in the morning) i set it down on the makeshift coffee table i constructed for art projects and try to remember where the camera is.
Before i can get off the couch the pumkin (which i apparently sat way too close to edge) tips the table over, flies toward the floor and sends my cocktail, melting candle wax and Xacto blades hurling past my head and across the room.  Carnage.  Between the noise and my inevitable cursing Jen wakes up and watches me stumble around the room trying to clean up the mess and take my photo of (whats left of) the pumpkin.

I wake up the next day and peek at facebook and the chosen finalists only to realize what i knew before starting the carving...that im a sucker and big media always wins.
You see, media doesnt win by giving tickets to jen and i, they succeed by giving tickets to one of the many 7 year olds who attempted hacking a "C" or the number of their favorite player into the side of a pumpkin (or the one kid who apparently wasn't allowed to use the plastic knife and was forced to draw a canuck logo on the side of his deformed little pumpkin with a sharpie).  By giving things to the kids and their family, they ensure that additional tickets get purchased, that more money gets spent of food and bevvies during the game, and that more jerseys get sold during intermission.  It also doesn't hurt that the photo of the winner is a cute 7 year old rather than a sleep deprived bald guy with xacto sliced fingers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter.  I actually enjoy the process... im just not sure why i keep buying in.
On the upside...at least my creativity was used for something.  I'm going to go put the table back together and start a painting.