Monday, December 22, 2008

WALL•E the Piñata

Before getting into the subject of this post, I must convey I neither support or condone the dangerous practice of the piñata. Teaching small children to beat things with bats can be extremely dangerous as the following testimonial shows.

We lost our beloved parrot, Polly, to pinata violence. A neighbor boy came by after a Pinata party and convinced our son Jon that Polly was filled with starburst candy. Jon beat poor Polly to death with a bat.
-Brenda Edelbrock

That being said, many of my memories of the "Brewer Christmas Party" revolve around the piñata. As children, my brothers and I dialed in our techniques to achieve maximum candy uptake. We would stay low to the ground (this also helps avoid getting a bat to the face as you dive in), slide on our stomaches, arms stretched as far as they would go, and scoop the candy into a pile. We would then transfer the pile to our ziplock bags as fast as possible. Another technique involved tucking your shirt in at the bottom and scooping the candy down it as you were sliding. This took a bit of practice to get just right.

This year, Goose and I had the assignment to build the piñata. We wanted to build something that would take the traditional newspaper piñata to the next level. Dan and I talked about adding some small explosives in strategic places. We could then detonate different parts of the piñata on demand. I guess this idea was vetoed by our better judgement.

WALL•E was born in my basement over the period of 2 weeks. This is no regular piñata as you can see. It took some serious design preparation and planning to get everything just right. The finishing touches were applied by hand to give him the worn and distressed look.

It seemed the kids were more excited to take home a piece of WALL•E than they were the candy. Here is a picture of the proud new owner of a robotic finger.

Yes, it was bitter sweet to see such a beautiful work of art come to an end.

10 comments:

  1. It's huge! I didn't imagine it would be that big. Great work. What a shame it had to be wrecked!

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  2. That's probably the most amazing pinata I've ever seen. Bravo! Congratulations! Good job! Encore! I can't wait to see what you come up with next, you little Wall•E-pinata-building-brother-in-law you.

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  3. I love the BREWERS! That is such a fun family tradition. Great hints to obtain the most candy Beau. You and Goose did made quite a fabulous creation. I hope Laura is feeling well and everything is going well with you two! Merry Christmas!

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  4. Too bad you're not Beau's mother-in-law. I get to enjoy his creativity all the time!!!!
    Way to go son. I can't believe you let people beat Wall-E to death. Sooo sad!

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  5. WALL*E has met his maker and I am very sad. I would love to have had him around for many years to come. Once again, he was beat to death by children who wanted candy....OH DEAR!!!! What are we teaching our little ones?
    It was wonderful to see so many kids have so much fun. I love you both. Mom

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  6. It really was amazing Beau! I wish I could've taken a crack at it.

    Next time you guys should ask him to do a life sized Lightning McQueen. I bet he'd do it.

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  7. Not only do you crack me up, but that Wall•E looks like something that Pixar made for you themselves. You guys are amazing!

    Happy New Year!

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  8. alright, I hate to keep razin' ya, but I gotta see that cute belly. If I have to wait till march for your shower I will cry! come on, you know it is the cutest thing ever.
    How is the name situation coming? MIss you guys. It's been tooo long.

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  9. heck of a party the other day cousins. I loved it and can't wait for our little bambino to emerge.

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  10. Hey just checkin in on you guys! I loved reminising on the skills of a great candy monger. I think I was up there with you BJ, Goose, Collin, Carson and the rest of the clan. Your pinata was amazing this year. What a work of art.

    How's Laura doing? You're getting closer to being a big daddy. I love you guys. Give Laura a hug for me. And don't bother checking my blog. I can't seem to get my act together to update. Love you.

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