Happy Halloween: The story behind Google's 1,000-pound pumpkins

Happy Halloween, says Google in its pumpkin-carving video. Here's the story behind the YouTube doodle and those massive Halloween jack-o'-lanterns.

Happy Halloween, everyone. What better way to celebrate this spooky occasion than with some massive pumpkins? The Google doodle team picked out six enormous gourds for its special video tribute. Just how big are those pumpkins? Some were more than half a ton!

"To celebrate Halloween this year, the doodle team wanted to capture that fascinating transformation that takes place when carving a pumpkin," writes Sophia Foster-Dimino, a Google doodler. "Instead of picking up a few pumpkins from the grocery store, however, we decided to work on six giant pumpkins, specially delivered from nearby Half Moon Bay (some weighing well over 1,000 pounds)."

Google's largest tipped the scales at 1,298 pounds. Even after scooping out the seeds, the team estimates that the walls of the "L" pumpkin were six inches thick.

The team carved them smack-dab in the middle of Google's campus in Mountain View, Calif. The process took eight hours.

Check out the behind-the-scenes video below.

Ms. Foster-Dimino's blog post also reflected on the curious connotations of Halloween.

"When I was a little kid, Halloween seemed like the most grown-up holiday of all," she writes. "For one thrilling night of the year, I got to stay up late trick-or-treating, watch scary movies with my friends, and wield sharp and pointy objects (safety first, of course!) while carving a macabre face into a pumpkin. Now that I'm older, my perspective on Halloween has shifted a bit. It’s now the holiday that most celebrates a childlike sense of wonder and amazement."

While Google has celebrated Halloween with a doodle several years in a row now, this is one of the few video doodles. The search engine used video to great effect in its John Lennon tribute. It also poked a little fun with a video honoring Charlie Chaplin. 

The Blue Inc

Pool, Shuffle board, and the World Series

Co-workers from Blue Inc Schaumburg hung out last evening for some competitive festivities. While watching game 6 of the World Series, they played several rounds of pool and shuffle board. The crowd was pretty split between Cardinals fans and Texans cheerleaders (really because they are Cubs fans and they can't like the Cardinals), only breaking their eyes from the big screen to quickly make their moves. Heckling ensued between the two groups of fans as the game went in to extra innings. Account representatives Bryan Yoder and Mike Paulson showcased their pool skills while Daniel Webster commanded the shuffle board table, putting many to shame. Who knew shuffle board could be so competitive? Excitement rose as the baseball game went to the 11th inning and Freese ended the game, making the Cardinals fans slightly smug and really excited they had another chance to win the World Series.

Stay tuned for next week for another fun filled friends and family night extravaganza! Go Cards!!

Halloween Party!

This year is Blue is hosting it's first ever Halloween Party!  We're going to be having it on Saturday, October 29th.  We love any excuse to have a party.  So far the costumes are sounding pretty inventive.  Stay tuned for more to come...

The Great Pumpkin!

Great fun was had at a friends and family event on Thursday night.  The co-workers of Blue, Inc. Schaumburg held a pumpkin carving contest that displayed everyone's artistic talents.  Their competitive spirits came out full stop seeing who could design the best looking pumpkin- they ranged from the classic spooky ghosts and haunted houses, the more intricate Chucky and Snoop Dogg, and the sporty Bulls, Bears, and UNC logos. 

Tensions mounted as they announced the winner, but it was clear that Account Rep Ashley had won with her clever sick pumpkin! Everyone loved the tilted hat and spewed pumpkin guts that looks slightly like a South Park character...

Stay tuned for our next friends and family event!!!