The subject of this year's Memorial Jack-o-lantern is Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart (January 15, 1941 - December 17, 2010). Songwriter, vocalist, instrumentalist, and true rock innovator. Beefheart's wild and wide-ranging voice led The Magic Band through 12 studio albums, and inspired musicians ranging from Tom Waits to Beck to The Black Keys. To create the epic, iconoclastic double album Trout Mask Replica (produced by Frank Zappa), the band lived and rehearsed in a small house for eight months, often in dire conditions. Beefheart wore the head of a carp for the Cal Shenkel-designed album cover (it is a trout mask replica, after all), upon which this memorial jack-o-lantern is based.

You can see a time-lapse video of the carving on the Memorial Jack-o-lanterns page.

I was invited to carve pumpkins at the White House for Halloween this year. Headed by James Parker, a small team of carving experts from around the country created a haunted display for the White House lawn. My main contribution was a life-size skeleton emerging from the ground, carved from three white pumpkins. You can see more photos here.

We did it! Team Bling Bats, after winning six of the eight challenges, was chosen as the winner of Food Network's Halloween Wars. Big thanks to my incredible teammates Karen Portaleo and Susan Notter. Everyone worked so hard on this show, it was an honor to be around such talent. I discuss the show and all things pumpkin in this San Francisco Bay Guardian interview.

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My team, the Bling Bats, made it to the final round in Food Network's Halloween Wars! We're left to face Team Boo, with master pumpkin carver Ray Villafane, this Sunday. The grand finale airs Oct. 23, 9pm ET / 6pm & 9pm PT.

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I made a video invitation for the Industrial Light & Magic Halloween Party this year. It's a reverse time-lapse pumpkin carving. Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader... All carved into one pumpkin, no Photoshop trickery!

My team survived the first round and created this haunted swamp. Tune in tomorrow for the second episode of Halloween Wars on Food Network, 9pm ET / 6pm & 9pm PT. (image courtesy Food Network)

I've gone off to war. No, not with guns and bullets, but rather with knives and spoons upon a battlefield as spooky as it is delicious: the smoldering kitchens of the new Food Network show Halloween Wars.

I'm carving pumpkins on this new mini-series. Assigned to a team including a cake artist and a candy artist, I help create edible Halloween-themed displays by summoning my inner Edward Scissorhands against unsuspecting vegetables.

Four other teams of expert food artists oppose us. After four episodes, only one team will stand victorious with a bounty of $50,000.

The show is hosted by Justin Willman, and judged by cake decorator Shinmin Li and legendary concept artist Miles Teves. Special guest judges venture into the battlefield, including Jaime King, Scout Taylor-Compton, Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, and the one and only Rob Zombie.

Halloween Wars will premiere this Sunday, Oct. 2 at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network. The remaining episodes follow weekly: Oct. 9, Oct. 16, and the grand finale on Oct. 23 (plus reruns Wednesdays at 8pm).

Read more about it in this press release. If you haven't seen them before, here are my Memorial Jack-o-lanterns.

My friend officerfishdumplings posted some photos from the opening of my Faces show in Santa Cruz, Aug. 5, 2011.

This poster for Annie Hall references the iconic looks of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, as well as the lobster scene from the 1977 film.

Also, my Treatise realization is showing this month at Audiofoundation HQ in Auckland, New Zealand as part of the "Music in the Eye" graphic scores exhibition. Includes work by Lyell Cresswell, Phil Dadson, Mark Langford & Ivan Zagni.

I'll be showing some of my portraits in Santa Cruz for the August First Friday event in a couple weeks. It will include a bunch of pieces from my forensic artist days in NY that I've never exhibited before, including criminal suspect composites. The art will be showing all month, but I'll also have some of my Musical Anatomy drawings up just for the opening night. The excellent venue, Idle Hands Dry Goods, offers a bounty of great handmade and vintage clothing.

Faces
Friday, Aug. 5, 6-9pm
Idle Hands Dry Goods
803 Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA

I uploaded an electronic realization of Cornelius Cardew's massive graphic score, Treatise, that I made back in 2002. Sine waves are generated from the black areas of the score as it scrolls from right to left, with the y-axis corresponding to pitch. An imaginary vertical line in the center of the screen is the "sounding membrane". Cardew created Treatise in 1963-67. This fairly literal realization is fifteen minutes long, which you may find maddening or mesmerizing.

Here's a poster I made for a screening of The Silence of the Lambs.

Here's a poster I made for a screening of the Luc Besson film, The Professional. It almost makes it look like a wacky romantic comedy.