I have had a tough time keeping Cockeyed.com updated because all my free time has been spent working on my Halloween costume for this year.

I always have a bunch of pretty good ideas for elaborate costumes, but this year, the best idea came from my friend Mark Hamilton: The American Idol Judges. All three of them.

For the sake of balance, I'd have to sit in the center, and who sits in the center? Paula.

That first picture, with the garden hose around my neck, is how I visualized the shape of a curvy harness, able to keep a lot of weight up and in control.

I got a heat gun for Christmas, so bending PVC is easier than ever.

Bending PVC tubing is really fun. If I had more time, I think I could make a nice skeleton out of this stuff.

A hand, twisted out of coat-hanger wire.

The wire hand, fleshed out in newspaper and masking tape.

Building a strong, lightweight rectangular platform. Usually, if you find yourself using heavy-gauge steel deck brackets in your Halloween costume, you are doing something wrong. 

Making a surface out of corrugated plastic sheet.

 The tabletop in progress.

The tabletop and harness connected. 

This would be a pretty good way to start a poker, surgery or Rachel Ray costume.

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