There’s a Meaning Behind Those Purple Pumpkins

If you notice a purple pumpkin sitting on someone’s porch this Halloween, it may be more than just a decoration.

It could be part of the Purple Pumpkin Project, which uses purple pumpkins to raise awareness and support for people living with epilepsy.

The idea is that seeing an unusual purple pumpkin gets people asking questions and starts conversations about epilepsy. It can also signal to trick-or-treaters that a home is epilepsy-aware, while some children with epilepsy may carry purple candy buckets.

With more than 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy, it’s a small Halloween tradition that can create a little more awareness.

27,000 Miami-Dade Drivers Apparently Need a Refresher Course

Miami-Dade’s school bus cameras have been busy.

In just four months, 27,039 violations were issued to drivers accused of passing stopped school buses.

At $225 per citation, that’s roughly $6 million worth of tickets.

And “it wasn’t me” isn’t going to be the easiest excuse considering each bus has nine cameras capturing what’s happening from multiple angles.

If you’ve forgotten what you’re supposed to do when those flashing lights come on and the stop sign comes out, it might be time to crack open that driver’s handbook again.

Candy Corn Pizza Has Arrived

You thought pineapple on pizza caused arguments?

Tombstone said hold my candy corn.

For Halloween, the frozen pizza company is releasing pizza kits that combine candy corn with either pepperoni or five cheese.

You bake the pizza, add the candy corn and put it back into the oven long enough for the candy to melt.

The limited-edition kits are being released online beginning today.

Somebody pitched this idea in a meeting. Other people listened. And somehow at the end of that meeting everybody agreed to actually make it.

Charlie Sheen Is Returning to TV With His Real-Life Dad

It’s been a while since Charlie Sheen has starred in a TV series, but he’s coming back — and he’s bringing his dad with him.

Charlie is set to star in a new series called Happy Jack, and his character sounds like pretty much the opposite of Charlie Harper from Two and a Half Men.

Instead of being a wealthy bachelor, his new character hasn’t done particularly well for himself and lives with his father, played by Charlie’s actual dad, Martin Sheen.

He also has two daughters, including one who moves back home with a boyfriend who happens to be around her dad’s age.

So things should be completely normal and peaceful in that household.

Carnegie Mellon Is Coming to Wynwood

Wynwood is getting a pretty impressive new neighbor.

Carnegie Mellon University is planning a new Miami campus at the former Mana Wynwood Convention Center site, thanks to a massive $3 billion donation from Miami resident Ken Griffin.

The research university is known for areas including computer science, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

The new Miami campus is expected to eventually enroll around 3,500 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students, with construction scheduled to begin next year.

So Wynwood will soon have art, restaurants, nightlife and thousands of people who are significantly better at computers than the rest of us.

Hootie & The Blowfish Used to Get Paid in Beer

Before Darius Rucker and Hootie & The Blowfish were selling millions of records, they were a college band in South Carolina trying to get anyone to let them play.

And apparently their first paycheck was extremely college appropriate.

Beer.

Darius says the band’s first 15 or so shows were paid strictly in cases of beer. As they became more popular, they didn’t necessarily make more money.

They got more beer.

Money was so tight that they couldn’t even afford all of their own equipment. Darius says they had to “steal” a PA system from the university because they couldn’t afford one.

Eventually the compensation package improved considerably.

Megan Fox Has a Very Unexpected New Job

Megan Fox has found herself a new spokesperson gig, and she admits she may have been born for this one.

She’s the new face of Ro Sparks, an erectile dysfunction medication.

In the ad, Megan wears a skintight red catsuit matching the color of the dissolvable medication and jokes about showing up at your door in discreet packaging.

Megan says part of the reason she wanted to do it was to bring some humor to a topic that people can sometimes find uncomfortable or embarrassing.

Her philosophy is basically that life is short, so why take an already heavy subject and make it even heavier?

Of all the celebrity endorsement deals we’ve seen, I don’t think anyone had Megan Fox selling ED medication on their bingo card.