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Hey! Cow!

McViking — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:55:20 +0000

Another lap around the celestial skating rink has come and gone, as have the corresponding festivities. This year’s party was a bit scaled back from last year’s owing mainly to the fact that I’ve moved to another town and need some time to rebuild my forces. Of course, by “scaled back”, I mostly mean that the party went on for something less than 24 hours this year. I doubt that anyone could say that I was truly slack.

The day started with late breakfast in preparation for the Hey! Cow! tournament and wine tasting around the county. For those not familiar, Hey! Cow! works as follows: each vehicle has a driver’s side team and a passenger side team. The object of the game is to attract the attention of cattle. Each team member is permitted one Shout per pasture. The Shout consists of two words, the first being “Hey!” and the second being “Cow!”. One point is scored for each cow that turns its head to look at the shouter. At the end of the day, the scores are tallied and the winning team receives some concession from the losing team. An excellent example of The Shout is as follows:

Experience suggests that the quality of The Shout is directly proportional to the number of vineyards visited.

Post-Hey!-Cow!, we returned to the Log House, where a crack team of specialists (which is to say, three of us with beers and hand drills) had assembled a dance floor the night before. There was a potluck, there was music, there was square dancing and hula hooping, and there was an unusually high concentration of Italians. It seems you just can’t keep Italians away from square dances.

So thanks to everyone who attended and contributed their energy and talents to a memorable evening. The square dance floor will be making an encore appearance at Musicalia next weekend, and probably at other festivals throughout the summer. Look for it!

Update: Additional Hey! Cow! footage follows:

Summer Hike

McViking — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:33:31 +0000

I did some backpacking on the AT this weekend between Daleville and Catawba. A paltry 20 miles and I covered it a lot faster than I meant to, and so ended up with some time to kill up on McAfee Knob. I set my bag down to make my morning coffee, and realized I had set it down right next to this beauty. I initially thought whoa, snake! and then noticed the head and thought SHIT! COPPERHEAD! Fortunately, she didn’t seem too upset by it, and I went back to my breakfast and she to her sunbathing. Thanks for being laid back, babe.

I didn’t take too many pictures during the hike, but the ones that I did take are here.

Burnin’ the Yule

McViking — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:16:54 +0000

Those of you who don’t have calendars, families, or contact with the outside world may not be aware, but there was a holiday this week. It’s called “Christ-Mas”, and it’s a time of year for shooting marshmellows out of your nose, playing dissonant ocarina music, engaging in deadly combat, and passing out under the piano. Truly a magical season.

This year, the clan came to my place, which meant no matching napkin holders and a tree made out of spare parts, but nobody seemed to miss all of that too much. The primary attraction, of course, was The Larvae, aka “Sharkypants”. For a guy who poops his pants multiple times per day, he’s pretty all right. We got along fine, anyway. Give him a few years, and I’m confident that his uncles will have him drinking and cursing like a champ, if he hasn’t been quarantined from us by then.

After dinner, we did a bit of token gift-swapping, but mostly just played games and hung out. Looks like we really are past the buying-lots-of-crap thing, at least until The Larvae becomes interested in things that don’t secrete milk. I’m going to start socking money away for his first drum kit. Merry Christmas, Mom!

In all, ’twas a fine holiday season. A shame we only do it once a year. Anyway, the full photo spread lives here.

Of Bees and Birthdays

McViking — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:45:26 +0000

First things first: thanks to all who helped to make my (2^5) birthday party the rousing success that it was. The announced hours were from 3-3, but I’m pleased to say that we really got started around 1:00 and didn’t wind down until 4am. Not quite a record, but a good run. There was yard bocce with gin and tonics, a Spiral Joy Band performance with red wine, capped off with late night old-time music and good ol’ corn squeezings and a surprise appearance by Leonard Nimoy. The cleanup was nearly as epic as the party. Fortunately, I had help with that part, too.

List of gifts, as I remember them: 1 Leonard Nimoy record, 1 Josh Hernandez CD with tote bag, 1 jar of corn liquor, 1 tablet of erectile medication, 3 packages of revitalizing eye patches, 1 Charles Bukowski pin, 1 diner-style spatula, 1 fig tree, 1 hibiscus. And probably some other stuff I just can’t recall due to item #3 in the aforementioned list.

For everyone who’s been wondering; dem bees are doing just great. The ladies of Troy had started to build comb out the top of the inner hive cover, so we added another set of deep frames and gave them plenty of new space. They’ve been reproducing, and there are a lot of them in there now. Ithaca will get their chance for a second story tomorrow. Many thanks to the Apostate Appalachian for her photographic assistance.

And for the attentive — yes, I cut my hair. It’s shorter than the day I was born. And feels good.

Ye Bees

McViking — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:59:18 +0000

This was the big weekend — I went to North Carolina and picked up my bees. The installation was pretty quick and easy — I had the hives ready in advance, sprayed the bees down, popped open the package, set the queen in place, and dumped the ladies in. So much for the easy part. Now the hard part: managing them and keeping them healthy. Judging by the poop that’s collected on the outside of the hive, I’m afraid the girls have dysentery, hopefully just from the damp weather and travel stress. If it keeps up for a few days and they don’t clear it on their own, I’ll probably have to look into nosema treatment, which would be a bummer so early in the project.

I’ll check back with the girls in about a week to see if they’re still shitting the hive and to see how they’re getting on with their new queens. With any luck, I’ll be able to post photos of healthy brood in a couple of weeks. Anyway, the full photo spread is here.

Snow Balls

McViking — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:07:30 +0000

I caught a ride to the D.C. beltway this week to do the holiday thing with the family. And as is so often the case, driving toward the metropolis on route 66, I started to get that desperate feeling of being flung into the maw of The Economy, Consumer of Souls and Destroyer of Worlds. Enormous office buildings tower over the highway, proudly displaying Lockheed-Martin, Silo Busters!, National Rifle Association, etc. Super-sized strip malls, super-sized vehicles, and the Christmas season merrily rung in by the sound of money changing hands.

And so I was proud of my family for finally (mostly) kicking the stuff-giving habit. A few things here and there, but mostly just charitable contributions and a shared meal. I think we’re learning. Sadly, my west-coast brother wasn’t there, so an appropriately-noduled snowman stood in for him. And did a pretty good job for a guy with polyester for brains.

The obligatory photo documentation is here.

Turkey Desecration Day

McViking — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:43:05 +0000

Turkey Desecration Day 2007 has come and gone. While no actual turkeys were desecrated, it was definitely a good one. The rocking began shortly after noon when Papi and the Boy Wonder showed up, beers in hand, and continued until the wee hours of the morning. Over twelve hours of sustained eating, drinking, playing and dancing. The Sweet Pea shared her first Thanksgiving with us, much to the joy of all. Miss Ginger Beet made a surprise visit from the wild north land of Massachusetts. We had a flatfooting contest, a square dance, and guerrilla refrigerator art. It was a day about as well spent as any could be. Much love and thanks to all, and let’s do it again next year!

The full photo spread is here.

France

McViking — Sat, 27 May 2006 02:05:20 +0000

As promised, I bring you France. Not all of France, mind you — just the parts that we visited. In part to enhance my paltry language skills, and in part because turning thirty is a fine excuse for extravagant exploration in warmer climes, my lovely housemate and I escaped this month to the land of wine and cheese. And what fine wine and cheese it was. We started the adventure in Paris, visited friends in Lyon, and then spent a few fine days on the beach in Antibes and hiking near Cassis. We finished the trip of with a stop in Avignon. A whirlwind tour, as they say, but a good trip. I have done my best to roll my biological odometer with at least a modicum of style.

Spring Thaw

McViking — Thu, 25 May 2006 16:28:15 +0000

While I ordinarily encourage a certain aura of mystery around my doings, it has recently come to my attention that certain friends and family believe me to be dead. This is not, in fact, the case, although I have been taking more than my fair share of naps lately. It has also been, in most respects, a pretty full spring.
For starters, three extra mammals have moved into my house, for a staggering total of sixteen individual feet prowling about the house. That’s a lot of feet, but it’s a big house and we all get along fairly well. There has been a lot of magic in the yard over the last few months. One of the cool things about moving into the new house has been seeing what sorts of things the former residents thought about gardening. All sorts of colorful surprises at every turn. We’ve also taken to implanting some color of our own and tearing up a pretty sizable garden plot, currently encouraging the production of tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuce, carrots, melons, cucumbers, and an improbable number of dandelions. If dandelions were a cash crop, I could retire by now.
We’ve also been to France and back. More about that later…

Low Resolutions

McViking — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 19:03:10 +0000

It’s a bit past due, but for quite some time now I’ve had pictures of The Jugbusters posted from our New Year’s Eve gig at The Cellar, courtesy of Her Ladyship (who cleverly and studiously avoids camera time).
The gig was a great time, we were sloppy but energentic, and I got my New Year’s kiss. Funny how in my adulthood I seem to be making up for all of those New Year’s Eves of my youth spent reading alone in my room. But nice that I can say in all honesty that my life is generally better now than it’s ever been.
Oh — some of the pictures may appear to be a bit blurry. That’s not the fault of the camera nor the photographer. The truth is that we actually were that blurry. What can I say? The bar was being generous to us.