Mon, 12 Mar 2007

Someone left a Walmart vest in my front yard today.
Maybe it's time for a career change. "Welcome to Walmart, how may I help you?".

posted at: 21:31 | permalink | 100 comments

Thu, 29 Jun 2006

My last hash of this Atlanta trip was with the Monday night hash.
Me and Circumspector used to run with them when we lived here, so we knew lots of them when we went back on Monday. We had a little trouble spotting the pack in the parking lot of the Publix on Ponce, but finally found them. I didn't get a lot of photos, but here's a picture of a dog's butt.

I did get a couple shots of the assembled pack. Sanitary Not eventually showed up and took charge of the group. Soon we were off, heading west out of the Publix parking lot.

The trail was interesting. The hares (sorry, forgot your names) were concerned about the threatening rain washing away their marks, so they used chalk instead of flour. They made these odd asterisk-like marks to simulate the flour plops. And they didn't want the pack to get lost, so they only put in one Count Back, and no checks. So what we had here, was pretty much a 3.5 mile run. It was near the Carter Center, so we had lots of nice rolling hills to run through.

Eventually we pulled up in front of Manuel's Tavern. I had never been there before. They tucked us away in a back room, where we could drink beer and make noise to our heart's content. So we did. I think there were 20 pitchers of beer for the assembled hashers. The circle was good, the food was good, and then me and Circumspector did the long (three blocks) walk back to the car. See you all next time!

posted at: 08:16 | permalink | 100 comments

Mon, 26 Jun 2006

Circumspector and I sampled the SOB hash yesterday.
I had wanted to do the Black Sheep, but after extended negotiations with Circumspector we decided to do SOB. We went straight to the hash from a Cub Scout camping trip, and there wasn't much difference. When we got there it was still a nice day. The crowd was gathering, and MC was directing things. And I got a rare of photo of an ambulatory Dr. Crotchrot (insert foreshadowing music here).

We were happy to see SleazePuppy, and Circumspector demonstrated to her just how big things really are at our house.

Then the pack was away. It had started raining again, so it was tough finding trail, but we managed. MC had done a good job of putting out enough flour to withstand the rain. The trail ran through some fields, and then through lots of kudzu. Lots and lots of kudzu. It was really wet. Finally the inevitable happened, and trail led down a steep clay bank. I managed it with the grace of a ballet dancer, but other hashers weren't so lucky. Circumspector squashed her phone, and Dr. Crotchrot twisted her ankle.

There was a strange ritual display of slaughtered stuffed animals on top of one of the coolers. We were still able to get the beers out of the cooler, though. We watched the dancing dogs while the rain got harder and harder. Dr. Crotchrot determined that her ankle might be broken, so she and her support crew headed off to the hospital. The rest of us stared at the rain, sighed, and headed out for the rest of trail.

Circumspector and I were the last ones to leave the beer stop, so we were on our own. We were doing fine until we wandered into a well-fenced retention pond. We floundered around in the thorns for a while, and finally escaped by crawling under the fence in a drainage channel into the apartment complex next door. The tenants over there looked at us like they had never seen two scratched and muddy people crawl under their fence before.

We got to the end, which was indoors, and began snacking on orange food and cold beverages. Circumspector asked me to take this picture of her changing clothes. Then she talked with Foreign Lession for a while, and then MC ran a superb circle. The usual small-world-hash thing happened when the virgin announced that a family friend named "Don [deleted]" had told him about the hash years ago, and he (the virgin) was finally attending a hash after wanting to do it for years. Circumspector and I have of course hashed with Don [deleted] (Hat Trick) many times in south Florida. The usual shuttling ensued, followed by Mexican food nearby, followed by us making our escape to go see Circumspector's sister in Lawrenceville.

posted at: 21:39 | permalink | 100 comments

Fri, 23 Jun 2006

Me and Bruce watched 420 sweep onward to victory last night.
Well, they won their first game, anyway. It was tight, but they pulled it out. Here's a shot of the game. You know, it's really hard to get a decent shot of the field, especially when you're using a camera phone, and you're too lazy to get out of your chair.

Here's proof that Jenny Lee is smaller than a 7 oz Miller light. I figured that if I was drinking her beer I should at least put her in the picture. Note the use of the official AFDC can cooler that she gave me last week.

Here's the team pumping themselves up before their second game. It didn't work. Well, they were pumped up, but they still lost. I hope I wasn't too obnoxious, drinking beer on the sidelines and yelling "Let me call the subs!". Unfortunately the other team just scored more points.

The game of the week (GOTW) was scheduled after the second game finished. It featured a team dressed as cowboys (I don't know if Daisy Duke is a cowboy, but she looked good) and a team made up as indians. The second photo is a picture of the indian team. I was too lazy to get up and walk over to the indian team, and I was definitely too lazy to walk across the field and get a photo of the cowboys. I bet it was a good game, but I wouldn't know, as we went to Piedmont Park to see Breakfast at Tiffany's, with Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. I love it when a plan comes together!

posted at: 15:33 | permalink | 133 comments

Thu, 22 Jun 2006

Bruce made his escape this morning.
Actually, he left something in the car, and didn't want to walk around to pick it up, so he climbed over the fence. I was waiting for him to take a dive, but he got over and down without suffering any injury.

posted at: 23:21 | permalink | 100 comments

Here's my temporary officemate.
Ray's pretty cool. He gets things done.

posted at: 09:57 | permalink | 100 comments

Tue, 20 Jun 2006

Okay, what the heck is this?
We were in traffic on 14th St in Atlanta yesterday, and I notice that the car ahead of us has a license plate that says "911 CIA". Now that's a little weird, but what made it really strange was the fact that it was a European plate. I've seen European plates (you know, much wider and shorter than a standard US plate) on cars before, but always in the front, like a souvenir, with a US plate in the back. To be specific, it was a Swedish plate. We could tell because it had the Swedish flag on it. At least that part made sense, because the car was a Volvo, which as we all know, is made in Sweden. There was also on Emory sticker, which didn't make any sense. Finally, the car was being driven by an attractive African-American woman, who was probably not from Sweden. I couldn't make head nor tail out of it, so I took a picture. Does anyone have an explanation?

posted at: 06:01 | permalink | 100 comments

Mon, 19 Jun 2006

I got to play some competitive ultimate last week.
Okay, it wasn't real competitive, but at least it was for points. I was at Grant field, to watch Lisa and Holly's summer league play. The team is called 420. I threw with Lisa some, to warm her up, and then took my seat in the folding chair. And then it happened: Jen, the team captain walked over and said, "We're one person short -- can you play?". Could I play? It was just like that time at Joe Robbie Stadium when Dan Marino got hurt and they made that announcement saying, "Will Dave Wilson please report to the locker room?", and I had to suit up and go in.

Anyway, I played the first four points, and the guy I was covering never touched the disc. I followed my usual rule of "cover the guy with the most hair". The first player had a red afro like Napoleon Dynamite, and just floated around the disc looking for a pass, *which he never got*. They second guy had a ponytail and beard, and might as well have been wearing sandals. I shut him down, while wearing boat shoes. And then more 420 players arrived, and it was time to go sit down and drink beer and cheer. Which was fun, too.

So 420 won both of their games, which lifted them above .500 for the season. Then we went to see Ferris Bueller's Day Off, at Screen on the Green, with 6000 of our closest (and I do mean closest) friends.

posted at: 21:52 | permalink | 100 comments

Sun, 18 Jun 2006

Now I can say I've been to a Bear Creek hash.
Yesterday at the Atlanta hash, some (Surly Little Bastard?) was saying, "You simply must go to the Bear Creek hash tomorrow". So we did. Me and HIV, I mean. And really, what better reason is there to drive 55 miles (each way) than to run around in a swamp?

We got there just at hare away time, but luckily so did three other cars, so we had time to fill up the Hydrapaks, smear on the sunscreen, and make our final preparations. I'm a little unclear on the hare's name, but I think it was Poppa Bear. The hare gave a quick chalk talk, warned us to hydrate, and was on his way.

There were about 12 people there. I remember Rat's Ass, and Drain Bamage. And some others. The start of trail ran on pavement for a mile or two, and then ducked into a swamp. Now when I say "swamp", I mean it was stinky, muddy, rotting, decaying, and well, swampy. I kept my shoes dry for the first couple crossings, and then the inevitable happened, and I plunged into mud up to my butt. I finally extricated myself, and caught up to the pack at the first of three (3) hare snares. The hare had already gone by the time I got there, so we amused ourselves by taking pictures. That's me in the second photo.

Those were the last pictures I took on trail, because I was too busy keeping my head above the swamp to take any more. There was a water stop, and two more hare snares. I scared the crap out of a doe, who went bounding off through the woods. HIV and the back of the pack finally caught up with us at the last hare snare. The hashers with him reported that he did fine up until he realized that he really was in the middle of a swamp, whereupon "he got really quiet". But he recovered and had a fine muddy time.

The on-in was at the hare's house, and a fine on-in it was. There was good beer, orange food, a hose to wash away the mud, and rubbing alcohol to really make those cuts and scratches sting. The ladies got to use an outdoor shower. Down-downs went well. Two Crabs drank multiple times for the hare snares and for successful intimidation of his daughter's date. There were lots of other down-downs, mostly by guys in skirts (kilts?). And there was even a naming. I forget her civilian name, but whatever it was, she will now be known as "Horse Fluffer", thanks to her dressage.

Then we shuttled back, and me and HIV drove the 55 miles home, where non-hasher Julie kept saying, "You were in a swamp?".
posted at: 22:25 | permalink | 100 comments

Sat, 17 Jun 2006

Me and HIV ran with the Atlanta hash today.
That's hash number five on my quest to run with all of the area hashes while I'm up here. Although I just heard today about the Bear Creek hash, which means I have another one to cross off. But I digress.

Today's hash was hared by Coffee Bean, aka Headlock. It was at some closed strip mall off Howell Mill Rd. There was a pretty good crowd as we walked up. Soon Bean began to give the chalk talk and demonstrate his marks. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then people went back to running their mouths for a while, and then we were off.

Surprisingly, the marks did look just like Bean's examples. We were running through some sort of construction site. You can see the army virgin dude (or maybe he was a marine) running ahead of me.

Then we did some railroad track, and a creek, and all too soon we were at the beer stop. The beer stop was at someone's house. Bean brought out the good beer (Heineken) and gave directions for the second half, and pretty soon we were off again.

The second half was something of a blur, although the photographic record shows that we ran past some kind of transformer substation or something. In the second shot you can see HIV trying to match my blistering pace.

And then something really strange happened to the trail. Bean's marks had been easy to follow all day, so when we came to a check that had only a YBF off of it, and nothing else, we were really confused. The pack looked and looked, with no luck. Finally Bean himself showed up, and said that the YBF was really a BN(?) and gave us directions to the end.

At the end (which was at a pool) we got the full story. While laying trail Bean had encountered a fat girl, who told him he was on private property (he wasn't) and to stop throwing flour (he didn't). He explained the hash to her, wrote the BN, and left. Apparently she then went inside, Google'd the hash, read up on the marks, and then came back outside and wrote a YBF just past the BN. Beeyatch.

It was nice hanging out at the pool, and the actual residents there didn't take too much offense to us. You can see, from left, Bean showing how high he can raise his arm, Assh*le talking about the glory days, army/marine dude looking on (he didn't say much) and some hasher with man boobs (didn't get the name). Good times.

Finally the circle was called to order. Some bimbo whose name I forget (but it wasn't Skin Flute) did a nice job of running things and singling out the private partiers. Me and two hashers from Texas (forgot names) were recognized as visitors, and HIV paid the price for being away for too long (lots of others also). Then some random down-downs, and then the naming of the airline pilot guy. What kind of name is "John Denver"? Just because John Denver killed himself in an experimental plane? Whatever.

Then some beers, volleyball, and warnings from someone from the apartment complex. Following that, Bean fit 10 of us into his minivan for the ride back to the cars. I didn't think Surly was going to fit, but he did. Then we completed the complex shuttling process, and me and HIV went home to celebrate Father's Day with his kids.

posted at: 23:48 | permalink | 100 comments

Fri, 16 Jun 2006

This is the worst wing I've seen in quite some time.
It was on a 280ZX. And it was the +2 version of the ZX, so it was just that much worse. I got a rear shot while we were at the light. You can't see, but that wing is held on by six different kinds of screws (two of the holes are empty). I got the second shot as I blew past them in my Jeep. I didn't think I got the shot, but when I looked at the photos later, I did. Do you think the passenger noticed me taking the picture?

posted at: 22:38 | permalink | 100 comments

Wed, 14 Jun 2006

The 26th annual Tour de Bar was last weekend.
I had expected to miss it, but at the last moment I had to fly home for a job interview. Go AirTran! As usual, we all met at the Brass Ring Pub. Well, Steve performed a subtle editing job on the name of the bar. Alex rode with us, and Alan showed up just before we left the first bar.

The second bar, as usual, was Betty Ann's. There were a lot of bikes parked in front of the Winn Dixie across the street. And Sheepdipper was there! And some other guy I didn't know.

There was quite a crowd in front of Betty Ann's. AAA was there with the guy I didn't know. Soon enough it was time to make the move to the next bar. As we did, the police finally showed up and told us to move the bikes from in front of the store. "No problem, officer."

The third stop (as usual) was the Island Liquor Store and Lounge. I saw Brandon there for the first time. There was piggy back riding for the ladies. And then some other ladies got up on the bar and started rubbing against each other. Brandon looked happier after that.

Fourth stop (did I lose count?) was the Sailfish Marina. Vince got a shot of the crowd departing. But then everyone had to get over the bridge. Almost everyone did, except for the guy I passed who was standing there with the cops and the rescue truck and the blood running down his leg. Apparently he stood up on the pedals to get make it up the bridge, the chain snapped, and something bad happened to his knee. At least Steve made it over. You can see me dropping him like a Seinfeld-alum television show.

Eventually we made it to the marina lounge. Lots of bikes once again. The bikes weren't arranged as neatly as before, and the crowd noise had grown quite a bit. We were buying six packs from the ship's store, so as to avoid the higher priced drinks in the bar.

Steve met this nice girl, and wanted to pose with her in front of the Captain. Then the Captain's nephew or something came along, and snatched her away. After that is where we made our discreet getaway. We had to get to GH's birthday hash that evening. I guess the party went on into the night at the hotel. I heard something about Alex being run out of the hotel for "borrowing" crab legs. And I hope John met up with the big beefy guys he was looking for. All in all a good time. I can't wait for next year.

posted at: 22:02 | permalink | 100 comments

Tue, 13 Jun 2006

Is it just me, or is this the ugliest color for a BMW ever?
Can this really be a factory color? Or did someone pay to have their Z4 resprayed a sort of pea soup green? Maybe it's supposed to be patriotic, and look like olive drab. Whatever the reason, it doesn't work for me.

posted at: 06:08 | permalink | 100 comments

Mon, 12 Jun 2006

GH had his birthday hash Saturday night.
We had to make an early exit from Tour de Bar, but it was worth it. We had already hit four bars, but we were ready for some more. There was a good turnout at the start. AI stopped by with Blackjack Brennan, before heading on to some sort of improvisational theater.

And Ben Stein Itsy was there. We were all trying to win his money.

The Princess even made the trek up from down south. Nobody wanted to mess with her.

Once we got moving, the trail wound around Lake Worth and then over the bridge to Kreusler Park. We had time for a few beverages, and then went back over the bridge to the Hungry Lizard Bar, or whatever it's called.

After the Lizard the trail went to the Dwarf, where we all saw Dirty Butt, and drank good beers for a change. Then the pack headed for South Shore, but as that would have been our seventh bar of the day (counting Tour de Bar) we called it a night and snuck on home with our beers between our legs.
posted at: 14:50 | permalink | 100 comments

Sun, 11 Jun 2006

We've started going to the Sunday morning ultimate game.
Me and Linda, that is. There's a low-level (sorry, you know it's true) game at the amphitheater down by the water at 9:00 am Sunday. The only non-standard rule they have is no stall count, but nobody really holds onto the disc for too long. And they are a little shaky on the pick rule. But they have some decent throws and cuts. They play three games to 7, and I must admit I was dragging a bit by the last game. It was good fun, and I'm looking forward to being back in town so I can play again. It's a nice venue, with great grass, right by the water.

posted at: 13:29 | permalink | 100 comments

Sat, 10 Jun 2006

Me and Bruce went to Dogwood Aikikai yesterday.
I hadn't done any aikido in over a year, but Bruce wanted to try it, so we did. I called them up, and they said to come on down to their beginner class on Friday night. They even had a loaner gi for Bruce. I was a little rusty stepping back onto the mat, but it's amazing how fast it comes back. There were so many people there that Brian (the instructor) ended up splitting the class, so I didn't get to see anything that Bruce was doing. But I had fun, and he had fun, so maybe he'll go back.

Afterward was the traditional drinking of beverages and eating of pizza, right around the corner at Johnny's Pizza. The group was a lot of fun, and we really had a good time with them.

posted at: 11:08 | permalink | 100 comments

Thu, 08 Jun 2006

Sydney likes to be close to the camera.
Here's a couple shots where she tried to climb inside the camera. She may make the dog's life a living hell, but at least she looks good.

posted at: 21:23 | permalink | 100 comments

Wed, 07 Jun 2006

I figured the Tuesday night 666 hash was a good place to be if the Rapture came last night.
The Rapture didn't come, but we still had fun. The hash met south of Little Five Points, in front of the Kroger. In keeping with my time in Atlanta, I have forgotten the hares' names. [Update: I looked on the website, and it was I Da Ho, and Portugese Water Dog]. I Da Ho was looking fine in her devil-may-care outfit, complete with red wig, horns, and come-play-with-me boots. There was quite a turnout of hashers; even EM and Head Nurse showed up.

The chalk talk was nice, and included references to Sinful Vistas, Sin Near marks, YBFs (You've Been Fried in Hell), but the best mark was the special check mark for the evening: the pentacle. Plus the hares had tattoos on offer. I got a nice flame on the back of my hand, but I was really disappointed later when I found out it was only temporary.

I do remember one name from the evening, when I met Pornocopia, who was missing a sock. I donated her a pair of slightly used Doggie Style socks. It took her about ten minutes to get dog poo on them once the run started.

Once the run started we quickly hit the first Sin Stop. Actually it was a Hot Damn stop, as the hares were passing out shots of Hot Damn, which tastes like they poured grain alcohol into a jar full of Atomic Fireballs, and then poured it back out again. Mmm good.

From there the trail wound around and through LIttle Five, before ending near an under-construction house. We had to wail a while for all the hounds to get in, but eventually Humpty Dumpty and the rest of them made it.

There was a little confusion on the way to the third beer check, but we got there okay. Even HIV made it. We sat on a low wall, eating the chips meant for the circle, and drinking the circle beer. We were interrupted once by a woman who claimed she had her boyfriend's head in her purse, but she moved on. We left before she came back.

Then it was on to the end. It wasn't far, and it ended in a vacant lot next to an apartment building (foreshadowing). I forget who ran the circle, but it went well. He did it backwards because of 666, so we began with rule 6 violations, and proceded backwards to the hare. As we were finishing up, two cars of Atlanta's finest rolled up. They were in a good mood, so it worked out that we just had to pack up and go. They did stick around to make sure we left.

The hare was waxing rhapsodic about the blood wrestling at a nearby bar, but when we got there we found that it had a $10 cover charge. So we went to the basement of the Claremont instead. In all the time that I've spent in Atlanta I never knew that the Claremont had an exotic dancing club in the basement. I learned something at the hash. They had a nice chunky goth girl painted up in blue colors dancing there. I took a few photos, but didn't really want to use the flash, so it's hard to see what they are. I think the second one is of a Spanish language video poker machine.

When we finally left, we had a long walk ahead of us. High Balls (he's the smart one) finally hailed a cab for us. Good idea. We arrived back at the parking lot to find that yr fthfl scribe had somehow lost the car key. Oh. So, after a call to HIV's life partner we sat around in the parking lot with Humpty Dumpty and that guy whose hash name I forget, eating spicy peanuts and swapping insults about who could be dumb enough to lose the car key. Then Julie showed up with the replacement, and all was well.

posted at: 20:19 | permalink | 100 comments

Tue, 06 Jun 2006

I'm living in the basement.
In Bruce's house, for a month, while I'm in Atlanta. It's very nice, and Julie did a great job in setting it up. I just like how it sounds when I tell people I live in the basement.

posted at: 06:09 | permalink | 100 comments

Mon, 05 Jun 2006

The kids have 48 boxes of sparklers. Well, now it's 46 boxes.
We all read the safety precautions on the side of the box, and then disregarded them. Both Rachel and Joshua had sparklers in each hand, running around the yard. I was hoping for a sparkler sparring match, but no such luck. Everyone behaved with safety as the foremost consideration. But there are 46 boxes left...

posted at: 22:39 | permalink | 100 comments