IRONCITY

2008-03-07T16:29:00.002-05:00

I've got a serious question as this week winds down...

How is it that I totally missed the news surrounding Hillary Clinton's recent move to bring in Karl Rove as her campaign director?

2008-02-21T10:37:00.002-05:00

I just got totally destroyed by a Metro gate

As I approached the ticket turnstile this morning in Cleveland Park, I realized a train was just entering the station, so I prepared to make a run for it. I swiped my card, heard the gate retract, and began to haul ass...

Unfortunately, the right gate either did not retract or retracted much slower than the left one. Also unfortunate was the fact that it was the wider wheelchair entrance with a lower gate height. So instead of simply ramming into unretracted right gate and bouncing off the left wall, I was somehow fully launched -- like in the movies when someone steps on a landmine. Or perhaps, more accurately, like a skier going off a jump badly. I am not at all kidding. I went completely airborne, swiveled in mid air, and landed flat on my back a solid four or five feet beyond the gate.

As I laid there completely stunned for a moment, several people began stopping to gawk, surely asking themselves "What the fuck just happened?" It was at that moment that I realized there was an even greater urgency for me to catch the train... because if I didn't, I was going to have to deal with a bunch of strangers alternating between laughing at me and checking to see if I was okay. So I got up and ran for it. I jumped down the last seven or eight steps to the platform in one leap and just barely squirted through a closing train door.

It was the perfect escape. I caught the train while none of the other five to ten people who had witnessed the incident were able to recover in time to make it.

2008-02-20T19:26:00.002-05:00

The biggest pantload yet

It was only a matter of time before this sort of thing appeared.
(via Crooks & Liars)

Obama is a commie!!!!! You know... because he was born in 1961 and he had a white mother and a black father. And as we all know, that combination means you are directly related, by blood, to Joseph Stalin.

2008-02-04T23:20:00.000-05:00

An amazing thing happened today...

I figured I might as well take a break from not-blogging for this one. It's not every day that two wonderful human beings like this

turn into super-parents! Seriously, though, we all know Anat and Aaron are going to be the best parents ever. It's not even open to question.

Anyway, big huge mega-congrats to both of you guys. And while I'm posting pictures, I might as well throw in a couple real ones.

You two were always a beautiful, loving, caring, amazing couple... Baby K is a very fortunate little kid.

2007-07-23T10:28:00.000-04:00

a pit stop in Bladensburg, MD before summer league yesterday

Yep, I finally made my fanboy pilgrimage to one of the twelve 7-11s that was turned into a Kwik-E-Mart earlier this month. Even though it's already been a couple weeks, the place was still jam-packed. And there were at least three other people there taking pictures, so I didn't feel that silly when I took out my camera. As for souvenirs, I brought home a six pack of Buzz Cola.

2007-07-11T21:57:00.001-04:00

Adding on to my previous post

I also 700% agree with the adoption of this new terror alert system.

2007-07-11T10:03:00.001-04:00

Right on target

I 700% agree with this assessment.

2007-06-27T18:46:00.000-04:00

Sorry trees!

Bad day here at work in the wasted paper department. I've been printing mountains of documents which I am pretty sure will go to waste. And I really don't have any say in the matter.

I wonder if anyone has ever conducted a comprehensive environmental study of big American law firms. Between the large empty spaces air conditioned down to insanely cool temperatures, the lights and computers left on everywhere, and the never-ending printing of junk documents, it seems pretty bad to me.

2007-06-25T18:05:00.001-04:00

the dumbest thing I've heard on the radio in a while

Apparently while I was away in Belgium, DC's WTOP sold the naming rights to their building... to a local pizza chain. So now they come in and out of commercial breaks by saying things like "live from the Ledo Pizza glass-enclosed nerve center" which of course sounds absolutely ridiculous for a 24 hour news/traffic/weather station.

Sure, I love Ledo Pizza (especially the original one near College Park), but what's next?

"Live from the Applebee's media center in Atlanta, this is CNN news"

or maybe "Live from the Arby's studio in New York, this is the CBS Evening News"

2007-06-25T14:43:00.000-04:00

wow, this is pretty bad (good)

2007-06-20T12:18:00.000-04:00

I loves me some Pat Buchanan (once in a while)

Sure, I really don't care for most of Pat Buchanan's views. But over the years I've actually come to enjoy the way he operates even if I hate what's coming out of his mouth much of the time. He just seems like a straight-shooter to me. And his style does occasionally lend itself to saying things that are wildly unpopular with other right wingers.

I remember him basically agreeing with Gore's folks back in November 2000 when it became fairly obvious that he had received thousands of extra votes intended for Gore in Palm Beach County, Florida thanks to the infamous "butterfly ballot." Appearing on the the Today Show, he said, "It's very easy for me to see how someone could have voted for me in the belief they voted for Al Gore." He was also highly critical of the Iraq war well before it became fashionable among right wingers to dump on the Administration's handling of the situation. And beyond the mere handling of the war, he has also spoken about the underlying foolishness of the whole endeavor.

I was reminded of all this over the weekend in Germany, of all places. When I checked into my hotel on Saturday, I flipped on the TV for a few minutes and wound up watching a bit of the June 16th McLaughlin Group show on their English-language channel. They were talking about Scooter Libby when Buchanan said all of the following things:

Look, this was an open-and-shut case of naked perjury again and again and again. And I don't think there's an argument for the president of the United States interceding, other than the fact that this was a loyal servant of his, and he would be giving special treatment if he did it now...

... Well, yeah, he's got to go [to prison] -- look, if Paris Hilton's got to go to prison for 45 days for driving without a license, Scooter can't walk....

... What would you have the president of the United States say when he stands up there to say, "I've just pardoned Scooter Libby?" Why?...

... He [the President] could [pardon Libby], but he should not interfere with the course of justice unless there's some overriding interest. And there is none here. The man was convicted. Twelve jurors said he was guilty...

... He [Libby] was loyal. But a lot of our guys [during Watergate] were loyal and went over there and told the truth to the grand jury, and others didn't, and they paid the price. You've got to pay the price if you break the law. I mean, Republicans have got to believe in that, and conservatives have to believe in that. And I think Libby did not tell the truth again and again and again.

Pretty strong stuff, eh?

2007-06-20T00:58:00.000-04:00

recap of this past weekend in Germany

Okay, so I decided I was entitled to snap a few dumbass tourist pictures after months of shooting serious travel photos. But seriously, when I get around to picking a few good ones out, I'll post a recap and some pictures from Köln and Bonn.

2007-06-15T14:43:00.000-04:00

Friday links n'at

So I've got one week left here on Belgium trip #3 before heading back to DC. I'm going to Germany to check out Köln and possibly Bonn this weekend. And then I'll really be looking forward to getting home late next week.

Anyway, it's time for the clip show:

- What's up with every Space Shuttle mission needing a NASCAR-style pit stop for repairs??? I've written about this before. I just can't believe we'll be using the Space Shuttle through at least 2010. The thing was designed before I was even born... and I'm not exactly a youngster now.

- Did you ever wonder if satellites catch sun glare while imaging the Earth? Okay, I had not either. But check out this Google Maps view of a building near my work here in Bruxelles.

- Mary passed this human-Tetris-like video along to me last week. Will Japanese game shows ever stop being awesome? I hope not...

- We have no way of getting an A&W rootbeer float in Washington, DC. Yet folks at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (possibly even including the detainees) have themselves an A&W. WTF?!?

- A three-pack of goodness from BoingBoing: funny, crazy, and right on.

2007-06-13T15:12:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day Weekend Canoe Trip

So after getting back from Belgium last month, I guess things were still fairly crazy: a tournament outside of Philly the day after my return and then a big canoe trip the following weekend...

Eight of us drove up to north-central Pennsylvania to spend three days on a 22 mile stretch of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Things got off to a rough start when there was nobody at the hotel in Karthaus, PA to let us in when we arrived late Thursday night. And then after overcoming that hurdle, the guy from the canoe outfitters was 90 minutes late in delivering our canoes to the put-in point the next morning.

Still, all seemed well as soon as we were on the lazy river, drinking beer for brunch shortly after passing under the Karthaus bridge. After a little while on the river, we reached the old rope swing strung up in a tree hanging over the water's edge. The ladder and jump platform that had been there in the past were both damaged beyond usability, but it was still fun to swing out a few feet over the water and let go. As we got back in our canoes after swimming/swinging, the weather turned.

heading into the storm

The weekend forecast had looked decent -- only a 30 or 40% chance of rain on Friday and Saturday -- but here we were getting stormed on only a few hours into the trip. I honestly was not sure of the best thing to do since I had never thought about being caught on the water like that. Water never seems like a good place to be when there is lightning around, but on the other hand, we weren't swimming in it. And the water did represent the lowest point within the narrow river-cut valleys. I didn't really think we would be helping ourselves all that much by standing under trees on the elevated river banks. The small beach-like area in the photo above was probably the only good spot available to wait it out, but I didn't think of getting off the river until we were well past that point and it was too late.

So we cruised along for about 10 minutes as the storm passed over us. The wind and rain were pretty bad for a few minutes, but fortunately there was not much thunder and lightning. And actually, it was kind of fun being on the river with the rain hitting the water in a never-did-that-before, exciting sort of way.

Fortunately the weather cleared up by the time we made it to our campsite alongside the end of Bougher Run. There was one couple already set up on the other side of the creek from our spot. We would later refer to the guy as Lynyrd Skynyrd -- and that was just the start of our Pennsylvania hillbilly experience.

Shortly after setting up our tents, the sky really opened up for a full-on downpour as rain would turn out to be a theme for the weekend. Most people took shelter in the tents, but Joe and I were already soaked as we were trying to finish setting things set up, so we just stood around and watched the huge sheets move across the river for 10 to 20 minutes. Once again, though, the weather cleared and we had good company (and steak and beer), so all was well.

hanging out in Joe's tent on Saturday afternoon during the ?fourth? rainfall of the weekend

After a lazy Saturday morning, we all did a short hike up Bougher Run to the nice little waterfall. Joe and Kelvin then continued on a little further up until Joe stepped right on a rattlesnake -- which somehow did not bite Joe. At that point, they decided to turn around. We then drank a bunch of beer and endured one or two more short rainfalls back at the campsite. During the sunny moments some of us swam in the river.

wandering around the forest alongside Bougher Run

We also met some of Lynyrd Skynyrd's friends who arrived in their canoes Saturday afternoon. First, there was General Custer. This was a skinny old hillbilly that came off the river completely drunk. In fact, as soon as he stood up after stepping out of his canoe, he fell flat on his back into the river. Then some other guy showed up, took out a loaded pistol, and fired three or four shots into the river just for the hell of it.

A little later, General Custer came to hang out at our campsite where he offered drunken ramblings on a series of topics. At one point he also referred to us as a bunch of DC yuppies. And at another, he amazingly announced his distaste for the Steelers while also simultaneously trying prove that he was superior to Joe and I (both Pittsburgh natives) in terms of being a true Pittsburgher. Where I come from (Pittsburgh), saying "I hate the Steelers" isn't exactly the best way to show that you are a true Pittsburgher.

Later, we had a dry, relaxing evening around the campfire. We ate some chili, finished off the remaining hot dogs and steak, and finished off the remaining booze as folks drifted off to their tents for the night. And of course, Peleg's last name was temporary changed from Tal to McTal after he polished off a surprisingly large amount of Jameson Irish Whiskey before passing out.

group photo before leaving our campsite

Sunday was a beautiful day for our paddle down to the takeout point at Keating. The only downer was that due to lateness on Friday morning, we had not done the car shuttle in advance as planned. So we needed to spend over 90 minutes to take care of that before we could even start our long ride back to DC (doh!) All-in-all, though, it was a nice lazy weekend out in the middle of nowhere.

2007-06-12T14:40:00.000-04:00

Beer Wrapup

I have also been keeping a running log of all the beers (most of which have been ridiculously good Belgian ales) I have tried in the past few months. I broke it into three general groups -- though I'm sure true beer snobs would probably object and demand I further break them into three times as many subgroups. Of the three groups, my favorites tend to be the darker ales. I then ranked each of the groups from best to worst.

Dubbels, quads, abts, and other darker ales:
1) Rochefort Trappistes 10
2) Abbaye des Rocs Brune
3) Westvleteren Abt 12
4) Westvleteren Extra 8
5) Chimay Rouge
6) Chimay Bleue
7) Rochefort Trappistes 8
8) Leffe Brune
9) St. Bernardus Abt 12
10) St. Feuillien Brune
11) Westmalle Dubbel
12) Grimbergen Dubbel
13) Leffe Radieuse
14) Père Abbé Bruin
- I was pretty underwhelmed by the highly touted St. Bernardus
- Chimay Rouge ahead of Bleue could be considered an upset as most prefer the Bleue

Tripels, blonds, whites, and other lighter ales:
1) Chimay Blanche
2) Corsendonk Agnus
3) Witkap Tripel
4) Leffe Blond
5) Hoegaarden White
6t) Früh, Reissdorf, and Dom Kölsches (German)
9) Leffe 9°
10) Witkap Stimulo
11) Palm Speciale
12) Orval
13) Gaffel Kölsch (German)
14) Duvel
- I tasted the Witkap Tripel in Ninove, home of the Witkap brewery and the Tour of Flanders finish
- I liked three of the four Kölsches I tried, but didn't really like any one more than the others. Though perhaps I overrated the Dom based on it being my first and also based on how thirsty I was at the time!
- I absolutely hated Duvel -- perhaps I had a bad bottle of this well-respected beer?

Lagers:
1) Pilsner Urquell (Czech)
2) Paulaner Premium Pils (German)
3) Budweiser Budvar (Czech)
4) Stella Artois
5) Jupiler

No doubt, I will return to this post with an update towards the end of next week when my trip is over. For example, I've got a bottle of the legendary Westvleteren 12 sitting in my fridge just waiting to be opened.

6-21-07 UPDATE -- I added the German beers and the Westvleteren 12. I really liked the 12, but I was also a bit disappointed simply because it did not rock my world and totally blow me away. Perhaps part of that can be attributed to me being really worn out and tired last night. Also, I was left wondering if I had a less than optimal bottle since the carbonation seemed a bit low and there was almost no head at all when I poured it.

2007-06-11T18:15:00.000-04:00

Europe Wrapup 2 - mid May - Czech weekend

WOW.

What a fucking awesome city. Mary and I were quite impressed. In fact, we were totally unprepared for and blown away by the beauty of Praha. And the liveliness of the city. And the food. Okay, you get the point. It was a really special weekend. And after a week of dreary weather in Belgium, Mary finally got to see some blue skies!

Prague Castle & St. Vitus's Cathedral towering above the Vltava river

We stayed in a perfectly located hostel -- between Wenceslas Square and the Old Town Square, a bit closer to the Old Town Square. I correctly guessed beforehand that it would be a very noisy location and we wisely brought ear plugs which came in handy! A rainstorm hit just as we left the hostel Saturday morning, but then it quickly cleared and we had perfect weather the rest of the weekend.

Most everything we saw had a top notch quality or draw to it: The Old Town Square and the Old Town Hall with its famous Astronomical Clock. The Church of Our Lady before Tyn. The Jewish Quarter and Old Jewish Cemetery. Wenceslas Square. The Charles Bridge. The Lesser Quarter. The Church of St. Nicholas. Prague Castle and St. Vitus's Cathedral. Wallenstein Palace and Garden. Letna Park. "It's all good."

standing on the Charles Bridge

One noteworthy thing we did not see that weekend -- museums and galleries. Neither of us were in the mood, especially with the beautiful weather. However, we did catch a wonderful traditional Bohemian music and dance show at the Wallenstein Gardens. We also managed to be the first two people to go up the bell tower in St. Vitus cathedral (which affords a fantastic view of the city) when it opened that Sunday morning. Overall, St. Vitus and the Charles Bridge really were supreme highlights. The view from Letna Park was also outstanding, which surprised us since it got very little mention in our Prague guide book.

money shot of the Vltava river taken from Letna Park

And to continue the race theme of my time in Europe, we got to see the running of the Praha marathon that Sunday. This comes after I caught the finish of the Tour of Flanders in April and then a race in Brugge a few weeks later. I felt bad for the runners in Praha since it was a late-starting race and the weather was so warm. But I felt worse for Mary who was really suffering from a cold and bad ear infection by Sunday.

Unfortunately, our flight from Praha back to Bruxelles was delayed over three hours that night due to technical problems making for my third travel nightmare in only a couple months. Following a four hour weather delay in March leaving Dulles which turned into a missed connection in Frankfurt and then an airport worker strike in April which turned into a 24 hour delay getting home, a three+ hour delay because of an airplane radar failure seemed like too much!

2007-06-10T19:43:00.000-04:00

Europe Wrapup 1 - early May - Belgium weekend

[So I've been "on the run" for a while and generally neglecting this blog. I guess for starters, I will go back through the past month or so and recap some travel. Maybe I'll get wordy, or maybe it'll be quick and dirty.]

That Saturday I took the tram out to Tervuren, a town 9 miles east of Bruxelles, to see the Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika... aka the Royal Museum of Central Africa. My Lonely Planet book suggested this was one of Belgium's most haunting sights. This turned out to be pretty accurate. The museum and its contents date from the late 19th and early 20th century period when Belgium was essentially nation-raping the Congo. And while there is a small section where the ugly history has very recently been addressed, it's just nowhere near enough. There are some nice wood carvings, cultural artifacts, and lots of neat preserved/stuffed insect and animal exhibits, but the whole place is creepy. Perhaps the best example is in the small cafe's dining area where there are wooden sculptures painted to represent African servants serving food.

On the other hand, everything around the place was gorgeous. The tram ride out on the number 44 was a lovely trip through picturesque neighborhoods and park forest. The museum, pictured above, is housed in an awesome building. I saw folks in their wedding tuxes/dresses showing up just for pictures. And the setting of the building is also gorgeous, next to water and the open sprawling fields and lake of Park van Tervuren.

The next morning, I took the train up to Brugge for a day in the historic town. Considering I had been there the previous weekend to play ultimate, I figured I better go back and actually be a tourist! I think I saw all the top sights while there, including the Church of Our Lady (and its Madonna by Michaelangelo), the Stadhuis or city hall building, the Belfry, the Sint-Salvator Cathedral, the big canalside windmills out on the less touristy northeast corner of town, and of course, the canals themselves.

I climbed up the Belfry for a nice view of the town and the square below. When up there, I realized that there was a race being run through the town and got a neat look at the festivities in the town square below. After climbing back down, I sat around and watched the runners for a little while and took in the scene, including a big marching band playing across the street.

I also visited the historic St. John Hospital and its Memling Museum... which was a total waste of time. On the other hand, the Groeningemuseum was well worth the visit. All in all, Brugge was a perfect day trip from Bruxelles. Actually, the whole place almost looked too perfect, sort of like a real life Disneyworld as Mary put it. It was just too bad that there were lots of clouds when both Mary and I each visited -- our pictures really do suffer from that.

Mary then arrived for her week in Europe the day after I visited Brugge. Here's the only picture we got of ourselves together in Belgium, at one of the waffle shops near the Manneken Pis:

Mmmmm... Belgian waffles!

2007-05-31T12:17:00.000-04:00

I think they're doing a damn fine job of teaching English to non-native speakers in Fairfax County, Virginia

Check out the picture at the top of the Fairfax County Public Schools front page. And because I assume the picture will get yanked soon, here is a screen grab of it -- you can click the photo to zoom in a bit:

(hat tip to Joe for passing this along)

2007-05-17T11:37:00.000-04:00

Crazy Number of the Day

62

That is the combined age of Pittsburgh's two primary office holders: 35 year-old Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and 27 year-old mayor Luke Ravenstahl. Or to measure from one of the defining moments in Pittsburgh history (notice that I said "Pittsburgh history" and not "Pittsburgh sports history"), Tomlin was only seven years old when the Steelers won their fourth Superbowl in January 1980. Ravenstahl wasn't even born yet.

2007-05-16T12:25:00.000-04:00

The little-known [imaginary] power of quotation marks

I was reminded yesterday of the Washington Times' insane standing policy on the use of the words marriage and marry in articles about same-sex marriage. I think it's hilarious that they put quotation marks in there, as if their editorial decision can somehow magically reach out across hundreds of miles and completely nullify the laws and legal system of a U.S. state.

The other thing I noticed about the story, though, was that it was actually an AP story rather than a Washington Times-authored piece. So this led me to wonder whether the Washington Times simply alters AP stories or if the AP actually puts out a specific gay-unfriendly version of their stories for publications like the Washington Times. The latter would be pretty disturbing. And if the former, then I wonder how the AP feels about the Washington Times fooling around with the punctuation in their stories for the purpose of giving the AP's writing a very specific political slant.

And just for the sake of comparison, I quickly found a few other newspapers' webpage versions of the same AP story:

The Stamford Advocate
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The New York Sun

No quotations to be found anywhere else... no surprise there.

2007-05-11T07:31:00.000-04:00

Breaking news just in from the Michigan bureau office of the Department of You Couldn't Possibly Get Any Higher

This is just awesome. So so awesome.

This part in particular was just perfect:

On a 5-minute tape of the call, obtained by the Free Press, Sanchez told an emergency dispatcher he thought he and his wife were overdosing on marijuana. "I think we're dying," he said. "We made brownies and I think we're dead, I really do."

I fucking love how the dude switched from saying "I think we're dying" to "I think we're dead" as if it had already happened and he was just reporting that fact with one foot out the door, on his way to the afterlife. He must have been ridiculously high. And he must not have had a clue what he was getting himself into when he chowed down on the brownies (sort of like the Empire Strikes Back Rice Krispie treats incident for those of you that get that reference).

UPDATE - And while on the subject of The Empire Strikes Back, you may as well click here.

UPDATE 2 - There's audio of the 911 call. You definitely want to listen to the whole thing. It's fantastic.

2007-05-10T11:19:00.000-04:00

Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Snowflake Cluster versus the Cone Nebula

2007-05-08T12:12:00.000-04:00

Tuesday diversions

First, I did not see this linked anywhere. I just typed beavisandbutthead.com into my browser on a whim. MTV appears to have posted every episode of the show online for free! At some point I'll have to invest some time in watching a few of these.

Second, today is the 30th anniversary of one of the all-time classic Dead shows: Cornell '77. I actually used to think the show was a bit overrated, but I keep coming back to that perfect second set. I could argue with a straight face that that set was one of the greatest moments in rock and roll history... or at the very least, one of the greatest moments in Grateful Dead history. In particular, it's almost universally accepted (which is quite unusual when it comes to comparisons of various Dead performances) that the set contains the finest versions of Scarlet Begonias>Fire On the Mountain and Morning Dew ever played. Here's the link for streaming audio of the show -- scroll down a bit to get to the May 8th part of the run.

Finally, caught this image on Mondesi's House. Slight reliance on homophobia notwithstanding, the juxtaposition is just flat out hilarious:

2007-05-04T16:37:00.000-04:00

I call this a Bookmark Remover

I used to have CNN.com on my browser's bookmark list. Then yesterday, this story was listed as one of their top headlines and I was left with little choice but to delete the bookmark. How could I ever look at CNN.com as a real source of news after this???

True, CNN often places dumb shit among their top headlines. But this took it to a whole new level in my opinion. This story exquisitely combined overwhelming doses of "Who the hell cares?" and "Big effing surprise!" And what's up with the Associated Press actually assigning someone to write this piece? Seriously, Lindsey Lohan having big 21st birthday plans is like the Pope planning to recommend Catholicism as his religion of choice. I think you could argue that this is one of the all-time dumbest headlines/stories. It is the literally the opposite of news.

2007-05-03T23:01:00.000-04:00

Best tournament ever

I went to Tom's Tourney this past weekend. It was a huge three day ultimate tournament in Brugge, Belgium. I played with the Bruxelles XLR8RS, the club team I've been practicing with since arriving over here.

the XLR8RS - or at least the folks that were there Sunday

Our team actually underachieved badly, going 2-5 during the first two days while I was there (though four of the five losses were by only one or two goals each). But the results were besides the point for me. The tournament was quite an experience for someone like me that has been playing ultimate frisbee for 15 years entirely in the United States. And the gorgeous weather all weekend certainly didn't hurt... though the bone dry, hard fields were quite tough on my knees.

Over the course of the weekend, we played two teams from Germany, one from Italy, one from Spain, two from Belgium, and one from France. One funny tidbit related to that schedule: at some point, I realized that I was giving the stall count in French against teams that probably understood English better than French.

Our games were only one hour long, so we had a lot of bye rounds. During one of these byes, some of us spent time watching an open team from ?Northern France? play. [An aside to put this story into better context -- The tournament had an open and a women's division but no mixed division, but at least half of the open teams brought a couple women with them. So the open division was often more like a 6:1 or 5:2 mixed division, but some open teams did only bring men.] The team from France had a RIDICULOUS woman with them. She was absolutely sick. I never caught a name, but she wore jersey number 06. Seriously, it was fucking incredible. The team they were playing against did not have women, yet she was out there on the field, OWNING men at times. She was a significant part of the offense and would also stay on the field for some D points, matching up on men. During this game, she had plenty of touches on most of the offensive points she was in for. And along the way, we watched her throw a perfect 40 meter pass for a score and also score a goal on a perfect deep cut to beat her man. We saw her get two or three D blocks on men. We saw her put on ferocious marks that totally flustered a couple guys. Maybe it was just the game of her life?? Or maybe we were lucky enough to have stumbled across a game featuring the Michael Jordan of women's ultimate??

Okay, back to the tourney. There were a lot of interesting quirks I noticed during the weekend that gave the tournament a totally different feel. The first was the one hour rounds. Essentially this meant timed rounds as only one of our seven games made it to 15 points. There were loudspeakers all over the sprawling, disjointed field complex wired to the main tent. When it was almost time for a round to start, the opening section of Guns N' Roses' Paradise City would play. Then a couple minutes later, you would hear a recording of the tournament director saying "Hey guys it's time for ooltimate, the time is running, the time is running!" with a thick Dutch accent, followed by some quirky upbeat music which more than a few people actually danced around to as they stepped on to the field. There was also a strange end of game jingle that would play with five minutes left and then again when time was up.

What else... hmmm.... the losing team in each round had to leave behind at least one person at the field during their ensuing bye round to run the scoretable for the next two teams schedule to play on the field. And guys seem to be even more comfortable about peeing anywhere and everywhere. Though maybe that's just a Europe thing, not an ultimate thing. Another thing you could probably chalk up to Europe in general: we stayed in a local hostel on Saturday night.

There was not any post-game cheering, but spirit is definitely a big part of things over here. After games, both teams would get into one big intermingled huddle and lock arms/shoulders while one person from each team gave a little speech about the game -- my teammates forced me to give one of these speeches after one of our games which was a bit unexpected and strange for me. During the beginnings of games, members of opposite teams often shake hands while matching up during turnovers or other brief moments of down time.

a post-game huddle

And the tournament itself was just brilliantly run with all sorts of things going on. There was a massive Saturday BBQ. And not just burgers on paper plates. There was real china and silverware and a serious spread of local food including salads, sausages, chicken, and a few delicious items that I don't know the names of. There was a real musical act followed (FOLLOWED!) by a seriously entertaining 40 minute, five man bar-themed juggling/magic act that then segued into the five guys running an actual bar when the show ended. Throughout the weekend, real beer was available day and night at the main tent in real beer glasses... and I did not see a single dumbass brake a glass the whole time. The tent also had all sorts of food going throughout the weekend, which of course included waffles at times.

Other random bits of info: an American woman named Carly picked up with our team. She recognized the BRDM jersey I was wearing because she knew some DC folks including Paul Peek. And if that isn't "small world" enough for you, I ran into former Maryland Ultimate player Marco Rietveld on a sideline Saturday afternoon. I probably hadn't seen the guy in about six years and had no idea he was now living in Amsterdam. What else??? Hmmm... oh, I finally got used to the kissing hello/goodbye on the cheek during the course of the weekend.

Okay, this was a really really long post. In terms of getting to truly experience something interesting in Europe, playing at this tournament and spending two days with my Belgian team was possibly a thousand times better for me than any other touristy thing I could have come up with. Beyond all the frisbee/tournament stuff, it was also really nice just getting to know all sorts of new people.