12/17/2010

WPBT Trip Report: The Missing Man Perspective....

When the anticipation of attending the yearly storming of the strip is ripped from your heart, a new and rather dangerous anticipation creeps into your head. Its the anticipation of the trip reports in the aftermath of the successful candidates appearances, that gives one something to cling to. Something that seems to hold value and something, that is supposed to make you feel at least a modicum better, after having to miss out on the fun.

Funny though, it just makes me feel worse!

Don't get me wrong here, I love reading every ones stories. I can say unequivocally, I would feel FAR worse if I didn't have them to review. It's just the whole double-edged sword thing you know? No reads at all, I'd feel so left out of all the fun. But to read about all of the shenanigans and tom-foolery, is akin to getting that first helium balloon as a kid. Only to eventually find out that once you let go of the string for just a split second, the balloon will slowly and quite painfully, allow you to watch it disappear into the far reaching blue sky.

If you've been before and couldn't make one of our little gatherings for any of a number of reasons, I think you know what I'm trying to convey. If you've never been to a gathering before, I hope that you will allow yourself to partake in all of the fun, as soon as you get the chance.

I do not believe this to be too simplified to be honest. I actually think that saying our little community ranges as far and wide as the imagination will allow you to take it, could possibly be one of the understatements of the century.

Diversity & Adversity.
Camaraderie & Debauchery.
Gentile & Futile.
Heart warming & Heart wrenching.
CEO's & The Unemployed.
Writers & Dreamers.

We have anything and everything you could ever dream up, here in our little cluster of fun.

I found it entirely ironic that as the WPBT was blasting in full force over the weekend, so was one of the worst Winter storms in Bedrock's history. Why you ask? Well here's this Missing man's perspective.

In the world as it is right now, multi-billion dollar deals are going down with neither party actually ever having to meet. At least not face-to-face. A simple 'click' is really all it takes. Homes are bought and sold, pharmaceuticals can be purchased and any other multitude of wheeling and dealing can be done, all in the same manner. Just avoid any actual contact, then 'click' and the deal is done. Hell we even call ourselves IIF's! Some that we just can't wait to see again, some we'll meet for the first time or best of all for the real veterans of this little community of ours, we'll recall all of our previous hi jinx in hilarity, while making new memories as we trudge along. All conveyed with a few simple words on a screen in front of us and then, the transaction is considered complete. All with just a simple 'click' of a mouse.

In life in general, how many of us can say that we know all of our neighbours? I'm not talking about the house next door, or even the one, two or three houses down the road from that one. I'm talking about the basic community of folks, that you've chosen to surround your family with. I don't think I'm going too far out on the limb here, to say very few is a pretty accurate assumption.

So the Winter storm around these parts was an awful lot like one of our gatherings for me, when complete strangers would park on the side of a snowy and blowing cold road, all in an effort to help pull someone else out of the ditch. Simple acts of heart warming kindness took place, where new friends were made and old friendships were rekindled. The Farmer with his snow blower attached to his John Deere, simply makes stops at each and every driveway along the way. The man across the road is carrying a bag of milk. All the while, struggling to keep his feet beneath him in the ice and snow. Why is he doing that? He knows the single mom with two children under five down the road, hasn't been able to get out now for days.

You see during the worst Winter storm in years around these parts, I walked up to a man that seemed only vaguely familiar to me and rather soon after that, we called each other friend. Only to find out that this one simple action, soon lead me to discover I had hundreds more just like him around here. It was the same with my first ever gathering. I simply walked up to a man that somehow seemed a little familiar to me, only to have called him friend ever since. And with that one simple action on my part I also soon discovered, I had hundreds more just like him in you.

So since the irony of the timing is not lost on me at all, here is my message to you. If you never have before, get to a gathering of some type. Because only then will you truly find out just how many friends you may really have, in this wonderful community that's developed.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

12/15/2010

Closing Bedrock....


On account'a SNOW!

Now I am only 1,000,048 years old, so I'm not really the crotchety old "GET OFF MY LAWN" git that I've been perceived to be. But shutting down Bedrock? FOR SNOW???

SERIOUSLY?

WTF?

This is solely my personal opinion of course, but you know your population is leaning a little too far in the direction of cultural diversity, when a little snow shuts down a town based almost entirely on tourism.

UH.... 85% of which is Winter fun.

Re-fueling trucks can't get to the gas stations.
Ski hills closed because there's too much snow!
School buses pulled off the roads.
(Okay, I get that one!)
But pulling Snowplows off the roads?

It's fucking white fluffy snow!

My apologies Grandpa Barney and Grandpa Betty, we've let Bedrock go to Hell in a hand basket!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going out to have a little play!


That is all.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

12/13/2010

The 2010 Bammy Awards....

Yes kids, the time has finally arrived once again. Where our esteemed panel of judges are asked to make quite literally, a few of the toughest decisions known to blogdem.

It's time for The 2010 Bammy Awards to get shelled out!

First up, Favourite New Artist.

The nominees are;

Schaubs for Double-Baby-Bump
Josie for Very Josie
&
Cloud for Twitterpoker

And The Bammy goes to....

Very Josie!

Seriously difficult decision between all three of these great blogs. But in the end, I think the judges were swayed by Josie's constant cleavage shots. And we all know how the judges around here erm... feel about boobies right!

Next, Favourite Female Artist.

And the nominees are;

Mrs. Chako for The Wife
CK for Black Widow of Poker
Kat for Katitude
&
Gadzooks for OMGWTF: Its a blog

And The 2010 Bammy Award goes to....

Mrs. Chako!

You want to hear about tough decisions? This was BRUTALLY tough! In the end it all came down to just one vote between them. ONE VOTE! Apparently the deciding factor came down to a few minor little details. CK shutting things down for a bit, well let's just say that hurt her chances just a smidgen. Zooks basically lost on a minor technicality, as the judges were thrilled to stop by and read about the PokerSlut Tour. Only to find out that it was all about some silly little game of cards. SO disappointing and yes, there were deductions for incredibly poor sportsmanship on that one! Kat's last minute move may have hurt her in the end, as the judges are rather simple minded folks, not understanding or appreciating some real talent, when it's presented right in front of them.

It was also said that the last thought going into the judging for this category, was one brief moment during a previous WPBT. A moment my friends, that SHALL live on in the memory of the head judge, until all time comes to a stop.

This brings us to Favourite Male Artist.

And the nominees are;

Joe Speaker for The Obituarium
Astin for I Can't Believe I Ate The Whole Thing
Julius_Goat for The Goat Speaks
&
Ken P. for Poker Perambulation

The Bammy goes to....

Julius_Goat!

Although this was no cakewalk either kids, it all basically boiled down to two very simple fundamentals for the judges. First off, "Humor is reason gone mad." With that thought stuck in the judges heads, it became a no-brainer once they all came to the exact same conclusion.

"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members."

And with that, SeƱor Goat eeks out the win!

Next we have the category of Best Folk Performance, by a Duo or Group.

Our nominees are....

AlCantHang for The Bash
Otis for Mastodon Weekend
The WPBT for The Winter Gathering

This years Bammy Award goes to....

Otis and the entire G-Vegas crowd!

Let's face it, this one wasn't even close! First off, The WPBT was held this year without a single panel judge being present. HUGE mistake! There have also been recent rumours of course, that The Bash could possibly be making a resurrection of sorts, heading into 2011. Well kids, that's NEXT YEAR! The South-Cackalacky gang won this one hands down. Plans for the judges to repeat The Migration for years and years to come, have already been laid out. You will be seeing us my friends, as long as you'll allow it to happen!

The second last of our 2010 Bammy Awards is, Best Metal Performance.

The nominees are....

BadBlood for Metal Mondays and New, Old, Live.
Dr. Chako for Perseverance
&
Riggstad for Bangin' it Old School

The 2010 Bammy goes to....

Right off the top, Riggstad had to be disqualified. THAT.IS.NOT.METAL!

Our winner this year is, Doc Chako!

BadBlood was right there the entire way though, as he introduced our judges to some of the best stuff they'd laid ear to for some time. But in the end, it was the shear determination and intestinal fortitude of The Doc, that won the judges over.

And that my friends, brings us to our final category for the year.

The 2010 Bammy Award for, Best Performance EVAH!

The nominees are....

Falstaff for The Chosen
Pauly for Lost Vegas
&
DRIZZ for I Hear What Your Saying

And the winner of the 2010 Bammy Award is....

DRIZZLE!

If you don't own either one of those amazing books, YOU SHOULD! But in the end as it almost always does, the nod seems to go to the seriously funny. I say it in person whenever I get the all too rare chance but DRIZZ, you just make me smile all the time and for that, you win The 2010 Bammy Award for Best Performance EVAH!

Congratulations to all of our winners and for those that didn't quite make the cut, know this, neither did I !!

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....