Fun and Games Dept

Earl dragged me into the holiday season today by insisting that we begin decorating the house. So we cleaned the downstairs (tomorrow it’s the upstairs) and hauled the decorations up from the cellar. We’re going to wait until next weekend to put up the Christmas tree, but we began by putting up various trinkets around the house.

One of my most treasured decorations is the ceramic Christmas tree that I inherited from Grandma City. Grandma City was the bees’ knees when it came to arts and crafts, and she passed her talents on to various family members. Originally a gift to Grandma from her daughter-in-law, this tree sat prominently in the front window every Christmas season. When I see this tree I am easily transported to half my height and 30+ years ago, and all the excitement I felt with the arrival of the Christmas season. Having the tree in the dining room is like having the whole family over for dinner.

Among the other decorations we put up included a mini Christmas tree that usually goes on my desk at work. Since I’m not working full-time, we opted to put up the tree on one of the end tables in the Great Room. Chick and Cow dressed for the occasion and posed for the camera.

I rarely take this little internet quiz things, but here you are. Is it accurate? I hardly remember how I act when I’m drinking beer, what with the two beer queer thing and all.

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you’ll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all – especially about subjects you don’t know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

To continue our theme of a fun filled weekend last night, Earl and I decided last minute to make the drive to Ithaca to go to bear night at the Common Ground. We’ve never been out and about in Ithaca and we thought the experience would be a good one. It’s 100 miles in each direction but I wasn’t really concerned about the drive as I was in full night-owl mode and this would be an exciting adventure.

I’ve always found Ithaca to be an interesting city. Very much a college town, I’ve always visualized the city as a piece of granola sitting in the middle of a vat of baked beans. Ithaca is quite trendy (at least for Upstate New York) and there’s a bit of a free will/hippy vibe going on that I find to be quite appealing. Earl and I have gone to the co-op market from time to time, plus the surrounding state parks have some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the region. Once upon a time I considered Ithaca College to pursue a music education degree and I’d often drive through Ithaca on my way from Jamestown to my folks house back when I lived in the western part of the state.

I like it there.

I believe the Common Ground is the only gay bar in Ithaca. It’s on the outskirts of the city, high in the hills seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It’s location reminded me of that bar I used to go to on the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border back in the day. The crowd at the bar was quite interesting in that it was a mix of folks from all walks of gay life that seemed to mingle without incident. Earl and I recognised quite a few faces from Hillside and we spent much of the evening chatting with Dan and Mark; we often run into Dan in Albany and Buffalo- I guess he’s as much of a traveler as we are when it comes to weekend fun. The music was surprisingly good and the DJ earned the DJSuperCub stamp of approval with his blend of music from the 70s right up through the current stuff.

All in all it was a good time and we’d certainly go back for another adventure. I don’t know when we became such bear night bears though. I guess that happens once in a while.

It’s Black Friday. Many Americans have been up for nearly twelve hours as of this writing. They have waited in traffic, snaked their way into crowded parking lots and have dealt with surly clerks. They have been force fed tinny renditions of “Jingle bells, Jingle BELLS, JINGLE ALL THE WAY” over speakers designed for price check requests. They have scratched, pawed and clawed their way to the one laptop per store available in the unbelievable deal offered by Wal*Mart (“Always White Trash, Always”). By the way, said laptop will self destruct while still in it’s wrapping paper. Shoppers have fallen for the hype and the lure of the retailers as the almighty dollar reigns supreme and said retailers try to make their last buck in this gasping economy, all in the name of God.

Earl and I refuse to take part in the mass hysteria that grips the season. Always eager to do our own thing, we bundled up, braved the temperatures in the mid 20s and went for a picnic. Earl packed the cooler with leftovers, we loaded the Jeep and off we went.

There’s something to be said for not following the crowd and instead going for a stroll through small towns and medium sized cities while the rest of the world goes crazy with the pushing and shoving at the mall. We are currently in the oddly named Horseheads, New York at a Panera* (where else?) I’ve always liked this part of the state. It has it’s act together and has a different vibe than the rust belt we live in. We are at the bottom of the “loop” of our ride.

One of our stops was at Buttermilk Falls State Park. There were quite a few people enjoying one of Mother Nature’s countless displays of beauty. It’s here at this point that I’d post a picture of the falls, but this Panera just turned off access to Flickr, even though it was working just five minutes ago. I find this to be quite rude, must have been that “gay bears” tag on my photos that made someone nervous. I think I’ve just spent my last dime at Panera. Maybe I’m paranoid. Who knows.

After this stop we are heading back up through the Finger Lakes with the intent of catching a movie in Rochester before heading home. They have a beautiful IMAX theatre there and we’re going to see what’s playing tonight.

If you want to see more pictures, just click on the photo above. I’ll post them tonight when we get back to home base.

Update, 16:11
So much for Panera’s firewall. Here’s Earl at Buttermilk Falls.

And here I childishly offer Earl some of my coleslaw (which is actually sweet and sour cabbage):

* Earl and I have decided to test the firewall/content controls a bit. Whenever we search for something ‘gay’, that site is then blocked for five minutes or so. This even extends to searches for the phrase “Rosie O’Donnell” on YouTube. We’ve definitely spent our last dime at Panera.

Earl and I have set up shop in a corner of the newish Panera here in Feasterville, Pa. for the morning. We are in town for Rick and Helen’s official wedding reception taking place tonight. We will be kilted for the occasion and I’ll be sure to share pictures tomorrow. It seems the kilt pictures were popular.

We always seem to migrate to Panera when we are looking for free wi-fi and decent food. Supporting my ghetto Panera theory, this Panera is nothing like the one we have back home. This store has a calm, quiet atmosphere going on, complete with fireplaces, lounge chairs and new age music. The Panera at home is really out of the norm with it’s McDonald’s vibe. I think that speaks volumes regarding the area we live in.

Using my quasi bionic hearing I’ve been eavesdropping on the conversation going on behind me. One woman’s daughter is taking the train to New York next weekend and she’ll be spending the night in a “haushaus”. The woman mentioned this haushaus several times before her friend corrected her and let her know that it’s a hostel.

I giggled.

Speaking of bionic hearing, I was reading some superhero geek message boards and noticed that the producers of Bionic Woman (the fake one) have altered the show a bit in attempt to stop the ratings from their freefall. They did this in the last episode by using a bit of slow-motion and sound effects to indicate that “Jaime” was doing something bionic. I appreciate the effort and I watched a clip online, and the effects looked quite cool, but it didn’t make up for the fact that there is a fake Jaime Sommers (which is worse than a fake Jan Brady), Isaiah Washington was on the show and the dialogue was really, really weak (and I only watched a seven minute clip). There’s rumblings that they’re going to “reboot” the entire show in January, hopefully they’ll start from scratch and listen to the suggestions from the public to make it more inline and continuous with the original bionic shows. Lindsay Wagner recently said that she doesn’t like the new show at all. So much for her cameo.

I still firmly believe that there is only one true Bionic Woman.

Today was the reason we came to Ireland for this little trip. Today Earl and I were witnesses to Rick and Helen getting married.

We started out the day by heading to Limerick, where Rick and Helen exchanged their vows in a very brief civil ceremony. The ceremony lasted no more than 10 minutes. While quite nice, I felt like I was watching a wedding at high speed. i don’t think Las Vegas wedding ceremonies are even this brief.

After Limerick, we headed to Gregan’s Castle Hotel, located near Ballyvaughan. This hotel is a beautiful spot tucked away in the Irish countryside. While it has amenities found in your normal four-star hotel, it’s a quaint little place with a decidedly bed and breakfast feel. It is quite comfortable.

We readied ourselves and dressed in kilts of the county colours and headed to the Cliffs of Moher for the blessing. We were joined by Dara, a local monk who performed a pagan wedding ceremony.

Here’s Earl and I waiting for the bride to arrive. Rick was kind enough to snap the photo.

The ceremony was held at O’Brien Tower at the Cliffs of Moher.

The cliffs had a mystical shroud of fog. It added to the ambience.

The crew at the Cliffs were kind enough to provide buggy service for the bride and groom. Earl and I walked the 800 m from the car to the site of the ceremony. We were the subject of numerous tourist photos and had to stop several times as requests were made in several languages.

After the service, we headed back to Gregan’s Castle Hotel. Along the way we stopped along the coast for more photos. I think this snapshot captures the magic that was in the air. I loved Helen’s dress and pagan-esque cape.

After we got settled back into the suite, Earl was kind enough to snap a photo of me in my wedding-witness attire.

Afterwards we all settled in to the hotel for the night, we had a delicious dinner at the hotel restaurant and a nightcap before calling it a night.

Today has been a truly blessed, magical day.

Earl and I and Rick and Helen took the day and headed south toward Cork, as we went to tour Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone. The weather was beautiful today, with sunny skies and the temperature around 17 degrees (62 fahrenheit).

The drive was only two hours or so and was quite enjoyable. Only a short section was along dual carriageway (freeway/expressway), the rest was along two lane roads through the countryside. I really like the way Ireland marks the roadways; the signs are simple to follow and you always know where you’re headed. I hope it’s a trend that continues throughout the entire country. We also stopped at a fast food restaurant much like McDonalds for a quick bite to eat, it’s called SuperMac’s.

Blarney Castle is about a five minute walk from the entrance to the grounds.

We found the castle to be quite impressive. The grounds are beautiful and the castle itself is beautiful. Unlike Runbatty Castle we were in yesterday, there’s no furnishings at all in Blarney Castle. This gives the touring experience a more “raw” feel.

Here’s Earl standing next to the watch tower, found along the walk to the castle.

After a climb up a very narrow, very steep spiral staircase, we made it to the top of the castle, where the Blarney Stone is found. Here we are on the roof.

The line for the honour of kissing the Blarney Stone was short. There was little debate amongst the four of us. I ended up being the only one in the group to actually kiss the Blarney Stone. Make a tick mark next to one more thing accomplished in my life. I have a souvenir photo of my actual kiss, Earl snapped this photo after I was being brought back up to the surface.

For those unaware, you just don’t lean over and give this stone a kiss. A man sits there as you lie on your back and spidey your way a little bit down the wall, where the ground is a distant site many stories away, and then you give this stone in the wall a peck. Another older gentleman snaps your photo and you’re given a ticket with your file number. Grand things are to happen as you’re bestowed the gift of gab from kissing the stone. Earl said I was gabby enough. Apparently I now have extra gab.

After Blarney Castle we did some touring around the City of Cork a bit, which is a very nice city, before heading back to Ennis for supper and hanging out before calling it a night.

There are more pictures on my flickr page, just click one of the photos about to get there.