Manweekend

NASA¹ and the USAF² have announced the weekend of
June 12-13 as the launch date of the vehicle Man Weekend 2010.
Its annual mission:
to eschew³ strange new beers; to seek out large fish and new fishing hot spots; to boldly go where many men have gone before.

This year the State of Vermont got it right and Saturday, June 12 is Free Fishing Day and the start of Bass Season.

Usually Charles does a groovy Man Weekend web site cover page but I
haven’t heard from him since he suspiciously sent videos instead of attending Man Weekend 2009. I suspect he’s been assimilated by the
Borg.

So instead you get a cheesy exercise in visualization. Imagine the beer
bottle on the right cut out from the background, reduced, rotated, and
inserted into the hands of the Space Baby on the left. Then imagine
the words
“Man Weekend”
and
“with beer!”
inserted before and after the movie title in a graffiti font:

Click on one of the images to go to the Man Weekend web site.

Footnotes:

¹National Alcohol Swilling Administration

²U.S. Association of Fishermen

³Except at the Grow cottage, and Fred, and a
few other men.

Consider the following:

1. Ty Tobey, a founding Man, was unable to attend Man Weekend 2007.
2. The weather was perfect, the fishing was pretty good (according to Allen), and the Ty-tanic worked flawlessly.

Is there a cause and effect relationship here?

Ty’s absence was an occasional topic of conversation. I now reveal the true reason Ty didn’t show. During his move Ty misplaced his Man Weekend hat and decided he’d rather skip Man Weekend entirely rather than endure the Ordeal of the Garment of Shame. It’s just as well. Man Weekend’s ISP would have probably pulled the plug if those pictures appeared on the web site.

Drama was provided by Gilbert and Scott’s heroic rescue of the Red Rocket when the RR’s new starter motor turned out to be the single-use model. Allen, Tom, Patrick, and Richard spent several hours out in the middle of the bay:

1. Picking pieces of exploded starter motor housing out of
   the engine.
2. Attempting to flag down nearby boats and airplanes.
3. Noting the direction of the drift and wondering if the Venice onion soup place was still open.
4. Franticly trying to remember cell phone numbers.

Fortunately, someone remembered Ty’s number, Ty was able to get Gilbert’s cell phone number from his office, and eventually the AquaPimp came around and, at some risk to its engine, towed the Red Rocket back to Shipyard.

Allen, Patrick, and Tom enjoyed a few minutes of quiet levity when they dropped the anchor while Richard was at the bow in a futile attempt to wield the paddle. Har, har, har guys.

The moral of the story is that if you need to be rescued, either everyone should bring their preprogrammed cell phones or at least one guy should be fishing without a license to insure a timely visit by the game warden.

Ned Atwater, who wants his attendance made a clear part of the record, drove up in his beautiful
30 year old truck. He says he got 18mpg on the ride up. Ned can also be seen in this year’s group shot and in the kayak pictures.

The art of the Man Weekend dinner has been perfected. The Saturday Man Meal was half melt-in-your-mouth meat and half monster shrimps prepared two different ways. The debt the rest of Man Weekend owes to Allen and Patrick for their work is incalculable. Allen brought a case of a dozen 20oz heavy glass goblets that were put into use by those not drinking beer. Whiskey, scotch, G&Ts, wine, and margaritas were being consumed in 20oz servings. Whee!

Tony Reed, a distant cousin to Allen and Richard, and single-star, sends the following:

“The Canadian Man-Weekend Auxiliary Branch, from it’s headquarters in Picton, Prince Edward County, Ont (just across the lake from Rochester NY, see?) wishes y’all all the best for Man-Weekend 2007.

May you always have red meat and strong beverage and a round in the chamber …”

Next year is Man Weekend X and the first gold stars will be awarded to those founding Men who deserve them. The time to start preparations (ie. sweet-talking her) is now!

The panoramic images were made with a free program called Autostitch.

More panoramas can be seen at the Camp Randolph pictures page.

The Frank Martin Tackle Box Award

Official Rules and Guidelines

1. This award is in honor of Camp Randolph Legend Frank Martin. He was a renowned landscape architect, quality craftsman, master of profanity and expert fisherman.
2. It is to be awarded beginning ManWeekend VIII (June 10, 2006, then anuualy thereafter at each official ManWeekend.
3. The Tournament officially begins at 12:01 AM ManWeekend Friday and ends at 7:00 PM ManWeekend Saturday. The winner will be announced ManWeekend Saturday at the official Man Meal.
4. All participants in the tournamnent must be ManWeekend attendees in good standing and have their names officially recorded on the tournament entry form prior to the start time of the tournament.
5. By having their names officially recorded on the tournament entry form, all participants agree to the rules and guidelines set forth in this document
6. The award will go to the participant who catches the “BIGGEST” fish as determined by weight. In the event of a tie, the next determining factor will be length. In the even of yet another tie, the winner will be determined by Rock-Scissors-Paper. Best two out of three.
7. All tournament participants must conduct themselves with the utmost good faith, fairness and sportsmanship.
8. Each participating fishing boat must be equipped with a scale, ruler, camera and official tournament form in order to properly document and record all catches.
9. All species of fish are eligible for entry into the competition. So, if the fishing sucks, be sure to record that tiny Perch you so arrogantly thought you could use as bait! Also, fish must be caught live; no picking up dead ones.
10. All types of bait (jail, live or otherwise) and all fishing techniques are approved for use during the tournament.
11. There will be a winner each year as long as at least one fish is caught and it is properly documented and recorded. If no fish are caught, we will think of something.
12. There will be no money. The Frank Martin Tackle Box Award is ManWeekend’s highest (and only) honor. The trophy, official rules and list of recipients will be on permanent display at the Tobey Cottage for all to see and admire. A certificate, suitable for posting on your refrigerator, will be mailed to the winner.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD FISHING!