Sidenote: Before the hockey game we stopped at 5 Guys for a quick bite to eat. The restaurant features a bulletin board for children to draw pictures or messages.
See it yet?
Most of the drawings say something to the extent of "5 guys rules" or "I heart 5 Guys" but one plucky artist decided to show his love for delicious burgers in a different way...
Tell me there's another way to interpret this. Tell me that isn't a drawing of a man spreading open his cheeks with Stretch Armstrong arms and being all too pleased with himself about it.
Well, 2011 may only have one day on the books but it's already eventful. New Years 2011 is, by far, one of the most memorable starts to the year in recent memory. And it happened like this:
Every year the Portland Winterhawks hockey team holds a New Years Eve game to ring in the new year. Katie and I have gone for the last couple of years. They're fun, the game is usually good and it gets us out of the house without going to a lame party or drinking ourselves stupid.
(Note to all of my friends: I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, your parties aren't lame. Really).
This year's game was against the Seattle Thunderbirds, a bitter rival, and while there was plenty of the violence that you'd expect at a hockey game:
Exhibit A:
There was also plenty of the violence that you didn't.
The refs in the game were (admittedly) not very good, and called penalty after penalty against Portland. I’ll save you all the technical mumbo-jumbo for all you non-hockeyists out there, but needless to say when the sixth penalty was called against Portland (with NONE against Seattle) the crowd was starting to get a bit upset, and when game ending whistle blew fans were so upset that they started pelting Seattle’s goaltender with garbage.
Yeah. Half-drunk sodas, nacho baskets, beer... it was all thrown at the players at the end of the game, and when one of Seattle’s players was invited back out onto the ice for a special award he refused to come out.
Hockey fans are known for being a bit... extreme, but I’ve never known people to be so upset that they pelted players with garbage.
The fans anger even managed to make it onto the Internet with the official Winterhawks blog and The Oregonian commenting on it.
Then there was the MAX ride home, where a group of pissed off drunk 15-year-old girls were in the middle of a screaming match with a group of transvestites on their way downtown. It was pretty ugly, and disgusting, and lasted most of the way through Portland.
I’m not one to shove my opinions down people’s throat, but I think we can all agree that it’s wrong to scream at complete strangers just because you disagree with them. They aren’t hurting you. It doesn’t affect you. Just let them wear their fishnet stockings. Shut up.
Anyway that brought a pretty substantial downer feeling to the evening and much of the MAX ride was taken in silence until we left Portland city limits.
Nothing like a little homophobic bigotry to bring down an evening
We ended up counting down the new year in a parking lot just off the MAX in Beaverton. It was a memorable start to 2011 to say the least.
Here’s hoping that 2011 is a bit less... aggressive, but just as memorable.
So, as I wrote the other day, the K-Dizzle and I are working on a new project, a photo-a-week test to document the next 52 weeks (and 1 day) until 2012.
Having just finished my 365 project a few months ago, I expect this to be significantly less stressful, but just as fun and even more challenging.
And, as usual, after taking 20+ photos last night, the first one is by far the best.
(also, like I said, any suggestions for photos or tips and tricks on how to take better ones, let us know)
Okay, enough stalling. Let's do this.
I'm not crazy about this photo, but this week only had 1 day in it. So sue us.
It was a VERY memorable New Years Eve in Portland with a Winterhawks hockey game, then an unforgettable MAX ride home with crossdressers and drunk 14-year-old rednecks, followed by counting down the new year in an empty parking lot.
All of that requires it's own post, since it involves pics, several paragraphs of rambling and even a couple of videos. I'll see if I can get those posted tonight, but we're taking a last-minute drive down to Eugene for the rest of the weekend, so we'll see if I can steal some Internet on the way, or later tonight...
Also, here's some other photos that could have been our Day 1.
The more I look at this, the more this becomes my favorite of the three. But rules are rules and we both agreed on the other photo. I'll just have to deal.
Another year is almost through and it's time to look back on the year-that-almost-was and make plans for the next 365 days.
2010 saw a lot of pivitol moments for the Rappingers (namely the start of this blog). It also saw Geoff finishing his Photo-A-Day project, and the wedding after wedding of family and friends.
Mostly, though 2010 can be summed up like this:
Geoff worked...
and worked...
And worked some more...
So, what's there to look forward to in 2011? Well here at LaaR (sidenote: worst. acronym. ever) you'll be seeing more of what you love: namely more inane babbling and the photos. Lots of photos.
The goal will be to post to the blog more regularly. And with what Katie and I have planned for the year I think that's something we'll be able to do.
Speaking of which: After the success of my 365 project (read: I finished it by cheating. A LOT). I've decided to start again, albeit a big more relaxed. This time it's a tag team effort, with the K-Dizzle and I working to take a family photo once a week.
Yes, boys and girls, we're talking FAMILY PORTRAITS of the Rappingers.
There'll be some good ones:
"Good," of course, meaning I find it kinda funny
There will be some bad ones:
Like this one I tried to do in September. Just very boring and not well thought out.
As well as several taken at the last minute but by the end of the year we should have a pretty accurate account of 2011 just in time to say hello to 2012.
So mostly, as far as the blog is concerned 2011 plans to bring more of the same. If you have any suggestions for a 365 photo for us, or ideas on what you'd like to see more of (did you like the Halloween movie reviews?) we'd love to hear from you.
