The Fun

Fun is one of Ultimate Peace's five core principles. And it happens to be the easiest to create at camp! Below is  list of some fun things from my training camp experience 2013:

• playlist: 

1. Macklemore - And We Danced (explicit lyrics get "Beep") 
2. Psy - Gangam Style (despite being over-played in 2012)
3. Awolnation - Sail (a favorite of my assistant coach Zolo)
4. Michael Jackson - Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)

• At our final camp dinner, I walked by my team's table and said jokingly "Princess!" in honor of the game Mingle. Three seconds later, one of the two Jewish Israelis on the team jumped into his Palestinian teammate's arms. At that same moment, across the table, the other Jewish camper on my team laughed and high-fived his Arab Israeli teammate. Such a good display of distance traveled simply by having fun together.

• Camp is just about the only place I can bang on the dinner table real loud, and for fun... and its okay!

• Also only at camp will two teams named Ferocious Pickles and Maroon Mamas play together at the "Hot Box." Just sayin.

• On one of my four flights to/from the Middle East, I offered gum to my neighbor who declined saying he had his own. What was really cool was he pulled out his pack and offered it to his neighbor on the other side of him. She accepted, completing the virtuous circle :-)

• Here's a picture of the Coaches in Training acting out how they picked up tons of free gear at the Five Ultimate office in Seattle
  
  
  

Ultimate Peace is back around!

In a few days, I'm headed to the Middle East to coach at Ultimate Peace Training Camp. This is somewhat of a reboot on my 2011 trip, when I went to coach at Ultimate Peace Summer Camp. Here's a link to the label I used on my series of camp-related posts. Its a pretty decent reverse chronology of the experience.

I'm using this blog the next couple of weeks to keep in touch with friends. Going on this trip is only possible because lots of people donated their treasure, time, and talents to helping me. Also, a bunch of people drank wine. And that helps. Its kind of like drinking wine --> Ben goes to the Middle East. That's the causality.

Here are a couple pictures of the wine party 2013 held to raise money for Camp:

Katherine entering her mystery wine description

Sam superbly serving a voluptuous vintage

Reed presenting the red wines in front of awesome UP gear (and awkward John Booth)

Sam thanking supporters for coming and pulling raffle numbers

Thanks everyone for the support. More posts coming in the next few days. I leave on Sunday!

Relax

"You have plenty of time."

Always loved this advice. And even in this time of change, and travel, and hectic weeks, its nice to remember I have plenty of time.

Times are changing. Seems that the older generation is getting sick and passing on. Several friends' grandparents are in poor health. Spears family spent some more time last weekend celebrating the life of George Spears.

Been traveling a bunch. For a mid hurricane wedding in Philly and then an ultimate tournament on the west coast. Thus the hippy sign over this Santa Cruz sandwich shop.

And free time during the week, or weekend, is hard to come by. Though maybe I should digest the sandwich shop message even more.

Ultimate Peace 13 - Getting Into Some Afterthoughts

Now that I have returned from Ultimate Peace Camp and jumping all over the Middle East, I get to jump all over the place in terms of reliving and blogging the experience. First off, some of the multicultural moments from camp. Great memories, as anticipated, came from the dance floor.

Evening activities committee (group of a few coaches) had the whole week planned out pretty well, from ice-breakers to a talent show, galaxy quest to camp slide shows. But for the second or third evening of camp, we had only a few details lined up in pulling together Cultural Night.

We chose to highlight Arab, Israeli, and American cultures in several different ways. Started by planning three dances - one from each culture:

• the Israeli hora
• the Arab dabka
• the American cupid shuffle

Also had desserts...baklava was involved. And every player and coach was responsible for learning to write their name in three different languages (English, Arabic, and Hebrew).

Here are two pictures of the cupid shuffle. You can tlel the crowd went from learning to enjoying pretty quickly.

Also, here is a video of dancing under a full moon the last night of camp:

Ultimate Peace 7 - I'm Exhausted

Today turned out really well for Ultimate Peace and for the group of campers I'm coaching. Out team name is fans, color orange, and motto "our best".

We went over the backhand and forehand, plus the basic rules around travel and turnover. It helps that most of the campers were here last summer and some played regularly throughout the year.

Little accomplishments felt like individual breakthroughs, like a young kid from Rananna throwing for the first time with someone other than his hometown friend... In fact, someone from another, very different place, Jericho.

High fives, singing "I love everybody", and a couple cheers have us in better spirits and relating to each other easier. We rummaged write a bit and took party on cultural night, which centered around a dance party, pictured below (maybe sideways).

This is being posted tuesday morning instead of monday night because of internet problems last night.

Some Pics From Mrs Obama's Visit

I'll have to rearrange these but wanted to try uploading from my phone straight to blogger. Enjoy!

Crowd shot before the event

Co-workers shot waiting for the event

iPad band performing B.o.B. "Magic"

The First Lady

Blurry

Mrs Obama Speaking with Big Screen Behind Her

Insane Crowd and Media Coverage

Everything

I'm feeling some pretty rough feelings right now. The great fortune of going on such a fantastic trip is now being tempered with an awful emotional and mental tumble. Quickly: I just got back from the World Ultimate Club Championships - before that I visited Berlin, plus London and Loughborough, UK.

Most Recently

I'm in Atlanta now - having survived one of the more stressful airport experiences in Prague yesterday, followed by a 10 hour flight, then some baggage delays at Hartsfield-Jackson. Had a nice dinner with the parents and reconnected with my new housemates before getting a surprisingly full night's sleep. Thanks to mom and dad for bracketing my trip with rides to/from the airport and delicious dinners - at left is a pic of dinner before I left back in June (i was also testing the camera).

Less Recently

This past weekend had its ups and downs (starting around the time Chain lost in semifinals). The ups include:

• table dancing/pants-less dancing at the tournament party
• trading national arm-bands with new friends
• gladiator-type wrestling on the WUCC tram
• absinthe bar - see video below of the shots on fire

Downs include:

• flaking out on lots of friends who went to Prague's 5-story dance club while I was throwing up by the side of the road
• sprinting through the prague airport (with only a few minutes til boarding) looking for a baggage locker for the bag i couldn't check for my return flight - and having to leave behind the bag

Another "Everything" post is coming soon. Feel free to put in requests for info/stories from the trip.

New crib

I know I've posted a lot lately about my being an uncle. And giving my niece lots of attention. I drive around town with baby clothes and books in the trunk.

But the crib I'm talkin about is all mine. Well mine with a couple friends. Well really it belongs to the couple of friends and I'm renting a room. But I've been living there almost alone for a couple weeks. Getting stuff set up by myself and having people over. Its real nice. So you get the point.

Come by and visit some time. Rock on the front porch swing or sit in the screen porch in back. Water, Sweetwater Beer and Mangers served til late. Did I mention its less than a minute from Little 5? See ya

Brandon meet the cup, cup Brandon

Happy New Year everybody. Especially Brandon, who I got to see this past weekend in Athens among all the idiots playing ultimate. Here's the sequence at the bar:

Hi Brandon, national champ

Brandon say hello to the cup for the first time since November 1, 2009

Brandon meet beer in the cup, bask in the glory of being the best

Recap

The weather has turned fairly sour so its time to take a look at what made 2009 what it was...

January - new year's celebration in new york and inauguration in the nation's capitol (i picked out the post i wrote from the car because i was so excited about what the weekend might be like. and i joined twitter the week i got back from the trip)

February - why i travel alot helps me deal with the emotional hangover and close out the inauguration series. not having the resources for alumni weekend 2010 makes me sad. lily's here

March - a difficult month emotionally. I took these pictures during a visit to DC but had my mind on sad news. The gray sky, unintentionally, represents that.

April - its almost ultimate season and the emotions from March remind me to tell some stories, get feelings out. got to seattle later this year.

May - one week of vacation and one week of work in DC, two weddings and lots of traveling deserves a post and a mention in the recap.

June - the world's economy experiences ups and downs. here's my rant on the whole ordeal

July - this is what inspired me to write a recap. Who knew, back in the summer and its miserable heat, that Chain would finish the year national champions? i don't think i even thought about nationals until August. all the travel, training, and teamwork paid off.

August - the post about my Seattle trip that didn't focus on ultimate and instead has a picture of teammate Dave B post-double flip

September - cause I mention Swine Flu, not at all cause of the picture, inside this post

October - its ultimate season.

November - Lily is worth mentioning again because of all the time I've been spending with her. And did I mention Chain won the national championship?

December - check back

The weekend

The shenanigans this weekend lasted a while. Capping it off with 10 hours of sleep was the right thing to do.

Here I am with Frank and Dylan courtside at Phillips Arena -post Hawks game- enjoying the trophy

Later that night, in the side room of Fontaine's bar, Kyle is excited about the Abita going into the cup

A little glimpse into the cup's time in Greenville: Will romances the trophy with wine by candlelight

That's a mighty big trophy you've got there

And lastly, everyone wants a sip from the cup. This guy got more than enough... and drained the beer, capping off the time we were allowed to be on the Moe's and Joe's patio

Out with the cup

Here's post number four in my week with the National Championship Trophy. The mountains, the niece, and the office were all fun. But last night turned into a bit of a $&*# show with the cup.

Here's me and Russell throwin it up in front of Atlanta's Olympics '96 emblem :)

Atlanta players and the Atlanta trophy at an Atlanta brewery.

Then it starts. These four girls refused to drink out of the cup - or maybe one of them half-heartedly tried - but they definitely seemed to enjoy being next to it. Picture quality stinks but the sentiment remains.

This next one shows a really good shennanigans moment with four women who we hadn't talked to until we got out of the bar. Between the parking lot and the street (10 steps) it was decided that one person would be holding her black and mild, another girl and I would be hugging, and we all would be posing with the cup. Too bad the flash wasn't stronger

Here's the requisite drinking-out-of-the-cup shot of some woman who poured her beer into the cup and immediately drank it back out. She was so enthusiastic because she had seen other Chain guys the previous Thursday at another bar in Atlanta.

Baby and the cup

Here's part 2 of the story about how I've spent time with the UPA's open division national championship trophy. Click here for part 1 of this story and go here for the latest Chain Lightning bits.

Monday night every week I try to visit with my niece. My cousin and her husband are generous enough to invite me for the hour-long episode of Heroes. Last night was a real good time hanging out with the 9-month old girl, her parents, and the trophy. Here's Lily scoping out the shiny cup (and based on her line of vision in this picture she was reading the past winners).

Here's Lily pointing to where "Chain Lightning" and "Atlanta" should and soon will be.

And of course the night ends with a little drinking.

Mountains and the cup

This is a little summary of the relationship I'm building with the UPA National Championship trophy.

Friday night I picked up the trophy from the team watch party and fundraiser. Saturday morning I left town with the cup in the passenger seat - headed to the mountains.

Along the way, we found a good overlook to pose at.

We stopped at the important monuments of the Eastern seaboard. Check out my twitter page for the picture I uploaded of me and the cup at the divide.

And then we came back to Atlanta for some good old drinkin.

Accounts from the CBC Annual Legislative Conference Awards Dinner

I was invited to join my colleagues boss at this year's Legislative Conference put on by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. The whole weekend is meant to be a learning, networking event. But the Awards Dinner, at which I was taking notes of the cool people around, is a fundraiser. I was very lucky to be at the event and at the table - very close to the stage.

Saw danny glover outside the cbc dinner :)

Just met charlie rangel inside the cbc awards dinner area! Weak handshake

Sat at same table as majority leader Steny Hoyer

Wyclef presented with award

Met rep elijah cummings

Shook rev Sharpton's hand

Met tavis smiley :)

Saw Yolanda Adams up close

Wishing I could meet US Ambassador (to the UN) Susan Rice - here she receives an award as first African American woman in her position

Saw Obama speak. He and the First Lady kissed on the stage and he talked about injustices, health care, and received a Phoenix Award - low resolution picture below

More Parties

Since posting about ECC (and reading Julia's comment about the best party of the year here in Atlanta, which lived up to its name) I have felt like sending something out to the world wide webery from some recent parties.

And since I generally have no problem making my dad the brunt of some good jokes, here's him trying to win a dance-off against an 8 year old:

We were at a wedding in Virginia for my cousin.

Next up is the same character, except this time at his own party. Side note: in case you didn't pick up on this, I love my dad very much. It just so happens that he's not as cool as me. For this reason alone I get to poke fun at his dance moves and driving.

When dad turned 60 this year, we all threw him a big party with dozens of desserts and lots of friends. Here's dad blowing out the 60 candles Aunt Chris and I put on his birthday cake:

Love you dad!

Summer Plans

A la the olden days, when I would post about out of town travels or family/friends' visits, here's a little rundown of the remaining summer days (mainly the ultimate tournament weekends Chain is attending plus a couple things):

• July 18-19 Heatout in Baton Rouge
• July 25 dad's 60th birthday party (missing wildwood)
• Aug 8-9 summer league end of season tournament (missing a memorial service)
• Aug 12-17 Emerald City Classic in Seattle
• Aug 29-30 Chesapeake Open in Poolesville, Maryland
• Oct 3-4 Regionals in Atlanta
• Oct 29-Nov 1 Nationals in Sarasota, Florida

Otherwise, I'll be in Atlanta. Possibly moving out of my current apartment...

Travel Funnies

Here's a short list of funny incidents from the last week or so.

1. Ian Thomsen - his ecclecticism became neanderthalism by the end of both nights in Ann Arbor. More specifically: his facial expressions, liberty of physicality with women, and grunting for no apparent reason.
2. The groom wearing a nurse's outfit at his bachelor party, including the entire time at a trashy college sports bar
3. Rolling the baggage cart stacked with five layers of booze down the hotel hallway (right in front of the security guard)
4. Not stopping once between Ann Arbor and Glen Ellyn on the drive today - 260 miles
5. Carlton's undressing ritual during "Like a Prayer," which was played twice; the most hilarious part was the 6 foot 3? guy who said he weighs 117 pounds, constituting the skinniest half-naked person I've ever seen
6. That "boom, boom, boom" song on repeat and Snaus' condemning of the DJ
7. The way northerners and mid-westerners pronounce Dekalb. Dee-calb. Its actually de-kab
8. Many of the lines from Patton, which I watched with my grandpa - also a WW2 veteran. Paraphrased example: Sargent to General Patton "sir, do you read the bible?" Patton to Sargent: "every damn day."

Trying to pick up attractive women out dancing is so disheartening... I feel like complaining real quick. Oh, and the picture above is from last night, where I was in the dark about how to strike up a little flirtation with new people. See the symbolism?

Backstory: I was just talking to a friend yesterday afternoon about how picking up attractive women, even just flirting with them, is so intimidating. Then, last night, dancing at the Masquerade, I ask to dance with a good-looking girl. Her response is the focus of the rest of this ranting/analyzing post. 

First off, there is usually already a prohibitive buzz around the somebody I'm interested in talking to. That can manifest itself in someone already talking to her. Or her friends could be playing the shield role, as in the situation last night... that whole shield thing is a ploy... meant, understandably sometimes, to avoid over-exposure to unwanted onlookers. But once the shield was broken down, as it was with the small group the girl I approached was a part of, shouldn't there be some space for a respectful hi/hello/how you doin?

Secondly, and this is the kicker, women act rude. I feel like I followed the fairly well-established rules of approaching this woman last night. We were both enjoying dancing in the same room. She was dancing near her two friends but not intimately with either (guy and girl who were most likely a couple). I walk up to this woman and ask her to dance. Her response is to immediately and pointedly shoot a look at her friends and say "we were just leaving" and then scamper off like I had the swine. 

I guess she and I hadn't made eye contact before I approached her. Also, maybe I should have been more casual in the greeting: instead of asking right away to dance, I could have simply asked her name or how she was doin or something. God my game is weak. So maybe I should have guaged things differently and tried for a little of that before approaching. 

But damn! a less rude goodbye wouldn't hurt anybody. 

I understand approaching strangers is never easy. No one would expect to score a number, or even a good dance, at every approach to a woman. But still, the whole process of trying to simply develop a rapport with someone is so exhausting and... annoying, I think is the right word. Especially when women act so damn rude.

Malicious Blogs

Here's a short list of memories of Salisbury, Maryland, and why I don't actually hate the place but know people who do (picture above is from alumni weekend 07 - snausy throwing against shed with jen, carlone, bach, and willis admiring the layering): 

1. Freshman year, lunch with Dirty and a couple other seniors between Saturday games. Ate at a southern-style place and got the worst kind of food. The fattening kind that takes a long time to cook so you have to eat quickly and get back to the fields with a heavy stomach.
   
2. Freshman year, tournament party has a beer garden and lots of alcohol. Snausages drinks Southern Comfort like its an IV. At the hotel, he takes two steps away from the 30-person-fitting team bus and throws up all over the place, including on my pants, sandals and exposed toes. 
3. Sophomore year, in the wind against Delaware. Handling with Ed and Jeff Rakitt: going back and forth in the zone, saying after each throw 'Nice throw, Ed!'
4. Junior year, tournament party: Usher's Yeah song comes on and the dance floor explodes. This was a big night for the Wang. And possibly the last time I saw Old Man dance. Faust was kicked out of this party, I believe, for trying to sneak underage players in.
5. Senior year, beating Maryland. 
6. Senior year, back in DC partying with women's team, who also finished first at sectionals that day... drinking from the colonial cup and playing provocative beer pong. 
7. Alumni years, everyone shit-talking Salisbury, especially Linc. And House. And Giga. And now Kyle C. And Snaus. And the women's team. And others. 

Please post in the comments below why we collectively hate Salisbury...