Ok. I've been wanting to share these pics and videos with several people for some time, and the other day I noticed I could upload videos, so here ya go! But Stop! Before you watch them, read my explanation of what they are first. They'll have more meaning.

So when I went to Spain last year to visit the 2YG, I went during Holy Week, or Semana Santa. And Semena Santa in Sevilla is a really, really, really big deal. If you want the long version of it, this is a really good site: Semana Santa. The short version is that the different brotherhoods of the churches in Sevilla have processions throughout the week. There are something like 50 of these processions and they last for nearly 12 hours. That's 12 hours each procession. The people walk in them for 12 hours with no break, folks. Some of them walk the entire thing in bare feet, even on the night that I filmed these. And that night it was probably hovering around 30 degrees. I was wearing like 4 shirts, a hat and a scarf because I wrongly assumed that Spain in April would be a warm place. And the strange part is, very few of them are actually religious. I got to talk with some of the 2YG's friends that were in the processions and they said they do it because it's part of their heritage.

The different brotherhoods do different kinds of processions. Some are silent, some have music, some are during the day, and some are during the night. All participants, however, wear a particular kind of clothing, pictured below is some of the processors that were in the videos:

Recognize that outfit? Yeah. Kind of disturbing when you see hundreds of people dressed like that, all carrying torches, coming down the street. They all also had floats. Not the floats like we are used to, but these mamouth, candle-covered, gold plated works of art. And they're man-powered, not car-powered. In the videos, you'll see that the float looks like it's walking. There are probably about 10 guys under there carrying it. They go a few steps, then put it down, then go again, then put it down. Then replacements come in and they switch out. Unbelievable. Here's a pic of a crazy float -- you can actually see the incense in the air. Thought it was going to start on fire:

Here's another one with the guys in the shrouds in front of it. They all wore black for this procession. The guys with the white head wraps are the ones that carry the float -- they were walking up to replace the current carriers. The crowds that formed for these things were almost as unbelievable as the processions, and it made getting around the city nearly impossible. If a procession blocks your path, you can't cross it, you have to go around. For the pictures above, the 2YG and I raced through the city, through crowds, and somehow got to the front before the crowd I'm about to show formed behind us. Yup. Pretty much front row. For the procession in the video clips, we were in Starbucks warming up, heard it coming down the street, ran outside so we wouldn't get trapped on the wrong side of the city, and got in the front row. We were so close, the police were pushing us back. We were so close, we touched the float (If you listen close, you can hear the 2YG exclaiming as she touched it).

And now the videos. I don't really need to say anymore. If this doesn't make your hair stand on end, I don't know what will. For all you music folks out there, can you imagine playing that trumpet part for 12 hours, in that kind of cold? Amazing. You could tell their lips were having trouble. Enjoy!

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I was drinking a beer and referred to it as #136 on "The Board." I figured I should explain, since this has become something of a quirk in my life. After I graduated from Wartburg in May 2006, I moved back home to live with my parents while working in downtown Minneapolis. I had to live at home because my job didn't pay enough for me to live on my own, plus I graduated with literally $200 to my name (a situation made exponentially worse after a little post-college getaway to Chicago with the 2YG). Anyway, the deal I made with my parents was that I didn't have to pay rent as long as I provided at least 1 six pack of beer a week to the family. A pretty good deal since, in case you haven't noticed, I do like beer.

Now, my father is a tad anal when it comes to his beer consumption. You see, he likes to make sure he tries everything he can, so he purchases his beer from the same liquor store every week and systematically goes through the beer coolers, buying his beer one six pack at a time according to what is the next in line. When he reaches the end, which happens probably once every year and a half or so, he goes back to the beginning.
This is compared to me having just graduated and for the first time ever making decent coin, and being able to buy a good tasting beer without mentally calculating how many hours working at the campus library it would take to make up that money. I was like a kid in a candy store. So much good beer, what should I drink this week? It's one of the many reasons why I spend a good 30 to 40 minutes in the liquor store before I make my decision. One of the clerks at the 5 liquor stores I frequent (more on that in a bit) has actually started making fun of me for taking so long to decide.

Well since we all have a little bit of our parents in us, I realized my dad had kind of a good idea -- trying every kind of beer. I decided to put a little different spin on it, though. I decided that I would try to go as long as possible without repeating a kind of beer. The only problem was how I would track the beer I had drunk. I didn't want to be restricted to a set cooler order like my dad, and I wanted it to be a cool testament to what I was doing. Inspired by a similar, but much smaller attempt by one of my brothers, I decided to keep the bottle caps to prove what I had.

The rules were simple:
1. First and foremost, as long as there is beer available that I haven't tried and proved with a bottle cap, I cannot repeat a beer that I have already drunk.
2. If a family of beer all share the same bottle cap (like Victory or James Page or Big Sky Brewing) one beer counts for all of the beers, otherwise I'd have a bunch of the same bottle caps.
3. Likewise, if a beer has a plain black or gold cap, any other beer even those made by another brewery that has the same cap is counted out.
3. Drinking beer in bars or sporting events doesn't count, since I do not keep bottle caps.
4. If I'm going to a BYOB party, I can purchase a repeat beer. Otherwise I'll waste a beer I may not have again for who knows how long on some party.
5. Finally, if I'm at a party and there is an obscure beer or a beer I've been wanting to try, I can use that for my collection.

So, in September of 2006 I started on my journey, slowly trying beer and never repeating. I have only repeated once, and that was on accident. Sierra Nevada just recently changed their bottle caps and I couldn't remember if I had a certain kind (Second row, far right in the first pic), but sure enough when I got home there it was. That was the only one.

Most recently the problem has become that I'm running out of beer. As I alluded to earlier, I currently frequent 5 different liquor stores in the area. And actually it's only 4 now, because in one of the smaller stores I've managed to drink every beer they offer. The best beer I've had thus far is Tyranena's "Bitter Woman" IPA. The worst I've had is Schlitz -- yes, the beer conquest embraces both the good beer and the cheap beer. I've been trying to find a place that'll sell a sixer of PBR bottles, but no luck yet.

Anyway, part of the reason I tell you all of this is because I thought it'd be fun to share what beer I was drinking when I posted. Even though a lot of the cool and crazy ones have already been had (I have a lot of foreign lagers left that I've been putting off), it's still a little something.

Also, below are the fruits of my labor. Try not to do the math on how many bottle caps x 6 to figure out how much beer they represent....it's probably not good. But also remember that some I had at parties, so then they might've just been 1 bottle, and some were pint bottles that I bought on a whim. The first pic is roughly September 2006 - September 2007 (The Year Of Beer), and the second is how far I've gotten in the Second Year Of Beer.

Year 1

Year 2

What I'm drinking now: Hollandia
Cheers!

Lately at work I've had to stay until 5:30 to accomodate some contractors' work schedules at our office. Here's what I've been working on to fill the extra time. I made it on Visio, which is basically Microsoft's version of Adobe Illustrator, used mainly for workflows and diagrams. For any of you out there that use Visio and need some pointers, let me know. I basically dominate that program.

Can you figure out what shapes I used?

I pulled myself out of bed this morning at 9 (even though I didn't get home and to bed the night before until 3 am), took a look around my room and realized how messy my apartment was. From that point until nearly 3, I vacuumed, dusted, did dishes, took out the trash, took out the recycling, cleaned my fridge and freezer, hung a painting, and cleaned my bathroom. It was a good day to clean because it was so warm outside, I had all of the windows wide open, plus the Wild were on T.V. and the Gophers were on the radio in the afternoon.

It's kind of strange for me to clean my place like that, considering all through Junior High, High School, and College, my rooms were always a mess. Clothes everywhere. Never vacuumed. And in college only tidied up in preparation for either a girl coming over or a party. And now today, I spent a long time cleaning just because I felt like I should clean.

I suppose it may be that I'm maturing and I have some sort of a sense of pride in making my home look good, but I honestly think it's because I'm paying money for it. In other words, I pay a good chunk of a pay check on rent. I am starting to accumulate some good furniture. The items in my home are mine, not the collective family's.

I think it's different when you're growing up and you never pickup after yourself or take the dishes to the dish washer or, heaven forbid, hand wash them yourself, because it's not really YOUR house. You never paid a mortage, your parents did. You didn't buy those dishes, your parents did. You didn't save up for months to buy the new couch, your parents did. And so it never really bothered you to leave your milk glass (not even on a coaster, mind you) out all afternoon.

Now, I use a coaster for my beer glass on my cheap desk from Target and I immediately bring it to the sink when I'm done.

Huh. I think I'm old.