July 22, 2008

CI X

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Behold the before-and-after glory of the Chicken Inferno, 10th edition. Even better, check out this cool time-lapse video.

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After ten years (and despite the pyrotechnics) this is becoming quite the family affair.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:38 PM | | Comments (0)

July 17, 2006

Chicken Inferno 2006

Flatlanders1,2 from around the country recently convened on Hopkins' Hill to celebrate the Chicken Inferno, taking part in the joyous destruction that invades a certain corner of Northern Pennsylvania every July. This year, participants inaugurated a new era of chicken construction, eschewing 3D realism (which may have reached its apotheosis in last year's effort) in favor of a more stylized representation.

Here, Ben discusses his interpretation with one of the chief architects.

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1 - For those unfamiliar with this term, it's analogous to "city-slicker," denoting naïveté and bumbling cluelessness w/r/t to rural ways. Please note, however, that I use it with affection and no small amount of self-deprecation.

2- (UPDATE) I should also note that the pejorative connotation was (in this case) undeserved. There were flatlanders wielding chainsaws and tossing hay-bales in a manner indistiguishable from native practice.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:23 PM | | Comments (4)

May 24, 2006

The Sun Shines in Ann Arbor

Last weekend we took a little road trip to Ann Arbor, MI to see friends Doug and Julie. We try to get together with them at least a couple times every year and, of course, this trip was extra-special as it was our first visit with Ben. It was almost exactly a year ago that we decided we wanted to adopt Ben and it was on the way to Doug and Julie's house that we spent the entire car ride deciding on Ben's name.

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Leaving such reminisces aside, the real attractions were 4-yr-old Audrey and 2-yr-old Will. Ben had a lot of fun playing with them. We also got to spend some time with Jackie and Dave, along with their lovely daughters Emmaline and Caroline, whom we had met last year. We had ample opportunity to teach Ben the value of sharing (even though the message did not always get through). Ben's been talking all week about "his friend" Audrey and "funny" Will. When they come to visit us later this summer, let's hope that Ben can be as gracious a host as Audrey was this weekend.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:17 PM | | Comments (2)