Toga Tops

Posted on September 21, 2024 by jhoffman

Jen is the email-sucking dummy. | Jennifer, but context is important. Dummy can be a synonym for model, and not all of us use email often.

Because a piano is too hard. | Tommye in answer to why she planned to make a rock airplane.

You gotta squeeze and suck | Jennifer. Remember that we were downing Jell-O shots.

Q: Is the opening ceremony tonight? A: I wasn’t listening

Fancy scissors with a phallic holder. | Jennifer. She wasn’t wrong.

Can you take the whole load? | Clay

You want a little bit hanging out. | Rebecca. Remember that we were tying togas.

Just cut it to size. | Rebecca

I don’t even know when it happened. | Bryan

I don’t want to die on that hill. | Mike

There’s rocks, there’s boxes, there’s glue. Figure it out. | Sue to John’s question whether we would get instruction for the Apollo art project.

You are being judged all the time. And quoted. | Sue and Dave, regarding whether our art would be rated.

Hey, John, are you doing your Hazel? | Mike. A: Yes.

You guys look funny. | MJ.

I’m so bossy, but I’m right. | Jennifer. Entirely agreed.

I want a lot hanging out! | Fred. See toga comment above.

I’m a whiner. | Tommye. Nahhhh.

Don’t touch the wood. | Dave. Said often by our Taliesin docent.

And voted Top Top …

I feel like I’m in the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” | Tommye during toga tying, which felt not a little unlike being fitted for a straitjacket.

Posted in 2024 – WwW XXIV, Top Ten | Leave a comment

24: Toga Wrap Up

Posted on September 21, 2024 by jhoffman

Special Recognition

  • GoH winner (math head fake / picture frame): Claire
  • Funnery Caesar | Mary Jo
  • Caesar Neatfreak | Joe
  • Team Toga: Jennifer, Fred, Rebecca, Clay, Bryan, John H. (“We don’t set the bar … We are the bar!” – Fred)

Ambrosia and Nectar

Food of the Gods

Welcoming cheese | Bryan
Greek feast Friday | Bryan and Mike
+++ Homemade moussaka, flaming saganaki, Greek chicken, dessert delicacies
Morning in Macedonia | MJ and Sue
+++Greek yogurt, fruit and more yummm
Frat party lunch | Jennifer
Roman Banquet | Clay and Rebecca
+++ Pulled lion, Apollo salad, Vesuivo potatoes, Rome bread
Imperial Breakfast | Sue and MJ
+++ Italian strata, pear jelly

Kocktail Kontest

From the Official Weekend 24 Evaluation

The Weekend tagline. A quote-whore slogan for our Souvenir Booklet and merchandising. Example: “Weekend: How Does This Keep Happening to Us?”

  • Here we go again | Vince
  • Special orders DO upset us! | Mike
  • When asked what I did on the weekend, what do I say on Monday morning? | MJ
  • Somehow we keep coming back | Hamby
  • Tied up in Togas | Rebecca
  • Let the games begin | Rob
  • Wheezlingly Wicked | Charles
  • Grab your own balls | John H
  • Don’t touch the wood
  • Clash of the togas and colored shirts
  • We’re toga terrific! | Craig
  • When you Absolutely Positively have to be there for the Weekend | Bryan
  • And by popular laugh, our new Weekend tagline:
  • Weekend: Trick Your Friends into Coming. | Jennifer

This year’s ponder: If we’d had an Olympics event for __________, then Weekender _____________ would have won gold, silver and bronze.

  • Farkle … Tommye | Dave
  • Facial Expressions … John Hoffman | Charles
  • Bicycling … Bryan and Mary Jo for putting a stick in the other person’s spokes
  • Nap Time … Vince | Vince
  • Pot Stirring … Hamby | Mike
  • Intensity … John Hoffman | Hamby
  • Near Explosion … Oven | John H
  • Farkle Strategy … Tommye | Claire
  • Acting … Hamby | MJ
  • Fun … John Hoffman | Rob
  • Music Trivia/Cooking … Mike | Craig

Suggestions for next year

  • Low Country Boil. | Mike and Anon
  • Coffee pot explosions | Vince
  • Schedule afternoon nap on Saturday
  • Swimming | MJ
  • No swimming/water activities | Jennifer
  • Attend outdoor theater
  • Winery visit, hike, karaoke | Rebecca
  • Trivia style games | Charles
  • More games
  • This Weekend was fantastic. Don’t change a thing. | Craig

+++

Rebranding. With William rarely seen anymore and to celebrate 25 years of fun, we focus-grouped a name tweak. We are now:

  •  Wow Wowie Whee!kend

Linguists are watching closely to see what shorthand name evolves: 3W, WWW, 3 Dub, Wowie Wow, Whee!kend — the options are endless.

+++

Theme for Wowie Wow Whee!kend 25:

  • Elvis Baby!

Voting ended in a tie, so we will honor the favorite performer of our senior Weekender Tommye. As part of our silver anniversary gathering, there will be a range of other favorite activities – murder mystery, games, karaoke, trivia? — woven in, as we relive excitement from our past.

To help us select our 26 theme, we’re working feverishly to develop a voting run-off system that will undoubtedly dissatisfy as many Weekenders as possible.

Posted in 2024 – WwW XXIV, Food & Beverage, Survey Says..., Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Muses Smiled

Posted on September 21, 2024 by jhoffman

Untitled
Frank Lloyd Wright did well
He designed homes really swell
They’re as weird as hell
+++ Tommye | Malvolian

On the Perdurance of Unusual Carpet
Cookie Monster Blue?
Who Knew? Mrs. Wright, that’s who!
And now you do too.
+++ Bryan | Malvolian

Weekend
Kegs and chaos roar,
Toga clad, the lodge door swings
Party never sleeps

Salve
Elmores Sue and Craig
Welcome to your first Weekend
And apologies
+ John (N.B. Claire and Charles weren’t arrived during reading; big hello and pre-sorry to them too)

Life
Rain falls from the sky
Flowers blossom and nature thrives with beauty
The snow covers it up
+ Vince

Bright Horizons
Peace, Joy, Gods and Heroes.
What will we find come tomorrow?
Let’s rejoice, embrace the future.
+ Craig

Olympic Dreams For Us
Are simple acts of friendship
Shared meals and games of the gods.
Knotted sheets, draped in kinship
+ Cramich Mikalin

Phish
Poseidon’s waves crash
Trident gleams beneath the sea
Fish swim fast and free

Spring Green
We gather together
Always for the better
Good friends forever
+ Craig

Dionysus
It’s time for the show
What happens when you’re drinking
Go celebrate lust
+ ‘Act of the Gods’

Hera
Humans and marriage
I control fertility
I make you pregnant
+ ‘Act of the Gods’

Poseidon
I control the storms
Now the sun shines with you here
The storm now resumes
+ ‘Act of the Gods’

Untitled
Haiku time is passing
Lion meat is settling well.
The green valley seems at peace.
+ Dave

Posted in 2024 – WwW XXIV, Poetry Slam | Leave a comment

Weekend 24: The year we tied one on

Posted on September 21, 2024 by jhoffman

From gold medal glory to madcap skits, from pulled lion to rocky art, we feasted and laughed and shot our way through a Weekend for the gods! Welcoming first-timers Rebecca, Clay, Joe, Claire, Charles and Craig, for two days Cedar Valley lodge became lifted atop Mr. Olympus.

And don’t forget to visit and add comments and pics on our Weekend Facebook page.

Till 25!

Posted in 2024 – WwW XXIV | Leave a comment

Getting Campy | Weekend 23

Posted on September 23, 2023 by jhoffman

Weekend 23: We carried moonbeams home in a wine bottle — and such joy-filled memories from Camp SwingStar:

Pics! And be sure to check and add to our the Camp SwingStar Memory Album and FB Page

Posted in 2023 – WwW XXIII | Leave a comment

Twinkler Tops

Posted on September 23, 2023 by jhoffman

I’m a cycle behind. | Erik’s t-shirt spoke of our originally planned theme. Or is it looking ahead?

Tell him to stop flashing me. | Sue E. Reference is to a camera light btw.

Who’s holding my pants? | Tommye, as we helped her down the fire pit ramp

Who asked for a solo? | Tommye, noting Dave’s robust singing

People like you shouldn’t have to deal with those lowbrows. | John Hamby correctly assessing our Pontoonical experience.

I see the cupholder but where would I put my champagne flute? | Bryan, speculating what we might have said to the pontoon owners to lead them to think we’re “your kind.”

MJ: We’re going to do burpees. John: Okay, I already did two. | Practice ones count, right?

He doesn’t know how to build stairs. | Tommye, on FLLW’s rusticated approach

I’m not a sweet person. | Jen. We believe the reference was to taste in drinks.

Write a tune about mentholated bread. | Erik’s suggestion to get in the spirit of lyric creation.

John: Why don’t we have a working lunch. Erik: Yeah, that sounds like a vacation. | For the record, John Hoffman was on the winning Musical Collaboration team.

No tomato? Who would make a stupid sandwich like that? | John H…n

There’s a lot of creative shit to do. | Brett’s observation as haikus were being pushed.

Just let it ooze out of you. | John H…n’s advice to Brett.

Blow it out your annular whole. | John H…n. Looking for rhyming words, though we’ve forgotten to what.

Take your chair with ya! | MJ’s guidance for Potato Head losers.

You ruined Mr. Potato Head! | Bryan, seeing the poor fellow careening this way and that.

Okay, let’s present our buns. | Bryan, speaking of food serving.

This isn’t the end of the night? | Sue had been hopeful before John H…n announced, “Before the evening is over, we’re going to …”

What a punt | John H…n, noting an unusually deep wine bottle indentation.

I have a feeling I’ll be sent to an island. Or an apartment in Saudi Arabia. | Erik’s concern as his Funnery Counselor term came to an end.

And voted Top Top …

As I didn’t get to see everyone’s weenie last night … | Mike during his medal presentation.

Posted in 2023 – WwW XXIII, Top Ten | Leave a comment

Kocktails 23

Posted on September 23, 2023 by jhoffman

Posted in 2023 – WwW XXIII, Famous Recipes | Leave a comment

Twinkle on

Posted on September 23, 2023 by jhoffman

Medals!

Everyone’s a winner at Camp SwingStar. Some just more than others:

Special congratulations and thanks to:

  • Funnery Counselor | Erik
  • Counselor Neatfreak | Fred

From the Official Evaluation …

The Weekend tagline. A quote-whore slogan for our Souvenir Booklet and merchandising. Example: “Weekend: How Does This Keep Happening to Us?”

  • What a week this Weekend was! | Vince
  • I’m busy that weekend. | Mike
  • Camping without campy | MJ
  • Less traumatic than Bloomington
  • I gave up a perfectly good weekend for this?  Brett
  • Newcomers beware! Cassie
  • Are we that desperate to do this yearly?
  • Where dreams remain | John H … n
  • Not many dead
  • I thought you brought the tent
  • A creative time to be a part of a group of friends I look forward to every year. Jennifer
  • Wasn’t that something. | Bryan. Winner!

We asked our Twinklers to tell us: Possible badge activity that I’m most relieved wasn’t offered at camp, since I knew I’d have no chance of earning it:

  • Necklace making | Brett
  • Talent show | Tommye
  • Social competence | John H…n
  • Slack rope walking | Mike
  • High jumping | Vince
  • Sober Badge | Cassie
  • Bug eating Contest
  • Tap Dancing
  • Being on Time
  • Knitting
  • Organizing the whole weekend (You do a great job!). | Sue
  • Survival. | Jen

Suggestions for next year

  • Field trip to Spring Green Preserve. | Brett
  • Mick and Lu and Spinas a must. | MJ
  • Swimming
  • Fishing
Posted in 2023 – WwW XXIII, Survey Says..., Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Slamming it in 23

Posted on September 23, 2023 by jhoffman

Counselors Note: Twinklers evidently cleaned up too scrupulously and regrettably several entries unfortunately did not make it out of the lodge.

Mid-Day
Rain falls down outside
I keep drinking booze soaked fruit
The world seems more better

+++

Untitled
Frank Wright had a gift.
Designed many structures all right.
Were they good or not?

  • Tommye

Untitled
To craft is divine
Made so much better with wine
Now it’s time to shine!

  • Cassie

+++

Ballroom Floor/Bedroom Ceiling
Wrapped in REM dream, I –
Tippy tap tip tap tip tap
Boot camp eight fifteen.

  • John Hoffman

+++

Untitled
Burn us poy-tay-toe
Cleanse these Twinklers with fire
Only one survives

  • Unknown

+++

Untitled
I worked in a hospital
With chick named MJ
We’d biked, ran and skied
On an occasional day

I met her friends and family
Over the years
And some that were here
And some way OUT there

She talked of a trip
She wanted to go
She said there were people
She’d like me to know

MJ had assured me
They were all very hip
I found a group of oddballs
Who I accompanied on the trip

We rode through the island
Well known as Sicily
When over in Europe
we were filled with glee

The moment we got back here,
I thought we were done
But then we had dinner
That was lots of fun

We all talked about riding
We all gave high-fives
Then after we had eaten
We all said goodbyes

There was one guy while biking
I will not now name
Who had dealt with my nonsense
And thought I was lame

I figured I had it
In this group I was in
But here I remain
Though ice very thin

Thanks for the invite
To this rumble and tumble
I appreciate the people
I remain very humbled

  • John Hamby
Posted in 2023 – WwW XXIII, Poetry Slam | Leave a comment

When Weekend got pulled into Funky Town

Posted on August 30, 2022 by jhoffman

The password is … Groovy.

From the drama of Tender and Tumultuous Times to classic game show fun, it was the year Weekenders found themselves time warped into a 1970s television programming line-up. But we kept one foot in the present with funky poems, retrospectives and tops.

We toured the only Frank Lloyd Wright public elementary school, enjoyed a high-end TV dinner by MJ and magnificent Indian meal by Sachin, played find-the-ranger to get our picnic shelter unlocked (thanks a lot, Pat). There were fabulous prizes and hilarious answers from our contestants and celebrities, marvelous cocktails throughout, and the first-ever Zoomed Gown of Humility garbing.

See all the fab fun in our photo album including the freak-deakiest class photo ever. And remember to check our our page on this futuristic thing called Facebook.

Posted in 2022 – WwW XXII | Leave a comment