Sunday, September 21, 2008

So-o-o-o, the Blogger's Picnic in Rio Dell


was WAY too much fun! Thanks, Ekovox! No fisticuffs and yes, we did talk a little bit of everything. (cartoon from frankandernest.com)

37 comments:

  1. It was fun, and it was great to meet you Rose. We missed a few people and I hope they'll show up next time.

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  2. It was great to meet you, too, Eric. I think next year will be even bigger.

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  3. How many showed up ?

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  4. 20 or 30? I didn't count 'em.. Ekovox, Ladyfriend, Carson Park Ranger, Boy Most Likely, Ernie and Eel River Ernie, Beachcomber, Talking Tech (Bob), Eric, Captain Buhne, Fred, Carol and Greg, Monica, Lodgepole, Tom, Richard Marks... spouses (who dubbed themselves the Blog widows I think)...

    We missed Hank, and Bob and Stephen and Jack and Kevin, Kym, Kristabel, Jennifer - and we were all on the lookout for Heraldo....

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  5. We were late so we didn't get to meet Captain Buhne. We missed Richard, but we see him regularly.

    I enjoyed the event and geting to know you and our fellow bloggers!

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  6. "We missed Hank, and Bob and Stephen and Jack and Kevin, Kym, Kristabel, Jennifer - and we were all on the lookout for Heraldo....".

    Mr. Esquan should get some kind of penalty for not showing up. How about no comments for a month?

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  7. I didn't know about it until I got home from Shelter Cove. Who's "Nathan"?..

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  8. There were also posters there!

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  9. Yes! Not everyone had a blog. Some were readers and anons.

    Nathan - Nathan Rushton - ☛ ER Bloggers to show their faces in Rio Dell - where were ya?

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  10. Stephen....we really missed you.
    We would have loved sharing a Jones Green Apple Soda with you.
    Next time it will definitely be much larger. Rio Dell was the coolest place to be in the County of Humboldt between 11am to 4pm.

    Rose, that was fun, wasn't it.

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  11. -chuckle- yes, it was fun. And at times very funny!

    Stephen, mark your calendar, you can't miss it next time!

    And, for the record, if you took Eko's brown bread out of the can and into the case at Ramone's, people would buy it. (not if they see the can, though :))

    Where do you even FIND something like that anyway?

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  12. It was nice to meet you, Rose! It was a lot of fun to attach some faces to those thoughts from whom we're reading all the time.

    And I was glad to be your camera shield once or twice. :-D Always happy to take one for the (blogger)team.

    ~Monica~

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  13. Anon asked, "How many showed up ?".

    You know what we failed, or forgot, to do? Take a group photo of everyone that showed up all in one group. Of course, some left earlier, or arrived late, but it would give people an idea of how many and who showed up without guessing.

    That guy from the Beacon could of taken the picture for us.

    Maybe next year?

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  14. Ohhhhhhh, I wondered if Eko would really bring B&M canned brown bread... was it the kind with raisins? My grandmother called it Boston Brown Bread. A taste of childhood!
    Glad you had a good time.

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  15. Yep, both kinds - with an without raisins. And a sampling of sardines. :) It is indeed a taste of childhood - no one brought SPAM, though.

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  16. You see, all we have to do is try new things. B&M canned Brown Bread is quite a delight. And non-organic and conventionally processed. Just the way I like it.

    When, oh when, are they going to make Tofu-In-A-Can. I may buy it by the case load. The sucker for marketing that I am. "SoyGel Delite". In teriyaki or barbecue flavor. When they make a version with nacho cheese, I may bite.

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  17. Rio Dell is cool, isn't it? It's a nice place to live, quiet and peaceful and beautifully situated. The freeway bypass was a blessing for those of us who enjoy peace and quiet and small towns but poor Palco workers. Screwed again, this time by MRC, and it seems nobody but me and John Campbell know it. I warned the community that the MRC buy-out would result in even more job lay-offs as the real reason MRC bid in the first place was to add Palco's redwood timber inventory to MRC's in Mendocino to lock up a monopoly on commercial redwood lumber. Steve Wills trucking is the only beneficiaries of the new Humboldt Redwood Company as Humboldt redwoods get trucked to MRC's Ukiah mill for processing and extracting money out of Humboldt County for Mendocino workers and the Fisher family coffers.

    I watched as HRC painted over the old Pacific Lumber Co. logo on Mill A building but that's all they did--paint over the old logo. The rest of the paint job and up-grade for the building won't happen is my guess as Marathon will probably tear it down making room for Scotia development.

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  18. I forgot to try the pig's feet. That green soda was refreshing though.

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  19. Where in Humco can you get green apple jones soda?

    Winco was carrying it for a while but stopped.

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  20. For Carol - Katie's Figs
    Let's see - INGREDIENTS:

    12-15 Black Mission Figs
    1# of Turkey Bacon (or regular bacon if you prefer)
    Gorgonzola Cheese

    about 2 C Pecans *
    Butter
    Brown Sugar

    ◼ Cut the Figs in 1/2 or 1/3 depending on how big/thick they are.
    ◼ Lay them in a deep dish, pack them tight, side by side, like sardines (you don't want the topping falling through the cracks)
    ◼ Cook the turkey bacon, crispy but not black, crumble or dice, sprinkle on top of the figs.
    ◼ Crumble the Gorgonzola and sprinkle on top of the figs.
    ◼ * Quickly saute the Pecans in a cube of butter and 1/2 C to 1C C..brown sugar...you want 'em carmelized but not goo-ey...put this in the freezer til it hardens, then chop up and sprinkle over the figs. (or just buy Candied/Glazed Pecans)
    ◼ Drizzle heavily with olive oil, and then heavily with balsamic vinegar.

    Best to make it in the morning, let it sit so the figs absorb all the flavors, serve at room temperature.

    All quantities are approximate, there is no wrong way to do this.

    You can get the Figs at Costco this time of year.

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  21. I'm so sorry I didn't get to meet you, Rose! Hopefully, we'll get together in person before next year's picnic. How about a flower show?

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  22. No tripe either. That is no heraldo.

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  23. To whom it may concern:

    1. Yes, I heard about the gathering from some of the local blogs.

    2. No, I didn't bitch-slap anybody and I certainly didn't lack other things to do this weekend.

    3. Yes, you all have every right to meet, or not meet, whoever you want, whenever you want.

    4. No, I didn't feel invited, since Joel Mielke/Carson Park Ranger was the "host" and he has made hateful personal attacks on me before.

    5. Yes, There should be another occasion for those of us who do feel excluded by the local lib-lab establishment to network in person with other local bloggers.

    6. No, I don't think it's a wise idea to wait for the same people who didn't invite me this time to invite me next time, since they have a habit of purging all the nonconformist bloggers from their blog lists in the first place, mine being one of many.

    7. Yes, I do have good reasons for not putting my full Christian name on this post...see point 3...much as Heraldo has good reasons for avoiding all public blogger gatherings, good bad or otherwise.

    8. No, I won't organize my own blogger picnic, but I'm not adverse to being invited to one.

    Is this clear enough?

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  24. It was an open invitation - and it was a complete mystery who was going to show up. I would not say I was the only "conservative" blogger there, but conversation focused more on what we had in common - and heraldo was a big topic actually :).

    Tom Sebourn was there - a guy I'd unloaded on a couple of nights ago when he made a comment about Gallegos that hit my buttons. I owed him an apology, and we had a great conversation - probably still don't agree on much POLITICALLY - but we agree on the local ad/media market, and a few other things. He's done a great job with his radio station(s) over the years - we also talked about the new corporate blogging, the importance, and growth of that practice...

    I think we all went in a bit nervous - oh crap, what am I getting myself into? What if? And, what about? We all had our guards up, except Ekovox, who opened the doors for all of us to relax.

    Next time, come. You can always leave. You can have your say, if need be.

    Several people there were commenters, and not bloggers, and several were 'blog widows' of both sexes...

    really - there was no clique, it was a pretty genuine coming together of people of wildly diverse opinions, blog types and topics, different ages and backgrounds...

    Seriously, it is very much like the coffee shop in the morning where we regulars have a table, and anyone with a question or opinion is welcome to jump into the conversation.

    And, in a funny way - I think we will all be 'friendlier' on the blogs. :)

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  25. How about Vienna sausage? Did you have any Vienna sausages there, Eko? Do they still make that stuff?!!
    (-:

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  26. If it was an open invitation, why were Joel's buddies at the Journal bloviating about how anonymous persons "weren't invited" to the gathering?

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  27. Rose, you may be a conservative, but you are a 'hip' conservative.

    Greg didn't want to go, but at the last minute changed his mind or I convinced him it would be fun. And it was fun! We had a great time. And yes, we may all be a bit more polite now that we had the "meeting-of-the-minds". Actually, I think we may agree more than disagree sometimes.

    I don't go to McKinleyville very often, Rose, but one day I will and we can go check out the plants at Miller Farms.

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  28. Miller Farms is a great Nursery - and if you haven't been to Singing Tree Gardens you have to check that out. It's got the plants in the ground in a garden setting - totally awesome, absolutely beautiful. Lots of Rhodies.

    That conservative thing, man, it always surprises me.

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  29. Anonymous, That's it, you're not invited to the next picnic.

    Robin,
    You know, I toyed with brining the Vienna Sausages. I love 'em.

    Rose and Carol, you're making me ill with the whole Mary Matalin/James Carville thing you two have seemed to develop.

    You know, I wanted to see a real knock-down, drag-out no-holds-barred Octogon Ring (provided by -boy) death match, and look what happened. I'd say the picnic idea was a total failure.

    Want to do it again, next week? (Hee Hee Hee)

    And no, Anonymous, you still aren't invited.

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  30. It is all your fault, Ekovox - taking all the fun out of the debate - I went over to a post of Eric's and couldn't even get mad at him!

    Man, it's just not the same! Have you noticed the level of respect emanating from the blogosphere today?

    It's funny what getting to know each other can do.

    I may have to sell my body armor on ebay.

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  31. Now, do you think I can get Rob Arkley and Heraldo to sit down to B&M's Brown Bread in Rio Dell?

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  32. oh - and by the way - anons were definitely invited, we even had brown paper bags so we could cut eyeholes and you could remain anonymous... it would be tough to partake of the green apple soda and brown bread though... we had a special one all made up for heraldo, but - no show.

    A little closer to Halloween and we all could have worn masks.

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  33. The WORD at the picnic was Scott Greacen said we will all be REALLY SURPRISED when we find out who 'heraldo' is....

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  34. Yes, you heard that too, eh?

    I still think he or she is Archie & Claude from the Sole Savers commercials.

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  35. :) I have considered that connection.

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  36. Was Scott Greacen at the picnic? I must have missed him.

    So Eko, are you calling me James Carville?

    Yeesh.

    I would rather be Rachel Maddow.

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  37. Eko,
    I loved Vienna sausages as a kid until a friend of my dad's told me what they are made of. You know - the "three Ts"? Pretty much ruined my appetite for them! Hee, hee.

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