Friday, March 31, 2006

Our Noted Storyteller Strikes Again

Did you hear Bob wrote a song about a guy who took a bunch of his friends boating...and he didn't really plan the trip all that well...and it turned out to be this big misadventure?




Miles of Music says:

Post-modern country/folk songwriter Bob Delevante is a noted storyteller whose potent, rough around the edge vocal delivery makes up in bite where it lakes in luster. His collaborations with folks like Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Alison Krauss and Steve Earle spike the quality gauge on his cred meter, and Columbus And The Colossal Mistake leaves little room for doubt. These songs of the heart have an equally strong sense of spirit as Delevante paints each one with its own vivid landscape and character, often borrowing from familiar landmarks and characters that mingle with the ordinary yet strike chords of familiarity. Along with some longtime musical companions there are many notable guests here as well, including Kenny Vaughn (guitar), Joe Pisapia (vocal), Buddy Miller (guitar), Southside Johnny (harmonica) and Emmylou Harris (vocal). The disc comes with its own set of photo cards by Delevante, each one a visual story in itself. -- Robinson, Miles Of Music (Relay Records)

If you are an RRCC member, and if you were on the Fall 2005 Duck River trip, the only way you can be sure that your bare ass is not the "visual story in itself" in one of those photos is to be at the CD RELEASE PARTY at the Family Wash next SATURDAY, APRIL 8.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Minutes of the Meeting at Jim's House

ITEM 1. For choosing the spring trip destination, there was broad consensus that slow and lazy is better for a large group than small, fast and shallow. It was stated that the character of the river on the second day of the Fall 2005 trip is preffered to the first day.















Members want less of this.

















And more of this.

















Duly noted, although it is possible that the Red River will be eliminated completely if we use this new criteria. The photo above is from the best section of the Red.

















Some of us are still partial to this campsite on the Red River though. So we'll see.


ITEM 2. The Kirly and Rob team will be reunited to cook on the Spring 2006 trip. Neither of them were at the meeting. Mike was unanimously selected as all-time off-season shore cook at Barton Ave. Mike wasn't at the meeting either.

















ITEM 3. Big George gave us a stirring re-enactment of The Night of the Nine Man Log.













The Log.
















The Nine Men.


ITEM 4. The recommendation for the official motto came out of committee and is ready to be put to a vote. See post below.

Selecting Our Motto



Hereby submitted to the full membership for electronic voting as discussed last night after the rye whiskey.




VOTE NOW
Select one below to vote for the RRCC motto
Medio Tutissimus Ibis - All Things in Moderation (Ovid)
Coitum et Bellum Ante Dies - Fuck or Fight Before Daylight (The Pot Wrassler)
View Result
Free Web Polls




proextender

Thursday, March 23, 2006

King-sized Arthurs





Sunday at Jim's. See "Master Calendar" below and let Jim know if you will be attending.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Master Calendar

Three things.

1. The invitation-only RRCC special tasting of the Geburtstagbrau (click here) is set for Sunday, March 26 at 5:00 pm at Jim's house.




















2. Upon request, the Predators game has been rescheduled for Monday, March 20. Lots of people were on Spring Break and having babies and such last time. Kirly says we have access to lots more tickets, but the RRCC ones are definitely available and still free to members. E me if you want one.

3. Exactly sixty days til the spring trip. Who's cooking?

Monday, March 06, 2006

RRCC Night at the Predators

The Rebel Rivers Predators tickets are available for the Vancouver game next Tuesday, March 14. Since the RRCC is primarily a business networking organization, the tickets are available at no charge to any member in good standing on a first come - first served basis. "Good standing" does not necessarily mean you've paid your dues (click here) but it would be nice. There are four tickets, and they can be used only by members...no guests or spouses. Claim your ticket by e-mail and to make arrangements for picking it up and meeting the other three members before the game (i.e. find out which Lower Broad bar to go to).

P.S. The seats are extremely excellent.

Mike Cronin Loves Color

The Bachelor is in the news.


































Mike thinks about exotic Middle Eastern and African patterns in his living room.

















Mike thinks about the underside of his porch painted in cheery hues.

















Mike thinks about a swath of roiling clouds in his bedroom.






















Mike thinks about painterly graffiti scribblings paired with a contrasting pattern on his walls, - a mix that, he says "encourages conversation."

~

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

The Great Camp Coffee Debate


There are few river skills we can share on this site that are not already pretty well known to people who do this kind of thing. However, the RRCC is the first to solve the camp coffee puzzle and now it is TIME to reveal the secret here on the world wide web. But first, we disprove all of the other methods of making coffee out of doors.

COWBOY COFFEE. This is the traditional way. Cowboy coffee is boiled coffee. There is plenty of disagreement over how to settle the grounds, but the first steps are always the same: put on a pot of water, dump half a bag of coffee in, let it boil. To get the grounds to fall out, some say you should splash cold water on the surface, others say dump in egg shells or jam a charred stick from the fire into the pot. But we have learned that cold water makes cold coffee. The egg shellers have to rely on some kind of voodoo recipe to get the grounds out of suspension, and it's obvious where the burned stick idea came from. It's the closest thing to reach for in frustration when you're around the campfire, the same reason golf clubs get thrown on golf courses. The main thing that these methods have in common is they all require straining the grounds with your teeth.
















Here is a famous cowboy coffee recipe:

Bring ½ gallon of water to a rolling boil.
Add 1 pound coffee.
Add horseshoe.
If horseshoe sinks, add more coffee.

COFFEE PERCOLATORS

Cheap, mess kit percolators are found everywhere camping equipment is sold. They are very popular until they get used.












Percolators take forever to percolate. Usually they never do, because the element on the inside doesn't fit flat onto the bottom of the coffee pot which is necessary to draw the water up and over the grounds. When they do draw water, they perk too hard and boil the grounds over into the water (see "Cowboy Coffee," above). And the plastic thingy on top is guaranteed to melt sooner or later, because here is another camping secret: fire melts plastic. The RRCC has melted lots of those plastic things, sometimes for fun sometimes by accident.



















OTHER GADGETS. REI's shelves are full of embarrassing devices for making coffee in the wilderness. They have the “Big Sky Bistro French Press/Travel Mug” the "GSI Lexan Java Press", the "European Style Mini Espresso Maker" the "Tea-zer Tea Tumble" , and our favorite the"Cup.pour.ri One-Cup Coffee Steeper". Go ahead, make some coffee - and make us a pitcher of Bald Pussies while you're at it.



Now. Here is the best way to make coffee on a canoe trip...

Get one of these:














Get a package of #6 of filters...














And a Big Ass Thermos...













Boil some water. Put the filter in the funnel, put the coffee in the filter, put the lime in the cocoanut, pour the boiling water through.

Here are four good reasons why the Rebel Rivers Coffee System ® is the best:

1. It makes the best coffee. It's the same way your coffee maker at home does it.
2. Pouring directly into a thermos keeps the coffee hot all day without a flame so it won't burn or get cooked down to mud. Put the lid on as soon as it's poured through.
3. After breaking camp, throw the thermos in the canoe and paddle with hot coffee. This allows a seamless transition from coffee to beer later in the morning.
4. A thermos is bulky, but not in a canoe. Canoes carry much bigger and heavier items, like Big Daddy Skillets.

Useful tip #1: warm the thermos first by pouring some of the boiling water directly in, then pour it out just before making the coffee.

Useful tip #2: Sometimes it helps to stir the grounds with a stick. It helps the water pour through toward the end when it starts to back up, and it exposes more grounds to the water. Use that charred stick from the fire for stirring if you like fancy chickory flavored coffee.