More photos of chilis than you're likely to see in the near future:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=112095&id=510568119&l=0807e9f6d2
As we attended and thoroughly enjoyed the BBQ and Bluegrass festival in South Carolina, it would have been rude not to sample the North Carolina Chili Championship right in the heart of Winston Salem. As you can see, people take their chili v. seriously, and we reaped the benefit by being able to sample all of the entries in the competition. You'd be amazed how many different types of chili there are - mild ones, really hot ones, smoky ones, beef ones, chicken ones, veggie ones, beanless ones, ones with cinnamon in (surprisingly nice!) and my personal favourite, ones poured into an open packet of Fritos (maize, wheat crunchy type snacks), topped with cheese and sour cream and eaten with a plastic fork. Someone should really start selling that on the streets of the UK.
Once the votes had been cast (we clearly had good taste, as our favourite won the People's Choice award) and the awards distributed, we were treated to some good ole' Country & Western music courtesy of a Mr Darryl Worley. I'd never heard of him, but my friend Janet informed me he's a bit of a bigshot in the Country world, as his swooning female fans in front of the stage would testify. Our chili 'n' country experience was topped off as we left by the sight of 3 cowboys riding their horses through the car park (field) swigging bottles of beer as they went. Not something you see every day.
Friday 9 October 2009
American Footballing Frolics
Here you go:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2486576&l=2704a5c56e&id=510568119
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not really the biggest sports fan, in fact I usually lose interest in even the most culturally significant sporting events after about 15 minutes of viewing. However, I think I have discovered a sport that can hold my attention - American football. Granted, this is largely due to the fact that there are lots of fun things going on besides the game itself, such as huge brass bands marching around, cheerleaders dancing and performing surprisingly impressive gymnastic feats (it really is like "Bring it On"), mascots riding around on motorbikes (the "Demon Deacon", quite a scary looking character), fighter jets making a flyover of the stadium, not to mention all the chants, songs and rituals they have to keep you involved. Examples of these at Wake Forest, the college some of my Winston-Salem friends attend and thus my adopted team, include the "fight song," complete with complicated hand clapping segments, key jangling ("go home" this is meant to tell the opposition) and the Wake Forest "whoosh" which I can't really describe without demonstrating in person, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Even more fun awaits after the game if Wake Forest win, as the students then have carte blanche to festoon all the trees in the main quad with loo roll. Saying all that, I did actually pick up the gist of the sport itself, after several lessons from Rich and Ryan, and I can honestly say I enjoyed myself and would watch another game. Just not on TV, you can't see the band or the cheerleaders there...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2486576&l=2704a5c56e&id=510568119
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not really the biggest sports fan, in fact I usually lose interest in even the most culturally significant sporting events after about 15 minutes of viewing. However, I think I have discovered a sport that can hold my attention - American football. Granted, this is largely due to the fact that there are lots of fun things going on besides the game itself, such as huge brass bands marching around, cheerleaders dancing and performing surprisingly impressive gymnastic feats (it really is like "Bring it On"), mascots riding around on motorbikes (the "Demon Deacon", quite a scary looking character), fighter jets making a flyover of the stadium, not to mention all the chants, songs and rituals they have to keep you involved. Examples of these at Wake Forest, the college some of my Winston-Salem friends attend and thus my adopted team, include the "fight song," complete with complicated hand clapping segments, key jangling ("go home" this is meant to tell the opposition) and the Wake Forest "whoosh" which I can't really describe without demonstrating in person, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Even more fun awaits after the game if Wake Forest win, as the students then have carte blanche to festoon all the trees in the main quad with loo roll. Saying all that, I did actually pick up the gist of the sport itself, after several lessons from Rich and Ryan, and I can honestly say I enjoyed myself and would watch another game. Just not on TV, you can't see the band or the cheerleaders there...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)