WEEK IN REVIEW: Faces of summer league

God we're all still hung over. Wait, what day is it? Not Sunday? Okay, nevermind. I'm okay. Alex is okay. Ginny is (maybe) okay. We're all okay.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK:

Can you guess which of the following people is hung over? (From summer league finals on Saturday.)

A year ago, if I told you Matt Mueller would not be one of the answers to the above question, would you believe me?

And what if I told you Ivan, making a special Beijing appearance, would be, having nearly died the day before drinking baijiu with Alex and Ginny?

Change is a strange beast.

GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK:

Tao, 8/19: Subj: Fantasy football:

Who's in?

Gonna start a standard-setting yahoo league with a live online draft, for fun. Let me know ...

p.s. Only join if you enjoy fantasy sports and don't mind losing to me.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Shanghai 2011 champions: Big Brother!

Big Brother ended a seven-year winless drought at international tournaments by winning Shanghai Open 2011, trailing only once all weekend (in the semifinals vs. Korea). The team from Beijing beat Team Philippines 15-10 in the finals, with its O-line committing only three turnovers all game (no breaks). Tao was selected finals MVP along with TP's Pia Ybanez (who has a tag on this blog because she's visited Beijing before), and Lauren Reed, for her O-line handling, was selected onto the Mythical Seven team.

The top three plays of the weekend (as selected at a team party on June 18 (this part is backdated)):

3. Kevin at the party (see below)

2. Alex's layout on Saturday vs. Team Philippines ... the first point, he decided he'd layout about chest high for a score.

1. Christian's defense in the end zone vs. Korea on Sunday. Big Brother was down 6-5 (and before that, down 6-4) when Christian pulled it, then sprinted 80 yards to D the first throw. Tao proceeded to throw a break score to Micah after a timeout to tie the game as part of a 9-1 run for Beijing, which eventually won 13-7.

Brother's three captains deserve praise: Jim Kirchhoff, one of the team's founders; Gareth Marshall, in his second year leading BB; and Mike Shyu, whose diplomacy, line-calling and stat-keeping were first-rate.

There are four Facebook albums currently up with pictures: Sunday, pt. 1; Sunday, pt. 2; Party pt. 1 (Big Brother Presents: Once Upon a Time Prom); Party pt. 2 (Big Brother Prom Photobooth).

More pictures to come in the coming weeks.

vs. Korea:


vs. Team Philippines in the finals:

One of Tao's four assists in the game to go with three goals.

Big Brother, which has a history of dominating Shanghai parties, went into this year's extravaganza, themed "Once Upon a Time," determined to not just "win," but win so convincingly that IF the party award went to any other team, the entire idea of a "tournament party" would be exposed as a farce.

Big props to Kevin Reitz for this idea: to rebrand the party as Big Brother's prom (themed "Once Upon a Time Ultimate Prom"), effectively Shanghaiing the event (pardon the expression). He printed up banners and we prepared a dance, a musical playlist, spiked punch and a king/queen ballot box.

Highlights:




Alas, Shanghai decided a team could not win both the tournament and the party. But Zahlen put it best (paraphrasing): "There's a difference between 'winning' a party and 'owning.' They haven't invented an award for owning, yet."

But they should. It would be called the Big Brother Party Award.

Here's Kevin on Sunday morning:

RETROSPECTIVE: The Alex, Ginny and Barbara Den of Drunken Debauchery

No one leaves the Den of Drunken Debauchery (Triple D) the same...







...least of all, the beers.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: First practice: success

The Jedi Council met before practice Saturday and then we hit the field outside at BCIS. No sprints this time...

That night we went to Alex's for drinking games. You might hear that line used again sometime.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Big Brother Jedi Council meeting, Marc and Veronica's belated engagement party at Hercules, Power Hour at Alex's, Andy's music swap

The title says it all.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: No one man should have all that power (hour)

Alex and friends had a power hour to Disney-related movie clips on Saturday night. We can only assume it went well.

Doc Tobin reminds us, by way of Google Groups, that Ryan Perez is a ghost among men in Beijing. Sad.

And now, Kanye:

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Boozy trivia party, at last

To celebrate his team's string of trivia victories at the place formerly known as Souk Lounge, Kirby held a trivia party on Saturday night that might be the last party he holds for Frisbee people for a while. Within 10 minutes of walking into his apartment, Joe asked Leigh to "throw a Jello up" so he could catch it in his mouth, and here's what ended up happening:



As Joe swiped at the Jello -- failing miserably of course -- his foot knocked over a cup of vodka-lemonade. Within the first 10 minutes. Kirby looked incredulous.



Later we played slap-cup, a game brought to us by Alex [EDIT: Peach, apparently! Not Alex] soon to become staple of our little community.

As these things happen, everything devolved into a mess and a group of people ran downstairs to swim naked in the swimming pool -- accessible only by squeezing between a pair of doors chained together. This involved a rather funny scene with Kirby's roommate, who could not manage to squeeze through. "It's not going to happen," he said, almost weeping. "Go on without me." This just before a grenade landed at his heel and blew him into pieces as we watched from the other side, mercifully stunned and oblivious to the sadness about to detonate us into a hundred little pieces, as entrails and blood simmered there a mere three feet from our eyes.

The evening and day were notable, too. Steph Kwan organized a dinner at Baoyuan Jiaozi near Women's Street. Here was our group:




And earlier in the day, in an extended pickup, we were re-acquainted with one Micah Jarnot, who will bless us with his presence for the next year. This is he (sitting next to Barbara, Alex's friend, fresh from Boston, who will be here long-term too):



He comes to us from, of all places, Shantou. We are so much more interesting.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Last pickup of the year

After this Saturday, pickup is OFF until after the holidays. We will resume back up at BCIS on Wednesday, January 12, at 7 pm per usual.

We were graced by the presence of Aaron Leung for a few days this week. We'll write about it in the upcoming Weekend Roundup [update: here].

On Thursday, Ken Dry invited us to his apartment to drink his liquor (and help him clean some things). It was a good time.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
See yesterday's post.

And this (explained below):


GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK, pt 1:

Candice Lee and her bowling league (titled "BOWLING 2011 (almost)"), 12/15:

Hello Bowallers,

I hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for the new year/new bowling season!

In January we will commencing next bowling league, so get out your shoes, your balls, and game face.

This coming *Monday, Dec Thursday, Dec 20* will be a *WARM UP BOWL at Gongti 100 at 9pm. *

It's going to be a real casual bowling session, but it's just a good opportunity to massage our egos and shine our balls. I know this is a bit last minute, but come on out if you have time! We can just rent lane by lane and sip on some cocktails（tiger beer?). btw, byo.

Also,* if you're interested in signing up for bowling league next year, send me an email before January 10 so that I can set up the brackets*. I'm thinking Thursday nights at 9pm, similar to last year. The *start date will be January 13.* This year I will really send out the final scores and be more organized. It will probably be about 45 rmb per person per league game.

Each team can have from 4-5 players (4 main players, 1 alternate). Try to have teams co-ed, but I understand otherwise. * Send me team names!*

Please forward this out to anyone who would be interested in joining! I can put them on the mailing list (I'm sure I've forgotten bunches of people). Otherwise, if you want off, just let me know and you will no longer receive fun emails from me. ( for bowling at least, not guaranteed for kickball)

There will also be an* impromtu pre-pre bowl tomorrow night, Thurs Dec 16, at 9pm.
*
Let's get em rolling,

Candice
[number redacted]

GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK, pt 2:

Betsy! 12/15:

frisbee adobo,

betsy is back after basking in the philippines and getting her fill of beaches, sunshine, and chiseled, tropical, testosterone-filled men (read: lincoln) before returning to freezing beijing to hibernate for the winter. she knows you (read: tao) were going through betsy withdrawal, but betsy wouldn't abandon you (read: baby girl) and
deprive you (read: still baby girl) of her scintillating seasonal sauciness. because she loves you (read: oh crap, maybe was that andy?). yes she does.

WEEKLY ITEM #1: Schedule

Pickup Wednesdays 7-9pm and Saturdays 2-4pm at BCIS

no practice until gareth deems it warm enough to cut off that awful facial hair.

_________

WEEKLY ITEM #2: Upcoming Tournaments

Vietnam Hat tournament, December 18-19th, 2010
Bangkok Hat tournament, February 12-13 or 19-20, 2011
Phnom Penh Big Phat Hat tournament, March 5-6, 2011
Boracay Beach tournament, March 20-21
PAGANELLO! Beach tournament, April 21-25, 2011

_________

WEEKLY ITEM #3: Lunch time Poll

1. matching: who asked for what for christmas?

A. gareth 1. an iphone
B. sandy 2. an iphone
C. ken dry 3. a new boyfriend, or at least his abs back
D. kevin 4. a new boyfriend, and possibly new shorts
E. leigh 5. a green man
F. chaitkin 6. a new roommate
H. Ingrid 7. a few more inches on his "vertical"
G. doc 8. what's christmas?

2. which of the following couples are so hot right now?

a. chaik-fil-a
b. destijimmer
c. drewleigh mobloomfat-young
d. muelin mattgrid
e. garcraft
_________

now is the time in the weekly email when betsy gives her weekly shout outs and call outs. remember, you want to get shouted out, but you do not want to get called out.

--special manila edition--

a shout out to zahlen. sure, you are fatter and slower, getting older, and not as sharp-witted as you once were. but something something thanks for playing with big brother in manila. it was pretty great.

a call out to ellen. next time baby girl invents a game that directly involves embarrassing and upsetting you, try harder not to be embarrassed and upset. it ruins all the fun.

a shout out to rob. betsy doesn’t care what everyone else says about you, she still thinks you are fun.

a call out to subic. possibly more parking attendants would improve the experience. beijing did not feel like all their parking needs were being met. just a suggestion.

a shout out to chaitkin. yay chaitkin.

a call out to kevin. more botched jeepny rentals, please. what does a girl have to do to get completely lost and ripped off in the philippines nowadays? go home with a green man, perhaps?

a shout out to nina. nina played an entire tournament without injuring anyone. jim’s feelings do not count.

a call out to green man. betsy knows what happened on the golf course, and she’s never going to be able to think of “hole 10” on the “back nine” the same way again.

a shout out to femtight. gareth can tell you why.

a call out to penifresh. betsy is allergic to tutti-fruiti and now she has a rash. on her feet. joe can tell you why.

a shout out to hhh, nicki, baby girl, gareth, and jim. seriously, you all deserved the awards given to you. no joking. for reals yo. also tao and zach for the greatest. seriously everyone.

________

and finally, your moment of zen…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GS6gKxG_jo

catch you on the field,
betsy
xxxooo

And Tao, a mere 25 minutes later:

Oh, great, Betsy is back whoring up the town. Are you using protection this time at least, you skank?

But Alex Ornik is REALLY excited. No, seriously.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Did trivia happen if no one remembers the fuck happened?

Last October, we had a three-day party at Ellen's apartment to celebrate New China's 60th birthday. That's a long time to be idle with friends, no matter how much you enjoy their company. This year, the party on National Day eve lasted just a few hours, but major props to Alex Ornik (new from Tufts) for hosting.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK:

I've asked several people now, and only one of them -- Jim -- actually remembers what the face-off category was.

Kirby, who was on the winning team, mis-remembered the category.

Baby Girl, whose goons friends nearly got into a fight, does not remember.

Ingrid and Peach -- forget it.

Nina does not remember.

Boehner does not remember.

Jeff does not remember.

Was Joe even still around?

But it was finally decided, more or less, by this email by Jim:

The team that won trivia sat in the middle. (wasn't that the team baby girl and boehner were on?) They went head to head w/ Nina and Kirby's team I thought. Final category was... web comics? drink off? Kirby lost. I think.

We did classics (i think), web comics, and a drink off during the night. I have the sheet at home w/ the scores if you want me to look it up when I get back.

So there you have it. Open-bar nights are brutal.

Trivia's off for the next two weeks, but will resume Oct. 19.

Without further ado:



Video coming soon.

GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK:

Tao and Jim, back to back on 9/28:

Many of you already know, but for those who need the details for tonight's party:

*What: Jim and Tao's 20th week anniversary trivia *What, part deux: 60 rmb all-you-can-drink Tsingtao drafts and well drinks
*What, part tres: Teams up to 6, we'll put you on a team if you can't bring your own; takeaway prizes every round, including a bottle of Skyy for final winner.

*Where: Souk Lounge, located at the west gate of Chaoyang Park next to Annie's Pizza and The World of Suzie Wong's. Between Liangmaqiao and Tuanjiehu subway stops on line 10.
*When: 8:30 pm. Though we'll be there early, probably drinking.
*Why: You ever see Jim drunk? Because it's happening tonight.

AND

Tao neglected to mention that I am supposed to be on a flight at 6:55am the following morning, so there is no excuse not to come out. Help me try to be the latest Beijing Ultimate player to miss a flight due to partying!

Booyah!

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