What a brilliant concept! Sugar and booze. Jessica held the first annual(?) cupcake party and lots of yummy treats were consumed. I brought muffins just to be a rogue.

Bill put on his own version of Oktoberfest complete with home-brewed beer . Sid came along and had a grand time playing with the other pooches. On the way home, I stopped in at Ground Zero and Nyes.

Pesto is something that just doesn't taste right unless it's fresh and hand-chopped. I had my hand at it and made potato gnocchi to munch with it. Yum.

The girls came over for White Russians before heading out for the VP debate. The Riverview was full, so we watched Palin make an ass of herself with popcorn, pizza, and more White Russians at the Manfort.

Karl is off to Washington to work for Habitat for Humanity. We couldn't let him leave without a proper send-off. Clearly, we had a good time.

Crystal's Party was an all day event. First we packed meal packets for the "Feed the Starving Children" charity. Then her parents hosted with delicious snacks and a bonfire. Afterwards we finished at Mortimer's.

Leg 2 of the Pants Party was hosted by Tiff in her party room. Games galore, prizes, beer, and friends. Toss in the Presidential debate and you've got a party!

The gang gathered at Our Bar for piano songs with Jon De Vaal. And we celebrated Kelly's birthday with cake and Cosmos. :)

The Pants had just returned from Denver and it was her birthday. So we gathered at the Manfort for cake and beer.

Karl, Crystal and I went to the gun shop/range to try our hand at a fully automatic rifle. We each unloaded 20 rounds from a STG-58. That's a gun with some kick! :)

Sid is now 2 years old. We celebrated with a fancy hat and "ham cakes". (His favorite treat.)

As Minnesota cools down and the leaves begin to turn, Bec threw a great bash at her place to close out summer. Great people, great food, and a well stoked fire provided a fun evening. Sid concurs.

Vera's another year older and to celebrate we went to Nyes for cake and songs with Lou. Happy Birthday Vera!

The RNC in the Twin Cities is finally over. Local police assumed near martial law to keep protestors at bay. I wasn't about to get anywhere near it, but I found these great pics on the Turkish news site, the Radikal. www.radikal.com.tr

Karl and I went to the Acadia Cafe last night for live music. Then hit Nyes briefly before crashing a few RNC parties downtown with Tiff and Melissa.

I joined Tiff and Allison for a night down the street at the Parkview to see "Wake Up World" and then Jim Walsh's Hootenanny featuring Billy Bragg. It was quite a night full of surprise performances and great music.

After helping the Pants move out, we relaxed at the Manfort with board games and booze. Pants creamed us with her multitude of starships (hotels).

Karl threw another party at his place with plenty of beer and exotic cheese to go around. A fun evening with friends once again. :)

Natalie missed her own party as we gathered to send her off to Colorado. But we had fun regardless, Mike and Dave take care of us and provide drinks and tunes a'plenty.

My friend, Kari, took Sid for the weekend so he wouldn't be home alone and could play with her three dogs. Looks like he enjoyed himself. :)

Toni's Mom was up for a visit from Key West, so she held a little backyard party. With Katie and her Grandmother there, four generations were present to share the night. Nice to see everyone and 'twas a great spread!

Tiff threw a little birthday bash at her pad pirate style. Ungodly amounts of rum were consumed and we all had a great time of course. Yargh!

Part two of birthday weekend -- Jen and I were both celebrating another year, so Pants brought her infamous Jello-cake and jammed candles into it. :) Another scandalous night at the homestead. Thanks people!

What a great turnout of friends! Thanks for all the fun people. :) We started at Our Bar for piano with Jon De Vaal and then hit the Legion for more karaoke.

Sid and fixed up the ol' trike so he could ride along down to the beach. We joined our gang of friends for bocce ball, barking, sunburn and sand castles. Great call - a full day of relaxing on a blanket was just what the doctor ordered.

Good food, good friends, and great mojitos. And after chilling by the fire for a while, we went down to the local Legion for our karaoke fix.

Always happy to hang out in ink parlors, I met Jessica at Twilight Tattoo to take pics while she got her new tat.

The weather was perfect and people felt like drinking, so Sid and I hosted a little get together before Kevin heads to Australia.

It had been a while since the gang got together for a night of singing with Jon. So Kelly had us all over for good food, fun, and friends. (And a little wine.)

CVG2008 turned out to be quite the 4 day weekend of debauchery and fun. I was quite impressed, the various pool suit/party conversions were awesome. Not to mention all the elaborate costumes. I for one, will be back for next year's geekfest. :)