ManNight 2009 – The Party

Last night was time once again for our somewhat annual man gathering known as “ManNight”.  Originally started in 2006, it was one of the “Top 10 Things I Did…” when Zoe was out of the country.  Three years later, Zoe is out of the country and we are doing it again.  Having gone from last year’s Luau theme, we settled on “Viking” for this year.  Although in hindsight, I think “parking lot of a Renaissance Faire” might be a better label. 

As always, everyone’s costumes were shall we say…unique.  Some, like Mike, chose to make his appearance with suitably Viking like Skull Splitter beer (So named because of its 8.5 % ABV, a fact affirmed to by Eric this morning in a tweet).

Speaking of Eric, after laboring with a glue gun for several hours, he entered the party in complete character.  Make note of the cell phone holder on his Viking belt.  Dave, to Eric’s right, also wowed us.  When he first walked into the backyard, his gold locks made me do a double take.

I opted for the “off-duty” Viking look.  After a hard day of pillaging, nothing says village comfort like a pair of leg warmers and a woolen tunic.   I also will find any excuse to work my mullet into a costume.  As Brian noted at the end of the night, I never broke costume once.  Quite a feat when you are working over a 600 degree grill which has the ability of turning your synthetic hair into a roman candle in under 3 seconds. 

With the power of Amazon, just about everyone was able to pick up a helmet.  Some with fur horns, and some without.

I will address the food in a second post.  Since it was ManNight, we made it a point not to stick to a specific schedule.  Dinner was done when it was done…and what a dinner it was.

As we made out way to the table, the ten of us took a quick moment to capture the scene.  The table was adorned with our “Man Trophy” and since we couldn’t find the tiger picture we always hang on the hall, Jeff brought the new symbol of ManNight: James Tiberius Kirk.

We ate like…well, men!  Ribeyes, Friend Chicken, Grilled Trout, and Onion Loaf.  Nothing green by design.  The Drew also bought a large swing top bottle of homebrew which we all toasted and shared.

Of course it would not be ManNight without Rockband and after Rockband, we tended to the fire outside. 

Themes are already floating for the next ManNight and only one of them so far scares me.  I believe everyone was in agreement.  This was by far the best ManNight yet.  I am blessed to have such good friends who enjoy crazy fun like this.