Back To The 21st Century

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Some last shots from the Renaissance Faire and then it's time to move on. None of these images fit the 16th Century French theme. The dashing chap above makes me think of a cavalier, the supporters of the king during the English Civil War in the 17th Century. The two shots below are of tossing the caber, a traditional Scottish game in which people try to throw a big log without dislocating both shoulders.

There is a lot going on this weekend. Today has the annual Susan Komen Race For The Cure, benefiting breast cancer research. Last year there were more than 64,000 participants, just in this one middlin' city. My coworkers formed a team in support  of one of their number who is a breast cancer survivor. Pridefest is also on this weekend, with the grand parade tomorrow. I usually get wonderful stuff there. Oh, and the first and hopefully annual St. Louis Fringe Festival is this weekend. We're going Sunday afternoon and evening. Stay tuned.

What's A Caber?

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Well, you can toss it, but not like a Frisbee or your cookies. Wikipedia tells us that:

The caber toss is a traditional Scottish athletic event practised at the Scottish Highland Games involving the tossing of a large wooden pole called a caber. It is said to have developed from the need to toss logs across narrow chasms to cross them. In Scotland the caber is usually made from a Larch pine tree. A caber typically is 19 feet 6 inches (5.94 m) tall and weighs 175 pounds (79 kg).

There were plenty of bulky competitors for this event at the Scottish Games last weekend. The strongman shown here was one of the best. The top picture shows him at the moment of release, the bottom two just before and after. (Thank heavens for burst mode). Ideally, the top of the pole should hit the ground first and the part the contestant was holding should fall forward and away from him. Can't be good for the spine and shoulders but he pulled it off.

Apologies in advance - I'll be leaving few or no comments today and tomorrow. Our hometown heroes, the baseball Cardinals, made the playoffs on the last day of the season. The first series with mighty Philadelphia is tied one game each as play moves to St. Louis. There are games late this afternoon and tomorrow. I plan to attend both and will have little extra time. It will all come back.