Tuesday, March 4, 2008

smoke on the water

today is someone's lucky day! this chickadee will soon reveal the winner of the strawberry-lemonade scarf. a great big thank you to each of the wonderful contestants. you are all winners! in fact, all of the entrants in the competition have the distinction of being captains of their own destiny! since this first give-away commemorated a special event in chickadee history, deciding the winner by simply pulling a name out of a hat just didn't seem appropriate...or fun enough... so this chickadee masterminded a new challenge that pit competitor against competitor in a battle as fair as nature is sometimes cruel. that contest will live in infamy and its name is:

in regatta da vita




contestants were each assigned their very own paper boat which was then christened with a splash of orangina. with such a wide array of captains and such a narrow stream, the race was divided into four heats, with the winner of each heat advancing to the final! the four finalists were then pitted against each other stern to stern, prow to prow, fore to fore, aft to aft. the winner of the final race would become the proud owner of a piece of chickadee memorabilia. with so much at stake, no wonder the event was so well attended by neighborhood squirrels and curious people peering out of their windows. no wonder there was so much drama! so much intrigue! so much construction paper!

heat number one: the charm city classic



this heat saw captain cara (ss right field #9), captain kelly (ss decadence) and captain sherry (ss floating pepperoni) fight for their right to party. the race was tight until just before the finish, when the ss right field #9 managed to maneuver the other two boats into a treacherous leaf pile. this spelled c-u-r-t-a-i-n-s for their chances, and v-i-c-t-o-r-y for captain cara and the ss right field #9.





heat number two: the virginia collegiate assosication



four years of higher learning at esteemed commonwealth institutions sure taught these three toughies how to tango. this group was comprised of captain karen (ss persona non grata), captain kasim (ss cheese) and captain bonsta (ss bloomin' onion). a respectable race was run by all right down to the finish. amazingly, the ss persona non grata was able to hold her water and elbow her way past the capable ss cheese to win by the slightest of margins.





heat number three: the international afficionados



a group that fights for fair foreign policy is sure to produce quite a fiasco. captain c-tine (ss bean), captain missy (sunshine daydream) and captain michelle (ss faux de fa fa) did anything but disappoint. with each eager to raise their own flag, the ss sunshine daydream and ss faux de fa fa initially employed a joint strategy to waylay the ss bean. with one opponent accounted for, the other two racers were joined in combat until the last minute, when the ss faux de fa fa pirouetted gracefully around the ss sunshine daydream to take the cake for france.





heat four: a la familia



there was no love lost on this day when captain mom (ss buttonhead) and captain duede (ss moshi moshi) challenged the notion that blood is thicker than water. the longest race of the day saw a lull in the breeze and a layup in a leaf pile for both boats. things were looking grim for the ss buttonhead, as she rapidly took in water. in the end, it was sheer grit and determination that sailed the ss buttonhead onward to the finish and dashed hopes and despair for the ss moshi moshi.





the final four!



with all of the boats a bit worse for wear, the run for the roses was set to start. the ss faux de fa fa got off to an immediate gallop and distanced herself from the pack. lagging a bit behind was the ss persona non grata whose luck seemed to have run out when she ran into another lot of leaves. the ss buttonhead and ss right field #9 seemed content just to have made it to the last race of the day and were enjoying the sunshine back at the start. but the winds of change were to blow, sending all of the boats back upstream and resetting the fortunes of all four. with her early advantage the ss faux de fa fa was still in excellent position when the sails shifted, but tight on her tail was the ss persona non grata. in the end, the ss faux de fa fa had just the right je ne sais pas and finished very stylishly indeed.



congratulations ss faux de fa fa! congratulations captain michelle!

the stawberry-lemonade scarf is all yours and soon will be shipped out to you. thanks again to everyone who made this such a success. stay tuned to this space for more fun and frivolity. there is video of the glorious day that will be made available in the event that i am able to figure out how in the world to do so.



for those of you unfamiliar with the winner, check out her blog, pardon my french. and for an explanation of her ship's name, here is a special victory song that should explain it all:


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am afraid you got "somebody's" name wrong.... "the mouth" is waaaaayyyyy more appropriate and funnier too! Damn, with my bouyant deli meats I thought I would have faired better!

Pardon My French said...

I won! I won! And it's soooo much better than a plaque. I loved the boat idea as well as the video. Oh, and my boat's name. The photo journal was pretty cool, too!

Thanks for the blog mention, although my most recent post is kind of grouchy. I'll have to put up a more cheerful one soon; now I've got a good reason to be cheerful!

Made my day (again)!