not again? what happened? anybody?

The end of mF 2009 is a bit of a blur. I think someone slipped me a mickey.

 

This might jar my memory...

sunday madness

Poker in the Park was a huge success (I won ten bucks), despite the fact that I didn’t specify which park the poker was in and the google map showed it somewhere in Ireland, of all places. Texas Chris was on a winning streak: chicken day, primogeniture, and CZK 1000 at the poker. Damien came in second with a fair chunk of change followed by me in third, getting away with a symbolic pittance.

Thanks to Chris for organizing, Johnny, Greg, Jason and Bad Jeff for losing, Curtis for dealing and Scott for bringing the chips (and losing).

The Georgian Roast featured performances from both Rodney Dangerfield and Don Rickles, a PowerPoint presentation, some pretty funny speeches, a telegram from Denver, embarrassing baby pictures and a cutout cake (one of many) from my childhood:

Thanks to my mother, Mary and Martha for putting it all together and to Steve Sachoff for telling those people to shut the hell up.

karaoke

My apologies for the delay, but I’m usually pretty busy during mikeFEST!™ and this current mikeFEST!™ has been particularly demanding. Let’s see what I remember and please feel free to fill in the gaps:

In keeping with mikeFEST!™ tradition, karaoke had a slow start. In fact, the owner wanted to ‘storno’ the event somehow early on, in favor of playing the same Robbie Williams song over and over again, which is what he’d been doing anyway. But we fought for our right to party:

and when the ball got rolling there was no stopping us:

The place filled up, we sang until the wee hours got fat and the owner was ecstatic. Even Mary, who hates both mikeFEST!™ and karaoke managed to have a great time. Too bad the bar will probably only last another month as they will now inevitably raise their beer prices and actually expect us to go back. Which we probably won’t, but that’s just another tradition. Breaking with tradition, however, I managed to get Andrew’s book safely home for the first time in twelve years. Nice not have to go out and buy it the day after.

Thanks to Jiffy and Steve for organizing/working/singing/drinking and to Sue for the cupcakes. Really fun/tasty respectively.

dos de mayo

Chicken Day was a hoot! And a mess:

Congratulations to Chris Guilds of Texas for ‘best savory chicken’, taking the prize from last year’s winner, Jiffy, who proceeded to impress us with his ‘drunken seal imitation’:

The first day of mikeFEST!™ continued on to Újezd (the old Borat') and then to Bukanýr until the wee hours of the morning. Tonight is karaoke at Placebo near IPs and tomorrow ‘Poker in the Park’ hosted by this year’s chicken winner, Texas Chris. Be there at 14h sharp for registration.

Please make sure to visit the blog (speaking to the choir, now) and schedule easily accessible from http://www.xeno.cz/ for news and updates. The Facebook page is here if you use that sort of thing.

I got this rather Infrequently Asked Question yesterday at the Chicken Day. Here is my response:

The reason I put that ‘silly’ trademark at the end of mikeFEST!™ is due to the fact, smartass, that the world is full of people constantly trying to steal my dreams! Beware of imposters! Accept no substitutes!

Or you could wind up at http://mikefest.com/ a sort of ‘anti-mikeFEST!’ (not yet trademarked, if someone’s interested) which promises: “Fellowship, Fun, Food, Four Wheelers, Friends [sic(k)]” but at what price? This from their website:

"This is a Christian family day. No swearing. No smoking. No alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs may be carried onto or consumed on the property. No person under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or any illegal substances that may hinder thinking ability or reaction time will be permitted access to the property. Also, no firearms or weapons are permitted while on the property.”

You also have to wear a helmet ‘at all times’, apparently, ‘ON THE PROPERTY’. What the hell for? This from their guestbook:

Joanna Mohnkern said: November 18th, 2008 2:48 am
MikeFest is the best thing since horses were made.[endquote]

With ‘no running water’ and a ‘Sorry all I have is an Outhouse’ I can think of better things ‘since horses were made.’

Thanks, but no thanks. My lawyers will be in touch.

Other offenders are not so flagrant, much more on brand and are therefore tolerated, and, as we’ll see in this year’s mikeFEST!™, even encouraged. After all, imitation is the highest form of flattery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQXocuX-rKs

Can’t wait for the DVD!

This next ‘mikefest’ is a 40 year old metal promoter from a place called ‘Middle Island’, New York. Huh. He could have been me, the original mike in mikeFEST!™ but he’s not:

http://www.nonelouder.com/profile/Mike90

And this next one is almost swooning with the true spirit of mikeFEST!™. This from the April 29 blog entry: “When you get right down to it, when MikeFest decides to play - it's a good day all around”

I couldn’t agree more. Spot on brand. Good work:

http://360voice.gamerdna.com/blog.asp?tag=MikeFest

So to honor some of the knock-offs this year, we’re offering Greg’s GEEKfest™ (that’s right, beat you to it) covering two full days of mikeFEST!™: Tuesday&Wednesday, Mikes 5&6 respectively. For ‘MikeFest’ - the above gamer’s imaginary friend, we have an all-night LAN party at Battlezone @Myslíkova 23, featuring UT, GTA, among other hip-sounding letter combinations. For the metalhead, we have a games night with Slovak metal at Troll, just after we shoot weapons without helmets while under the influence in honor of the friendly fellowship over at mikefest.com.

And when we’re done at GEEKfest™, we’ll have this mikefest to clean up the mess:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/mikefest-09-vacuuming-101-pt2/1139802343
“with a vacuum suficient to do the job.”

the story of mikeFEST!™

Those of you living under a rock for last 27 years may be wondering, “What the darn-tootin’ is this mikeFEST!™ all about anyways, see?” (or however people who live under a rock talk), but at least you will have heard of it. And, of course, there are some others, who may celebrate mikeFEST!™ every May, but don’t reckon the history or follow the traditions. For you, for both of you, this is the story of mikeFEST!™:

‘Twas the night before mikeFEST!™ sometime between Canada finally gaining its independence from Britain and the Malvinas losing theirs yet again in what was considered an even swap at the time. But Alexander Haig had yet to resign, the Commodore 64 was about to come out and Epcot would open in the fall. And while still buried mid-April in over two feet of snow that year in upstate New York and in the middle of a recession almost as bad as the current one, there was a sparkle of hope to light the way and melt the ice. There was mikeFEST!™ The year was 1982.

All my Jewish friends (and all my friends were Jewish) were having their various mitzvahs and what 13 year old gentile wouldn’t covet the opportunity to have a huge party, get tons of presents (mostly in cash and check), hook up with a distant cousin, and network a well-paid career while still in junior high – all in exchange for a few lines of Hebrew. I was jealous, I felt left out and I wasn’t going to take it sitting down. Or was I?

mikeFEST!™ is an unexpected oasis between the Easter and summer holidays, a time when students are supposed to be preparing for finals and looking for summer jobs. mikeFEST!™ is the perfect excuse not to study or look for a job. It’s a celebration of procrastination – a vacation to life. A sit-down (with beer in hand) protest against arbitrary self-imposed responsibility. Pretty much anything can wait until after mikeFEST!™ and usually has to.

mikeFEST!™ took its time gaining momentum through junior and senior high, mostly revolving around a few non-events in varying degree of shenanigan and general hangings-out, while peppering the banter with references to ‘mikeFEST!™’. But the concept really took off in college, thanks in large part to (now Dr.) Tom Parker and Jason Epstein for strangely taking it seriously. Since then, it’s seemed to have followed me everywhere: France, Spain, Russia (майкФЕСТ!™), Germany, and the Czech Republic, current headquarters of mikeFEST!™, where it’s been fested since 1992. mikeFEST!™ is now celebrated in over 30 countries in 19 different languages.

Some answers to frequently asked questions (from people living under rocks):

mikeFEST!™ takes place from May 1 to May 12 (inclusive). In many markets, however, mikeFEST!™ (unofficially) begins on April 30, also known as mikeFEST! Eve™, Walpurgisnacht or Čarodějnice.

Yes, good question. You participate in mikeFEST!™ entirely at your own risk.

Not exactly. mikeFEST!™ is flexible, but doesn’t like surprises - although changes to the schedule can be frequent.

Sadly, no. No one has ever hosted mikeFEST!™ twice. What a dumb question.

It’s an ‘oblate spheroid’, actually, and revolves around the... you might want to come out for a second. It’s easier to show you.

If you have any other questions about mikeFEST!™ please direct them to the person on either side of you or dial a random number - if they indeed have people or phones under your rock.

But here’s something maybe you wouldn’t know and lord knows I’ve seen my share of mikeFEST!™s and the rule of thumb is this: the tougher the times, the better the mikeFEST!™. So now we have the swine flu, a worse and worsening recession, cancer, whatever. It’s our time, our moment. It’s mikeFEST!™. Let’s make it the best mikeFEST!™ ever! Together, we can.

See you at Chicken Day!

mike the mike in mikeFEST!™

http://www.xeno.cz/ home, where you can find both:
http://xeno.cz/calendar.html the (ever-incomplete) schedule (also below)
http://mikefest.blogspot.com/ and the blog (you're already here, silly) and on facebook.