DropKnees.com Blog

Obama

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:50:41 +0000

Its been about a week now since the acceptance speech in Grant Park. This was definitely one of the most monumentous things that I have ever partaken in. It was certainly special to see such a segregated city come together and rejoice. We were all at the center of the world for a brief evening. The whole world was watching as Barack Obama empowered change and graced us all with hope. The speech was perfect, but the streets were the piece of significance. Michigan Avenue was completely closed down and people of all backgrounds embraced and rejoiced. I have never seen so many jubilant people in one place in my life. I am honored to have been a part of it. I have plenty of amazing photos and video, but I think that everyone has there own take on that day and it should stay that way.

October gone

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:33:59 +0000

I still dont know what happened to my october posts, so I am going to summarize.

I went biking in Wisconsin and hung out in Racine, it ruled.

I attended the Chicago Film Festival and saw one of the best movies ever: Hunger. Its about Bobby Sands of the IRA. Its a mild dialogued movie about the hunger strike of IRA martyrs.
I went to Detroit and eat at the Mercury Coffee Bar and scoured through the old Detroit Train Station.

I did critical Mass on Halloween and it was amazing. We dresses up as Christian Missionaries and passed out false brochures.
Most photos can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bgulotta/Fall08#

What happened to October posts?

admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:41:18 +0000

I don’t know, but I am pretty sure that I posted about 4 times. Being that I do not have an IT department to take care of this, I may have to summarize fast.

Critical Mass - Chicago

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:59:04 +0000

Fridays are typically the days that I am most worked from work. I usually come straight home and unwind. This week, Josh gave me a call and I invited me to attend critical mass. I road my bike over there to check it out and decided to partake. There were hundreds of bikers gathered in Daley Square. The ride was the North Ave Bridge Ride. Basically, hundreds of bikers took over the streets and all stopped on the bridge for 15 minutes, completely halting traffic. It was like being in a parade and it was one of the most cultural things that I have done in a while. The crowd was either really amped for us or incredibly pissed off, but there was nothing that they could do about it. get involved in your town: Critical Mass “Happy Friday”

September Weekend

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:43:02 +0000

This weekend included some music and food at the Hideout Block party. It then moved to the Urban Lounge for a great show. Johnny Flynn played and I have since downloaded his music. And today was spent sailing on Lake Michigan on a 39′ Swan named impulse.

Block Island Wedding

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:34:42 +0000

The family spent a week on Block Island. I had to rush to get there for the Filiberto wedding on Saturday. So, I flew in to NYC and took the train to New London, CT. and then cruised over on the ferry. I arrived moments before the wedding. The wedding was full of family and fun. It concluded on the beach with a big bonfire. We stayed on the island for the rest of the week. It consisted of simply chillin on the beach with bocce. I snapped a few pics of the wedding and here they are.

Radiohead - Chula Vista

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:19:58 +0000

Radiohead threw down one of the best concerts that I have ever seen. Tony Hawk sat directly in front of me, that helps put in perspective how great our seats were. I could have spilled my beer on him. Regardless, this show was great and I will continue to try my best to see these guys live.

Joe elopes

admin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:11:38 +0000

One of my best buds, Joe Gaffney, eloped-ish in Peru. Basically, he gave us three days notice that he would be getting married while on vacation in Peru. So, I nominated myself as best man and put this diddy together and emailed it to the wedding party.

Joe & Meg,
Is this considered eloping? I was really hoping for a save the date magnet and a huge wedding with Burton and Yeti dressed up in some sort of floral patterned outfits and Pip as the ring bearer. Maybe you can dress big Joe up in a nice floral outfit instead.

Weddings are typically a good time for friends and family to give a ‘verbal hug’ through a nice speech. So I tried to put a few kind words together for you two.

Joe, you already know it… you are one of my best friends and I wouldn’t be the person that I am today without you. I could list off the things we’ve done together and the places that we’ve been to (Philly, Switzy, NZ, Wyoming, Hawaii, Utah, Cali, Mexico, etc.), but the bottom-line is that the experiences that we have had together, have been some of the best things to happen to us. It has been great to see you grow up from the a-typical fraternity boy at Villanova to an outdoorsman, professional, and activist.

Meg, you are gonna have your hands full. Are you sure that you want to do this? You’re gonna have to wake up next to this grey haired man, who snores, and has the smelliest feet in the world for the rest of your life. Those toes breed a putrid odour, especially after a day of skiing. There is a reason why we made Joe sleep in a garage for our summer in the “Double-Wide.” Good luck with that.

As you can tell, it is a little hard for me to realize that one of my “boyz” is getting married. As the typically single guy, I tend to always be critiquing girls and describing the perfect girl. “She was too this, the right girl would be more that.” A few weeks ago, Joe and I were driving in Morpheus (Joe’s veggie powered VW bus) talking about love and ladies. I spouted off a list… “She has to be compassionate to the world, smart, funny and a super hottie. The perfect girl is challenging, someone that makes you better with every day. She will keep you on your toes and push you to be your best.” Like most conversations with me, I continued to rant for a while. There is usually a short pause and then I ask the other person a question, “What about you?” And Joe said, “Everything that you said just now, I have in Meg. I am in love.” 5 years ago, I probably would have just started laughing. But I knew it was legitimate.

We are proud and very very happy for you both. Meg, you are certainly a wonderful woman with an insurmountable amount of qualities…you are the ‘perfect girl.’ Joe, you have officially met your match. Love it and cherish her. Who would have thought that a dog park rendezvous in Seattle could spawn such a thing?

Meg never actually met Koda. Koda was Burton’s sidekick for the Wyoming / NYC / California years. He was adopted into our dysfunctional family in Jackson during our first Fall. Koda would always talk, like most huskies can. He never really barked, he would howl and essentially talk back to you. One day our roommate Ashley started talking to him and he would repeat her words. Ashley: “Ouuwwwwww,” Koda: “Ouuwwwww.” Eventually, she taught Koda to say “I love you” or “Ayyy Rove Rue.” We would say “I love you… I love you” and he would reply “Ayyy Rove Rue.”

So, during this wedding ceremony, do me a favour and gaze deeply into each other’s eyes and say “Ayyy Rove Rue.” We are all pumped for you, we wish we could be there, and we wish you two the best together.

Brian

Connecticut Wedding - #2

admin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:04:35 +0000

I was able to travel to New York and work from the Google office on Friday. I then took off to CT for a Villanova/Laurelton Hall wedding. The wedding was the complete opposite of the week before, no flip flops allowed at this ceremony and reception. The wedding was for Ashley Moore and it was at the Belle Haven Country Club in Greenwich. It was a beautiful reception. The clouds from a previous storm made the lighting on the Long Island sound amazing and the full moon rising was impressive. It was great to see a bunch of old friends and find out that they are doing well in life.

Pics: maybe soon

Rainier Wedding Bells

admin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:03:57 +0000

I drove to Portland and Hood River for a few days after the climb and before the wedding. Unfortunately, I have no pics. But I have to shout out to Kate, Sadr, and the loveable Dawn for showing me such a great time. I was invited to Billy and Michelle’s wedding with a date and who better to bring then my cowboy in crime, Joe. I drove Gaffney’s car back to him in Seattle and we hopped into his veggie powered VM Synchro van and headed to Ashford, Wa for the rehearsal dinner and festivities. This night began with a good ol cookout and it turned into a karaoke session into the wee hours. The Vdub has a pop top, so we slept in that for the night.

Wedding day was sort of a recovery day. But I made it to the ceremony on time to perform my duties as an usher. The wedding was at Cougar Rock Campground in the park and the reception was at Longmire Cabin.

This week was truly one of the best weeks ever. I thank Billy and Michelle for creating such an amazing experience. I love you both. The Uberuagas were also amazing. Their support and hospitality for all of us dirtbag climbers was perfect. And Joe, thank you so much for everything that week.

Some pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/bgulotta/Rainier08#