I was sent off on a YouTube adventure by a kind reader of note who last evening sent me emails with videos of cheese rolling attached like this one and all these.
That got me thinking that maybe there were videos of the ancient pre-football village games that happen at holidays. And there were. Like Royal Shrovetide Football you can watch here. Kind of weirdly but appropriately put to music. I think this is that game explained on wikipedia. Here is another – this from Orkney. Again set to music. Here is a web page on that game. Nothing on Winchester College Football on YouTube yet.
As we start moving from the recreational and civic holidays of the warm half of the year to the traditional holidays of the darker half, I am reminded that village and community are interesting things which are not like suburbs, workplaces or shopping malls or even families. The internet will only create real community when this sort of game starts up, including people you do not necessarily like doing things together you do not necessarily understand because you must. Maybe it has and maybe it hasn’t. Maybe that is what the Kingston Society for Playing Catch is to be. I will only know if anyone gets the hat and even then likely not.
gr – October 2, 2006 9:02 AM
Make it a challenge! Try a nice warm and soft brie.
Alan – October 2, 2006 10:17 AM
What? That hat? I am not wearing cheese on my head. And I am ordering the hat only after I figure out how to flog my blogs and squeeze more dosh out of this. These things have to pay for themselves, you know.
gr – October 2, 2006 11:13 AM
You think I was comparing your yellow cap to cheese?
I should have made myself clear, as I was referring to cheese rolling competitions.
Alan – October 2, 2006 11:23 AM
We’d need the caps first – otherwise we would not know who was in the village. Do you have a hill? Can you recommend a cheese. This sounds like something to add to “Twits and Ales 2007”.
Gordo – October 2, 2006 11:27 AM
http://blog.cruachan.ca
There are any number of fabulous cheese-rolling hills in an around Kingston, Al. Fort Henry, perhaps? Although, I can think of a dozen better things to do with a nice brie than flinging it down a grassy slope. Wrap it in grape leaves and grill it, for instance.
The hat IS amazing, though.
Alan – October 2, 2006 11:31 AM
I think Ithaca would be a more condusive location. Plus we need a gentle slope.
gr – October 2, 2006 11:52 AM
Gordo, what if we had some old brie, left it out in the hot sun for a couple of days, made a big slingshot out of bicycle inner-tubes and held a little dodge ball style competition? You know, 2 sides, each with cheese and launchers, old clothes……….
gr – October 2, 2006 11:55 AM
OK, Alan, you be the master of ceremonies. My yard, your tophat, Gordo’s grill, bring Paul along for the witty repartee, and anybody else around your office who likes cheese games.
Alan – October 2, 2006 11:58 AM
Not a chance. I have no cheese master cred south of the border. Plus you are much more the top hat man than I am. I understand that the recent Lowville Cream Cheese festival included a cheese toss. Not a roll but a toss.
Gordo – October 2, 2006 1:02 PM
http://blog.cruachan.ca
I imagine the cheese tossing distance would be directly proportional to the age of the cheese before it was consumed? š
gr – October 2, 2006 3:02 PM
One word, Gordo: SPLAT. I heard that soft and warm cheese bombs were banned by the Geneva Convention.
Listen I gotta ask, Alan, why should this little party come to my yard when we already know a dude in greater Kingston with a waterfront cottage?????
Alan – October 2, 2006 3:10 PM
Superior beer, BBQ and cheese master hat technology to the south of the border pop into my mind for starters.
Gordo – October 2, 2006 5:10 PM
http://blog.cruachan.ca
I haven’t got any hills suitable for cheesiness such as this, either.
Alan – October 2, 2006 5:13 PM
To be fair, I think we can make up an entirely different excuse for a Simcoe-based event. I am entirely fair when it comes to matters of real estate which I do not own.
gr – October 2, 2006 6:19 PM
My idea does not require hills, just some old inner tubes, brie in the hot sun and a few dozen cold beverages for fuel.
Gordo – October 2, 2006 8:22 PM
http://blog.cruachan.ca
That sounds incredible … š
Alan – October 2, 2006 8:32 PM
Have you gents ever considered recreational catapulting?
cm – October 2, 2006 9:03 PM
Some days I worry about you guys.
gr – October 2, 2006 10:09 PM
cm: would you prefer we go back to discussing politics or baseball?
No kidding around here, Gordo–you’re our kinda partygoer, therefore an invitation may one day be sent your way for the Twits Ales and Cheese fest.
Gordo – October 2, 2006 10:29 PM
http://blog.cruachan.ca
If the water were deeper close to shore, I would have built a recreational catapult already. š
I actually have trebuchet-building experience.
portland – October 3, 2006 1:19 AM
ilooked at that orkey deal. that’s the single fucking oddest thing i have ever seen.
gr – October 3, 2006 7:20 AM
Lo, in the middle of the night, portland speaks….
Mike – October 3, 2006 8:23 AM
http://www.mikecampbell.net/the_campblog.htm
I was in Winchester and walked past the College campus; no sign of any cheese.