Maps and a Word of Warning

Hello,

Here are some maps of campus that you might find useful.

A campus map:
http://geography.uoregon.edu/infographics/campusMaps/uowebmapLarge.htm

For those of you who can read Adobe Acrobat files, here a campus parking
map:

http://geography.uoregon.edu/infographics/campusMaps/parkingmap.pdf


For those of you driving out of town you might want to schedule in
a little more driving time than you normally would. As many of you who
have tried to book rooms in Euegne know, we've been invaded by the Junior
Olympics. This translates in to 7000 atheletes; add onto that their
parents, siblings and coaches. I know they are on the UO campus somewhere
because our beloved Bookstore had some little "Welcome Junior Olympian"
sign up.


On other fronts, we seem to be a little ahead of ourselves on the
preparation schedule. I'm sure we'll discover we're missing
something.

Back to the yard preparation!

- John

Banners

Somebody has asked, "In your instructions you say the banners should be two feet wide. Is this the banner fabric width, or can the dowels stick out a bit?"

The short answer is, "Yes, the total width of the banner and hardware may extend a bit. There will be no banner police armed with tape measures."

Originally the procession route was going to go between the houses. Anything much wider than two feet wouuld be difficult to fit without people getting stuck. Sometime in June we changed the route to go through the back garden gate, which is much wider.

This does bring up another point. Any banner much more than four or five feet will have a difficult time getting through the garden gate without risking getting snagged on Very Sharp Briars.

This is going to be a lot of fun.

- John
-----
John Burridge (via palm)
work:burridge@oregon.uoregon.edu
play: burridge@peak.org
Respice, adspice, prospice.

Comando Cameras: A Cautionary Tale

While we were meeting with Reverend Carolyn, she told us a funny story.

She was officiating a wedding. The celebrants were very fond of their cameras, and she was marrying two people in front a swarming sea of flashbulbs.

Out of the corner of her visision she saw a motion. She turned and saw a relative crawling on his belly behind the alter. I'm not sure how he had managed to worm his way that far. He had a camera cradled in front of him.

Reverend Carolyn smiled, motioned him to his feet, and said, "We're having a wedding; we'll take pictures later. "

For all you comando camera-folks out there, the moral of this story is, "Have fun taking pictures, but make sure to have a sense of decorum."

- John (The World's Biggest Photo-slut)
-----
John Burridge (via palm)
work:burridge@oregon.uoregon.edu
play: burridge@peak.org
Respice, adspice, prospice.

West Nile Free!

Some folks have been asking about West Nile. We're happy to report that Oregon is West Nile Free! Mark thinks that the Oregon Chamber of Commerce should make a commercial about it. But don't believe us, here's some information from the CDC and other governmental agencies:


http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&control04Maps.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount04_detailed.htm

http://www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/acd/wnile/index.cfm#stats

http://www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/acd/wnile/index.cfm#stats


So you can see that it's true: You can covort about scantily clad in Oregon at dusk or dawn and not have to worry about West Nile.

- John

Waterfall Hike

Monday, August 2.  11 AM - 5 PM.  Meet at Mark and John's home.

We will drive towards the mountains to explore an area rich with waterfalls.  The first waterfall will have roadside access and the second will be an easy hike.  Pack a lunch.  Wear sturdy, comfortable shoes.  We will walk four miles. 

The Wedding

Sunday, August 1.  10 AM  Mark and John's Home.

Just in case you forgot when and where.  Dress in layers.  John has been praying for nice weather -- which in John's case is overcast and 75 degrees.  The last few days it's been about 60 degrees at 8 AM, 70 degrees at 11 AM, and 80 degrees by 2 PM.   The next couple of days it's supposed to be 95.  You can get a nice weather forecast from the The National Weather Service. 

Reception to follow.

Comedic Spectacle of Love

Saturday, July 31.  7PM - 9PM.  Ben Linder Room, University of Oregon, Eugene.

This is an audience participation event, but we won't force you to sing Kumbayah or anything.  A Real Live Comedy Troup (wildly famous in the southern Willamette Valley) will take stories of our relationship and then make fun of it.  Think of it as an improvisational roast. 

You can find out more about the Ben Linder room at the very confusing site emu.uoregon.edu and get a somewhat useful map that doesn't require a javascript pop-up or PDF reader here

Eat dinner before this event.  A selection of non-alcoholic beverages will be served.

Wedding Processional Banner Making

Friday, July 30.  5 PM - 9 PM.  Mark and John's House.

For that big cathedral feel, we're asking our guests to promenade and form a row of banners for the happy couple (us) to walk between.  The banners that you make will represent your relationship to the happy couple.  We'll provide the craft materials, pizza and beverages; you provide the imagination.

Bachelor Hike

Friday, July 30.  10 AM - 1 PM  Meet at Mark and John's house.

No booze, no bawdy broads, just big trees and pre-event stress release. Participants are encouraged to remove one article of clothing at the summit of the hike.  Yes, just because it's called a Bachelor Hike dosn't mean you have to be a guy to attend.  This is a local 2.5 mile hike, moderately steep. We'll have fixings ready for you to make lunch.

Pickles

John & Mark,

Thank you for e-sharing the Pickles shrine. He was a sweet little dog and I'll miss him.

Connie

The Procession

 
Here's the procession route!  We'll mill about on the southeast side of the house here.   
 

 
Eventually we'll have folks form two lines on either side of the alley and the  Reverend Carolyn Colbert will lead the procession.  Mark and John will be right behind, followed by The Pearwood Pipers.   As soon as the Pipers pass, everyone at the end of the lines will follow them and we'll all march in through the garden gate.   The garden gate looks scarier than it actually is, and we measured it to be sure that 2 foot by 2 foot banners would fit through it.
 

 
Reverend Colbert, Mark and John will march up to the wedding platform.  You can't see the platform in this picture (it's to the right of the white chair), but it will mean we wont have to weed whack Sarah's prized plants in order for you to see us.  The Pipers will stop under the apple tree (to the right of this picture).  Everyone else will continue to process past the wedding platform and hand off their banners to banner folks to string along the fence.
 

 
Once everyone is seated the ceremony proper will begin.   No, you won't have to sit on the grass; we're ordering chairs.   Assuming that it isn't cloudy or raining, this is pretty much what the lighting conditions for the wedding will be at 9:45 AM on Sunday.

We've made a shrine for Pickles, who passed away Monday, July 19 around 9:30 AM.  It's in our front garden and has some memorabilia on it.   This is a night shot.  On the top is the log book of how much he was drinking and his weekly pill box.  The slips of paper were left over from the Easter Bunny Nuke to remind folks not to let him have chocolate; one says "Totally Unrepentant" and the other says "Relentless Scavenger."  A third one, not shown, said "Chocolate is bad for dogs."
 
Pickles liked to eat cherry pits and dog treats, so we put some down in front of his pictures.  I also included two Anubis figurines from the MET.   Down below where you can't see them are some more flowers, his dog leash, and the owl-shaped champagne bucket that we used as a doggy bag dispenser.
 
We might tone down the shrine for the wedding.  Or not.  I know it made me (John) feel better building it, but it sometimes strikes me as a prop from the over-the-top canine comedy Best In Show. 

What to wear

A couple of folks have called to ask things like, "What should we wear for the wedding?" and "What are your colors?"

The wedding is a garden wedding. Garden weddings dress means slacks, polo shirts, dresses, skirts, and dressed up shoes. Comfortable, sensible, flat shoes will succeed on the brick path and garden soil.

Sport jackets and ties are optional -- but if they make you feel festive, wear them.

The official wedding colors are purple (petunias) and gold (marigold). This has absolutely nothing with what we're wearing. We're wearing -- Mark says it's a secret.

- John
-----
John Burridge (via palm)
work:burridge@oregon.uoregon.edu
play: burridge@peak.org
Respice, adspice, prospice.

More Garden Work

The yard is shaping up. The area were we plan to have everyone sit has been cleared except for one sunflower we hope can survive the transformation of the yard into a wedding mall (or is that weeding hall?).

Mark is working on a scavenger hunt during the reception for the kids and the cleanup is giving us lots of ideas for things to hunt for.

Now all we have to do is find some bunting somewhere to drape over the fence. We saw an outdoor wedding last week that hung some white gausey stull off of bamboo canes and thought about knocking on their door aferwards to see if they had any extra they wanted to sell. But we didn't.

We're still not quite sure where we'll put Pickles. Muriell the cat will simply hide on the mistaken grounds that she's going to the vet. Pickles, however, is forbidden to go to the kennel. If we lock him up in our room he'll howl. If we let him out into the yard he'll ether A) eat cherry pits or B) got after the food. I guess we'll need a test three-year-old with a cookie to see if Pickles is feeling agressive enough to take it out of the three-year-old's mouth (yes, this *has* happened).

I'm sure we'll think of something.

- John
-----
John Burridge (via palm)
work:burridge@oregon.uoregon.edu
play: burridge@peak.org
Respice, adspice, prospice.

Things are moving along.

We've made a checklist of things we need to tell the caterers and are entering deadlines in the calendar. The garden is coming along; the platform where we'll stand is finished and propped up where it wont smoosh any plants (although the nails on the underside do look a little leathal).

- John

Wedding Dreams

It's true.

I've been having wedding anxiety nightmares. They usually involve
locomotives. And vampires.

- John