- 1995 -- A band of 18 idiots decides to dress up in Santa suits and go bar-hopping in the Fan neighborhood of Richmond. Our chum Evan Lloyd is a large part of the brainstorm behind this. Our other chum Stew takes part and tells Rob, me, and others about it the next day.
- 1996 -- We travel down from DC for the Second Annual. 55 Santas. Outstanding.
- 1997 -- 128 Santas. Two buses. Bedlam.
- 1998-2000 -- more of the same.
- 2001 -- Evan dies on a Harley in July. At Christmas time I use grief counseling constructively and orchestrate a Santa Stumble in my U Street neighborhood in DC. We take $20 a man and donate it to Toys for Tots in Evan's name.
- 2000's -- Our group launches satellite Stumbles in NYC and Truckee, CA (that still carry on even in 2012). And other places like Norfolk, VA (which fizzled, alas). And we see other Stumbles pop up all over the place that have nothing to do with us.
- 2010 -- Our friend Steve Wiley and his wife Sofia launch one in Raleigh, NC.
- 2011 -- The Raleigh Stumble takes the giving to new heights, sending not one but two children with leukemia to Disney World as part of Make-a-Wish. Pretty friggin' awesome.
- 2012 -- The Raleigh chapter does the same with one child going to Pittsburgh to see a Steelers game and meet Antonio Brown, his favorite player. (This happened before the Stumble, like two weeks ago.) The second child is slated to go to Disney.
- Also 2012 -- How can I resist that story down in NC? At the last minute I dust off the old suit and break out the makeup and drive three hours and drink Narragansett beer and tequila and Jager and Fireball and bourbon and Jameson and random other shots and get blackout happy and sing carols and dance and fall down and laugh and revel and spread good cheer.
Kudos to the Wileys and the rest of the Raleigh group. The Stumble is still a damn good time for a damn good reason. Enjoy the progression of this year's slow descent from Gene Simmons Santa into The Dark Knight Returns and Orders the Meat Lover's Omelette AND a Side of Chicken Fried Steak at IHOP at 4AM.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and here's to new memories with old friends acting young.
Ho-Ho-Ho.
Posts
34 comments:
I wish I could have seen the waiter/waitress who handled your table at 4am at a Raleigh IHOP.
Someone get me security footage...
wouldn't show this to your kids santagene.
also, postcount!
comma santagene
commentcount!
Is that a pic of Judge Reinhold?
played hoops today for the first time since i started training for the marathon in july. fitness level, great. jumpshot, like i'd never seen a basketball before.
made this last night: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-rum-punch-10000000522366/
drank way too much of it.
I drank a quart of Cherry Lanbic last night, after drinking three stiff bourbon and gingers and a 6-pack of beer. Not feeling too happy with that decision today.
my wife and her friend schedule an 'ugly sweater' party at our house next saturday, inconveniently the same date as the d.c. stumble. in protest, i shall be wearing my santa suit to the party. teej, i'd appreciate it if you could order me a half-smoke from ben's. i'll pick it up on sunday.
Fantasy football payoffs for my ug money league begin today. Everyone's excited, right?
you guys play for ugg money? do your husbands know?
dr ug money?
TR, did you go that black tie thing last night?
Microgram?
Jim Haslett going to have lots of time on his hands very soon.
dig dug money?
It was really fun to be on Heinz Field for pregame but the actual game really sucks so far
TJ's right. Dig Dug money. Winners get 2K.
Get money.
We might have just seen the end of our nfl season, Skins fans.
what happened to rg3?
they say knee strain. if you see the replay, i don't understand how it didn't shatter into a thousand pieces.
During a game in which the Bills were tied 0-0 or held the lead for 59 minutes and 12 seconds of play, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw the ball 33 times, while Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller got 9 and 7 carries, respectively. The 48 seconds in which the Rams held the lead were, unfortunately for the Bills and their fans, the final 48 seconds of the game. Someone needs to explain the idea of running out the clock to Chan Gailey.
Fiancee and I have a black tie event the same night as the stumble, but she is a good sport and will be stepping out with me to hopefully catch up with the gang somewhat late night. We are pumped.
Like Hanz and Franz.
broke bread with matt carroll's grandparents last night. which was nice.
David Wilson with 61 fantasy points. While sitting on my bench. Well, shit.
i'd love to do another stumble.
"subjunctive clause" and "after hours santa" should rise again.
yikes. just saw rg3 injury. theisman-esque. that sucks, i was even rooting for him (but was rob doing illegal rooting for rg3).
I waived David Wilson weeks ago.
my fantasy team had a huge day. shame i didn't make the playoffs.
Somehow RG3 didn't tear any ligaments. Reportedly.
We get points for kickoff return yards in my league so Wilson was worth keeping around. Also worth it because my running backs suck.
This has been the latest edition 'Nobody Cares About Your Fantasy Team'.
Not sure how many of you saw Man U vs Man City today, but it was about as exciting as any football game you all saw today. 5 goals, lots of chippy play, a coin hurled from the crowd bloodying a player, a fan on the field. Man City fans acting like a bunch of Slytherins, if you ask me.
For the good and welfare ... just got back from the DIIV and Japandroids show. DIIV (pronounced Dive for you non hipsters) did a solid set after a rough start. If you can dig surf punk crossed with JAMC and meandering jams check them out.
Japandroids were amazing and loud. Got to be the best duo out there now the White Stripes are done and the Black Keys are really a quartet. Highly recommend them. I have not seen as much stage diving and crowd surfing in a Boston show since I've lived here. These guys keep on track and they will be huge with their next album.
Their latest album is worth a listen. Just ask Zman, he's always ahead of the curve.
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