Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Everything Totally Went Down...At the Rodeo!

The moment has arrived.

I am ready to tell.

Crabfamily went!! We did! And there did we hobnob with Aaron of Crabcorner cowboy-infested compound. Who took us backstage. I mean, behind the buck-and-shoots. Or is it bucking chutes? Hmm. I didn't pause to check the spelling with Aaron, and something tells me he might not have been able to help me there. Either way, now I know what a buck-and-shoot/bucking chute is. And it is dang scary, that little gate holding back those surly chunky bulls with their dirty, prongy headgear.

Let's start from the beginning.

Tot dressed in appropriate attire (we pulled out from hibernation the outfit Crabgammy bought for her before she was even born). We consumed a hearty dinner of tacos and beans.We walked down to the rodeo, spotted our neighbor, and went backstage immediately, VIP peeps that we are. And though Tot didn't have cowboy boots and had to settle for rainboots instead...
...she knew she was cool because hot damn, she was behind the bucking chutes and on first-name terms with a real bull rider in this here event.

And here he is, readers.

Our personal bullrider, also known as
King of Crabcorner Cowboy Compound.

You've been waiting for him...

Maybe I should make you wait longer..........
.....
............

............

..................
Like on of those annoying email forwards involving lucky numbers and favorite colors and endless scrolling down to see whether you are a person of inner peace or a manic depressive...


wait for it....


hold on....


add 3 to your number then times it by 5.

OKAY!
Here he is peeking out from behind Ctot's fringed top.
A good shot, eh? A handsome chap. Though my African sister kept thinking he had something a bit off in the facial region, on account of a squonky angle to one side of the mouth. But we know that he just packs a chew, peeps.

Thus began a spell of watching the bullriders pulling on their chaps, taping each others gloves to their wrists...
...and doing these weird, jiggy perpendicular leg movements in preparation for the event, movements that were too flash-fast for me to capture on film, unfortunately. We also watched them pray into their hats. Crabfamily doesn't see or do much praying so this here definitely warranted a sneaky shot. Then we watched the various menfolk prancing about on horseback and womenfolk too, who were referred to by the announcer as "pretty little cowgirls." Lovely!

Crabtot was entranced.
No, I'm not that good-looking. That's my sister. At one point they opened the gates and let out a flood of small children to rush a hapless sheep.Tot was desperate to join and screamed, begging us to let her be a "mutton-buster" (rodeos are very educational! New vocab words of many syllables!). She tried to hurl herself over the fence. And had to be told off by Crabmommy.

Yes, that's my finger. Oh, thank you...yes I have been told how attractive my finger is, but nice of you to say it again!

The grand finale: the bullriders line up and then one by one they enter the ring and try their luck at staying on for 8 seconds. We went crazy rooting for our man, whom, the announcer gravely informed the audience, was holding his rope in a suicide hand wrap. This is when you know a rider means business. And is not afraid to die for doing what he loves.

Crabcorner-Cowboy-Compound-King goes up.
And alas, comes down in 3 seconds.But, at least this time, he walks away unharmed.Okay, so in all seriousness, Aaron is a very brave and or very stupid man. It's really quite shocking when you hear the inside scoop, backstage, from a VIP's perspective. Behind the chutes did we learn that everyone who does this will either get maimed or die from doing it. Aaron told us he knows 2 people who have died doing it. And when we went backstage there were a couple of cowboys limping in turquoise chaps. Or, at least they limped when we walked past them. Then they seemed to straighten up behind our backs.

But, yes, a very dangerous sport and the announcer verified the fact of accepting death or serious injury as a given if you enter the sport. That and poverty. They made our Crabking pay $50 to enter himself in this event. And the winner only makes $280! Ridiculous, I say.

So did we give our friend the money we felt he should have rightly earned for putting his life at risk for our entertainment?

No. But we did give him a six-pack.

And so, my friends, we come to the end of an era. After circling our crabcowboy friends for so long, we are now all tighter than a strap around a bull's willy. We had a great night at our very first rodeo. We learned that the life of Aaron and his buds is one of certain demise, deep poverty, extreme grime, and cheerful obsession. We learned that one must very cheerfully sport a death wish to participate in such a life, and one must be content to live in a trailer or in one's car and to eat at Wendy's very, very often.

Crabtot dug it madly.
When we got home, the world of our Crabcorner looked a little different, bathed in the afterglow of that night. Everything looks transformed now!Or maybe not.

17 comments:

Karen Stead Baigrie said...

hello crabmommy, I have been a bit absent from your corner due to a fabulous escape to the beach last week.Oh to be back on such an auspicious (sp??!) day as the great rodeo tell all. I loved every bit of it especially the mutton crunching of hapless sheep and "tighter...bulls willy". My only complaint is that I did not get all of the photos (or was that a cruel trick on your behalf?!). The photo documentation ended after the fabulous shot of crabtot in her wellies and hat. I will check in again to see if the technical problem has been solved as I am dying to see the pic of your finger. xx

Anonymous said...

Oh how sad. I couldn't see any of the pics! But it sounds like you had a thrilling time! :)

Crabmommy said...

Oh my lord, people! This is TERRIBLE that you are having trouble viewing the photos. I can only think stupid blogger is to blame. Using firefox, I can see them all. Hmm...I wonder what the hot damn heck is going on? Please if more of you are reading this, DO leave me a comment telling me if you can see the photos and if so, do you see all or just some? We MUST rectify this situation pronto! It simply will not do to ahve you read about -- but not see -- my FINGER, among other things posted here today.

Karen Stead Baigrie said...

just checked back in and now I see more photos of that handsome (and somewhat scew faced) cowboy neighbor of yours. he looks like he could do with a bottle of momspit himself though. Is crabdad making appearances (although obscured or from behind me thinks it must be him). Alas Crabmom remains just a sketch on a conde nast website for all uf us devotees. Lovley pics and crabtot is too gorgeous for words!

Jege (Jen) said...

Did Crabhub actually wear clogs to the rodeo and not get his ass kicked? Brave man. :)

grunnio corocotta said...

Am using latest version of Firefox and can see no photos except the one of Crabtot in her duds heading your previous post. Just to make sure I'm not missing something that is in fact there, where exactly are we supposed to be looking for the rest?

Crabmommy said...

It seems some of you can see the pics and others not. bloody Blogger. I just checked their page and there is nothing about any known issues with photo viewing today. I do hope those of you who can't see the many pics of the rodeo scenesters, resplendent in their duds, will check back later and have better luck. Looks like some people were able to see the pics on a later viewing. Hope so. Keep me posted so I can start complaining at Blogger if the issue isn't resolved prontissimo.

grunnio corocotta said...

I just logged in with IE and can see the broken image links, so it's a problem with Blogger's server, basically. They'll probably get it resolved, or you could try reposting the photos since they might get archived elsewhere, which is to say somewhere functional ...

Crabmommy said...

Oh crikey, Grunnio! I have 14 photos in this post and it took me ages to upload them. I'm gonna cross fingers that the Bloggertechs get it figured in the next day or so. Rather odd that some can see them but others can't...Hmm. Dang!

Crabmommy said...

Oh crikey, Grunnio! I have 14 photos in this post and it took me ages to upload them. I'm gonna cross fingers that the Bloggertechs get it figured in the next day or so. Rather odd that some can see them but others can't...Hmm. Dang!

info@thebabymarketplace.com said...

Hey CM,

I can see ALL pics, using IE.

I've told you before ... you really should get a flickr account ... makes this picture thing way easier.

You KNOW that MommyKnows! Right? You know that ... I know you do!

grunnio corocotta said...

At last, I have seen the photos. Very cool.

Inky Ink Inc. said...

Most excellent post! The universe of Crabcorner continues to unfold! And that Aaron of yours, well I'd have to say he looks like the real article—a gen-you-ine cowboy! Congratulations on your rodeo experience. In my neck of the woods we are woefully rodeo-challenged: only one rodeo per year, so all the local cowboys have to travel up to Crabtown or other locales to indulge their buckin' bronc and bull ridin' death wishes!

Inky Ink Inc. said...

Oh, and I could see all the photos first time around (Safari / MacBook).

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, this is like a photo essay! Great pictures! You have infiltrated their world and now there is no going back. :)

Thank you for taking us into their world with your expose!

Jane, P&B Girls

Leann I Am said...

The only pic I can't see is your FINGER! Unless, of course, my coffee hasn't started working yet and I just missed it!

That's actually very exciting! It's nice to get to experience the way that others do things! There's a whole world out there of stuff like that, and you can cross 'Rodeo' off your list!

YEEE HAAAAW!

Crabtot is ADORABLE!!!

Crabmommy said...

Interestingly, in re-uploading my pics for this post, I realized that my finger pic was MISSING from my own photo files. In the saga that was my pic uploading, I must have accidentally deleted myself wagging my digit at the Crabtot. What a shame you did not get to see that image. I have a VERY fetching finger!

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