Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Save the Brandy!



Not Exactly A "Can of Corn."



I'm not sure exactly where the fruitcake got such a bad reputation. I mean, it's dense, sure, but with fruit, nuts, jellied things, imbedded in a cakelike substance soaked in brandy for weeks, it can't be THAT terrible. Yet, it seems that the once royal fruitcake is now longer perched among the upper crust (so to speak) of holiday treats. And the folks in Manitou Springs, Colorado, have a rather unique way of displaying their distaste (as it were) for the now-disgraced edible (in a manner of speaking) concoction.
On January 14th, the good citizens will host, for the 17th consecutive year, the Fruitcake Toss in which contestants vie for awards based on the distance they can heave a one-pound fruitcake. It is supposed that part of the prize is that the contestants will not have to take said fruitcake home with them.
As one might suspect, over the years, new ways of moving the product (so to speak) have been devised. Now, in addition to the basic toss, there exists the Fruitcake Launch, an event which allows participants to use mechanical devices like catapults and pressurized air guns to propel a two-pound fruitcake across vast distances in an empty field. The current record stands at 1500 feet, a feat accomplished by a team of Boeing engineers last year.
Of course, there is also the Catch the Fruitcake competition as well as one featuring accuracy of projecting a fruitcake at targets between 75 and 150 feet away.
The entry fee is a non-perishable food item (not including fruitcakes) to be donated to food pantries nearby, and is open to all comers...who are encouraged to bring their own fruitcakes though a number of them are available for rent, having survived the landings of the previous year.
You still have time to make this the highlight of your new year.
Make a fruitcake.
Leave out the brandy.

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