altimar is this weekend. now, in fact.
altimar. AL-tih-mar (or, optionally, AL-tuh-mar). it’s a word to strike awe into the hearts of all who hear it. it is a good word, and it betokens connotations of sun, sand, and the beauty of friendship. of course, it is a made up word (one which, however, has entered into quite common usage in some circles).
some might think that it is derived from the latin/spanish “alt”, signifying height or tallness or greatness. others might think that the phoneme “mar” is likewise derived from latin/spanish, and must therefore impart information about the sea. given the fact that altimar is indeed great/awesome, and given its necessary connection to the ocean, these etymological guesses would seem to be right on. unfortunately, they are wrong. “altimar” is derived from no previously existing words and relies neither on any for its meaning.
well then, what is altimar? it refers to the one weekend of the year, usually sometime in early august, in which the Eastwood Posse (consisting, as you know, of josh (aka dj jazzy josh, aka josser brown), chris (aka chris cross aka nyffy), nate (aka naughty by nate), mark (aka markemark aka stumpy), andy (aka skinny talls aka andor), chris (aka scratchmasta slim aka soundfxman), and myself (aka wycliffe jon aka uncle caveman)) goes on a camping trip. here is a brief rundown of what’s gone before:
altimar i – 2000: we went to st. augustine and camped. we had the first annual grocery shopping competition. many pranks were played. andy’s jeep broke down. it was possibly the most exciting and adventuresome altimar ever. we had lots of hot dogs and mayonnaise. josh and mark bought some really dumb bug-eyed sunglasses. i made a cool video of the trip. (oh, and josh met his hemmingfriend). unfortunately, nate couldn’t make this trip.
altimar ii: reloaded (also subtitled attack of the spydars) – 2001: camped at st. augustine again. it rained a lot. we played a lot of beach sports, including whateverballTM. this was the year of the chick-cruisersTM. all 7 of us had skateboards and razor scooters, which we cruised around downtown st. augustine with, picking up chicks left and right. the girl at the pizza place called me her husband, and we made a skate video in a deserted bank parking lot. we did a lot better on buying food. all 7 of us were there!
altimar iii: return of the spydars – 2002: the most recent altimar! it was definitely the most chill. we camped at st. augustine again, but spent most of our time off the grounds at a smoke shop, where we became great friends with ticker, the manager. we all chain-smoked cloves (except nate and andor) and cigars. there really isn’t a lot more to tell, except one night we made up a great game with the frisbee and a flashlight. it involved there being two teams: one with one person and one with everybody else. the solo guy had a flashlight which he could use to blind everyone else, who all tried to throw a frisbee at him and hit him. we also had a long game of hide-and-seek where i eluded everyone until they lost interest. once again, all 7 of us were there and had an awesome time playing at the beach, smoking, and playing euchre.
altimar iv: revolutions – 2003: i’m calling this year “revolutions”, since we’re doing something majorly different. we’re not going to st. augustine! and, we’re not even camping! instead, we’ll be going to the marvelous “el caribe” at daytona. staying in a resort room right on the beach, we will have immediate access to the sand, and cover when it rains. nevertheless, despite the obvious advantages, it’s really a toss-up how this altimar will turn out, since we will have strayed from the formula. i, for one, am betting that it will be completely awesome, and that many songs will be written about our great exploits. but we will just have to see. unfortunately for us, both josh and nate are out of state and won’t be at altimar this year. it will be that much less of an experience without them, but the 5 of us who are left will press on and smoke for 7 (or more).
well, i’ll be back sunday. here’s to the greatest tradition ever!
