Unholy

August 19th, 2008Blog0 comments

In a couple of weeks we’re heading to Vegas for a buddy’s bachelor party.

Aside: I once visited Dartmouth College. This is where Beer Pong was invented. A friend there told me that the reason why the frat scene is so wild is because Animal House was shot there, and there are certain expectations that need to be fulfilled.

Keep this anecdote in mind as I continue.

Like American wedding ceremonies themselves, bachelor parties have become bigger in scope. From what I gather, a bachelor party used to happen at some guy’s house. A fuzzy porno movie would play on the VCR. Beers would be consumed. And that was it.

These days, a bachelor party has to happen in Vegas. It has to take the entire weekend. Half of the weekend needs to be spent in a strip club. Guns need to be fired. Brain-damaging levels of alcohol must be consumed. Massive amounts of food need to be eaten off of plates with special gutters built into them to catch the blood. An animal of some type needs to be killed.

It’s like a huge ritualistic anti-wedding. The groom needs to be high on ecstasy with a stripper’s coochie in his face, shooting an M-16 at a target of Bin Laden, all while wearing a taco costume. That’s the level of insanity that this all has been driven up to — probably on the basis of dares and what people have seen in movies. I.E., dead hookers that need to be chainsawed and buried in the desert. The media has defined certain expectations.

This trip is going to be fun, but I’m also a little scared. With this much reckless consumption, what Nietzche said about fighting monsters comes to mind. Except instead of fighting them, you’re getting wasted with them.

Also, because I’m fascinated by other cultures and their grub, I’m currently madly interested in the classic British dish known as egg and chips. As in a fried egg and chips.

A British friend sent me this blog where a man is exploring various “greasy caffs”, ordering Egg Bacon Chips Beans and reporting his findings. Well done!