Get him to the church on time

The Bachelor Party went off reasonably successfully, as measured by the fact we've now got spaceroo going mad trying to place the entirety of the DangerMouse theme song -- he's been singing bits all day -- and I must say the English and New Zealand contingent let up a hearty cheer at the selection. So far as I'm aware no one did anything they have to now apologize for, and the waitress at the restaurant was nicely perceptive in figuring out the purpose of the group. Somehow my appetizer plate, though, kept being left behind in the occasional tray-cleanings, and it wasn't until the desert course that it was finally cleared of the chicken wing bone, various dressings, and blossomed onion residue that it had been gathering. We'll miss it. We also got to see oliver_otter and his blatantly stolen ``rental'' car.

The rehearsal this morning went very smoothly. I didn't have to drive, but all us groomsmen had notebooks to write down things we have to remember. As Best Man I'm expected to remember things like carrying the checks to pay various people, and to be ready to hand off the rings in case the ringbearer (a lad of few years) freezes up on cue. We bought little notepads and pens ahead of time just in case and distributed them to Skyler and Findra before the rehearsal. The pen we bought for it dried up and I had to use my civilian pen. All told I took, I believe, six (tiny) pages of notes, including noting oddly named stores like ``Battery Plus''.

The ceremony is to be in this nice circle of redwood trees, each reaching approximately 800,000 feet up, and supported by a root system that grows nearly ten inches into the ground, so we're advised not to make any sudden movements, and have to lean on trees in pairs. The center is just beautifully placed, including dramatic shafts of light, of the kind where you could film any fantasy movie requiring scenes of the victim or hero slowly rising towards a computer-generated image or being attacked by rock-men or whatnot and have it look perfect. I'm glad I brought my camera -- I guessed I wouldn't get the chance for many pictures tomorrow -- and took pictures of findra quite literally glowing in this forest. Assuming the focus actually worked and my arm didn't flinch enough (the exposures were getting to like 1/5 of a second) to mess things up, these should be some of the best pictures I've ever taken. Oh, and there's to be a wedding there too, quite soon.

Trivia: In 1692 the Earl of Montague married the mad Duchess of Albemarle. To win her heart, he convinced her he was the Emperor of China. Source: London: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd.

Currently Reading: The Beginning and the End, Isaac Asimov.