Meeting Report
North American Chapter of Eternal Idol
May 30, 2012
Marriott Courtyard Inn, Roseville MN
The second annual meeting of the North American Chapter of Eternal Idol was convened at 7 pm and adjourned at 11 pm at the bar in the Courtyard Inn. Since the organization has yet to elect a president, the meeting convened itself.
Present were charter members Dan Johnston and Juris Ozols.
Absent was charter member Aynslie Hanna who was sorely missed, as noted numerous times during the meeting.
A collage with the Eternal Idol logo and photographs of Dennis Price, Aynslie Hanna, Alex Down, and Dan Johnson and Juris Ozols at the previous NACEI meeting was prominently displayed on the bar throughout the evening.
Old Business:
Everything possible to discuss about Stonehenge was discussed. That included “The One and Only True Answer to Stonehenge?” – with regards to that, it was concluded that the question being answered could not be established, so the discussion trailed off to Bluestones and other more solid topics.
Bluestones were a significant topic off and on during the evening. Of note is that bar manager Chris, a comely lass, joined in the Bluestone discussions and displayed an amazing level of knowledge for a Minnesotan.
The “human transport” and “glacial transport” theories were debated at length. The consensus was that glacial transport has absolutely zero physical evidence to back it up, despite great efforts on the part of various blokes to promote it. But the question remains open.
The possibility that the Bluestone Dilemma might be the question to which TOAOTATS refers was brought up but could not be established and again the discussion trailed off.
Due to less than complete note taking and various factors, the other topics discussed cannot be fully documented but a small smattering included:
- Dendrochronology and the Y-Z holes
- Stone 16 as an axe symbolStonehenge acoustics
- The intelligence level of the Stonehengers
- Alex Down
- Bluestonehenge
- The absence of written language at Stonehenge
- Tom Flowers
- Easter Island and Polynesian Voyages
- The age of ancient finds in the Western Hemisphere
- Mesa Verde and Monte Verde
- Hoppy beer
- Custer’s Last Stand
- And…..Lots and lots more
The discussions were greatly facilitated by the efforts of Barmaid Mary (pictured below), another comely lass, who made sure the glasses were kept full. Some ten or so different beverages were sampled. All were great.
Mary was amply rewarded at the end of the evening for her kind attention. She requested a link to the EI web page which will be provided.
New Business:
Dennis Price was elected as an Honorary Member of NACEI. Dennis would have been a prime candidate for full membership, but unfortunately does not meet residency requirements.
Alex Down was elected as an Honorary Member of NACEI, emeritus.
A toast to absent member Aynslie was raised, Belgian Blue Moon.
Toasts to many other people and ideas were also raised.
Adjournment:
The meeting regretfully adjourned at 11 pm. It was decided that the next meeting will be held next year at an appropriate location.
Also, Aynslie better attend this one or she will be put on membership probation.
Submitted by: Juris Ozols, for lack of a better secretary who has also not been elected yet.
The photo above shows the end result of the extended discussion of the Bluestones and their transport mechanism. No definitive conclusion could be reached, although the majority of opinion somewhat favored the “human transport” theory over the “glacial transport” theory. This issue will continue to be addressed at future meetings.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
This was a truly magnificent cultural achievement and everyone involved should be extremely proud of themselves. I have to say that I’m particularly impressed by the contributions of Chris, the bar manager, and Mary the Barmaid, while I’m still feeling a bit the worse for wear myself. I was trying to keep up with the festivities last night, but as I had no way of knowing how freely the beer was flowing, I felt it prudent to err on the side of caution and consume too much rather than too little.
I’m sure I’m not the only person here in Britain who’s extremely grateful for the sterling efforts put in by Dan and Juris. I was advised in advance that the items for discussion for this meeting would be Stonehenge and beer, although not necessarily in that order, but the minutes make clear that it was a very far-ranging discussion indeed.
Our North American cousins have put us to shame, so I shall have to organise a European meeting of Eternal Idol myself and not before time, either.
with regards to that, it was concluded that the question being answered could not be established
The meaning of life, the Universe, everything and anything can usually be fleetingly established after a suitable number of beers. Is the committee sure that the meaning wasn’t established (and then forgotten) or was it a minuted conclusion?
Yes, I was suspicious about this for precisely the same reasons, Jonathan. In my lengthy experience of these matters, I have yet to come across a single question, no matter how complex, that couldn’t be very easily solved in direct proportion to the amount of beers consumed. I have no doubt at all that the North American Chapter of Eternal Idol did themselves and their British counterparts proud by establishing anything and everything of any worth, but a few things were somehow forgotten in all the excitement when the minutes came to be written up. The answer to this, of course, is to have every last moment of such minutes carefully recorded on film!
I need to dash off to attend to other concerns, but I have to observe that I claim much expertise in matters relating to bars and beer. And my perception has long been that both of those lead to innumerable answers and very few questions. I estimate the ratio of answers to questions to exceed 10 or more at the typical bar, and quite frequently there are only answers and no questions from the participants.
So, the great Stonehenge Question, like the Boles Barrow Bluestone and other things, remains elusive for us. Our Chapter Meeting proceeded with care, but we could not come to grips with it.
I forgot to mention that the List of One Hundred published by Dennis was also discussed and we raised a toast to that as a great piece of work. Here we had 100 questions and no (!) answers, which was marvelous.
The simple fact is that the North American Chapter of Eternal Idol have thus far convened two highly successful meetings, compared with the lamentable total of zero in Britain. With this in mind, no one here is in any position to argue with their methods or conclusions – on the contrary, I feel that we can only look on with envy. The North American Chapter have blazed the trail and set the standards, so it’s down to us here in Britain to do better if we can and that’s an end of it, really.
It’s something I’m giving a lot of consideration to, so as and when we hold our inaugural British meeting, I shall be sure to let the world know. Until then, I simply could not be more impressed at the magnificent way in which Dan and Juris conducted themselves – along with the able assistance of various barmaids – so I take my hat off to them all. The dream of course is for the various branches to be united one day in the vicinity of Stonehenge, so this remains our ‘magnum opus’.
Dennis, I applaud the EI Colony in the USA for managing to get together in person to discuss such important matters and to reduce the world’s beer surplus so considerably. It is time long overdue that we had a similar gathering here in the Island of the Mighty, so I hope that you will organise something very soon. To which end I would be happy to help in any way that I can.
Juris and Dan, I feel absolutely certain that Alex would be chuffed to bits with his membership of your group. I sincerely hope that in future years you will have visitors from our side of the pond and that you also will visit Britain.
Frank -
I just perused the link to “Jerusalem” that Dennis posted and then somehow chanced upon this thread on our NACOEI meeting.
And wanderlust strikes.
I am going to make every effort to visit England this fall and I would be honored to meet you and buy you a pint, somehow.
I lived in your green and fair land for a year, in the enchanted town of Battle, a decade ago. I loved it. I need to return.
Juris
Juris,
I hope to meet you when you are able to come over.
This year, because of the Queen’s Jubilee, a visit from the Amauta priests of Tiwanaku and the Olympics, I have used up much of my holiday allowance so I won’t be able to take extra time out to greet you, but hopefully we’ll enjoy a pint and maybe I can show you some of the latest discoveries in the sacred landscape.
Sussex is such a lovely county, and Battle a great little town. I would have supported the Saxons, so it is a place of historic sadness for me. The Saxon way of life was so much happier than that which followed when those Normans showed up and conquered an exhausted Saxon army. Just as with the Roman invasion, I feel that in so many ways a culturally brutish people conquered those better than themselves, and so much potential was lost from the future when this happened.
See you in the Autumn!
Surely if dates are set, then some sort of gathering on a week end could be arranged?