Well it's that time of year again.  Oktoberfest is here again.  All I really know about the festival is that it's a big beer drinking celebration.  I consulted with wikipedia and if you believe that wikipedia is trustworthy it says that Prince Ludwig was married to Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810.  The citizens of Munich were invited to attend festivities honoring the couple held near the city gates.  The next year they decided to make it an annual event and to celebrate the agricultural aspects of Bavaria.  It was then pushed back to September for warmer weather.  Nowadays Oktoberfest is just a celebration of beer.  This weekend is the kick-off of Oktoberfest near me.  The fest here is celebrating its 52nd year and is one of the largest celebrations in America.  I went to high school in that town and my German class was invited for the tapping of the golden keg and we sang "Ein Prosit Ein Prosit Der Gemütlichkeit (hey I remembered the umlaut).  Later that day a couple classmates and I snuck into the beer gardens and we got plastered.  We were warned by people to be careful and avoid strange men giving us beer because that was when the Mississippi Madman or Smiley Face Killer theory was starting to gain popularity for all the deaths in La Crosse.  This celebration is a huge deal.  The local news station interrupts broadcast to air the transport of the tap to the beer gardens for the tapping of the golden keg.  The procession is much like how they do the Olympic torch except they have people running through the streets carrying a beer tap.  Open intoxicant laws are thrown out the window and the police get drunk right along with the festgoers.  The last time I was in that town during Oktoberfest I was at a redlight and I was offered a beerbong.  Oh and this year they had to hire police officers from London because they are expecting record numbers of people.  Nothing like a recession to bring record numbers of people wanting to get drunk.  No wonder it's often referred to as Notsoberfest.

Also you get to see sights like this:

Ok so the last two weren't from Oktoberfest but they were from a pretty kick-ass wedding reception that I couldn't partake of because I was bit by a spider and couldn't mix alcohol with my medicines because I wanted to keep my leg from being amputated.

More than likely, I'll go to the grocery store and grab a case of beer, some bratwurst, and sauerkraut.  Then I'll have my own Oktoberfest in my backyard and by Saturday afternoon I'll be passed out underneath my apple tree and neighborhood children will throw apples at my lifeless body.  Also I am alone so I don't have a designated driver.

Ich würde nie Alkohol im Strassenverkehr verzeihen. Ich unterstreiche gerade, dass ich jetzt verantwortlicher als an den Tagen meiner Jugend bin.