Clinter Carnival No. 9 has wrapped: With more than 350 party-goers, this year was the biggest. And, we collected a substantial amount of cash and food for our various charities. Cheers to you.

Details on Rocket Club and our photog’s pictures, which are now posted online, are below.

A very special thank you to my passionate partners who helped make it such a success.

John “Coach” Feld and Mike Durand: For years of Carnival support and creativity.

Tony Bauch: For poster design and logo updates.

Rocket Club: For a special musical performance, and putting a three-part harmony’s touch on the coronation.  www.rocketclub.info

Michael J. Hotz and the Heartmelters: Karaoke Cove was a sweaty success. 

Nicki Gordon: For running the photo booth and being picture queen for the event. Check out the pics at www.nickigordonphotography.com and go to the gallery section. Passcode: clintercarnival

Dane and Casey Roberts; Lisa Roberts: For help with planning, set up, music, and chaperoning. 

If you attended The Carnival, thank you for making it the best year yet. And, feel good that you made a difference too. We raised more than $700 for our two charities (Faith’s Lodge and Lymphoma Research Foundation). We also gathered 300 pounds of food for Second Harvest.

Thank again for bringing some hot warmth to a miserably cold winter.

See you at Clinto De Mayo, and in the meantime on Facebook (what? oh dear…)

Life Is A Carnival.

PS: My ankle is merely sprained. Looks like a club foot, very black and blue and swollen, but just a sprain. No matter, see you on the dance floor soon.

As one of only a handful of people who has been at every Clinter Carnival, I feel qualified to classify some of the various personalities that have graced us with their presence.

A sampling of some of the more colorful groups:

The After-Dinner Crowd

They tend to arrive around 10:30, half-sloshed from red wine and smelling of garlic from whichever Italian restaurant they patronized that evening. After coming on strong, they quickly fade when their blood sugar falls. If you don’t connect before midnight, just let them blend into the night.

The “Fame” Cast Reunion

Always a highlight, this is the group of dancers who overwhelm the dance floor from 11:15 to close. Their ranks usually swell as the fourth bottle of Bacardi is finished. They are the late night energy of the Carnival, often led by a tall “angry” boy with a German forename.

The Old Guard

As someone that has been at five or more Carnivals, you will usually find them taking it all in at one end of the bar with fellow veterans. They won’t get crazy drunk but are typically in for the long haul. They are, in a word, consistent. Don’t worry if you can’t talk to them until later in the night.

The Pick-Up Artist

This is typically a group of 2-4 guys that know someone who knows someone. Playing the odds, they think there will be a handful of available women in the room. As the shots go down, the testosterone goes up. By 11:30, it is open season, and probably two of them score every year (including one repeat performer who will remain nameless). 

Pink Sweater Girl Club

This has nothing to do with apparel or gender – it has everything with being intoxicated and loose. You know who they are, what they look like, how they dance and what they do.

***

To be sure, not every Carnival guest can be shoehorned into a classification. It is safe that the tie that binds us is a proclivity to have a good time. This is what makes the Clinter Carnival diverse guest list so great. 

So my suggestion is to, at some point on Saturday night, take the advice of the great philosopher Ferris Bueller. Look around and enjoy what you see – life is too short not to.

Over time, the Clinter Carnival has been attended by individuals who many would consider part of the Twin Cities’ cultural elite – TV and radio personalities, Star Tribune reporters, national recording artists and, of course, the Pink Sweater Girl.

I suspect that if some of the area’s stuffier cultural elites and/or senior citizens knew about the Carnival, they may bristle at the subtle jabs we throw at the St. Paul Winter Carnival. Beyond some choice phrases Clint won’t let me post on this Web site, I would tell them that the Clinter Carnival brings a blizzard of artistic excellence to the area every year.

Consider:

·         Snow Sculptures – Under the artistic direction of Mike Durand, these anatomically-correct sculptures have been making fun of Clint and offending neighborhood children for six years now.

·         Carnival Posters – Whether they featured Clint taking a shower or sharing the phone number for cab service, these works annually reflect the deep social conscience of designer Tony Bauch.

·         The Men’s Room – Stasiu’s main floor urinals take their gentlemen callers back in time as if they were taking a leak in 17^th Century Russia. With the Carnival expanding downstairs in 2009, more folks of both genders are bound to experience these opulent receptacles.

Keep these facts in mind, friends, should you come across anyone speaking poorly of the Clinter Carnival. And let me know if you need some help with any choices phrases.

It was January 27, 2001. I had known Clint just a few months when I came to his Humboldt Ave. apartment for the first Carnival. But I knew him well enough to not be surprised when greeted with a gently bombastic sign on the front door.

 “Clinter Carnival – All The Way To The Top.”

 Double entendres are a PR guy’s best friend. To the uninitiated, it was a basic map to his third floor residence. To others, or at least me, it meant that we were going to have a great night.

 The premise of the first Carnival was simple enough. Mock the St. Paul Winter Carnival as part of a clever scheme to get inebriated and then go on a pub crawl to get more inebriated. That wasn’t a problem for me, as I had recently come off an unfortunate relationship where I let my tolerance dip to an unprecedented and unspeakable low.

 By the end of the night, I had vomited on Cyndi Phaneuf’s shoes outside the Green Mill (that is really funny for the few of us who remember who Cyndi is…or remember the spelling of her forename), lost to myself in a wrestling match and had a football bounced repeatedly off my head as I slept on hardwood.

If you have read this far, you may be asking yourself “why is this narcissistic “trucker” writing all about himself.” Not guilty by reasons of intoxication. I blacked out most of the evening and all I have to draw from is what people told me about me.

 But here is my point. And it is why we’re hosting the 9^th Carnival and occupying an entire tavern. The balance of Carnival veterans has their own story about a great time they had (sober or otherwise)…and it is why people come back…and why it keeps getting bigger and better…and why I think the Carnival still hasn’t reached the top that Clint presciently scribbled about eight years ago.

If you don’t know what I mean, watch the really cool film Troy did last year. Pay special attention to the part where Mr. Atkins (Mike Durand) talks about friends that went to Carnival before you were even friends with them. It says it all.

Per Clinter’s request, I will chime in with more stories in the coming weeks. Please do the same.

Prosit

Here it is Carnival-goers, friends, and associates: The 2008 Clinter Carnival documentary, an Inassociation Films production. Learn the story behind the Carnival, hear from the founders, see who was there, and for those who were there, see what you may not remember.

It’s short and sweet, well-shot, and well-edited, thanks to this year’s Carnival videographer, the very talented, Troy Zimmerman of Inassociation Films. Amazingly, Troy’s documentation of the Carnival evokes the same warm-fuzzy feelings as being at the Carnival. And it does so without alcohol.

Enjoy the video, tell your friends, and leave your thoughts.