Art Shanty Project 2010

We are excited to return to our second year of the Art Shanty Projects 2010! See you on the ice!

Our funding is way down this year, so if you can help out by donating or buying some merchandise, the artists would really appreciate it! donate/buy here: http://www.artshantyprojects.org/donate

Medicine Lake in Plymouth, MN
Saturdays & Sundays
from January 16 through February 7, 2010

Interactive Map of World's Largest Cribbage Board

View Larger Map

As part of the 2009 Art Shanties Project. We set the world's record for the largest cribbage board. Gas powered ice augers were used to drill 242 holes in the frozen surface of Medicine Lake. In compliance with the MN DNR and the lake patrol, the holes were drilled 10' apart from one another in a non-linear path that circumnavigated the small community of ice houses. Players were required to move 5' pegs around the board while pulling the playing table (equipped with clothespins to keep the cards from blowing away) and the players chairs.

The GPS map above documents the path of the players of the first official game. Total miles walked = 2.8. Total playing time = 3.75 hours.

World's largest cribbage board - Game #10

Saturday February 14th 11:00 am
Amanda Kern vs. Alex Saumer
Winner: Amanda Kern

Final Game. Thanks to all who participated!

A nice dICEHOUSE video

World's largest cribbage board - Game #9

Sunday February 8th 2:00 pm
Michael Siddal (caddy: Milo the dog) vs. Antonio Perez-Cajina (caddy: Kimmy Tanaka)
Winner: Michael Siddal

World's largest cribbage board - Game #8

Sunday February 8th 11:00 am
REMATCH! Chris Meade vs. Mercedes Lenort
Winner: Mercedes Lenort (Mercedes held her winning title!)

Mercedes and Chris had so much fun playing the previous weekend, that they signed up right away for another game. But the BEST PART is that they had custom-made playing cards printed for the game, in just one week! The cards had a picture of the two of them playing their first game. It was so awesome to have someone love playing this much! Thanks ladies!

World's largest cribbage board - Game #7

Saturday February 7th 11:00 am
Emily Lee, Jennifer Linnett, and Anna Berowski vs. Emily Lee, Justin Peterson and Maria Hickey
Winners: Emily Lee, Justin Peterson and Maria Hickey
yes, Emily was on both teams, so she was both a winner and a loser!

Cribbage: Sign Up Here!

Sign up below by commenting, otherwise email me at tammydahlke@gmail.com and let me know when you want to play cribbage and I'll add you the schedule below. Also, you can just show up and sign up at the dICEHOUSES if there is an open time.

It takes about 2-1/2 to 3 hours to play a game of cribbage (includes breaks). If you play with pairs, or if you find a caddy or two, less than 2. Don't have a partner? We can find you one. Please come 15 minutes before your scheduled time to check in. DRESS WARM!!

Saturday January 17th - The Big Drill. (no official games)

Sunday January 18th:
Noon - Mike Haeg vs. David Pitman (winner)


Monday January 19th:
12:00 pm - Mother vs. Son (Tammy Dahlke (winner) vs. Jackson Dahlke)


Saturday January 24th
11:00 am -Meghan Bellavance vs. Jason Haack (winner)


Sunday January 25th
2:30 pm - Anthony Kuntz and Kyle Pendergast (winners) vs. Dale Pendergast and Allen Johnson


Saturday January 31st
11:00 am -Chris Meade vs. Mercedes Lenort (winner)
2:00 pm -Jennifer Leidahl and Lynn Anderson (winners...skunked the opposition!) vs. John Nussbaum and Mike Anderson


Sunday February 1st
1 game was started but not finished

Saturday February 7th
11:00 am -Emily Lee, Jennifer Linnett, and Anna Berowski vs. Emily Lee, Justin Peterson and Maria Hickey (winners)
yes, Emily was on both teams, so she was both a winner and a loser!


Sunday February 8th
11:00 am - REMATCH! Chris Meade vs. Mercedes Lenort (Mercedes held her winning title!)
2:00 pm - Michael Siddal (caddy: Milo the dog) (Winner) vs. Antonio Perez-Cajina (caddy: Kimmy Tanaka)



Saturday February 14th (Last Day!)
11:00 pm - Amanda Kern vs. Alex Saumer
2:00 pm -

Ghosts!

Last night, we huddled the dICEHOUSES together to listen to the only known recordings of Shackleton's danger-riddled 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. A chill crawled up my spine listening to the brave men lose all composure as they slipped into bouts of madness, song and (ghast) poetry. Imagine my surprise to capture, in these images taken in the midst of The Great Listening, these eerie images containing what look to me to be the lost souls of those valiant sailors who never returned from that most frigid of continents!

Our Shanty Friends: Terry McDaniel

Terry is connected with her friends at the Word Shanty. She's been documenting her experiences on the ice since the beginning of ASP '09. This little video is about Mike's "Ice-O-Phone," which you can use to hear the ice crack and shift. You can see more of her films here.

World's largest cribbage board - Game #6

Saturday January 31st 2:00 pm
Jennifer Leidahl and Lynn Anderson vs. John Nussbaum and Mike Anderson
Winners: Jennifer Leidahl and Lynn Anderson (skunked the opposition!)
Estimated Gametime: 1 hour

1st "skunk"
shortest game time

World's largest cribbage board - Game #5

Saturday January 31st - 11:00 am
Chris Meade vs. Mercedes Lenort
Winners: Mercedes Lenort
Estimated Gametime: under 2 hours

Thanks for the Mail!

Special thanks to all the friends, ice shanty artists, relatives, and complete strangers that have been sending us mail at the dICEHOUSES! It's amazing all the cool art, gifts and letters we have received! Thanks!!


You can write us at:

dICEHOUSES Shanty
c/o ARTPOST SHANTY
PO BOX 7345
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Our Shanty Neighbors: Ped Pex Power Pod

One of our closest neighbor is a bike-on-generator-powered coffee shop. These are the people I'm going to want to know when things go thunderdome. They seem like the types of people who can piece together anything. This last weekend, things were really rocking over there with some great music. You can read more about The Ped Pex Power Pod in a recent article from Seed Magazine highlighting the more scientific of the 2009 Art Shanties or directly at the Ped Pex Power Pod Blog (try saying that 10 times fast while pedaling a bike while you are jacked up on caffeine!)

Our Shanty Neighbors: Depanneur FLQ

Le Manifesto de FLQ

Please post your translations in the comment section.

Only 2 1/2 weekends left to visit the dICEHOUSES

We all had a great second weekend on the ice. This past Saturday and Sunday had it all: brass bands, art croquet, corn chowder, surprise visits from old friends, shadow puppets, secret poutine, an octopus, playing cribbage on a hundred year old handmade board, remote control camera, penguin wars, venison sausage, dog butchery, elephant bikes and some really nice weather. Sounds like you may be missing out on something if you don't make it out. Just a friendly reminder that the Art Shanty Projects is only open for the next couple of weekends (last day is February 14th). Dress Warm.

World's largest cribbage board - Game #4

Sunday January 25th 2:30pm
Anthony Kuntz and Kyle Pendergast vs. Dale Pendergast and Allen Johnson
Winners: Anthony Kuntz and Kyle Pendergast
Estimated Gametime: 2 hours

Weather Game Start: 1°F, winds 11.5 mph, Scattered Clouds
Weather Game End: 1°F, winds 10.4 mph, Mostly Cloudy

World's largest cribbage board - Game #3

Saturday January 24th
Meghan Bellavance vs. Jason Haack
Winner: Jason Haack
Estimated Gametime : 2-1/2 hours

Weather Game Start: -6°F, winds 12.7 mph, partly cloudy
Weather Game End: -0°F, winds 9.2 mph, partly cloudy

Send us some mail!

We have our own post office on the lake. Send us a letter or some art. We will respond in kind. It's too bad we only do this for a few weeks or we could have had a postal chess tournament going.

You can write us at:

dICEHOUSES Shanty
care of ARTPOST SHANTY
PO BOX 7345
minneapolis, minnesota 55407

Our Shanty Neighbors: The Paper Shanty

Kite Photography of the dICEHOUSES

We all had a wonderful first weekend at the art shanty projects. Three beautiful days with three very different weather patterns. Saturday was windy as heck blowing near whiteout conditions at times. Sunday was the best kind of snowy with little or no wind and big flakes. Monday was still and sunny.

One of our visitors was MNkitemnan. His mastery of kite and camera was amazing. See that little black speck in the picture? That's his camera. His kite was up a good 60 - 75 feet. I watched him effortlessly position the camera over different sections of the Art Shanty Projects. Today, I was able to see the results on flickr. Incredible. Here are some of his shots of the dICEHOUSES Shanty. Click here to check out all of his photos from the event: MNkiteman's coverage of the 2009 Art Shanty Projects
.

World's largest cribbage board - Game #2

Monday January 19th
Tammy Dahlke vs. Jackson Dahlke
Winner: Tammy Dahlke
Estimated Gametime : Just under 3 hours

First official game on the world's largest cribbage board

Game time 1:30pm - 5:17pm
Players: David Pitman & Mike Haeg
Winner: David Pitman


David, thanks for the best game of cribbage I've ever played.

Closing out opening day.

As John and I were pulling the propane tank and the heater back to the car, we decided to stop and take some low light photos. So peaceful. Even more so considering the 40 mile an hour winds that blew across the lake today until the sun went down. Click the images for hella-large versions.

World's largest cribbage pegs

See you all tomorrow on opening day! Bring an auger and a hat.

Our Favorite Games: Checkpoint Danger!

The Mayor and I played this after finishing one of the dICEHOUSES. We were both surprised at how fun this descendant of Battleship was. In a series of specific location probes you are able to triangulate the location of your opponent's spies. The name of the game comes from the rare occurrence when your opponent's spy is on the same location as your spy. By announcing "Checkpoint Danger!" you are revealing your spy's location in an effort to capture their spy first.

If it sounds complicated, try playing it after a few (d)Icehouse Ales.

Autumn's poster

Calling All Augers! We need your help!

This year we are attempting to set the world's record for the largest cribbage board by drilling the board into the ice of Medicine Lake.

This Saturday is the big drill. While I was totally prepared to drill all of the holes myself by hand (for a double back board this would be 124 8-10"deep holes), Mr. Pitman inspired me this weekend as he waxed poetic about the song of the gas-powered augers he hears ringing (or roaring) across the lake. I'd like to hear a full symphony of gas, electric and manual ice augers singing their sweet music simultaneously this Saturday as they help me drill a full 244 hole board into the ice..

If you or anyone you know owns an auger and would like to be a part of this world record attempt, (Every driller's name will be recorded and included in the official record paperwork) please invite them to contact me at mikehaeg@gmail.com or just check in at the dICEHOUSES Shanty early on Saturday afternoon.

First official game will be played on Sunday at noon. After that the board is open for all to play. Need to learn cribbage? We'd love to teach you.

Specifics:
244 holes (if we get a couple of dozen augers, that means only 10 holes each)
Dirlled only half way through the ice (so they will stay open and as to retain integrity of the ice)
Saturday noon - ????

Thanks all for your help, hooray for Saturday!

A fishouse with legs?

Kenny Friedman shot me this story he found in the Star Tribune about a guy up in Foley who builds ultra-lightweight fishouses. I love this picture. Makes me wish I could see some sort of modern dance performed by dancers dressed in these. Read the full article here.

See you on the 17th for the official opening!

The dICEHOUSES Shanty is ready to go. All 5 dice are stocked and ready for game play. I can't wait for next weekend for all of the shanties to be open for art. We met some of the folks from the Trans-Arctic Expedition Shanty (will be staying on the ice for the entire Art Shanty Project in their upside-down ship, Oh, Hell is a favorite game over there and a new one to us, we can't wait to learn it.) and heard tell of some amazing projects that will be happening over at The Word Shanty (including loads of anagrams). More on both of those later as I will be doing my best to find out the favorite games of all of the shanty-dwellers this year.

In other news, we had an initial kickoff / birthday party for John last night. It was cold, but the company was warm.

Ship 'em out

Thanks to the whole team for helping move the shanty to the lake, especially my dad for his truck and trailer manipulation skills and Uncle Jerry for the trailer. We can't jump up and down about being done until we finish a couple of tweaks to the doors and install the solar lighting in the final two. Good thing it is supposed to be a balmy 20 degrees today. The rest of the week will be a little less tropical.

Hey! We're on Wired!

Our Favorite Games: Euchre

Euchre is a real quick trick-based trump card game that I learned from the Dahlke clan, and it rules. First, I'll blow your mind with the games eccentricies:

1. Only cards 9 through ace are used
2. Score is tallied on black-suited 4 and 6 and red-suited 4 and 6
3. Cards are dealt in sets of 2 and sets of 3
4. The hierarchy of cards in the trump suit are as follows (best to crappiest)

• Right Bauer (Jack of trump suit)
• Left Bauer (Jack of same color)
• Ace
• King
• Queen
• 10
• 9

So, I'm not going to go into the complete gameplay for euchre, there are plenty of places on the web for you to go learn and play. But, I will tell you that this game is best played in person as it is a partner game. It is also a lot easier to learn than one would guess by looking at the craziness listed above. The First Lady and I will teach anyone who comes to the ASP this year, just ask.

Until then, you can study Harvey Lapp's 10 commandments of euchre over at euchrelinks.

1. Thou shalt not pass a biddable hand.
2. Thou shalt counteth upon thy partner for one trick.
3. Thou shalt not trumpeth thy partner's ace.
4. Thou shalt trumpeth thy partner's king.
5. Thou shalt leadeth trump to thy partner's order.
6. Thou shalt not leadeth trump to thine opponent's order.
7. When thou hath ordered trump, leadeth thy right bower to smite thy foes.
8. Ordereth not the right bower unto thy partner's hand unless thou canst go alone.
9. Goeth alone whenever thou canst, unless thy team hath eight or nine points.
10. Thou shalt not complaineth about the cards that the Lord thy euchre God hath bestowed upon you.