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In any event ,for flippy and whomever else might be interested:
A Brief History of Ju Koon
The first Ju Koon was four years ago, not even known as Ju Koon. It was Yom Kippur as a beach party, so we could be near the shore to partake in the ritual I mistakenly purloined from the Jewish New Year, typically celebrated about a week earlier.
You take bits of bread products (or, in some enterprising cases, voodoo dolls make of bread) and cast them into the ocean, symbolically casting away anything from your life that you don't want in your life anymore. Some people do that from the safety of shore. In this instance, most of us wandered into the ocean (see photos above).
In this case ... it worked. As soon as we set foot in the placcid sea, the waves rose up in roaring torrent and crashed down upon us, ravenously swallowing our symbolic offerings. It was absolutely Biblical.
Much drinking, de-pantsing, and other (unfortunately) memorable shenanigans followed.
The next year, Ju Koon was christened as such. It was a weeknight, with a much smaller entourage. It also involved going down to the ocean (in this case, a small bay at the bottom of the Portugese Bend cliffs) and throwing bread and/or underwear into the sea.
It also involved a madcap road tour of Palos Verdes (North, East, South and elusively West), a night cap of vodka and deserts at Hof's Hut, and most importantly - a visit to Point Fermin Lighthouse Park where we were stalked and hunted by roving bands of wild raccoons.
The following year - last year - saw a return to Point Fermin Park where we took the shortcut of throwing bread into the sea from there. I'm not sure the Gods smiled on our laziness - - no bands of raccoons were spotted .... BUT, from that night on, raccoons have haunted and sometimes occupied the Long Beach abode of Not Afraid and €uro Meinke.
I don't recall the exact etymology of the new name for our ten-thousand-year-old holiday - but obviously it was a cross between Jewish and Raccoon, spelled to humorously riff on (and perhaps offend) Koreans and pronounced to riff on and more likely offend Hebes and Coons.
So ... anyone want to play Ju Koon this year? Friday night or Saturday? I've recently discovered a fantastic spot down the cliffside of Portugese Bend - which would require some decent and ascent ... but which would be convenient to the de riguer Point Fermin Pilgrimage afterwards.
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