Mudbugs

Today was the San Diego LSU Alumni Chapter's 20th Annual Crawfish Boil, a yearly ritual for us because the Cajun graduated from there and remains fanatically devoted to their football team.

The mudbugs are trucked in live from Louisiana. Above, from left: Rick, Moya, Jess, Robbie, unknown female, Fergal, David, Hieu and Cheryl. Clicking inside a photo will make it bigger.

About 3,000 people chowed down on 50 pounds of crawfish per table. Above, from left: Jess, Fergal, David.

If you really like crawfish, you wanna sit at a table with a lot of girls, who eat the bugs more daintily (i.e., slowly), which allows you to grab more than your fair share from the communal pile! Not that anybody walks away hungry -- there are 5 pounds allocated per person. Of course, at least 4.5 pounds of it you don't eat. You just extract the tail meat, as with a lobster. There are those who think it's more work than it's worth. I see their point but I've done been Cajunated, so it's worth it to me. Above, from left: Penni, Shaun.

Penni and Moya take a break. More bugs for us!

Fergal, a Northern Irelander, and Rick, a Utahn, took to the bugs like a crawfish to mud.

Cheryl, David and Hieu were all smiles. David, making his first appearance at the festival, seemed particularly delighted with the culinary pleasures.

The Cajun, who is involved in the alumni association, got up at 5 a.m. to help set up the extravaganza. By mid-afternoon, above, he was either fried or beerified.

Moya was having a particularly photogenic day. She was my boss way-back-when at the San Diego edition of Microsoft's wonderful Sidewalk.com, which Microsoft stupidly abandoned in late 1999. Had they stuck with it, it would be huge today.

Richard, a Brit and Penni's hubby, looks quite pleased with his Mardi Gras beads. I won't tell you what he had to do to be rewarded with them...