Taken all in all, it was a pretty nice weekend.

My major problem was with an earworm. I got intrigued by Coldplay’s song, “Viva La Vida,” as heard on the iPOD commercials. So I checked it out on YouTube, and found the lyrics. Religious references. Interesting.

So I dug deeper, and discovered (as I should have guessed from the beginning) that it’s an anti-Christian song (or at least anti- any form of religion that teaches damnation).

Apparently, in Chris Martin’s world, people who believe there’s a Hell think they rule the world. Believing in final Judgment is arrogant. Believing, on the other hand, that you’re your own supreme authority and will never have to answer to God, testifies to a becoming modesty.

(By the way, the line that says, “Now I sleep alone” is a lie. I know I’m unreasonably criticizing a perfectly good metaphor. I’m sure he doesn’t sweep streets either. But in my opinion any guy who’s married to Gwyneth Paltrow gets diminished tolerance for complaints about his sleeping arrangements.)

So I played the video for Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time” a couple times to wash the earworm out. The apotheosis of Doo-wop, that song.

Robbinsdale held its annual Whiz Bang Days celebration this weekend, and in connection with my usual walk to the Chinese buffet for lunch, I also browsed through the merchant tables. I came away with some cheap DVDs and a touch of dehydration which (I suspect) caused the passing hip pain I endured Saturday night.

Sunday I was all better again, and that was good, because it was another Viking day. Norway Day at Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis. And yes, we did some fighting. I started poorly, but improved as the day wore on. Which goes to show that if I ever get called on to fight with real swords in a post-EMP* world, I’ll do fine as long as I can survive being killed in the first few fights.

It was a glorious day in terms of weather. If you live in San Diego or Honolulu, you’re probably accustomed to days like that. But they’re rare in these parts, and I’ll cherish this one in my book of meteorological memories.

I’m obligated (and delighted), in the interests of justice, to take back the statements I made after Svenskarnasdag that the Swedish women were prettier than the Norwegians.

The women at Norway Day this year were gorgeous.

My particular gratitude goes out to a pair of knockout sisters who insisted on having their pictures taken with me. In my impoverished emotional world, that qualifies as a Wild and Beautiful Moment. Wish I had a print.

There was also a gorgeous blonde who talked to me and another Viking. But mostly to him. After it was over and I’d thought about it a while, I realized she’d been flirting with him. Heavily.

The fact that I had to analyze the conversation before I knew what had happened does a lot to explain my miserable record in the Romance department. When it comes to women, I have Asperger’s. I lack even the faintest adumbration of a clue.

But I can appreciate a beautiful day.

Thanks are also due to BwB reader Dan, who came by and said hello. Nice to meet you, Dan.

*An EMP is an Electromagnetic Pulse, a theoretical weapon technology in which a nuclear explosion could be detonated over a country, burning out all its electronics and throwing it back into the 19th Century.