Yes, I ate the okra. I ate several ockras. Or is it okrie? Anyway, I ate them.

Last week, I explained that I was headed for Atlantic Beach, North Carolina for the for festival sponsored by Kites Unlimited.

When the local WACKOS (Wings Across Carolina Kiting and Okra Society) got word of my visit, they offered to recruit new AKA members if I would try their favorite vegetable and look like I was enjoying it.

As I have said before, for those of you not familiar with okra -- it is a slimy sour vegetable that looks like a banana slug and tastes like a combination of wallpaper paste and snot. In this case, I had my choice of mushy mild okra stems, or chili-hot, Texas style pickles. I went for the hot stuff hoping the chili pepper would cut the taste.

At the appointed hour, I was out there on the field, having built a suitable gastronomic base with several McD's cold cheesburgers. Never eat pickled okra on an empty stomach...

Other than the okra, the festival was pretty good. I mean, how can you complain about warm sunny weather on late October with breezes blowing straight out to the water off the dunes. The Bay Area Sundowners flew their big train routines, Randy Tom and Ray Wong decorated the sky with appliquéd art, and Brits Mark and Janette Lumas, formerly of the word champion Sky Dance but now living in California, flew masterful pairs performances.

A Saturday highlight was the launching of a 40 foot wide Tony Cyphert Delta. The kite was well anchored, but it took a full team to slowly let the line out so that the kite would not launch into the surf.

In Atlantic Beach, we unveiled the newest version of our Giant Spikey Bouncer. Yes -- we know it looks like an art-deco Fugu. But since we are the North American distributor of Peter Lynn kites, we're just copying ourselves. And besides, a big Fugu is $3500 and these are just $1200.

Back in August, we tested the original Spikey Bouncer. As you can see, we have added more spikes and made the mouth larger for better inflation. And of course, if you want one in special colors...