ArchivesSeptember2006

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Wednesday, 20 September 2006

 ... 11:45am - only 7 workdays to **VACATION** !! ...

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Listening to:

• Since You're Gone - The Cars
  

Random Bit: 

• On August 15th, 1962 (*7* years to the day before 'Becca was born), Ringo Starr joined the Beatles for the first concert.  Pete Best was the drummer prior to Ringo, whose real first name is "Richard Starkey.

Dream Dinners.... 

(11:45am) - After a hellish day at work yesterday, today is remarkably calm.  I like that.  I'm at lunch right now, eating some Shrimp Puttanesca.  Gawd it's good.

Thanks, Becca, for turning me on to this experience.  It's going to be great.

New iPod... 

(12:30) - So I finally broke down and bought an iPod.  30GB, black, video capable.   Got it off eBay, brand new, for $270 + $5 shipping.  Hell, the retail value of the thing is $299, so be re-assured that I got a good deal.  And I did my research!  (Hear that, Mom?  Pete?) 

So now I'm making my Top 100 a reality...  The first song I bought off iTunes was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.  The 8:56 extended version (c8 ... 

I've got 10 or 11 of my Top 100 on there, and a number of complete, unabridged audiobooks as well.  Out of the 30GB I'm only using about 2GB ... plenty of room to spare.

Tonight I'm loading more of the Top 100 from my CD collection, as well as some more audiobooks that I'll offer up to my parents when we drive up to DC.

Vacation!

Speaking of which ... it's the week of Oct 2nd, and we'll be making the museum rounds.  Betsy & Clifford in Alexandria, VA are founding members of the Museum of the Native American Indian, so we'll be doing that, as well as the FDR memorial, Korean & Vietnam memorials, Lincoln/Jefferson memorials, and whatever else strikes us.  Can't wait for that.

9/16 Saturday -

• 8:00pm - Gators game #3: at Tennessee
  Clawed and scratched to a WIN: 21-20
  

9/17 Sunday -

• 1:00pm - Dolphins game #2: home v. Buffalo
  Ugly LOSS: 16-6

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Thursday, 14 September 2006

 ... 2:00pm - To finish the Dragon*Con story ...

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Listening to:

• Our Love's In Jeopardy - Greg Kihn Band
  

Random Bit: 

• Monday night I made our team lose trivia.  I thought Lyndon Johnson's dogs were bassett hounds, but they were actually beagles.
  

The Dragon*Con Report... 
(finished Thu 9/14 2:30pm)

Thursday:

7:00am - Came to work as usual; my car is in the parking garage, with my con luggage inside it.  The plan: check in at lunch, drive the car to the long-term MARTA parking, then hop on the train back to Peachtree Center and the convention.

11:30am - During my work lunch hour, I checked into the hotel.  I walked to the parking garage, and in one trip, I brought up my luggage:

• Suitcase
• 90-can capacity ice chest on wheels with a 30-pk of Miller Lite and two 750 ml's of RUM: one Captain Morgan's 'Tattoo'... and the other Captain Morgan's 'Silver'.
• Pillows (so I like to sleep on my own :) ... sue me)

4:00pm - Left work as usual; realized I had forgotten my *blue card* at home ... needed it to get my convention badge!  Therefore, after getting out of work, I drove by home first, then to the MARTA station.

6:00pm - An hour later than planned, I was back at the convention and picked up my badge.

6:30pm until about midnight or so - *Augh.*  This is the embarassing part, and it put a damper on the whole weekend.  Sitting with my friends in the Hyatt bar at the convention, I drank the entire 750ml bottle of Cap'n Morgan's Tattoo (cringe).  I was able to do this by refilling a flask in the room occasionally.

Man that Tattoo is good stuff.  ;)

Friday:

8:15am - Overslept ... was late to work.  (No, wasn't in costume!) And yes, I was dirty and unshowered!  I did wear my Gators shirt/hat because it was College Sports Day... and oy was I hung over.  It was not pretty.

1:30pm - Took my lunch hour to sit in on Anthony Daniel's presentation.  He was really funny, and always has funny stories about playing C3PO: both lack of comfort in the costume, and hijinks among the cast and crew.

5:15pm - Finished work and bolted immediately to the hotel.  SHOWERED!  Beered up some (downed two) in order to dispel the last lingering effects of the hangover ... heh!

8:00pm - watched the Jim Henson Productions movie, Mirrormask.  It's a very, very good fable about keeping the faith and overcoming all odds to help out someone close to you in great pain...

11:30pm - back to the room to SLEEEEEEP ... :)

Saturday:

9:00am - Woke up and showered.  Feeling much better!

10:00am - Went to the D*C parade on Peachtree Street.  Watched it with Kyle, Judy, Tracey, and Layne.  (Tracey and Layne did two VERY cool costumes: Aunt Beru and Owen Lars ... and they had baby Luke with a toy stuffed wampa ... awwww!)

10:45am - Parade over, ate breakfast at the Hyatt buffet.

11:30am - PANEL ... the Expanded Universe.  Mike Stackpole, Aaron Allston, and Helen (?) and myself.  I was the only fan - all three of them are published authors.  Joked around a little (pretended they were all there for *me*), showed my knowledge of the EU, and generally had the best time that hour of the entire weekend!

1:00pm - Attended Ray Park lightsaber dueling panel.  He was Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.  He's a martial artist, and very cool, like Anthony Daniels.  His moves were phenomenal.  The highlight of his show was a Darth Maul look-alike performing complicated moves to resounding cheers and applause.

2:30pm - Browsed the Dealer's Room.  This is always my favorite part of any convention: the wild *stuff,* sheer volume, and amazing variety of fan-related gear for sale.  I was looking in particular for a copy of Dark Horse Comics' Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising #1.  I've had #2 for years (published 1993) but never had #1.  As luck would have it: I found it !!!  I am a happy camper. 

4:00pm - Attended LOST panel with Seasons 1 & 2 writer Javier Grillo-Marxmuach.  He didn't tell us anything about season 3 (non-disclosure agreements are such a drag!) but he did confirm that nothing will ever happen to Hurley: he's such a popular character because so many viewers can identify with him.  Greatest tidbit: a discarded idea that somewhere on the island was an isolated valley populated by hundreds of Easter-Island-type statues of Hurly (LOL!) ... Javier said this was actually considered seriously for a time before being discarded.

5:30pm - Another LOST panel: I just stayed after the 4pm panel for this one cuz it was in the same room.  The "guest" was named Rob Noxious (seriously).  He led the discussion and we learned a lot about the summer alternate reality game, The Lost Experience, going on on-line.  

7:00pm - Hyatt bar!  More drinking.  More ogling and admiring costumes as they wandered continuously past our table.  This time I had beer more than the rum, the rest of which I gave to Mearl.  After the Thursday night debacle, I didn't want anymore rum :)

11:00pm - Tried to pull another all-nighter in the British Track room, but after one episode of Dr. Who, I was too wiped out.  Cruised back to the room and fell asleep about 12:30am.

MISSED:  A nearly all-night party in my friend Judy's room.  Everybody else went, and I heard it was a blast... 

Sunday:

SLEPT all day ... did NOTHING - until 5pm!  I woke up for the 2nd and final panel which I was participating in.  Jumped out of bed, showered, and ran to the Star Wars Track room for ...

5:30pm - Helped moderate the Star Wars Collectors panel.  Not as much fun as the Expanded Universe Panel Saturday.  Still, it was fun being on a panel and part of the leadership.

7:00pm - Star Wars trivia.  Bunch of silly, dumb questions, some excruciatingly difficult.  Was kinda boring actually, but I stayed through the whole thing, and didn't participate.  I will next year, though.

8:30pm - Highlight of the weekend: the annual "Mr. Star Wars" contest.  Yes, a "Miss America" meets "Whose Line is it Anyway?" pageant for the geeky, nerdy, scary male set :)  Description cannot do it justice; really ... you absolutely had to be there.  

10:00pm - Hyatt.  Drinking.  Ogling scantily clad females.  Again.  At the table in the bar, I met a swinging couple, and made out with the divorced female half of the pair :) ... her name was Margo, and she was from Chicago.  Great kisser !!!  They closed the bar at midnight.  Went to bed about 12:30am.

Monday:

MORNING and early afternoon: check out and pack-up.  When I was done, I was checked out of the room and all my stuff was in my car, in the parking garage next to the Marriott.

4:00pm - I closed out the convention with a final panel called (I'm not kidding) "Dean Haglund: How crazy did it get?"  I was drawn into a long conversation with our esteemed guest, and ended up telling him and the whole crowd about my sordid tale regarding the Thursday night 750ml of rum.  I ended up winning the contest for most insane drinking moment.

No, I am 100% *NOT* proud of this fact.

MISSED - two really good panels with Paul Dini, the head of the creative team of writers for LOST.  I really wanted to see those !!

Oh, well.... there's always next year's Dragon*CON !!!!

Rock it, my brothers and sisters!  Thus endeth the D*C Report.

9/12 Tuesday -

• 7:30pm - CHURCH: Scripture Study; is it the "Why Catholic?" Study Group?  

Dream Dinners

(9:45am) - I checked into both Dream Dinners and Supper Sensations.  Only DD has an Atlanta location.  As a matter of fact, SS only has the one location, in Fort Mill, SC ... so my sister and mother lucked out there.

So it looks like Dream Dinners for me!

(After signing up) ...

So here's my first menu - to be made Thursday 9/14/06 at 7pm.  With the "Introductory Offer" on the website, the total came to $50.99 with tax:

9/7 Thursday -

• 8:30pm - Dolphins game #1: at Pittsburgh
  LOSS (28 - 17) ... offense/defense both broke at the end
  

• 7:00pm - CHURCH: TGIF Kickoff (dinner!) at the Rectory
  SKIPPED ... went to my folks in Charlotte again!
  

• 6:00pm - Gators game #2: home v. UCF
  WIN (42 - 0) Poor UCF ... another patsy-pummelling.

9/11 Monday -

• 6:30pm - CHURCH: Men's Club Meeting (Middle East talk)
  Fascinating ... had to leave for trivia before speaker finished.
• 8:30pm - CHURCH: Team Trivia at Crown & Anchor Pub
  We lost ... didn't even place!

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Wednesday, 6 September 2006

 ... 7:35am - Dragon*Con report & more ...

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Listening to:

• I Got You Babe - UB40
  

Random Bit: 

• On Monday 9/11, I'll be attending a talk at church by an insider  & expert on Middle East relations.  The topic is the Israel / Hezbollah / Lebanon conflict, as well as Iran, Iraq, and progress in the war on terror.  I'm told, "His insider’s viewpoint isn’t one you can get from the news outlets."
  

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(7:35am) - There's so much to talk about regarding Dragon*Con.  I'd like to write it all down from beginning to end so I don't forget it all :)

Look for more on that tonight - I've got to get my new PC arranged on my desk, and I'll make my Con report the 1st thing I write on it.

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(11:01pm) - Got the new iPod configured.  Didn't have time to post my D*C report.  Will do so either tomorrow or Friday.  Guaranteed.