José the Bronx Rican

Guess you called it, Bah; oh well. I got your backs. Anyway, I'm likely to Amtrak it.

Yes and no. I don't know if it made a difference that I didn't mention here that I bought my ticket last night, when it still said 23 of 25.

Well, I already put in my floating holiday allotment for this thing, so I'm comin'. I dunno enough Baltimore, so keep working out the lodging, folks: I'm willing to cover a good percentage for one group if we come up with the best balance between cost and convenience.

I've finally come into some extra rupees, so I'm in. I'll send a payment very soon.

As I PM'ed bgc just now, my status is "very possible." It's really up to the train ticket situations, for this and at least for Otakon as well, because the cost is settin' me back ju-u-u-ust a bit....

* sa-a-a-aLUTE *

I didn't start either round of Scrabb, but I don't remember who it was. I do remember constantly getting stuck with X's, W's and Q's, which don't get you great wordage, unless you 3-letter 1337 the entire game with QFT, QFE, WTF, etc. I did have a couple of the longer words. I would say that's my iPod on the statue, but like I told Larry, I don't care how much of a household word it is, it's NOT an iPod!

That's party games: the more people the better. WarioWare and Apples to Apples are something else. Been back a while, relaxing... now for spring cleaning. Great seeing everyone, some again. I wish I didn't forget the batteries on my camera. That's a pisser, 'cause I'm starting to think I'll be old, crippled and deaf in the left ear before VGL comes to NYC. Hope to get time off for Otakon!

I'm down for Scrabble. Questions: it may be a small chore for me to make it at noontime, but it does look on the maps I'm lookin' at to be a relatively short walk from Baltimore Penn Station to the monument... am I correct? And are any overnights definite?

I expressed interest before... now I'm in. I finally sat down and listened to Follin's offerings, and I have a couple of ideas already sequenced. More later. UPDATE: Here's the deal... I got two tracks started, and the concepts sound like keepers. One of Larry's pets, Track 5 from L.E.D. Storm, worked in a smooth jazz setting, specifically the style of Paul "Synclavier" Hardcastle, something I've been looking for an excuse to try for a long time. And then I have the Prime theme, and it actually doesn't have to be cheesy. One thing popped in my head as I listened: ambient trip-hop. Well, maybe not so ambient, but I think some laid-back electronica should work. I probably should get a female vocalist to really make it work.

Since I'll soon offer the clips from my site up on youtube (yes, I finally updated!), I may as well think of something new to offer that's oc-related. Stay tuned....

That's seriously brilliant. Worthy of a finished work. It also reminded me of an idea I had running around in my head years ago, after the "Sonic Boom" CD was released: a rather dramatic short with Spencer Nilsen's rendition of Sonic Spinball's so-called "Flight To Volcanic Fortress," based on the game's opening. Man, just wait 'till I get around to using Toon Boom or something...

Saturday? A month's notice? Now we're talkin'!

Haps, pix. Pix, plz. Plz njoy.

I can't figure out why after only about three hours of sleep, I've been up since 5 in the morning (about 90 mins. now), but as long as I'm on the 'nets figuring out what to do next, *salute* and congrats to the Prophet.

Winter picked the worst time to suck. We're slushed here, and I've run out of tolerance for below-freezing temps. I finally leaned too far into the decision not to come, and I just hope to catch the next time Jilly performs.

Check her site, which I did because my co-worker asked me the same question: soprano, with a thin slice of mezzo. My only option for a short-notice Thursday is to call into work sick, so if I don't turn up to greet you folks on the 15th, you'll know then whether I can make this one.

Don might have some video stuff on Shael and the other concerts, and I believe pixie intends to present it somehow.

I know it's not nearly as cool to you guys, but I'm posting four pics, and linking the rest. Y'all display 'em if you like. Jeremy, SammyG, Jill, Wes and the Prophet, outside the concert area. Don's laser. Best results through a cup of ice, a wall of glass bricks and my watch. Sgt. Rama demos tha new Tha Sauce. We found this funny. Just FYI, pretzel always keeps at it: he drove back home during Sunday's events in order to post a new 'Mix. CLICK BELOW FOR THE REST The Shael Riley Band, in its element: acoustic (D-Lux looks on). Mustin "Mustin" Mustin accompanies on beatbox. A little Beastie Boogie from Fukkaslut. Shael, the Sick-nasty (left), and some ad-hoc engineering. The OCR Panel (!!) does its thing. The panel PowerPoints; this is always a crowd favorite. Lovable bums played one of mine too. Wes (Bahamut) mans the presentation. Zircon engineers the panel's "Name That Tune" comp. pretzel and the "Tune" comp contestants: Rama, ? (I forgot... someone tell me his name!), Jake, and Joe Cam. At the game room. How do these folks DDR so fast? Wide shot of the game room; Don in front. In the pool! Prophet, SammyG, Taucer, zircon, pixietricks. Everyone then started working on a human pyramid. I wish I managed more concert pics. This was Arm Cannon. Powerglove tore the place apart. The audience proceeded to do the same. djpretzel tells us the story of UnMod's creation... ...then we all say goodbye to it. Jill surveys the amount of inevitable outrage... ...and so does Larry and Derangen. zircon demonstrates his deadly lobster technique. (Bring the Caption thread to Off-Topic, folks) Back at Dave's place, Don Jiggles narrowly misses victory playing F-Zero on Gamecube. Don succeeds eventually. Dave's DLP set is something else.

Big, fat, loud, exhausting, cool, busy, relaxing, painful, fun, amazing. Dave (pretz), Larry (Lion), Don (Jiggles) and myself made a hell of a team throughout the event. I absolutely appreciate hanging out with them, and with everyone else. I told Don that laser was bringing in the chicks! Props also to the Prophet, Rama, Shael and Devon, virt, pixie, zirc, q-pa, Snapple, Joe Cam, Derangen, Mogrothir and his babe Melanie, Tauce, Must, Richter, Bah, fivre, and everyone else I forgot. Photos will come later, in DJSammy's thread in GenDisc.

While pix set up her cam, the rest of us chilled... ...not expecting that doing what everyone else do here would get us asked to vacate. Back at Grand Central, and seeyas to folks not coming to Pleasantville, including Bren. Finally, waiting for the Metro-North. My cam's right at the floor with a timer on, hoping other travelers don't walk in front of it or kick it. That's all. MAGFest, y'a-a-a-a-alll!! EDIT: Just one note: this new forum allows changing the number of posts on each page, and I always prefer the absolute maximum (in here, 40 posts per page). So, at my end, all the other pics are on page 8, and the ones I just gave are page 9.

Remember that R.O.B. crap? Rockerfeller, THE tree (in the middle). We should've found time to get closer and take more pics. Still at *voice of Sean Connery* the Rock. Here, we have Santa Claus and what looks like his younger, more rebellious brother Chip. Barnes and Noble. It's zircon from Mount Sinai again, but this time Jake started puckering.

Nin World, looking through the displays. Never heard of this prototype. DSes. Messes of DSes. One of the world's greatest. Tauce checks out the round table of kids brandishing their styluses. That middle-aged kid on the right was at it like a commuter working a crossword.

I had to wait for the transition, but it's my turn now... I was sore all over Saturday morning. Things went reasonably well, except at the restaurant; our misfortune. Hung out at zircon's, I enjoyed all the keyboarding and guitaring, we had plenty of laughs at the expense of Twilight Princess. Good breakfast, I took a train too late and had to head right to work. "Exhausted" is an understatement. Through laziness and HP's horrible battery issues, my collection of pics is limited. 4 at a time huh? This'll be an adventure: By the way, the 99 cent slice booth was excellent. This place, though, made a good hangout. Kats and Pi. Virgin Megastore. I picked up a new Incognito CD and The Simpsons Season 9. At Manny's. Someone took a Jill pill; innat adorable?

Any more and we'll need a program to follow the players. I'll have a checklist. It also gets more difficult to figure out an efficient Metrocard plan. Anyone who will have or will get their own $7 FunPasses let me know when we all meet up.