Who else is going to the panic meeting this Saturday?

I am. There's a part of me that actually likes the fact that the meeting is in Baltimore proper. I always got a little charge out of walking down Charles Street, looking over at the BCC, and thinking "In only (X) days, that place is going to be jam packed with fans by the thousands, and it's all because of us."

I realize that some here have already made it out of the belly of the beast, and that many others are making plans for their own escape. But whatever happens to the con in the future (as a possible result of nepotism, intrigue, and outright idiocy), let's not all forget that we built something big here. We should be proud.

I mean, can you think of anything else in the world that could get someone excited about going to Baltimore? BALTIMORE? 'Cause I can't.

--Joe
Seriously, BALTIMORE?

I'm heading down to Baltimore early (well, early for me) on Saturday morning and I'm giving Alan Chaess a ride.

--Matt
This text is small and therefore humorous.

I will shoot for being at the meeting noonish, see you all there.

Blowfish:
I mean, can you think of anything else in the world that could get someone excited about going to Baltimore? BALTIMORE? 'Cause I can't.

Several varieties of drug addiction spring to mind...

Yeah, I have to say, I'm kind of psyched for Otakon when it rolls around every year. It's like Brigadoon or something: it's this huge thing for a weekend and then it's gone, vanished into rumor and memories.

Jon A.

Edited by author 06-26-2009 03:50 PM
I mean, can you think of anything else in the world that could get someone excited about going to Baltimore?

We were nineteen days out of Le Havre. We were lucky enough to be over the horizon when we saw the iron lance crash down from orbit and obliterate the harbor behind us.

We called the conquerors the Ogres. Spaceguard had detected their ship as an incoming asteroid, Torino Scale 9, and preparations for evacuating the impact site in Africa were under way...until the "asteroid" started to decelerate on its own.

We had only a week to celebrate our good fortune (first contact, friends from space, blah blah blah, we were so naive) before the Ogres landed. They rolled over the armies of central Africa as if they weren't there, then tore into NATO in Europe in the same way. We are...we had been the American brigade put in front of Paris to defend the city. We obviously failed.

Now our troopship was a few hours from docking in Baltimore. Rumor had it that the eggheads had developed something new there, something that would get through the Ogres' force fields.

I was looking forward to it.

--Jon

Ok, the Torino scale measures probability of impact.

Can we have a Tomino scale that measures the severity of impact?

Jon A.

Can we have a Tomino scale that measures the severity of impact?

That only works for colony drops. For any other impactor, it's not a useful scale.

--Jon

> I mean, can you think of anything else in the world that could
> get someone excited about going to Baltimore?
>
> We were nineteen days out of Le Havre. &#A0;We were lucky enough to
> be over the horizon when we saw the iron lance crash down from
> orbit and obliterate the harbor behind us.
>
> We called the conquerors the Ogres. &#A0;Spaceguard had detected
> their ship as an incoming asteroid, Torino Scale 9, and
> preparations for evacuating the impact site in Africa were under
> way...until the "asteroid" started to decelerate on its own.
>
> We had only a week to celebrate our good fortune (first contact,
> friends from space, blah blah blah, we were so naive) before the
> Ogres landed. &#A0;They rolled over the armies of central Africa as
> if they weren't there, then tore into NATO in Europe in the same
> way. &#A0;We are...we had been the American brigade put in front of
> Paris to defend the city. &#A0;We obviously failed.
>
> Now troopship was a few hours from docking in Baltimore. &#A0;Rumor
> had it that the eggheads had developed something new there,
> something that would get through the Ogres' force fields.
>
> I was looking forward to it.
>
Keep going.

SubPrioress Semicolon Sue

Yeah, I think the future of the world would have to depend on me going to Baltimore. Even then I wouldn't be happy about it.

-- Mark

Wow! Otakon must be early this year. My friend's daughter is looking forward to attending thie year.

Jen

What is it with people passing away all of a sudden??? Makes me want to go out and buy enough bubble wrap to wrap myself up in.

Craig

Saw Transformers 2, enjoyed same. Very much like the first movie, if you liked that one, you will most likely enjoy this. If not, you probably won't like this either.

Jon A.

What is it with people passing away all of a sudden??? Makes me want to go out and buy enough bubble wrap to wrap myself up in.

The Shamwow guy put a hit out on him.

--Jon

Torino Scale 9

Kind of a "Grand Torino"

Punk kids! Get that railgun driven asteroid off my lawn!


Craig says What is it with people passing away all of a sudden???
Jon says The Shamwow guy put a hit out on him.

Police found Mays wrapped in a body sized Zorbeez towel after being hung up on the wall by Hercules hooks and Mighty Putty. They report the Zorbeez towel was repeatedly fixed by Mighty Mend it. The suspect appeared to have cleaned the area with Kaboom, What Odor and OxiClean. The body was moved with the Big City Slider left at the scene.




Jackson's death might be the end of the Moonwalk Era, but Mays passing might end Capitalism As We Know It! C'mon the Shamwow guy is shifty as a Cockney 3-card monty game. It's those beady eyes I tells ya! Beady eyes!

13-year old English kid spends a week using a Sony Walkman instead of an iPod, reports on his findings.

I particularly liked how he thought the metal/normal switch was an equalizer preset.

Jon A.

From the artice: It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape.

And thus we see how quickly knowledge fades if it's not used frequently. I can imagine some guy in A.D.605 saying "It took me a fortnight to figure out that the big lever lowered the water wheel into the stream."

--Jon

Actually, I think the kid did pretty well with figuring out the other side of the tape on his own. Considering that every digital medium he has ever used has been deliberately designed to be one-sided.

I love his descriptions of the walkman as being some kind of gigantic millstone, too. I mean, granted, my Sansa Clip is one-third the size of a cassette, but walkmen weren't THAT huge.

It reminds me of the time I set up that VIC-20 I bought off Will Wong so that my brother could play Omega Race on it. It was a great game for its time, but he just couldn't deal with the Pre-Nintendo-ness of it.

Jon A.