infallible

That sounds like a good menu. If I could make one request: Could they put the meatballs for the spaghetti and meatballs in a separate dish so the vegetarians can eat the spaghetti and marinara? (And, hey, that's greater meatball-to-pasta ratio for meat eaters!)

Also, given that we just found out that the evening events are starting at 7:30, would it be prudent to maybe bump this up a little earlier? I don't want dinner to feel rushed.

Thanks again, Red, for setting this up. I can't wait to see all you guys again!

EDIT: One more question... Anyone coming to this that's also interested in the Star Trek exhibit who will also have a car? If so, PM me, because I'd love to get rides from you to both of them (I'll kick in some money for helping me out and for gas and such).

There are some great games they listed. If anyone hasn't tried Dominion, play it. It's a fabulous game. I wish I could bring a couple from my collection, but I won't really have the room. Though some of the smaller ones will fit (maybe Zombie or Martian Fluxx or Chrononauts). If Munchkin is played, then I think it would have to be Super Munchkin, given the nature of the event.

Oooh, board games!!!

Meh, it's just that you granola hippies are too soft.

Soft, I tells you.

Take it easy, TJ. The only people that say that are those that haven't had the pleasure of living here. Sure, things get a bit warm for a few months, but everything else is pretty great. We should, instead, take pity on these poor souls, living in their intemperate climes and with their intemperate neighbors. We can't hold their ignorance against them, for they don't know any better. Now, once they come and experience our fantastic environment and unbeatable hospitality, then they may realize their error.

But until that day, take pity, and respond with a shake of the head and a knowing grin.

;-)

That Justice dinner last year was jawesome. I'm totally up for anything like that again, and seeing what a good crowd it was last year means that good times are sure to be had again. Thanks for making it two years in a row of doing this legwork, RG.

To answer your questions:

1) You coming?
But of course!

1a) If yes, banquet menu ok?
Absolutely.

1a1) If yes, which banquet items appeal?
I agree that the large banquet menu is probably best. It will give the most flexibility for people with limited diets (though I'm not sure there's anything vegan, if we have any vegans coming along).

Antipasti: Calamari
Insalate: Mozzarella Caprese
Pasta: No real preference
Entree: Salmon w/ Pesto
Side: Broccoli Romano or Mashed Potatoes
Dessert: Cheesecake or Choc Cake (just not a fan of tiramisu)

2) Anything we MUST have (even if not on the banquet menu)?
I can't think of anything. That big menu is pretty comprehensive. You end up with 12 different dishes.

3) Preferred dining date/time? My planned default is Friday Oct 23, 5:30pm which will hopefully allow us to dine without rushing to get to whatever Niv might be putting together on Friday
Yeah, it really depends on what Niv has planned. Since you're working on this, maybe she'll give you a hint at a timeframe for her thing. How long did dinner take last time? I can easily see this going for a few hours with a large group.

It's me, Infallible, Justice adoptee! I only show up on the boards for HeroCon, so here I am!

I'm not sure where these big cost numbers are coming from. Even if I had a room alone, my costs would be $600 (note, that doesn't include food or whatever ridiculous amount I'll spend at the store), and I found a roommate through the HC forum, so that knocked at least $150 off the cost already. (PS: We're willing to share with up to two more, so if you want a good deal on a room you'll hardly see anyway, hit me up.) I am skipping the rental car this year, though.

I love hanging out with you guys, so count me in for almost anything, especially if it involves food. I actually went to Holder's last year, but went alone, thinking I missed the group heading out. Turns out you guys were in the other corner of the restaurant!

Though it may be prudent to hold of on Friday evening plans until we hear what else is going on. Bowling was after dinner, but who knows what mama-Niv has planned.

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Unknown Woman is Karen Reynoso, our events coordinator. She's kept in a cryostasis most of the year, and brought out only to run the booths at the cons.

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Ah, poor Karen. Formerly a local from here in beautiful Austin, Texas, ripped from paradise and sent to the decent-but-not-as-great-as-Austin locale of Mountain View.

Video cracked me up, especially seeing ole Ed from BNL in there.

It's pretty easy to take for granted all the innovation we get in this game. The mission builder sounds pretty amazing. I'm looking forward to see what people come up with.

I just wanted to drop a quick note of thanks for this sweet calendar. While the advance notice of some things is pretty great, I love the sprinkling in of significant dates from the game, especially the birthdays. It's a nice little addition. (Loved the touch where Ghost Widow celebrates her death rather than her birth.) The calendar is a nice little utility, and way better than the one I'm currently using at work. Thanks again! (Now to go somewhere to print it in color...)

Nitpicking a nitpick:
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Artistic nit: the i12 page is the only one that has an artist's rendering for one of the two insets, the others use screenshots in both.

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Actually, June/I2 has the drawing of Honoree/Hero-1. (A character who, interestingly enough, we wouldn't see until Issue 10.)

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I believe that's it. The rest of the team were production. Brian Clayton (now the head cheese), Mynx (producer), Ghost Falcon (producer) Lighthouse, Ex Libris, Blue Steel (design support), Richard (AP/Build Engineer), and Ross (marketing)

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Is this "Ross" the nefarious Dark Watcher from Marketing who was at the Meet and Greet to make sure nothing too revealing was revealed?

If so, does "Ross" know that he's been dubbed "Dark Watcher"? And is he proud that his "Dark Watcher's Lament" IO set with its ToHit debuff is perfect for his role at the M&G?

Much <3 for the War Witch. It sounds like she put in some real intense effort into changing the Hallows. Thanks for the article; it's cool to get this kind of longer-format inside information. And I can't say often enough how cool of a dev team we have. They're friendly and open with us here on the forum, and also at the Meet and Greet events. Big thumbs up, and hope to say "hi" to WW at the next M&G.

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Eight configurable new power trays let players customize their User Interface by placing them anywhere on the screen.

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OMFG. This is beautiful. I remember talking to pohsyb about this at the Meet and Greet. (Don't worry, NC lawyers, he didn't say anything about future issues. He was very good. Frustratingly good...heh.) I think they realized that with primary, secondary, epic, accolade, and veteran powers, we're running out of room. Not to even mention temp powers or macros.

THANK YOU, POHSYB!!!

After many attempts, I eventually got gold running with just SJ and Sprint. For the gold run, I didn't use SJ at all, it was just rocketing down the mountain.

When I first tried the ski slope, I thought it was really hard. But I noticed that I got better and better at it, and eventually got the gold. It's like Guitar Hero: hard at first, but easier with practice.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed the ski slope and its badges. Now, had I not seen that quick progress, I'd have been frustrated. All in all, it took three or four sessions of practice before I got it. (Though maybe it was the break I took to make a winter costume. I got silver on the run right after I did that. ;-) )

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I had a great time seeing everyone again, meeting a ton of new folks - and throwing swag at all of your heads.

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Oh, yeah! I forgot all about this part. It was great! Once the prime prizes had been given away (the challenge coins), and the secondary prizes had been called (iPods, wireless mice and keyboards), CuppaJo still had a bunch of shirts, hats, beanies, and AutoAssault time cards (!!!) left over. She started throwing them to the people crowded up in front of the stage. Now, she was getting some good air on those, but then the Defuser got up on stage and started helping her out. That's when things got serious! Defuser was all business about throwing them, and he chucked some stuff pretty far. Many a hat sailed well over the front crowd and landed on the raised area toward the back. Defuser got a bunch of caps, beanies, TR dogtags, and a couple time card boxes into the far part of the room. I think a time card box hit a guy, but he didn't mind, since it was a time card. Heh.

And, CJ, don't think I'm below bribery for a challenge coin. I'll sink to great depths for one. Far greater depths for one of those silver ones.

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They did however confiscate my BBQ sause (Spelled the way Rudy's spells it) at the airport. Seems that the National Security Act does not allow BBQ sauce out of Texas.

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We do take barbeque seriously here...

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DON'T TASE ME BRAH!

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Indeed!

CHALLENGE COIN!!!

So I meant to get this up sooner, but as soon as I got home after lunch today, I passed out on my couch. Anyway, better late than never.

I didn't take too many pictures at the event. In fact, in this small Flickr set, I only four photos. (Two are group shots of our dinner/drinking groups for Friday and Saturday, one is the sign at D&B, the fourth is just before the drinking contest was underway.)

I also have a quick video of the drinking contest up on YouTube. Sorry about the poor quality. Light was low and the camera is primarily for stills. The video starts right after they counted to three, and you'll see Ex Libris pwning everyone else. She was done in no time. You'll also see poor CuppaJo coming in dead last, and by a long stretch at that.

Awesome time.

I got out there at about 5 PM, expecting there to be a sign up sheet for the non-registered folks. Just before 6, Cricket said that it looked the unregistered would have to come back at 7:30 and see if we could get in. Luckily, it didn't come to that, but that did piss some people off who had driven in from far away. Turned out that once they got everyone who had registered checked in, that there was plenty of space for the few of us there that hadn't, so we didn't have to wait *that* long.

Once inside, there were 5 tables each with a pair of people signing stuff. For most of the signing, General British was the third person at the Tabula Rosa table. For CoH, we had Ex Libris and the Defuser. The other tables were folks from Guild Wars, Lineage, and Dungeon Runners. I'm kicking myself for not watching Who Wants to be a Superhero this season. Defuser was really nice, and really personable. Everything about this guy is pretty cool, and meeting him and learning about what he does and the charity work he does, he had to be a shoe in for the winner of the show. If anyone gets a chance to say hi to him, do it. Very cool dude. Meeting Ex Libris was also really neat. She's a totally cool chick, and completely destroyed the six other contestants in that Irish Car Bomb drinking race (including General British and CuppaJo).

Some of us grabbed some drinks afterward. I have a couple pictures, but I'm too damn tired to post them now, so I'll probably do that tomorrow.

Getting ready to head over to D&B to meet everyone for brunch. Had a ton of fun last night, and looking forward to today.

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Ok, how's this for Friday night then?

Meet at the Dave & Busters flag pole at 7:30pm and figure out how many cars we'll have so we can go eat/pub crawl?
Sound ok?

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Sounds quite awesome to me. I'll see you guys there.