DLcon 6 aftermath: Taking over/under bets on Alex and Hal's sanity score
DLC started off with the usual Norfolk to layover city (Atlanta, this year). What was really wonderful was that my layover city let me travel to Austin with MC. We met, grabbed some brunch, and talked a ton during boarding and the flight. The subjects varied from surgery to math to life in general. It was great fun, and let me catch up with MC which is harder to do at cons.
MC and I were supposed to be the last of a group of five who were coming in for pickup, but were actually the first ones there. We find out about Jim/Xer's problems, and Zenny being delayed. We end up spending about a half hour talking in the airport baggage claim, meet up with Zenny when he lands and talk, and then wait for Alex/Hy. Hy/Alex were understandably high stressed because of the travel problems. I get talking to Hy (His reaction to Texas's brutal heat compared to England weather was memorable) and try to at least make Alex crawl the walls a little less. We stop for subway and I stop for a toothbrush, and then we head to Hal's.
I get to meet the crew there. I finally get to meet and talk with Snow, which was a blast. Tonfa, Snow, Tal, and I get together for a game of Spades, which ends with Tonfa and I winning gloriously. The crowds start coming in (Andy and co from their trip, the evening and west coast crowd). I finally get to meet VSM after nearly a decade of talking to him. We trade stories and generally act like we do online, which is to say awesomely. Once everyone's gathered, we run to a burrito place for dinner. I end up spending most of that time chatting with VSM/LD/MC, with a smattering of Ciato and the Elf. Dinner is awesome but I'm still full from subway, so I end up having two bites and saving the rest. I go with OK to pick up Xer late that evening. We nab Xer, go to the room and BS some before bed.
I get up way too early the next morning and find out that our rooms have no shampoo. I shower anyway and get ready for breakfast. MC+my room end up going to IHOP for breakfast. I have coffee, the rest of them eat. We go back to the hotel, where Elf's room is up. Elf, MC, Ciato, and I go out after that to find shampoo, which turns into an hour adventure. We all shower after that (again in my case), head off to fazoli's for lunch (It was noon at this point) and get picked up by Hal.
I get to Hal and get talking with Jim, who was a late arriver. Jim, Dhyer, Tal, and I play spades, which ended with an ass kicking and poor shoot attempt at the very end. After that, most of the group went off for a gamestop run. I stayed behind and played some MVC3 (and got owned horribly by Gate) and hung out with Zenny/Gate/Jim. The crowd gets back, and the music quiz gets going. I keep score and don't play, but I would have done reasonably well in it. Highlights of the quiz: Tonfa's reactions in general, OK kicking ass at the quiz, and a lynch mob forming for some of Meeple's choices. OK takes first after owning the bonuses, elf takes second, and VSM wins third out of nowhere. It's then time for Rudy's! I ride with Soppy/Ashley/Jim/Andy(Props to Andy for reading in the middle front seat). Rudy's is fantastic as always. I get a quarter pound of brisket since I didn't want to get greedy. This was a good decision, as it left me enough room to split a half pound of turkey with Jim. Good decisions, all around.
We wait for Captain K to get there before cutting Hal's awesome Zetta cake. OK, VSM, Zenny and I then go for a liquor store run- which ended in failure, as we didn't make it to the store before 9pm when liquor sales stop. We then run to wal-mart (second time that day for me)for beer and go back to the con. After some more socializing, OK/Zenny/myself/Jim/Meeple/Cmdr go back to my hotel room to BS and drink a little. Jim and I both get a sip of beer before deciding that we want to play cards- so I make my third trip to Walmart with him. We end up talking about law and BSing for the trip- and Jim buys shirts, which I'm pretty sure he left in the hotel room. Both of us also forgot our cell phones, so OK couldn't get a hold of us and tell us to pick up a bottle opener for the wine he bought. We drink a little (I had a beer) and play a card game Jim taught us. No liquor was a good thing for me in retrospect, since I was so goddamn wasted from lack of sleep at that point. I get my ass kicked around the block in it, but it's good fun and I like fat tire. We're up until 2:30am playing cards. At that point, OK drives Zenny and Jim back to the hotel rooms, and we then pass out.
Saturday morning involves tears, recrimations, and drama- and that's just me getting up. I crawl out of bed at 8am. I take that time to catch up with Cmdr, which is fun. His stories about work are a mix of the usual trainwreck and hilarity, which is the norm in food service. We get to Hal's at 10, where everyone but the hat is asleep. Needless to say, Tonfa/Snow did not approve of that time of the morning. Snow lost his lighter, Tonfa nearly stabbed me for being cheerful, and I end up taking out trash for being a smartass. People gather, etc. I play MKWii when Elf's crew comes in. MKWii looks fairly solid, though a step down from MK:DD. Lack of gunners? Dumb decision, but oh well. Ciato, myself, Tonfa, Jim, OK, and Snow go for breakfast at sonic. I end up shoved the back on the way there and eat more junk food. We head back, and I socialize a little before heading off with part of the group for an arcade run. I enjoyed the hell out of it for the feeling and competitve pacman, but the highlight of that trip was VSM's magic mushroom story in the car ride over. Well, that and Soppy/Shale's victory pose after beating TMNT. That takes a few hours. We then make a gamestop/barnes and noble run, where I mostly zombie around since I'm so sleep deprived. It's then back to Hal's! I finally get a freaking hold of Dhyer and sit and talk with him (which sadly did not happen much). Some more socializing, then the group picture! We get a bunch of good ones, including a shot of everyone, thanks to a lady passing by.
We then pile into the rental cars for bowling. A group of us split off to dinner (Dhyer had to go eat dinner with his family). We eat at a fast food hotdog place, which is good. Getting to talk to Shale and Gref was better, as was VSM's reaction to having to choose between Chuck Austen and Grant Morrison as X-men writers.
Bowling involves me getting beaten by MC and the usual ass kickings. I'll let others cover that more, but props to Zenny for masterful work annoying OK. I BS with Shale after the game, then we head back to the apartment. It turns out that OK and I can stay a few hours later than expected thanks to Alex and VSM taking one for the team. This ends up being awesome, as it leads to VSM vs MM2 and some fantastic photos. There is also me taknig to snow about brazilian politics, talking to Elf/Ciato/Jim about games, and the worst shoot attempt of all time in spades. I also talk to LD here, which is always enjoyable.
Sunday morning, OK and I get up. We say our goodbyes to the roomies and head for the airport. OK drops his car off, we catch breakfast and spend a couple of hours talking in the terminal before my flight. I nearly lose my phone, but it was an otherwise smooth ride home.
The bad: The heat, driving, and not getting enough sleep. I really wish I had spent more time with certain people (Dhyer, Andy, Soppy, Yakko, Niu, Grefter), but that happens sometimes.
People thoughts:
Jim/Notmiki: Last con was me hanging out with Ashley/DJ most of the time. This year was the year of the Miki and OK. We've met several times and I enjoyed his company, even if I got horribly owned at cards.I sympatize with his plight about getting delayed to death by weather at airports. We just ended up in the same room/area most of the time, and I had fun.
Yakko: He's the first DLer I met. Surprisingly enough we don't talk much at cons, just the way it works out. He was in another hotel and was playing games as well, which I msised. I did get a little catching up on saturday, which was cool. He'll be someone I talk to more next year.
Ciato: She wasn't sick or jetlagged like in previous cons, or having to deal with the ship like last year. She looked really good- I don't mean hot (though yeah, in good shape), just that she was very comfortable in her own skin and definitely handled the guy swarm well this year. I really enjoyed getting to eat lunch with her and hanging out in general, since she's hard to get alone or in small groups at the con. She is pretty tolerant of my BS in general, which is remarkable considering the volume I direct at her.
Elf: Wins the con award for most unexpected action. Oh god, I did *not* expect that out of him. The usual good times with him otherwise.
MC: See above. MC and I tend to talk a ton or not at all- we had to talk a ton during the early DL, then sort of went our own ways and caught up every so often. I'm very glad she was on the flight to atlanta, since traveling like that is a great way to catch up with someone.
VSM: Is exactly what I expected. Not only was he hilarious, but we hit it off instantly in person- no surprise, considering how long we've known each other. I think his MM2 playthrough will be one of the most iconic DLC moments- it's just a shame I didn't see the end of it. I hope we see you more at cons, dude.
OK: Is OK. We are bad influnces on each other. I think I managed to insult his girlfriend about two dozen times during the con, and he insulted me repeatedly and choked me out with a cord. As I said to Tide, we're like a bad sitcom put into motion. I definitely enjoyed talking to him on airport trips and downtime this year, along with some thumbnail planning for the next con.
Xer: Did better this year than last year. The fighting game tournament falling through sucked, but at least there was an arcade run. Plus, his brutal beating of Andy in Blazblue at the arcade was a thing of glory.
Alex/Hy: Good to meet you, Hy. Alex, thanks for all the rides. If you need people buried in the desert, you know who to call.
Snow: Was a goddamn trip in person. His spoken English is less fluent than his written English so there were one or two monged translation moments, but still was cool. I wish I got a picture of him lighting up his cigarette with Hal's BBQ lighter.
Tonfa: Walnut.
Captain K: Is still the adult of the group and has much to teach me about the art of looking at women without getting my ass beat. *Bows* Good luck with the family drama.
like Cap said, not hitting everyone. In particular I spent a lot of time with Cmdr and Zenny and didn't talk about them there, but yeah. It was fun.
