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Return to the Trivia Club Bashes
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18513 8-JUL 23:33 General Discussion
St. Louis BASH report :)
From: BILLP49 To: ALL
Another successful BASH is coming to a close.
Tonight the some of the bashees [Lizhervey, Manny, the Corkfaces(diane
and bob), the trees(and the saplings), Sparky, BenH, BillP49, JCMGD] just
returned from the ballgame (St. Louis beat the Marlins 3-2).
Maven, gary, and Rhino were otherwise engaged, in a they bit along with
Ben are off to a club where one of Rhino's fav bands(group??) are playing
:) Bill
18571 11-JUL 00:08 General Discussion
Bash Notes
From: LIZHERVEY To: ALL
Hi all!
Now that I've had a chance to detoxify and get some sleep, I thought
I'd post a few observations on the St. Louis Bash...
First off, Liz did a simply great job organizing and orchestrating the
proceedings. Those of us who were there owe her a big *THANK YOU!*
The Courtyard turned out to be the perfect place, with a great
conference room that was just right for the small group that we had.
Even though there were only around 15 or so folks that attended, we
all had a great time hanging around the conference room, hitting the
hot tub, and eating the donuts and other stuff that the Marriott
folks had for us in the room.
If I had to pick out a couple highlights, they would be these three:
1) Kevin (KP/194/Einstein/JohnMcClane/etc./etc.) - Yup, he
made good on his threat and showed up! Good guy, pretty quiet,
all in all, he's no more different or wacked out than any of
the rest of us. Take it from the horse's mouth, he's okay!
2) NTN - On Saturday afternoon, a bunch of us trooped over to Ozzie
Smith's restaurant and sports bar and proceeded to move Ozzie's up
to fourth place in the country for the month of July! It was a riot -
8 or 9 of us with 7 NTN modules knocking the hell out of the
competition! In fact, Kevin and Bob (the alcoholic half of the
Corkfaces) combined to post the second-highest single game score
in the country for July (to date)! They used the player name
"Icetea" - look for it if you happen to play NTN in a bar soon.
I think their score was 14475, or thereabouts.
3) Beer - On Saturday night, it occurred to Sparky, Bob, and myself
that we were running out of beer. Maybe it was Friday night. I don't
really remember, to be honest. ;) Anyway, we decided to head out
in search of a case of Budweiser and took Liz's car and 20 bucks.
After driving around for a while, and noting that we seemed to be
heading into the area of town that would be best left to folks
with switchblades and Saturday Night Specials, we found a liquor store
on a street corner. Actually, it was kind of nice - the place had
an armed guard, but it occurred to Sparky that he probably wasn't
employed by the owners of the store. So, $20 in hand, I left Sparky
and Bob to watch the car while I went in to buy the beer. A few
interesting minutes later, I returned, case of beer in hand, to see
that the car (as well as Sparky and Bob) were still in place and
intact. Needless to say, we got the hell out of there, and fast.
All in all, we had a great time. The weather was fantastic, and it was
great to meet those folks who were new to Bashes...the Trees (Mark, Susie,
Colin and Russell, who got an education in the coarser aspects of the
English language by playing as many sounds as he could find), the
Corkfaces, who weren't scared off in the least (despite Sparky's presence).
It was great to see Jean, Ben, Bill, Janet (Maven), Ed (Rhino), KP,
and Sparky...gee, did I get everyone? Again, we owe Liz a great big
debt of thanks for her hard work - it really paid off and we had
a super time! I'm looking forward tonext year's Midwest Bash...or
will it be in Northern California....?
:) Manny
18595 11-JUL 19:46 General Discussion
St. Louis Bash
From: TREEDR To: ALL
Wanted to second Manny's assessment of the St. Louis Bash. If there
was to be a one word summary, the word would be - Excellent!
It's amazing to be with a group of people you have never seen before
and have none of the awkwardness that's typical of first time meetings.
As first time bash attendees, this was important. The events - Ozzie's,
Cardinals game were nice breaks away from the hotel. We chose not to go
to Ozzie's, but instead took our kids to the St. Louis Zoo. BTW, for a
small Zoo, this one is very nice. And it's FREE!
It was GREAT to meet everyone. There were a couple of surprises as Manny
eluded to - however, I think BenH may just have the best bash tale. It
regards staying away from trouble in the St. Louis club life. But you'll
have to ask him about it ;> Manny managed in 48 short hours to totally
corrupt our kids. We brought innocents - we came home with delinquents.
It will take years to undo that mess :D
Kudos and major {{{{}}}}'s to Liz for pulling this off. She was near a
state of nervous collapse just prior to Fri. night. For her giving the
time and effort required to make this a success: You have our gratitude.
It was a wonderful weekend. Can't wait til next time. And there will be
a next time :)
..Mark and Susie
18596 11-JUL 21:07 General Discussion
RE: Bash Notes (Re: Msg 18571)
From: BENH2O To: LIZHERVEY
Liz:
I'd just like to second Manny's post...Thanks so much for all
your hard work and planning for the St. Louis Bash...
I had a great time. It was fun seeing people again and it was
especially enjoyable meeting a few folks I'd been chatting with
online for over a year but hadn't seen in person...
Even though it was a small group, 15 triviots are definitely
enough for a great party!!
Ben H :)
18601 11-JUL 21:47 General Discussion
St Louis Bash
From: LIZHERVEY To: ALL
To all who made it to the midwest...
I would like to say thank you :)
I am pleased with the way things turned out...I would also like to
acknowledge that I have a *much* greater appreciation for the work that
Starkmad goes through for OC and Harv and Isa go thru for Mystic.
I learned lots...and as observed by most of the folks there...I do
stress...but I managed to have lots of fun...
It was a pleasure to meet the new folks that i *knew* but hadn't met...It was
great to see Jean, Bill, Ben and Sparky again...and whats that guys name..oh
yeah..Manny ;>
There will be another bash...I will happy to do another one...just won't be
able to guarantee the part of the country it will be in :)
Oddly enough the Courtyard invited us back...perhaps it takes a couple years
to learn their lesson....
Thanks again to all those that participated...and Here's hoping we will see
more of you next year :)
thanks {{{{}}}}
liz
18658 14-JUL 20:11 General Discussion
Mo' Bash Notes!
From: HANDMAVEN To: ALL
Hi ppl! :) I've been meaning to post some observations and kudos
to Ms. Liz on the St. Louis Bash last weekend. So here goes...
Liz did a wonderful job pulling together a great party in a lovely
city! Like Manny, Ben, and Mark & Susie (Trees), I much appreciated
Liz's hard work in arranging all those details that made checking
in and out of the Courtyard a breeze, the conference room festivities
a raucous and fun time, the outing to Ozzie's a real pleasure, and...
oh, for her making that supply of beer so easy for Ben, Rhino and I
to get our paws on when we called her room in the wee hours of Sunday
morning. Liz was clearly preoccupied with other pressing matters
{s ooooo}, but she graciously threw a sixer into the hallway for us
to fetch anyway };D Thanks, hon...you done real good!
That said, I'd like to add a few more tidbits the handful of
interesting bash hi-lights already cited by Manny and Trees. :)
The PPL: Everyone who attended turned out to be as warm, kind and fun
as I expected them all to be from online encounters! You really could
not have asked for a nicer bunch of folks to spend a weekend with. I
was especially proud that 2 Iowans showed up--Sparky and I--and could
only wonder why a few more midwesterners weren't able to join us :/
If the bash is held in St. Louis again next year, I urge anyone who
can make it to go...you will be glad you did! In fact, you should
attend no matter where it's held, if at all possible :)
St. Louis: What a great city! Once you make your way to the hotel
(I arrived after sundown Friday nite, and got a spectacular glimpse
of the arch and skyline all lit up), the city is not all that tough
to navigate...even for freeway-phobes like small-town moi ;D There
were way too many fun things to do in addition to the bash for a mere
weekend stay, and I would jump at the chance to come back to St L for
this event next year. While most of the others took in the beezball
game on Saturday (not my cup of cocoa...and I felt I was too hungover
from the previous nite's excesses to sit on bleachers), KP and I hit the
Science Center for a sobering and educational look at the Global Warming
Exhibit. Then we went on to salve our post-modern environmental angst
by taking in a Led Zeppelin Laser Light Show at the Planetarium--totally
awesome, dudes!!!
St. Louis Club Life: Well, Trees alluded to some sort of potential(?)
"trouble" lurking in Ben's tale of Club life, and since I was one of the
degenerates that accompanied Ben to said Club, I can only wonder what
that means! ;D At about 11 p.m. Saturday nite, I found myself torn
between hanging out in the conference room for down and dirty card
playing, heavy drinking, and computer shenanigans...*or* taking in a
live band with Rhino, Ben and KP. Well, I chose the latter, folks--
live music hound that I am--and once at the club, proceeded to get
happily bit by the hair of the Red Dog. After an stimulating set of
music, and an equally interesting social encounter--this might have
been the "trouble" Trees referred to!--in a hazy, just-crowded-enough
St. Louis club, grooving to the sounds of "New World Spirit," we all
trotted back to the hotel so KP could get his beauty rest and wake up
fresh as a flower to catch his 6 or 7 a.m. (gasp!) flight back East.
On checking into the haps at the conference room, we found much revelry
afoot. And after schmoozing and sucking a brew or two with fellow
conferees until it was almost time to close the party room, Rhino, Ben
and I headed back to that Club (I musta had fun, as I don't even remember
the name of the place!) for the final set of the band we heard earlier.
A couple more Red Dogs later, and I had Ben and Rhino right up in front
shaking booty with me ( was *that* a sight! :D ). I sorta recall somehow
ending up with a carnation in my mouth during the final song--the rock
and roll gods only know how *that* happened!
The Courtyard--my last hurrah: Well, it was back to the hotel at 3 a.m.
or so when Ben, Rhino and I decided it was just too early to turn in.
That's when we rustled up those beers from Liz, and talked about the
various and sundry things people do when they are rather buzzed--a for
instance? Well, I kinda remember Ben and I trying to explain to Rhino
the benefits of labor unionism, or some such nonsense :) I think I
headed back to my room just before dawn to catch a few hours of sleep
before a mid-morning breakfast with Ben. We managed to bid a few heart-
felt goodbyes to Liz, Manny and Bill. I believe that Jean and Sparky
were off to do a little gambling before their respective departures later
in the day. So Ben and I packed, loaded up my car, and made a quick tour
of the St. Louis Zoo before I dropped him at Lambert airport. Then I
drove my punchy self back to Iowa via a route that shaved about an hour
off the road trip home, thanks to Sparky's expert navigational advice.
And so it went...a thoroughly enjoyable weekend in the "Gateway to the
West," amongst the best company you'll find anywhere--and I mean that.
Thanks again to Liz, and to all who attended...can't wait 'til next year!
Cheers, and later! Janet
p.s. Apologies for the length of this. I sorta wrote it as an open
diary entry for anyone who cares to read it :)
18666 15-JUL 04:17 General Discussion
re mo' bash notes
From: BENHOROWITZ To: HANDMAVEN (NR)
Everything Maven reported about the bash is true, to the best
of my memory...which isn't that great, but will have to suffice
:) Maven, as you can perhaps surmise, is the same live wire
off-line that she is on-line :)
BTW, the club incident Tree referred to did involve Maven...As
far as I can remember, she was unhappy about someone standing
in front of her and blocking her view, so she asked him to
move...I took the position that what he was doing, while
inconsiderate, was standard MO for a clubgoer, so it might have
been better not to possibly upset him...The guy seemed bemused
by the incident, so no harm was done...
We had a great time partying that whole Saturday! Rhino was
very pleased that his favorite local band was playing in his
favorite club on the weekend of the bash, so a few of us joined
him there...It capped off a great day during which I also went
to Ozzie's and a Cardinals game :)
Thanks again for all your planning efforts Liz....
Ben H:)