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THERE AND BACK AGAIN Episode IV: A New Hope by Adam Bojak PREFACE: But first, a little backstory… I almost didn't go on this trip. I had basically quit Smogon quietly in early May when I altogether stopped posting and going on irc. It was for a multitude of reasons, but first and foremost was this: I just wasn't happy on Smogon anymore. I continued making my submissions for the karaoke contest and watched the voting from afar, but aside from that, I had no contact with the community (outside of the usual Facebook status comments). That all changed when user: Fish called me one day and left me the longest voicemail I'd ever received (in which he proclaimed it was the longest voicemail he had ever left). Fish, Arti, and I had been discussing going to Europe last summer for Smocon09, but due to lack of funds for both Arti and me (I was about to move back to Buffalo), we didn't take a trip for the first time in four years. So, in his message, Fish asked me if I was going to attend the pokemon Video Game Championship in Indianapolis, and proceeded to begin naming all the prominent Smogonites that would be in attendance. After listening to that voicemail, I became set on going to Indianapolis and hanging out with everyone, so I told him I'd be there. But I wanted it to be special, so when I rejoined the forums and the chat shortly thereafter, I continually told everyone who asked that I would not be going to Indy. Fishy and chaos were pretty pissed about me not going, and chaos berated me to the point where I finally had to let him in on the secret. Arti was also in on the secret, so I began using him to convince evan to bring his guitar with him to Indy (so that I could bring mine and we'd jam). alex in particular was fun to convince I wasn't going, because he used my absence from Indy to justify his own. Fast forward to the week of the trip. I had planned on driving down there on Thursday and getting in right after Arti's flight arrived (to be one of the first people there, I like to experience everything). Fish was also going to throw together a team for me so that I could enter the Last Chance Qualifier. Naturally, life threw me a curveball and I wasn't able to leave Buffalo until Friday afternoon, so I missed out on the LCQ. All that being said, on with the show… Yet again, the Hero of our story! Adam "DoomMullet" Bojak Occupation: Protagonist Description: Actually maturing in his old age? Probably not. Doesn't get drop-dead drunk like he used to, but can still put them away. And what would it be without the Men of Room 3360? Jason "Articuno64" Wynja Description: Still the same old Arti. Quick with a joke or witty comment, and doesn't mind sleeping with dudes in the name of chivalry. Jason "Fish" Fisher-Short Description: The mastermind behind my special appearance. Still a very special boy, but still has a lot of work to do on those pokemon movies. More reappearing characters! Judd "Kongler" Price Description: Aside from the above three guys, he is the only 4-time Smocon attendee! And it is always a huge pleasure having him around. He is one of those people that just makes everyone around him happier, just by being there. A true champion. Chris "chaos" Monsanto Description: Still the same cuddly bear chaos I remember from Kentucky three years ago. Smogon couldn't ask for a better figurehead, chaos is well-spoken, passionate, and incredibly gregarious. Everything anyone could ask for in a pokemaster. Mike "skarm" Papagianis Description: The other half of Team Canada! He represented the Great White North well, and will do so again in Hawaii. It was great to see him again after three years, also great that the missus let him come in the first place! Ian "EeveeTrainer" Garvey Description: ET has matured a lot since I last hung out with him at JAA, but he is still the same great guy. He has that quiet cool about him; he has warmed up to me considerably since I forced that first hug on him in NYC, and I'm glad for that. Stephen "Imawario" Shotwell Description: I haven't talked to this guy since JAA in 2006! It was quite a pleasant surprise to bump into him again. We hung out and joked a lot during the battles, but it's too bad I lost track of him outside the events. I also, for the second time, did NOT get a Red Corvette picture with him. I suck, I know, and that situation will be swiftly remedied at the Nationals next year, I promise! Kevin Nguyen Description: Kongler's JAA travel buddy makes his reappearance. I only saw him briefly this weekend, so unlike at JAA I didn't get to hang out with him much at all, which sucked. Others that our Heroes met on this journey: Evan "TheBM" Description: indievan! I couldn't just use his current nick in quotation marks, how redundant would that be? Just like I imagined him, we talked about music every chance we got. Props for carrying around a guitar for an entire day. Alison "Fishy" McDonald Description: I'll be dipped in shit if I write Dromiblahblah there. She is a ferocious hugger, which I enjoyed immensely (although Arti's foot did not). Couldn't have shared the Greatest Piece of Cheesecake Ever with a cooler girl. (Just needs to turn 21.) Robbie "Biffster" Miles Description: I have known this guy since my days on the Uber forums back in… 2003? One of my oldest internet acquaintances. It was so cool finally to get to meet him in person. Tyler Watts Description: Buddy that Biffster brought along with him. I'm not sure if he's on Smogon, but if he wasn't before, chances are he is now. He fit right in with the group, plus he earned super bonus DM points for quoting UCB. Danny "TTS" Zollner Description: I've been chatting with this guy in #smogon for 5 years, so it was awesome to finally meet him face to face. Never goes anywhere without his trusty laptop, and he always seems to find the free WiFi. Awesome for the Office Space reference, even if no one got it. TRAINER TIP: Always put him on his tab. Scott "Synre" Glaza Description: Synre has come a long way. First he was Synre, the LordS clone, then he became Teifu, lovingly known as Tofu, and now he's back to Synre again. We lost him for a while to other internet pursuits, but he is now safely back in the fold. I loved to talk hockey with him face to face for a change. Surprisingly ungay in person. Huy "Batpig" Ha Description: One half of the Ha Dynasty. Just as awesome and friendly in real life as he is in #smogon. Just like Kongler, he is one of those people that you just can't help but feel happy around. He will be a great representative for Smogon in Hawaii. Duy "Bianca222" Ha Description: Huy's awesome brother, the other half of the Ha Dynasty. He should no longer live in his bro's shadow on Smogon, because his accomplishments speak for themselves. He will be another great representative in Hawaii. Luke "tad38" Swenson Description: tad goes way back on Smogon. He's been around since he was just an excitable 14 year old, and although he has grown up and matured a lot, he is still quite excitable. I was very happy to meet him, as I've always had a soft spot for him. He brought a lot of great energy to the group, and I couldn't imagine what the weekend would have been like if he hadn't been there. Mike "OmegaDonut" Suleski Description: OD is one of those guys who have been around Smogon for a long, long time but I have never had a lot of contact with. I really wish I would have befriended him more before, he is an awesome guy to hang around with, and it was really fun to squat in Paul's room together. Andrea "godudette" Shaffer Description: I had limited exposure to godudette before Indy. All I knew of her was what I had seen during the karaoke competition (namely, she has a wonderful singing voice) and what I had heard about her and Huy being all cutesy. I got to spend some time with her in Indy, and I learned that she really is a super cool girl. (With an amazing singing voice.) Rory "rory" Neithinger Description: Will land me in felony butt prison yet. I can't be sure of this, but I think he might actually sleep more than Kongler. He has a great future as a college boozer… just needs to practice patience and moderation. Taylor "TAY" Gugino Description: TAY is an American, and AMERICANS DON'T RUN. Well, sometimes they do. (Sorry man.) Just don't let the waitstaff near him. Especially if he's trying to go drink for drink with me. Alan "Dubulous" Sutterlin Description: Quiet at first, but once I was around him a bit he opened up a lot, and by the end of the trip I liked hanging out with him a ton. I called him Dubs all weekend, and that has apparently caught on, so I'm happy for the change. He is a fellow indie, which automatically garners respect, and I look forward to (hopefully) rocking out with him down at Cedar Point in August! Bill "mingot" Young Description: The only exposure I had to mingot before Indy was when he was trolling everyone on Facebook, so I knew he was a goofy dude. What I never realized was that he is a grown man with a daughter who is into pokemon also. What I should also mention is that daughter could easily beat me up. Len "Alaka" Deuel Description: I knew very little about Alaka before I met him, but his reputation on Smogon apparently preceded him: when someone told me he was "Alaka," I said, "Oh, Alakapimp?" An awesome guy, I can't wait to see how he fares in Hawaii! Tyler "tyler422" Hagan Description: Quiet at first, but a great kid. His appearance belies the intelligence lying beneath the surface, and he definitely knows his pokemon. He was nice enough to walk me through what was happening when we watched battles, and I thank him for that! Joseph "Ninahaza" Ninahaza Description: NOBODY FUCKS WITH THE JESUS. And with a name like Joseph Jesus Ninahaza, who would? This kid was hilarious; it was great to meet him. He is one of those Smogonites I didn't even know existed before I went to Indy, and he's one of the reasons I'm glad I went! Kamaal "Sixonesix" Harris Description: Another quiet, cool type. He apparently built BadIntent's team, so his pokemon chops are not in doubt. My favorite was how he drank just as much as rory, yet never showed a single effect. Daniel "dtrain" Levinson Description: Arti has a rival for the "Tall and Lanky Smogonite" label. A really cool guy, he was one of the first guys I met right when I got into town, and I wish I had been there the day before to hang out with him more. Matt "mattj" Carter Description: In real life, he is surprisingly (and thankfully) very little like his online persona. A really friendly guy, I only got to talk to him for a short time, but I can tell that Smogon is better off with him around. I mean, as long as he stays out of Firebot. Jeremy "Bonta-kun" ??? Description: Honestly, I have no idea. This is a friend of Fish's, and he is the one who made me take the picture. Fish isn't even sure of his Smogon name. So Jeremy, if you're out there, PM me with some info! I hate having an incomplete story. Patrick "Sixfortyfive" Smith Description: There is not much known about him, except that he is a boy. But really, he and I were chatting during a bunch of battles on Saturday and I didn't even realize he was from Smogon! I should realize that people don't just randomly talk to me; this gorgeous face is just too recognizable. Um, anyhow, I missed another opportunity to get a Red Corvette picture. Or his name, for that matter. ??? "Nekusagi" ??? Description: Met her during the finals. I didn't realize she knew we were from Smogon until she started taking our group pictures. She ended up taking about 374 pictures, and her patience was amazing. chaos even jokingly promised her an Artist badge for taking all the pics. Cool girl, she's been in the chat a bunch since the trip. CHAPTER ONE: Friday, June 25th I was all packed up and ready to rock. I left my girlfriend's apartment around noon and headed out on my journey. As I am wont to do, I decided to narrate videos to show my journey down to Indy. Video Um… then I screwed up. Good start, eh? Video For the most part, my trip was very uneventful. I stayed true to my word and sped like a demon, and before I knew it I had hit the Pennsylvania border. Naturally, not long after that, I was into the great state of Ohio. Oh, did I say "great"? I meant to say "the worst state I have ever had the displeasure of travelling through." Video Not only does the state take about 17 hours to drive across, but EVERY SINGLE DRIVER with an Ohio license plate sucks at life. They just pick a line and go, "slower traffic stay right" be damned. I can't describe how many times I raged at other people, nor can I even begin to count how many times I was forced to pass jackasses in the right-hand lane. To you reading: if you ride the left-hand lane, you are a BAD DRIVER and SUCK AT LIFE. Anyhow, I kept in constant contact with Fish so that we could coordinate my arrival. Google Maps told me it would take eight hours to get there, but I was hoping to make it in 7. Also, Fish and I realized I'd be gaining in hour, so I would be showing up right on time for dinner! Soon enough, I was crossing the Indiana border. The only problem was that I had to get off and get gas, and the welcome sign was right to the left of my exit. I quickly tried to take a picture, but my camera was still on video. im noob. Video After the long slog through Ohio, crossing that state line filled me with a renewed sense of purpose, as well as lots of excitement. DM was back on top, baby. Video Traffic slowed a bit outside Indy, so I took the opportunity to snap a couple pictures of my surroundings. It's incredibly flat out there, not really much to look at aside from religious billboards, but there was this really weird mist hanging right above the ground. It was a creepy, grey pallor, and unfortunately the pictures didn't really do it justice. At long last, I had made it into the city of Indianapolis! I talked with Fish to find out where exactly I was supposed to park when I got the bad news: there really wasn't anything for me. I would either pay the hotel to stay in their lot (if they even let me, I wasn't technically in a room) or find a public overnight lot and pay out the ass. To make matters worse, the team's minor league baseball team had a game that night, and the ballpark is right next to our hotel, so the ENTIRE area is a Charlie foxtrot. Fish kept calling to ask me where I was, and my response was usually: "I moved up about half a block." I finally got up to where the hotel is when I realize the address I had put into Google Maps is the address I got from Arti… which is NOT the hotel I'm staying in. Fish tried to tell me how to get to our hotel from there, literally a couple blocks, but I had already gotten swept away in traffic. I ended up going past everything and crossing a bridge into an entirely different neighborhood before turning around and making my way back. By the grace of some higher power (I think Fish helped), I ended up on the street I needed to be on and was pulling right past our hotel… when I saw a parking spot on the left, right on the street, literally 200 feet from the front door. I pulled into it, thinking it too good to be true, and then I saw the sign: 2-HR PARKING M-F 9-6 ALL OTHER TIMES FREE PARKING. HOLY SHIT. I RULE. Easily one of the luckiest things that has ever happened to me. I had just gotten off the phone with Fish, who had just said, "well, good luck, call me when you find something." So I called him back and told him where I was. Fish: Wait, what? That's, like, right in front of the hotel. DM: Yeah, I'm looking right at the door to the Westin. Fish: WHAT? That's literally right below where I'm standing at my window, right now! Yep, I'm a best. Fish came running down to greet me, and it was great to see him again after two years. He began to help me carry my stuff up to the hotel entrance, and as we walked toward the hotel I saw a tall, lanky guy standing there. I figured he was with our group, and Fish introduced me to dtrain. I loved this introduction, because he already knew me. I was going to say my name, but he said, "Yeah, you're DM. I recognize your… everything." I didn't realize I was such a community figure! Walking up the hotel drop-off, I saw a familiar face coming out the front door. Fish started to tell me, "hey, that's…" but I didn't waste any time yelling, "ARTICULATE POTTY LID." Now that I was already surrounded by new Smogonites, I went in my bag and busted out an old friend and snapped some pictures. First TTS. Then dtrain. Fish and I had to convince them both it wasn't some sort of joke, and those wouldn't be the only times. We made our way up to our hotel room, and I walked in and met OmegaDonut (whom I called OD the entire weekend, and was the only one to do so). RC pic. You can tell he's a bit wary of the situation, but once Fish and I explained the car's history, he embraced the idea fully. I dropped all my crap off and empties my bladder, something I had been holding for hours. I was excited to meet up with everyone else, so Fish and I headed over to the other hotel. (Two Marriotts mere blocks from each other, so silly.) On the walk over, we bumped into some kid that Fish knew. I was introduced to Jeremy, and this was literally the only time I spoke with him the entire weekend. Fish wanted me to take an RC pic with him, so here it is. When we got to the other hotel, Fish realized the flaw in the plan: you can't ride the elevator up without a room key. He called Arti a bunch of times, but got no response, so he had to call skarm. skarm came down to get Fish and was pretty surprised to see me. After some greetings, we headed up to complete the surprise. Video It was really fun to surprise everyone… except no one was surprised. Arti had been in on the plan from the start, and chaos had let slip to Fishy and evan that I was coming. (Not that evan would have shown excitement anyway, hipsters aren't allowed to.) Fishy did still hug the crap out of me, which was really cool. TAY, rory, and Synre were all in the room also, deep in a game of pokemon mini-games or something. TAY and rory weren't surprised to me because they really didn't know me, and Synre wasn't surprised because… well, he wanted to win the game (plus he was not used to being recognized himself). Anyhow, with my grand entrance out of the way, I realized it was Synre sitting there, so I said hi to him, and then introduced myself officially to TAY and rory. We hung out there for a little bit and chatted it up, and eventually we decided to head to a place Fish knew called Scotty's Brewhouse. We rallied the troops and were eventually joined by tad and Dubulous (hereafter Dubs), and rejoined by TTS. I should mention that tad and I go way back, so when we finally met, he basically attacked me and hugged the SHIT out of me. Someone mentioned that Kongler was napping upstairs, so Fish and I led the group upstairs to see if he was interested in having some beers with us. The door was answered by ET in his boxers, telling us that Kongler was sleeping, but Fish, skarm and I sort of wedged ourselves into the room anyway so I could say hi. Kongler was indeed snoozing, but the second I walked in he looked up, saw me, and snapped right up to attention. I exchanged greetings with Kongler, and also with his buddy Kevin, who I was surprised to see again (he was also in NYC in 2006). Kongler said he would nap some more and try to come out later for some beers, so we let everyone get back to sleep and headed down to the lobby to regroup. (It should be noted that although evan agrees with me that getting lemon in your water is bullshit when you only order water, we both enjoyed the lemon-flavored water in the hotel lobby. It was just a huge jug of ice and water, filled completely with lemon wedges. It was like lemonade without sugar, very refreshing.) We set out on the "quick" walk to Scotty's. Turns out every time Fish said we were almost there, he was lying. It also turns out it was WELL worth the walk. We walked up and people were playing Cornhole (sack toss) right in front of the place, and there were tons of outdoor tables, as well as a giant square area of couches, all outside. We walked in and asked for a table and were told we'd get stuck in some back corner because we weren't all 21… and then I asked about the couches. Apparently they were fair game, so we obviously headed out to the VIP section. TTS, of course, had his laptop with him, so he hit up Scotty's free WiFi with TAY. Fishy and Arti hanging out with their non-alky beverages. We all sat in a row, so I was taking pictures left and right because I was in the middle. It looks like TAY is about to slap skarm on the knee. Fish and evan, having some big boy drinks! (There was a pitcher special that night, $10 each. CLUTCH.) We pretty much just hung out, drank, and talked about everything. I devoured and entire plate of loaded waffles fries, and let me tell you, after not eating for 8 hours, it was HEAVEN in my mouth. skarm, TAY, rory, Synre. Silly me! I forgot that I had just met a ton of new Smogonites, and I hadn't taken one RC pic. I went to work on that right away, knocking them off one by one. First tad. I was so happy, because right when I pulled the Red Corvette out of my pocket he got really excited. I think he was the only person I met (for the first time) all weekend who actually knew what was going on. Fishy. She obviously DIDN'T know. DUBS. evan. I was sitting right next to him, so I bogarted the picture a little bit for fun. I like the way it turned out. TAY, looking completely confused. Li'l rory! And finally, Synre. He was sitting at the far left end of the group and was separate from a lot of conversation, so I think this caught him off guard a little. With those out of the way, we could continue enjoying the fine Indy night. I had complained earlier that it was too hot for my Buffalonian body, especially with the humidity, but once it got later in the evening it began to cool down perfectly. The Indy down area is also very nice, I was surprised at how much I liked it. Here is a shot of our view from the couches. Empty pitchers, empty plates, full, happy stomachs. Dubs, Fish, evan, Fishy. Biffster showed up! Like I said before, I have e-known him forever, so it was great to meet him in person. He came with his friend Tyler, who is on the far left. I can't remember what's going on here, but I was talking to Fish about cameras and taking sneak attack pictures (as I like to do). Naturally, this was a sneak attack, just too bad it's blurry. Another RC pic! This time Tyler and Biffster. Not everyone was drinking beer, obviously, so the six of us who were sharing the pitchers wanted to get a group shot. I really like how this one turned out: skarm, TAY, DM, Fish, Arti, evan. Fishy had taken the last pic and wanted to be in one with us, so her and skarm switched. That was not the only time an underaged person held a beer that night. I gave Fishy a couple sips of mine throughout the night, and I heard later that rory had gotten his grubby little hands on some also. This led TTS to make a joking comment about me ending up in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison, but somehow when this message got back to me (like the game telephone) it turned out I was going to felony butt prison. (Running joke established.) This next one is a picture I hated at first, but love now. I mean, how can you dislike such a handsome group? ET eventually showed up as well and joined us in the festivities. We hung out Scotty's for a while, getting pitcher after pitcher. Every time someone would say we should stop getting beer, the waitress would come around and ask if we needed any more… and I'd get some. It's not that I'm an alcoholic or anything, I just ordered them because everyone was having a good time and didn't want to leave! Well, turns out I ended up getting everyone drunk while I myself took it pretty easy (I only had 5 or so). Around 1am we finally closed our tab and headed back to our respective hotels. I can't quite remember what this picture is of, but I'm pretty sure it's Arti sprinting through traffic to cross the street. Fish and I parted ways with everyone and headed back to our own hotel to bed down for the night. I had brought my sleeping bag (I never travel without it), so I threw that at the foot of OD's and was out for the night.
CHAPTER TWO: Saturday, June 26th We woke one by one early Saturday morning and showered up. Both Fish and OD were slated to be battling in the finals that day, so they both had to fill out their team sheets before the competition. Naturally, I got bored and took a video. Video Notice how Fish could just feel the camera and started to make a funny face/pose. Anyway, once those sheets were finished, the three of us geared up and headed down and over to the convention center, which was connected to the hotel by a simple walkway. Nice. Also, the Indiana Democratic Party was holding their convention in our hotel that same weekend, so they were just getting underway. (This will be important soon.) Once in the center, we wandered around the hallway outside the big battle room until we bumped into Huy, Duy, and godudette. I greeted them all warmly, but the Has were still a little sluggish from being up early out of their time zone. RC pic time, Huy first. godudette, my fierce karaoke competition! And last but certainly not least, Duy (nice, Fish). Fish, OD, and all the other Smogonite competitors got in line to register their teams while I took stock of the room we would be in all afternoon. Huge ceilings, a big roped-off area of tables with DSes for battling, and a bunch of TCG and other shenanigans on the other side. I bumped into Kongler again, and he showed me a paper Koffing some kid had made and given to him. It was apparently mine to carry around for a little while, so I wanted to see if I could mimic its facial expression. I think I did alright. And then… THE PINS. You probably noticed my super sweet avatar and were wondering, "what IS that?" Well my friend, that is the greatest pin the world has seen (just slightly better than the Nicolas Gazin pin). The Indiana Democrats had a man running for state Senate who just happened to share the moniker of our very own Jason Fisher-Short, so the guys had snagged some of his campaign pins the day before. What better for me to do than wear all three simultaneously with the man himself? While everyone was milling around and waiting for the competition to start, I was introduced to Ninahaza, who was quiet around me at first but soon opened up. Notice on the left of the picture is Sixfortyfive, who I didn't realize at the time was a Smogonite. Finally, the competition was underway! I followed all the Smogonites to their respective tables, noting whom each one was battling. I kept my eye on Fish, and it turned out he was fighting… Ninahaza. Damn. Huy also fought godudette the first round, which sucked. It was just the beginning of a long day of Smogonites knocking each other off. I was watching the battles with Arti, Fishy, evan, Dubs, and all the rest of the Smogonites who had not qualified for the finals. Someone in the group noticed rory was playing in the corner and his battle was on the TV, so we all ran over there. NOTE: skarm had named rory's team for him, and the ONE thing rory said the previous that he didn't want was to have his battle on the TV for everyone to see. Of course, it happened in the very first round. He also had one named xX LoRi Xx, which was my favorite. So, we watch rory fight this guy, and I decide to start rolling the camera, not only to watch the battle (as if I knew what was happening), but to watch everyone around me watch the battle. And then it happened… Video WOW. Self-crit with Surf. rory's reaction is absolutely priceless, we spent all day watching and re-watching this video, laughing our asses off each time. Needless to say, he went on to be victorious in this battle. The first round matches started winding down, with all the Smogonites emerging victorious (except for Ninahaza and godudette, but that wasn't their fault). After the battles ended, the competitors would come out and chat while they waited for all the battles of the round to finish. Here we are just hanging around: you can see a little bit of Tyler422 on the left, then Alaka, Huy, evan, Duy, skarm, Fishy, tad, and Synre. When they called the competitors in for the second round, we stayed in the corner where we were because OD and Imawario got matched up right in front of us. rory also eventually sat down at the same table, and I wondered aloud if he would end up fighting another Smogonite. Of course, over walks Fish to take his seat. TWO more intra-Smogon battles, it was starting to smell like the fix was in. I should have kept my mouth shut. We watched those battles, in which Imawario got some pretty bad hax. Sixfortyfive was there watching too, making goofy comments along with me (and also helping me understand what we were commenting on). Some of the other guys were watching a different battle, so I got a pic of the other part of the cheering section. At one point I was super hungry (our hotel had no breakfast of any kind), so I went with Arti out to the convention center's eatery. They all told me the pizza from Pizza (another running joke) was good, but it was all closed, so I settled on some giant turkey wrap from the coffee shop. Ugh. The first three bites made me want to just throw it at the lady at the coffee counter, but I eventually stomached the rest. About two hours and a few rounds later… I tried to line up a shot that got both Huy and Imawario in it. SUCCESS. Even got the back of mattj's head on the left, aren't I amazing? After hanging around with tyler422 most of the morning, I finally officially introduced myself. I knew who he was because I had been trolling the VGC forum in the week before the trip, so I got an RC pic. There was a giant Pikachu walking around the room all morning. I had sent my girlfriend a pic of it on my cell phone, and she demanded I pose with it. I walked over there and got a video of him posing with some other kids (I love the little dance he does). Video They cut off pictures with Pikachu RIGHT after those kids. Apparently the dude in the costume really needed a break, because they actually turned some little kid and his dad away. I never got another chance, and I consider it an opportunity MISSED. Back at the battles, it is now round seven, the final round of the Swiss round robin. As you might expect, two Smogonites on the cusp of making the final sixteen get paired up against each other: skarm and rory. The excitement in the room was palpable at this point, as this was a do or die battle for about half of the field of 62 entrants. Heavy stuff. The crowd had grown considerably in size. Who'da thunk pokemon could be a spectator sport? We all excitedly watched skarm fight rory, as their battle basically determined which of them moved on. It all came down to one exchange of moves, the very last turn, one poke against another… when RORY'S MOVE LEFT SKARM'S WITH A FRACTION OF LIFE. A huge surprised clamor of gasps and laughs came up from the crowd and skarm finished rory off with the next move. They both left the table in good spirits though, shaking hands and joking about the battle. True sportsmanship. rory said he was happy that if he was going to lose to anyone, at least it was skarm. I finally officially met Alaka at that point, although I had been following his battles all day. RC pic. Shortly thereafter, they posted the list of rankings, the entire field from 1 to 62. We were delighted to see the strong Smogon contingent in the top 16, meaning we would have a lot of people to root for on Sunday. The people on the list, as I know them: 1: BadIntent, 3: Huy, 5: PokemonMaster, 6: Kongler, 10: skarm, 12: mattj, 13: TTS, 14: Duy, 15: Alaka, and 16…. RORY! Yes indeed, the only 4-3 trainer to sneak through was our very own rory, thanks to the strength of his opponents. I REALLY wish I had been rolling my camera at this point, because after the trainers started to thin out around the posting, tad pushed his way to the front and checked the paper… and then turned around and started screaming "RORY! RORY! YEAH, RORY, WHERE ARE YOU!?" He pushed his way back out of the crowd, clotheslining man, woman, and child alike, until he found rory, whom he then picked up in a bearhug and started jumping around. It was one of my favorite Indy moments, and it really defines how great tad is. Some of the other Smogonites on the list: 17: Cybertron (sucks man, but someone had to be on the bubble), 19: TAY (should have been in the 16, but he'll rock out next year), 24: Ninahaza, 25: dtrain, 32: Fish, 34: Imawario (I talked with him constantly all day, after round three he already had a bad feeling about his day, nothing ever went right for him), 41: OD, 51: chalkey, 54: godudette. Every trainer played well and left it all on the field. Table. Whatever. It was still early, so we had a lot of day left. They took the top 16 aside to fill out paperwork and take pictures and whatnot, so the rest of us fooled around while we waited. Yep, that's me getting attacked by a Ho-oh and a… nother pokemon? Something. Anyway, they lined up the top 16 around Pikachu for some group pics, so I snuck in and took some as well. Every time I see Huy proudly holding his little car, I chuckle. No one was really ready for that first one, though, and they ended up taking about 23 pics, so I took another one. They had the final four trophies in a case near where they took the pictures, so Arti and I wandered over to check them out. Arti started at them longingly, knowing they could have been his, feeling in his heart of hearts that one day he, yes HE, would be the world pokemon master. I SWEAR THIS PIC IS NOT STAGED I had noticed earlier the awesome modifications Arti made to his Ducks shirt, and I finally got a pic of it. At that point, it was pretty much agreed upon that everyone was hungry, so we went to the eatery and all grabbed some food. I finally got some Pizza pizza, and I must say, although $4 a slice is ridiculous, it was surprisingly good. We went to the empty "free battle" room to finally get off our feet and rest up. Yes, I like taking pictures of my surroundings while I'm hanging out. Before long, the DSes started popping out and pokemon battles followed soon afterward. Dubs battled evan, TAY battled Arti, and I borrowed Fish's extra DS to but the stomp on Fishy's under-leveled team. (It was a complete mismatch, but DAMN did it feel good.) Then everyone switched dance partners (except me) and went again. Video It's funny: in years past, I would have been sitting there like a grumpy prick, commenting on how I was surrounded by "nerds" or "nerdery". It shows how far I've come that I was a willing participant in the nerdery. In the second battle, Fishy switched up her team and stomped me into the ground with a group of CK clones. THAT sucked. (This led to me naming my rival "CK" during my current Fire Red run.) Our table grew pretty big and full of Smogonites, so I tried to get a picture of the entire group. We had been discussing since the night before the upcoming Ghana-USA soccer game and had planned on watching it, so the soccerphiles in the group decided we'd watch the game at the Champions sport bar located right across the street in our hotel. We rolled in about 20 strong, which took the hostess by surprise a little bit. They put us in the back by the second (empty) bar, but would NOT allow us to move the tables together, so we ended up sitting in groups of 4-6. (We eventually softened up the waitress a little to let us merge tables, no thanks to TAY.) I sat with Synre, Arti, Ninahaza, TAY, and rory, and poor rory was exhausted from staying up all night working on his team. I was parched, so I ordered a beer. (I was the only one at my table to do so, and I got some weird looks.) The waitress asked me what size I wanted, and when I inquired about the sizes, she said: "16 ounce, 22 ounce, or 32 ounce." Um, DUH. Give me the barrel of beer, thank you very much. I ended up having four of those for a grand total of 128 ounces of delicious, refreshing beer. There was a man and a young girl sitting at a table with tyler422 and Alaka whom I didn't know, so I asked Arti who they were. When he told me it was mingot, the bulb flashed on in my head. I had forgotten he was even going! Next time he walked by, I got an RC pic. (Please note on the TV the Ghana pussy rolling around pretending to be hurt.) Shortly thereafter, USA was awarded a penalty kick for a bad Ghana tackle. I had a feeling Landon Donovan would score, so I started rolling on the camera. What I didn't expect to capture was the aftermath of TAY's rampage. You can hear me at the beginning of the video telling the waitress to put the plate near me; when she went to do so, Landon scored, TAY raised his fists in the air triumphantly… and punched the plate of spinach artichoke dip right out of her hands and all over the table. He got a bunch on Ninahaza's keyboard and nearly put the rest right in Synre's lap. In the video, you can see him ashamedly covering his face while I obliviously celebrate our goal. (Another running joke established: TAY punches waitresses.) Video USA would go on to lose the game after extra time, which was quite heartbreaking to everyone left in the room (some of the other guys had gone back to the con center to watch the junior division). In need of a diversion from our patriotic sadness, we headed over to the darts machines and started just messing around. Fishy and I had a little competition (without putting money in) to see who could score more points in a round. We played first to ten, and she ended up winning 10-8. Don't be surprised that a hayseed can throw darts, it's in their blood. After that, I gave some pointers to Ninahaza, who ended up throwing some very good darts with my help. There were also two arcade basketball games next to each other, so, being competitive in nature, we had ourselves a bunch of little mini tourneys. I was slow at first and lost to evan (or was it Fishy?), but once I found my stroke I got into a groove and put up big points. Synre, defying all gay logic, was the master of the game. At some point, Sixonesix rejoined the group, as he had been with us earlier at lunch. I hadn't had a chance to meet him then, so I quickly got an RC pic. evan had indeed brought his guitar to Indy, and he had been patiently carrying it around with him all morning at the con center (because we figured we'd go back to my room and jam sometime). Turns out he carried it for naught, for the group all went back to HIS room after we left Champions. I grabbed Sofia (my guitar) from my room and brought it with me, and we had a full-on jam session. I showed him a bunch of songs I knew, he played me some of his band's stuff, and we just rocked out. I had wanted to play and sing and everything, but both of us had spent the whole morning and afternoon screaming at the Smogonite trainers, so our voices were pretty shot. Eventually, someone in the room suggested we sing the pokemon theme song. mingot found the tab on the internet on his phone, and I slightly altered/corrected the chords. mingot then got us the lyrics, and evan and I quickly learned it and shared it with everyone. The following is the result of our diligent work. Video There was plenty more playing, and mingot also got a short video of me messing up "I Will Survive" by Donna Summer. We hung out in the room a while longer, and after we finished jamming we all got in on a pokemon trivia game ET had set up on the N64. I somehow got 3 questions right by completely guessing, which was the same amount some people got when they actually knew their pokemon. After a while, we all got the itch to go out and get yet ANOTHER meal, so we headed back to the TGI Fridays that everyone had eaten at on Thursday. At one point, ET asked if he could borrow my camera for a minute. He and Fishy disappeared, and when they came back I had the following on my camera. ET had found this poster on his way to the men's room and really wanted a picture with it. Fishy made him take another one, this time with him looking "longingly" at it. Dinner went without much of a hitch, aside from everyone changing their orders at the last second (me included) which made the food take forever to come out. But I have to say, it was WELL worth it. We all got that 3-course for $12.99 deal, and it was AWESOME. My pot stickers ruled, the Santa Fe salad kicked ass, and the vanilla bean cheesecake… oh. My. GAWD. I believe you have already seen what Fishy and I thought of the cheesecake. It might very well be the best cheesecake I have ever tasted. If I lived near a TGI Fridays, I would probably be about 25 pounds heavier by now, already. TAY had been talking to evan earlier about his iPod, and being the brave boy he is, he brought it to dinner for evan, Dubs, and I (Three Little Indiens) to rate. RMi was a good time, probably not so much for TAY though. evan was very tough on him, giving him a 4 out of 10, while Dubs was a little more generous with his 6. I was going with a 4.5, but rounded it up to 5 to give him a nice average score of 5. Simply put, if he deletes Lady Gaga my score will automatically raise to a 6. Fish and I had wanted to go off on our own for some quality time, and ET had also talked about going out after the meal for some adult beverages that were NOT Coors Light, so we tried to figure out where we could go. Dubs had been planning on having people up to his room (in our hotel) to watch the Big Lebowski and drink White Russians, which was also a pretty good idea. Fish and I decided to head back to our room to figure out what our next move was. We met up with OD there, who we thought would be asleep. He showed me a picture of himself on Facebook that will not be shared here, but that definitely solidifies his status in the Handsome Club of Smogon. The three of us eventually headed up to Dubs's room to see what everyone was up to. Everyone was pretty much hanging out, about to watch the Big Lebowski. We figured heading back out to bars for drinks was a poor idea, as everything was going to be a good walk from the hotel and it was all going to close in an hour anyway. I felt bad for not being able to get beers with ET, so next time he and I hang out I owe him a Stella Artois, or Heineken, or whatever classy brew he so desires. Dubs had gone out and gotten the milk to mix with the booze, so our own Lebowskifest was about to happen. Dubs wasn't sure of the proper mixing amounts, so he nominated me as the bartender. I made a couple White Russians and asked who wanted them; rory and Sixonesix took those. I made a couple more and handed them out, and then made one for myself. Before I had even sat down, rory held up his empty lowball glass and asked for another drink. A second later, Sixonesix did the same. rory commented on how delicious the drink was: "It tastes just like chocolate milk!" Heh. Teenagers. After I made those and gave them back, we got the movie rolling on Dubs's laptop. evan and I had a definite problem with saying all the lines out loud right before they were said in the movie, but overall everyone was enjoying the hell out of it anyway (except Fishy, who had fallen asleep, and OD, who smartly went back downstairs to bed). We were only about a half hour into the movie when I realized that both rory and Sixonesix had put down three White Russians each. I admit I was making them strong, but that's just the way I prefer them. I probably should have taken my customers in account, because I noticed rory was getting a little… goofy. Sixonesix was fine, he was his usual, quiet self. After that, I cut rory off and gave his next drink to evan instead. The movie eventually ended, but I don't think we were paying it much attention anymore at that point. Everyone was exhausted, rory was drunk, and the rest of us were getting tipsy. rory went on the internet on a phone and attempted to post a visitor message on evan's wall, instead posting complete gibberish. Video rory, though, was a champ, and stayed awake much longer than other people in the room. dtf indeed. At long last, I said goodnight to all the crazy kids and went back downstairs to my own room to sleep on the floor one last time. I think I finally conked out at about 4:30am, about the same time rory did. Of course, I didn't have to battle an undefeated BadIntent in four hours. CHAPTER THREE: Sunday, June 27th I heard someone in the room get up and walk by me for a shower, so I figured all three of us would be heading down together. I had an alarm set for 8am, but I groggily turned that right off and went back to sleep. I was awoken by my phone ringing at a little after 9am by none other than chaos himself. He had been in Indy on Friday before I got there, had left for a wedding and had now returned for the festivities. He told me that the first round was already over and three Smogonites had already been knocked out of the tourney. I got up pretty quickly then and found Fish was still in bed as well, just waking up. I threw on some clothes and headed out the door, leaving Fish behind to shower. (I couldn't be bothered.) I walked into the battle room slowly, still shaking off the sleep, and saw everyone standing in a group. They called my name and laughed at me a bit, which was fine. Then I saw chaos, and he came running up to me WAY too quickly and gave me a nice big bear hug. As you can see, the sleep in still in my eyes at this point. chaos wanted me to take pictures of him with other people in the group, so here is him with Arti and evan. Fish came over shortly thereafter, so chaos got a picture with him also. We had heard the bad news: Huy and Duy, being 3rd and 14th seeds (respectively) were forced to play each other in the first round, with Duy being defeated. Deagle had beaten Kongler in the first round as well, and lastly, TTS had lost to some Quick Claw hax. The field of Smogonites had almost been cut in half right away. The second round was underway, and unfortunately we were about to lose one more Smogonite: skarm and Alaka were in the same bracket and got matched up together. Behind them, Huy takes on Deagle. Unfortunately, Huy also lost to Deagle, who was turning into quite the Duck-killer (EnFuego would be proud). There was also some last-minute excitement in the Alaka-skarm match (I'm sure you can read one of their stories to hear about it) with skarm narrowly pulling out the win, but I JUST missed recording it. It's worth it just for me learning Ninahaza's name, though. Video At this point, all my so-called "friends" decided to pick on poor sleepless DM. I kicked my flip-flop at someone in mock frustration… bad idea. chaos picked it up and started playing keepaway with Arti, Synre, and evan. (Fishy's video details this entire awful ordeal perfectly.) I did eventually get it back… and then put it on TTS's backpack and blamed him for everything. Needless to say, he was pretty surprised. Fish and Duy came back from outside the battle room with a special gift for chaos. Only two are in purple because Duy got sick of the color. chaos asked me for another picture, this time with skarm and TTS. Huy made a special appearance as well. Because I had basically become the videographer, skarm and TTS asked me to get a picture of them. At this point, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the entire group. Alaka was still in the competition, so we had to take the picture with him standing behind the barrier. Kongler and Kevin must have been outside smoking because no one could find them, but we went ahead and took the picture. I asked a girl I had been talking with to take the picture for us; it turned out to be Nekusagi, who lurked and knew Smogon. We gave her about 4 or 5 cameras and cell phones at first to take pictures, and she did an admirable job. Front row: Duy, Huy, godudette, Fishy, Dubs, ET. Back row: Synre, Sixonesix, skarm, TAY, evan, rory, Alaka, tad, DM, chaos, Arti, Fish. As Nekusagi took the pictures, someone noticed there were other Smogonites standing nearby who weren't in the picture, so they ran over. They also gave Nekusagi 3 or 4 more cameras/phones to use, and she never once complained. Added back left: dtrain, Cybertron Added front left: Blue Cookes, POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN – front right: OD, evan's guitar She took one more on mine after people stopped posing, but I might like it better because it's in better focus. Back to the action! Alaka was about to take on Deagle in the semi-finals, so we grabbed our front-row seats for the action. OD was interviewed by emcee Nick McCord. They ran out of chairs, so some devoted Smogonites took to the floor to watch the battle. chaos needed to get comfortable, so he used rory as a footrest. Deagle beat Alaka the first round, but Alaka was not deterred. Spurred on by our consistent (and incredibly obnoxious) chants of "ALAKA! ALAKA!" he came back strong and won the second battle, pushing the best of 3 series to a final, winner-take-all fight. Of course, I recorded only the end of the battle. Video The third battle started poorly for Alaka. Deagle got a little bit of luck early on and moved out to what seemed like a comfortable and possibly insurmountable advantage. I was recording everyone's reactions to the match, when all of a sudden… Video POWER OUTAGE. Yes, if you can believe it, the power to all the DSes completely shit the bed, leaving all four competitors completely bewildered (and Deagle, I imagine, pretty pissed). We praised and gave thanks to the pokegods (or ET, whoever might have been responsible), because this meant Alaka would have one more chance at the third battle! They moved all the competitors to new tables and had them restart their matches. We all picked up and moved over to the corner to watch the match on a different TV. Just then, ET returned from his secret trip with a present for chaos. PITAS! chaos was ecstatic, and he let Deagle know the party was about to start. By then, chaos had been given what would be his prize for the weekend, the paper Koffing, so he asked me for a picture with ET and his new friend. With the battle underway (and no chairs in sight), the Smogonite cheering section watched the battle unfold from the floor in high spirits. Naturally, it wasn't long before li'l rory conked out. I guess four hours of sleep, along with a hangover, might be too much for him. The battle itself was incredibly exciting, with a bunch of stuff happening. (I have no idea, read their stories.) It came down to the end, Deagle's two pokes against Alaka's Blissey, when all of a sudden the Smogonite cheering section became more and more animated. I couldn't understand what was happening, until chaos said next to me: "It's over. Alaka won." Video He had done it! Alaka had overcome all odds and beaten Deagle to move on to the finals. Congradulaciens treiner! Video chaos gave Alaka the rest of the pita as a prize for his accomplishment. We milled around while we waited for them to set up the final battle. I saw chaos head over to talk to mattj, so I thought it was the perfect time to tag along and meet him as well. I wasted no time getting a Red Corvette pic. mattj was pretty cool, definitely much cooler than the Firebot persona he has made for himself. After chaos saw the Red Corvette come out, he demanded a picture with it. I told him we didn't need to because I had probably done it when I visited him in Kentucky, but to be sure we took it anyway. I thought chaos wanted an action shot, so this is him driving the Red Corvette up into the air off the Koffing. He thought that was awful, so we took another one. A slight improvement, I suppose. The time had come for the final battle. Alaka and his opponent, Wes, were moved over to two podiums in the middle of the huge room. Our group split up, with half in the very front and my half toward the back. I tried to take a picture of the two trainers when IT showed up. Nick McCord: "LOOK WHO'S HERE!" And then the evil thing waddled out onto the stage. Seriously, how fucking CREEPY can you get? Now I know why rory was so scared of that thing. It didn't take long before rory fell asleep and missed the finals. I suppose this is where I mention that Nick McCord is HILARIOUS. I can't do justice in this story, but he had us dying with laughter. As he had done with the juniors final, Nick narrated the entire match, move by move. That would have been funny enough, explaining pokemon through a loudspeaker, but the things he would say, his little repeated catch phrases, things like: "IT'S A REVOLVING DOOR OF POKEMON!" just had us in stitches. My personal favorite (note my CT) was at the end of a turn, when the screen showed the battle message "Rain continues to fall on the field." Nick wasted no time announcing: "Ladies and gentlemen, there is RAIN FALLING on the FIELD." You couldn't ask for a better face for the tournament, Nick did a great job and I look forward to seeing him at future events. Long story short, Wes was pretty amazing and beat Alaka two matches to zero. The Smogonite cheering section kinda had the wind taken out of its sails, but we were proud not only with Alaka placing 2nd, but with how well Smogon did as a whole. With the final battle over, I was facing a long drive home. It was just past noon, and it was going to take 7-8 hours to get home, so I had to leave soon. As I have done at every Smocon, I took one last video to get everyone's final thoughts on the trip. Video Fish and Fishy had wanted me to take a picture of them all weekend long, so we finally got our chance to do that. Also, I know Synre is gay and all, but he is TOTALLY creeping on Fishy's ass. Another picture I had wanted throughout the weekend was a "Make CK Jealous" picture. I told Fishy to gaze at me longingly, and I just improvised my own pose. (I'm guessing you've already seen this in Firebot, in what is probably the best thread EVER,) It would have been incredibly remiss of me not to get a picture of the original Men of Room 3360, the Smocon Buds. I must say, the three of us have never looked so handsome as we do here. chaos was posing with TAY and rory for someone else's camera, so I snapped a picture of them too. I went around and gave goodbye hugs to everyone. My favorite was Synre; I shook his hand and said, "What, you're not going to hug me?" and he replied "Well, I wasn't sure." Bitch PLEASE. It's just like I told Hipmonlee back in the day: Smogonites don't shake hands, Smogonites HUG. I sadly said goodbye to the group and walked out of the battle room for the last time. Fish came with me to help me get all my stuff back down to my car. Walking down the hallway, Fish asked me for my camera and said "you NEED a picture with your head in that mouth." So here I am, getting eaten by Totodile. It was still hungry though, so it got Fish too. I got all packed up and said goodbye to OD, who had been in the room. Fish helped me put my stuff in my car, gave me a hug goodbye, and sent me on my way. I made one last entry in my video log. Video The trip home was long, boring, and incredibly depressing. I already missed the shit out of everyone in Indy and wanted to turn around and go back. Add to the mix the torrential downpour I drove through for about 5 hours, and yeah, I've had much better evenings. I finally made it back to Buffalo after an 8-hour drive, dragged myself in the door and went right to my computer and got on irc. Some of the guys from Indy were chatting, so I contented myself to converse with them in that manner, although we had just been face to face earlier that very day. EPILOGUE: The weekend in Indianapolis was absolutely amazing. I met a whole slew of awesome new Smogonites, met a bunch of OLD Smogonites that I had known for years, and re-established relations with some that had drifted away. Although it was incredibly sad to come home, I came back with a renewed sense of purpose on Smogon. I had stopped posting and chatting because I wasn't enjoying myself anymore, but now that I have been exposed not only to more pokemon, but also to the next generation of Smogonites, I see that I still have a place in this community. I loved everyone I met in Indy, and I cherish the time we spent together there. I once again see myself as a worthwhile part of Smogon. I may no longer be an authoritative figure, but I'm excited to once again be active and give back in the relatively few ways I know how. I am glad to be a part of the solution, part of the future, rather than a part of the past, muttering grumpy nostalgic statements and shaking my cane at everyone. Additionally, watching the competition in Indy has lit a fire under my ass to play pokemon! I am now going through Fire Red again, and have already logged WAYYY too many hours leveling every pokemon I catch. Each one is named after a Smogonite I like, and I haven't even come close to running out of names. That's a testament to this community and how close-knit it always has been, and always will be. I look forward to everything that is to come, but I ESPECIALLY look forward to the VGCs next year, when I will be competing and winning it all. You've all been put on notice. COUNT IT. ...And he lived happily ever after, for the rest of his days.
i was totally in the room when you showed up, thinking "who the hell is that why don't i know." later when you were in kong's room i asked alison who you were and she was like "WHAT THAT'S DM." ohhhhhhh. that's when i gained enough confidence to start contributing to conversations around you, heh. great story man. can't wait for cedar point if you decide to come!
I can't tell you how upset I am that I missed out on Nationals this year. If I didn't have the Colorado trip with my fraternity brothers already planned out, I so would've been there. Anyway, great story DM. I was especially cracked up by the waitress punching ("OH LANDON"). Reading through it makes me that much more disappointed that I missed out. I WILL meet you and the rest of the gang again next year. Also, Jeremy's online name is Bonta-kun. Fish, Paul, DTrain, the Ha's, and I hung out a bunch with him at Nats last year. He won the 2008 competition in NYC, thus winning a trip to Worlds that year.
Yeah so this was pretty much the best. I don't think there's anything more i can contribute to this thread that you haven't already said. It was really amazing to finally get the chance to meet you, go out for a few (or more) beers, and discuss indie. The best part? we were both so loud that everyone had to just sit there and listen to us. Take that IRC. Awesome story. Till next year?????? also, in case anyone was wondering just what it is rory was trying to write on my visitor messages: http://www.smogon.com/forums/converse.php?u=14771&u2=524
HEY DM. haha just playing look here men, i am work and my brake is almost done.....so all i could take in for now was the pictures and the beginning up to the characters and all i can say from just that is..........i really need to take a brake from taking pictures in the future so i can BE IN pictures, haha i missed out on soo many of your picture moments :(. anyways i cant wait to get home and read this epic story
A few things: 1) All these pictures broke my internet B) Shame there is no way to 6 Star a thread. It was great to meet you and you definitely sparked a lot of the great times this weekend. All on a gallon of beer!
Amazing story DM. It was a shame that we barely got to hang out in Indy but next year I'll fix that and tag along with the group more. Reading this makes me miss Indy so much :(.
Oh my goddd, I'm kinda upset that I am initially seeing this on my phone's browser, ugh, but godDAMN does it make me so excited to get home and enjoy this thread more thoroughly! I have yet to see all the videos at all, while the rest is just in much poorer resolution. There have been numerous threads containing war-stories and fond memories of that weekend, but this by far makes my heart ache the most. The pictures bring me back, and I know the videos will make me smile widely and sigh heavily. It was just really awesome to meet so many people I've known for a while online, in person. It's funny thinking about the age difference between all of the smogoners that went, but when we're all brought together by something as childish yet awesome as pokemon, who cares? We're all people that share a huge common interest, and it's enough to excite us and really enjoy each other's company. I'll never get tired of gushing over what a fantastic weekend that was. edit: just watched all the videos, oh god, is my voice ever piercing and giggly all the time!! pros: rory crit, evan being a hipster douchebag, DM BEING EXCITED OVER UNDERSTANDING POKEMON, "blue type," alaka chanting, everything?? cons: THAT WE'RE NOT STILL THERE maaaan
Fantastic read! I love the car, Im a big fan of toy voyagers myself (should have taken my traveling pony!) Excellent read and awesome pictures! very enjoyable!
DM it was a pleasure to finally meet you! I knew how you looked like so it was no surprise when Fish introduced us. That red corvette though was pretty awesome haha. Like Duy said I also plan to hang out with you next time since you were a pretty cool guy to be around. I look forward to seeing you at future VGC events!
man, nobody chronicles a weekend better than you adam. this was yet another incredible episode in the love affair that is smocon. i'll have to watch the big lebowski properly one of these days...
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, how many times do I have sort this out - LordS is MY clone!! What do I have to do to get some respect around here, go on at awe inspiring length about drugs and/or money?? Make a softcore porn thread??? I mean I'm open to ideas here! I brought him here, damn it! He is just the gayer version of me that claims to like girls, the one who's gonna be that guy at the 10 year reunion where everyone is like "man who is that" because we don't recognize him in his corset. ilu alex you know im kidding come kidney shot shit for me ok I hear you on driving in Ohio, man. Shit fucking sucks there... I end up there once a year or so to visit some family down there and it never fails to be agonizing. Especially because the cops actually observe the speed limit there, none of that "ehhh whatevs you can go like 10 over" shit that happens in real states. also i'm sorry man i'll be surprised and/or overjoyed when you show up NEXT YEAR i just really hate losing ok unless im playing a game again, then you're on your own bro also i really regret not commenting on your hat. I was trying to figure out a Sabres burn for like an hour and never really thought of something that satisfied me. Next time... also i think next year i'm going to need to wear contacts that don't make my eyes light up like some sort of nuclear explosion every time you take a picture of me jesus christ ha hahah hahahahahahahahaha bahahahahahahahahahaahhaha also it took me so long to figure out where i was during the first rory match vid and then it was like "ohhhhh right! I slept through the first round!" fuck what was i possibly looking at ~_~ gonna blame the sleep loss or maybe she just has a nice ass alright FUCK
Wow this was FANTASTIC! ^_^ Great account of the weekend. Props to you. Ohmygosh is my RC photo creepy. XD And what is this I don't even you heard about Huy and I being cutesy? Who the heck is spreading these rumors... I demand a post detailing them. =P And you pretty much hit the nail on the head with driving through Ohio. It sucks. So boring and flat and just blah... at least Alan and I had each other for something more exciting than the surroundings. It just took foreverrrrr to get thru the state. So the Pokemon Theme Song video was pretty darn impressive. One of my favorites. And the whole thing with the drinking in the hotel room... lol at Rory. Kinda glad I wasn't there- I just know it would have turned out horrible for me. But Sixonesix-- dude we saw him downstairs after you guys all gave up the partying and hahahahahahahahahaha Ohmygosh you got the Deagleeeeeee from mattj on video after the second match XD I'd hoped had that on camera somewhere. And the pitas... oh gosh. I definitely should have taken videos or something of the weekend- I feel somewhat silly for never considering that! I loved the final thoughts video as well- it was super cute. I liked how it showed the majority of the Smogonites that were attending in it... just a great conclusion video. ^_^ Uhm yup basically this was a super lovely story and I'm glad you finally put it up. ^_^ It was fantastic meeting you and thank you very much for the CD. You're one sweet awesome dude and it was great that you could come. And get ready. Karaoke is back up. Who's making it to finals?!?!?!? BRING IT. Lol jk. <3
DM for official Smogon historian maybe? Your stories are nothing short of spectacular each and every time, and you do a perfect job capturing the true essence of each of these events. I'm glad we got finally got to meet, though it's kind of a shame we didn't get to spend more time together. Next year though! Also cutesy eh? I am not cutesy. I am suave. =X


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Sporting Goods & Apparel for Men - Gifts for the Fitness & Health Nut
Gift Buzz
Leos love being treated like royalty and lavished with all things extravagant, big and attention-grabbing like brand names and genuine leather goods. You can also cater to Leo�s playful side by giving the hottest new backyard game or a special... Read More »
Give Geminis anything that helps them communicate or sparks their imagination. They crave knowledge and experiences so they would welcome the chance to learn or try something new. Also, they love variety so you may want to give a bunch of... Read More »
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Ricolino is currently sold in Mexico nationally and it�s also exported into the U.S. and Central America, and achieving a strong position in all outlets associated with quality, flavor and fun. In the Mexican market, Ricolino is the indisputable leader with products like Paleta Payaso, Lunetas, Bubulubu, and Duvalin, besides their line of gummies, due to the versatility of the line.
Ricolino�s story began in 1968 when Ricolino was known as Barcel and by that time the first Paletas Payaso (Clown lollipops), Chocolates y Turrones (Nuggats) already existed. In the year of 1970 Lorenzo and Robert Servitje�s had a the vision of creating and incorporating Barcel into Grupo bimbo, intending to build a pillar of great importance and profitability, which would consolidate the sustainable growth of the organization by integrating the markets of snacks and sweets.
In 1977, seven years later, the Servitje�s brothers decided to split Barcel, S.A. de C.V, that way the Barcel brand will specialize solely in salty snacks and Ricolino would be the brand to be used exclusively for the segment of sweet and chocolates. With this they gave a detailed approach to each market segment.
The company changed is name from Barcel to Dulces y Chocolates Ricolino S.A. de C.V. in 1978 at which the company had Moritas in its inventory, and released their first Bubulubu. By 1985 the company distributed its products at a national level. Ricolinos most popular products were Paleta Payaso, Bubulubu and Kranky, that began innovating in the market at that time.
Subsequently in 1989 the oportunity of a bigger production and distribution for their products was opened with the opening of the plant in Toluca. In December of that year, Ricolino incoporates the candied category, which will allow the brand to grow as well as increase the product portfolio. In 2004, Ricolino added Duvalin, Bocadin and Lunetas to its product catalog.
The products from Ricolino like Bubulubu, Paleta Payaso y Krany has revolutionized the candy industry with their presence in Mexico and the United States. Always innovative, Ricolino sets the trends in products that make children happy, like gum, covered candies and gummies. Ricolino satisfies the imagination and taste of children with an extensive range of amazing products because of their flavor and very creative variety of forms and presentations.
Ricolino has factories located in Mexico City, San Luis Potosi, Cholula, Matehuala, Toluca y Naucalpan, in addition to the one in the city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
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Paleta Payaso and Bubulubu, Kranky y Pasitas, Pecositas, Dulcigomas, Panditas, Frutigo, Just Fruttie, Moritas, and Gomilocas(Gummies in different shapes: teeth, pinguins, chicken legs, frogs), Chocoplays, chocosorpresa and Bocadin, Duvalin, Duvaleta, Almendras (candy and chocolate covered almonds), Lunetas and Chocoretas. Other products of Ricolino are: Mango Taps, Monedas, Moritas, DulciGomas, Chutazo, Pikaros, Xtreme Fruits. New products include: Chili Pop, Frupicosa, FrutiGomas, Gomilocas Hamburgesas, GomiPezk, and Super Fruty.
As an integral part of Grupo Bimbo, Ricolino is a company that�s committed to its consumers, customers and suppliers. Ricolino is a company who offers added value in all its products.
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(CE:1204b-1205a) HAMBURG PAPYRUS (State and University Library of Hamburg, inventory no. Papyrus bilinguis 1 [Pap. bil. 1]; no. 998, according to the list of Greek manuscripts in the Gottingen Septuagint project), papyrus consisting of twenty-eight leaves (fifty-six pages) of an originally extensive codex. In the first part fragments of a previously unknown version of the Greek Acta Pauli are preserved on eleven pages. This text was published in 1936 by C. Schmidt and W. Schubart. The second part contains forty-five pages of fragments of Old Testament writings in the Coptic and Greek languages: Song of Songs in Coptic (seven pages), Lamentations of Jeremiah in Coptic (ten pages), as well as Ecclesiastes in Greek (fourteen pages) and Coptic (fourteen pages). The place where the papyrus was found has not been determined with certainty, and the same can be said of the time of discovery. The papyrus scroll came into the possession of the State and University Library of Hamburg in 1927. The leaves of the codex measure about 10.5 inches (26 cm) long and 8 inches (20 cm) wide. The length and breadth of the space covered by writing on the separate pages amounts to about 8.5 inches by 6.2 inches (22 cm by 15.5 cm). The pages of the Greek sections of the text have an average of thirty-five lines; those of the Coptic part, an average of thirty-two lines of text. The script is in at least two different hands and can be dated to about A.D. 400. The conservation work by H. Ibscher revealed that the surviving fragmentary codex was made up of four quaternions (gatherings of four double leaves [eight leaves or sixteen pages]), preserved only in parts. The dialect of the papyrus was designated Old Fayyumic by C. Schmidt. Accordingly it was given the siglum "Fo" in R. Kasser (1964, p. xvii). Kasser now classifies it as Fayyumic subdialect F 7 in his system. It is possible that Pap. bil. 1 was not a codex destined for liturgical usage in the church but a school exercise. Various criteria indicate this, such as the nature and character of the writing, mistakes made in the hand of the pupil scribe, and corrections by the teacher. The composition of the writings preserved in the fragmentary codex allows one to suppose that the original from which it was copied was an ecclesiastical book of devotion or a lectionary. A comparison between the Greek Ecclesiastes and the Coptic Ecclesiastes of Pap. bil. 1 and of both texts with Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209 (B), as well as other great Septuagint codices, points to a closer affinity of the Greek Vorlage of Coptic Ecclesiastes to B than can be observed in Greek Ecclesiastes transmitted in the same codex. At all events, Greek Ecclesiastes is not the Vorlage of the Coptic version of Ecclesiastes in the Hamburg papyrus (on this see B. J. Diebner). The Coptic versions of Pap. bil. 1 of Song of Songs, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes are important in the investigation of early Coptic dialects. They also have significance for the history of the text of the Old Testament and not least for the history of interpretation, since the examination of the technique of the Coptic translators offers a glimpse of the interpretation of Old Testament texts in the Coptic church of the third and fourth centuries. BERND J. DIEBNER
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Fair ~ High: 72°F ~ Low: 37°F Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2014 |
Trying to make sense of the 'corn road' and school board bid snafuPosted Thursday, April 29, 2010, at 1:59 PM
It's been an eventful week in the newsroom and elsewhere.
Many questions were raised in two particular stories that I covered. First, we had a county road in Fairplay Township reported to be planted in corn -- an obvious encroachment on county property that has been taking place for "several" years, according to word that was received by the Greene County Commissioners on Monday morning. Now why does this not surprise me too much? It was kind of funny at the onset, but it's rather disturbing when you consider that this particular -- hardly-maintained county dirt road -- has actually been planted in corn and possibly other grain crops several times before. Current tenants to the land is Cornelius Farms from Daviess County. It is supposed to be on a county map somewhere as a road, but I'm told that officials haven't been able to locate it yet. The commissioners have apparently never taken formal action to officially close the road, so it remains a county road, not an extension to some contracted farmer's field. The commissioners appeared surprised when a not-to-happy farming neighbor -- Arnold Graves -- brought the matter to their attention in a public meeting. You'd think someone would have noticed or at least asked a few questions before the ground was plowed and seed dropped in the ground for another year. One commissioner kind of blew it all off and questioned what can be done about the situation since the planting already had been done. What kind of logic is that? On the same day, a story surfaced about an alleged and forthcoming "payoff" by the Bloomfield School District to a contractor, who's low bid was shunned on a house demolition project near the school campus. We confirmed that talks between an attorney for the school and legal counsel for a Linton businessman are under way to settle a rather sticky situation. The businessman was asked to figure up his anticipated profit margin on a job that he never won a contract for. He says the school wants to "compensate" him in that amount to avert a future lawsuit. That figure exceeds $1,000. We understand that the cash to pay the rejected low bidder is coming from insurance funds, but that's still money that will come back to bite the taxpayers when the insurance company hikes the school district's premium because of this claim -- to cover its backside. The story actually dates back to February, when the bids or quotes were opened by the school board. All of the bids were taken under advisement initially. The next month -- after negotiating a price with the next lowest bidder -- Riley Terrell Lawn Service -- the board awarded the contract to tear down five vacant homes that will be used for future school projects. It seems the school board didn't like the low bid from a Linton-based land clearing business, which was more than $1,500 under the next lowest quote. There was even talk among the board members that a reason for seeking another bid/quote was that the low bidder wasn't a local company. Is Linton not local when it comes to proximity to Bloomfield? I know the good old White River is wide in places and runs deep, but come on, a Linton business has to be regarded as local, if the county is ever going to prosper. Let's understand that the board didn't even have to bid the demolition project out legally -- because it fell under a $25,000 threshold. But when it was carried out by a sealed bid, you would have thought it would have been handled different -- rather than authorizing the superintendent to simply negotiate a better price. The superintendent did just that. He came back at the March meeting with a price that was $1 less than the lower bidder on both the base and alternate bids. I can tell you the superintendent followed the wishes of the majority of the board, who voted 6-1 to accept the negotiated price. Details of the transaction could surface at the school board's regular meeting on Thursday night. There are plenty of lessons to be learned here and they are the kind of lessons you won't find in a school book. Was the action legal? Yes, it was. Was the action ethical? That's where the question marks start popping up. Was the action a smart way to do business in a small community? Definitely not. Nick is the assistant editor for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or by e-mail at email@example.com. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] As an employee of another school corp. I know that every penny spent by a school is gone over by the state board of accounts. I wonder how the supt. is going to explain 1000.00 in "payoff money"? -- Posted by maggiemay50 on Fri, Apr 23, 2010, at 9:03 AM
just another example of the division in the county east vs west. Come on people we all live in the same county!!! -- Posted by ladycoach on Fri, Apr 23, 2010, at 10:12 AM
I think that paying off on the profit margin for the upset businessman is rediculus. I say let him sue. As you said, the board's actions were legal. He won't win. -- Posted by Question? on Fri, Apr 23, 2010, at 10:34 AM
The way this was handled is very disturbing. If you start a bidding process that does not need to be started aren't you bound to the process? What happens in the future? This could bring the people involved to the fore front of any questionable procedures. Did the board know about this or was the superintendent told to do it and he/she brought to the board as a low bid without them knowing how it became the low bid? My guess is the superintendent in question is going to blame someone else, when in fact it was their idea to show the bids to the eventual winner. I do not agree with suing the school but all the people involved owe an apology to the business that was ethically slighted. The superintendent also needs to be reprimanded and this placed on his record for future review. In the end this was handled poorly and the process should be started over. -- Posted by Hedley Lamarr on Fri, Apr 23, 2010, at 11:22 AM
Why bid the project out if you're just gonna negotiate and put extra conditions on it afterwards? The purpose of the bidding process is to get the lowest price that meets your proposal. You're asking for the absolute lowest price to get a job done. This is supposed to eliminate the need for negotiations. Coulda saved a whole lotta time and money just giving the cheapest guy the job in the first place. -- Posted by Maurice on Fri, Apr 23, 2010, at 3:41 PM
But in a lawsuit he COULD win. If it's decided by a jury, then the letter of the law, doesn't mean as much as it necessarily should. And even if it's a bench trial decided by a judge there are a lot of ambiguities in the law, which is why there are so many lawsuits and no matter the decision there could be appeals which lead to time and expense for both sides. In the case the school district did lose, the cost could turn out to be much greater than the $1000 they have currently agreed to. However, I'd like to see the superintendent and school board members step up and take some responsibility for their actions. How about they offer to pay the cost out of their own pockets? -- Posted by RB on Fri, Apr 23, 2010, at 4:54 PM
I am starting a new business of doing about anything. I will let sealed bids be opened then under bid them by $1.00, I will let those that invest the time, resources, employees, property, equipment on and on submit a bid based on making a return profit for all the above mentioned risk/investment. (also provide steady jobs) Then, me with nothing but a computer and printer submit a so-so bid take it away from the honest working business owner. I am sure I can pickup some workes somewhere to do the job. I know this is not always the case but think about it. Are sealed bids that are submited then subject to a reverse auction to get the job? If so you better let me know about it up front. -- Posted by gary g on Fri, Apr 23, 2010, at 7:14 PM
I am wondering how long it will take the County Officials to find the road that they have lost. then how many years it will take, to do any thing to it. can Arnold Graves be compensated for the loss of access to his property that they neglected to protect for him. -- Posted by Busseron on Mon, Apr 26, 2010, at 11:41 PM
What's the point of a bid if they aren't going to honor the low bid? Just give it to the "good ole boy" they want to do it and be done with it, if it is so legal. Smells pretty rotten to me!!! As for the road that was planted---How could anyone legally give permission to plant a ROAD in corn or any other crop??? Talk about your "good ole boy" syndrome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -- Posted by Sue62 on Tue, Apr 27, 2010, at 8:04 PM
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Quick launcher for the desktop
Desktop icons are not the only way to launch programs; in fact, a kicker that is not hidden by a muddle of windows is often preferable. Tablaunch is a flexible and attractive program launcher for the Linux desktop.
The kickers that come with the major desktop environments are full-fledged universal tools that offer a variety of features, including pag ers, menus, and clocks. This was too much of a good thing for developer D. Lam; as a user who preferred a simple window manager, he did not fancy the idea of cluttering his machine with the KDE or Gnome libraries. While shopping around for an alternative, D. Lam dis covered YeahLaunch, the launcher belonging to the YeahWM [1] window manager. This is a kicker that is easy on resources, and it automatically hides in the background when you don't need it. The only drawback, from D. Lam's point of view, was YeahLaunch's very plain appearance. This prompted him to fire up his editor and develop a new kicker based on YeahLaunch, which he dubbed Tablaunch [2]. Although Tab launch is still easy on memory, the new kicker has vastly improved optics, add ing options such as a zoom feature that activates when users hover the mouse over an icon. But if you prefer a more staid approach, Tablaunch is still an interesting option. If asked to do so, Tab launch will give you simple pushbuttons rather than icons, and that should keep even the strictest of purists happy.
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