There is no joy in Muddville. The retailer summit is canceled. This makes it official, Obama's bungling of the economy has finally gone too far. Lootfest will not happen this year.
There will be no armfuls of free stuff. There will be no thrilling anticipation of the moment that Jeremy finally gets thrown out. There will be no pie eating contest.
What began as a curious trip to check out this BBQ that Great Scott told Bex about became one of the high points on my calendar. A once a year tradition whose benefits extended far beyond the swag that loaded down my car by the end of the evening. It was a grand social networking opportunity. A chance to meet new and different fat guys in comic book T-shirts. Bex would come to town and examine the latest in polyhedral technology, purchase it in large quantities, and return home to let Alexander stomp on them before they were placed in the bell jar. Alex may be getting a little old to enjoy dumping out boxes of dice and then running around on them, before getting some chump, Kris or yours truly, to put them back in the box to begin the process anew, but i am not to old to remember such better days.
Gregg Easterbrook points out in The Progress Paradox that we, as a species, have a tendency to remember the good old days as far better than they were. Easterbrook chalks this up to the absence of adult responsibilities and the corresponding stress that comes with those responsibilities. My early days at the Retailer Summit were golden. How often does the opportunity to have a company president BBQ for you happen? The only other instance i know of is Biomet's Dane Miller, who was told that it was unseemly for the President to cook for his guests. Thank God for mavericks. (And for Bret and Bart and Beau, too.)
Change sucks. When it doesn't we call it progress. This isn't progress, so it sucks.
Returning to the lessons imparted to me by Mr. Easterbrook, i will try to remain positive. Life is getting better. One grand tradition of my life is falling away, but a new one has been begun. The Origins Convention will be happening again this 4th of July. Wait, they don't do that anymore, it is happening June 24-28. (Damn Change rears its ugly head again, but i digress.) Team Fort Wayne and The Plastic Generals will be descending on Mike's now gypsy-free apartment to partake in acts of revelry. This will be the third year in a row for such a gathering and as traditions go, this one is off to a good start. Mike has indicated that the cooling of the coals with Throwback Dew will be part of the new traditions being forged.
I'll miss the Diamond Retailer Summit. It is, after all, the place that i met Erin. (I'll bet you were wondering when i'd work that in.) I'll take with me such memories as vanquishing Ryan at the pie eating contest and in turn being vanquished by Steve in a later such contest. Even as this happy chapter of my life draws to it's close i look forward to new traditions to come. But still, change sucks.
Later
Bob
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Spring
What a day, eh, Milhouse? The sun is out, birds are singing, bees are trying to have sex with them - as is my understanding. ...
The long cold winter is finally over. No, not the 2008 winter that proved Al Gore has all the credibility of Professor Harold Hill. The long winter of no Team Fort Wayne updates. Webmaster and all around good guy, Mike, is back to updating the site.
Team Fort Wayne will be moving soon as geocities is shutting down but for now the page can be found here.
Enjoy.
Later
Bob
The long cold winter is finally over. No, not the 2008 winter that proved Al Gore has all the credibility of Professor Harold Hill. The long winter of no Team Fort Wayne updates. Webmaster and all around good guy, Mike, is back to updating the site.
Team Fort Wayne will be moving soon as geocities is shutting down but for now the page can be found here.
Enjoy.
Later
Bob
Monday, May 4, 2009
Team Fort Wayne is buying a brick
Team Fort Wayne is buying a brick.
Later
Bob
Wait.
You want more?
An explanation?
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar.
There, happy?
Oh, you want to know why we are buying a brick. Ok, here's the deal. Hippies like to have things, but they don't like to pay for things themselves. Hippies don't like to work so they often lack money to buy the things they need, like frisbees and weed. Ordinarily hippies will try to barter for the things they need and offer up something stupid like sidewalk art or a song, and then gullible yuppies will give them money thinking that they are supporting the arts. Yuppies like all social climbers since the Medichis think supporting the arts is important; this is why NPR is still on the air. (But i digress.)
The hippies in Columbus want to build a bell tower at their Hippie Market. Like all hippies, they'd prefer if someone else paid for said tower. This is where Team Fort Wayne comes in. Since its inception the various members of TFW have gone on the illustrious careers. I remain a lawyer, Jarad is a dentist, David is an electrical engineer, Michael Martin is a civil engineer, Eric Martin is an attorney, Michael Sonksen is still in grad school but will soon have a PhD. So we are the kind of upwardly mobile types that hippies like to hit up for money and in this case it worked.
One thing all TFW members have in common is that we all love the hippie market. Every member has fond memories of going to Columbus to play in some tournament and eating great things from the hippie market. Now that we are all in the process of scattering across this great land we call America (Canada and Mexico do not count) what better way to commemorate TFW than to buy a brick in the bell tower of the Hippie Market.
There will be a number of activities taking place to finance said brick. I will be holding a series of retro drafts. Rav, GP, DS draft; Mirrodin Sealed; and best of all an Asian Invasion money draft. Yes, and Asian Invasion Money Draft, you figure out how you'll read the cards. Mike will be charging a nominal fee for the use of his place at Origins.
And finally to satisfy your curiosity the brick will say:
TFW LOVES
HIPPIE MARKET
Now i hope you are all happy.
Later
Bob
Later
Bob
Wait.
You want more?
An explanation?
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar.
There, happy?
Oh, you want to know why we are buying a brick. Ok, here's the deal. Hippies like to have things, but they don't like to pay for things themselves. Hippies don't like to work so they often lack money to buy the things they need, like frisbees and weed. Ordinarily hippies will try to barter for the things they need and offer up something stupid like sidewalk art or a song, and then gullible yuppies will give them money thinking that they are supporting the arts. Yuppies like all social climbers since the Medichis think supporting the arts is important; this is why NPR is still on the air. (But i digress.)
The hippies in Columbus want to build a bell tower at their Hippie Market. Like all hippies, they'd prefer if someone else paid for said tower. This is where Team Fort Wayne comes in. Since its inception the various members of TFW have gone on the illustrious careers. I remain a lawyer, Jarad is a dentist, David is an electrical engineer, Michael Martin is a civil engineer, Eric Martin is an attorney, Michael Sonksen is still in grad school but will soon have a PhD. So we are the kind of upwardly mobile types that hippies like to hit up for money and in this case it worked.
One thing all TFW members have in common is that we all love the hippie market. Every member has fond memories of going to Columbus to play in some tournament and eating great things from the hippie market. Now that we are all in the process of scattering across this great land we call America (Canada and Mexico do not count) what better way to commemorate TFW than to buy a brick in the bell tower of the Hippie Market.
There will be a number of activities taking place to finance said brick. I will be holding a series of retro drafts. Rav, GP, DS draft; Mirrodin Sealed; and best of all an Asian Invasion money draft. Yes, and Asian Invasion Money Draft, you figure out how you'll read the cards. Mike will be charging a nominal fee for the use of his place at Origins.
And finally to satisfy your curiosity the brick will say:
TFW LOVES
HIPPIE MARKET
Now i hope you are all happy.
Later
Bob
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Fun with Etymology
Word origins are important to me. Last time i went to church i walked out of the service because the pastor made stupid references to the etymology of one of the words selected in the New International Version translation of the Bible. One ought not use the etymology of an English word to determine what some one meant when writing in ancient Greek. But etymology is not just an excuse to storm out of church. Etymology can be fun, but Marina Orlova has found a way to make it sexy.
Before Erin gets too upset with me, i'd like to point out that Ms. Orlova received two degrees in philology from the Nizhny Novgorod State University in 2002, and taught English and world literature to high school students in Moscow, before moving to the United States to pursue further education. And i figure you'd all like to improve your vocabularies and knowledge of the English language. So subscribe to hotforwords or bookmark http://www.hotforwords.com/ and remember intelligence is sexy.
Later
Bob
Before Erin gets too upset with me, i'd like to point out that Ms. Orlova received two degrees in philology from the Nizhny Novgorod State University in 2002, and taught English and world literature to high school students in Moscow, before moving to the United States to pursue further education. And i figure you'd all like to improve your vocabularies and knowledge of the English language. So subscribe to hotforwords or bookmark http://www.hotforwords.com/ and remember intelligence is sexy.
Later
Bob
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)