I returned safe and sound last night a bit before midnight. The trip was uneventful, except for Google Maps totally and completely failing me, leaving me wandering clueless through the streets of DC an extra half hour trying desperately to find my way home. Clearly I eventually found my way, and there was even a [...]
Monthly Archives: August 2008
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Friday, 29 August
Friday, August 29, 2008
(This is now current, up to date, and now.)
The final day. Sniff.
We spent the day at the Capilano Bridge and Grouse Mountain. At Capilano, we crossed the bridge, we wandered around on the other side, and then we crossed the bridge back. I don’t think I got a single decent photo from the bridge [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Thursday, 28 August
Friday, August 29, 2008
Today we drove to Whistler, but it was mostly a bust. What I was most interested was taking the gondola to the top and wandering around up there, but the weather was too bad and the gondola was going only partway up. We saw what the midpoint looked like on a webcam – nothing but [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Wednesday, 27 August
Friday, August 29, 2008
After a good night’s sleep (oh my, that bed was comfortable), we awoke and headed out for whale watching. We did indeed see several orcas. They were feeding upon an unfortunate sea lion, but luckily the kill was underwater, so we didn’t see anything traumatizing. Still… interesting. We also went saw a bunch of sea [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Tuesday, 26 August
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Today Cherie and I bade farewell to the con hotel. Gatecon will be there next year (yay! There will be another Gatecon!), which is kind of a bummer. It’s a nice enough hotel, and they seemed to be a great con host, but it’s ridiculously expensive. Oh well. I totally plan on going to the [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Monday, 25 August
Thursday, August 28, 2008
After I picked up my rental car for the rest of the vacation, we [Cherie, Stefanie (from the Netherlands), and I] ventured to Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium. Cherie and I did a partial loop through the park, but then it was time to meet up with Stef at the Aquarium. I thought we’d [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Sunday, 24 August
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The final day of the con. Earlier in the con, I thought, “Meh, I think I’m over Gatecon. If they do another one, I’ll skip it.” But by last night, my thoughts had changed to, “I so love this con. I really, really hope they do another one because I totally want to come again.” [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Saturday, 23 August
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Today was fabulous, with the con in full swing. The day began with the costume contest. Though this is the largest Gatecon ever with about 800 attendees… there were a mere three entries (though six people) in the costume contest. Kind of sad. There were Selma and whoever (Marge Simpson’s sisters who are huge MacGyver [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Friday, 22 August
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
This morning I left our hotel room to head to the main hall for the real start of the convention. The shortest way to get the convention area is to go outside and cross the entrance area of the hotel. As I was walking across, I looked up at some people getting out of a [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Thursday, 21 August
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Not much happening today. There’s the bus tour, but I’ve done that three times so decided to skip it this year. Sadly, no Sekh’s Party this year. So I registered, wandered down to a grocery store about a block away to get some food for the next weeks or so, and then just sort of [...]
Gatecon/Vancouver 2008 – Wednesday, 20 August
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The day began at the miserable hour of 3 AM, which was surprisingly not all that horrible. I actually awoke 2 minutes before my alarm was to go off. I was out of the apartment a little after 4 AM, putting my on schedule to arrive at the long-term parking area around 4:45.
Unfortunately, [...]
Gymnastic medals and big bugs
Friday, August 15, 2008
Nastia and Shawn for the gold and the silver! That was a competition that totally lived up to the hype. I’m so glad both girls hit four for four, and it wasn’t a matter of one of them giving it away. Shawn looked a bit disappointed, and who can blame her after all the that’s [...]
Boring adventures with the DMV
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
My car is registered and I have a parking permit! Let the rejoicing commence!
The DMV was mostly harmless. The gatekeeper was kind of a moron, though. At the DMV, you go through the metal detector and then wait in line to see what I call the gatekeepers. You tell them what you’re there for, they [...]
Gymnastics: Team competition
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Oh, Alicia… my heart breaks for you.
I expected China to take gold and the U.S. to take silver, and that’s what happened. I also expected Russia to take bronze, but Romania managed to score above the Russians. That’s a surprise. Both teams are really struggling, though. I’m sure it was an exciting battle to the [...]
Olympics, Gymnastics, Prelims
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
I’m not that into the Winter Olympics, but I love the Summer Olympics. I enjoy watching the swimming and diving and men’s gymnastics (that 400-m swimming relay where the U.S. barely beat France was incredible! and the U.S. men’s gymnastics taking the bronze when they weren’t expected to medal at all is fabulous!), and love [...]
