Your cards and letters.

I keep getting fan mail...

Sometimes people leave comments in regards to a topic or picture. That's cool...
Sometimes I get comments in an e-mail sent directly to me instead. This, too, is cool.
But if I get e-mail, then I have to respond, and since the answer might be of interest to all, I'll just post some of the answers here...

To DRG:
Yeah. The food was OK... Just not what we were expecting for Italy...
And yes, the potato skins looked like roadkill.

To HHT:
Her name was Claire, and even if I had her e-mail address and phone number, I wouldn't give it to you. For free.

To LAW:
Yes, Mark is a funny guy, quick with witty repartee and pretty much everything else too.

To KR:
Yeah. Sorry. Mark got tired of being on the webcam.

To GS, et al:
Yes, I look older, younger, grayer, lighter, heavier, more angry, taller and shorter with my hair cut.
THIS IS WHY I ONLY DO IT ONCE A YEAR.

To RD:
"Physalia" is my car. An Eternal Blue Pearl Honda Element... Often referred to by others as "The blue toaster."

Re: The pic of the door of my office.
(In reply to several people)

1. The pic is now a link to a bigger version. Click on it to see more detail.

2. The top sign reads "Some people are alive simply because it is against the law for me to kill them." (Some of you will do well to remember this...)

3. The one in the middle reads "Free Beatings Today - For more info, please annoy the ogre sitting at the desk within."

4. The pic on the upper left is Hunter when she was about 4, dressed as a Dalamation for Halloween, along with her role model.

5. The partially obscured newspaper clipping was a headline from a Brisbane newspaper that reads "It's OK to beat the kids."

6. The pic on the lower right (above the fish) is from Hawaii. The girl on the left is Geri Lavin and the one on the right is Janine Thomas.
No, you don't know them.
No, you can have their contact info.

7. The No Fish pic is for Marco. Originally posted on the microwave oven outside my office.
(Marco likes microwaved canned tunafish for lunch. Which means the stench of hot tuna pervades the office for the next 45 minutes.)

8. The pic of the ogre under the stairs (lower left) was from Cleveland, as I was running cables in the arena. You haven't lived until you've been down in the muck and mire that collects under the seats in an arena like the Gund...

Famous out-

Sombrero Night & the Seven Warning Signs

Well... We made it.
And just in time for Sombrero night!

As we were on the road Jamie mentioned we might make it in time for Sombrero night... I told him I'd talked to Mark and SN was scheduled for Thursday. Nope- tonite.
Hmmm...
We got Mark on the phone and found out they'd re-rescheduled it for Wednesday night. Lovely- a 5 hour drive to be concluded with heavy tequila consumption.

We went to the course and dropped off our equipment as they guys were finishing up for the day. I took Jamie over to the house where he was staying, then I went to my place to wait for the others to come home and get ready to go out...
Mitch (the Regulator) and Mike (Davis, from California) arrived shortly thereafter and we all went over to Veracruz. The three of us got a table for 8 and started with the Wednesday drink special -
Jumbo Margaritas- $4.50. Hoo Ha!
Mark, Jon, Jamie, Eric & Robert arrived minutes later and after they ordered drinks Mark threw down the gauntlet...The first round of shots was on the table before we had ordered our meal.
(This, in case you aren't aware, is one of the "7 Danger Signs of IDS" See below.)

It should be obvious that things would be going from bad to much worse in short order.
The annual celebration is referred to as Sombrero Night because at some random point in the evening, we would begin to pull the decorative sombreros off the walls and wear them...
(Pictures courtesy of Eric Wisdom's cell phone.)


Mitch, Mark & empties.


Jamie Odum and Mark, "Smile, you gringo bastard."


"And tonight the role of Dirty Sanchez will be performed by Eric Wisdom"

For those who may be worrying, Mark, Mitch and Yours Truly were the only real drinkers... The other 5 attendees were our designated drivers...
A good time was had by all, and there was no invocation of the "Lynch Procedure",
where someone in the party has to call Rallis to have him come down to the local hoosgow and bail us out for some legal infraction.

The next morning was very subdued... All the window shades were drawn and everyone spoke in whispered tones... By 4 or 5 PM we were mostly recovered and ready to go out again...
I chose the better part of valor... I took Physalia over to the self service car wash and scrubbed 300 miles of bugs off the grill of the blue toaster.
I'm a wild man.

More fun and debauchery tonight...

-------------------------

The seven warning signs of IDS
(There are others, these are the most prevalent)

1. Having a company policy named after you.
2. Shots before dinner
3. Shots before breakfast
4. Shots instead of dinner or breakfast
5. Talking to AND getting answered by inanimate objects
6. Support for the "LPGA Jihad"
   
7. Being on a first-name basis with airline flight crews

Famous! out.

Getting ready for my next gig & New contest.

Preparing to get on the road for my next job...

Based on the client's propensity for secretiveness, I really can't come out and just say where it is, or what the work I'm doing is, but let's just say I'm working at "A Nice Golf Course"...

Anyway- Heading out tomorrow (the 29th)... Physalia will be loaded to the gills with equipment, luggage and 2 ogres... I'm giving Jamie Odom a ride- he's part of my support crew for the project.

Mark Moore- My partner in crime in Italy is on site at "A Nice Golf Course", too, but only for a little while. Lucky bastard is leaving early to attend a wedding. He sent me a message yesterday about me missing out on Sombrero Night, which I think is some kind of celebration at the local Tex-Mex beanery...
Last year we drank tequila in prodigious porportions- This year promises to be a repeat, since when I said I couldn't make it for the original schedule, they moved Sombrero Night to Thursday. Ho Ha!
Tequila y baile toda la noche con las muchachas!

So...

Mark was whining today about a service he'd requested months ago and said service was not completed. At a regualr event, this would not be suprising, but at A Nice Golf Course, it kinda is. They usually don't drop the ball, so to speak.
I'm so used to it (incomplete service orders) that it doesn't faze me anymore.
I sent him the usual reply "IDS=Isn't Done, Sorry"... He didn't see the humor.
The boy is too much of a prefectionist. (Not anal retentive or OCD, but shit like this really puts a twist in his knickers.)
Then again, he's only worked one Olympics event... The embodiment of things not being ready for prime-time... Just wait 'til Beijing. Heh.

A task for you, my evil minions...
Bend your thoughts to coming up with a new acronym for the company...
For years we have always used "IDS=I Don't Sleep" to reflect the concept of long hours and the moments of panic that make up a typical event...

I was going to post a list to be filled out on the door to my office, but I think it would just get lost in the background noise...


So...

Let's see what y'all come up with...

IDS =

I Don't Sleep

Idiots Drinking & Singing ('97 US Open)

Isn't Done, Sorry

Idiots Doing Sports

...


Famous, out-

Friendly warning

Just some advice:

Don't take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

I'm just saying....

Famous, out-

Fresh Blood

One of our guys on the LPGA event staff,(a/k/a The LPGA Carneys) also has a site up...
He's been shooting quite a few pics from some of his events, and he has a pretty nice site... Definitely worth a peek- if only to see the pics that he took in Hawaii.

Pay him a visit- Tell him The Big Guy sent you...

http://www.thewrongway.com

Tasty stuff, Zack!

Famous, out-

And the hits just keep on coming...

(For some odd reason, most questions are preceeded by the word "wow".)
(or "mom" or "EOE" or "303". Long story, don't ask.)

17. Wow. Did you know you the gray in your hair is really noticable now?

18. Wow. Haircut? Or in your case, a shearing?

19. Wow. You know, your head looks much smaller now.

20. Man. You gonna start wearing a hat?

21. Are you less "amazing" now, just like Samson was after his haircut?

Famous out-

Dumb questions II

14. Man, did you lose a bet?

15. Wow. I bet that hurt.

16. When you got your haircut did they cut enough off to donate?

Keep em coming...


Amazing the haircut, out-

Dumb questions.

1. Did you get a haircut?

2. Wow. What happened?

3. How many people did it take to hold you down?

4. What happened to your hair?

5. Where's your hair.

6. I know you from somewhere... Don't tell me...

7. Wow. Who are you?

8. Wow. The yearly chop.

9. Man. Did you get arrested?

10. Wow. Must be springtime.

11. Shedding?

12. Is it Thursday?

13. Wow. Did they charge you by the pound or by the yard?

14. There is no 14, yet. But the day is young...

Famous the haircut, out-

Torino Wrap

"Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend-
Come inside! come inside!"
-Emerson Lake & Palmer - Karn Evil 9


Just a quick review and farewell to all of our friends in Italy and elsewhere...

In Sauze d'Oulx & Bardonecchia

The crew at Paddy McGinty's
Orlando, Alex, our favorite bartender whose name I never learned,
Amy, "H" (The fixer), Gio (The Vandal), DJ Danny and Kaz (Keep 'em warm...)...


The good folks at Queens Lounge-
Alfredo, Amy (The OTHER Amy), Nichie and Julia (Have a chips...)

At Sugo's- Mauritzio & Tattoo...
The best pasta in the Suza Valley.

Customers & People
The English girl who tried to ride me like a horse,
as her boyfriend was passed out at the table
during the trivia contest.

The dude who followed me back to the hotel because he was sure
I had been hitting on his girlfriend.

The Russian girl who tried an assualt on the north face,
as I tried to make it across the dancefloor at Osteria Vagabondi.

Katie- Our waitress at Debili, who showed up at Paddy's
very late at night, very inebriated, very often.

And at Melezet- Eric Angstadt-Torres from Atos, Nicola (at OVR) and
of course Omega Girl - Talar, and their flawless crew that provided results!

And all the Japanese...
(The Japanese? Those sandal-wearing goldfish tenders...)

At NBC (BDY)
Bruce, Partick, Ivan (Bill Murray)
Mike, Harvey A, Taz, LJ, Jeff the (other) viking, Carrie,
The Talent- Pat, Tina, Mark S, Todd and Bettina from Dew Tour.
Super Dave Osbourne, Lisa, Charlie, JT,
and Annette, our Graphics crews...

In SDO at FR- Mike, Billy & Jeff-
Plus the runners- Simone, Andrea, Elena & Luca...
Y'all were the best!

At the IBC in Torino-
TJ- who I thought had learned his lesson in Athens, back for another
round of night shifts and bad local food.
(At least no pork sushi this time, eh TJ?)

Byron- Audio tech par excellance- another Athens veteran.

Craig Lau- our man at NBC. We run away kicking and screaming, and he just keeps dragging us back...

And our crew-

In Torino-
Daryl "Ned Flanders" Carson
Mitch "The Regulator" Mitchell
Susan "Don't touch the hair" Walker
Bob "The Apostle" Lanham

In Sestriere
Stass "The Codemonkey" Iordanov
Lacey "Rookie" Koerner
"Smilin' Dave" Kananen

In Sauze d'Oulx
Mark "Spongemark Squarehands" Moore

In Jacksonville
Paul "Kapusta" Podkulski
John "Croc" Sarmie
"Dr. Rob" Ayres
David "Special K" Kazebee

Ned Manchu sez:

See you on the Great Wall - Bejing 2008!

Famous the Technician out-

It has been a year now...

"Hey boy, you need a haircut. You look like a chrysanthemum."

Last time I got a haircut I was in Orange, California.
Working the challenger tennis event at Ridgeline Country Club
up in Orange Park- outside Anaheim Hills.

Do you think it is getting a little long?


Just as a point of reference, I'm the one in the back, with the blue jacket.
The other blonde is Tina Dixon, the girl who did the athlete interviews for snowboarding on NBC.