Con Nooga and Biltmore weekend

Adventure 20110219

A hint of Spring is in the East Tennessee air so this weekend I tried to pry myself out of hibernation and engage my sense of adventure.

First up was a Saturday trip down to Chattanooga with my Step-Dad to day-trip Con Nooga.  This was the first time we have had a chance to attend Con Nooga and I was very impressed.  Lots of costumes, a good sized crowd without it being difficult to get around, a wide selection of programming tracks, and a very friendly atmosphere.  I particularly enjoyed the Ms. ConNooga contest, and you could tell the ladies were having a great time and enjoying being silly and putting on a show.  We will definitely be back next year.

Next up, Kathy and I drove over to Asheville on Sunday to visit Biltmore.  I can't say that I was very impressed personally, I kept noticing signs of maintenance issues like cracks in the ceiling and cobwebs in the windows.  Also, the sense of scale was off for me, huge cold and drafty rooms were offset by small cramped corridors.  I felt more like I was visiting an old bank than anything else.  Although impressive architecturally, I certainly wouldn't want to live in it.

DragonCon 2009

Adventure: 20090904









Another DragonCon has come and gone, and unfortunately I think this will probably be the last one I attend.  Frankly, I think DragonCon has just grown too large for my tastes and admittedly rather hermit-like tolerances.  Luckily I did manage to get to see Pete Abrams (Sluggy Freelance), Jennie Breeden (The Devil's Panties), Ryan Sohmer and Lar Desouza (Least I Could Do and Looking For Group) as well as attend the live recording for Sword and Laser with Veronica Belmont (This WEEK in TECH).  I unfortunately made it to nothing else I wanted to see because of the ridiculous crowds and lines.  (I think the most annoying failure was my attempt to see Randal Schwartz (FLOSS Weekly) which involved getting a cab to drive back to the con from the hotel, showing up a half hour early, and finding that although there were still seats they were all "saved"....  I nearly blew a gasket.)  Kathy did manage to get some pretty decent pictures and I think this collage pretty much conveys the DragonCon experience.

I think I did pretty well for loot though.  My favorite is the 2d20 damage flail.  ^_^

Hank's Graduation

Adventure: 20090509

This Saturday Kathy, Carrie, and I went to watch Hank graduate with his second Associates Degree from Pellissippi State Technical Community College. Luckily they have professional photographers for these sorts of things because out of just over a hundred shots I got two that didn't end up completely a waste and a brief segment of fuzzy video footage....

Jungle Love at the Knoxville Zoo

Adventure 090214

This year I was lucky enough to be able to take Kathy to the "Jungle Love" event at the Knoxville Zoo for Valentines Day. This was a wonderful adults only evening which included a cocktail hour with the Red Pandas at The Boyd Family Red Panda Village, several close-up animal encounters, heavy hors d’oeuvres, delectable desserts, and a hilarious special presentation about the animal kingdom’s "Mating Game" by Kevin Hils, the Director of Education at the Knoxville Zoo. I got extra husband points for this one and Kathy said she "had the BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER!!!!" We are already planning to attend again next year! ^_^

King Tut's Grill

Adventure 090131

My wife, four of our friends, and I went to King Tut's Grill last night and it was delicious smothered in awesome with a side order of surprisingly cheap! This little place is tucked away in a corner of the South Knoxville community of Vestal in an ANCIENT ramshackle building with parking you have to get to through a narrow ally. Don't bring an SUV, you might not fit.

We called ahead for reservations and showed up real early to grab seats at one of the five tiny booths and tables and were still the second large group there. Once we were seated the owner Mo took our drink orders and brought them back in huge glass vases. My friend Carrie had been there before and strongly advised we share, so at Mo's suggestion we requested two orders of "the best Greek salad in Knoxville", two Egyptian platters, and two of the "Three Chicken" platters. Everything was fantastic and the servings were huge! Mo is a nut and did several slight of hand tricks for us while our food was being prepared. Once we had gotten most of the way through the meal Mo started up all the funky lights hanging from the ceiling, picked victims from the crowd for Karaoke target practice, started handing out masks and props and otherwise went into full fledged hosting mode. It was corny, it was hokey, and yet I couldn't stop smiling! For desert we shared orders of the baklava, basboosa, and the tiramisu. All of which were great. When we finally needed to head out the bill for six over-stuffed big eaters was only $101.

King Tut's Grill
4132 Martin Mill Pike
Knoxville, TN 37920
(865) 573-6021

More geek points from videogamecartoons.com!

More geek points! Greg Houston of videogamecartoons.com included a DragonCon 2007 shot of Kathy, Ken, Larry and Mom in the #10 slot of his "Video Game Halloween Costume Guide 2008" post.

Villains Halloween Party

Adventure 081101

Kathy wanted to have a big Halloween party this year and choose a Villains theme. It turned out gorgeous! My pictures are on Picasa and our friends Hank and Jon have posted their pictures as well.

Great Island Festival

Adventure 080906

My Step-Dad Larry, Kathy, and I took a trip out to the Great Island Festival and spent several enjoyable hours wandering around the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum and the Fort Loudoun State Historical Area. Kathy actually spent a good portion of her childhood in Vonore and most of her extended family still lives there so she got to play tour guide. My favorite portion of the day was the mock battle.





(Late back-log addition added on Sat 9/20/2008.)

Carrie's ITT Graduation

Adventure 080621

If you happened to be at the June 21st Knoxville TN ITT Graduation ceremony I would like to take a moment to apologize for my friends. They were the bunch of yahoos who screamed "For The WIN!!!" at the top of their lungs. Still, we all are inordinately proud of Carrie, so I suppose a little extra enthusiasm should be forgiven.




(Late back-log addition added on Sat 9/20/2008.)

Marble Springs Living History Weekend

Adventure 080419

Despite living just under five miles away from the site for the last five years I had never visited the John Sevier Marble Springs Tennessee State Historic Farmstead until Kathy and I noticed that they were holding a Living History Weekend. Marble Springs is a small site but it's obvious that many people have put a lot of love and effort into keeping it maintained. My Mother, Step-Dad, Kathy, and I spent a very pleasant Saturday afternoon wandering around the several buildings that have been moved to the site and restored including a Tavern/Trading Post, a Loom House with a very impressive working loom, the Walker Cabin, and the John Sevier Cabin where some claim that John Sevier lived for the last years of his life.





(Late back-log addition added on Sat 9/20/2008.)

Kathy, Ken, and Swain's Triple Treat Birthday Cakes

Experiment: 071130

Three minutes' thought would suffice to find this out; but thought is irksome and three minutes is a long time. - Alfred Edward Housman

My wife Kathy and my friends Ken and Swain decided to ask for one big birthday extravaganza this year with an Oreo pie, banana bread, and a lemon cake. I wasn't overly pleased with how the pie and the banana bread turned out, but the lemon cake covered in lemon jelly beans, fruit gems, and fruit slices was fantastic.





(Transferred from the original http://www.samthegiant.com/ website on Wed 9/17/2008.)

DragonCon 2007

Adventure: 070831



DragonCon has been my favorite convention for almost two decades, but this was the first year I've tried to Cosplay a theme with a group. My friend Ken, my Mother, my Step-Dad Larry, and I all dressed up as Imperial Orc Marines from the book "Grunts!" by Mary Gentle.



Kathy took a slightly different approach and based her costume on Elwyn from the video game "Shining Tears".



I will note that it was Kathy who managed to get her picture taken with the MythBusters "Build Team"....



While we were at DragonCon we met up with our friend Aldea who wore a very nice "Fallen Angel" costume on Saturday that I sadly did not really get a good picture of.



After the parade we all marched over to Artist's Row to give my favorite webcomic artist Jennie Breeden of The Devil's Panties another basket. That's twice now. Once more and it becomes an official tradition! Jennie immediately tried out one of the odder candy choices in the basket called a "Harry Potter Fizzing Whizbee". I tried one myself and that face she is making is actually a pretty mild reaction....



(Transferred from the original http://www.samthegiant.com/ website on Wed 9/17/2008.)