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.  ^_^

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

Ken's Dark Side Birthday Cookies

Experiment 081121

Come to the the Dark Side, we have cookies! - Anon

This year my friend Ken requested cookies instead of a cake for his birthday. In particular "Dark Side" cookies.... Bwah ha ha ha ha!



(Late addition added on Thu 12/25/2008.)

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.

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.)