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Before the convention officially starts, Wing Commander fans gather in Atlanta to have fun and catch up in person.
| Day Zero Events - September 1 & 2, 2004 |
ChrisReid: We landed about 5:45 AM Eastern Time. We debated whether to take the train to the hotel or wait until it got light.
ace:
Frosty: Now that's multi-tasking! IRC McGigaPhone in one hand, some kind of other thing in the other hand.
Hades: That's my sandwich. Also known as breakfast at that time.
ChrisReid: These were all over baggage claim. Is it an ANTlanta joke?
Frosty: Woe be unto all who serve under brutal giant-ant rule.
ChrisReid: They finally fixed the missing possessive apostrophe on the sign! That's been bugging me for years.
Frosty: It really just looks like some frustrated traveller got out a marker and faked it.
ChrisReid: We made it to the hotel after a rough train ride. The first thing we did was set up the computers and update the CIC.
Hades: Before Chris even put his pants on even! Now that's dedication.
Frosty: hi2u
ChrisReid: ace and Blonde arrived later Wednesday morning.
Hades: And I slept through it. :(
ChrisReid: Hades passed out quickly.
Hades: If I look dazed it's because I had been travelling for the previous 24 hours. Wait, I always looks like that.
ChrisReid: Everyone was tired from traveling.
ChrisReid: Frosty arrived in the early afternoon and fell asleep.
Frosty: Ah, Floor - my one true friend.
ChrisReid:
Hades: Evil cam stalker stare! He almost got yelled at by the information booth guy for filming him shortly afterwards.
ChrisReid: After lunch we started looking for stores that sold items that weren't worthless tourist souvenirs.
Frosty: Every time you turn your back, he's there, camera raised high to strike.
Hades: People didn't appreciate my brave efforts sticking my head out of the elevator door to scan for danger.
ChrisReid: The search for a decent electronic or games store lead outside.
Frosty: A fruitless excursion, since Atlanta seems to be comprised of office space, hotels, and parking lots.
ChrisReid: This will become the lower dealers room and the Walk of Fame.
Frosty: Replica swords and Pocky for all!
ChrisReid: We broke open some packs of the Wing Commander Customizable Card Game. It was incredibly fun.
Hades: "Hey Hades and Frosty, go get us something fun!" "Okay!" [2 hours later] "We're back!" "Never mind, we made our own fun.. with CCGs!"
ChrisReid: Frosty and Hades took the train to a real mall and bought some DVDs. Frosty was tired after the experience.
Frosty: Charging through strange new parts of Atlanta after dark on a quest for cheap DVDs can take a lot out of any man.
Hades: A lot of what? Blood? Money? Sanity? In Atlanta, all of them. We risked our lives, damn it.
ChrisReid: Some of the gear Hades and Frosty brought back.
Frosty: (I picked out the binder.)
Hades: Lousy movies? Blame Frosty.
ChrisReid: After another quick run around the block, Frosty was ready to sleep.
Frosty: I'm always ready to sleep!
Thursday, September 2, 2004:
ChrisReid: Good morning!
ChrisReid: Hadrian arrived in Atlanta!
 See, they make you ask about the discount. That's how they *get* you.
Hades: I'm pretty sure they've reused that same sign every year for the past four years.
Frosty: Remember kids, corrective eyewear helps you avoid photos such as this one. Visit your local Lens Crafters today.
Hades: Unless the lens fuses to your eye or you claw your eye out putting lenses in or taking them out.
ChrisReid: What the hell? Hadrian arranged an odd meeting with a strange person he met on the internet. This was really weird. We left them for a bit until she went away.
Frosty: I ignored what was going on here, because ignorance is bliss.
ChrisReid: We went looking for the Coca-Cola factory and were lead in the wrong direction by this sign. There was no Coke there. There were lots of scary people.
Frosty: Blasted sign, you've led us to ruin!
Hades: The sign was full of useful facts. Like did you know that there are over 100 different kinds of coke container?
ChrisReid: This guy rode out into the middle of traffic screaming and gesturing at the top of his lungs.
Frosty: Wheelchair Man was a grouch.
Frosty: He tried to get all bossy on Blue Truck, but Blue Truck stood its ground.
Hades: Wheelchair Man could have taken him.
ChrisReid: Fortunately we found the real Coke building not long after.
Frosty: That's the largest scale model of a Coke atom in the world!
Hades: And it spun!
Frosty: It's like that crazy toy at the pediatrician's office, only with coke instead of painted circles of wood.
Hades: This machine had a plate full of bottles which just rotated endlessly. Because it can.
Frosty: Travel tip: Sleep on your feet - it saves time and hotel expenses.
Frosty: I wonder what that all says.
Frosty: the moral of the story: If you drank Coke as much as this wooden polar bear, you'd be deliriously happy as well.
Hades: So much so, your eyes roll in to opposite sides of your head.
Hades: It's a machine that urinates Coke which you can then drink.
Hades: They had creepy Coca-Cola Company products from other countries too. If you ever go, I highly recommend the Italian stuff.
Frosty: I wish I had something to say about this, because it's just so great.
Frosty: Surprise! You're on #Wingnut Camera, teehee!
Hades: Try not to make eye contact with anyone on the MARTA.
ChrisReid: When we came back to the hotel, we stepped into the same elevator as Margaret Weis! She was the co designer of the Wing Commander card game. What a coincidence.
ChrisReid: This was the line to get preregistered convention badges. We decided to come back later.
Hades: We had our traditional meal in Champions.
ChrisReid: Chicken strips are the traditional dinner item at Champion's.
ChrisReid: Later in the evening LOAF showed up!
Frosty: Yay!
Hades: He came with crazy stories including one of strip-searching.
ChrisReid: Frosty's in line to get his convention badge.
Frosty: The second line I got in, and not the last. I love badge lines, apparently.
Frosty: Missing a couple people, but cool nonetheless.
ChrisReid: ace, Frosty, Death and I began a WC CCG game using the expanded four-player game rules.
Frosty: The rules go a little something like this: You play until the heat death of the universe.
ChrisReid: My game ended quickly, and Hades took my spot. The ensuing game took SIX HOURS. LOAF's friend Lisa can be seen in the upper part of the frame.
ChrisReid: Hadrian snapped this one of me photographing the big game.
Hades: While Chris stood on the same kind of table he nearly fell off while taking a picture last year.
ChrisReid: LOAF unleashes the DRAGON PUNCH OF FIRE.
ChrisReid: Lisa and LOAF return from some nighttime adventures.
Frosty: Why hello, ladies.
Continue to Day One
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