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Before the convention officially started, Wing Commander fans gathered in Atlanta to have fun, catch up and prepare for the big events.
| Day Zero Gallery - Thursday, September 1, 2005 |
ChrisReid: Early on Thursday morning, everyone began packing up and getting ready to take planes, cars and busses to Atlanta.
LOAF: Thursday morning, they let me know you were gone / Frosty the plans they made put an end to you
ChrisReid: ace and Blonde got the back row in their plane.
LOAF: The back row is the one they use to hold prisoners who are being moved from place to place.
ChrisReid: Everyone packs heavy and there's a lot of luggage to deal with.
LOAF: Halman, Frosty and I all brought carryon dufflebags.
ChrisReid: The MARTA train is always a long smelly ride from the airport to downtown Atlanta.
LOAF: How can you possibly distinguish the long, smelly qualities of the train from the long, smelly qualities of the airport and downtown Atlanta?
ChrisReid: The Atlanta Marriott Marquis is one of three host hotels that hold the various convention functions.
LOAF: Much like Frosty, Halman and I are the three hosts who carry the cure for the deadly Motembe plauge... but can a sexy young bioresearcher and her military-industrial boyfriend stop us in time to save Wickerton, Colorado?
ChrisReid: Once we get to the hotel, everyone is tired from traveling.
LOAF: If Hades and ace are tired from travelling, they'll eat trash instead of bring you presents.
ChrisReid: As soon as rooms get situated, ace does some remodeling.
LOAF: And I thought stealing all the toilet paper was out there!
ChrisReid: And there's always time for the Nintendo DS.
LOAF: Because the 'DS' stands for 'Don't Stop'.
ChrisReid: This is just a small bit of the equipment we need to keep the CIC going while on the go.
LOAF: The CIC just wouldn't run without a cartoony stuffed woodchuck.
ChrisReid: Death is the next to arrive
LOAF: As you can see, Death is wearing one of those camoflauged Marine outfits from End Run. It's turned white to blend in with the marble of the hotel.
ChrisReid: Elevators are always a constant concern as the hotel becomes more and more crowded.
LOAF: Whereas escalators are only sometimes a constant concern.
ChrisReid: Teonnyn drops in to show off his new remote control hovercraft.
LOAF: Nothing makes a man like a last ditch, desparate one on one hovercraft fight.
ChrisReid: Gary and Rob McKay drove up from Florida.
LOAF: Florida?! That's America's wang!
ChrisReid: Halman, Frosty and LOAF are the last ones to arrive.
LOAF: Last in grades, first in pranks! Notice how much fun everyone is suddenly having as soon as Team LOAF arrives.
ChrisReid: LOAF made a Lettuce Hound to compensate for his lack of Nintendogs.
LOAF: Lettuce ponder these events with some melon-collie reflection.
ChrisReid: Time for a group photo at Champions.
LOAF: Then they kicked us out of the restaurant for conflicting with its name. That's also why Trelane, Frosty and I got kicked out of Notjerks' Bar and Grille.
ChrisReid: Registration moved to the Hilton for 2005, and it went much more smoothly than in previous years.
LOAF: Smoothe like the love of a man for a beautiful horse... or smooth like the taste of a dandy fine liquor? Eh, who am I kidding, they're both the same kind of smoothe.
ChrisReid: Hades asks what we should do next.
LOAF: I don't know, Hades, maybe we should... oh, read a free excerpt from the new Wheel of Time book, maybe? Yeah.
ChrisReid: We decide to head back to the hotel room for starters.
LOAF: Which was a mistake, as you get a much more cost effective ratio of rare cards in boosters.
ChrisReid: LOAF is ready for some big time VCD and mp3 trading.
LOAF: I gave Halman all my old Enterprise VCDs... and I gave Frosty and Halman each fourteen CDs with every mp3 I have on them. That's a lot of Avril.
ChrisReid: I'm not the only picture taker in the group.
LOAF: Taker in the group?! I just met her!
ChrisReid: We decided to cruise on up to check out the high life on the 47th floor of the Marriott.
LOAF: You haven't lived until you've had Ginger Ale at 47 miles up. I assume each floor is one mile high.
ChrisReid: One of our traditional standing spots in the Hyatt lobby was taken over by an ugly and expensive hot dog stand.
LOAF: All hot dog stands are equal in our eyes.
ChrisReid: "Are these bottles made out of glass?"
LOAF: Glass my ass!
ChrisReid: While some people went off to find a party, Blonde and I went swimming.
LOAF: So I said 'collapsar node? I just met her node!', and then we fought The Forever War.
ChrisReid: ace took pictures.
LOAF: This is a little bit too Wild Things for my tastes. That was also my review of Wild Things 2.
ChrisReid: Frosty, Halman, Hades and LOAF came down to the pool to visit.
LOAF: Hurrah for my progressively more fish shirt, may it forever reign.
ChrisReid: It took us a long time to figure out what was prohibited by the red slash-circle (it was diving).
LOAF: You should have looked slightly to the left of the picture where the word 'NO' is printed.
Halman: Frosty's sweating like a glazed ham.
LOAF: I'd like to glaze her ham... wait, Frosty, ew.
ChrisReid: BUBBLES
LOAF: PEACHES!
ChrisReid: Some people left the pool to continue the party search and ran into Teo with his hovercraft.
LOAF: Literally.
ChrisReid: The Hyatt lobby before the crowds of costumed attendees fill it up.
LOAF: I spy with my little eye something that begins with R2-D2.
ChrisReid: Back in the hotel, everyone unwinds and plans out what to do on the first day of the actual convention.
LOAF: ace can only drink coke from a bottle, but he's fine with syphoning coke out of a can to put into said bottle.
ChrisReid: Slumber party!
LOAF: Oh, no! I admitted my secret, forbidden crush to Frosty and now he's going to tell all the girls at Sweet Valley High!
Continue to Day One
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