Highmoon's Ponderings

It’s our fourth day in Seattle and so far I’m loving it as much as before; maybe more. The cool weather, the (advanced) autumn season, all enhance the beauty of the city and surroundings, making it even more appealing. Fog has been a constant companion every day, especially today, when it hid the sound completely and then rolled onto the city, casting a shimmering veil over everything.

Thursday, Nov. 27

We arrived on Thursday after a whole day of flying. We left Miami at 11 am, flying to Chicago O’Hare then took a connecting flight on Air Alaska, landing in Seattle at 6 pm local time. After getting the car, a convertible electric blue PT Cruiser, we drove into the city through lightly foggy streets, reaching the Hotel Max less than an hour later. The Hotel Max was, well, nice but a bit too snobby for my taste, not to mention expensive (I mean, $30 per day for parking!). The room (807) was nice, I won’t take that away, and we had a fantastic view of the Space Needle. Extremely hungry after 10 hours of traveling, we hit the road again, heading for the one kosher restaurant in Downtown Seattle, Bamboo Garden. Thankfully it was open (thank heavens for Chinese restaurants) and we were able to have a hot meal (Yvette had an udon noodle dish, while I had their vegan Thanksgiving platter, which was actually quite good). We took a short drive around the downtown area, if only to refresh our memories, but turned in fairly early; by 11 pm we had turned off the lights and called our Thanksgiving Day a done deal, both of us ecstatic of being back in Seattle.

Friday, Nov. 28

Friday morning was a bit of a hectic one. After getting up quite early, taking a shower and praying, I went online to check the rates on the hotel we had stayed in on our last visit, the Sixth Avenue Inn, visible from our room at the Hotel Max. The price was exactly half of what we were paying at the Max, so after confirming they had rooms available and placing a reservation, I cancelled the remaining nights at the Hotel Max. We repacked everything in the suitcases and left the Max at around 11 am, checking into the Sixth Avenue Inn by noon. Though certainly the Hotel Max had a unique personality, especially when compared to the middle-of-the-road Sixth Avenue Inn, the reduced price and the immense amount of space we got on our second hotel more than made up the difference, tipping the scale firmly in our favor. With that secured, we headed out to have breakfast at the one place we knew we could get a fantastic and filling meal, Noah’s Bagels in the U District. An hour, two egg-and-cheese sandwiches on potato bagels and two cups of coffee later, we had full tummies and were ready to continue our day, in this case, heading out to get provisions for Shabbat at the Mercer Island Albertson’s.

This is a wonderful supermarket that truly leaves a lot of kosher stores at home in the dirt, not only in its selection but in its prices. Let’s start with the fact that we can get sushi, fresh-made sushi, at a fraction of the cost we pay in Miami at any restaurant, and a hundred times fresher than the pre-made packs we sometimes pick up at home. To that you can add a deli where we got not only a variety of salads, but also a sandwich as big as my head, with three different meats, for $7. And of course, then there was the selection of kosher artisan breads. Sigh. About an hour later we left with enough groceries to take us through the entire week, as well as food for Shabbat, now only a couple hours away.

On the way back we stopped at the REI store, not far from our hotel. Personally, I’d forgotten it was Black Friday, so I was initially taken aback by the amount of people in the store, though once I realized what day it was, the truth was that there weren’t nearly as many people as one would imagine. We only had an hour to wander the huge store, and most of it we spent in the bicycle department, marveling at the wide selection of bikes and accessories, especially a very nice Electra Townie “Rat Rod” bike painted with a flame motif that made me wish I could just buy it right then and there. I picked up a book called Biking Puget Sound that lists 50 different rides and trails around Seattle and the greater Puget Sound area. We’re hoping to be able to rent some bikes and hit the Burke-Gilman trail (the very first ride listed in the book), but even if we don’t, I see it as an investment for the future.

We only spent an hour at REI before we had to zip back to the hotel to get ready for Shabbat, which started at 4:13 pm! We both managed to take hot showers before candle lighting time and after prayers, we sat down to enjoy an excellent meal of challah from Noah’s Bagels, and salads and fresh sushi from Albertson’s. By the time midnight rolled around, we were already in bed sleeping soundly and happily.

Saturday, Nov. 29

We spent the whole day indoors, sleeping in late, waking up to have lunch, then lounging around the room. We read the newspaper, checked our maps and guides, made tentative plans for the rest of the week, then slept some more until after Shabbat ended at 5:12 pm. After that we took showers, got some food and headed over to see our friends John and Patricia, in Ballard. We just hung out at their home; they would be running the Seattle Half-Marathon in the morning, so they needed to rest and conserve their energies. At around 10-ish, we left their house and headed Downtown again, taking a detour down to the waterfront, and walking up to The Pike Brewery for some cold ales (the Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale was just as fantastic as I remembered it). Then it was back to the hotel. A quiet and very nice day to finally settle in and get our internal clocks aligned.

A report on Sunday’s activities is coming later.

Posted at Destination: Earth Travel Journal:

There is a banshee in Kilmainham Gaol; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It may be invisible to the eyes of the thousands of visitors to the historic site in the Irish capitol, but its wail, its unearthly and sorrow-filled wail, is inescapable and unforgettable.

[Read more...]

I’ve had the Destination: Earth Travel name and idea for a while, shifting a few times what exactly I want to do with it, from a travel advice service to a travel referral site. None of those ideas worked, but I love the name and having that outlet for my travel interests. When it comes to those interests, one of the few applications I have not pursued, yet is one that appeals to me a lot, is travel writing. With that in mind, I have turned that website and brand into the Destination: Earth Travel Journal.

The site is now a place for me to practice my travel writing skills, an extension of the travel journal I always endeavor do keep whenever I go on the road. I have invited a couple of my travel companions to share if they do desire, but it is mainly my playground.

I won’t be syndicating that feed into my main website at DMPerez.com, but I will post a notice and a link whenever a new article goes up there, so that anyone who is interested can go check it out. I will also be looking for ways to tie together what I do with Destination: Earth Travel Journal and The Gamer Traveler (which, I swear, is not dead yet).

I invite you to drop by the travel journal site and check out the articles as they come up (maybe even subscribe to that feed) and to leave your feedback on the pieces, as it’s the only way I can improve my skills.

It’s official, my wife and I will be going back to Seattle for Thanksgiving break (last week of Nov/first week of Dec) and I am so excited it borders on the illegal. 

This is the first time ever my wife and I have visited one location twice in one year (my visits to Puerto Rico to see family and friends not included). There were so many things that we couldn’t see when we went in June that it is amazing thinking we’ll have a chance so soon again. This trip, however, has an ulterior motive, as we intend to use the opportunity to take a look at neighborhoods, apt/houses, and generally look at Seattle through the eyes of people wanting to move up there as soon as (freakin’) possible. We’re hoping to line up some job interviews for that week as well, so wish us luck.

Seattle Redux – so awesome.

 We all woke up at 9 am so we could take advantage of our last day of free breakfast at the Embassy, and because with a flight at 2 pm, I had no time to loose. We were joined downstairs by Erin Moore and a very hungover David Moore, to whom we bid farewell as they headed out back to Chicago. Josh, Mick and I went upstairs to get our stuff packed up and ready for our checkout.

Josh would go on to stay until Monday so I bid him farewell, and after checking out of the hotel with Mick, I bid him farewell as he would be heading out to Louisville later in the afternoon. At the checkout counter I had the fortune of meeting Eytan Bernstein, one of the people I had hoped to see during the con but had missed so far, so even if it was for a few minutes, I was glad.

I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough time to make it back to the hall before I had to leave to the airport. I like going around the hall one last time saying goodbye to everyone I know that I run into; it gives me a sense of closure for the con, and one last chance to connect with folks before I don’t see them for a year (in most cases). Thankfully I did have time, and at 11 am I was at the Exhibit Hall doing a mad-dash through the corridors saying goodbye to folks. I also had the foresight to bring my camera and take pics with some of my good friends.

Ben Balestra (All Games Considered), Dan, Shawn and Mario Dongu (The Game Master Show) & Me.

 
Ethan Parker (Gamer’s Haven) & Me.

 
Don Dehm (Pulp Gamer) & Me.

 
Judd Karlman (Sons of Kryos), Rob Bohl (The Independent Insurgency) & Me.

Meg, Josh and Zeke (The Brilliant Gameologists) & Me.

Paul Tevis (Have Games, Will Travel: For a Few Games More), Ryan Macklin (Master Plan) & Me.
These two dudes also did This Just In… From Gen Con, a great daily live-from-the-show podcast.

After this it was the express line to the airport and a nice flight back to Miami via Air Tran, which thankfully was not disrupted by the presence of Tropical Storm Fay just south of Miami (it would not affect Josh flying in on Monday either, though it did screw up the rest of the week with tons of rain and winds). By 7 pm I was back home, having pizza with my wife, decompressing after an amazing, hectic, overwhelming, and dare I say magical weekend gaming and sharing with friends from all over the world, and wondering at the back of my head, “Is it Gen Con 2009 yet?”

Given my particular limitations, Shabbat at Gen Con for me is always about taking it easy, strolling the hall in peace and catching up with friends. Like last year, I slept in late, ate breakfast at the Embassy with my roommates, then went upstairs to do my prayers while Josh attended a Quick Write seminar downstairs. At noon, prayers done and a small lunch eaten, Josh and I headed to the Exhibit Hall to see everything we hadn’t so far.

Up to this point, we had all seemingly forgotten that we had brought cameras so the pictures were very few. Saturday was dubbed photo day, and Josh took a number of shots around the hall (which you can see here). My mission for this time in the hall was to look around for stuff I’d come buy Sunday before going back to Miami; it went so-so. We dropped by the Khepera Publishing booth to check out Hellas: Worlds of Sun and Stone aka. Greeks in SPACE!!! As I saw someone state in in a forum, “Any answer other than “Hell Yes!” to that premise is just wrong.” Jerry Grayson seems intent on making awesome games and lots of money with systems that people have tossed to the trash can (D6 for GODSEND Agenda, Omni for Hellas) and this one doesn’t disappoint. I failed to pick it up, however, but later I found out that Josh did get the last copy (Battle-Scarred Edition!) so I’ll be playing it at some point soon.

And because I promised Josh I’d give him hell for this pic:  
Photo courtesy of Andy Kitkowski.

The other book I wanted was John Wick’s Houses of the Blooded, but try as I might, I never found where John had set up shop so I left the con without it. I also completely forgot to buy a copy of Things We Think About Games and of The Solar System. Thank goodness for IPR on all three counts. At around 2 pm we left the hall so Josh could get some lunch, and we ended up walking around downtown Indy a bit, which is a fine activity, even in the midst of the convention (it refreshes you, trust me). We went back to the Embassy to eat our lunch because at 4 pm we were scheduled to meet with Chris Perrin to do a playtest of his game Mecha.

 
Mecha Playtest.

The game was great. We ended up in our room and with a party of four (Josh, David Moore, Chris Norwood and myself) playing these kids with mecha who are trying to overthrow the gods of this futuristic and disfunctional Utopia (one of the included settings with the game). That Perrin got some cheap MechWarrior mech minis added to the coolness of it all, and of course, the fact that it is a game about mechas just rocks it to 11. The mechanics are pretty smooth, and play up the whole man+machine aspect very well. I want this game out so I can own it and start hacking it to pieces.

 
Without a battlemat, we had to improvise.

At 7-ish pm, we made our way to the Media Meet & Greet at the Westin, an event that seems like it will become a tradition. I love the Meet & Greet, both because I like meeting fans of gaming podcasts (mine or otherwise), but also because it is a chance to say hello to my fellow podcasters that I may have seen only briefly during the show or have not seen at all.

 
L to R: Chris Hussy (Fear the Boot), Itamar Weisberg (Hamis’hakia), Me, Meg (Brilliant Gameologists) and Chris Perrin (Canon Puncture).

We did the Meet & Greet up until about 9 pm when the party moved to the Boardgames Ballroom for those who wanted to keep gaming. I went back to the hotel, closed Shabbat, changed into my kilt and met up with Dan, Chad, Itamar and a couple of friends from the Fear the Boot forums; our destination: the White Wolf party.

I missed the party last year because I had commited to a playtest at that time. Even this year, I had offered to run a game of Witch Hunter for some folks working the hall during the day, and I would have had no problem gaming at that time. The game never materialized, however, so I was left with the desire to hit the party. One problem, though: I did not have an invite (remember what I said about not being able to do any White Wolf interviews?). Dan however had one and when we got there he managed to get in thanks to a connection, thus I inherited his ticket. However, I had left my ID back at the hotel, so I had to walk back to get it, wisely also using the opportunity to eat something (again, PB&J sandwiches woohoo!). Once back at the ICE Lounge, I was ready to enter The Succubus Club.

The party was fantastic, everything the hype promised and more. It was open bar so I started right upon entering with a Vodka & Cranberry (I won’t do a list, don’t worry) and went to meet my friends, finding fellow Booters Chris Hussy and Daniel “Grungydan” Henson along the way. We hung out for about half an hour, but after that it was time to hit the dance floor, and I pretty much did not leave it for the rest of the night.

The music was an extraordinary mix of modern evocative dance songs (Goldfrapp was especially cool) with just amazing Retro/Goth/New Wave tunes, with a heavt emphasis on the latter. I was in dancing heaven. I used to go to a local goth club called The Kitchen back in the late 90′s pretty much every Saturday night and this music took me right back there. I wish I could get a set list for all that was played that night, because it would go directly into my iPod. Kudos to the DJ for a great experience. I wish there was more to say, but I literally danced for like 4 hours straight with nary a break in between and that’s pretty much it. I will say that I was a good boy. I had a couple of friends who had a few too many drinks and did things that they should be glad there are no pictures of, but aside from having a couple clove cigarettes and drinking a bit too much (though thankfully I spaced it enough that I didn’t get sick or hungover the next morning, just sort of lost in this music-filled trance), I was a very good boy.   

At 3 am they turned on the lights, and around 3:15 am they turned off the music; at around 3:30 I was outside talking drunken crap with Don Dehm and Jeremiah Lynch of Pulp Gamer. We made our way back to the Embassy where I had a glass of Jeremiah’s homemade mead and then went to my room to find everyone awake still. David Moore apparently had as much to drink at the White Wolf party as I did but in half the time and hd gotten himself in trouble with his wife for some drunken comment or other (he also ran into Jared Sorensen and said to him, “You wrote Burning Wheel!” [which, for the non-gamers who read this, he didn't]). Josh and I went downstairs for a bit but turned in at around 4:30 am and promptly passed out.

 
David Moore the morning after the White Wolf party.