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missroserose...with another episode of:
Altered-State Vacation Blogging!!** (cue theme music, cheering studio audience)
Thank you, Generic Announcer Man, audience! And a most excellent vacation to you too.
So when last we left Our Intrepid Heroes Brian and Rose, they had just attended the 2008 edition of the Penny Arcade Expo, which was, to quote Rose, "an absolute blast". But their vacation didn't stop there, did it, Generic Studio Audience?
{CUE studio audience:} Noooooo!
That's right, Audience, this was no ordinary vacation. This was a vacation so special, so thrilling, that it could only be properly experienced over a TWO WEEK SPAN! Given that PAX ended on the fifth day, where do you think they went from there?
{CUE Jeopardy! music.}
No guesses? I'll give you a hint - having met the founders of a comedy website they enjoy and admire, and finding themselves more or less available for the next couple days, what would their natural reaction be?
{Music continues, ending in buzzer.}
Aww. Well, having found the LoadingReadyRun crew to be most pleasant folk, we purchased tickets for the ferry back with them, intending to have a look 'round Victoria, B.C. (both because we had heard from various sources how lovely it was and as a potential place to move on the off chance of a McCain victory). And, given that the forum title they bestowed on Brian is "The Master Chef" (as he occasionally natters on about what he's cooking this or that day), but they had never tried his food, it seemed logical to offer to make them all dinner. Given that the crew's demographic is heavily slanted toward the "large young male" category, they were more than happy to accept.
The ferry ride there was fun, but got rather choppy toward the end - I have to say, I wasn't feeling all that hot by the finish. Fortunately, things were better once we got off and through customs. (Amusing aside - apparently if you're a Canadian citizen coming back into Canada, and all members of your party just put "$50" on the line for what you spent while in America, it earns you a lecture from the customs official on the Importance of Accuracy on Government Forms. So we got to wait a bit for the bulk of the crew to catch up with us.)
Morgan, who had the twin advantages of his father meeting him with a vehicle and employment at the Strathcona Hotel, kindly offered to take us there and see what he could do about getting us a discounted rate. We ended up getting a remarkably cozy room on the first floor for a staggeringly good price (much thanks to the girl at the counter - apparently discounts were only supposed to apply to family members but I have a feeling she shooed us in anyway). The decor and color scheme was rather Victorian - lots of dark wood paneling, green carpet, etc.- and reminded me, very oddly, of some of the inns in Oblivion. I recommend the place for anyone looking for a clean, nice and relatively inexpensive ($100/nightish) place to stay in downtown Victoria.
After we caught a nap to make up for the early-morning ferry departure, we walked around a bit and admired the harbor area. We were just in time to catch the tail end of the Wooden Boat Festival, and there were some stunning tall ships in port. We had a snack (sidewalk hot dog vendor with ketchup plus mustard plus relish plus onions plus sauerkraut plus kimchee FTW), and then found Morgan and his father, who offered to give us a tour of the area. We learned several interesting facts along the way, such as:
[a] Victoria is an absolutely lovely place, as advertised
[b] There's a surprising amount of work for movie-industry people there - apparently a lot of TV shows are filmed in the area
[c] There is a Tweed Curtain that falls over part of Victoria; British Columbia is where the folks are more British than Britain, and the Tweed Curtain sections off the folk who are more British than British Columbians
[d] While pot is not technically legal in British Columbia, possession of such is specifically legislated to be the lowest enforcement priority for police patrols
[e] Despite having come to the area in the sixties and seventies specifically so they could smoke pot and drop acid, lots of older hippies are expressing concern about "kids today" with their "designer drugs" and "loud music"
[f] The Republicans are keeping control of the American government by a combination of bribery, extortion, well-placed moles and occasional assassination
[g] Morgan's father is the most hilariously-stereotypical and delightful Canadian older-hippie conspiracy-theorist BC resident that you can imagine
After our tour we headed to the grocery store for supplies, and then to Morgan and Bill's house to cook -- or more precisely, to get it in a shape fit for cooking and having people over. The denizens of the house were more than happy to get the kitchen in order, while I handled the living room; it took a bit of doing and a fair amount of dusting and vacuuming, but thanks to my Cleaning Superpowers handed down to me from my mother, I managed to get it in a perfectly presentable condition. It was rather amusing seeing the reactions of the rest of the LRR crew as they showed up - most were variations on the theme of "What happened in here? This place has never looked this good."
Brian made his delectable boursin-stuffed pancetta-wrapped chicken breast recipe, which was a big hit all around - he made twelve of them, and it's probably a good thing that half the crew was still too tired to show up or else we would've been short. Even though we had to substitute bacon for the pancetta due to supply issues, it was still pronounced fantastic by everyone in the room, and we had a fine time listening to LRR stories and showing off Brian's photography until it got late enough that we had to head back to the hotel.
The ferry back didn't leave quite so bloody early, so we had a chance to walk around downtown a bit and get some Serious Coffee (an actual chain there), which wasn't bad but didn't really impress me much. Then it was time to catch the boat and head off to the car rental place, where Rose would soon rent her first car and learn about driving in the Real World.
{CUE suspenseful music}
Until next time, I'm your host...Miss Rose Rose.
**No, sleep deprivation doesn't make me even stranger than usual, why do you ask?
Altered-State Vacation Blogging!!** (cue theme music, cheering studio audience)
Thank you, Generic Announcer Man, audience! And a most excellent vacation to you too.
So when last we left Our Intrepid Heroes Brian and Rose, they had just attended the 2008 edition of the Penny Arcade Expo, which was, to quote Rose, "an absolute blast". But their vacation didn't stop there, did it, Generic Studio Audience?
{CUE studio audience:} Noooooo!
That's right, Audience, this was no ordinary vacation. This was a vacation so special, so thrilling, that it could only be properly experienced over a TWO WEEK SPAN! Given that PAX ended on the fifth day, where do you think they went from there?
{CUE Jeopardy! music.}
No guesses? I'll give you a hint - having met the founders of a comedy website they enjoy and admire, and finding themselves more or less available for the next couple days, what would their natural reaction be?
{Music continues, ending in buzzer.}
Aww. Well, having found the LoadingReadyRun crew to be most pleasant folk, we purchased tickets for the ferry back with them, intending to have a look 'round Victoria, B.C. (both because we had heard from various sources how lovely it was and as a potential place to move on the off chance of a McCain victory). And, given that the forum title they bestowed on Brian is "The Master Chef" (as he occasionally natters on about what he's cooking this or that day), but they had never tried his food, it seemed logical to offer to make them all dinner. Given that the crew's demographic is heavily slanted toward the "large young male" category, they were more than happy to accept.
The ferry ride there was fun, but got rather choppy toward the end - I have to say, I wasn't feeling all that hot by the finish. Fortunately, things were better once we got off and through customs. (Amusing aside - apparently if you're a Canadian citizen coming back into Canada, and all members of your party just put "$50" on the line for what you spent while in America, it earns you a lecture from the customs official on the Importance of Accuracy on Government Forms. So we got to wait a bit for the bulk of the crew to catch up with us.)
Morgan, who had the twin advantages of his father meeting him with a vehicle and employment at the Strathcona Hotel, kindly offered to take us there and see what he could do about getting us a discounted rate. We ended up getting a remarkably cozy room on the first floor for a staggeringly good price (much thanks to the girl at the counter - apparently discounts were only supposed to apply to family members but I have a feeling she shooed us in anyway). The decor and color scheme was rather Victorian - lots of dark wood paneling, green carpet, etc.- and reminded me, very oddly, of some of the inns in Oblivion. I recommend the place for anyone looking for a clean, nice and relatively inexpensive ($100/nightish) place to stay in downtown Victoria.
After we caught a nap to make up for the early-morning ferry departure, we walked around a bit and admired the harbor area. We were just in time to catch the tail end of the Wooden Boat Festival, and there were some stunning tall ships in port. We had a snack (sidewalk hot dog vendor with ketchup plus mustard plus relish plus onions plus sauerkraut plus kimchee FTW), and then found Morgan and his father, who offered to give us a tour of the area. We learned several interesting facts along the way, such as:
[a] Victoria is an absolutely lovely place, as advertised
[b] There's a surprising amount of work for movie-industry people there - apparently a lot of TV shows are filmed in the area
[c] There is a Tweed Curtain that falls over part of Victoria; British Columbia is where the folks are more British than Britain, and the Tweed Curtain sections off the folk who are more British than British Columbians
[d] While pot is not technically legal in British Columbia, possession of such is specifically legislated to be the lowest enforcement priority for police patrols
[e] Despite having come to the area in the sixties and seventies specifically so they could smoke pot and drop acid, lots of older hippies are expressing concern about "kids today" with their "designer drugs" and "loud music"
[f] The Republicans are keeping control of the American government by a combination of bribery, extortion, well-placed moles and occasional assassination
[g] Morgan's father is the most hilariously-stereotypical and delightful Canadian older-hippie conspiracy-theorist BC resident that you can imagine
After our tour we headed to the grocery store for supplies, and then to Morgan and Bill's house to cook -- or more precisely, to get it in a shape fit for cooking and having people over. The denizens of the house were more than happy to get the kitchen in order, while I handled the living room; it took a bit of doing and a fair amount of dusting and vacuuming, but thanks to my Cleaning Superpowers handed down to me from my mother, I managed to get it in a perfectly presentable condition. It was rather amusing seeing the reactions of the rest of the LRR crew as they showed up - most were variations on the theme of "What happened in here? This place has never looked this good."
Brian made his delectable boursin-stuffed pancetta-wrapped chicken breast recipe, which was a big hit all around - he made twelve of them, and it's probably a good thing that half the crew was still too tired to show up or else we would've been short. Even though we had to substitute bacon for the pancetta due to supply issues, it was still pronounced fantastic by everyone in the room, and we had a fine time listening to LRR stories and showing off Brian's photography until it got late enough that we had to head back to the hotel.
The ferry back didn't leave quite so bloody early, so we had a chance to walk around downtown a bit and get some Serious Coffee (an actual chain there), which wasn't bad but didn't really impress me much. Then it was time to catch the boat and head off to the car rental place, where Rose would soon rent her first car and learn about driving in the Real World.
{CUE suspenseful music}
Until next time, I'm your host...Miss Rose Rose.
**No, sleep deprivation doesn't make me even stranger than usual, why do you ask?
