fatrockstar

I got to the Convention Center on Friday around 11 a.m. thanks to zachdms who was running the Super Smash Bros tournament that day.

Funny thing about Friday -- it was hot. I dressed a little more professionally than I needed to because it was perfect for crappy weather and instantly regretted it. Air conditioning? Hah. By the time I got to the top floor to stand in the Will Call line I could already feel sweat dripping down the small of my back. I could only strip down so much.

In line I met a reviewer named Omaha Sternberg and had a nice conversation about what to look forward to at the conference. She and I would cross paths a time or two during the weekend. Sharp lady.

I found a table and sat down to review the contents of the year's swag bag. Not five minutes later I was joined by two guys in military fatigues. Something seemed out of place to me but I didn't think too hard about it considering the diversity of the crowds. It turns out they weren't military, but BOOTH BABES for the XBox 360's Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway. They asked a lot of questions about PAX and what to expect of the crowds, and I filled them in on a few things (like Gamerstench). I got their names and for the life of me have not been able to remember them beyond that first day, even though I talked to them several times over the weekend as they worked. At any rate, Kotaku.com got a pic of them. I have stolen it and put it ( behind the cut along with some of the pictures that never made it past LiveJournal's email post feature. )

Aftermath

Once the Omegathon was done and a winner declared, the event was over. A picture was taken of the group for posterity, and I await its arrival in my inbox. I ducked out of a post-event dinner in Magnolia because I'm exhausted. I will probably sleep most of the day on Monday, as will the rest of my new friends.

You know, there were so many people at PAX I'm amazed at the people I *did* manage to bump into there. mischief_wa was there for a few hours, I ran into an old coworker of Garret's (and later went out of my way to avoid his wife), Amanda was there working the LoTR:Online booth, and later I ran into Rob and Takahisa from my last team at MS. Unfortunately, I managed to miss seeing zachdms again, and my old college buddy Chris attended the entire weekend and I never saw him. If Garret was there at all I missed him completely, but I don't think he was.

And now I sleep.

At the last minute on Saturday I got a call from Stuart to go see a Brazilian Jazz performance in Issaquah. He apologized for such short notice, but I thought it was really cool of him to invite me. I was only going to sit at home and feel sorry for myself for the rest of the night anyway. He comes by and I throw myself together in ten minutes, then we head out.

We get there and two of the members of the band are friends of his. They were really nice, and I looked forward to their show. We were seated at a table with another couple and had drinks, yada yada... Halfway through the set the bandleader introduces Stuart as a guest percussionist, which surprises both of us, so he goes up and plays various instruments and gadgets. I got a picture.

Toward the end of the set Stuart is invited up to play again! Below is the awesome picture of him doing his thing.