I Been Bashed

I'm home from the bash and it was the most successful yet. Total turnout was about twelve or so. Eric (whom I had an interesting conversation with about podcasting) has the master list. Mark and I were the first there, after an abbreviated afternoon of wargaming. We played a three-sided game with another Epic player that ended poorly for us. We whacked away at each other (Space Marines vs. Orks) so that the other guy (playing Eldar, a very powerful army) was mostly undamaged when he moved in. It was a mess. I was this close to a win, but a decision I'd made earlier in the last turn came back to haunt me.

As always, there were more conversations at the bash than any one person could follow. Pulp Faction Rachel mentions some of the things she discussed, and I wasn't part of any of that! (By the way, Rachel is even more attractive in person than her online photos suggest; pictures do not do her justice. I mean, uh... wow.)

Some old faces I haven't seen in a while, like Jon Sparks (fashionably late from an office party and sporting a Nightmare Before Christmas tie) and Chris Lawrence (in town for the holidays) were there. The best part was meeting bloggers I'd never even heard of, like Markus (an up and coming actor) and Bret. As I noted above, so much was going on with me talking with bloggers I already knew that I didn't learn that Bret was a writer for the U of M Daily Helmsman until I googled his name at home! I'm sorry I missed talking with him and Markus (who has a great "life in Memphis) blog) now.

I didn't do my Howard Beale "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more," but I'm open to invitations to come down and let y'all take pictures some other time. Buy me lunch and we can set it up! Autoegocrat wants in on some of that action, too. He turned out to be every bit as passionate as his writing on The Pesky Fly suggests. A very intense guy, in the good way.

We did watch some television, though. Eric had an episode of Boondocks on his laptop which he shared. It was my first time seeing it, and it is pretty funny. But it struck me as really strange that conversation stopped for twenty-some minutes.

Politics, of course, reared its head. You could tell because some of the bloggers moved to the other end of the table when it came up! But that's one of the qualities we noticed about the Memphis blog scene, how there are different, but overlapping, tribes or flavors. The night-life bloggers, the political bloggers, the daily life bloggers, etc.

Who else? There was Paul, whose blog was unjustly left out of the Memphis Flyer list of best Memphis blogs. He lives downtown and he goes out and he blogs about it. Mr. Pesky Fly, Chris Davis, was there and once again, I missed the chance to pigeon-hole him for an hour. But, he was funny and good-humored as always. Oh, and Len, of course, who stood in for his cobloggers and was his usual dry, wry self.

Quetzal was a pretty nice venue, if a tad expensive. Their sandwiches were thick and meaty, with very thick-cut tomato slices, and a good-sized salad on the side. We were left alone in our little private room -- which was a good space for this kind of group. The wifi seems to have functioned perfectly. But it does seem that the next bash needs to happen in a smoking facility, as the cool kids kept disappearing to the smoker's court every so often. On the other hand, Quetzal had a pool table right next to the room. No one played, but I think that might change next time. We'll see....

Those of you who planned to attend but didn't? Well, you just missed out. Plain and simple. It was a bubbling party. You didn't get to touch Rachel's ice-cold flask. Or watch Bookdocks or see the "nasty" pics from that site. Or get your picture taken with Karen's factotem. Or debate which show had the best first season.

See? I bet you are already sad now, aren't you? These things always end too early. Never enough time.

Pics haven't been posted as I write this, though lots were taken. I'm sure by the time you visit those links above, they will be, along with more write-ups.

Thanks to everyone who attended. I'm guessing Valentine's Day or thereabouts next year will be time for the first 2006 bloggers bash. Start clearing your schedules.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Bash reports continue to roll in. Markus and Mark have posted theirs. Len has pictures!

Here is yours truly with The Factotem: