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  General's Log: New Years Eve Party at The Edison, December 31, 2009

Steam Punk band, Abney Park performing at The Edison.

[December 31, 2009] The Edison is a steam punk bar/restaurant. This place is decked out to the max in "real" steamm punk decor (as in, this used to be the power generation room of the building so it looks really industrial). About 90% of the people dressed up for the New Year's Eve party - with over 70% in steam punk outfits. Live music by the premiere steam punk band, Abney Park! Please note, I didn't use flash on most of the shots because it took too much of the atmosphere away, so the non-flash pics are a bit "soft". The party has a rating of 10 out of 10.

  General's Log: St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, Nov 21-23, 2009

Waters of St. Croix

[November 21-23, 2009] So, the reason this is a short visit again is because St. Croix was a mileage run (to get miles on American Airlines so I can be "Executive Platinum" or "EXP" next year. As an EXP, you get upgraded to first class for free if there are any seats available. So it's a humgo-benefit :). Well, I flew in from ORD (Chicago, IL, USA) to SJU (San Juan, PR, USA). Then from SJU I flew on an ATR (GAG! Bad plane. Awful plane. This plane was banned from flying in cold/frigid/snowy weather! It is an unstable design and the pilot has to be an mega-expert to fly the stupid thing. Even the flight attendant I talked to on the plane hated the plane. And , the entire ATR fleet is falling apart. By the seams. Bad deal.) So anyway, I met Doctor Tina on the plane and we decided to explore the entire island the following day. (I was there only for one whole day, Tina was there for the whole week to scuba dive.) So, Tina and I went from the east most point of the island to the (almost) west most part of the island. It was totally fun! You can see the pictures in chronological order...

  General's Log: Halloween Orange County, CA Oct 30-31, 2009

Tron

[October 30-31, 2009] So I didn't know what to do for Halloween this year, so I was searching for Halloween parties on the web. Well, Halloween OC popped up a few times so I decided to pop in for one day. So I flew into the Santa Anna John Wayne Orange County airport. Yes, they have no idea what to call the airport anymore so they use all three names interchangeably. Anyway the party was over-rated - it was a "pro con", or professionally (meaning they charge an entrance fee) operated. They served drinks - way over priced. I mean they only had domestic-carbonated-colored-water (Bud and Bud Light) and charged $8 for a plastic cup. I did meet a few cool people there and took a few cool pictures, but the overall experience was ho-hum. I was going to fly in for their "New Year's Eve" party there, but after that expedience, I'll skip it. And you'd think they would arrange taxis for pickup after the party (at the Orange County Fair Grounds) - I mean this isn't the first or second time they did this. And no. Absolutely useless. Bad. So, I completely dis-recommend . I give this party/gathering/whatever a rating of 2 out of 10.

  General's Log: Britain and Paris 2009

Hanna and David at "The Medieval Banquet"

[October 3-6, 2009] Okay, this was another whirlwind tour... Of Britain... err specifically London and Paris... Massively cool. Meet a bunch of great people and had a ton of fun. Each pic has a caption on it so you can tell what;s what (unless I forgot what the pic was....)

  General's Log: Britain 2009

Click on pic for more photos Dover Cliffs, Britain, UK Photo by Lovett Bickford "Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive" Directed by Lovett Bickford

[April 17-19, 2009] Mike Nunamaker thought it would be cool if I joined him and his wife to go on a weekend jaunt to the UK and meet up with his sister Claralynn. So he generously forked out mileage on AA so the three of us (Mike, Sue, me) flew First Class on a Boeing 777 from the US to UK. It was a whirlwind tour but Claralynn and I crammed in a day's worth of trekking in London via the tube on Friday; then on Saturday, we took the British Tours tour of Canterbury Cathedral, Dover Cliffs and Leeds Castle. Flew back on Sunday. On Friday, Mike and Sue decided to take an afternoon nap so Claralynn and I went tubing,and hit the road, I mean rails. We started from our hotel at Marriott County Hall, walked across the Westminster bridge, and popped into the Westminster station, got my Oyster card, and we hopped on the Jubilee line to Green Park, popped over to the Piccadilly line to Hyde Park Corner. Went up and waked through Hyde Park, cut out way back to Knightsbridge to hit Harrods. The place was packed, I mean there were more people in there than you can cram in a tube station. Got my Harrods Earl Grey No. 42. (purported to be a favorite of Douglas Adams and a possible origin of 42. Cool beans, or I should say cool leaves. Great, off to the Knightsbridge tube, back on the Piccadilly line to Piccadilly Circus, then switched to the Bakerloo line to Charing Cross. Got off and headed for the Sherlock Holmes Pub. I got fish and chips of course and had the Sherlock Holmes ale. Claralynn had tea with milk. Running late! Back to Charing Cross and hit the Northern line going south to Embankment, switched to Circle line and hit Westminster. Got to Mike and Sue's room and told then about the pub and we took a proper British cab to the pub. Ate, walked back and zonked out. Saturday, got up early and met our guide British Tours Guide, Keith Sugden. We were off on our merry way to Canterbury Cathedral and as luck would have it, his water pump blew a hole. He called for road assistance and they tried to use sealant but the hole was too big. He called in a replacement guide and we waited for an hour or so. Soon, our replacement guide came by and we waved good-bye to Keith and we were back on the road to Canterbury. We found out that our guide was non other than Lovett Bickford who used to work as a Director at the BBC! As you know, I am a huge Doctor Who fan so of course I said, "I am a huge Doctor Who fan." Among the many things he has done at the BBC, he directed The Leisure Hive (Tom Baker as the Doctor and Lala Ward as Romama). But I digress. So, we go to St. Dunstan's and take a peek at vault where the beheaded head of Sir Thomas More lies. Then off to Canterbury Castle, but first, we stop off at Falstaff Hotel, a Coaching Inn for a break. Then to Canterbury Cathedral we go. Okay, people complain that there are too many Starbucks eveywhere. Well, let me tell you. All of the Starbucks crammed in all cities in the United States of America pales in comparison with where this particular Starbucks was located. Right in the gatehouse of Canterbury Cathedral! Good grief man, they should be hung upside down, dragged through the streets then drawn-and-quartered then their head impaled on a stick right next to Sir Thomas More! (Please don't get bent out of shape, this is just a hyperbole.) But I digress further. So of course, while we are touring Canterbury, I am trying to take a picture of Lovett Bickford, but it was going to be tricky because he said he didn't want any pictures taken of him. So every time I succeed, you can see him scowling at me :) We went back to the Coaching Inn and had lunch. I had genuine Boddington's Ale of course. But I digress even further. So, after finishing up our food and ale, we head to the White Cliffs of Dover - where the coolest thing happened. A plane buzzed us. Good thing it wasn't a Messerschmitt because we'd be dead. I identified the plane as non-other than a Britten-Norman BN-2A-26 Islander, G-BCEN, Air Atlantique (AAG), or to be more precise, it was a plane of Her Majesty's Coastguard! (Look at the tail picture I took... I also added Sue's pics to fill out the plane sequence. She got the pic of the plane going over the top of the cliff, so that was a good catch!) Then off to Leeds Castle. Did a real quick tour, took great pictures. On the way back, got a pic of the Mi6 building. After we got back to the hotel, Sue said I should get an autograph from Lovett Bickford. I said that was too tacky, by Mr. Bickford obliged and I have his autograph. Cool beans. We said our good-byes and we're off. Off to the London Eye, that is. We get there and get in line but since Mike was walking with a cane, we get to go to a will call line and get in quickly. Then we also got to go straight on into the capsule. So that was cool. Took a boatload of pictures and then we were done for the day. Whew! Sunday, we were off to the airport and flew back home...

  General's Log: New Year's Eve Party 2008

Charissa, Jill and Shelly

[December 31, 2008] This was the 25th Annual New Year's Eve Party. About two dozen people showed up as usual. No new special effects or anything. Had three web cams as usual.

  General's Log: BioSphere2 in 2008

BioSphere 2

[November 28, 2008, Oracle, AZ] Visted BioSphere2 when I was out in Tucson, AZ. The place is gigantic. A great engineering feat. The photos are shown in the order of the tour...

  General's Log: WindyCon 2008

WindyCon 2008

[November 14-16, 2008, Oakbrook, IL] I didn't technically go to WindyCon. I was just visiting Charissa, Kevin and Shelly because they were throwing Raymond's party there...

  General's Log: San Diego Comic Con 2008

Dreadnought San Diego ComicCon 2008

[July 23-27, 2008, San Diego, CA] San Diego ComicCon 2008! Shaene was the sole Dreadnought Girl. I was in uniform on Saturday. And as usual, plenty of costume pics from passers by around the Dreadnought booth... Plus, I lucked onto going to Pop Candy's (Whitney Matheson's) party. Got a pic of her too...

  General's Log: Wizard World Chicago 2008

Dreadnought Wizard World 2008

[April 26-29, 2008, Rosemont, IL] Chicago Wizard World 2008! Linda and Jill reprise as Dreadnought girls. And of course, plenty of costume pics from attendees!

  General's Log: New York Comic Con 2008

Dreadnought New York ComicCon 2008

[April 18-20, 2008, New York, NY] Went to New York Comic Con to promote my comic book Dreadnought: Invasion Six (DreadnoughtSeries.com). Got a booth and it was staffed by the two Dreadnought girls Linda and Jill. Here are some pictures of the costumes at New York Comic-con 2008.

  General's Log: Capricon 2008

Con theme was Captain Morgan drinks...

[Feb 15-17, 2008, Arlington Heights, IL] At Capricon, I had a party room and had it staffed with almost the entire Dreadnought crew. Here are the pictures from the party room. Bondo and Jenny got married there so I posted the three best pictures I took of the couple.

  General's Log: LosCon 2007

You never know who you will bump into at LosCon... Larry Niven.

[Nov 23 - Nov 25, 2007, TGN, Los Angeles, CA] Last time I was a LosCon was in 2003 when it was held in Burbank. LosCon is now in Los Angeles, which of course kinda makes sense... Theme of this year's LosCon was "The Dig" (as in archeological dig... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is: 8 out of 10.

  Captain's Log: Convergence 2006

Aboard the original NCC-1701 Enterprise...

[July 7 - July 9, 2006, TGN, Minneapolis, MN] This year's theme was "Boldly Go" which translated to a ton of Trekkies milling about. There was a huge two room completely built out Star Trek "set" of a party room. It was too cool! Of course there were dozens and dozens of party rooms as usual and it was totally fun, as usual The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 9 out of 10. The Klingon Hello Kitty pictures are in this set! Or you can go look at all of them here:

  General's Log: New Year's Eve Party 2005

Last Webcam shot of the night

[December 31, 2005, TGN, Hoffman Estates, IL] First NYEP to be held at a hotel! Two dozen people showed up. It was different. Had to wrap up early due to time limits imposed by the hotel. Oh well. The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 6 out of 10.

  General's Log: Convergence 2005

Sheep, Grommit and Wallace

[July 1 - July 3, 2005, TGN, Minneapolis, MN] Another Convergence with a ton of room parties. There were so many room parties, there were three floors worth of room parties (as opposed to the normal two floors worth). There weren't too many costumes this time though. And, no costume really hit the "oh wow" moment. Wallace and Grommit came close though... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8 out of 10.

  General's Log: Singles Cruise 2005

SinglesCruise.com Carnival Ship Facination

[May 30 - June 3, 2005, TGN, Miami, FL] Singles cruise from singlescruise.com started out day before the cruise at Lombardi's resturant. About fifty showed up and it was a great start. Over a hundred fifty singles boarded the ship and we went off to Key West Florida and Cozumel. Last day was at sea. It rained all day - people couldn't sun, but we had all of our singles activities 'indoors' on the ship. Take a look at the pics... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8 out of 10.

  General's Log: 23rd Annual New Year's Eve Party - 2004

Placeholder for now...

[December 31, 2004, TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] 20 or so people showed up. Mike Lenihan from college (like haven't seen him in 23 years!) and his wife cme. So that was very cool. Party went to about 3:00am... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 7 out of 10.

  General's Log: DragonCon 2004

DragonCon2004

[Sept 3-6, 2004, TGN, Atlanta, GA] DragonCon needs to be experienced by everyone at least once. Let me just warn you, there are no room parties; which is a huge negative in my book. However, please note, with way over 10,000 attendees, a room party can cost the hosts way too much money! Okay, okay... I suppose I shouldn't publicize secrets, but there are room parties there (shhhh!). You just need to be invited. Oh, that's hard to do, yes, but just keep your eyes and ears peeled! The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 9 out of 10.

  General's Log: To Be CONtinued 2004

Chase Masterson (right) and me.

[April 9-11, TGN, Rosemont, IL] To Be CONtinued was a fun con. The con featured the Dueling Blenders Saturday night. The hotel (Radison Inn, just north of O'Hare) is the new home of To Be CONtinued, as well as Windycon in November. Still a new con, the attendance was sparse with only a few party rooms each night. The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 7 out of 10.

  General's Log: 22nd Annual New Year's Eve Party - 2003

Bondo talking to Yuri and Deek

[December 31, 2003, TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] 30 people showed up - which is very good. Charissa came from Indianapolis and Chloe came from Madison. A whole bunch of people from the local scifi cons came. Also, Merobel (previous work) and two of her friends came, so that was great. This is Jessica's (aka Crow's) last party for a while, she is joining the USAF. I can go on and on but I don't want to bore you, so go check out the pics! Party went to 4:00am... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8 out of 10.

  General's Log: LosCon XXX 2003

Click on the pic to get all the pics...

[November 28 through November 30, 2003, TGN, Burbank, CA] No matter where you go, there you are... Or in case of cons, no matter what con you go to, you meet the same kind of people! In the case of LosCon, I met old friends from the Chicago circuit - Mad Mike and Chuck and Annie! Not one but three familiar faces. Amazing. Made new friends too. Nathan, Barbara and Kelly (last pic on the pic page.) Oh, the first pic is a panel I went to - Todd MacCAffrey (son of Anne), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher, Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Tin Powers. The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8 out of 10.

  General's Log: Windycon 2003

Click on the pic to get all the pics...

[November 7 through November 9, 2003, TGN, Schaumburg, IL] Another weekend, another Windycon. Oh, I (we) had fun, but the con is verging on becoming a relax-a-con. Need more party rooms! As if my brain was in gear - I flew in from San Diego on Friday and flew out on Sunday. Whirlwind. Oh well. The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 5 out of 10.

  General's Log: San Diego Fire 2003

Click on the pic to get all the pics...

[October 26 through October 28, 2003, TGN, San Diego, CA] To say the fire was close is an under statement! If the winds didn't die down, my location in Rancho Bernardo would have been toast with about a 20 minute warning. Rancho Bernardo is on the west side of the map (see pics for map) - I was right by the "B" in Rancho Bernardo. Bob Haas and Charissa Bihl were visiting. Bob was pretty calm, considering his apartment might be fried that day...

  General's Log: CONvergence 2003

Click on the pic to get all the pics...

[July 4 through 6, 2003, TGN, Minneapolis, MN] Well, well well. Another great CONvergence con! The only things that remains are the pictures - but hey, that's what web sites are for. This CONvergence was more exciting than last year, if memory serves correctly. (Why aren't the any pics from 2002 you ask? Well, I went to Las Vegas right after the con to go to a screenwriter's conference and guess what - I lost my camera with all of the pics! Well, gloom.) This year, my camera is safe and here are a ton of pics to make up for last year! The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 9.5 out of 10! Now that's really good. (And, a hard act to follow.) See you next year!

  General's Log: Capricon 2003

Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

[February 7-9, 2003, TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] Left to right, the TRCLJ (Troy Rick Cliff Lisa Jed) group unveiled the Galaxy Quest costumes for Capricon - as Teb, Mathasar, Quelleck, Lt. Madison and Commander Peter Peter Peter Quincy Quincy Quincy Taggart Taggart Taggart. Kathy (Lisa's mom) was the designer and seamstress for the Commander Peter Quincy Taggart and Lt. Tawny Madison outfits. Cliff was the seamster for the three Thermain outfits. The con was a blast and a half. I was having too much fun that I for got to take pictures on Friday! Well, I shot a bunch on Saturday, but still, I missed a few costumes here and there... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8.0 out of 10. (8.0/10?! Why only 8.0??? Well, the parties were excellent. Dueling Blenders were great as usual. Chicago Force out did themselves, but the con itself didn't have that snappy feeling like the time they had the Amabssador's Reception - now that was great, but I digress...)

  General's Log: 21st Annual New Year's Eve Party - 2002

Wave goodbye...

[December 31, 2002, TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] 39 people showed up - which is a record for the "house" parties. Of course, the record holder is still 80+ people at Don Moy's resturant a long time ago... The party lasted until 4:45am -although I pulled the plug on the web cams at 3:45am. We had three cams again, but Cam3 (KitchenCam) fritzed out during the night. Oh well. Bunch of people came, including new faces I invited from the local scifi convention scene (courtesy of Bondo, but that's another long story). The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 9.5 out of 10.

  General's Log: Windycon 2002

"New Dominion" Room Party

[November 8 through 10, 2002, TGN, Schaumburg, IL] The biggest improvement to Windycon was the new con suite. It was nice and roomy, as opossed to the old con suite. A bit too bright for my liking but, I'll take the room over the lighting! Also, new picture format. Instead of me commenting on each pic, I just clumped them into a bunch. E-mail me if you hate the new format... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 6.5 out of 10.

  General's Log: Capricon 2002

Sith Bar...

[February 7 through 10, 2002, TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] The convention was memorable here and there, but it was not what one would call one of the better ones... Then of course there was the Sith... Other news: a couple staged a re-marriage - (party man "Martini" and his longtime girl friend) with (the real) Dr. Demento giving the bride away. My pictures didn't turn out that great, but you get the idea... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 6 out of 10.

  General's Log: 20th Annual New Year's Eve Party - 2001

Party lasted till 3:02am. View from WebCam1...

[December 31, 2001, TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] Two dozen people showed up. Party was hopping till 3:00am. Jeff Moy even showed up this time! Hector and Renata dropped in. And, I finally got a picture of Matt and Pia, so they can now officially quit griping that their pics are not on the net! Now the technical stuff... It was a three web-cam event. Cam1 and Cam3 were 3Com low-lux USB cams. They were great. Cam2 was one of those widely advertised X10 wireless cams - they are junk: focus is hideous, no field depth and absolutely horrible quality. Oh well. Also tried out my new ice-cooled chemical fog machine. The fog actually rolls on the floor, until the "fog" reaches romm temperature, then it disperses into the whole room. Dry ice is much better (of course dry ice costs a heck of a lot more). The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 6 out of 10.

  General's Log: Windycon 2001

Gene Roddenberry Jr. (left) with me.

[November 9 through 11, 2001, TGN, Schaumburg, IL] Windycon was hopping this time around. The usual setup but with special guests (Gene Roddenberry, Jr. as pictured above) and Dr. Demento. Five party rooms on Friday and 10-15 or so party rooms on Saturday. And, there were a bit more costumed people than usual. Of course, I was camera-less half the time, or was too busy having fun instead of taking pictures as usual. So, if you have any cool pictures, please send them to me! The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8 out of 10.

  General's Log: CONvergence 2001

More Coffee?

[July 6 through 8, 2001, TGN, Minneapolis, MN] Convergence was, like huge! Over 40 party rooms each night! That's more than all three Chicago-land scifi cons (Windycon, Capricon, and Duckon) combined!!! And, not only that, there were three different party rooms serving just coffee! One room just served food. Then the rest were party rooms. Some had only a few decorations, others had the entire room decked out. Total fun. And more costumes than ever! The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 10 out of 10.

  General's Log: Duckon 2001

Click on the pic to get all the pics...

[May 11 through 13, 2001, TGN, Lisle, IL] I would say, Duckon as a con is picking up steam again. It is still smaller than the other two Chicagoland cons (Capricon and Windycon), but some of the party rooms were pretty wild... The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 6.0 out of 10.

  General's Log: Mardi Gras 2001

Everything you have heard and seen about Mardi Gras is totally true!

[February 21 through 28, 2001, TGN, New Orleans, LA] Well, it was totally to cool! And a fun time, of course. Where else can you get 64oz (that's half a gallon) of Hurricane (as in that bottle in the pic above) for only $19.00 and walk around town and the police do not even care! Amazing. And, I was on the Krewe of Bacchus float (#19) on Sunday! Got a neato costume! And threw over $500.00 worth of beads to the screaming crowds! Well, quit reading, take a look at the pics! The official rating of this Mardi Gras is 10 out of 10.

  General's Log: Capricon 2001

Best Costume Presentation Winners Jed, Lisa, Me, Cliff, Troy

[February 9 through 11, 2001, TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] Capricon is now undoubtly the best fan run science fiction convention in the Chicago area! They out did themselves this year with a great "Ambassador's Reception" on Friday with room parties galore on both Friday and Saturday nights. Our costume group (Cliff, Troy, Jed, Lisa and me) won the Best Costume Presentation on Friday dressed in the Star Fleet Ambassador's Reception uniform as shown in the Star Trek: Insurrection movie. (These were designed and constructed from scratch by Cliff Suda.) We proceded to be assimilated and all became Borg on Saturday. The official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 9.5 out of 10.

  General's Log: 19th Annual New Year's Eve Party - 2000

Choloe crashed on the couch while Tim stares into space.

[December 31, 2000], 2000: TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] The party was 30 people strong with about a dozen more coming and going throughout the night. The party lasted the longest ever. The mess created was almost record breaking too. We had midnight dry ice fog as usual (captured by Steve Kraus). The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8.0 out of 10.

  General's Log: Windycon 2000

Dueling Blenders with Indy click on picture above for more...

[November 10-12, 2000: TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] This Windycon was right after Worldcon 2000 in Chicago, so the con was rather tame. It was sparsely attended and there were only a few good costumes - so, there are only a few pictures. The picture above is from the Dueling Blenders Party which is alway very popular. Flash, one of your regular bartenders was away on assignment in London, England, so, Indy (right) did a stand in for him. And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 4.0 out of 10. Blenders rating is of course 10.0 out of 10.0.

  General's Log: Halloween 2000

Two Halloween parties in one year!

[October, 2000: TGN, Arlington Heights, IL and Greenville, SC] Only a few pictures... One set was at the Mensa HalloweeM RG (Regional Gathering and one set from Greenville, South Carolina - at the weekly Bowling League night. (I had a job contract there in Greenville almost all of 2000.)

  General's Log: Worldcon 2000

Delen trying really hard to convince Mr. Morden to turn away from the Shadows.

[August 31, 2000 through September 4, 2000: TGN Chicago, IL] Worldcon was five days long. The masquerade (costume) contest was disappointing due to lack of contestants. On the party side of things, there were a lot of room parties; however, they all shut down too early in the night. People were complaining about the noise. Gloom. And, as what's becoming the norm, there were only a few costumed people running around. Overall, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is: 3.5 out of 10.

  General's Log: Duckon IX 2000

The Klingons gather...

[June 16-18, 2000: TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] Well, the con was really close to a relax-a-con. One would hope that it will improve next year... Need much more room parties!!!!! I took a few pictures from the Klingon track. And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 3.5 out of 10 Oh, maybe I am getting too critical; but the rating stands - for now.

  General's Log: Capricon XX 2000

Post-Armageddon SciFi Con

[January 27-30, 2000: TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] And, the Post-Armageddon party was as exciting as Y2K... Okay, it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't as good as last year. For Capricon, I did something different. I shot a few videos. I have yet to convert them to avi format. Don't hold your breath... And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 4.0 out of 10

  General's Log: 18th Annual New Year's Eve Party 1999

This is the last live feed at 3:30am from the Party Web Cam

[December 31, 1999: TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] Well, due to the 1999 computer "hoax", most of my friends and acquaintances were stuck at work at midnight on December 31, 1999, so only a handful (like 8 people) showed up. But, the party did go on for a while. The live webcam feed was up until 3:30 pm. (Next year's party, the real turn of the century on December 31, 2000 should be a lot more fun, especially in my new condo I will be getting...) And, the official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 4.0 out of 10

  General's Log: WindyCon XXVI 1999

Mike with cool blue light saber and Chloe as Queen Amadala

[November 12-14, 1999: TGN, Schaumburg, IL] "Windycon XXVI" is slipping on the room party scene... There were 1500+ attendees, putting the con in the "super well attended" category. It seems to be a trend where the costumes are now becoming all Rennaissance and Medival with only a handful of Science Fiction themed costumes. However, those that were dressed in SciFi costumes had more intricate work, such as Queen Amadala above. There were a lot of teenagers this time, so have no fear, the science fiction and fantasy genre fan convention will still go strong! And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 7.0 out of 10

  General's Log: Duckon VIII 1999

A Jedi fighting a Sith Lord

[June 11-13, 1999: TGN, Rosemont, IL] "Duckon VIII" had a lot more room parties than last year, which is always good. There were 600+ attendees putting the con in the "well attended" category. The "Furry" track (people dressed up in furry animals, not pertaining to Scifi) will split off into its own con next year - DUckon will be pure Scifi next year... Well, as predicted, there were a bunch of Star Wars characters running around - Jedi and Darth (Sith) Lords. There were no fancy Star Wars costumes (such as any one of Queen Amidela's wardrobe). Oh, by the way, Ramada Inn in Rosemont is terrible, so I heartily dis-recommend them for any future events there. And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 5.0 out of 10

  General's Log: Commodore Cruise 1999

Commodore Ship: Enchanted Isle

[April 17-24, 1999: TGN, Commodore Cruise] Commodore is a small ship compared to other cruise ships. There are about 800 passengers (versus 2000+ on other ships) so you get to see the same faces over the course of the week. Since you bump into the same people all the time, you get to know them very quickly. We went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Grand Cayman. No, that's not an error, Jamaica was canceled due to riots in the streets (because the government raised taxes). The ship is smaller so it is not as stable as the larger ships. The official eZine-TGN Cruise Rating is in: 9.0 out of 10.0.

  General's Log: Capricon XIX 1999

The Duelling Blenders Party Room

[February 12-14, 1998: TGN, Arlington Heights, IL] "CapriconXIX" had a lot more room parties than last year! There were 600+ attendees putting the con in the "well attended" category. However, there seems to be a major lack of room parties, only 5 on Friday and 3 on Saturday. There seemed to be a preponderance medieval and renaisance costumed people, a trend which does not seem to be diminishing. And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 5.0 out of 10

  General's Log: 17th Annual NYEP 1998

The pre-party clean room.

[Dec 31, 1998: TGN, Des Plaines, IL] "The 17th Annual New Year's Eve Party (NYEP)" was great!. Old friends (from UIUC) and new ones from all over popped in. Even Hector Olson (after a multi-year hiatus)... And Ilmar Hein joined the fun. I could go on and on but I will just bore you, so I'll shut up :) There were 30 attendees. The party lasted until 2:00am. Are we getting old or what? The official eZine-TGN Party Rating is in: 8.0 out of 10.0.

  General's Log: WindyCon XXV 1998

Ambassador Delen (Charissa L) and Commander Ivanova (Melissa R)

[Nov 13-15, 1998: TGN, Schaumburg, IL] "WindyCon XXV" was great as ever. Met old con friends (10 Forward crew), current con friends (Voyager crew), and new con friends (Babylon 5 crew). I invited friends around here and from Michigan. There were 1200+ attendees and the place was packed. As usual, there were major room parties, 10 or so each on Friday and Saturday nights. Stayed up till 3:00am both nights! The official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 9.0 out of 10.0.

  General's Log: Carnival Cruise 1998

Carnival Ship: Imagination

[Sept 26 - Oct 3, 1998: TGN, Cayman Islands] The Carnival cruise was great! To get pics of the cruise, go back to Home page and click on the cruise ship pic! The coolest thing to do is to be in a submarine. The Atlantis submarine was great - we were 100 feet under the surface for about 35 minutes... The official eZine-TGN Cruise Rating is in: 6.0 out of 10.0.

  General's Log: Duckon VII 1998

L to R: Lisa, Cliff, Lana, me, Troy. No other pics...

[June 12-14, 1998: TGN, Rosemont, IL] You can click on the picture above to get better details. "Duckon VII" was okay. There were 500+ attendees but hardly saw more than small groups at a time. Again, there was a major lack of room parties, only 1 on Friday and 1 on Saturday. There was a furry track, so there were a lot of animal costumes. Also, medieval and renaisance costumed people were about, including Nero types. And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 3.0 out of 10.0

  General's Log: Capricon XVIII 1998

Best of Show from Capricon XVII. No other pics...

[February 6-8, 1998: TGN, Rosemont, IL] "CapriconXVIII" was fun! Your's truly won the best costume of Capricon (as Borg, of course)! You can click on the mini-Borg picture above to get a full size photo... There were 600+ attendees putting the con in the "well attended" category. However, there seems to be a major lack of room parties, only 5 on Friday and 3 on Saturday. There seemed to be a preponderance medieval and renaisance costumed people, a trend which does not seem to be diminishing. Well, I didn't bring my camera (yes, I am a moron), so I don't have any pictures. Hopefully, someone will submit some to me and I will post them. And, the official eZine-TGN Con Rating is in: 5.0 out of 10.

  General's Log: The 1997 New Year's Eve Party