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[personal profile] inbhirnis
Well, [livejournal.com profile] bear_left has already made a pretty decent summary of the beginning of the weekend's events, but I'll just add a few thoughts:

First, I was very impressed with my inaugural flight with JetBlue from SAN - SEA. At both ends, it was an easy check-in and smooth departure. I got in about 30 mins earlier than expected on Friday, and - IT WASN'T RAINING! The only iffy thing during the entire trip was when I went to get my Thrifty 'intermediate' rental car, all they offered me in the category was a PT Cruiser. I said I didn't want to drive around in a van, and asked for a sedan. They put me in....a Chrysler 300. Ugh - it was a mafia hearse. It drove like it weighed as much as the latest bullet-proof Presidential limo, and the interior was incredibly cheap. Oh, well - it got me and my cast of characters for the weekend around the place.

I had a completely smooth trip north to my hotel, which was nicely located on the waterfront. [livejournal.com profile] bear_left and [livejournal.com profile] shirtlifterbear had already checked in - great to see Mr. Left again, and to meet Mr. Lifter for the first time - he's a bit of a force of nature.... ;-)

THE event of the evening was, of course, to watch the BSG finale. [livejournal.com profile] shirtlifterbear had managed to find a friend of his, the utterly adorable and charming [livejournal.com profile] altf4ljdrama, who was kind enough to open his apartment to a bunch of strange men he'd never met before. Also there was [livejournal.com profile] wrascalbc and a friend of his from the area - it was great to finally meet my BC friend. We got some freshly made, bake-in-the-oven pizza, Canadian choccies, and thoroughly enjoyed the season finale. Very well done, indeed.

(Couple of quick asides - now that the show is over, I can no longer pretend I'm the 5th Cylon, hence the name and icon change... ;-) I'll try it out for a little while. Also - dear LJ Collective - anyone know where on the intertubes you can get some of the BSG music? It doesn't seem to be on iTunes, except for the main theme.)

Saturday saw us wandering around Pike Place Market while Prof. Left worked on a paper. Lots of interesting little shops and fresh food. Again, no rain! In the afternoon, we went to the Space Needle to take in the view, and in the late afternoon/early evening, we went to a beach bonfire to celebrate [livejournal.com profile] badfaggot's birthday. [livejournal.com profile] quirkstreet was in town, too, and it was lovely to see him again at the bonfire bash. Later that evening, we all went to 'Bearracuda', a fun dance thingy, where [livejournal.com profile] arthole was one of the DJs. They actually played things I recognized, rather than 20 minutes of drum beats and grunts. I briefly met the statuesque and impressive [livejournal.com profile] bukephalus, among many others. Good night - I'm not really much of a party-goer/bar/disco kind of guy, but this was very enjoyable, and very scenic.

On Sunday...there was LIGHT DRIZZLE! So, I was largely spared Seattle's wet reputation during my visit. The major event of the day was a trip to Snoqualmie Falls, to the east of the city. It was nice to get out of town for a little while. [livejournal.com profile] shirtlifterbear got on his ferry back to Port Townsend, and we soaked in the hotel's hot tub for a while. Later, we met up with [livejournal.com profile] quirkstreet and [livejournal.com profile] badfaggot for a tasty meal on the waterfront, and dessert and coffee at a very nice cafe - I wouldn't have minded trying one of their choccie truffle martinis, but it was late, and I was driving.

I had an early start this morning. Left the hotel at about 5:45am for my 8am departure. Back home by 11am. Unfortunately, I left my reading specs in the rental car, but they're going to mail them to me. I took a 3 hour nap this afternoon - late nights and a strange bed made for a bit of a sleep deficit. Now, off to forage for something to eat.

There were many new LJ folks I met, and I've only mentioned some of them in this rather lengthy post. Thanks to you all, mentioned, and unmentioned, for a fabulous weekend - I really needed the break.

(oh - here are a few piccies. I know [livejournal.com profile] bear_left took many more, and better ones, so I'm sure you'll eventually be able to see them. I've got to crack open my manual and find out how to turn off that damn date stamp - I've no idea how I even activated it in the first place.)

Date: 2009-03-24 02:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wrascalbc.livejournal.com
Me and my buddy had a good time meeting you, Chris and Ian. Glad the rest of your weekend was equally fun!

:o)

Date: 2009-03-24 03:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
Thanks so much for making the trip - and the Aero bars... :-)

Date: 2009-03-24 03:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com
What a fun time!

*hug*

That was a blast!

Date: 2009-03-24 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
Hope your ferry trip back was uneventful - thanks so much for being a great tour director!

Date: 2009-03-24 04:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] snowboardjoe.livejournal.com
I really do like Seattle. That's a place I could move to and stay for a long time if the opportunity was there. No, it does not rain there all of the time. When it does rain it's rarely more than a light drizzle. I hiked up part of Mt Rainier--incredible.

Date: 2009-03-24 04:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
In my short trip, I didn't have enough time to get a good impression of the place, and I've only been there once before (19 years ago). But, it's certainly surrounded by some scenic beauty - as I saw at Bearracuda on Saturday.... ;-)

Date: 2009-03-24 05:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com
I'm glad to hear you guys had such a nice time!

Joe/snowboardjoe is correct about the weather - like in Portland, "downpour" rain is rare. My issue would be the near-constant overcast in the winter months vs-a-vs my SAD.

Speaking of weather, you missed a wild few hours here in SoCal yesterday. There are some videos of it up on my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11438926@N00/page2/

Videos 3,4 & 5 are some of the wildest. :>)

Date: 2009-03-24 01:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
The cloudiness didn't bother me too much - very similar to home. Mind you, it's easy to say that since I was only there for a long weekend.

Date: 2009-03-24 12:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nzguy1.livejournal.com
Sounds like you had a blast and met some great guys. I'm almost jealous!

Date: 2009-03-24 01:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
It was a great time indeed. Now - back to work today... roll on Friday!

Date: 2009-03-24 03:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cogitoergozoom.livejournal.com
LUV the new handle and icon - hah! :)

Date: 2009-03-24 07:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
Hee!

I may end up changing the icon pic, but it seems appropriate for a little while. It was [livejournal.com profile] txkink's suggestion - I asked folk what they thought I should change my LJ title to, and his idea tickled me.

Date: 2009-03-24 11:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tilia-tomentosa.livejournal.com
Oh yes, "a bit of a force of nature" somehow sounds the righ description for Chris! :)

I'm glad that you had such a great time!

Wish I could meet you all in person...

Date: 2009-03-25 02:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
It was a lot of fun!

One of these days, you'll have to make a trip to the US and meet all these LJ friends of yours... :-)

Date: 2009-03-25 02:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tilia-tomentosa.livejournal.com
I'll be lucky if I manage to make it even as far as Slovenia. :)

Date: 2009-03-25 11:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bear-left.livejournal.com
It was such a terrific weekend- thank you for everything, once more. Yay for hot tubbing! And all the other fun times...

Date: 2009-03-26 01:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
You're welcome! I SO needed that long weekend. Great fun to meet new folk and explore Seattle a little.

Date: 2009-03-27 04:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] paterson-si.livejournal.com
Flicker says GOOD TIMES!:)

Date: 2009-03-27 07:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
The only way it could have been more fun is if a Slovenian bear contingent had arrived to join in the festivities.... :-)

Date: 2009-03-27 09:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] paterson-si.livejournal.com
Oh, I am sure it will happen. :)

Date: 2009-03-29 05:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] capthunter.livejournal.com
I believe a certain Mr Hartwig may have some BSG music.....

Date: 2009-03-29 07:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inbhirnis.livejournal.com
Aha!

I'm looking for the 'opera house' music that was used in Season 1, and also the 'final five activation' music that Kara and Daniel played on the piano this season.

I did see that there are CDs on Amazon for the first three seasons, but oddly enough, they're not available in iTunes. I imagine the final season will also come out on CD eventually.
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