Gobble Gobble Gobble

Nov 8, 2005 · 3 minute read

Like many great plans, it started as a throw-away comment, about a game of Pac-Man played with golf carts. A look was exchanged, and then Stacie and I went into insane-evil-cackling-plan-mode. A visit to Wal-Mart got us some fabric, while a stop at Toys ‘r’ Us saw us buying chalk.

An hour later, we walked into the Spotted Dog as Pac-Man and Inky.

After harassing the customers and making sure that all Laura's co-workers knew that she had weird friends, we rushed off to the UNC campus, for the next stage. Drawing a Pac-Man grid around the Polk Place quad.

This would have worked out so much better if we had remembered the sprinklers. When we came back with Laura an hour or so later, we were confronted with the sight of water washing our lovingly-constructed play area away.

But we were undaunted. For the next morning, we woke up, gathered our things, and headed to campus.

Laura, Stacie, and I played the various parts, with Laura and myself being ghosts and Stacie taking on the role of Pac-Man. As you might imagine, we got a few odd looks. Then people came up to us and asked us what rules we were using (including a distressed girl who was worried when one of us tagged Pac-Man, causing Stacie to play dead for a moment or two). It was, obviously, a lot of fun.

But we needed something more, something to replace the grid. So we headed off to Lenoir, pinched a bunch of chopsticks, and used them to mark out a new grid. By this time, Naomi had also arrived, and volunteered to film us while we went about our business. The later performance was even better, with people making the arcade noises, yelling out encouragement, and yes, even warning Pac-Man about oncoming ghosts.

There was also a cry of "where's the pink ghost?" Well, we couldn't let that pass, so we headed over to the girl who shouted that, and handed over the pink costume to her, and a purple one to her friend. In the end, she decided that she'd rather be Pac-Man, and thus, we had a complete, five-person game of Pac-Man on the UNC campus. A result.

This led to a celebratory lunch back at Laura's, and after watching Goodnight, and Good Luck, Stacie and I picked up Rachel for a night of reasonably cheap drinking, compressed into about two hours. During which time, the three of us put on the Pac-Man costumes, riding the UNC P2P bus and scaring the hell out of anybody who got on.

We have plans. Washington D.C. has been mooted for next April. Muahahahaha.

The Beards of Asheville

Nov 8, 2005 · 2 minute read

The kidnapping went slightly awry at the last moment, as two of the kidnappers dropped out on the day of the event. So, seeing as how it was just going to be the two of us, Stacie came out and told me the options: we could either go to Washington D.C., or Asheville in west North Carolina. We couldn’t make up our minds, so we consulted an oracle. Having found Leigh in her workplace, we explained our predicament, and she looked at us funny. Eventually, it was decided that Asheville was the place to be.

A quick three hour drive later, and we were in the centre of Asheville. Watching a drumming circle. That seemed to be there just because it was what caught people's fancy that night. A little curious. But then, Stacie pointed out a disturbing fact about Asheville: all the men have beards. And it's true (aside from out of town folk, obviously). At first, it's funny, but then, you start thinking about the reasons, and come up empty. It's a vast beard conspiracy! No-one is safe!

So we spent a day in Asheville, having a marvellous lunch in Doc Chey's Asian Kitchen, meeting Stacie's friend Kate, and buying an impressive amount of soy milk. Then, back to Carrboro, where further adventures awaited us…

Ransomed

Nov 6, 2005 · 1 minute read

I’m back. Hopefully, more soon. Oh yes, more indeed…

A Question

Nov 4, 2005 · 1 minute read

Is a Star Trek Murder Mystery dinner the geekiest thing ever? Or is it my avoidance of contractions last night so people wouldn’t get the impression that I was Lore instead of Data?

I'm being kidnapped today, so entries for the next couple of days may be on the thin side.

A Stream!

Nov 3, 2005 · 1 minute read

Believe it or not, I used to walk across that pipe almost every Sunday when I lived here.

OwOwOwOwOwOwOwOwOw

Nov 3, 2005 · 1 minute read

We have officially reached the point in my travels where I need to spend five minutes taping my feet up before I can go out in the morning.

We went to Pittsboro last night to see Margee, who regaled us with tales from her holiday in Mexico and Guatemala, and I was mocked once again for my "it's quite nice" response when asked how dinner was. I can't help it! I go for brevity!

I'm amused that one of the things I stuck up in town back in July is still up on a lamppost outside VisArt.

The weather here is bizarre. It's still rather warm during the day, and there aren't any clouds in the sky at all. It does get rather cold at night, mainly because there's no cloud cover. This is nice, obviously, but it does have at least one bad side-effect: the Triangle is beginning to run out of water. And seeing as how the 10-day forecast seems to be showing more of the same, its going to get drier…

The Way We Were

Nov 2, 2005 · 1 minute read

Look how optimistic I was this time last year, eh, readers?

This is me the next day, turning into the cynical beast I am today.

Meanwhile, look! The CIA is running secret prisons all over the world! Just another example of how Mr. Bush is Doing A Good Job, Dammit.

And this time STAY out

Nov 2, 2005 · 1 minute read

Hurrah, hurrah!

And…

Nov 1, 2005 · 1 minute read

While I’m watching Gillian try and hide herself in the background of the World In Motion video, a round of applause to Senator Harry Reid, who seems to have kicked the Republicans’s collective asses, and fired a warning shot in the upcoming Supreme Court Nomination. Hurrah for a spine. Now, remember, it turns to jelly unless it’s used frequently…

Also, I now have THIS

Nov 1, 2005 · 1 minute read

Woohoo!