You started a new thread for this? Okay, I’ll cross post my previous notes from the Houston XVI thread.
Re: The Official Notes, part 1
Okay, round one went off without a hitch - if you don’t count the low turnout, wrong bar, and latecomers. 
Part one was Sunday afternoon at Sam’s Boat. At least it was supposed to be Sam’s Boat, but when I arrived the group was in Sam’s Place. Fortunately they are right next door to each other, sort of connected, so it shouldn’t have been that difficult to figure out. Somehow it was.
beatle got the table (shame on you for picking the wrong place ), and Sealemon and Shanin arrived next. I walked in a few minutes late, ducking the raindrops. beatle had his trusty SDMB sign with him - it’s been to almost as many gatherings as I have. We sat at the table watching our waitress walk by every half hour or so to ignore us. We had some meaningless chit chat to fill the time while waiting for the rest of the party. Periodically we would send one of us walking into the Boat to see if we recognized any misplaced dopers. Sealemon went twice before Little Nemo figured out he was probably looking for him. Poor guy had to wait an hour in the bar wondering why nobody was showing up.
There was some speculation that the low turnout was due to some of the crowd going to the wrong place and being at Woodrows, the previously suggested spot that was discarded because it lacked walls. And we enjoyed having walls. I suggested to beatle he should drive over and make sure nobody was over there looking for us, but he didn’t take up the challenge.
The topic of plane flights came up, and a relatively new pattern of people going crazy on flights, flipping out, and getting in fights with the passengers. Sealemon was relating this one incident where a guy flipped out, was abusing passengers, started beating on the flight cabin door, then started wrestling with the emergency exit. He was beaten by the passengers and died. No charges were pressed, because of the stress and fear for their own safety. All I could think was how much that sounded exactly like this one episode of Crime Scene Investigation. I guess maybe they stole the idea from that event, because it sure played out just like that.
We then had to get into speculation about what’s causing these events to pop up so suddenly as a new phenomenon. There was an incident in China not long ago, and a couple others have made the news. beatle put forth the “gene” theory. He feels that air travel has only recently become so ubiquitous that the common person is able to fly. With the larger volume of people on commercial flights, it has allowed a rare gene to express itself as insanity caused by altitude, low pressure, or some other factor. It hadn’t showed up before because this gene is too rare. Sealemon came forth with the notion that perhaps the incidents are smokers trapped on non-smoking flights. This lead to speculation that perhaps it is a combination of factors. For instance, the seats on commercial planes are smaller now than they were 20 years ago. Also, more people are flying, and in order to keep the rates low, the ameneties are decreasing. These factors together are increasing the stress on passengers to the point that some are starting to lose it.
That naturally led to a conversation about plane crashes. It brought up the Dallas crash that introduced wind-shear to the world, and how suddenly everybody wanted to sit in the smoking section at the back of the plane, where the survivors had been. Then there was an incident where a plane somewhere had a hydraulic failure. They were trying to use throttle control to steer the plane, but wound up crashing into a mountain. Because the passengers knew there was trouble and their lives were in danger, there was a high rate of final messages being found in the crash. There was like one female survivor or something.
We briefly discussed first time meetings, and that dazed look of “what am I getting myself into?” that everyone has when they show up.
The board came up, of course. I won’t relate all the details - because I don’t remember them. However, Sealemon is contemplating a suggestion for a new forum. He wants to move all the mindless flirting and personal messages (hey Bruno, call me) into a new forum called “The Lounge”. This would allow IMHO to merge back with MPSIMS, and eliminate some of the mindless distractions.
Next came up a mention of the current round of moderator wars - everyone’s gotta bitch about their least fav moderator and how he/she’s acting like a facist. None of us had any particular comments blink blink.
Sealemon (hey this is becoming the “Sealemon did this” thread) made the observation that “there are some very friendly people at the Boat”. Wandering through, someone out of the blue just asked him to sit down and join him. The same guy made some comment to Shanin that was cryptic - something about “she’ll be here in a minute”. There’s nothing creepier than strangers treating you like family.
The rest room signs were not the most plainly labeled. The signs were in Spanish on the doors, but the doors were propped open so you really couldn’t see them unless you walked over to one side or other and got a glipse into the facility. Couple with that a traffic sign that said “Men Working” posted on the wall that happened to be next to the “Chicas” (ladies) room, and you’re bound to get some confused drunks.
This inspired discussion of other bar restrooms and signage. One bar beatle knew about had signs for men and women, posted next to the opposing door with an arrow pointed to it’s opposite. In other words, if you weren’t observant and missed the arrow, you were likely to find yourself in the wrong crowd. Similarly, there was a scary bar one place that had the bathrooms down in the basement. They were at the bottom of a particularly steep, dark stairwell. That bartender must have really been a Darwinist or something.
I notice that everybody took the opportunity to read the notes and see what was written, but nobody was volunteering to contribute.
LIONsob and Ayesha finally strolled in 2 hours late, spitting, fire and scaring the children. After passing out “thingies” and showing off the new design, they settled in.
The Ayesha popped off with the comment, “I would kill, and I mean literally kill, for anyone who could find me some cheapass lapel pins in the shape of a dragon.” She’s looked all over, and can’t find any. She wants them for an Hepatitis C awareness campaign. But they have to be really cheapass.
Somehow the topic of prisons surfaced (couldn’t have anything to do with having a prison guard in the crowd, could it?). There was mentioned the question how inmates get haircuts, and the answer being “From other inmates”. That’s one of the jobs inmates are allowed to have - and it’s very popular, as it isn’t manual labor, it is indoors, and they can earn money or tips (cigarettes, etc). Then Shanin remarked that down here in the Houston area, some of the guards actually use the prisoners for their own haircuts. Sounds like a great way to get your throat slit.
Ayesha confessed one of the things pissing her off was running across a Philanderer’s web board. These are people posting messages about wanting to stay married, but wanting to run around behind their wives’ backs. And of course there’s “Sex on the Side”, the web site for married women to post to find interested men for some extra-marital nookie.
At one point LIONsob and Sealemon were talking behind Ayesha’s back.
Then there was a mention of chicks on motorcycles flashing each other’s boyfriends. Some big ass tits involved.
Somehow after philandering and tits the topic of Realdoll came up. For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a high dollar realistic looking female mannequin marketed primarily as a sex toy. It’s fully poseable, has realistic feeling skin that can even be warmed to simulate body heat, and is fully compatible. They sell it with it’s own lockable storage locker. I can’t help thinking how awkward that would be to explain to your girlfriend as she’s poking around in your closet and comes across what looks like a dead body in a trunk. Then Shanin said she saw something about it on Springer. It must have been a setup, one guy commented how his RealDoll was the perfect woman - she didn’t speak, didn’t make him do chores, didn’t bitch or complain, and was always there purely for his needs. Then out came his buddy (friend?) and they began to argue over the RealDoll. “She loves me more.” Little Nemo informed us that Howard Stern had one and did it on the air of his radio show, and then said it was the best sex he’s ever had.
That’s the main gist of the worthwhile notes. It got loud and I couldn’t hear anybody. We eventually wrapped up.
Okay, notes are over. Anyone else want to weigh in?
