Forbidden City is good, but they’ve gotten more expensive. They’re better for lunch, of course, but it’s still not great. I’ve eaten at the 8 China Buffet and it was pretty good. They’ve got a grill also & do some of the “mongolian bbq” stuff. Golden Corral is good, but noisy. It would be hard to talk, & they don’t like people “hanging around” there.
Well, then maybe we should plan for the 8 Chinese Buffett.
As of right now, my attendance list consists of:
Me
JimSox5
IndyEllen
Meaty Beaty
Stinkum
Some folks have dropped by the thread and not come back. Maybe I’ll send 'em an email this afternoon/tonight.
So, where are you guys meeting? All of these places are only 10-15 min. from where I live. Depending on what time you do it, I might be able to come.
We hadn’t really discussed a time. I was thinking around 1:00 or 2:00. That way, if anyone’s driving a great distance (yeah, right!), they’d have time to get into town. It’s still lunch time, but not peak lunch time, so the restaurant shouldn’t be super-busy.
Just my $0.02.
2:00 would work best for me. Just my $0.02. 
2:02 give or take 2 minutes, that’s my $0.02. 
Castleton is about 65 miles for me.
That all works great for me. Just send me the directions in my e-mail (which I believe you have now, Avarie) and I’ll be there.
You can pencil in Mrs. Nott and me. I haven’t heard of 8 Chinese Buffet, but we know our way around Indy and points north. I can bring pix of our new dog, Layla, a Lhasa.
I can wrap a fedora in foil as a recognition device, if necessary. At the first Dopefest I attended (at that chicken wing place,) some of us had some difficulty figuring out which group of happy people were the Dopers. My Straight Dope t-shirt helped. There was a group of arena football fans up front who were alarmed when somebody asked if they were the Dopefest.
Sadly, we won’t be running any FireBird fans this year. 
I liked going to those.
And yeah, I suppose we’ll need some way of identifying ourselves. Ideas?
I’m sure the fedora would be FAB-a-lus! I would volunteer to wear something wild and crazy, but I don’t have anything like that anymore. How 'bout balloons? They’re cheap and easy to find at a dollar store or something. I’m sure I’ll be there early, so look for me with some balloons. Orange, maybe?
OK - it sounds to me like we’ve decided on Chinese at 2:00 (or 2:02, or 2:12. Whenever you can make it!) The 8 Chinese Buffet is at 5393 E. 82nd Street. It’s the first strip mall east of Allisonville Road. Their phone number is 578-7888. For the directionally impaired, here’s a map. I’ll send JimSox the easiest directions I can figure out.
I ought to be able to figure that out. crosses fingers Surely I can’t get myself that turned around with it being so close to 465.
Well, I just got an email from todd33rpm. He and bodypoet have both been very busy at work and have let their subscriptions lapse. They’ll try to make it on Sunday, but we shouldn’t count on them.
Just a bump and a reminder! Today at 2:00, 8 China Buffet in Castleton. I’ll be bringing a slightly-nibbled pie, too. (See here for explanation.)
So, now I’m back from this whole ordeal, and I have to say, while slightly disappointed at turnout (only myself, Avarie, and IndyEllen) it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. The food was very good, saying this as somebody who isn’t a huge fan of Chinese. (Obviously I will eat it and all, though). Now, the post-fest awards.
Longest Drive to be at Fest - JimSox5
Youngest Present Doper - JimSox5
Hottest/Sexiest Doper (Male) - JimSox5
Blue-est Car - JimSox5
Most Likely to Attend an All-Male School - JimSox5
Most Likely to Look at Pie Really, Really Hard and Really, Really Want Some, but Stomach Kept Saying “Enough!” - JimSox5
Most Likely to Walk into the Wrong Restaurant before Finding Fest - JimSox5
Most Likely to Post a Longer than Necessary, if Necessary at all, really, List of Awards that Said Poster Thought Up on His/Her Way Home for No Reason Whatsoever - Ava. . .err, sorry, misprint, JimSox5
I must second JimSox5 and say it was a lovely time. Y’all who didn’t make it missed out, that’s just all there is. 
Do I win the award for the best dead car story?
Hope to meet the others of you at some point in the future. And I do wish I’d had room for pie.
Yes, you do win with the best dead car story, but not for strangest. Avarie takes that one, I’m afraid.
Now we just need the last part of our trio to come in and say it was an amazing time, and all will be complete.
About 10 minutes before I was ready to leave the house that I had a family emergency that took several hours to straighten out. Sorry I missed it.
and I wanted some of that pie
Sorry Long Time First Time and I couldn’t be there – had the Dopefest been yesterday, we could have made it. I look forward to a future opportunity to meet Movie Game regular Indyellen, DoperBall player-referee JimSox5, animal lover Avarie537, and other Hoosier Dopers!
Player? Referee? I’m a damn DoperBall legend, a god walking amongst mortals. Don’t forget that again.
[sub]Ego? What about it?[/sub]
Did anyone have the good sense to take pictures?