Tell people there will be punch and pie. More people will come if they think there will be punch and pie.
I think a Saratoga Racetrack dope fest would be good. Ok expensive unless we can all stay with JeffB but since not that many people are coming we should all be able to crash at his place.
Right?
How about The Great Escape?
Probably much more fun than the hall of dead animals.
I may be interested. It’s hard for me to attend, but keep me posted.
Ooh! The Great Escape! I haven’t been there since our 8th Grade “Congratulations, You Can Go To High School Now” end-of-year field trip!
Damn racinchikki, I was a bad boy. We were in the Albany area last week (stayed in Guilderland). I was supposed to ringy-dingy you for lunch, but we were hip deep in cousins and such.
Sowwy.
Dang. The Great Escape. I didn’t think of that. Of course, when I was a kid it was called Storytown, and it didn’t have any good rides. I think Great Adventure bought 'em and upgraded the place. Good idea.
That would be a really fun thing to do. The last time I was there I was with a former girlfiend (note the spelling) and her kids, so I never really got a chance to do the really fun things. The “Boomerang” 'coaster was closed that day anyway.
You guys have got my enthusiasm for this right back up.
The Boomerang is hell. It was brand-new when I went, so the line was huge and everybody had to go on it for the novelty factor. I wish I hadn’t. I don’t mind going upside down. I don’t mind going backwards. But I do mind doing both at the same time. I swore incoherently and blasphemously. And when I got off the ride, with my best friend laughing at my incoherent blasphemy, we noticed that we’d been sitting in front of a nun.
The Screamin’ Demon was closed when I went, too. I’d like to go on it. I enjoyed the heck out of the Comet, went on it like four times.
The Screamin’ Demon is a huge whack of fun. It’s a very short ride, but still a whack of fun.
I liked the Comet, too. There’s nothing extreme about it, but an enormous roller coaster built out of wood is hell for cool no matter how you look at it.
For a while they were touting it as the largest surviving wooden roller coaster in the world. Does anybody know if that’s true?
Oh yeah, back to the OP. Who else is going to be there when racinchikki and I are going nuts on the rides?
Albany–that’s the city on the other side of the Thruway, huh? Well, depending on what day it is, I might be able to make it…
Oooh… The possibility of going to the Great Escape is tempting; I haven’t been there in years. (Exgineer, I remember when it was Storytown, too, although I was only about three years old at the time.)
If you wanted to do something in Saratoga (before the track season tourist rush), there’s always The Parting Glass, a fantastic Irish pub which often has live music and always has an attractive bartender.
Oh! What about Howe Caverns? I haven’t been there is ages, either, but I thought I’d suggest something vaguely educational. 
To any extent, I’m interested, but slightly unsure because, as Exgineer so eloquently put it, “I’m shy. The thought of actually meeting people in the flesh gives me the vapors.”
I can bring smelling salts and delicately embroidered handkerchiefs to soothe the vapors.
Speaking from personal experience at several dopefests, a meeting at a place like Great Adventure or the racetrack is probably a bad idea. While we’re all wonderful people, we’re not the most organized operation in mass. A typical meeting consists of one or two people sitting at a table for twenty with random strangers dropping by over the course of an hour or two saying, “excuse me, but I think maybe I’m supposed to be meeting you.” Eventually critical mass is achieved and the dopefest is launched.
What you need is a place where people can sit around for a long period with being too bored or looking too much like security should be called. Good visibility is also a must. My recommendation is a coffeehouse or tavern. Maybe the coffee bars at Borders or Barnes & Noble.
I’m a newbie here–more of an LJer, but I’m an hour outside Albany. I’m down with it.
See this, Rue? I sucked in a lurker. Maybe It’s not the same as drawing totally new posters, but it’s something.
Welcome to the “Kinda-Sorta Maybe Planning to Have an AlbanyDope” thread, tkeana. All beings with detectable pulses are welcome. And welcome to the boards too, in case nobody welcomed you yet.
To address Little Nemo’s point, I’m just really trolling for interested parties, and possibly soliciting ideas for activities. I thought I’d leave the actual meeting-up part for a later thread. As has been pointed out, we have some time and location restraints.
So, Little Nemo is willing to come up from “two hours south” of here, which is maybe White Plains, or possibly Yonkers, or Poughkeepsie if he expects a lot of traffic on the Taconic Parkway.
Duke is evidently willing to come over here from out near Buffalo.
These guys want to travel for this, people. The least we could do is give them a proper welcome.
One of which is racinchikki’s July departure date. No sense losing an opportunity by spending too much time just talking about a meeting; throw one together and see who shows up.
North of two, south of one, and west of all three.
I’m going to give this one more chance.
Are we going to do this, or aren’t we?
If so, tell me now. Otherwise I’m going to drop it, and I’ll never take it up again.
That’s near Ramapo, then.
This is a fun game.
Exgineer, you stress too much. It’s not like anybody’s come in and said “No, I’m not coming, this is a stupid idea.” Folks just need to pick a place and time and I’ll be there.
Okay, we’ve got 13 people who express at least an interest in a meeting:
Exgineer
JeffB
bouv
racinchikki
clayton_e
Eonwe
Flymaster
Little Nemo
Zebra
RealityChuck
Duke
Serendipity
tkeana
A few time restrictions. Flymaster is leaving the area very soon and racinchikki is also leaving in a few months. Others have indicated they have scheduling issues.
Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to get organized in time for Flymaster (which would essentially be this week). So let’s aim for a weekend in May. How does Saturday, May 24 sound? At a location in Albany to be determined in the near future?
Saturday, May 24 sounds fine for me, at least.
Fine with me.