Having warmed up for four days in the Napa Valley touring wineries and such, I may be able to help you out on that beer consumption thing. Sounds as if they have some lovely porter there.
The Place-The Laurelwood Pub
The Date-March 13th
The Time-1pm
So far so good on my end. I have no other commitments at this time.
In other words, I’ll be there.
Mrs. B. has announced her intention to come with me to this one, as she has some idea of organizing a Doper picnic this summer and plans to put the proposal brfore the committee. Or something like that.
Anyway, we’ll both be there.
AudreyK and KKBattousai, sorry you won’t be here this time.
Me and the boy will be there. Actually, he’s really excited about it. I told him he’d get to have a duel with someone called Kid Czarcasm, and he thought that was about the coolest thing in the world. He’s been saying things like “Do you think I have a chance against Kid Czarcasm?” and “I wonder if Kid Czarcasm has (some card or other).” It’s assumng mythic proportions in his mnd. Hmm, we’re gonna have to come up with a cool moniker for him too.
And anyway, he loves the Laurelwood. They have a great kid’s menu, which includes real macaroni and cheese. The Kraft kind, not some fancy homemade-style stuff, with real cheese and whatnot. That’s for grownups.
Just thought I’d bump this one more time in case some Portland-area Dopers have been on holiday to Mars or something and didn’t know about it.
Well, crap.
I’m gonna miss.
See, I had this great plan. I was going to get there early, grab a beer, and wait until y’all got rolling. Then I was going to be really annoying, asking if you guys were some sort of cult or something. After winning everyone over with my drunken charms, I’d whip out an “andros” nametag and bask in my own subtle sneakiness.
Alas. Can’t get over this weekend.
Poo.
Alas and alack, it seems I, too, will be missing fromf the festivities. I fear I am coming down with the flu and I need to work in the late afternoon. If, and this seems unlikely, I feel chipper and energetic tomorrow, I’ll come up for an hour or so, but it seems more likely that I’ll be in bed sipping hot honey tea.
And I was so looking forward to meeting Mrs. Bumbazine and proving to her that I’m harmless.
I almost forgot about this and made plans for tomorrow. But I remembered and didn’t.
As this is my first dopefest, how do we know which table everyone is at? Is there a secret hand signal I should know?
The incomparable Czarcasm is wont to bring his impossible-to-fake Official SMDB Moderator’s Mug™.
Failing that, you could just look for the group of highly disparate individuals that you’d never guess would have anything in common, telling tall tales and having a really good time.
Since I seem to be the only one who has been to the Laurelwood before, I’ll make a suggestion: As you walk into the place, you can see the brewing room ahead and to the right, behind a big glass wall. Next to this wall are two very large tables, the biggest ones in the place, with benches instead of chairs. I suggest we grab one of those, if they’re free.
Good this we didn’t grab those tables. They were in the dark part of the pub. 
That was fun. I do wish the power had not gone out. By the time I left, the lease was well up on those 4 cups of tea.
I’ll upload the pictures tonight. From what I can remember here’s who attended (I have to remember clockwise around the table --only because I’m an idiot).
Czarcasm
Hometownboy
Joel
Gr8kat
Ferrous
Mrs. Bumbazine
Bumbazine
Mr BrattiAtti
BrattiAtti
Mr Nymysys
Nymysys
And at the superfriends table:
Kid Czarcasm & Boy Ferrous
You know, I didn’t even notice the power went out until someone mentioned it. The table was right by the window, and I was facing out, so I didn’t notice the drop in illumination. Good thing the beer kegs aren’t electric!
Anyway, it was fun despite the lack of power, and the staff of the Laurelwood soldiered on despite the primitive conditions. Although it meant latecomers Bumbazine and Mrs. Bumbazine couldn’t get hot food. I trust your salads were satisfactory?
I know Boy Ferrous had a great time with Kid Czarcasm. They started comparing decks the minute we sat down, if not before, and hardly noticed us grownup types were there for the rest of the time.
The pictures are located here (bottom of page)
Many thanks for the photos. Had a great time as always. And it’s never too early to put in a plug for Orycon, the annual November Oregon science fiction convention. Not surprisingly, some of your favorite NW dopers are involved.