There are rumours of pics. matt_mcl was taking pictures of parts of the subway, but I suspect that he mis-aimed a few shots and got some of us in the frame. 
Left home at about five on Friday and drove up to Montreal. Due to a long line at the border, I didn’t get to Matt_mcl’s until eight. I was fed a hamburger, and then we hit the road for Toronto. Good conversation and Margaret Cho helped pass the time, and I dropped Matt off at Eats_Crayons’s place at about 1:15. I then continued on to Cerowyn’s, met and promptly fell asleep.
Saturday the picnic on the island was great. Dopers in attendance included the above-mentioned, plus Booker57, Treviathan, and Sunspace, as well as a few of Cerowyn’s coworkers, and his two sons.
The cloud of misery that settled upon us when it finally became clear that RickJay wasn’t going to arrive with a baseball was lifted when Booker57 showed up with about 30 pounds of cashews (maybe not that many, but close). Cerowyn did the cooking, we ate, relaxed in the sun, skipped some rocks in the lake, and contemplated the various folks heading down to the ‘clothing optional’ beach.
After Hanlan’s point, I spent the next few hours getting a nifty walking tour of Toronto by one of Cerowyn’s gracious coworkers. Amongst other things, we walked up to the Parliament building, and over to the Ontario College of Art and Design, where they have one of the oddest building’s I’ve seen. That night we had Dinner and drinks at C’est What?, and then bed.
Sunday morning I got up and drove out to Hamilton to spend a few hours with Harli. There was a sort of multi-cultural-type festival going on, so we walked around and checked out the various booths of imported stuff. It was nice to hang out for a while. Friends shouldn’t have to live so damned far away.
So, I came back to Toronto in the early afternoon and tried to get in touch with Matt_mcl. He was checking out the subway, and was going to have dinner with a friend of his in town, but since he didn’t have a cell phone, Eats_Crayons had to be our communication maven, and was our go-between. I pretty much spent the afternoon/evening wandering aimlessly around Toronto until I finally heard from Matt. In those 5-6 hours I:
[ul]
[li]Found a Games Workshop store in the big mall. I used to do a little bit of table-top gaming (actually, I did a lot more figure painting than I did actually playing), and Games Workshop doesn’t have any stand-alone stores in the States at all (I don’t think), so I went in. The folks were nice, but it was a pretty sad store, IMO.[/li]
[li]Walked up to the U of Toronto campus. It’s big. Very big. But cool; some kind of neat buildings. A bunch of folks were playing soccer on the big green there.[/li]
[li]After that I decided to continue walking west to see if I could find any kind of hip student-type areas, which there really ought to be around a 30,000+ student-body campus. So, I stumbled upon Kensington Market, which was pretty happening. Tons of people outside, fresh vegetables and all sorts of goods/arts/crafts being sold on the street, a band playing from a rooftop, many bars and restaurants, and everything in kind of festive colors. I was taking that in for a bit when the storm hit. I got thoroughly soaked before I ducked into a pub (called Graffiti) to have a few pints and wait out the storm (incidentally, pints in Canada are four ounces larger than pints in the States). They had a few TVs, and they were playing a Rush concert on them. Quintessential Toronto, or at least it seemed that way to me. [/li]
[li]Once the rain let up I walked back towards downtown and found on my way what I guess is the Chinatown of Toronto. I had dinner at a Chinese place on Dundas St, and as I was finishing up I got a call from Matt. So, I went back to my car, picked him up, and we were headed out of town by a little after eight.[/li][/ul]
The drive back was again filled with good conversation, music, and a different comedian (who I liked much better than Margaret Cho, though I can’t remember her name). I dropped Matt off in Montreal at about 2:00, and I got home at about 4:00 this morning.
So, all in all it was an excellent trip. I think I must have walked for about eight hours up and down the city over the course of the two days, which was very very relaxing. I actually haven’t been this relaxed after a vacation in a long time. It was very wonderful to see folks I hadn’t seen in a long time, as well as to meet people I hadn’t yet met. It was interesting to find a kindred spirit in Treviathan, who is also a perpetual student.
I hope to see all of you again sooner rather than later.
Oh, and for Booker57, here is a map with Calabria, so we can see it’s in the toe of Italy. But, you know, I’m kind of dumb. My family is not from there, but from Cosenza (which, incidentally, you can also see on that map).
Also, I’d be happy to do another TorDope picture page like I did in 2002, if people want to e-mail me photos.
So how did I end up being the only girl-Doper in attendance?
'cause I couldn’t make it since I’m working full time now. 
For those who missed TronnaDope (or didn’t have enough dopefesting 
), may I remind you of Dopereal 3D coming this August.
Sorry for the late post. Here is my take on the TronnaDope.
Having spent Friday afternoon making salads, I arrived at Cerowyn’s lovely home on Friday evening. He was kind enough to barbeque me a steak and treat me to drinks. Canadians are, as a rule, pretty low key. So was the TronnaDope. Cerowyn did the bulk of the work, without much praise or fanfare. He’s really a helluva guy – generous, full of good stories and interesting trivia, knows an awful lot about computers, good drinks and Japan. Was very lucky to make his acquanitance.
Eonwe showed up around 2 am just as I was about to crash.
Went to Hanlan’s Point the next day. Couldn’t have asked for nicer weather. On the way tot he ferry, Cerowyn, his two sons, Eonwe and I picked up some lamb to barbeque and some vodka drinks and Guinness.
The afternoon was pleasant and very slow paced. Everyone brought a baseball glove and no one brought a baseball, so we all cursed RickJay – which was easier than stealing a tennis ball from the nearby court.
Treviathan showed up, demonstrating once again my theory that Saskatchewaners are the nicest Canadians of all.
Eats_Crayons knows a lot about Spanish and Aboriginal culture. She talked about that, and the horrors of living to close to the Pheonix night club.
Matt_Mcl talked a lot about the trials and tribulations of being gay, and subways. I learned later that night that he does a fantastic impersonation of Emo Philips.
Booker_57 had a lot to say about M&Ms, cashews, the difficults of auto-auto mechanics and the joys of Buffalo. A very nice guy.
I also enjoyed chatting with the knowledgable Sunspace and Eonwe, who has actually been pretty close to my forsaken little hometown.
I haven’t been to any other Dopefests, but the TronnaDope was good, low-key fun. A shame more didn’t come out on such a nice day. We certainly owe a lot to Cerowyn for his organization skills and hospitality. I hope someone posts a few pics.
Saskatchewanians? Saskatchewanoi?
Saskatcheweiners?
Hey, my mom was from Saskatchewan, and we had no problem saying Saskatchewann–, um, Saskatchewit-- er, “Grampa’s neighbours from Regina”.
I wasn’t sure what to write there.
Saskatchewannabes certainly doesn’t makes no sense in context. “Who Wants To Be a Winnepeggaire?”
Saskatcheweiners has the right sound. I’d go with that, except it kind of contradicts my thesis. Kind of like calling grandma an asshat.
Sakatchewindbags? Sakatchewhiners? Saskatchewusses are all satisfying, but suffer from the same problem.
Saskatchewanderer? Most folks you meet from Saskatchewan aren’t there (since you aren’t). This is a place where you can look in the distance and see the back of your head, or your dog running away for three days.
The capital of Saskatchewan, however, is definitively Sask-a-ma-toon.
Been gettin’ into the meds closet, have we Doc?
Isn’t that what it’s there for?
Sas-katch-e-wan-i-ans.
6 syllables.
and, to be really au courant rapide (it’s a city down in the southwest corner of the province ), the “-wan” is pronounced “-won”, not “-waan”.
CBC-speakers from Central Canada rarely get that right.
so - got pics?
Not according to my Dad and my Gramma - both born and bred in Regina. Neither say “-won”.