In order to keep up the appearance that the offtopic board is for offtopic things and you don't need to read it to keep up with empeg news, I'm posting this here.

Rob V. and Patrick are touring CA/NV this month, and I'm holding an Empeg Barbecue while they're passing through.

When: Monday October 13th at 6:00PM

Where: Berkeley, CA

RSVP: PM on the empeg Board to matthew_k, or email to kocher at uclink dot berkeley dot edu.

Feel free to show up anytime after six. The general plan will be to check out installs in the parking lot while people arrive, then move inside for some BBQ tri-tip, BBQ tandori chicken and anything else we have to throw on the grill. For vegetarians there will probably be some kind of pasta, and grilled tomatoes and other vegetables. If you don’t mind, a couple bucks per person towards the food costs would be much appreciated by a Starving College Student.

It'll be BYOB, so bring something you'd like to drink. I'll cover the basics to get us started, but I won't have much on hand.

Directions: PM or Email to RSVP, and I’ll send you the directions.

Matthew, I took the liberty of privately inviting Zandr Milewski (n6mod here on the BBS). It wouldn't be a Bay Area Empeg Meet without Zandr. Hope you don't mind?

He doesn't hit the BBS a lot, otherwise he would have seen this himself.

No problem at all. The more the merrier.

Anyone else thinking of coming? It's never too late.

Matthew

There might be a couple of empegers from work coming... i'll ask them to RSVP tomorrow if they decide they wanna go.

Bumpity Bump.

Anyone else thinking of coming? If your name isn't Tony Fabris, you should have received an email or PM titled "updated directions". If you havn't, let me know as my bookkeeping has been rather lax on who i've sent them out to.

It looks like we should have about 10 to 15 people, and it should be a good time.

Matthew

Man if it were any other day I'd be there. Have fun and take pictures.

Have fun and take pictures.

HA! Yes. Thanks for the reminder. I'm not forgetting my camera this time. I should probably just put it in my car now.

Well, we're all set on this end. The tri-tip is marinating, the ravioli is made and the strawberries are sliced and ready.

If you're still on the edge about coming, last minute responses are fine, just send me a PM. Bring your cool toys to play with.

There's a reasonable supply of Two Buck Chuck but there's no beer at all at this point, so if you feel that it isn't a BBQ without beer, please bring some. Other beverages, alcoholic or not are also a great idea.

Matthew

And Robricc, I'm still waiting for your RSVP on this one. I'd really hate to see you miss it.

Matthew

And Robricc, I'm still waiting for your RSVP on this one. I'd really hate to see you miss it.

I would be there if it were on Sunday, but I have killed my personal days for the rest of the year. I have off on Monday, but that would mean I would have to take a red eye back to NY. I can't sleep on planes, so I would be a zombie at work on Tuesday.

Anyway, I wish I could be there.

How late are you all planning to be there?

Well, I'm in for the duration. I'd bet at least 9 or 10, but who knows. The first people are just arriving now.

Matthew

Hello from the BBQ, we have begun digressing into playing with laptops and watching video of the empeg 5th anniversary party. Apparently there was a lot of helium involved.

-Mike

You know, I didn't even realize you had made a post.

haha. me either.

Big THANKS to Matt for hosting us all and providing some damn good eats. And to Jon for kindly allowing us to ride his Segway! Man what a blast that thing is. And to Patrick for providing a load of good stories and video of his RC airplanes.

Thanks again!

My pleasure.

That was a fun party! Thanks Matt! Let's do it again soon!

- Jon

good times. thanks matthew. who took pictures?

Yes, thanks again to Matt. I could've sat there all night listening to Patrick's stories.

Now that Tony finally remembers who I am, everything is all good.

I have pictures, but most of them are blurry. Stupid camera. I need to get a new one.

That was a fun party

Yep, thanks again to Matthew for putting it together. Getting to play with a Segway was fun (thanks Jon), and PCA is a great storyteller

-Mike

Now that Tony finally remembers who I am, everything is all good.

Heh, sorry, I'm so bad with names and faces.

I could've sat there all night listening to Patrick's stories

That is a well known effect he has on people....

/Michael

Anyone got any bootlegs

Getting to play with a Segway was fun

I didn't get to play with it Oh well, guess I'll have to build one

PCA is a great storyteller

Thanks. I don't really consider it storytelling, just documenting with a little style I'm always surprised that anyone will sit and listen to me waffle for so long!

It was good fun meeting everybody who turned up, my thanks to our host for a fantastic time. Also thanks to Loren for the tour the next day.

On the way back to San Jose, we stopped at the old fort overlooking the golden gate bridge. It was incredibly windy, especially on the walk up to the top. When we opened the car doors, I was a little worried that the increased drag would make the car go over the edge. Small children were flapping around in the breeze at the ends of their parents arms, that sort of thing.

It's a fantastic view from the top, and I even managed to take the attached picture. I thought this sort of thing was illegal?

pca

pca

I'm glad everyone had a good time. It was great to meet all of the people I hadn't met before. I must say, Patrick lived up to all the hype. You know you're outclassed with he in passing mentions his RC "orinthopter" and your latin comes back to you just enough to think "remote control bird?", so you hit google and find out, yes, he is talking about a remote control bird. Of course, he'd mounted a camera on his. Rob was also great, he always mentions just enough to let you know that they really are doing amazing things there at empeg towers, and somehow managing to keep them secret.

I've got pictures that I'll hopefully find time to throw up on a web page tonight. Thanks again to everyone who came and made it a sucess.

Matthew

And thanks very much for throwing a great party!

I want to relate, to those who weren't there, a description of the dog:

This was a very very cute little black pug. A sweet, friendly little dog with a smooshed-in face. Having seen the Men In Black movies several times each, I was totally ready for this dog to begin talking to me at any moment. Of course, I'm sure the only thing she would have said was "more food please", and she was communicating that quite successfully without the power of speech, so it's just as well.

She was very well behaved, and very good at getting your attention without barking. She would just walk up to your leg and touch you gently with her front paws. Then stare up at you expectantly.

But the odd thing was her... how can I describe it... habit of sitting on your foot. You could be standing there having a perfectly normal conversation, and she would quietly walk up to you. Then slowly, gently, like a child trying to avoid detection when raiding the cookie jar, she would lower her rear end onto the top of your foot. She would sit there, very still, atop your foot, watching the room contentedly. She did this so deftly that you wouldn't even realize she'd done it until you tried to shift your standing position.

It's strange to describe, but enough people took pictures of this that I'm sure a link is forthcoming...

When we opened the car doors, I was a little worried that the increased drag would make the car go over the edge. Small children were flapping around in the breeze at the ends of their parents arms, that sort of thing.

Please note that I have held this up as an example of why you're such a good storyteller. You could have just said "it was very windy".

That had me laughing out loud.

That dog was the funniest thing to observe at the party... second to Patrick.

- Jon

It's strange to describe, but enough people took pictures of this that I'm sure a link is forthcoming...

I have a picture, but it's blurry.

I'll attach it anyway.

Heh.

(By the way, the pic is blurry because you turned off the flash. Indoors in a normally-lit room like that, even the best cameras need flashes in order to work properly. It's amazing how much our eyes adjust to daylight. Standing in that room, it seems as bright as the daylight. But it's actually orders of magnitude dimmer, hence the need for flash.)

Hmm. I hadn't thought about that. It didn't even strike me to turn it back on.

LMAO. Hahaha... i'm tearing up. That's the perfect shot... minus the blur. heheh. =]

Actually, the best cameras work just fine in normally lit rooms indoors -- just dial in ISO800 or faster (cheap cameras lose picture quality at those speeds, but good ones don't give up much at all).

Mind you, even good cameras often benefit from some amount of flash lighting indoors!

Cheers

Oh well, guess I'll have to build one

This tells how.