TR BBQ ~VIII~ Official Thread

[Damage]

I've added flamethrower video and a bunch of pictures here:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/21431

[rhysl]

How many people made this big event ??

[Dposcorp]

How many people made this big event ??

I count 27 in the big pic, and including members of the DrFish clan we probably had 35 or 40 people.

[just brew it!]

I did not take many pictures; I guess I was too busy playing bags, drinking beer, and chatting with everyone! (And most of the ones I did get were too blurry to post...)

Images are clickable for a high-res version.

Here's another shot of the lake just after sunset, with the infamous raft. How many times did you guys need to re-inflate that thing? Everyone had gotten out by then, because the water was freekin' cold!



And here's a couple of Damage running some benchmarks on that overclocked fire pit!

[thegleek]

Definitely one heck of a time. This year was epic beyond all previously held TR BBQ's... The former 7 years of cornholin' was for fun (and bragging rights), and this years tourney added the excitement of valuable prizes to add to the stress of winning! Above and beyond the prizes were custom designed trophies that Dr. Fish went out of his way to design for us! Kudos to Dr. Fish!

Oh and the swap trade was cool too (as I'm typing this on DP's hp mini he sold me) - I may have to replace the battery though.

Meeting Damage & Inkling for the first time was quite an honor comparable to meeting the President or King/Queen! Meeting JBI topped the cake as we both make homebrew and we had a lot in common!

Inkling was fiending for some cigar's and that was Idachafee's territory as he always brought some good stogies!

Hanging out with sheldomaus was intense! He threw a cicada on me while sleeping, then I returned the favor by taking him out to an authentic Mexican restaurant the morning after the BBQ as well as giving him some music!

I wonder what happened to jss (josh) after he left to go help out his gf and her car troubles.... you never came back!

The conversations both inside the house, and down at the beach during nightfall were priceless. Thanks everyone for showing up and making this year another unforgettable TR BBQ! There's nothing that will keep me from attending one!

Myself and Frobozz were frustrated from being dominated by newcomer Andy... Almost wonder if Andy could take on the undefeated z-man!

[just brew it!]

Heh... you forgot to mention Mr. Robot and me having the longest round in the tournament by far. Truly a race to the bottom; I guess we held the whole thing up! Imagine my surprise when I actually managed to make it to the second round...

Oh, and hey... if anyone found a Swiss Army knife, it's mine. I think I may have lost it in the yard or on the beach at some point; last I recall seeing it I was using it to open beers. That's probably half the problem right there!

[thegleek]

Oh, and hey... if anyone found a Swiss Army knife, it's mine. I think I may have lost it in the yard or on the beach at some point; last I recall seeing it I was using it to open beers. That's probably half the problem right there!

I did find it... was in the sand near your cooler... I picked it up and thought about bringing it back up to you, but I recalled you were going to come back down to setup your tent so I placed it on top of the cooler. It wasn't there when you came back down for your cooler?

[just brew it!]

I did find it... was in the sand near your cooler... I picked it up and thought about bringing it back up to you, but I recalled you were going to come back down to setup your tent so I placed it on top of the cooler. It wasn't there when you came back down for your cooler?

Aww, crap. I probably knocked it off back into the sand again when I picked the cooler up and didn't notice (it was kinda dark down there on the beach). That'll teach me to put it straight back in my pocket after I use it.

[Xylker]

OK, I am done hanging my head.

So, the last post only made it to 5 PM or so. There was the group picture and following that was the swap meet. There are two lessons to take from the swap meet. Never haggle with Dposcorp or Lonewolf 15. I am pretty sure that they both grew up as orphans on the street haggling with strangers for food. Seriously. They will make sure that you buy and feel good about your purchase. Gleek spent some cash with Dposcorp, he is my runner up for street vendor experience. I think he may have actually gotten the better of Dposcorp on one deal... we won't know until the money changes hands.

I believe that Inkling found the lake during this time as I did not see him for some time.

I bent Damage's ear during much of the swap meet, I suspect that his right ear is just now recovering from my constant stream of babble. Even for all of that, I was still not able to show him http://www.westernsem.edu Not that it would hold any interest, necessarily. If you are still looking for the second lesson of the swap meet, I am sorry. One lesson, two people...

In what some might call a lull in the action, I snuck up behind Damage and JBI. It was the tablet showdown! In one hand JBI has a Samsung tablet, and Damage is showing off Infinity Blade on the iPad2. I had to walk away when someone who was wearing too much cheap cologne came by. (Kidding buddy, you shall remain nameless!) I really do believe that the RDF has fully blanketed Scott. (OK, I am still just kidding. The Infinity Blade demonstration is too convincing. Gorgeous stuff.) Following a bit more lolly-gagging on the lawn, we picked up chairs, flamethrowers, Bratwurst and our (apparently fat #$$*s) selves to traipse down to the shore for the bonfire and sunset.

I was given the high-risk job of getting the flamethrower lit with seriously substandard matches. Not a fan of those matches. The first one lit, sorta, and then the fire fell off the end. The next one broke while I was trying to strike it, and finally on the third try, we got one that was successful. WHOOOSH! Let's start a fire! You almost should not be allowed to have this much fun. Everybody was laughing and having a great time just watching the process. I believe you can hear it in the video Damage posted. The conspicuous consumption of calories had not yet run its course, so our honorary grill master took the tongs and proceeded to make dinner for us. Nearly everyone who spoke up said that they would have 2 Brats, so we opened all that Lonewolf 15 had supplied and told Damage not to overclock them too much. Never one to listen to reason, he had them shooting tasty geysers of flavor in about 7 minutes.

Nutritional needs met for the long winter ahead, we sat back and watched the sun slip silently into the sea.

Talk at this point had turned to the EeePCs sent to Uganda and the efforts that are necessary to get even modest successes in countries where the norm is so unlike it is where we live. I am not sure that anyone said it, but I think we all thought about just how lucky/blessed/fortunate we are to live in this time and in this place.

The moon's appearance was enhanced by the low fog that seemed to rise right out of the lake as the sun's rays were beginning to light the Chinese shores. Conversation drifted and ping-ponged between beer, eitje's ideas for Inkling, and other topics now lost to the fuzzy good feelings of the day. I think JBI and Mr Robot were discussing electrical properties of various components while JBI's son(?) was texting a maiden living across the lake's calm waters. Did I mention the s'mores? Mmmmm, tasty!

FIREWORKS!!

To the South, we had an adventuresome soul who spent more on mortars than we spent on food. To the North, we had government sponsored fireworks of the most excellent kind. 18 miles away and we were still being concussed by the thunder of Coast Guard Festival fireworks. I think Damage secretly wanted to be in Grand Haven so he could actually see what was going on. The fire continued to burn and the moon slowly changed colors from a white, cheesy moon, to a ripe banana and finally a nice shade of ham before it too was extinguished by the ending of the day.

And so, sometime after midnight everyone had left the beach, cleaned up fish's yard, tried to get the sand out of their shoes, said their goodbyes and gotten into vehicles looking forward to next year's edition!

THANK YOU TR AND DRFISH!
Thanks also to AMD for generous prize contributions

[just brew it!]

To the South, we had an adventuresome soul who spent more on mortars than we spent on food. To the North, we had government sponsored fireworks of the most excellent kind. 18 miles away and we were still being concussed by the thunder of Coast Guard Festival fireworks.

Tangent time... for those not from the area, the Great Lakes are quite substantial bodies of water (as if you couldn't tell from the pics). For most intents and purposes, they might as well be oceans. The US Coast Guard has over 500 active duty personnel assigned to Lake Michigan alone!

And so, sometime after midnight everyone had left the beach, cleaned up fish's yard, tried to get the sand out of their shoes, said their goodbyes and gotten into vehicles

...or tent! Kudos to Dr Fish for allowing those who were so inclined/equipped to spend the night.

THANK YOU TR AND DRFISH!
Thanks also to AMD for generous prize contributions

Hear, hear!

[drfish]

Holy crap!? Gleek got unbanned? How did I miss that? Woohoo!

[LoneWolf15]

Oh, and one more thanks, to JBI and his wife for the very stimulating beer discussion. We will have to continue it some time.

[just brew it!]

Holy crap!? Gleek got unbanned? How did I miss that? Woohoo!

It just happened last night, so actually no... you didn't miss it.

[Dposcorp]

Holy crap!? Gleek got unbanned? How did I miss that? Woohoo!

It just happened last night, so actually no... you didn't miss it.

Actually, I think you did miss it....I believe the auto ban kicked in once his posting was detected....oh well, it was a nice 15 minutes gleek....see you again in 8 years.

[Mr. Robot]

Gotta thank everyone who came for making it such an awesome time, and to our hosts for giving us an awesome location and even more awesome food!

I was fortunate enough to be in a conversation with just about everyone at some point, I believe. Gathering around the fire at night was a nice touch for the end while we watched other people's fireworks, and having an extended conversation with my new partner in tourney-stopping, JBI.

My immediate fears came true in that I'm pretty sure I was the youngest non-offspring there and biggest n00b having only come to the site for a year and a half or so and never going to the forums. Everyone was cool though, and it didn't take too long to get over that and have a good time. I hope to be able to make it again next year!

[Bensam123]

Got home a hour ago......safe and sound......Had a blast............just a tease of some of the pics and vids:




Me and the living legend, Damage.

Man, it looks like a ton of fun, I should've come. Damage totally looks like a math or possibly statistics teacher... I wonder why. Maybe it's the glasses?

[Xylker]

...and I am home.

Really enjoyed wearing my new TR T-shirt through three airports today. Thanks again to Adam and Scott for your generosity. TSA was quite interested in why I had a motherboard with me, but other than that, the trip back to Texas was agreeable.

[drfish]

Speaking of those boards - whatever you use them for or whatever thread you post about it in - please link to it here so we can show AMD what we did with them.

[LoneWolf15]

...and I am home.

Really enjoyed wearing my new TR T-shirt through three airports today. Thanks again to Adam and Scott for your generosity. TSA was quite interested in why I had a motherboard with me, but other than that, the trip back to Texas was agreeable.

At least you didn't have any batteries or poster putty in the same bag.

[drfish]

Anyone heard from jss21382? He left the BBQ early (friend with car trouble?) and I just noticed he still hasn't read the PM I sent him on the 5th...

[thegleek]

Anyone heard from jss21382? He left the BBQ early (friend with car trouble?) and I just noticed he still hasn't read the PM I sent him on the 5th...

Yeah I'm curious too... I text messaged him several times after and even recently, and no reply back from him at all.. (FYI - it was his girlfriend's car)

Please keep us posted if you hear from him, ok?

[drfish]

Still nothing, no posts and hasn't read my PM...?

[drfish]

Still nothing... No new posts anywhere and hasn't read my PM...

[thegleek]

Something odd happened then... Probably not so much with Joshua, but more so his g/f I'm gathering?

[BerserkBen]

Still nothing... No new posts anywhere and hasn't read my PM...

PM'd

[thegleek]

Do we need to hire a private dick?

[drfish]

Turns out his TR name is also his Twitter name, looks like he's "checking in" at places normally so I guess all is well.

[jss21382]

...I exist turned out to be an odd night, and I've been busy the last couple weeks with an unexpected job change, so...wish I had stayed for the festivities!

[thegleek]

...I exist turned out to be an odd night, and I've been busy the last couple weeks with an unexpected job change, so...wish I had stayed for the festivities!

yay! WB!

[FroBozz_Inc]

I ended up building a new PC for my Mom with the that little Gigabyte motherboard I won.

Paired it with this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811154091

This DVD writer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136236

And two of the three sticks from here for 4GB: (The 3rd one ended up in my machine, giving me 8GB finally)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145258

I gave her my old 60GB OCZ Vertex SSD from my main machine - and she bought me a new Crucial 128GB M4 SSD for building her the machine in return.

And a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

It runs great, silent, and it does everything well for what she wants (internet, skype, and email mostly).