Friday, October 31, 2008

Foma Central Election Special


I don’t like talking politics on my blog because it only alienates people that would otherwise have no reason to hate me. Besides, there are plenty of blogs where you can read lies about all the politicians. Here at Foma Central we are dedicated to “harmless untruths”, the little beliefs that let you rationalize your daily life.

In the interest of genuine debate, I have gathered facts about the candidates from a variety of sources, including, but limited to: Wikipedia, official campaign sites, Wonkette, rabidly partisan blogs, and e-mails forwarded to me by family members. All of the items below have been carefully researched on the internet and are true to the best of people’s ability to believe them. The asterisks are links to the source material.

Barack Hussein Mohammed Obama*
John Sidney McCain III
47 years old (three years older than me)
72 years old (four years older than my retired parents)
Illinois Senate – 4 years
US Senate – 3 years
House of Representatives – 4 years
US Senate – 21 years
No military record.
He earned 17 military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medal, for actions before, during, and after his time as a POW. And crashed five airplanes.*
Graduated at the top of his law class at Harvard.
Graduated fifth from the bottom at the Naval Academy.
His father was a goat-herding Kenyan.
His father was a string-pulling admiral.*
He has two African-American children.
He adopted the two children of his first wife and had another child with her. He and his second wife have four children including an adopted Bangladeshi girl.
His wife is a lawyer that shops at White House/Black Market.*
His wife is a beer heiress that wears Oscar de la Renta.*
Owns a home in Hyde Park, Chicago.
Owns eight homes including ones in Sedona, LaJolla, and three in Phoenix.*
Is the biggest celebrity in the world.*
Has been endorsed by Joe the Plumber.
Pals around with domestic terrorist William Ayers.*
Vacations with bank embezzler Charles Keating.*
Has no executive experience.*
Has no executive experience.
Running mate is a plagiarist* who has been a senator for 32 years.
Running mate is a moose hunter* who has been a governor for 23 months.
Favors socialistic wealth redistribution.*
Accepted over one hundred million dollars in taxpayer funding for his campaign.*
Gets campaign contributions from all sorts of shady sources.*
Gets campaign contributions from all sorts of shady sources.*
Caused the housing crisis.*
Caused the economic disaster.*
His tax plan would save my family $2,789.*
I probably won’t get it.
His tax plan would save my family $4,380.
Since the Senate and House will still be Democratically controlled if McCain is elected, I definitely won't get it.
Is a secret Muslim.* Muslims believe in polygamy.
He divorced his first wife one month before marrying the second.*
Is anti-American.*
Is a self-confessed war criminal.*
Not a natural born citizen.*
Not a natural born citizen.*

If you don't trust my word on any of these, feel free to follow the links I provided or Google the topic yourself and do your own research. Just don't call me a bleeding-heart, pinko, neo-Nazi wingnut for presenting the facts.

I only hope that as you review what I have gathered that you carefully consider the positions of each candidate and make sure you vote for the candidate of your choice. Even if they can't legally serve as President because neither are natural born citizens.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Sally Forth On Film

Updated: 10/31/08
The Sally Forth Expo was a big success. Every rabid fan of the coolest working mom in comics was there. The big announcement was that Sally and her family and friends will be following in Garfield’s illustrious pawprints and make the move to the big screen. While a few minor details need to be worked out like filming, casting, financing, and negotiating rights, the producers feel confident that they can work with King Features Syndicate to get Francesco Marciuliano’s indentured servitude contract transferred cheaply enough to get the script on the way.

And while there was a lot of buzz, the titular (my very favorite word) role has yet to be cast. Unfortunately some very talented stars had to be crossed off the list because they are getting a little long in the tooth. Sorry, Sally Fields. As much as we would love to make the tagline “And Sally starring as Sally”, the powers to be decided that Gidget just didn’t work it with the target Atari Generation demographic.

But here are the actresses that have made the short list:

Terri Hatcher
Having never made the successful jump to the big screen, this desperate housewife would make a very sexy mom to a big screen Hilary. Less convincing would be that any potential Ted Forth could have landed her.

Sela Ward
While at 53, she is a little older than Sally’s youthful 40, her canonical performance as a harried divorcĂ©e in "Once And Again" keeps her in the running. If Meryl Streep can play a near-convincing aging hippie in Mamma Mia, Ward could pull off baby-boomer Sally.

Anne Hathaway
As she outgrows The Princess Diaries, Hathaway is breaking out of her Disney-fied squeaky clean roles. While a little young for the part, she has the lanky awkward figure necessary to play the smirky businesswoman.

Alan Cumming
This thespian chameleon can disappear into any role, and who better to mix Sally’s soft femininity and savvy business persona into a single character.

Angelina Jolie
If you are going to dream, dream big. And is it really that big of a stretch from Mrs. Smith to Mrs. Forth? This could be her return to the Oscar podium.

Lauren Graham
I've added this write-in candidate as late entry. The Gilmore Mom knows plenty about cracking-wise and making obscure pop cultural references. Her TV character even had a toxic mom to deal with. What better experience could you ask for?


I haven’t done a poll in a while, so make your picks and we will forward on our results to the studio. (Be patient with the vote counter, it lags a little, but your vote is being counted. You get what you pay for.)




BlatantCommentWhoring™: Any one else deserve to sit on the casting couch?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Race By The Bay


When I was in San Francisco last week, little did I know I was witness to a minor sporting kerfuffle. I dropped my wife off at the airport Sunday morning and headed back into San Francisco. My plan was to rent a bicycle and ride out to Tiburon for the day. I street parked a few blocks from the waterfront to save on garage fees and walked down to the Pier 41 area. There I ran into the bulk of the runners from the Nike Women’s Marathon that was running along the waterfront.

I knew the marathon was in town because the registration booth was in Union Square just a few blocks from our hotel. In fact, I was lucky to get a room for Saturday night since so many people were coming in from out of town. But I wasn’t quite ready for the sheer volume of women dressed in all sorts of variations of pink and purple. I think over 7,000 women entered the event and they all seemed to be coming by at once.

The sidewalks were crammed with cheerers waving signs and hooting on their friends. Most of the runners were serious but plenty were not. They were wearing tiaras and angel wings and silly hats. Some were walking already, but I nearly got run over by a few that decided the sidewalk was the path of least resistance.

Since the bike rental shops weren’t open yet, I broke for breakfast and came back about 8:30. By the time I filled out the rental agreement and got the bike, the straggler van was slowly going down the road chasing the few that were completely out of energy at Mile 3. Not that I have any room to criticize since that would meet my personal best, but they did know they signed up for a marathon, didn’t they?

The waterfront bike path met up with race course about half-way to the Golden Gate Bridge and I had to dodge a fair number of runners until the bike path split off again. I wouldn’t see the runners again until I went up the path from Fort Point back to the main road. There another tourist couple were cowed by all the women on the road until a local came by and showed us how the path went alongside the road and missed the runners. That very nice couple was also nice enough to take my "proof I was there" picture.


And that was the last of the runners I saw since their course from their turned south towards Golden Gate Park. I crossed the bridge, got briefly lost at Fort Baker, had second breakfast in Sausalito, took a detour through Mill Valley and had a late lunch/early dinner overlooking the water in Tiburon.


Meanwhile, back at the marathon, a lady running with the hoi polloi had a career best time, crossed the finish line seventh overall, but beat the ‘winner’s’ time by twenty minutes. Nike mumbled, backtracked, and finally ponied up a prize for her as well. It seems there is some confusion between the concept of ‘fastest runner’ and ‘first across the finish line’ and it’s an argument I’m not qualified to address.

The women that finished the marathon, ran, jogged, walked, or danced further that day than I had ridden a bicycle. I say all the women that day, no matter what they were wearing or how fast they ran or even if they made it to the finish, were winners.

BlatantCommentWhoring™: A special Stan Lee commemorative NoPrize to whoever can identify the beer I'm drinking. A Super Deluxe NoPrize to anyone that can guess the waterfront establishment I'm at.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Fun With Logos


One of Kurt Vonnegut's signatures (literally, see this post) is his use of an asterisk, which his representation of his asshole, to put it not very delicately. This has become a bit of a literary in-joke. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have and asterisk in their logo and some suggest it is a homage to Vonnegut. There is also a website, appropriately called Vonnegut's Asterisk dedicated to getting writers and artists to submit their own backside self-portraits.

So when WalMart recently changed their logo it caused some snickering. The old logo had a star between the 'l' and the 'M'. The new logo has a yellow starburst at the end of the name. Some people think the starburst looks like a, well, asterisk. Consumerist took it upon their themselves to mock up a Vonnegutified version of the logo, complete with a new slogan "Goodbye Blue Monday" which is also from Breakfast of Champions.

This all made me think of another ubiquitous star that could use some Vonnegutfying. See my version below.

I've added the catch phrase "So it goes." from Slaughterhouse Five. It's used whenever something in the book dies. While it may be premature to pull the sheet over the McCain campaign, it sure is looking grim for the Republicans. Today on "This Week" I heard Peggy Noonan taking solace that at least McCain isn't polling as poorly as Bob Dole did. Yet.

And while, I'm trashing political logos, I've never been much enamored of the Obama Rising Sun either. I thought for a while that it was just the pastel shade of blue they used which struck me as typically Democratically subdued. If you are going to use blue, be proud of it. But then I realized that it was the rolling hill that was subliminally reminding me of another iconic logo.



Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but Barack is the Rock Star of the campaign and now we know why.

Colors are so important in political signs. Take the blue and gold of the McCain Palin sign and change it to red and khaki and you have something that would look appropriate on a Mao jacket. And this color scheme subscribes to some of the more bizarre Manchurian Candidate theories surrounding McCain.



Of course, Obama's sunrise in a different color scheme could look very different.


Maybe Obama isn't a Muslim terrorist at all but a sleeper agent of Tojo ready to sell us all to the Japanese. I just don't think the Chinese would be willing to sell.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

The Streets of San Francisco


My wife and I were in San Francisco this weekend on a mini-vacation and having done all the really touristy stuff a few years back, I decided we would go on a tour of some of the more famous neighborhoods of San Francisco, particularly two iconic streets that couldn’t be more different in tone or atmosphere despite being less than a mile from each other.

Street
Claim To Fame
Summer of Love and the counter-culture, i.e. hippiesCenter of the San Francisco gay community
Flag FlownFreakRainbow
Typical StoreTibetian handcraftsMen’s leather fetish wear.
VibeSeedy and crowded. Anybody heading west towards Golden Gate Park was carrying a bottle or can in a brown paper bag. The sidewalks were crowded with a mix of neo-hippies, wide-eyed tourists, and homeless panhandlers. While vainly waiting for a bus, we crowded under an awning with a group of women that spoke only French.Quaint and friendly. While there wasn’t a lot of street traffic, the bars and restaurants were doing a healthy early dinner business. In addition to the HUGE rainbow flag flying over Harvey Milk Square, the two or three block business district was festooned with rainbow flags all up and down the street.
Authentic Cultural SightThree guys sitting under a telephone pole passing around a pipe at three in the afternoon.Plenty of guys holding hands. And more.
Uncomfortable Encounter with a Random StrangerWhile trying to hail a taxi, a obviously homeless guy starts telling me riddles to try to get me to give him some money.After taking a picture of the sign for The Sausage Factory, a guy runs after me and asks if I took his picture. I said “No, just a sign.” He says, “You better not have been.” And then he stormed off.
Final ImpressionsNot a place to spend a relaxing afternoon at. If you aren’t in the market for obscure records or hemp-based products, not a lot to do.Has a small-town community vibe. Just don’t go there shopping for women’s fashions.


Neither place was quite what I expected, but Haight was the far more disappointing venue. While I was fine with perusing the shops, my wife couldn't get out of there fast enough. Castro Street was much more subdued and a pleasant place to spend an afternoon. My wife was even ready to leave me there if I was so inclined. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Obama Bucks


Over the weekend, one of the big news items was that the Obama campaign announced it had raised $150 million dollars in September alone. To put that number into perspective, that is nearly twice the amount that McCain is allowed to spend for the whole general election since he decided that the taxpayers should pick up part of his tab. And who is running around complaining about redistributing wealth?

Not to get any more political that I have already, but since Obama has got this one all locked up except for the Diebold machine vote-rigging, I think he should do more with his war chest than just endlessly barrage AM radio stations with ads. Here some of the things he could do with the dough:
  • Pay every single voter, for him or McCain, a buck. One hundred and twenty-five million voted in 2004. That gives a twenty-five mil cushion to cover all those fraudulent ACORN voters.
  • Buy all nine of McCain’s houses as well as Cindy McCain’s beer distributor stock. Twice.
  • Get George Lucas to remake Star Wars I to III. This time with real actors and a decent script.
  • Finance the next six seasons of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
  • Hire six hundred Joe The Plumbers at salaries high enough to force them into a tax increase.
  • Send the A.I.G. sales staff on their junket at St. Regis Resort 340 more times.
  • Cover five hours of the war in Iraq.
Instead, we are going to get wall to wall commercials, yard signs, mailing lists, blog ads, tow-plane banners, blimps, half-hour infomercials (hopefully they look better than Ross Perot’s old flip charts), buttons, stickers, and urinal cake covers. How many days until the election?

BlatantCommentWhoring™: What should Obama do with his loot?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Broken Computer Blues


I tried to upgrade the memory on the homebrew computer my son and I built a few years back. It had two 512MB DIMM chips in it. I bought two 1GB DIMM chips. I took out the 512s and put in the 1 gigs. Everything worked fine. Then I got greedy. I added the original memory back in trying to get the system up to 3 GB and fried something.

The memory this motherboard takes is 184-pin and the industry has moved onto 240-pin memory. And motherboards that take AMD slot 939 chips are functionally obsolete. I found one online for $40 so I am going to give this upgrade one more chance before I quit throwing good money after bad.

I really don’t have a good reason why I’m bothering other than pride. My rationalizations include the following:
  • I just spent a lot of time reinstalling my software including Quicken. Having to re-install everything on a new machine would be a pain in the neck.
  • Everything I do is “just fifty more bucks”. If the memory upgrade been a success I would have gotten an older generation video card. I could eventually have the world’s fastest AMD64 machine.
  • Sentimental value. I built the computer with my son just after he got out of the hospital from having his appendix removed.
  • If and when I did get a new machine, I really wanted to use this one as media server.
  • A new machine would force me to learn Windows Vista.
  • The gamer style case just looks so cool.
On the con-side, here are reasons I should just s-can the machine and start fresh.
  • For about five-hundred bucks I could get a complete pre-tested and configured machine that would be four times as powerful as anything I could make this one.
  • Parts for this machine are already getting hard to find. We just barely found the right size chip cooler when it went out six months ago.
  • The reason I was upgrading the old machine was so that it would be fast enough to run Premiere Elements 7 for HD video editing. It may not even be able to get that fast.
  • Every day this machine is down, I’m having to use my seven-year-old Sony desktop that is so bloated and slow it takes nearly fifteen minutes to boot-up.
  • I have all my important files backed up onto a portable hard drive, so the real hassle is re-installing software and not transferring files.
  • My kid has moved onto a MacBookPro which is four times the computer than I can justify spending on myself.
Part of my geek-cred is tied into being able to work with and upgrade my computers on a hardware level. Every couple of months I have the case off as I tinker and play. But with as busy as I've been lately, the time to just futz with stuff is limited and I'd rather be doing things more quasi-productive than fixing things I have accidentally blown up.

BlatantCommentWhoring™: When and how should I pull the plug?

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Buzz Around Town

I promised/threatened a while back more pictures of Buzz. These are the first half of the buzzes that I found. Here there are in order with commentary.

IMG_1541Buzz is a Management Grad
[sponsor] Gary & Libby Jones for the College of
Management
[artist] Samantha Mach, GT Student ‘09

The College of Management is on the east side of I-75/85 which makes it a leap from the traditional borders. This buzz is all office, but his tie has become unglued and I had to prop it into place for the picture.

IMG_1389Buzz BuzzCard
[sponsor] Georgia Tech Auxiliary Services
[artist] Philip Auslander, Deana Sirlin & The
Collision Company

Buzz Cards are the combination student IDs and debit cards that all students have to carry. The yellow parts of this Buzz are covered in tiny pieces of Buzz Cards.

IMG_1383

IMG_1382
The Buzz Around Campus
[sponsor] Michael B. Randall, Randall - Paulson
Architects
[artist] Kristie B. Chamlee

This Buzz is painted with beautiful vignettes of Georgia Tech including the Tech Tower. It's one of the most beautifully rendered and artistic buzzes, but the images are just a little busy to figure out without getting real close.

I've gone and posted two pictures of this one so that you can see both sides since they are very different.

IMG_1376Heritage Buzz
[sponsor] Kimberly Davis-Blackstone, IE ‘86
[artist] David Boyd, Jr & Nicole Young

I really don't get this rather abstract pattern. It must mean something to somebody.

IMG_1379Bee Green Buzz
[sponsor] Georgia Tech Foundation
[artist] Helen Kwon

To fit the recycling theme of this Buzz, his shirt is covered in small glass beads and his tail has some sort of fluffy fabric on it. And of course, his wings are green.

IMG_1373COE Super Star
[sponsor] College of Engineering
[artist] IDSA Georgia Tech

This is my favorite Buzz of them all. It's sponsored by the College of Engineering and they tried to make him a tough nerd. He has the buzzsaw mohawk and leather studded wrist cuffs but he also wears a white short sleeve shirt with a pocket protector. To see the welding glasses he had on before I managed to take the picture, see this other Flickr picture.


A.E.K.Δ.Buzz
[sponsor] Kappa Sigma Fraternity
[artist] Rob DeLoach

Missing In Action. This Buzz never got installed.

IMG_1355Au²
[sponsor] Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity
[artist] Carl Wilson, GT Student '09

Another abstract pattern, but at least it is in the official school colors.

IMG_1357I am an AIESECer
[sponsor] AIESEC
[artist] Donna Sammander
I have never hear of this organization which stands for Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales and is some sort of student exchange program. Their Buzz is just as baffling as their organization. It seems to be some sort of globe covered with stamps.

IMG_1460George P.
[sponsor] Sigma Chi Fraternity
[artist] Wendy Jackson

This Buzz named after fictional student legend George P. Burdell has one of the prime locations on campus, right in front of the stadium. His GT pennant went missing by the time I stumbled across him.

IMG_1467Sigma Nu is a Buzz
[sponsor] Gamma Alpha of Sigma Nu Alumni Assn
[artist] Tex Grubbs

Another premium location Buzz, right in Callaway Courtyard. The guy that did this Buzz has pictures of it under construction.


Egyptian Buzz
[sponsor] Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity
[artist] Jason Hawkins

Another no-show.

IMG_1457A Buzz Aquatic
[sponsor] Peter Mocker ISyE '03 & Jennifer Hinkel
INTA '03
[artist] Julia Berman

Just as the name suggests, it is an aquatically themed Buzz with lots of fishies all over it. I assume the name is a play on that very bad Wes Anderson movie.

IMG_1451The Hamilton
[sponsor] Clint Padgett EE ‘95
[artist] Kristen Holden MGT '92 & Amy Johnson

I have no idea what the "The Hamilton" is supposed to mean. It doesn't call up and Tech lore that I'm familiar with.
If you somehow stumbled onto this post and have pictures of your own, feel free to join the Buzz Around Town Flickr Group I set up.

I'll post the rest another day when I'm fresh out of other blog ideas. Meanwhile enjoy the pics.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Drinking In A Little Bublé

Part of the price of getting to go to Weird Al concerts is that paybacks are hell. At a company Christmas several years back, my wife fell in love with a song the DJ played. She asked to see the album, but had never heard of this Bublé fellow. Then he exploded and seemed to be everywhere. And here is the review:

Band

Michael Bublé
Blurry Overexposed Cell Phone Picture



Synopsis

Michael Bublé kicked off his latest tour in Baltimore, bringing his neo-Big Band style to the housewives who worship him and the husbands who humor them.
Opening Act

Naturally 7 is a gospel-tinged acapella group with a strong hip-hop style. They do stunning recreations of artists ranging from Phil Collins to Simon and Garfunkel, as well as original material. The members simulate instruments from drums to clarinets to electric guitar. They even prefer the term "vocal play" to acapella since much of the music is based on recreating the instrumental styles. If anything, the vocals are the weakest part.
Stage Presence

He may sing like Streisand, but he swaggers like Billie Joe Armstrong. He stages temper tantrums, makes fun of his band and blames his record company for turning him into a pansy.

Stage Show

He played the Mariner Arena in the half-house set-up which hd great sight lines. The stage had a steep slant with three groups of band players. The twelve-member horn section was on the right. In the center was a full rock drum set, and the percussionist and guitars were on the left.

Amusing Anecdote

Early in the show, he went through the audience and got groped by 77-year-old grannie groupie. He hightailed it back to the stage and said "I haven't been grabbed like that by a nineteen-year-old. I've got a lot to learn and you seem like the person to teach me."
Highlights

Bublé understands where his target market is. He apologized to the guys dragged along and promised that the ticket would pay off later that night. About the middle of the show he tried get the guys into the spirit by working them only to rickroll them into a big band rendition of "YMCA."

Show Length
100 minutes start to finish including encore.

Audience Demeanor

The crowd ran the gamut of age groups, but was a little estrogen heavy. There wasn't as much screaming as their was sighing and swooning.
Noticeable Omissions
He covered all his big hits but I was kind of hoping for his cover of 'Moondance.'
Other Reviews

None I could find. He seems to have snuck in and out of town unnoticed by the mainstream media.
Verdict

Michael Bublé is to rock music what Nicholas Sparks is to action movies. But he knows how to give the ladies what they want.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Sally Forth Expo Info


Blogging may be light this weekend as I’ll be attending the big SFX extravaganza. As teased by Crispy Gamer, this annual event puts the Penny Arcade Expo and ComiCon to shame. I hope to see you there. Here is the publicity flyer for more information:




Sally Forth Expo
October 18, 2008
Main Street Days Inn
Gilligan Ballroom - formerly the Weight Room
(somebody broke the Stairmaster)

Join us for a full day of Sally-riffic entertainment as you bond with fellow Forth-philes and enjoy all things retro, suburban, and bland.

9:00 Registration
Meet and greet Jackie while she skims off the cash box to finance her next backpacking trip to Europe. Jackie will also be giving change all day in the Game Arcade where you can play vintage video games including Dig-Dug, Joust, Galaga, and Burger Time. High scorers on each machine will be recognized at the banquet.

10:00 Keynote Speaker - How to Deal With a 'Ralph' in Your Office
Sally Forth
Be sure to hear our heroine as she shares her secrets to co-managing with a Machiavellian partner as well as balancing life as a career woman, mother, and PFLAG chapter president.
10:05 How To Get Free Money & Faster Raises
Ralph
With over twenty years of managerial experience, including two in the food services industry, Ralph shares his tips on how to undercut rivals and steal the thunder from coworkers while claiming all the credit. Meet in the lobby for this once in a lifetime opportunity.
11:00 Managing a Mid-Life Office Romance
Alice
Our favorite cougar tells why it is important to turn off the broadcast feature of your networked copier before any lunch time supply closet trysts.
12:00 Lunch
On your own. See the front desk for directions to Applebees or Bronco Burger. Or visit our dealer room where you can find all those childhood treasures that got thrown away including Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Trivial Pursuit: Big 80s Edition, and those hard to find gladiator movie boxsets.
1:00 How To Deal With Disappointment
Laura
Sally’s mom dispenses tips on how to lower your expectations and mask your disgust with your effeminate son-in-law, pudgy granddaughter and slutty youngest child. A list of very prescription-friendly physicians will be distributed.
2:00 Trading Cameos For Hipster Cred
Francesco Marciuliano
Ces explains staying cool while being a tool for King Syndicates by name-dropping all your much more talented and edgier friends into the strip. Guest appearances by Jeff Jowdy and David Murrell.
3:00 Getting Frisky In A Family Strip
Ted Forth, Arlo Day, Walt Duncan, and Hi Flagstone
A roundtable discussion on just what you can and can’t get away with. Expect some special back-stage stories about what happened in the fifth panel that you never got to see.
4:00 “We’re Just Friends”
Hilary and Faye
A symposium on the joys of platonic female bonding with a special tribute to Peppermint Patty and Marcie.
5:00 Co-Ed Team Crossword Puzzle Tournament
Find an office spouse to enter this thrilling double-elimination competition. With special guest judge Aria.
6:00 Dinner and Awards
Featuring an all-you-can-eat meatloaf bar ($15 supplement)
We will also be presenting some special awards in the following categories:
  • Toxic Mother Of The Year
  • Horror Movie Creature Song Of The Year
  • Machiavellian Manager Lifetime Achievement Award
And the evening will round-out with a PowerPoint Slide Show of this season's softball league highlights.

7:00 Costume Contest
Show off your best 80s’s style business wear. Ladies, break out those big floppy bowties. And gents, let’s see some Gordon Gecko quality suspenders. If you can't make it in person, be sure to send your pictures direct to Ces.
8:00 Concert: Vampire Monkeys
Direct from their sold-out Roseland appearance and mid-size arena tour of South Korea, we are proud to welcome the Vampire Monkeys with opening act Pela and special guest appearance by New Delhi Monkey Gang.
10:30 Movie Night
Join us in the video lounge for continuous showings of “The Last Starfighter” and “The Star Wars Christmas Special”
We expect another sold-out event so register early. You would hate be shut out again after last year’s drunken debacle made the front page of The Comics Reporter.