I think the idea is to get some solid-ish numbers for the four final cities, but the final decision for the location is still by vote, so that doesn't necessarily mean the most seemingly economical (accomodation, touristing, travelling to) site will win.

I got that- and still think NO is pretty economical. I just wanted to make some non-economic arguments before we got into the money stuff. Plus, Lafitte's is just cool.

OK. I misunderstood what you meant. And, FWIW, I think NO can be just as economical as the next place, especially with all the fabulous advance work ...

(edited to remove the double negative confusion)

I didn't think you were out of line, so much as would have preferred that you had asked nicely.

But I wasn't asking anything. I was making an annoyed observation and then a sarcastic suggestion. My preferences differ from yours.

OK. I misunderstood what you meant.

Actually, I don't think you misunderstood. I think I misexplained. I usually do.

Hey folks. Quick post from Seattle.

The vote that we have coming up will work like this. We'll have the whole list of cities we've talked about, I think at this point it's around 10 or 12 that have been discussed, but my notes are in LA so don't hold me to that.

From that list each person will vote for their top 2 cities. These two votes get equal weight. Taking everyone's top two choices the wonderful Fred Pete will do a count, and the 4 cities with most number of total votes will make it to the final cut. Once we've got those 4 cities then comes the nitty gritty. We'll take the RFP that Java put together for us and send it out and do research and come up with numbers and do all that we can to really get all the info on those cities. Then, we vote for the actual city from among those 4.

the latter, because Sheryl will be in Boston for the con, and I don't know who else, but I bet at least some Bostonians will be attending at least one day of it.

The Lothars will be performing at Noreascon at the Friday night Retro Hugo awards and maybe again later in the weekend. More details when I have them.

Oh, heck, it was just sitting here waiting to be taken.

Wow, five days, no posts? Yikes! Howdy, how is everyone? The San Juan Islands are beautiful, drop dead gorgeous. Umm, umm. How about the next West Coast F2F there?

On the subject of travel, and thinking ahead, various Buffistas have expressed the desire to get away during the holidays. Some might mean Christmas, some might mean Thanksgiving. I know it's only June, but, some places require lots of advance planning. Anyway, there's a little place I know on the Big Island of Hawaii that's right on the ocean and only $61/night. (Across the road is a time share condo complex where rooms are $160-250/night and they are land-locked.) I ran some figures through Travelocity, and their best package rate at a decent hotel in the same area + air + car minus the cost of 8 nights at this hotel left $950, if you follow. You can definitely get a flight and a car for less than $950. It's a great price.

So if you are interested in going to the Big Island over Thanksgiving, please drop me a line asap at profile addy. They have 3 rooms available from the 22nd to 30th (and anywhere in between) and 1 more from the 23rd to the 30th. All the rooms are doubles (queen/twin configuration) except one, IIRC. I’m probably going (my res. not included in the 4 rooms). I’ll be scuba diving probably most mornings/early afternoons, but will be kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, & traveling around at other times. If you’re a independent type who’d like to team up to share some activity expenses (like kayaking on Kealakakua Bay) and go out for some meals & drinks, we’d get along fine. They have unusual reservation policies, which is how they keep the cost down. Drop me an e to discuss.

AIEEE! You broke it! For the longest time, we had three threads all sitting on even thousands (this thread on 6000, UnAmerican on 7000 and Better Board on 8000).

t sulks in overly number-obsessive corner

er, sorry? I was away?

Hey, billytea, I saw Dall Porpoises, and sea lions, and some bird that was described as being a lower-48 penguin-y thing. Dang memory. It nests in little caves down near the water line on rocky coasts, has pink or red legs, kind of runs along the water while flapping furiously, gains flight but flies only a few feet off the water (the better to get lift from the downstroke of the wing)... hmm. I'm trying to remember if they had red beaks or not. Also a kind of oystercatcher with a red curved bill.