The Musings of Hooly

Some of my Live Journal buddies have cottoned onto this cool idea of the interview. Basically its a chance for people to ask a series of questions to get the lowdown on your inner thoughts. And I think that's a cool idea. So in accordance with the rules, here are "The Rules":

The Rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me!”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. And thus the endless cycle of the meme goes on and on and on and on.

So if you'd like me to interview you, let me know.

Well it was August 2007 when I last posted, and I think I'm going to have to make an effort this year with posting at least once a month on Live Journal, if for no other reason to tell people that I still alive and well.

As I write this I'm in the midst of organising the 2009 incarnation of Gen Con Australia (www.genconoz.com) - and my god has this been yet another mammoth task.

Last year was the first time I had run a convention the size of Gen Con, having only run The BIG Weekend and ORK-toberfest as games convention (and a few other large scale non games events through my involvement with PCYCs. Overall, the show went well I think with over 10,000 attendances, and a lot of positive feedback.

There was a chance that I wouldn't do it again. Not because I didn't think it worked, but because it took its toll on me, my family and our finances. But we knew we had to build it first in order to make it a success, and after recovering - which took a little longer than I had expected - I set about reassembling the show for the next outing.

The hardest part of this process so far has been the fact that we had lost a number of our key people to full time, better paying jobs. This in itself sucked from our perspective, but was a reality I just had to deal with. It also didn't help that certain individuals took us for a ride financially, so we had to deal with things that we hadn't done before. In the long term this worked OK, because we have found some excellent resources to help us on our way.

We managed to get a few of the band back together, even if only in a part time capacity, and a lot of our volunteers have agreed to take on more heftier roles - which is awesome - and takes some of the load off me so I can concentrate on the show as a whole rather than playing the roles of about 15 people.

Now its onwards and upwards, and I can feel that this year is going to be a lot different from last. This year this show will solidify itself for the future - and don't tell me otherwise.

And now for something a little different - see the next post The Interview.

Well its 11.55pm here is downtown Indy as I post and so far I'v had a blast. There are only two words to describe Gen Con Indy - MASSIVE. AWESOME. I've never seen anything like it, and if we can get Gen Con OZ to look and feel half as good I'll be a very happy man.

With over 350 exhibitors, and the best attendance figures they have had over the THURS-FRI period ever, the rest of the convention will easily topple its record set last year. Everywhere you go, there are gamers. Just when you think you've seen it all, you come across a doorway with a lot of activity only to be assaulted with the sounds of a massive auditorium filled with gamers playing every game possible - and some not so.

The RPGA areas is easily half a hall at the Brisbane Convention Centre (maybe a bit less) will hundreds and hundreds of keen fans. Minitures get a great look in, although there is a serious lack of Warhammer anywhere apart from the Black Library in the main Exhibitors Hall.

We've sold quite a few of our Kangaroo and Koala stuffed animals (with Gen Con logo printed on the rear) and will sell even more with our "Vegemite Challenge". More on that when I get to post again.

Anyway, I'm very tired and sleepy after a few late nights...damn those Gen Con Party Animals!

Hey All,

Well here we are again in the US. We travelled via Air New Zealand in Premium Economy, and this time was by far the worst of the two. The service was great, but it was a smaller plane and Felice and I just couldn't sleep.

We arrived in San Francisco in pretty bad shape, and rather than take in the sights, we found a nice little food court and took turns in catching up with sleep. We walked around, and around, and around the terminal, trying to find the service provider for our flight to Indy. We found them and they were closed (until 6.30pm).

We went without Ethan this time as we are displaying at Indy, and aside for being bored out of his head, we wouldn't been able to control him and man the stall. Leaving Ethan in itself has been a bit of a culture shock for the both of us. The longest I've ever been without seeing Ethan was 4 days (ArcanaCon) and Felice only 1. So yes, we are very much fretting. However we have left the boy in the good hands of Mrs and Mr Slee for the 10 days while we are away.

Well nothing much else to report this time. The next stage of our voyage is the trip to Indy which leaves around 11.00pm tonight, and arrives at 6.30am (thanks to another time zone change).

Catch you on the flip side.

Hey All,

Well I've been hounded to complete our journal even though we've been back in Australia since Saturday. I will start with day 8 as it was fairly eventful, but first I explain the delay.

Gen Con - WOW! It took up so much of our time that I just didn't get back to e-mail or the Live Journal. There was too much going on. That coupled with our adventures after dark - but that's another story ;) When I did have time, we were already in Las Vegas, and there were issues with the net connection at the business centre. I'll never go to the New York New York again.

The next opportunity I had was at the LAX, but they wanted some crazy amount of money to register, and I was only there for a half hour at the most (after we were slightly delayed at Las Vegas, thanks to the US security check - I tell you its easier to get in and out of the country than it is to move around in it - by plane anyway).

I only had a short amount of time at NZ, so I said blast it - besides I was stuffed and probably couldn't string sentences together anyway. So here we are, back safe and sound, and greeted by the lovely Queensland weather (humid, hot, etc). Was a shock having been in nice Autum weather in California (t-shirts during the day and jumpers at night).

Anyway, onto the ALmost Live Journal.

DAY 8
Gen Con. What more can I say but OMFG. It was a dream come true (to coin a phrase) for Felice and I, although from what I am told, only about a quarter of the size of Indy. Still it was big compared to our local conventions, and it was nice to see it in action.

Felice took the first turn of the morning getting in early and spending most of the morning with the registration and cusomer service people. This is her schtick, and boy did she have fun. The Thursday is usually their most quiet day followed closely by Sunday so it gave her a chance to absorb all the processes going on. She also met some really nice Senior Volunteers and made some now good friends.

The computer registration system used is very user friendly, especially considering it needs to be operated by non-gamers from a ticketing company called "Red Coats". They appear to be retirees who still have a need to be employed. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea though, as some people had to be let go on the first morning - some have it, some don't I suppose.

Lunch was at about 1.00pm, and for most of the con, continued to be TAG TIME for Felice and I with Ethan (i.e. I would look after him in the morning, and she would take the later shift). We still got time to chat and shop, but our main concern was keeping the boy amused.

I got to spend time on the floor, chatting with senior volunteers, the marketing staff, registration, and exhibitors. I wanted to emerse myself in the overall feel on the first day and get an idea of how it was all run.

At about 6.00pm, Felice came to collect me as we had been invited to a dinner with the guys from Upper Deck and Gen Con LLC (including Peter, the CEO). We arranged a sitter, who was very nice and whom Ethan took to well. We me the gang downstairs, got our introductions, and were picked up in a stretch Hummer - www.hummer.com. We were wisked (as much as a strech hummer can) away to a nice Cubian Restaurant just out of Anaheim. We somehome picked up another party along the way who were very friendly. Apparently they were from the Engineering conferrence next door to the Gen Con conference hall. Explaining what Gen Con and gaming was, was one of the highlights for me. "So you guys are the lords of the nerds then".

The night was a blast and much discussion was had about Gen Con Australia, politics, religion and all the things you aren't supposed to talk about. All in all it was a great night and went well for us - can't say much more than that.

We returned home at about midnight, relieved the sitter and went to bed.

Its been a few days since I've updated, so I'll give a quick summary:

DAY 6
Disneyland Part 2. We ventured off to Disneyland a little bit later than planned. We managed to get through most of California Adventure first, missing only 2 or 3 rides, and then made our way to Disneyland. We looked around for a while, tried a few more of the rides and attractions we missed out on, and then went back to California Adventure for the Block Party Bash. Ethan got to dance with Woody from Toy tory, and had a great time. We had a little bit of time left over so we went to find Pirates of the Carribean, which was fairly tame but a lot of fun. Its obvious that they remodelled it a bit after the movie came out. We then watched the fireworks at about 8.00pm, and then headed home.

DAY 7
Today's adventure was a trip to Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Homes of the Stars. This trip was interesting, and just highlighted how if you've got money (and lots of it) you can do just about anything. We got a run down about Southern California, Orange County, and Hollywood which was highly informative. We then got a chance to visit the Kodak Theatre, and Manns' Chinese Theatre. That was kind of cool, and we took heaps of photos.

We then came back home, organised a sitter, and then went to our first Gen Con meeting. It was more of an introduction for all the volunteers to the Gen Con crew, and a great introduction for us. That lasted about a half an hour, and then Peter (CEO of Gen Con) invited us for a drink. And as good Aussies - drink we did. And drank, and drnk. We were treated as family which was great, and everyone appeared to love us. The only social fopar I made was that I thought the marketing person "Adrian" was a guy, when in actual fact, SHE is a girl. When I admitted this to opne of the team, I quickly found out that he was her boyfriend. Double Whoops! Felice headed to bed around 11.15pm, but I was up chatting with everyone til around 1.30am. So I was having fun.

Day 8 is going to be interesting as we get to see all the behind the scenes stuff as they prepare for the onslaught. Chat agaon on the other side of Day 8.

Cheers.

Today saw us travel to Universal Studios. In a word, we loved it. It was a much lighter crowd, and very interesting. We managed to get to all but 3 attractions, and stayed there from 9.30am through to 6.15pm. The trip there and back was also a lot of fun, and we chatted at length with a Canadian on holidays, and a group of Australian's from Melbourne.

The best thing about Universal was the layout. It also helped to get some advice from the bus driver on how to tackle the park. The advice paid off, allowing us to breeze through the rides.

The views of downtown Hollywood from Universal were spectacular, and we took heaps of photos. I think I'm going to have to set up photobucket or something.

Well that was it for today. There is heaps more I could say, but we are all stuffed and are in desperate need of bed.

Well its Part 2 of Disneyland tomorrow so its a goodnight from me, and a goodnight from her. Cheers, and good night!

Day 4 saw the Houlihan go to Disneyland. I think now that I have died and gone to heaven. Nobody reminded me of Star Tours, or the Jedi Training Academy...impressive - most impressive. But seriously, today we managed to get to Disneyland. We got to Disneyland about 10.00am, and all I can say is that it was awesome - and a little bit big - and a little bit busy. For those who have been to Disneyland before, you'll know what I'm talking about. For those that haven't, imagine Dreamworld and multiply it by about 5. And while you're there - multiply the crowds too. There were thousands there, but surprisingly, very well managed.

We visited Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Futureland (giving the last one a real workout). We watched the parade first, and somehow managed to get on the Disney Christmas Special. Whether we make the cut will be up to the guys doing the editing, so I suppose we won't know for sure until Christmas. Next we visited Fantasyland after Ethan spotted the massive castle (not hard to miss) and took a walk around. We then had a ride of the carosel which Ethan loved, followed shortly after him getting his photo taken with the old Wizard (he sure has the Felice gene when it comes to fantasy). We then visited a hat store and picked up some souveniers, and a few presents.

Next stop was Futureland as Ethan wanted to meet Buzz Lightyear. We didn't get to see him, but we did get a chance to go on the ride. Basically is a first person shooter, in rotating spaceships which run along a track. You get a ray gun and use it to shoot Aliens, Zurg, and his minions as they try to defeat the Space Rangers. OK, so you didn't need to know all that, but it was great fun. You get your photo taken, of which you can request it to be sent to you via e-mail. We asked, but it is yet to arrive.

We then wnt for lunch, and waited for the Jedi Training Academy. Ethan tried his first American quisine - you guessed it - peanut butter and jelly sandwitches. To our pleasure, he liked it for about a minute, and then dumped it for Felice's club sandwitch and carrot sticks. We watched the Training which was fun, and realised quickly that we were glad we didn't get Ethan up to take part. He's still not at the taking directions well stage, and probably would have attacked his fellow Padawans (yes they were given lightsabers). Chris, I'm sure you can attest.

We thwen went off to visit Star Tours. Yes, it was at that point that I realised that I had died and gone to heaven. It wasn't much of a ride, but it was cool. I don't know if Ethan really liked it - he said he did, and was a bit dazed afterwards - so who knows. We went and got some more souveniers (way too much spending going on here) and then walked around for a bit.

We then had a short stop at Adventureland. I say short because the lineups were huge. A passerby said it best - "This is my favourite part of Disneyland to crowd surf". We stopped for a drink, Felice looked at some shops, and we took a few more photos. We decided to give it a miss as Felice was very tired, Ethan was getting grumpy (no sleep for the little fella today) and I'd about had it with American crowds. So we walked through the park, back to the shuttle bus (which we waited for 40 minutes for) and then took some time out to relax and watch some more American TV.

I know it might seem like we are watching a lot of US television, but there is some much more choice here, and secondly there are some shows which are starting here that we haven't got yet - and look cool. That's our excuse, and we're sticking to it.

Anyway back to Disneyland. Thankfully we have a second day's pass, so we'll be going back for more on Monday.

On a side note, while at Disneyland, I realised something strange. People here are either way too trusting, or crime is a myth. I saw people leaving prams full of stuff outside of rides (because you can't take them in with you) and they wouldn't be touched. Perhaps I'm a little paranoid because of my (dare I say) previous profession, but I found this quite remarkable.

Well I'm a bit tired, and its an early start tomorrow as we are venturing off to Universal Studios. I'm quite excited about that one, so I'm sure I'll have much to report tomorrow. Goodnight, and as I've already said, when I work out how to upload photos, I'll post 'em.

Day 3 of the trip was a lot of fun today. We were originally going to go to Disneyland, but due to our late rising, long breakfast, and general lathargic-ness (if that's a word), we opted not to go to Disneyland. Instead we went for a very long walk, and went shopping. There really isn't that much of a shopping experience near where we are staying, as its mainly the hotel district (probably because it surrounds the Disney Theme Park District. But after a half hour walk, we found a target, several cheap restaurants and a few corner stores and set about spending some our American dollars.

We bought some general things that we either forgot or thought we'd just buy here anyway. Of course we forgot some stuff, but were not going to walk back again. We did also manage to find a sports shoes shop the size of our house at Nundah (that's all they sold - shoes!) I picked up a great pair of Nike shoes for about $70 Australian which was a bargain! We then came back to the Hotel and spent the afternoon relaxing and taking in the idea that we are in another country. We went to dinner at the restaurant downstairs, had a blast with one of the waiters, and then returned for some quiet time before we hit Disneyland tomorrow - for real this time.

I'm still amazed at how wide the roads are over here, and with the number of 4WD utes. The smog in Anaheim isn't as bad as it was in LA, but is certainly thicker than we're used to. To give you an idea, the Marriott is about 200m away from the Convention Centre, and you don't get a clear view (like Brisbane fog at about 7.00 in the morning). The mountains (which are about as far from Nundah to Mount Cootha) can barely be seen. I suppose we should expect this considering the population, and the fact that life in US is based around the almighty motor vehicle and the amount of fuel being consumed. Public transport exists here, but is certainly not used as much as I would expect it to be.

Anyway, that's it for me for today. When I learn how to update with images, I'll post some photos.

Well its November 9th here - again, and we've settled in fairly well. We managed to get an upgrade to our rooms, and well, its massive!

The flight between NZ and the US was pretty good as we left at night, and arrived during the day. Just felt like an accelerated day. There was only a little bit of turbulance whilst taking off while we got through the storm. After about half an hour, all was clear skies. Ethan was difficult as he couldn't get comfortable, but eventually fell asleep about half way through the trip. Felice managed to get to sleep OK, and even I managed to catch some shut eye (even if only for about 3 hours).

We got into LA about 1.00pmCalifornia time, and had our transfer waiting for us. The trip from the airport was fairly uneventful apart from my interest in the freeway - 8 lanes either way! - and the fact I got to travel in the right hand drivers seat as a passenger. The roads here certainly makes our Qld expressways look like suburban streets. The next thing which amazed me was the American's obsession with Pickup Trucks (4WD Utes for us Aussies). Every second vehicle was one of them.

We had dinner at a nice little cafe downstairs at the Marriott. The only strange thing that happened was when we were asked if we wanted a side serve of chips We said yes, and were surprised when we got actual chips (i.e. Smith's Thins). And here's me thinking we were going get fries.

We got back to the hotel room at about 6.00pm, and got to sleep around 7.30pm. Ethan watched cartoons in bed (King size beds are huge) and fell asleep around 10.30pm. We all got up around 9.00am.

Well its off to breakfast and then more than likely Disneyland. Chat tomorrow!

Well we managed to get to New Zealand all in one piece. The weather was aweful, with winds hitting 50 knots of the runway. Not a good thing for the planes. It even stopped the crew from getting the plan refueled, the replenishment of the catering and the loading of luggage. As a result we stopped longer than expected - an extra 2 hours.

The plane ride was great, and many thanks to Kathi for seeing us off. Felice had a blast for her first flight, although Ethan was certainly a handfull.

Ethan slept for the last 10 minutes of the flight which meant he was moving around a lot. Thank god for the Cars Movie is all I can say.

Well we've been here for a while now, and Ethan has been a bag of beans. He only slowed down when I read him a story (Kangacrocs, and Crocaroos).

This Hotspot thing is great. I know some of you seasoned travellers are very used to it. Technology - got to love it.

Well the plane will soon be boarding, so I'd best sign off. Next posting will be in about 13 hours time when we touchdown in LA.

Well here begins my world of the Live Journal. Many of my friends already have Live Journals, and not be outdone, I thought I might give this thing a go. The main reason is that Felice (wife) and I are ventuing overseas for the first time ever. Many of our friends are very well travelled (how many countries Kathi?) so we felt we should start doing something about it. Although I've seen most of Australia this is the first time I've ever actually been beyond our fair isle (aside from Green Island off Cairns)and is only the 6th time I've ever been on a plane. Felice has never been on a plane, nor Ethan (our 3 year old). We've picked the US for our first OS destination, mainly Southern California.

The main reason we chose So Cal was because of Gen Con. You see, a little while ago, Felice and I started Eventions Creative Event Management Pty Ltd, a little event management company in order to run Gen Con Australia (www.genconoz.com). Our good friend Peter Aikson (CEO of Gen Con LLC) invited us to look at Gen Con So Cal mainly due to its size (in that it would compare well in size to Gen Con Austarlia's first outing). So we're off to look at that for 4 days, learn the ropes of running a Gen Con and to wine and dine with some of the games manufacturers. We're also going to fit in some site seeing and touristy things. I'll be using this Live Journal to let my friends know what we've been up to and my thoughts on the various things we see.

Our plans at this stage are to do the Disneyland thing for 2 days once we get to Anaheim, Universal another day, Gen Con for four days, then off to Las Vegas for some good times, to have an exciting trip to the Grand Canyon (in a helicopter), and back to LA for a trip around town. All in all, it will be a busy trip, and all whilst looking after our 3 year old - and won't that be fun!

Cheers.