Wmcmanus

When did you order those, Colin? Mine should be on the way to Tampa, if not there already. Matt, do you want to borrow them for a while?

Looks like I'll be able to make this one, almost for sure. I'm going to have to take a road trip up to Virginia in late November to get some work done on my Atom, but I should be back in time for the meet. I blew out my muffler during AtomFest which caused a bunch of stuff to melt, like my speedo sensor (completely fried) and O2 sensor (hanging on by a thread). Then I loaded my pickup truck into the trailer like only a true idiot could, and it broke loose under hard braking (when the GPS lady told me something completely unexpected) and slammed into the back of the Atom, causing more damage. Nothing too serious, but they'll have to replace a few gizmos like my reversing light and a brake light, and then re-check all of the geometry on the rear end to make sure that nothing has shifted too badly. I'm hoping the weather will cooperate such that I can get some track time at VIR after Humpty Dumpty is put back together again.

Any word on when the LCD-2 will be available? I'll probably pick up a pair to compare them to the HF-5 and a bunch of other cans. The headband gizmo is butt ugly for sure, but I don't ever look at myself when I'm listening to music (and as little as possible otherwise).

Congrats, Mike! It just amazes me what people can do when they don't sit around on the couch all day. I sat around on the couch all day.

We can use those Shure PTH devices to talk to each other while still listening to JH13s, and just sit around on couches surfing the internet and posting about what a great time we're having. Kind of like DanJam, except nobody bothered to use the PTH mics.

That sounds good to me. That sounds good to me too.

It must be the broadway thing. Orlando is one of their 5 permanent show locations, the others being NY, Boston, Chicago and Vegas. They do silly bits with Cap'n Crunch and Twinkies and toilet paper, etc. Quite entertaining, I've got to say, but probably something that you would only need to see once. I'd love to see a Blue Man show that is all about the music.

I'd come up for it anytime except for the first half of November. The Atom is in storage there, so any excuse to get to Tampa works for me.

Ordered! Thanks for the head's up. Aaron (immtbiker) has been listening to them and has been quite impressed, so I figured it would be worth giving them a whirl.

I just saw the Blue Man Group in Orlando. Sort of part concert, part silliness, but 100% entertaining. I had heard a lot about it, so I had an idea of what to expect, but was still pleasantly surprised. The only mild disappointment I had was in the realization that it wasn't as music focused as I had imagined. Still gets a big thumbs up.

Olebumma has been giving so many of the rich kids' toys to the poor kids that somebody needs to step in to 'unlevel the playing field' again.

You're such a dork, Matt... and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

Happy co-birthday, Steve! Hope you enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine.

Thanks again, everyone. It was pretty uneventful, but fun nonetheless. My g/f bought me a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses, thinking that it would be exactly what I 'needed' because I've been talking about them lately. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I have 3 other pairs and that's what all of the talk has been about! Dang! I hope I don't become a sunglasses collector...

Hey, thanks for the well wishes, guys! Funny, how more people are finding me here these days than over at HF. Seems that most of them have no idea of the history the place and thus don't identify with former frequent posters. I haven't done much today, but did listen to some Jackson Browne (more in an effort to tune out the g/f and all of her family drama phone calls than anything else). He's been doing some most excellent, very mellow, acoustic stuff in recent years. I'm off to teach an exciting class about governmental and not-for-profit accounting this evening. If it weren't for those cute little young brown-skinned lassies (90% of my students are female), I'm not sure what would keep me motivated.

There was one official photographer who managed to catch one of my spins (actually, my very first one). It happened right after I passed his station, so he missed my exit point from the track, but caught me mowing some grass. There was also an official videographer, who later told me that he was following me all over the track trying to catch my next misadventure, but never managed to do so. But there were countless other amateur photographers out there as well who have contributed over 5,000 photos to the event organizer's collection. He's been quite busy sifting through everything, and I'm sure there will be some gems in there as well. The whole event was a complete buzz! Where else can you slide through long turn-style-like corners at 85-90 mph? But like anything, it quickly becomes a blur and you're just left wanting more. I wasn't a teenager during the 90s, but I dated several of them. I should have picked up on something.

Yes, very much so. I'm not often this genuine, but we owe a lot to people like Mike, Al, John and Jim who take on the big meets. Dan too, of course! (Oh, and lets not forget Aaron.) At one point, I was passing an oversized load going down hill at 82 mph (which is burying the needle in my rig) and the jerk wouldn't move over to give me an entire lane to work with. This was at about 9am after driving all night. I was literally slapping myself in the face repeatedly to stay awake as I was attempting to pass this guy, even though I knew I was tempting fate. My left wheels went off the road and onto the rumble strips and when the back end of my trailer emerged in front of this other semi, it was wagging its tail vigorously back and forth from left to right, almost out of control. I completely backed off of the throttle but wisely stayed off of the brakes or it would have jackknifed my rig into a summersault. Of course, now the guy with the oversized load hits his brakes and finds the shoulder on the right! Scary stuff. Note to self: driving without sleep is not a good thing. But the AtomFest was an absolute blast! I "won" (hands down) the "Atomic Twister Award" which is granted to the driver who spins out the most during the 3 days of Atoms at Speed competition. My lap times were in the middle of the pack, but I cut the most grass. Sadly, I don't have any pics yet. I was so exhausted by the time I got to Tampa, I forget my "award" (such that I should be proud of it) as well as the CD of all of the pics of my car that were taken by the track's photographer. Oh, ya! They're quite good. Don't know how I've managed to miss them until now. No real excuse.

Man, you need to get out more! Hope you get those JH13's. I think you'll like them... a lot! Entertaining impressions, especially the part about Mike and Al being dirty hippies. Sadly, they were the cool kids when I was in high school. At least they've good taste in music, gear and beer... and, as hippies go, kind of fun to hang out with. It was nice seeing everyone again, and meeting some of the new goons. I'm hoping to be in the neighborhood again sometime in the Spring, and will be sure to look you up again, Dan. After 3 days of DanJam, 4 days of AtomFest, and a one day delay in getting on the road (due to a changeover of my trailer springs/hubs/wheels/tires), I had to do a 26 hour solo drive from Tulsa to Tampa in 35 hours. It wasn't a bit pretty, but I made it in one piece somehow thanks in part to an overdose of Vivrin. The rig is now in storage in Tampa for the winter, although a road trip to Orlando via Miami/Ft. Lauderdale might be in order for a long weekend if the Florida crew is up for it. Any time is a good time.

It certainly was a masterpiece, although it did kind of drone on a bit.

Indeed.

Smooth like butta and Barbara Streisand's thighs!

Happy birthday, Slack-ster. Enjoy your youth, man... I've got some underwear that is older than you are, although most of it isn't in heavy rotation at this point.

When I write a review, you are to worship and adore me for my efforts and agree with all of my conclusions. If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you.

Ya, what Ken said! Happy birthday. You should have told us about this upcoming birthday. We would have made you do endless shots. Or maybe you figured as much and decided to forego the torture? Wise man.

I concur. I had an absolute blast. It was especially nice to have the long 3 day format, such that none of us were in any particular rush to do anything in particular. Sure, there was gear, there was beer, there was music and a beach and bullets, but mostly just a bunch of goofy people to hang out with. Although I've never eaten electrostatic donuts before, I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy them. I've now made it to Tulsa and jumped in my pickup at the airport, then headed to the U of Tulsa to hang out at the law school library to catch up on the work I didn't get done this weekend. In about 3 hours, I'll be dropping off a package at FedEx and heading for the track at Hallett for AtomFest! Figured I'd better get the work done before the fun or the beer will interfere (yet again).