FURIOUS nads! by The One True b!X

Late this afternoon, west coast time, an Announcement thread appeared in the Flanvention section of the Booster Events boards titled “The Hilton cancels Flan 2″ and saying it was circumstances beyond Booster Events’ control.

After a number of panicky replies, BE said they got a second phone call contradicting the first phone call, deleted that thread, and opened a new one, which has no greater reassurance in it than “All is well right now, as far as I know.”

No offense to Denise, the Oregon-based head of Booster Events, but if you don’t know whether or not your own event, scheduled to begin Friday and for which people have already begun to arrive in Burbank, is actually happening, well who the bloody fuck does?

Shortly after saying the Mars water announcement was imminent (posted 10 minutes before the NASA news conference itself), my server went offline for several hours. What should have been a quick fix (and, in fact, was a 30-second router reboot and general check to see that it worked) was complicated by it taking 45minutes to get home because, as usual, the 15-Belmont runs on nothing which even resembles even a slipshod copy of what it’s schedule is supposed to be.

This morning I awoke to find a comment posted to a photograph I took of one of the workers involved with the tram, in this particular picture, it’s the temporary towers they had constructed along SW Gibbs as part of the hoisting of the tram cable. The comment was from a local iron worker on behalf of himself and two others. So, shout-out to Iron Jim, Fuzzy Mike, and Beater Dan.

Or, at least, that’s the only conclusion I can draw from Phil Stanford’s column: “The death-defying tram rescue drill, starring the fire bureau’s high-angle rope rescue team and city Commissioner Sam Adams, has been scheduled for next Friday, Dec. 8.”

That’s one of the days when I will be out of town, thus ensuring the City won’t have to endure the inevitable photographs I’d post to Flickr with titles such as, “Commissioner Adams Descends From Left Nut”.

The debacle of Booster Events suddenly announcing on Monday, two weeks before the event, that “financial difficulties” might cause them to cancel the sold-out (in advance) Flanvention in Burbank next weekend took a new turn this morning with a post directed at me from some random person on Booster’s discussion boards.

I am tired of your attitude, you attack everyone and anyone who has to do with BE.

As far as I and many are concerned the uproar you and your “minions” started over the Nathan mistake is what caused the funding to dry up.

So while it’s ok to be angry and upset over possibly missing one of the most anticipated conventions ever.

You really need to chill out on personal attacks.

At last I can unburden my soul, take this weight off my shoulders, get this monkey off my back, and tell the truth.

Yes, for weeks I’ve been secretly undermining BE’s communications. And then, a few weeks go during an all-night marathon of naked Halo 2, Nathan and I hatched our scheme to bring BE to it’s knees. He posted his blog entry about his people not being able to get in touch with BE’s people, and I proceeded to wait until a metric shit-ton of people weighed in on it before I myself ever said anything, to cover my tracks.

Good to get that off my chest.

FYI, as for personal attacks, nice try, but no. Read where this has been discussed. I am one of the people, for example, who never once accused BE of deliberate fraud or malice.

Have I accused them of possible mismanagement? Yes. But when a business — and BE is a business — fails to provide goods or services for which you’ve paid, as a consumer you, I, and anyone else has the right to wonder why. And do so publicly.

I’ve never once personally atacked Denise, Vicki, or anyone else at BE for this situation. Have I been blunt? Yes. But not once have I attacked them personally.