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deh last ones super probably mebbe gunna be deh one 3nodding

Okay, since we seem to have come to somewhat of an agreement, I'm going to narrow the poll. 3nodding

Less than 3 months till the MiniCon, Xenite family! surprised Can you believe it? mrgreen
So Ducky was thankin', it's about time for... You guessed it! The sudden and incessant cavalcade of pre-con reports! heart Prepare for the information onslaught. pirate
Don't worry though! Hopefully, they won't be as gruesomely long as last years. At this point there's less information to share, less chaos in the planning, and many things that don't need to be repeated from last year.
Let's kick this pig! scream xd


THE NITTY GRITTY....
Transportation
Does everyone have a way to get there? Everyone mostly being Fenny, Riva, and Skillzy. ninja Are you all driving? Does anyone need bus/carpool info?
If everyone is driving, this is what we're looking at:
Skillzy - About a 4 hour drive. I'd recommend leaving at around 1:00 in the afternoon.
Fenny - With minimal breaks, you're lookin' at about 7 hours. Unless your a super slow, fussy driver. I could see you being a fussy driver. Then it'll take about 8 hours. Plan for a short stop or two. And I94 is definitely the best route to take. You should probably leave around 9:00am.
Riva - Colorado right? ninja That's about 18 hours of straight driving. 9 hours a day would be tough, but reasonable. Especially if you bring a guest that can take driving shifts. whee

Vehicles
Which brings me too car parking. This is a new issue that we haven't had to deal with in previous years, so let's brainstorm.
EzPez, how much space do you have? If I remember right, its a shared two-car garage, yeah? So, assuming you don't already have a vehicle parked in it (if you do, we've got a problem), then we can only show up in one car. Here are the options...
- Three cars get parked in my driveway, then we load everything into Priscilla, my van, and take that to Pez's place. But fitting three extra cars into my driveway might be tough. Really tough.
- Skillzy and/or Riva find public parking and Fenny picks me up on the way there. Pain in the a** and a waste of money.
- Two people park in my driveway, one person takes public transportation. I could pick up that one person beforehand and then swing back for the two who drove. Then we all take Priscilla to Pez's.
- @Fenny - If all else fails, we could ask the Secors for a favor. Riva is friends with Nathanael, right? I bet they wouldn't mind sharing their driveway with her, for the weekend.
Now most of us know each other already, from previous MiniCon's. Those who don't, namely Skillzy, might want to meet in a public place. If not, I'm cool with that. You could come straight to my house. But if you want a little security, we could arrange to meet somewhere public, with plenty of people around.

The Dates
It's a little soon to name a date. We should probably finalize between May 20th and June 10th. But we can discuss it in the meantime.
Just to double check, no one who would otherwise be coming has a problem with either of the remaining weekends, right?!
And do we want a Friday to Monday con or a Thrusday to Sunday con? Again, too soon to finalize, but we should still be talking about it.

Accommodations
Pez, I'm assuming you have enough space to accommodate everything we have planned? Start thinking about where we could put a make-shift stage for the pageant. And where everyone will be sleeping. We should find out if anyone wants a room to themselves for any reason and those who don't can share rooms. Bunking with other people is more fun anyways, so I doubt that many of us will want our own space.
Lastly, decent sized and fully equipped kitchen? We'll have a lot of bustle in there, prior to a couple of the meals.
Oh and you don't have any weird fussy neighbors, who might call the cops on our war-crying, sword-fighting, drag-dressing asses, do you?


THE GOOD STUFF...
Grub
There's been some disagreement over the food this year, but I'll tell it as I know it and we can all argue about it later.
Day 1
Lunch:
Do NOT forget to pack some food for the trip to Chicago.
Dinner:
We're all going out to dinner at a vegetarian cafe. Host buys, so you don't need cash for that, but try to be courteous to him in what you order.
Dessert:
I'm bringing a yummy dessert for Friday night. It's a surprise.
Day 2
Breakfast:
Cereal. Pretty basic.
Lunch:
There was talk of a BBQ? Lunch on Saturday would be a good time to do it. We could get some hot dogs/hamburger/ribs/whatever (some fake ones of course, for you vegetable worshippers) and cook them up on a grill in Pez's backyard. (Pezoozle, if you don't have a grill we can find one, I'm sure.)
Dinner:
SUPER AWEZOME XENITE FEAST!!! Need I say more?
Yes actually... We need to figure out what foods we'll be having. Probably Greek dishes again this year. Everyone seems to like them and they add to the theme of the con.
Dessert:
Trust me, we'll have leftovers from Friday night.
Day 3
Breakfast & Lunch:
A combination of yummy Greek snacks and leftovers from previous meals. We can munch on them throughout the Xenathon.
Dinner:
A Xenaverse Travels Potluck. Each person will choose a place (outside of Greece) featured in the series and bring an ethnic dish from that place. (Norselands, Rome, North Africa, Japan, China, India, Ireland, etc.) If you can't bring the dish with you from wherever you're coming from, try to bring all the ingredients and you can make it here.
Dessert:
If I have the cash, I'd love to treat you guys to ice cream on the last night. 4laugh (Speaking of which, Pez, you're in charge of finding a good ice cream place in Evanston. 3nodding )
Day 4
Brunch:
Big ol' breakfast with all the fixin's! Pez and I can go in half-n-half on this one. He can get a few things and I'll bring a few things with me. On that note, we should decide what all we want to eat, so he and I can split up the foodstuffs.
(If anyone has serious food allergies, now's the time to say something!)

Gaiety
Okay, lists are easier.
Miss Known World Pageant
(We need to start a committee or something, because we have a lot to organize and not a lot of time. As well as the other games and festivities. All those who wanna be part of the Event Planning Committee say aye!)
Xenathon
(Maybe we should pick out some fun Xena episodes beforehand, that mesh well with our Xena Pop Culture theme.)
Xena sock puppet show
(Let's be sure to get socks and plenty of craft supplies!)
Hilarious Xena barbie movie
(As created by Fenny and Nymph. The offical MiniCon icebreaker.)
Xena video game
(How many controllers do you have, Pez?)
Xena games
(Xena 20 Questions, Xena Charades, Name the Character, etc...)
Sword fighting tournament
(You don't have to participate if you don't want, but you'll be missing out on the greatest of MiniCon traditions.)
Xena Jeopardy
(If no one wants to be the game host, I can do it.)
Going to the beach
Pez has been really pushing for this, so maybe we should humor him. It would fit with the MKW thing.)
Ultimate Chakram
(Basically just ultimate frisbee with a better name. whee )
Horseback Riding
($25 for 40 minutes, $32 for an hour. We'd each have to pay for ourselves. I'd do it. I know Fenny wants to as well. What about the rest of you?)
Xena cartoon movie
(Good for downtime.)
Ceremonial Watermelon Smashing
(I'm glad you brought that up earlier Pez, cause I completely forgot about doing it the first year. xd )
Scavenger Hunt
(Xena related of course. Another task for the committee.)
Murder Mystery Game
(May or may not be happening. It's great idea, but we would need at least six people, preferably eight.)
So that's all. If you have suggestions, speak up.

Goodies
Pez and I are covering the prizes this year. Between us, there should be enough to have minor prizes for the war cry contest, the costume contest, and the games. As well as major prizes for the tournament and the pageant. We might even be able to do door prizes this year. Of course, the prizes are a secret, as always, but I promise they'll be good! mrgreen


Preliminary Headcount
Holla if you're coming! And name guests! It's not final, by any means, but it's time to start getting a grasp on numbers.


And we're in business!
Let's keep it rollin', folks. heart

Always & forever,
~ConMom~ wink

when yuu said yuu were gunna have a con-report i thought it was gunna be small but i furgot yuu were yuu whee

kekeke yuu would remember deh garage whee yea ish 2 person! but usually people park in front of it so thats like 4 spots 3nodding
may 20 mozzi birfday! 4laugh happy birfday tew yeeew. but uh... yea! 3nodding either of deh weekends on deh poll would be good for me! but deh last one would be bestest 3nodding
YUP! well i hope ninja i already planned where teh put all deh events so dunt worry bout that! 3nodding and i got 2 bedrooms but i also got a really comfy couch and blow up beds teh stuff anywhere for deh night time ninja
and deh kitchen aint that big ninja but im gunna do alotta cookin before and heat food up so it wont be super busy ninja and i might be able teh use deh kitchen downstairs too. most of deh neighbors are college folk tho so theys use teh weird noises 3nodding

i went there a wee bit ago and most of deh food ish like $14. and 14x10 ish a billion whee so we might go somewhere else and just go there for dessert or smoothies ninja but i dunt know yet. and i got a grill! but ish on deh roof and i donno if it can come down ninja
ish cold stone a good icecream place? ninja
OOH! AYE! ARR! eek and yea i been thinkin it would be fun teh plan episodes! im bringin a xena newb so we should pick good xena newb episodes too 3nodding OH! i also got another xena movie thing here that would be fun teh watch! 3nodding and deh plan for deh beach was deh ultimate chakram ninja not super much room in deh backyard. uh. YEA! i think thats all! 3nodding

um... im allergic teh spring time ninja nobody put that in yur food. but i think thats it ninja i dunt like nuts... OH! eliza! can yuu eat pine nuts? ninja

another person mebbe comin! surprised how many people issit now? ninja

I've never gone horseback riding. That would be interesting. XD Then again, my aunt has three horses so I could always do that. The beach sounds like a blast.

Aw. cry You guys and your knowing people with horses. gonk
I mean, I know you could do it by yourself for free, but I personally, would rather do it with you guys. whee 3nodding