Postcards from the Edge (of the Continent).

Thanks to the generous efforts of Dan (a.k.a., Weird_1), the CapFest postcards are now up for everyone's enjoyment.

Check them out!

If you were there, you can relive the magic of filling them out over grub at Phillipe's or the Pig-N-Whistle. If you weren't there, you can feel the magic for the very first time.

Photo Sharing Time.

Time to share some photos. This one comes from Erik, Sir Not Appearing in This Photo, who was behind the camera:


Here's a cheery group at the train station, which I took:


Meanwhile, Fred offers a full Flickr set.

And finally, Erik would like to share his dung with you:


If anyone else has photos to share, please post them here!

The Aftermath.

What a great weekend that was! You know, I realize now that I don't think we took a group picture with everyone in it -- all our group photos had one of us behind the camera. So, in the absence of a big group picture, enjoy this photo of My Dung instead.

Anyway, I want to thank all of you for coming; it certainly was a blast. It was fun seeing you all, whether it was for the first time or for the umpteenth. I also want to thank you all for putting up with the heat, especially on Saturday afternoon, as well as the cramped accommodations for the movies on Saturday evening.

We look forward to seeing you all again as soon as we can!

Almost Showtime!

Well, I don't actually have a lot to say here, but it seems like I should make some sort of final post before you all arrive. So, there are a couple things you should keep in mind when you come:

1) Expect some crowds. It is Labor Day weekend, after all, and we'll be hitting some prime tourist spots.

b) Expect some heat. It's been in the 85-90 degree range lately, but with some unusually high humidity (in 60%-75% range). Dress cool and drink some water.

We'll see you Saturday morning!

Less Than Two Weeks to Go...

Well, golly gee and boy howdy. The days are just flying by, aren't they? Hope you're all excited -- I know we are. Here's a more detailed itinerary for what we have planned:

Saturday
Bring your walking shoes, because we're going to explore a bit on foot. We'll meet at Union Station a little after 10:15 a.m. (Some of us will be taking the train into the city, and that's when it arrives. But the time is negotiable -- if some of you would like a not-so-early start, we can take the next train, which arrives at 11:30 a.m. Let us know your thoughts.)

From there, we will head across the street to Olvera Street, the birthplace of L.A. (site of the first Spanish settlement in the area) and still a great Mexican marketplace. We'll have lunch at nearby Phillipe's, birthplace of the french dip sandwich (although they have lots of other good food, too). After lunch, we head a few blocks north to L.A.'s Chinatown for some more local history. (I'm sure it must be the birthplace of something....)

With any luck, we'll be able to make it back to the station in time for one of the late afternoon trains (we have our eyes on the 4:45 train, but again, that's negotiable depending on what others want to do) to head back for the evening's activities. (For those of you who plan to meet us at Union Station, directions to the Disco/Nyssa homestead will be provided.)

And those activities? They include dinner, followed by riffing bad movies with a room full of witty cappers. The one consensus choice for a movie we have so far is "Volcano." Other suggestions are welcome, since it'll be fun to have more than one.

Sunday
Today we'll be exploring a bit by car. We'll start out in Hollywood, where we'll see the Walk of Fame, the Chinese/Egyptian/Kodak theaters, and all the tacky souvenir shops your heart desires. Lunch will be at the old time Hollywood hangout the Pig'n Whistle where, thanks to some machinations by Nyssa, we have a generous gift certificate to help us pay for the meal.

After lunch, it's back in the car. We'll take the scenic route to Griffth Observatory. Besides the scientifical knowledge and great views of the city you'll find there, you'll also recognize it from such MST3K experiments as "Teenage Crimewave" and "The Amazing Colossal Man," as well as many of your other favorite movies and Paula Abdul videos.

This leaves dinner and Sunday evening open, if anybody has any suggestions. Or maybe you'll just want to recover. :-)

So anyway, that's the plan. But it's totally open to revision if enough folks want to do anything else. Speak up and we'll try to make it happen.

Until then... see you on August 30th!

We've Got Movie Sign.

One other thing we've got to do while we're all together is have big ol' riff-fest. So far, both Saturday and Sunday evenings have been left open for that purpose, so as a group we decide when we want to do it.

But we also need to decide what to watch. One movie I'd like to throw into the ring is "Volcano," the turdfest that stars Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, a lot of familiar L.A. sights, and tons of man-eating magma. It just seems right after we'll be spending our days touring the city. Does anybody else have any other suggestions? Let's hear 'em!

A Tentative Itinerary.

So, while you all are working on your traveling plans (you are doing that, right?), here is a tentative itinerary for two days of activities. I'm working under the assumption that folks will be using Friday, August 29, and Monday, Sept. 1, as travel days. If that's not the case, that's fine and we can adjust accordingly.

Saturday, August 30
Walking tour day! We'll be checking out downtown L.A. on foot. We'll start at Union Station (for those of you going for the suburb option for your accomodations, we can ride the Metrolink train into the city), visit Olvera Street, the old church, Chinatown, have lunch at Phillipe's, and maybe see a few other things, too.

Sunday, August 31
Driving tour day! We'll hit some other hot spots, including Hollywood (the Walk of Fame and the Chinese, Egyptian, El Kapitan and Kodak theaters) and Griffith Observatory, and maybe also the La Brea Tar Pits, the Sunset Strip, Melrose, Rodeo Drive or anything else in particular anyone is interested in seeing.

I've intentionally left the evenings free on both days so that we can use at least one of them for a big movie riffing session. If there's anything else you guys would like to do or see, let me know and I'll try to work it in.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Cashews?