Ba-Con

[filkertom]

Leslie and I are at the Ramada just off the I-71 in Columbus, for a first-year con called Ba-Con. I think it'll be a lot of fun -- it's kinda like PenguiCon, i.e., both open source and sf/f (with a preponderance of steampunk), but with more smoked meat. And, my liaison B.J. brought me my guest bag... which included an official ThinkGeek My First Bacon. I has a delight.

Who's gonna be here? Or, if not, what's your plan for the weekend?

Comments

[lizziecrowe.livejournal.com]

We sadly won't be there. We're packing up for the big move next weekend! We have everything set up to change over, now we just have to go through the loveliness of combining two households, including kids and cats. WHEEEEE!!!

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

just off the I-71 in Columbus

..."the I-71"? Interesting terminology. I know Michiganders who have used "the M-4" (or whatever number) for *state* highways in Michigan but didn't know the usage extended to Interstates. Is the usage primarily a Michigan thing? What about US highways (such as US-12)?

("The [number]" with no prefix appears to be a Californianism. Which makes it a repeating LOLworthy Moment when NCIS talks about "the 95" when referring to the Very Long East Coast Interstate.)

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Busy busy busy. Post-con DucKon party tomorrow afternoon (still have to make my potato salad for that), RPG game over Skype tomorrow evening, and I'm hosting a different game on Sunday.

I also had an interview today with an interesting company. The guy used the word "intense" like a dozen times while talking. Sort of scared me a little. But they want to move fast and seemed impressed with things. So who knows.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I-71, US-12 (or, as it's known locally, Michigan Avenue), US-23, M-39 (the Southfield Freeway), and they have names for the I-75, I-94, and I-696 but I keep mixing them up. On the other hand, I have noticed that sometimes you just say the number of the interstate or whatever. It's a huge annoyance to me that, in Chicago, WBBM insists in their traffic reports on referring to the local freeways by their names, rather than their numbers, which are what's on all the road signs.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love that My First Bacon toy. I've seen it on ThinkGeek--totally cracks me up.

[shadowcat48li.livejournal.com]

so for a convention called Ba-Con do you open your show with Sheep Marketing Ploy?

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Is it always "*the* US-12" (the M-52, the I-69) in your local parlance?

In the Mid-Atlantic, highway numbers don't take the definite article: I-80, US-15, Route 10. "Route" might also mean a US or interstate: e.g. "route 66" around here is I-66, and "Route One" is US-1 unless you're in Delaware. ("Highway" is more common than "Route" down in the Carolinas and up in Ontario.) And any prefix/title might be omitted entirely, though less often for interstates: the Baltimore Beltway is often called just "695", f'r'ex.

Bob Marbourg (http://www.wtop.com/?nid=635&sid=2247966), dean of DC traffic reporters, often uses both number AND name for highways if both are well known to the locals. (Of course, around here the best course of action is not to drive anywhere within 50 miles of DC if you can avoid it.)

[jeffr23.livejournal.com]

It's a Southern Californianism, to be more precise. There's a precise point somewhere around Fresno where 101 becomes "the 101", or vice versa, depending on which way you're going.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

We say "I-70", "I-55" here in St. Louis, Mo area, and no one ever refers to any highway by it's name (even though they all have them). You'd be hard-pressed to find a St. Louisan who knows the highway names. But we also say just the number here("70", "270"). I think it's very interesting and a great sort of "Chicago thing," that they use the highway names.

[virtualvirtue.livejournal.com]

Dresden Files game starting in about an hour or so. Rest of the weekend will be cleaning and filing and sorting and more cleaning. Then church and gaming on Sunday.

Question for you: Do you know of anyone in Chicago looking for a tech writing contract? Got a call today and asked for the recruiter to send me the info and I'd noise it about...I don't live anywhere near the Chicago Loop where this would be but I don't mind boosting the signal.

[capt-video.livejournal.com]

My husband always refers to that as the "football school of highway names"

40-45-55-70-HIKE!

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

Cute! :-)

It just seems normal to me, since I've lived here my entire life.

[capt-video.livejournal.com]

I sympathize. I had an interview this week where the manager took great pains to assure me that the new management company was very hands off.

O.K. Your small, independently-owned jewelry store was recently purchased by a conglomerate with a completely different focus (fast food), when the new companies rep is in town, she doesn't bother to come into your store, and your company benefits are handled by a rep in a different state (even though there's an HR office for the new owners IN THE BUILDING!) And you don't think this MIGHT be an issue?!

I told her I didn't think this was a "good fit" for me.

[hms42]

Not doing that convention. (I have one next week instead. And that one I don't have to do as much. Just swapping Zoom recorders.)

Laundry and listening to some of the recordings from Contata and getting copies to some of the performers is on the higher planned list for this weekend. There are a few songs I really need to check how the sounded just because the room sounded great.

[jss]

I grew up in suburban Detroit and remember hearing traffic reports that used the definite article (as in, "Traffic is backed up on the I-75"), though I always refer to the numbers without it (for example, "Take US 23 to M-14 to I-275 to I-696" not "Take the US 23 to the M-14 to the I-275 to the I-696"). SImilarly in Bostonia it was always just the numbers (I-93, US 3, MA 2A). As for Chicago, when I lived there I used to remember which was the Kennedy, Ryan, and Stevenson, but I've let that data escape my brain in the past not-quite-decade.

I was getting set to say I didn't have any number-to-name mappings for the Detroit area, when I realized I actually still do (the ones I can remember right off are Woodward/M-1, John C. Lodge/M-10, Southfield Freeway/M-39, Telegraph Rd/US 24, and Walter P. Reuther Expressway/I-696). But then I did use those a lot.

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

what's your plan for the weekend?

Getting my [expletive]ing internet fixed.

And I'm getting set loose with a weed-whacker again on Sunday (weather permitting)

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

In Portland, I-5 is always referred to as I-5, I-205 and I-405 are generally referred to by numbers only, I-84 is always the Banfield, US-26 west of Portland is the Sunset and east of Portland is Highway 26, and SR-217 is either 217 or Highway 217. SR-99E and SR-99W are always referred to without expanding the letter.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

See you at your concerts! You get to break me two weekends in a row.

[juglore.livejournal.com]

About the only thing I envy you citified easterners about is your many conventions.

[poltr1]

For what it's worth, folks from Buffalo NY also prefix their highway numbers with "the": The 190 (interstate), the 290 (interstate), the 198 (state), the 33 (state), the 400 (state), the 219 (US route). Makes more sense if the highway names are used.

[poltr1]

Would have liked to have gone, but (1) I didn't have much advance notice, (2) the money for cons isn't there yet, (3) I'm helping friends move, and (4) I have my daughter on Sundays.

[ztrooper.livejournal.com]

I'd heard Tom mention at Penguicon that he'd like to own one, so, considering my convention has a bacon theme to it, I would make it happen, especially since ThinkGeek provided a lot of our swag and prizes!

He was a delight to have in attendance, and We hope to have a long lasting relationship with him and us.

No, no, not THAT kind of relationship!! 8)

Thank you Tom, for songs, good times, merriment, and life long memories!

[ztrooper.livejournal.com]

It was a real treat to meet you in person, and thank you again for attending Ba-Con! It was a definite treat. :)