THERE AND BACK AGAIN
Side Episode: Another Torontonian Excursion
by Adam Bojak
PROLOGUE:
Yeah, this is super long overdue. Sorry about that! But it’s all good, because I’ll just blast through this story so I can get to the Europe story and, by glorious extension, the story to end all stories: Episode VI, wherein I go to Worlds in Hawaii and then Japan to hang with Glen. In the meantime though, enjoy this little ditty!
It’s been over a year, so I don’t remember much. (So don’t expect a lot of details. Sorry.) All I remember is that Firestorm was traveling around Canada, so he rounded up a bunch of Toronto noobs to hang out, and I agreed to drive up from Buffalo. Most everyone else got there the day before me and hung out with Rodan until he almost died, but I was probably working or something and couldn’t get away that early and missed out on Rodan’s company. Oh well, I’m sure it won’t be the only chance I get.
One last thing: I barely remember people’s real names, if I even knew them at all. So if you can help me fill this out at all, please do.
Once again, the Hero of our story!
Adam "DoomMullet" Bojak
Occupation: Protagonist
Description: nobody will ever get that joke :(
More reappearing characters!
Oliver “Brain” Broolucks
Description: My Brain. ^_^ I hadn’t hung out with him since Smocon07, it was awesome to see my old buddy again! Still the wittiest dude alive.
Geoff “Phiddlesticks” Hamilton
Description: Hey, didn’t I just hang out with this guy? It was funny to spend the weekend with Phids in Indy, and then turn around and hang out again in Toronto.
Rushan “Firestorm” Shekar
Description: Same thing here. Meeting up for the second time, for the first time.
Trevor “MEGATRON” Subryan
Description: I honestly don’t even know what name he goes by anymore, or if he’s a presence in #smogon. Still an awesome dude though, one of my favorite oldies but goodies.
Others that our Hero met on this journey:
Zhenya “gene”
Description: Freaking Groudon80. I didn’t know he was from Buffalo until shortly before this trip, it was awesome to meet him. It was even better when he got drunk and his heavy Russian accent showed up.
Brad “CaptainKishimoto”
Description: Started on the quiet side, but opened up as the day went on. Definitely got into it with him about the NHL, it just couldn’t be helped.
Michael “Jackal” Corridore
Description: Damn, what a name. I like to think of myself as Italian, but he beats me handily in that department. He’s like a younger, Canadian version of me.
Leanne “Ivysaur” Pond
Description: Didn’t talk to her much then, she was and still is much younger than me. What I gathered then that I have since confirmed is that she’s a good kid with a heart of gold. (And the braces are off! No more tinselteeth.)
Dan “Umbreon Dan”
Description: Much taller than he appears, it’s like an optical illusion. Funny kid, I always like him as a poster too and this solidified that.
Ian “Layell” Clail
Description: His flair and passion for all things theatric are immediately noticeable. I enjoyed getting to know him a bit.
“ivar”
Description: Not much is known about him, only that he is a boy. Refused to appear in pictures because he is so disfigured and hideous. And he can’t prove me wrong until he allows a picture of himself to be posted, so there.
Abdi “Snkz”
Description: Another of the younger crowd that I didn’t talk to much. From what I remembered he was a cool dude though, and we’ve talked a bit more on irc since then.
Mike “Ripchord”
Description: Jackal’s buddy. He was just as cool, AND he walked with a cane. As someone who has since done that, I can vouch for its awesomeness.
Aaron “kakky”
Description: FUCKING KAKKERAUT. Yet another person I used to have a huge feud with that has since dissipated, especially upon meeting them in person. Actually a pretty funny guy.
CHAPTER ONE AND ONLY
This trip was a “drive up for one night only” thing, so the story doesn’t really need multiple chapters. Like I mentioned before, everyone had been hanging out the day before and seen some parade or something. Rodan had shown up for about an hour before getting deathly sick and going home, so I wasn’t able to meet him. But everyone else either was still there or came back again on Saturday, so many fun times were had. (Except cloud: he was going to come, but his car got broken into so he couldn’t make it. :( )
I drove up and met up with Phids and Firestorm (if I remember correctly) and was so balling that I ended up getting a free parking spot one minute’s walk away from the hotel where everyone was staying. After taking care of that, I went upstairs and walked into the room to meet everyone. Layell had his camera rolling and took a video of my entrance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQDmA92EVoI (sorry, the YouTube embedding was causing the rest of the pics not to load)
Naturally, the gaming systems were out in full force and people were playing Smash (Firestorm had gotten a really nice room with a great TV setup, and I’ve never seen a hotel room with such high ceilings. Classy.) I went around and did some quick introductions to those I didn’t know already; I also got a big hug from Brain, which warmed the cockles of my little heart (Layell just missed it).
Everyone had been waiting for me to arrive before getting the day going. Some of us wanted to go visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, but the rest were more interested in… other endeavors. *cough*thingsthatmakeyoucough*cough* (It’s okay, it’s legal there.) So the group split up and us hockeyphiles went on our way to the HHOF. I don’t remember the name of the place, but the HHOF is inside some shopping center with a really cool ceiling, so I snapped a picture of it.
After a little more walking, we were on our way in.
We spent hours just wandering around and checking out all the cool things they had in the cases: memorabilia from famous games, super old sweaters, etc. This was a cool fake Canadiens locker room.
We went to the Player Zone to do some cool interactive games. We were greeted by Cindy himself.
CaptainKishimoto took on the accuracy challenge. I believe he got 3 or 4 goals out of 5 shots, which is the best out of all of us. I focused too much on power and sacrificed accuracy, I think I ended with 2.
Phiddlesticks waited in line for the goalie game. Here, he stares down his nemeses: none other than Mister Hockey and the Great One.
Above that area was a little cove where you could watch a famous NHL goal and record your own call for it. Naturally, I chose an old LaFontaine goal and attempted to do better than Rick Jeanneret. (Hint: I failed miserably.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNcF-doV-xM
A super old hat for a Buffalo Sabres carnival. I remember going to those when I was a kid, it brought back great memories. (I WANT THAT FUCKING HAT)
The Sabres display case (they had one for each team). Screw them for having the Slug jersey, we had just changed back to the classic style a couple months before. Also, I love that it’s a Teppo jersey, I love that guy. Also also, fuck the Portland Pirates, we had just gone back to the Rochester Americans also.
A picture of all of us around the chalice itself (not the real one, it was out on tour at the time). From L-R: gene, Firestorm, CaptainKishimoto, Phiddlesticks, Brain, DM
The hall of trophies. Gimme dat Conn Smythe.
Poor Firestorm. Your Canucks will win… someday.
The HHOF was closing, so we headed out. I can’t remember where this bathroom was, it might’ve actually been the hotel room, but there was a poster for the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. I was proud.
Once we got back to the room, I busted out the Red Corvette to continue collecting pictures. It was a room mostly full of people I hadn’t met before, so I had some work to do. First was my man Jackai, who had come out and met up with the others while we were at the HHOF.
Then was Mean Gene.
After that was Ivysaur. I noticed that I got ivar in the back of the picture, so because I’m a nice guy I edited his ugliness out.
Then came Umbreon Dan.
Next, CaptainKishimoto.
Next up was Layell. It’s hard to come up with an original RC photo, but I think he pulled it off pretty well.
Then was ivar. Phids had just bought a 3DS, so ivar was a good sport and took the picture, albeit with some obstruction.
Last was Snkz.
We decided then would be a good time to take a group photo, so I took a couple. Back: DM, Ivysaur, Phids, Layell. Middle: Ripchord, Umbreon Dan, gene, Snkz, Firestorm, MEGATRON, CaptainKishimoto. Front: Jackal, Brain, and ivar… kinda.
Then someone had the idea of doing a group Happy Brain shot, so we did so BUT WHY THE FUCK DID MY CAMERA HAVE TO CHOOSE THAT MOMENT TO BE BLURRY GODDAMMIT
I think kakky met up with us around this point, because Snkz and Ivysaur left before dinner but
<snkz> also make sure to mention how Kakky lead us outside to smoke claiming to have the perfect spot
<snkz> and the perfect spot was the sidewalk across the street
<snkz> thought that was good
We were all pretty hungry at that point, so we started walking to an Irish pub-style place we had passed earlier. On the way, we saw the people filming for the new Total Recall bullshit remake that just came out.
Once there, I saw an amazing drink on the menu that was a mixture of Guinness and Kahlua, so I ordered it. Then gene saw it and ordered one, then one after another we were all drinking it. Scrumptious. I took pictures looking left and right. This was gene, Jackal, Umbreon Dan, Brain, and Ripchord.
The other side is CaptainKishimoto, Phids, MEGATRON, kakky, Firestorm, and Layell. (ivar was conveniently sitting directly across from me.)
After dinner, some of us wanted to get booze to bring back to the hotel. A group of us (me, gene, MEGATRON, kakky, Jackal, and Ripchord I think) went on a hunt for booze. They were using their Canadian smartphones to find an LCBO, because Ontario is stupid and makes you buy booze from the government. And, naturally, anything to do with the government closes very early, so we had about 15 minutes to find an LCBO. We located one and walked there, but when we got to the location it was a deserted building. With minutes to spare, we found another one nearby on the map, and Jackal and I sprinted there to make sure it wouldn’t lock us out. The rest followed, and we successfully purchased da booze. While there, I got RC pics with kakky…
…and Ripchord. Definitely an original one here.
Once back at the room, we started mixing drinks and getting loose when Brain busted out a card game he brought that would be the downfall of many men: SABOTEUR.
It was basically a mafia game, but in the form of cards. It was SUPER fun, hopefully I can play it again someday. The best part about it was Jackal and I were the saboteurs, and we won handily because nobody ever suspected us. Well, we can’t take all the credit, most of it goes to gene for being HAMMERED BEYOND BELIEF. He was too drunk to understand what to do, so even though he was a good guy, he pretty much singlehandedly brought us victory by screwing over his team. It was awesome.
Just drinking with Jackal.
gene and Jackal, two super old skoolers.
Little known fact about gene that came out that night: he’s actually super Russian, and gene is just an Americanized form of his real first name, Zhenya. I mean, that’s a TOUGH name, right? Super badass. Also, like I mentioned before, after getting a few drinks in him, he drops his guard a bit and the Russian accent starts to come out. It was really cool to hear it, you don’t get that over here very often.
After a long night of frivolity, we all hit the sack or headed home. The next morning was Sunday, so everyone began to go their separate ways as Firestorm was checking out of the room. On the way out, we threw together the remaining Canadian money we could find and left one of Firestorm’s cards so that the cleaning staff would know whose generosity paid their bills. (He didn’t know about this until right now.)
At that point, I said my goodbyes and drove back to Buffalo, and another Smocon was in the books.
EPILOGUE:
This Smocon was a bit different, because for the first time I went into it with the knowledge that I knew very little about half the people there. But I met some great people and made some new friends, and I think this was the first time in all my travels that I realized the next generation of Smogon will keep this place in good shape long after I disappear.
Also, like I said before, I’m sorry this is so short and shabbily tossed together. I just prefer to write my stories in chronological order so that nothing gets forgotten/is left unfinished. If I am missing any important details/names that should be included, please let me know and I’ll edit them in.
...And he lived happily ever after, for the rest of his days.
Side Episode: Another Torontonian Excursion
by Adam Bojak
PROLOGUE:
Yeah, this is super long overdue. Sorry about that! But it’s all good, because I’ll just blast through this story so I can get to the Europe story and, by glorious extension, the story to end all stories: Episode VI, wherein I go to Worlds in Hawaii and then Japan to hang with Glen. In the meantime though, enjoy this little ditty!
It’s been over a year, so I don’t remember much. (So don’t expect a lot of details. Sorry.) All I remember is that Firestorm was traveling around Canada, so he rounded up a bunch of Toronto noobs to hang out, and I agreed to drive up from Buffalo. Most everyone else got there the day before me and hung out with Rodan until he almost died, but I was probably working or something and couldn’t get away that early and missed out on Rodan’s company. Oh well, I’m sure it won’t be the only chance I get.
One last thing: I barely remember people’s real names, if I even knew them at all. So if you can help me fill this out at all, please do.
Once again, the Hero of our story!
Adam "DoomMullet" Bojak
Occupation: Protagonist
Description: nobody will ever get that joke :(
More reappearing characters!
Oliver “Brain” Broolucks
Description: My Brain. ^_^ I hadn’t hung out with him since Smocon07, it was awesome to see my old buddy again! Still the wittiest dude alive.
Geoff “Phiddlesticks” Hamilton
Description: Hey, didn’t I just hang out with this guy? It was funny to spend the weekend with Phids in Indy, and then turn around and hang out again in Toronto.
Rushan “Firestorm” Shekar
Description: Same thing here. Meeting up for the second time, for the first time.
Trevor “MEGATRON” Subryan
Description: I honestly don’t even know what name he goes by anymore, or if he’s a presence in #smogon. Still an awesome dude though, one of my favorite oldies but goodies.
Others that our Hero met on this journey:
Zhenya “gene”
Description: Freaking Groudon80. I didn’t know he was from Buffalo until shortly before this trip, it was awesome to meet him. It was even better when he got drunk and his heavy Russian accent showed up.
Brad “CaptainKishimoto”
Description: Started on the quiet side, but opened up as the day went on. Definitely got into it with him about the NHL, it just couldn’t be helped.
Michael “Jackal” Corridore
Description: Damn, what a name. I like to think of myself as Italian, but he beats me handily in that department. He’s like a younger, Canadian version of me.
Leanne “Ivysaur” Pond
Description: Didn’t talk to her much then, she was and still is much younger than me. What I gathered then that I have since confirmed is that she’s a good kid with a heart of gold. (And the braces are off! No more tinselteeth.)
Dan “Umbreon Dan”
Description: Much taller than he appears, it’s like an optical illusion. Funny kid, I always like him as a poster too and this solidified that.
Ian “Layell” Clail
Description: His flair and passion for all things theatric are immediately noticeable. I enjoyed getting to know him a bit.
“ivar”
Description: Not much is known about him, only that he is a boy. Refused to appear in pictures because he is so disfigured and hideous. And he can’t prove me wrong until he allows a picture of himself to be posted, so there.
Abdi “Snkz”
Description: Another of the younger crowd that I didn’t talk to much. From what I remembered he was a cool dude though, and we’ve talked a bit more on irc since then.
Mike “Ripchord”
Description: Jackal’s buddy. He was just as cool, AND he walked with a cane. As someone who has since done that, I can vouch for its awesomeness.
Aaron “kakky”
Description: FUCKING KAKKERAUT. Yet another person I used to have a huge feud with that has since dissipated, especially upon meeting them in person. Actually a pretty funny guy.
CHAPTER ONE AND ONLY
This trip was a “drive up for one night only” thing, so the story doesn’t really need multiple chapters. Like I mentioned before, everyone had been hanging out the day before and seen some parade or something. Rodan had shown up for about an hour before getting deathly sick and going home, so I wasn’t able to meet him. But everyone else either was still there or came back again on Saturday, so many fun times were had. (Except cloud: he was going to come, but his car got broken into so he couldn’t make it. :( )
I drove up and met up with Phids and Firestorm (if I remember correctly) and was so balling that I ended up getting a free parking spot one minute’s walk away from the hotel where everyone was staying. After taking care of that, I went upstairs and walked into the room to meet everyone. Layell had his camera rolling and took a video of my entrance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQDmA92EVoI (sorry, the YouTube embedding was causing the rest of the pics not to load)
Naturally, the gaming systems were out in full force and people were playing Smash (Firestorm had gotten a really nice room with a great TV setup, and I’ve never seen a hotel room with such high ceilings. Classy.) I went around and did some quick introductions to those I didn’t know already; I also got a big hug from Brain, which warmed the cockles of my little heart (Layell just missed it).
Everyone had been waiting for me to arrive before getting the day going. Some of us wanted to go visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, but the rest were more interested in… other endeavors. *cough*thingsthatmakeyoucough*cough* (It’s okay, it’s legal there.) So the group split up and us hockeyphiles went on our way to the HHOF. I don’t remember the name of the place, but the HHOF is inside some shopping center with a really cool ceiling, so I snapped a picture of it.
After a little more walking, we were on our way in.
We spent hours just wandering around and checking out all the cool things they had in the cases: memorabilia from famous games, super old sweaters, etc. This was a cool fake Canadiens locker room.
We went to the Player Zone to do some cool interactive games. We were greeted by Cindy himself.
CaptainKishimoto took on the accuracy challenge. I believe he got 3 or 4 goals out of 5 shots, which is the best out of all of us. I focused too much on power and sacrificed accuracy, I think I ended with 2.
Phiddlesticks waited in line for the goalie game. Here, he stares down his nemeses: none other than Mister Hockey and the Great One.
Above that area was a little cove where you could watch a famous NHL goal and record your own call for it. Naturally, I chose an old LaFontaine goal and attempted to do better than Rick Jeanneret. (Hint: I failed miserably.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNcF-doV-xM
A super old hat for a Buffalo Sabres carnival. I remember going to those when I was a kid, it brought back great memories. (I WANT THAT FUCKING HAT)
The Sabres display case (they had one for each team). Screw them for having the Slug jersey, we had just changed back to the classic style a couple months before. Also, I love that it’s a Teppo jersey, I love that guy. Also also, fuck the Portland Pirates, we had just gone back to the Rochester Americans also.
A picture of all of us around the chalice itself (not the real one, it was out on tour at the time). From L-R: gene, Firestorm, CaptainKishimoto, Phiddlesticks, Brain, DM
The hall of trophies. Gimme dat Conn Smythe.
Poor Firestorm. Your Canucks will win… someday.
The HHOF was closing, so we headed out. I can’t remember where this bathroom was, it might’ve actually been the hotel room, but there was a poster for the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. I was proud.
Once we got back to the room, I busted out the Red Corvette to continue collecting pictures. It was a room mostly full of people I hadn’t met before, so I had some work to do. First was my man Jackai, who had come out and met up with the others while we were at the HHOF.
Then was Mean Gene.
After that was Ivysaur. I noticed that I got ivar in the back of the picture, so because I’m a nice guy I edited his ugliness out.
Then came Umbreon Dan.
Next, CaptainKishimoto.
Next up was Layell. It’s hard to come up with an original RC photo, but I think he pulled it off pretty well.
Then was ivar. Phids had just bought a 3DS, so ivar was a good sport and took the picture, albeit with some obstruction.
Last was Snkz.
We decided then would be a good time to take a group photo, so I took a couple. Back: DM, Ivysaur, Phids, Layell. Middle: Ripchord, Umbreon Dan, gene, Snkz, Firestorm, MEGATRON, CaptainKishimoto. Front: Jackal, Brain, and ivar… kinda.
Then someone had the idea of doing a group Happy Brain shot, so we did so BUT WHY THE FUCK DID MY CAMERA HAVE TO CHOOSE THAT MOMENT TO BE BLURRY GODDAMMIT
I think kakky met up with us around this point, because Snkz and Ivysaur left before dinner but
<snkz> also make sure to mention how Kakky lead us outside to smoke claiming to have the perfect spot
<snkz> and the perfect spot was the sidewalk across the street
<snkz> thought that was good
We were all pretty hungry at that point, so we started walking to an Irish pub-style place we had passed earlier. On the way, we saw the people filming for the new Total Recall bullshit remake that just came out.
Once there, I saw an amazing drink on the menu that was a mixture of Guinness and Kahlua, so I ordered it. Then gene saw it and ordered one, then one after another we were all drinking it. Scrumptious. I took pictures looking left and right. This was gene, Jackal, Umbreon Dan, Brain, and Ripchord.
The other side is CaptainKishimoto, Phids, MEGATRON, kakky, Firestorm, and Layell. (ivar was conveniently sitting directly across from me.)
After dinner, some of us wanted to get booze to bring back to the hotel. A group of us (me, gene, MEGATRON, kakky, Jackal, and Ripchord I think) went on a hunt for booze. They were using their Canadian smartphones to find an LCBO, because Ontario is stupid and makes you buy booze from the government. And, naturally, anything to do with the government closes very early, so we had about 15 minutes to find an LCBO. We located one and walked there, but when we got to the location it was a deserted building. With minutes to spare, we found another one nearby on the map, and Jackal and I sprinted there to make sure it wouldn’t lock us out. The rest followed, and we successfully purchased da booze. While there, I got RC pics with kakky…
…and Ripchord. Definitely an original one here.
Once back at the room, we started mixing drinks and getting loose when Brain busted out a card game he brought that would be the downfall of many men: SABOTEUR.
It was basically a mafia game, but in the form of cards. It was SUPER fun, hopefully I can play it again someday. The best part about it was Jackal and I were the saboteurs, and we won handily because nobody ever suspected us. Well, we can’t take all the credit, most of it goes to gene for being HAMMERED BEYOND BELIEF. He was too drunk to understand what to do, so even though he was a good guy, he pretty much singlehandedly brought us victory by screwing over his team. It was awesome.
Just drinking with Jackal.
gene and Jackal, two super old skoolers.
Little known fact about gene that came out that night: he’s actually super Russian, and gene is just an Americanized form of his real first name, Zhenya. I mean, that’s a TOUGH name, right? Super badass. Also, like I mentioned before, after getting a few drinks in him, he drops his guard a bit and the Russian accent starts to come out. It was really cool to hear it, you don’t get that over here very often.
After a long night of frivolity, we all hit the sack or headed home. The next morning was Sunday, so everyone began to go their separate ways as Firestorm was checking out of the room. On the way out, we threw together the remaining Canadian money we could find and left one of Firestorm’s cards so that the cleaning staff would know whose generosity paid their bills. (He didn’t know about this until right now.)
At that point, I said my goodbyes and drove back to Buffalo, and another Smocon was in the books.
EPILOGUE:
This Smocon was a bit different, because for the first time I went into it with the knowledge that I knew very little about half the people there. But I met some great people and made some new friends, and I think this was the first time in all my travels that I realized the next generation of Smogon will keep this place in good shape long after I disappear.
Also, like I said before, I’m sorry this is so short and shabbily tossed together. I just prefer to write my stories in chronological order so that nothing gets forgotten/is left unfinished. If I am missing any important details/names that should be included, please let me know and I’ll edit them in.
...And he lived happily ever after, for the rest of his days.
