In a word: Thanks. To those who bought me drinks (bless you!) and lent me smokes (ditto), to the rad organizers (ditto ditto), to everyone who took a minute to say hi (aw), and to everyone who came out and made it so fun. A wonderful party, as usual, and a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Well done, everyone.

My cat is licking my Philimination magnet right now. Sadly, this is not a joke.

Could you lucky TARConners let us know what was in this year's Amazing Goodie bag ? I'm curious (and envious!)

So, who was there? How was the response to the outcome? Someone please, dish the dirt!

Just got home to find that, while I did program my VCR, I forgot to turn the stupid thing off, so I guess I'll never know what the actual dialogue was. I'll have to be content with what I heard at TARCon, which was basically:
WOoOO
YayyyAYYY
(Colin and Christie are shown) Boos with smattering of yays
(Phil speaks) Reverent silence
And lots of "Go, [Karen/Linda/Chip/Kim/Brandon/Nicole]"
Things got tense at the end, but the crowd was very pleased with the outcome. Very.

Teddy44 mentioned the current racers who came by in the TARCon thread; it was the whole top 4, plus Phil, plus Mirna. Oh, and, for no earthly reason, Wanda Sykes. Kevin and Drew recorded a lot of stuff for Cold Pizza. There were also lots of past season racers, including one who got partially naked. We didn't even have to tip him.

I think that between the reaction to the Chip/Kim win, and the arrival of this season's Racers, I'm a few years closer to deafness.

I love Chip and Kim...and Kim recognized me from the C/K thread. Lovable, lovable people.

Colin/Christie: Didn't say hi to them. Admire their guts for coming...especially with all the "My Ox Is Broken!" t-shirts.

Brandon/Nicole: Said a brief hi to Nikki on the way out. Brandon's hair? Still poofy.

Linda/Karen: Awesome. Got pics with them.

Dennis/Erika: Missed them.

Shii Ann: Oh. My. God. What the hell? I really wish I could have cornered her. I hugged her as she came up the stairs. My fave All-Star in the house...awesome. Oh, and Mitchell was there, as well as Tijuana. If Cesternino was in the house, I'm gonna smack myself.

John Vito/Jill: I think I was the first person they met on the way up. Love them. Had to tell them about having to bail at 1:20 am in order to make the final express bus to Staten Island. Like I'm gonna wait forever for the ferry?

Andrew: Highlight of the night was him dong a cheer routine as various Racers (models Twins and Tian & Jaree, Millie & Chuck, among others). There I am, following Chip and Kim for a pic, and he's going full throttle. Incredible...this year's Clown Holding the Chair on the Chin.

It's mostly a blur...apologizes for not remembering the awesome people whom I sat with and for the nice girl whom I chatted up on line. And thanks for the kind words in regards to my posts and Pixel Challenge entries. I'm such a sucker for praise.

"The Amazing Race": If you do it and you don't suck, we will love you forever. For
we are the best fans around. Excelesor, habibi!

ETA: Okay, I did miss Mirna completely. And Wanda Sykes? Aw, man. I like her! She talked shit about Donell from "Road Rules"! Damn! Oh, and I'm happy to add that Steve (aka Debra's Love) is eagerly awaiting "Team America." It's all about the marionettes.

ETA2: And I forgot: not only did Team Guido show up, but lil Guido arrive in a bag. Cutest little thing.

Lantern, Mirna was easy to miss because she straightened her hair. And also because she is much more petite than you'd expect. I didn't see Charla at all, but it's possible that with Mirna being so much smaller than I thought, Charla is actually microscopic in real life. (Okay, no, Charla wasn't there, I looked because my cousin wanted a picture.)

Thanks to everyone who bought me food and liquor. I don't know why you did that, but thanks anyway.

Scandal-laden TARcon, ladies and gents. Former racer got half-nekkid and did a cheer (and later rubbed glitter gel on my arms and on the parts of my body I had dutifully set on stun), former racer got on knees for fan of the not-correct gender, yes, scandal all around. I think I got a hug from Chip, but the memory's a bit fuzzy (the beer was free, the food came late, whatever). I know I talked with Kim about how her husband is always too nice. She was in orange, and Christie was in a pareao, and Nicole's boobs looked normal (damned those Emmy pictures). I took a lot of pictures of people with racers. I told Nicole's video camera that Brandon was "adorkable." Colin & Christie were there, and every one (thank God) was nice to them. I took their picture. I took B&N's picture. I took Kim's picture, Chip's picture, Chip & Kim's picture. Someone took my picture with Karen & Linda, who I gushed to, each seperately so that it took twice as long (sorry about that, Moms). I ran away whenever Mirna appeared so that I wouldn't have to take her picture. I told Kevin and Drew that some "motherfucker" had taken their microphone so they couldn't interview Phil (did I mention the beer was free? and the food came after all the beer?). I met Guido, who is adorable and who is surprisingly not freaked out by flash cameras (but I felt he deserved petting every time he had to face one), and the Guidos, who were very nice to me. I never saw the season with the Clowns, and I saw a guy in a clown nose, and I said, "I think he's a Clown," and everyone said no, and I finallly asked, and he was a Clown. Hah!

I also met some guy named Mitch from Survivor. Very tall. I met a hot black bald guy (Hunter? something like that) from TAR season 1, who told me that you wound up thinking of the camera and sound guy as part of the team, so they were sort of intrusive but it didn't matter. And I met Miss Alli, which obviously was the biggest thrill of the night. Go Miss Alli!



Everyone went apeshit. I mean, totally apeshit. C&C were so dominant, that anyone who beat them was golden. And people love C&K, let's face it.



A lot of fantastic shit:
1. A crown (mine was pink)
2. A M&L "Ambassadors of Ill Will" pick-a-phrase wheel. You can pick a location, then reveal a phrase, like "Miserable People" or "Leaving This Hell Hole"
3. A collection of recipies (themed to the places they visited)
4. A dress-up Phil paper doll, complete with clothing
5. A C&C egg, to break in case of travel emergency (it includes a Swahili phrasebook--"I am an ignorant American" translates as "Hakuna Matata!")
6. A music CD
7. A "Central Red Army" trading card, featuring M&C
8. A yellow rubber band/bracelet that says "Live Strong"
9. A dog tag, in memory of Donny & Alison.
10. A sewing kit for your leg
11. A magnet that says "Philimination: You know you want it"
12. Heavenly Hair Conditioner ("You too can look like a Godel")
13. A business card for the No, After YOU Taxi Company (in memory of D&E)
14. C&M's race survival kit, complete with Smile perfume, a comb, and yes, a whistle.
15. Bad Seeds plant seeds (for the Twins)
16. A "Hakuna Matata, Colin" lolipop, featuring Baby Simba
17. A C&K disco ball
18. A fortune cookie (mine said "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1." And it was damned tasty.)
19. A racer prayer
20. A "From Russia with Love" magnet, featuring Bob & Joyce
21. A Mirna-American Dictionary (reviewed as "Intense!" by Colin)
22. The Psalm of Brandon & Nicole ("The Lord is my Schmoopie: I shall not want")
23. The "lousy postcard" C&K sent everyone who ever helped them
24. A "can you spare some change" magnet--oops, no, not a magnet, at least it won't stick to my frigo, I think it's Hanukah gelt--featuring the Bowling Moms (get it? spare? get it? well, the rest of the bag was awesome)

Dude! I saw him too, several times, and everyone I asked said "Nope. Not a clown." And I believed them! I ate a french fry off his plate!!

Guido the dog? Cutest thing ever. He looked a little overwhelmed though, poor thing.

I FORGOT A CAMERA. Son of a... But I said Hi to Chip & Kim, and lurked for bit near the moms, waiting patiently to speak with them until they... um... left. But they looked great. Didn't see Phil or Mirna or anyone else, as I was holding fort at the bar and as far as I know they didn't make it there. I saw Colin & Christie from afar, and yes, Christie is absolutley beeautiful. I only saw the back of Colin's head though, so I have nothing to add, sadly.

To the organizers? You ROCK ROCK ROCK! Tonight was the most fun I've had since... nah can't even remember when. Absolutely awesome!!

Miss Alli, I hovered behind you when everyone was being ushered out, but didn't want to interrupt your conversation. In lieu of doing it in person ('til the next TARCON perhaps?) "Hi!! Thank you!!"

G'night all. May you dream of racers (or Phil).

From the pre-Con thread:



Somebody had given out buttons along the lines of "I'd Shave My Head For a Fast Forward." Brandon got one on the escalator ride up, laughed, then showed it to Christie. I think she got a kick out of it as well.

I just got home. In random order.

Met Poptart and Tribefan and thanked them for the party. Breathed a sigh of relief that apparently my posting name was recognizable enough to snag me a goody bag. Really thought they’d say who the heck are you?

Met Mama tiger and not only did I meet White Rabbit who is Mamatiger’s daughter but she sat at my table and we talked a lot. Very sweet woman. I had a great time.


Showed Miss Alli some love. Told her how much I loved her recaps esp the broken ox one. She seemed grateful that Colin gave her great material.


Have not seen everything in the bag yet. If nobody else does it I’ll right specifics, but somebody will probably beat me to it bec I am very tired and won’t wake up till late tomorrow(actually today) . Off the top of my head there was a cd mix of songs that suggest racing or traveling like “where are we runnin”, “speeding” by the go gos On Night in Bangkok Walk like an Egyptian and a “surprise bonus track.
There was also a Mirnish/English dictionary.

Phil came but was only there briefly. Didn’t get to talk to him this time.

Jon Vito and Jill actually remembered me. I was flattered. I asked Jon Vito if there was a All Star version how he thinks JVJ would do against C&C and C&K. JV said good naturedly that they’d beat them. Then he added they’d be willing to shave their heads. Jill showed me a “will shave head for drinks button” and said she’d be willing but I joked back that I loved her hair too much to do that to her. In short still sweethearts. I coincidentally got my checked coat at the same time as them when I was going to leave and wished them safe journey home.

Moms were there told them how much the crowd was pulling for them. Asked Karen if they were going to open a Foam Club. She pointed to Linda and said she is and Linda overheard and laughed her butt off and said she’d love to. She asked us if we’d go to it and everybody around yelled Yeah! I think they were surprised and thrilled I remembered their dialogue from such an early ep.

Andrew of TAR 3? The male cheerleader treated us to a spectacular mix of acrobatics, dance and parody as he did a presentation in homage to racers past. He would have a t-shirt that named the racer to introduce a musical/dance tribute to that person then remove that t-shirt to show the one underneath etc. Hi lights included Macho Man in tribute to some of the gay racers, and “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to” dedicated to Flo. I did not recognize the song he dedicated to Charla but he danced that part on his knees. He eventually went shirtless and had “Phil” in big letters on his chest. BTW I could see part of a tattoo on his lower spine so after the dance I praised his dancind and asked what the tattoo was. He actually lowered the pants a little and showed it to me. It is a fish symbol EDITED to say that I keep getting an error message if I try to post this as one piece so I will post the rest in another post sorry

He never showed me his fish symbol--should I be jealous? Did you get glitter gel?

One other thing. When the "motherfucker" (which I guess is DrunkPollySpeak for "respected co-worker") "stole" (i.e. "used") Kevin & Drew's microphone, he was using it to interview Colin. And he got Colin to say, "I'm PACKING IT!!!!" for the camera, which was pretty damned funny.

I forgot to say this before.. but thank you screamapillar for getting my beer!! I'm so bad at the bar thing, and you rock! Also, and moreso, thanks wolfnj, 'cuz without you I wouldn't have been there at all!

Smooches!

Since I already posted in most of the racer's threads about which ones I met, I'll just drop a quick line to the organizers for such a great time:) Loved every second of it! Many thanks to missdona, PepeNY, Poptart, Tribefan and every other person who made this event a huge success. My first TARcon is over, but I am already think ahead to TARcon 6. Can't wait for the next one:) Love ya guys!

Yes Yes you SHOULD be jealous. Andrew and my love will burn with the intensity of a thousand nuns. Considering he's gay and I'm a woman I think your safe.

I'm guessing everybody is unconcious by now and it is time for me to join them, I've eaten, I've mingled , now it is time for me to sleep. Took Wed off work bec I'm not as dumb as the twinkies.

I'm a woman too--I'll scratch your eyes out! (Just kidding. No, if I hadn't figured out what team Andrew played on by his, you know, cheerleading routine, the way he rubbed glitter gel on my breasts with the exact same level of interest he had when he rubbed it on my arms would have clued me in.)

At least we can agree on Oswald--so dour, so repressed, so concerned about respectability. You can't live your your life a slave to Mrs. Grundy, Oswald!

Whose "handler" wouldn't let my boyfriend speak to her.

Whatever.

Yahoo!! More tales from TARcon, please!

(Okay, I'll at least wait until you're all awake and have had coffee...)

CranberrySuede, I'll get back to you tomorrow. Er, today. Later. Much, much later.

Whew. Have a great night, all! (Um... morning? Train ride? Whatever. Have fun regardless! Y'all deserve it!)

Here are my pictures.

And can I request a volunteer to catalog them in the bookmarks? Anyone.. Anyone..

I'll be offline for most of today, will respond later.

Kim? Is GORGEOUS. Hubba hubba!

(And The Chipper's pretty cute there himself!)

Omigod, omigod, omigod, that was incredible! It was my very first TARCON, but so totally not my last.

I kiss-kissed Sars (and showed her a printout of an e-mail from 2001 in which she accepted my marriage proposal), I kiss-kissed Miss Alli, and I performed a very different type of kiss on such luminaries as Danny, Oswald, Aaron, and a few forum posters, too. Okay, let me tell you about Danny. See, from watching the show, it seemed that Oswald was the very outgoing, sensual member of the duo, while Danny was more reserved. But, as it turns out, Danny is a sexual tiger, ready to pounce. Rawr! I seemed to be a general hit among the gay Racers and their friends, in accordance with my willingness to lift my shirt and be touched below the belt.

Chip and Kim are completely lovely in person, as are Brandon and Nicole and, yes, even Colin and Christie. In all cases, "You're so gorgeous!" works very well as an opening volley. Oh, and I discovered that I share with Colin the intensity to download the first four seasons of TAR. Mirna I always liked from the beginning, and still do. Phil, I missed seeing. <sniff>

MDKNIGHT:
While wearing a sash that read, "Flo," which he apparently gave to her, becasue she gave it to me later on! I suppose it followed in some way from me telling her that I had only seen the first three episodes of TAR 3, and that my only impressions so far were: 1) She is gorgeous, 2) Those other things people are telling me about her can't possibly be true, and 3) How could Zack just leave her standing on that boat like that?!

Oh, and Play by Play was lovely; the drinks were lovely, the food was lovely, the televisions were lovely, and the layout was lovely.

By the way, I no longer have the personal website where I used to post my pictures of stuff. Can anyone recommend a service for posting pictures from digital cameras?

I really enjoyed that cheer. There was stripping and flipping!

My real regret is that I chickened out of saying hello to Colin and telling him that his weekly breakdowns always made me giggle. And that "I'm PACKIN' it!" is now part of my daily conversation, much to the chagrin/confusion of those I know.

And that it's too bad it came out of his insanity and frustration, but I really looked forward to his weekly rants, culminating with the "broken ox."

And that he should look into meditation or something.

For those of you who didn't get there, Christie and Nicole are stunning. I was impressed with Flo's good nature about all the ribbing she gets--she was nice and quite chatty with people she'd never met.

I think the biggest laugh (around my area, anyhow) was Brandon's one-eyed binocular.

[Moved from TARCon thread to its rightful home]

First off, a HUGE thank you to: the organizers for an astoundingly professional evening; Empress et al. for adopting me for the evening; screamapillar for saying "hi" based solely on a description of my tie I posted, and Sars for being as cool in person as I'd hoped.

Chip is a BIG dude. Much bigger than I'd thought. In my exceedingly brief observation of him, he seemed pretty much like he did on the show--he greeted missdona with a hearty "Is you Miss Donna?" and a big hug.

Brandon is also taller than I'd thought, and the hair is in no way a TV-related misprint.

Nicole is freaking smokin'. Wowzers. She was also discussing her outfit with Christie; insert your own pageant joke here.

Colin is just not tall at all. I'm 5'11", and I had a solid 3" on him.

Mirna, to my chagrin, is also quite pretty, though I didn't hear her speak, which may have helped.

The Moms showed up with what looked like The Husbands and The Kids; all seemed pretty happy to be there.

Well, I just got home from the not-so-amazing return train (what inconsiderate ass has a cell phone conversation at 6:15 a.m.?), and I have to be at work in two hours. Ugh.

But it's totally worth it. I had a great time, got to see most of my favorite Racers, and (best of all) got to see many of my favorite TWoPpers.

(Also, among the former Racers who showed up were Ken and Gerard and both Clowns. Just FYI).

1. I had the same impression about Mirna's "petite-ness", until I thought about it for a minute. Of COURSE she looked bigger on TV, considering her partner.

2. I asked Mirna "if [she] brought her cousin." Her response: "If I brought her? You mean if she brought me!" Then she said that Charla had some sort of emergency, and was very bummed out that she was unable to attend.

Mirna was really nice. Almost made me feel bad about the "histrionic crapweasel" comment.

Almost.

ETA: punctuation and pronouns....both helpful.

Yeah, maybe if we let everything cool down, then maybe we can look at all this and laugh.

Hee. Hehehehehee.

Hi, I'm 8.

Thankfest from a mostly lurker, non TARcon attender here: Thanks to all who are sharing memories. Thanks to those posting pics. Thanks for those who stayed sober enough to do the above. Thanks to all at TWoP that make TARcon possible.

Thanks to the organizers for including LiveStrong bracelets in the bags. Not everyone may know the significance, but you supported a great cause.

Speaking of photos, I figured out how to put them online. Go, me. Captions will appear...some day.

Thanks again(!!) to all that organized, participated, made goody bags, spread the word, partied, etc. This has truly become an EVENT, and you all pulled it off with class. I wish I had stayed longer - I unfortunately missed the Andrew Show, but did get a picture with him.
My favorite part of the goody bag? The Mirnish-American dictionary.
Now, back to reality and off to work.

Thank you Amazing organizers!

Had a chance to speak to most of the racers - one underlying word - they are SO nice (every one of them).

Have pics and will post later...

Head...not so good this morning. 4:00 a.m. interesting time to wander home!

Thanks also to all our Amazing Table parterns - we had a blast and you're the reasons why!

I think I should have posed a mandatory 12-hour rest period on myself after last night. Simply put, TARCon was amazing, from start to finish.

The highlight of my night was meeting Phil. I went over to him and told him that my mom was a huge fan, but was too shy to come over to him in person. He laughed, asked me to point her out, and then called her over to him. He also made her this little card that said, "Dianne, where are you? Love, Phil, aka the Philiminator." It was great and it made her night.

Also, spoke to Colin and Christie. Surprisingly, they were very gracious and gave huge hugs to my sister, who told them that she admired their racing skills.

All in all, a great night. Still smiling from everything. Thanks again to the organizers for working so hard to make so many people happy. You all are the best.

The party was great and a big thanks to all the organizers....Miss D I can't believe I'm in the back of so many of your pictures...I tried so hard to stay out ;).

I loved meeting Chip and Kim...they were so great and Chip's mom is so adorable!

Nicole and Brandon were both very sweet and I asked Nicole about the mud pit and if Brandon actually found the clue so quickly after his prayer and she said that he did....she said she gets asked that a lot but he really did find it right after the prayer...go figure.

Mirna looked pretty but I didn't want to meet her...same goes for Colin and Christie...will someone please give Colin a better haircut?

The crowd was too crazy so I missed meeting Karen but Linda was very nice and had a little crowd around her as she talked about the race. She said after the caviar the next day her lips were cracked from all of the salt and that after the race she knows that she can sleep anywhere, she said Chip's snore was sooo loud! There were more stories but it was so loud in the bar.

Phil was surrounded so no hello's this time but I'm so glad that my friend finally got to meet him after all her years of loving him.

The only sad thing for me is that more racers didn't come...that's the thing I loved about last year, meeting everyone from the show...even Bertram :)

It was nice to see some of the old racers and to watch the show with people who love it as much or more than myself. Thanks again to everyone for making it a memorable evening. I can't wait to get my pictures back!

Great pics David, thank you!

Yeah, um, hi.

Greatest. night. ever.

Thanks to all the fun DC people. And to all the organizers, who rockify. And to all the racers, who made last night AMAZING.

Cool, looks like I'll beat BroMom to the posting in the aftermath thread all because -- yes, you've guessed it if you met me at TARCon -- despite getting back to the hotel at 2am, despite only sleeping maybe 20 minutes before leaving for the airport at 4:45 am, despite landing back in Toronto at 8:30 am, and despite still having my ears all wonky from the airplane, I'm here attending class. Yes, I am insane, but the fact nothing about BroMom and Broette's Amazing Trip to TARCon was sane. But anyway.

First thing, major thanks and props to the amazing organizers. Great job. It was my first ever TARCon but damn. So. Good. And the contributors to the goodie bag -- LOVE! El Guapo gets my special props for that hilarious Psalm of Brandon and Nicole.

Also thanks to all the great TWOPpers we met and chatted with: Beelzebubba, BoDiva & friend (whose username I missed), Hawkwild, screamapillar, Paris in Spring, the JeweleryCon'ners who BroMom and I hooked up with while searching for the right enterance to MSG and stood in line with, the other Amy (again, whose username I missed) who tried to find Phil for us, and the many, many others whose usernames I missed or have blurred together into a stew of TWoP-y goodness. Everybody was so nice and friendly, it made the experience. Oh and, Kyle the lurker who sat beside us for the whole show. We really enjoyed talking to you during the show; we tried to find you later to say bye but it seemed you had already left.

Much disappointment about not being able to track down the famous Miss Alli and Mama Tiger just to say hi. And also, extreme disappointment in missing Phil! BroMom and I wanted desperately to get Philiminated (see, we do want it!) and see the eyebrow pop in action. But c'est la vie.

I got pics with just about all the racers I cared to, except Karen and Oswald whom I couldn't corner. Missed some others (and the Survivors except for Shii Ann) but that's okay. Seems I missed a couple I didn't even recognize, too. I couldn't believe how many came! And could the racers be any nicer? Love, such love. Had some really nice chats with the Frats (my all-time faves), the Clowns, and Kim. For the record, she has no idea where the nickname Booby Cooper came from. Apparently Chip jsut makes up all kinds of weird nicknames and he settled on Booby Cooper for the race. What a guy :) Plus I got to be the filling in a Wonder Twins sandwich, hehehe.

I think my voice is still screwed up from screaming so loud. Sorry for causing anybody any deafness, trust me, the karma has hit!

Edited because it's generally good manners to spell other people's names right.

Broette,

"the other Amy (again, whose username I missed) who tried to find Phil for us" is me :)

Alas, we had to leave early because of some health issues, so we didn't get to e/s/m with the stars, but it was enough to watch the show with all of you cheering, booing, hooting fools! Met some great people and can't wait for TARCon6 (for which we are taking off 2 days and doing it right!).

Thanks again to the party organizers, the TWOP board keepers and all you obsessive TV junkies!

Since I am extremely tired and may or may not be slightly hung over, this may be incoherent, but I had a blast. Thank you everyone. I'm still in NY in the hotel actually and last night was...well, amazing.

I met/talked to Chip/Kim, Brandon/Nicole, Colin/Christie (who is stunning); the Moms, Mirna...in addition to many of the former racers. I ended up getting drinks/water for several of them and some of you awesome posters as well.

Thanks for whoever upthread clarified that that was Wanda Sykes. I kept thinking she looked familiar.

As the evening went on things got a little wilder near the bar. I think I even turned a little gay what with all the nipple tweaking, but I digress. I'm sure to have some more thoughts and pictures to post later. Thanks again and it was great meeting all of you!

As a non-TARconner, I'm curious, did Colin, Christie and Mirna treat Miss Alli with the respect she deserves? Were there hard feelings?

Oh, the reason there's only 3 pages in this thread is that people are 1) at DimSumCon, and 2) sleeping it off (I bet).

What fun! What fun!

MissDona, Poptart, PepeNY and Meggin & the Amazing TARCON Impresarios have more organizing skills in their little fingers than 10 seasons of Apprentice candidates ever could.

We sat with Lantern7 (who is MUCH better at celeb spotting than we are!) and Jer2002, who came all the way from Nashville! Great waitress at Play-by-Play, who helped us take excellent advantage of the open bar.

Miss Alli looked fabulous as usual, and we kisskissed. I was awed & thrilled to meet Couch Baron. And I NEVER see Sars at these things, even though we're both always there.

Nice exchanges with TAR1 Brenda (who referred to Fuck-all's Pendulum. I love her.) and Steve and Deborah from TAR 4, Guido (and his two daddies), Brennan (YEAH!) BaldSnark, Clowns, Derek & Drew, etc. Not much time to say hi to THIS year's crop (as to be expected...I'll catch up with 'em at TARCON 6). Andrew standing on a table, urging people back into Play by Play...Danny & Ozzie (swoooooooooon). And those lovable outer borough bon vivants the Frats.

PHILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! (I gave him "I'm in Phil's camp" button).

And frankly, Colin & Christie behaved themselves beautifully, and he even donned one of the "MY OX IS BROKEN" shirts; thus proving the observation that cleaned up and given enough rest, even the most intense/annoying competitors can usually behave themselves wonderfully, and even work toward redemption (Hi Flo! Hi Ian!)

Bowling Moms were gorgeous & statuesque.

Whew! Oh yeah...I have a job...and I want to keep it...so, you know. Enjoy yourselvs, all y'all on the town today. It's gorgeous out and I'm counting the hours til next time.

Edited to ask: WHO was the guy wearing the "TRAMEL TAR 3" badge? (Obviously, not Tramel...)

Wow! It's good to hear that once off of the race, all it's stresses, dehydrations, jet lags and broken oxes, that Colin and Christie were nice people. I'm still scratching my head that things like "it's okay, just run them over" came out of the mouth of someone who's basically an all right person according to those who were there. Then again, with the stress and the craziness of the race, who am I to talk? I wouldn't have made it past the Santa Monica Pier! Good to hear that they were nice folks!

missdona, thanks for the link to your photo album! Kim, Christie and Nicole really are gorgeous. And Linda is simply stunning! She looked fabulous!

I read in one of the other threads that someone (was it you, missdona?) took a picture of Linda and Brandon having a pretend fight over a taxi-cab outside MSG! If anyone has that, could you please post it? I'd love to see! :-)

Argh! Stupid shyness! It was a blast to watch the show with all of you -- wish I'd been more forthcoming and met more folks (though I did get to wait in line with Lantern7). What a good-looking bunch! Lots of cuties of both sexes. I vow to post lots of insightful, witty stuff next season so y'all will want to meet me.

Thanks, Amazing Organizers. It was a great, great night.

Hi MisterMcGee! It's true, you do spell it out.

:::Sneaking in to revel instead of working::: I’ll start with a hearty “Whoo!” Most. Awesome. TARCon. EVER!! Thank you, thank you, Amazing organizers. Thank you Meggin20 for recognizing the name and parting with one of the last 2 goodie bags, I’m so thrilled I finally scored one after 3 ‘Cons!!

I loved matching names with faces – shout out to Katesus, Lantern7 DutchessKitty and especially Skagirl and Paul, who I had the most fab time with. Also to the gang hanging out underneath the TV with me intently watching Big Brother.

Pictures a plenty, smooches with racers, snuggles with Phil. Ahhh. Only at a TARCon could Wanda Sykes go almost unnoticed as people ran over her to get to Phil. Mmmm, Phil. I had the pleasure of listening to him discuss the merits of his ass. Hee.

Chip and Kim: Amazing racers, and people too. And young master CJ their soon to be 19 year old son was quite the hottie. He looks a lot like his mom. Kim looked gorgeous last night, btw. And everybody is so much smaller and skinnier in real life. If I ever actually made it on the race, I’d probably look like a 200 lb amazon by that criteria.

Colin and Christie looked gorgeous, and Christie was as sweet as she could be. She was really considerate and made sure I got a picture of them before they had to go off for their interview. Also got a cool picture of Zach talking to Brandon, with their hair fighting to stay in the shot.

And Survivors in the house! It was fantastic chatting with Tijuana, Officer Ken and Shii Ann, one of my most favorite Survivors ever. She looked hot, and the pictures look good too.

Continuing –

Thanks to all of you Amazing party goers for posting the scoop and the pictures for all of us pitiful wannabes.

More please!

Last night's TARCon was absolutely awesome. I couldnt see all of the party planners in person to thank them in person but I wish i have. You did an excellent job. The goodie bags were a lot of fun and the passportesque badges were a nice touch. Thank you so much for all your work. I saw that Flo and Zach were together most of the night. I guess they made up. Why in fact was Shii Ann there. I had no idea who she was and I couldn't even see if she had a name tag. More with pictures later.

What the -- Broette beat me to the posting?

I'm utterly exhausted but thrilled to have experienced the joy of TARcon and meeting so many wonderful people. Thanks, thanks, thanks to the organizers and all those who worked on or contributed to the goody bag. Ditto what Broette said about meeting fellow posters. I took a lot of pics, but since I am a Luddite, I have to wait to use up the rest of the second roll and to get them developed. All the racers were fabulously friendly. But alas, we missed Phil. We'll just have to go another time.

Say, do you know that if you head to La Guardia from Manhatten before 5 in the morning, it only takes 15 minutes? TAR -- so educational!

Now, having had about an hour's sleep, and walking over a good chunk of Manhattan yesterday, and screaming myself hoarse (ah, so wonderful to see Chip and Kim win -- and then to meet them in person??? WHOO HOOOOO), now must rest......

Firstly, many, many thanks to Dr. Epi, who gifted me a TARCon reservation and thus made it possible for this broke-ass person to attend. You have a special place in my heart, and I dedicate my three hours of sleep to you.

I'm glad I caught up with some of the DC crew - Amandajane brought me to her table, and I bonded with some other Colin & Christie supporters (who I now refer to as the Vocal Minority). I can't remember anyone's name, so next year I swear I'm bringing a notebook. My other VMers, it looks like our crazy hand gestures and grunting didn't do them any good. Sigh.

Saw Debra and Steve welcoming current racers, and they are just as gracious on our side of the aisle as they were on the (metaphorical) red carpet last year.

Someone sent in the Clowns! (groan) Jon and Al shook hands with all and sundry and were their typical marvelous selves.

I said hello to Mirna, who told our group that Charla couldn't make it, and who is stunningly beautiful, as has been mentioned. Her dress was a knockout.

Jer2002 and I tag-teamed Colin and Christie, who posed for pictures and were quite lovely. And continuing the trend from last year, when I ended up speaking at length with Al's mom (I think it was Al), Jer and I had a wonderful conversation with Colin's mom. She seemed surprised that an internet gathering could be so large. She's sweet and very proud of her son. We also witnessed C&C meeting the Clowns (Colin: Hey...Clowns!), which was funny for no reason at all. Jer will always be my official TARCon date - I can't wait until next year, darlin'!

True to form, the Amazing Smoker's Lounge (while it lasted) was the place to be. Hey, we even ignored Bernadette Peters! Rabrab, snarkcake, NotpsychoNYC (you know who you are even if I can't quite remember, "Say Anything"), mjmarble, pixelpusher, and the guy who's been to all five TARCons - y'all made it so hard for me to leave. And thus I am at work and on my second cup of coffee in forty minutes.

Thanks to all of the organizers! Until next time...

I blogged TARCON, and will not repost in full here.

Kiss-kiss to the spectacular organizers, and thanks to the unfailingly generous Racers who showed up--I'm a shy dude, so didn't actually go up and meet anyone (no, not even Miss Alli) but yelling and screaming at the TV set with 350 people felt far better than doing so sitting at home alone.

And anyone else notice that in MissDona's photos, the only Racers with serious red-eye are Colin and Christie? Draw your own conclusions.

Edited because I figured out how to turn off the pop-up blocker that was blocking the linkage. And thanks to all who've visited the blog--stay a while.

It all sounds like so much fun. My goal is to make it to TARcon 6!