[Colonel Panic]

2600, please stop spamming.

Seriously.

This post has been edited by Colonel Panic: 29 June 2010 - 03:36 AM

[m3747r0n]

Colonel Panic, on 29 June 2010 - 03:12 AM, said:

2600, please stop spamming.

Seriously.

haha, yeah. They seem to be really pushing their tickets this year. They will even look up flights/ travel plans for you. I guess sales are not at a point where they want or they just want more people.

I will say from their schedule there are a handful for interesting talks I'd like to see, but I can only make one con a year. I also don't really get the whole hotel Pennsylvania thing, there are loads of cheap hotels and hostels in NYC which are clean and fairly nice. The hotel Pennsylvania is a shit hole that should be fixed up or ripped down. I'm sure they could find somewhere else to have future HOPE's.

[Colonel Panic]

m3747r0n, on 29 June 2010 - 07:12 AM, said:

I also don't really get the whole hotel Pennsylvania thing, there are loads of cheap hotels and hostels in NYC which are clean and fairly nice. The hotel Pennsylvania is a shit hole that should be fixed up or ripped down. I'm sure they could find somewhere else to have future HOPE's.

:ohmy: Blasphemy!

This post has been edited by Colonel Panic: 29 June 2010 - 12:43 PM

[decoder]

m3747r0n, on 29 June 2010 - 07:12 AM, said:

I also don't really get the whole hotel Pennsylvania thing, there are loads of cheap hotels and hostels in NYC which are clean and fairly nice. The hotel Pennsylvania is a shit hole that should be fixed up or ripped down. I'm sure they could find somewhere else to have future HOPE's.

Really? Capable of hosting a large conference? Not in Manhattan.

But I'm guessing the real reason is PEnnsylvania 6-5000. I mean, it's probably the most historically significant telecom related crap in NYC. Yes, the Hotel Penn is a shithole, but there aren't loads of cheap anything in NYC. Even parking spaces cost more than most people's mortgage.

[Colonel Panic]

Ain't nothing cheap in Manhattan.

One night I was out with some friends on the Lower East Side, and somebody mentioned a place down the street that was serving free drinks between the hours of 10PM and midnight. A few of us figured free drinks sounded good, so we formed an expeditionary party to check it out. As we were leaving, the rest of our group (mostly native or long-time New Yorkers) called out, "Don't worry, we'll be here when you get back!"

The place with the free drinks turned out to be a complete shithole in what looked like an abandoned hardware store. They were playing the crappiest dance pop I'd ever heard, like some kind of a 3rd-rate Shakira ripoff or something. The clientele was a mix of clownish hipsters and guido douchebags. The plywood-constructed bar was swarming with cock-knockers with their arms outstretched, frantically grabbing for drinks. The bartenders were passing the drinks to the cock-knockers in the front of the crowd, and then those cock-knockers were handing them off to all their buddies and reaching for more drinks. There was no way I was going to deal with that bullshit for some crappy free drink, but one of my friends (a big guy who really loves to drink) waded into the throng to fight his way to the bar.

I stood aghast at what a horrible scene it was. We have lots of shitbag bars here in Chicago but I'd never seen anything like this place. The only comparison I can make is being inside an Hieronymous Bosch painting. Ridiculous and horrible atrocities everywhere you look. Orange-painted douchenozzles with striped shirts open to the navel and gold chains across their chests... obese girls stuffed into spandex and daisy dukes... emo kids wearing black eye makeup... a guy wearing--I shit you not-- a tie-dye shirt and a fuzzy Dr. Seuss Cat In The Hat hat (this was 2008 mind you, not 1991).

After about 15 minutes, we'd had enough. Our guy hadn't come back from the bar yet, but we simply couldn't take any more of this horrible place. As we turned to leave, I looked back one more time and spotted him emerging from the crowded bar area with a drink in each hand. My other friends were out the door, so I ran up to him and told him we're splitting. He handed me one of the plastic cups and downed the other as we ran for the exit. I took one sip of the drink. It tasted like battery acid mixed with a packet of unsweetened Kool-aid.

When we arrived back at the bar where we'd started from, our friends cheered our return. "How were the free drinks? They must have been pretty good, if you got back here this quick!"

I learned a valuable lesson that night about getting anything for free in Manhattan.

decoder, on 02 July 2010 - 02:06 AM, said:

But I'm guessing the real reason is PEnnsylvania 6-5000.

Are you fucking kidding me? All because of a fucking phone number?!?

It must be nice to have the luxury of starting a children's crusade over every notion that pops into your head.

This post has been edited by Colonel Panic: 02 July 2010 - 03:57 PM

[decoder]

Great story! I will bet anything that the only NYers in that bar were people who went there "just to see what kinds of idiots would be there." And I don't know what scenes are likes in other cities, but in NY, there is a rule of thumb: It's one thing to be in a bar filled with Hipsters, it's another to be in one filled with Guidos; But if there are both hipsters AND Guidos - Welcome to Long Island or New Jersey! Ha, sorry to anyone from LI or NJ. It actually means that you have made an egregious error in judgement and it's time to leave. Get yourself to a proper Publick House.

Colonel Panic, on 02 July 2010 - 03:22 PM, said:

decoder, on 02 July 2010 - 02:06 AM, said:

But I'm guessing the real reason is PEnnsylvania 6-5000.

Are you fucking kidding me? All because of a fucking phone number?!?

It must be nice to have the luxury of starting a children's crusade over every notion that pops into your head.

In all fairness, it is claimed to be the "oldest continuing phone number in NYC." (or so says Wikipedia) And I do support preservation of historical landmarks - some historical landmarks, that is. The Hotel Penn is a giant shithole, but the 100+ story skyscraper that will be put in it's place (in an effort to change that entire area) is going to be wack, for sure - not to mention, I'll probably never have any reason to step foot into the building.

But where did you get the idea that 2600 started this? Imagine? LOL. There are other people (possibly even groups) who don't want to see it torn down. Mostly people from the neighborhood, I gather. But being neighbors of the building only means they like the view of it from their $3,000/mo. (cheap, btw) apartments. Those people would never actually be forced to stay in one of those bed-bug infested cubicles, which the Hotel Penn refers to as rooms.

Also, bear in mind that the Hotel Penn is the fourth largest Hotel in Manhattan, and the other three would not only be out of the price range of most HOPE attendees, but I doubt they would go for some of the antics that are bound to take place.

Bottom line: No Hotel Penn = No HOPE. The people that hate 2600 because it's "popular" or because of Goldstein's political views, and the people who don't care to attend HOPE really have no business commenting on any of this crap. Everyone knows the Penn is a shithole but it's in a very convenient spot in NYC (across from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden) - it's not like it's some cheap rat trap in the middle of nowhere - it's a cheap rat-trap sitting on some of the most prime real estate in the world! And it is affordable. Any bum, vagrant, tramp, hobo or crack-addict can afford to spend a night there.

Plus, everyone knows that the Hotel Penn has historical significance. How many other hotels have their very own swinging jazz theme song? Maybe it doesn't deserve landmark protection, but there is no denying that it's ... old. :yes:

This post has been edited by decoder: 02 July 2010 - 05:00 PM

[Colonel Panic]

Well I'm not one of those people who hates 2600. I appreciate everything they've done over the decades and while I may not always get much out of the magazine, I can at least count on the letters section for a few laughs.

I'm not offended by Goldstein's politics. I usually find myself on the same side of most issues regarding the Internet and privacy and security. Sometimes the way he expresses his views is droll and even tedious though, and I really don't get his professed longing for the technology of old. IMO, we have more personal freedom and power than ever before where information is concerned, and I have no desire to return to the times of analog switches and dial-up modems.

Sticking to one's principles is admirable, but I'd probably find that pretty easy to do if my principles earned me a comfortable living and allowed me to travel the world, and most of my co-workers were volunteers whom I don't have to pay.

Anyway, If something did happen to the Hotel Penn, is there any reason they couldn't just have the conference at a different venue in some other borough? I understand it wouldn't be the same, but a lot more goes into the making of a good convention then simple location. NYC is a big place. There's got to be some other venue (in Brooklyn, maybe?) that could host a big convention.

This post has been edited by Colonel Panic: 02 July 2010 - 05:26 PM

[decoder]

Colonel Panic, on 02 July 2010 - 05:07 PM, said:

Well I'm not one of those people who hates 2600. I appreciate everything they've done over the decades and while I may not always get much out of the magazine, I can at least count on the letters section for a few laughs.

I'm not offended by Goldstein's politics. I usually find myself on the same side of most issues regarding the Internet and privacy and security. Sometimes the way he expresses his views is droll and even tedious though, and I really don't get his professed longing for the technology of old. IMO, we have more personal freedom and power than ever before where information is concerned, and I have no desire to return to the times of analog switches and dial-up modems.

Sticking to one's principles is admirable, but I'd probably find that pretty easy to do if my principles earned me a comfortable living and allowed me to travel the world, and most of my co-workers were volunteers whom I don't have to pay.

Anyway, If something did happen to the Hotel Penn, is there any reason they couldn't just have the conference at a different venue in some other borough? I understand it wouldn't be the same, but a lot more goes into the making of a good convention then simple location. NYC is a big place. There's got to be some other venue (in Brooklyn, maybe?) that could host a big convention.

I hope I wasn't misunderstood; I wasn't insinuating you when I mentioned the 2600 haters, I just meant in general.

But yeah, the only options would be in an outer borough, or in LI, Jersey or Westchester - something within a 30-45 minute train ride, I'd say. Off the top of my head, I can only think of the airport hotels in Queens, but I'm not really familiar with the hotel situation around NYC. The biggest problem with the airport hotels and the others is that there isn't as much to do in those neighborhoods. That's a huge part of the experience.

For all I know, there might be a suitable hotel in a nice area of Brooklyn - but walk 4 blocks away and you're in for some trouble.