Guest Report By Chopper3

Well, what a fabulous trip, and not just for the VA stuff, I really loved meeting you all.

The trip started well with an upgrade from club to first on my flight - always a good start. Landed at Newark, they let me in again! Picked up the car, met Thom, he navigated very well and we were suddenly at the hotel (Oyster Point). Checked in, went straight out into Red Bank, shot across a 4-way road (forgot about them, they don't have them in the UK).

Met up with Lenny (Marksman), John (Fanboy), Askewrat and a few others in a room at the Marriott, needed beer (and food) so we went to the bar. Mild little party started, met lots of other great people, all were SUPER nice to me. Just loved meeting Hoochie, Brimley, Chris & Brad, Cheryl (sorry....again), Zombie and his extremely cool pal (sorry forgot your name....stupid me), Mox (a real highlight), Andy (who's quite a guy), Ben, Gambit and pal, Dan and his gorgeous fiancée, the very pretty girl with the very trendy specs and leather jacket who was cold in Sat. morning (sorry, your name, but only your name, slipped my mind) and all of the other really great people who helped me settle in. Pizza was nice too. Alex and Edie (who I kind of knew from before) turned up later on and I tried to get them into it all, Edie is quite the party and didn't need any help at all. A real privilege to meet both of you.

Party finished at about 4am, tooled around town getting my US driving confidence up, some cops followed me but did nothing. Got an hour's sleep. Got up, drove past the then-shut stash, picked up Edie, Alex, Chris & Turtle (are you sure you're not meant for each other?) and a few others (I was so tired, I could have been driving the tour bus for all I knew). Got a great parking space, grabbed some very nice breakfast (the old timers were fucking hilarious - hats perched on top of their heads !). Stood outside in the cold, talked to a catatonic-with-cold specs/leather jacket girl (as above). Ming took our photo, Jay arrived and got applause for his mere existence.

All of a sudden this vision of beauty announced herself as Jen and opened the store, I leaped forward and was inside (the store that is). Great design, Ratface must have busted a gut, lots of really cool little exhibits (Joey must be REALLY small to get into that jacket), I'm not a comic-fan (sorry) but I took some time to buy up a decent part of the store (shirts, CD's etc). Got to spend a good amount of time talking to Jen about her baby (I'm a dad, with another on the way so we had a lot of common ground) then Kevin sidled up. Jen introduced me to Kevin as the English guy which he seemed to get a kick out of. Talked a lot about kids and London (he's got to visit in a few weeks); nothing about films though for some reason - strange. Met Jay, funny but very kind and sweet guy - he's the sort of guy I'd imagine would be a very loyal friend. Saw the Dogma clips (the power of AVID ! loved them though, Matt's gun coming 'round before his head is a great image - thought the use of 'O Fortuna' from Orff's "Carmina Burana" has been overused). The Clerks re-release clip was great.

Then we were on the bus (I was kind of expecting a stash-bash-specific T-shirt) and Brian was just great, very funny and engaging. I'll apologise now if I acted like a dick on the tour 1 bus, I just had some questions I wanted to ask. And sorry for the seat-licking thing as well, no excuse really, I was just drunk on the whole experience (and no sleep of course). Had huge fun at Quick-Stop and RST and then it was pretty much over. Alex, Edie, Hal and I then shot over to the Marina Diner (nice burger) where I was introduced to Diner culture and etiquette - almost surreal. Only one adult sized urinal - had I really evacuated my bladder in the same spot as Ben A. ? (too much detail - I know).

Chopper3 & Two Familiar Faces Courtesy Chopper3

Went back to the store for Edie to get something signed and for her to absolutely TWAT the car door against a lamp post - TWICE (I forgive you). Nonced about getting lost for a while, ended up at the Marriott watching some VA video, had a drink or two, partied a bit, tiredness hit hard so I went to bed (on my own - unlike some hey Lenny).

Got up went to the Marriott, saw Chris and Turtle (make a nice couple don't you think), picked up Edie and Alex, went to Victory Park where it was way too cold by half, got some photos. Headed into town, spent some "quality-time" with Bryan (always a pleasure) - found out about Kubrick, couldn't believe it. Went to another diner (nice burger - see any pattern here). Then we went to the delightful Keansburg to play Ski-ball, I wasn't very good. Then I headed back to Newark, hopped on the plane (no upgrade this time). Slept a little, curled up with this very nice 23-year old NJ girl for some bizarre warmth-related reason (she was married too, don't worry). Got home, passed out from 8am until 9pm !!

Loved the whole thing, it's just a shame that next time something like this comes up it'll be 3000 coming down because of Dogma (elitist bastard that I am).

Big thanks again to Edie and Alex, and thanks to John, Lenny, Chris and Brad.