WindyCon 2006

Posted on November 12, 2006 by Carrie

WindyCon 33 took place at the Wyndham O’Hare Hotel from November 10-12.

: Hazmatt’s apartment gets rocked.

: It’s a messy job, but someone has to do it.

: The boys relax while the girls do the work.

: Odds of deadly fumes 3720 to 1.

: The plan starts to come together.

: We’re all glad Dex is so tall.

: Your eyes see a normal keg. The camera sees one bathed in the blood of the damned.

: Duck!

: Atmosphere. Or lack thereof.

: Erica loses her head.

: Everything back to normal

: No idea what’s going on here.

: You’re blocking the hallway!

: Who was the president when you were born?

: Well-behaved K-9

: Good costume. Great dog.

: There be rocks, mi’lord!

: Ah, the beer starts to kick in.

: They took his replica rifle. On Veteran’s Day. TANJ.

: He had a very satisfied boyfri..er, girlfriend.

: Half-way to Cyberman

Brought to you by Duct Tape and the letters F and U

Posted on January 29, 2004 by Hazmatt

Capricon 2004 has come and gone, and all that is left is the memories. Well, that, and hang-overs, empty bank accounts and probably a number of lawsuits.

Sci-fi/fantasy conventions are interesting things. Like salmon swimming upstream, geeks travel to conventions to be with our geekly brothers and sisters, breed, and die (or in some cases, wish we had). Capricon 24 was no exception. There was the vendor room, art show, Critter Crunch, Photo Scavenger Hunt, and this year, Klingon Karoake, which really had to be experienced to be believed.

One huge change, for us at least, is that this year Chicago Force was in charge of decorating and running the Con Suite. For those of you who are mundanes, the Con Suite is a dining-room/lounge where people can go to eat, read, relax and in at least 3 cases last week, sleep. Now, normally the Con Suite is a fairly generic set-up, with some food and tables to sit at. But Chicago Force doesn’t do generic, do we?

Of course not. Silly question.

We had been invitied to decorate the Con Suite because of the work we did on our Jabba the Hutt party, so it’s not like we could throw some pop and cheese & crackers on a table and call it good. After much discussion, we decided that we should do Bespin’s Cloud City from The Empire Strikes Back. The pristine walls and elegant decorations lend itself well to the function of the Con Suite.

Words can literally not describe the end result, but before we jump into the pictures, it would be remiss not to recognize the hundreds of hours that people put into the making of this venture. This was a labor of love no matter what angle you look at it from. First and foremost thanks go to the core design team of Shauna, Heather, Carrie, Dinel, Dave and Caroline who spent more time packing things up and down Shauna’s stairs than many people spent in total (Shauna, you really need to move to the ground floor. Really). Erica, Matt, Thom, Phil and myself also spent a considerable amount of time cutting, sanding, painting, and just doing gerneral constructive-type things. In fact, pretty much every regular CF member pitched in to make this event a success, from storage, shopping, construction to setup and tear-down. We thank you all.

Special thanks also needs to go out to Chris and Steven Bornhoeft from Quad City Jedi Order for the air of realism they added with their Han and Luke Bespin outfits. Seeing Han getting lowered into the carbon-freezing chamber and Luke battling Vader was the apex of Star Wars fandom for a long time to come. They also came through in a pinch by building a movie-quality Ice Cream Maker Guy prop in 10 minutes out of spare parts. Freeze-frame the movie and compare our picture to it; I dare you to find a difference.

Lastly, Chicago Force would like to thank Capricon for giving us this opportunity to spread our creative wings, and to all the great fans, both costumed and plain-clothed, who stopped by to experience and compliment our efforts. Hearing your kind words makes it all worth while.

OK, I am going to go cry now. Enjoy the pictures.

: Starting the carbon-freeze chamber

: The floor pieces add up

: The intricate floor design

: Phil reigns triumphant over the plywood

: Man, it’s frickin’ cold!

: “That Obi-Wan starfighter must have been this long!”

: Measure twice, cut once

: One down, seven to go!

: Holy cow, it actually fits!

: Overflow storage (i.e., Hazmatt’s truck)

: Dinel puts the finshing touches on a floor piece

: This place is a mess!

: Whee! We’re frozen!

: Multi-tasking is the order for the day

: Please don’t let us use enamel paint ever again

: Caroline reacts to Hazmatt’s latest fart joke. Or was it a penis joke?

: Dave is all smiles.

: Shauna’s apartment takes the brunt of the work

: The tip of the iceberg

: The unsuspecting conference room

: Unloading all the stuff

: Our plan starts to come together

: How do you feed all those geeks for 4 days?

: Oh man, this is gonna be sweet!

: Outside view of Cloud City

: Cloud City by day

: Cloud City by day

: Guests start to enjoy the Con Suite

: Han & Han

: Nice haircut, Luke

: An impromptu Buffy panel

: The important (i.e., food) side of the Con Suite

: The Dining Room

: “You wouldn’t want me to leave a garrison here, would you?”

: We love us!

: Con Suite hosts the musical episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

: More Buffy fans

: “After he takes the picture, run!”

: Chicago Force: The Next Generation

: Not everyone put the same amount of effort into their costume

: Come to the Con Suite for the pizza, stay for the company

: Devon makes a good Spike (go rent Cowboy Bebob now!)

: Lobot makes sure every thing is neat and tidy

: Elf Quest chick, but no tiny bicycle this year

: Even Klingons appreciate Cloud City

: Cow-siesta

: The Good, The Boba and The Ugly

: Putting the finishing touches on the Carbon Chamber

: Shauna spins some Sithly tunes

: C⁴Q
(Cloud City Cotton Candy Queen)

: A 1:1 beer/soda ratio

: Cloud City by night

: Got ‘er by the tail

: One Biker Scout short of a Full House

: Get ready, Marines!

: Matt gets a sweet lei

: Guess the Mystery Soda

: Lobot gets jiggy

: Thom makes a threatening gesture (yeah, right)

: Captain Jack Sparrow approves of Cloud City

: Only at a con…

: Han gets sweet on Cotton Candy

: Bring it on!

: This guy swore he was not in costume

: Two by two, hands of blue…

: The Amazing Lifter
(What is a lifter?)

: Aw, they’re so cute together

: Some things don’t need to be explained

: Some things don’t need to be seen

: For Destiny Froste’s butt-picture gallery

: Yeah! We’re drunk!

: Hey, didn’t we just…?

: Alcohol was not involved in the making of this picture

: The Con-faithful chill in Cloud City

: Two great tastes that taste great together

: Oh, they’ve encased him in carbonite

: Even troopers want to grow up to be a princess

: We’re only as cool as our guests

: I…he’s…I have no idea

: Early risers enjoy breakfast

: I’m told this is supposed to be a food vampire

: An Officer and a Marine

: Costume dry-run for the Ren Faire

: The QCJO guys pitch in to help Ice Cream Maker Guy

: Precision tape work

: Beautiful work

: Evacuate the city!

: We’re so cheesy

: Admiral Ackbar Surprise

: Did the Fett bring in this bounty?

: Steve, Shauna, and their creepy creation

: The Carbon Freezing Chamber in all it’s glory

: The Human Spider

: Lobot, ICMG (Ice Cream Maker Guy), Luke, Han

: The stage is set

: The cast is ready

: Lobot cleans the windows

: “We’d be honored if you’d join us.”

: Luke faces Vader

: The Money Shot

: ICMG gives Luke a ‘hand’.

: She can kill you in 57 different ways with that fan

: Sometimes a con is for the whole family

: Sometimes it’s not

: The Amazing Spider-man does Gopher duty

: Even the cloned Emperor stopped by

: The only Starfleet uniform I saw the entire weekend. Seriously.

: The Wild Things (watch out for gnomes!)

: Han makes his way into the center

: For Destiny Froste’s butt-picture gallery

: Preparing to be frozen

: “Um, hey, can we talk about this?”

: “I love you.”
“I know.”

: Vader gets steamed

: You’re not a Jedi, yet

: Most impressive

: “Han just needs to chill.”

: A swing and a miss

: ICMG lets Vader know he’s #1

: Is that Black 3 or Black 4?

: Another guy claiming not to be in costume

: God worked overtime putting her together

: Less-protective armor

: Same costume, lower neckline

: Horny guy

: They call him Wolfman

: The doctor with the beer

: Steven gives the ladies a treat

: Destiny gets a mental picture for her butt-gallery

: It’s possible that the pole is not entirely stable

: Caroline gets up close and personal with Steve’s groove-thang

: A final night in Cloud City

: Sunday morning cartoons

: Hawk-Bat on ice

: CF is first in line for everything, including the Closing Ceremony

: I %$^@#@% love us!

: Will the Real Slim Shady please stand up?

: Shut them down! Shut them all down!

: We’ll just go ahead and start breaking ‘er down

: “I am a sexy beast, baby!”

: Apocalypse Now

: Are we done yet?

: Ducky oversees the kitchen area

: Detritus

: We needed a bigger truck

: I hope this all fits in Dave’s garage

: We’re done!
OK, what are we doing next year?

CapriCon 2003

Posted on February 8, 2003 by Hazmatt

On February 8, 2003, Chicago Force descended upon the annual CapriCon Convention in Arlington Heights, IL and hosted yet another of their themed room parties.

CF room parties have, over the years, generally progressed in an escalating manner. There has been the simple “Club Sith” to “Dagobah” to the horror that was styrofoam packing peanuts and “Hoth”. This year we decided to do “Jabba the Hutt’s Throne Room” from “Return of the Jedi”. To facilitate this, the convention had donated a 25’x45′ conference room on the main floor, a dance floor, and any furniture that we required.

Planning for this party started months prior and involved many, many people. Those that were there can attest to the success (or lack there of) of this endeavour. Not all of our plans made it to the end, but here is what we did have when the night arrived:

Green-skinned Gammorrean Guard at the door
Blast door and TT-8L droid
Life-sized Jabba the Hutt, tail lovingly wrapped around Salacious Crumb
Full-sized, three-dimensional Han Solo, frozen in Carbonite
Max Rebo and a live band
R2-D2 serving drinks in the corner
Red, blue, and green-skinned Twi’lek slave girls, dancing for Jabba’s (and everyone else’s) pleasure
Yarna, with all six breasts
Boba Fett
Luke Skywalker (where’d he get the beard, though?)

Sound like a party? It was.

Standing guard at the door, I got to witness a lot of people’s first reaction to seeing the room. Almost every one would stop at the door, not quite believing what they saw. 85 percent of them uttered some sort of expletive in awe. I don’t think I saw anyone visit just once. People would leave for a few minutes, only to return to where they knew the party was.

I could spend several more paragraphs listing all the compliments that people gave us, so it was a little disappointing when we didn’t pick up the award for Best Party. After the award was given, though, the con staff spent a few moments giving us a special mention, using phrases like “just awesome” and “I’m speechless”.

So many people contributed to the making of this event that any list is bound to leave someone out, but I am going to try:

Shauna, Heather, Thom, Caroline for making the best all-time party prop ever: a life-sized Jabba the Hutt. It’s a shame he didn’t make it home. Han in Carbonite got some compliments, so I’ll thank myself for that. Heather and Le Penguin for Max Rebo; seeing the blue DJ really added credibility to the whole thing. Caroline, Danielle, and Loree for being such delicious slave girls, and braving the oogling of every male in sight. Jason and Erica for the R2-D2 cooler, and lastly, but certainly not least of all, everyone that helped put this thing together Saturday afternoon: Matt, Dave, Heather, Shauna, Carrie, Ginna, Danielle, Caroline, Erica, Jeff, Bob, Phil, Thom, Ray, Patrick, Trisha, and anyone else whom I might have forgotten….this was certainly a team effort, and was only made possible by everyone pitching in and doing their part. Thank you all, it was a night to remember.

And here I am, babbling along, and all you really want to see is the pictures, right? Well, the wait is over…

: We begin with a clean apartment

: The tail begins to take shape

: More styrofoam peanuts (shudder)

: Good enough for now

: Making Jabba’s head

: Adding a few facial features

: The first layer of papier-maché, and some more features

: Being Jabba Malkovich

: Inside the Hutt

: First paint

: Adding the fat roll

: It’s all starting to come together

: Shauna has a VERY understanding husband

: He certainly looks like Jabba

: “Off with his head!”

: Adding the highlights

: The last coat of paint

: Jabba is beside himself

: The finished product

: It all starts with the foam

: Han’s torso, hacked out with a kitchen knife

: It’s starting to look a little creepy

: Look, I am holding hands with myself. Eeew!

: Help! Help! I’m trapped in the counter!

: It’s starting to look REALLY creepy

: Headless Han

: First you start with a rough draft

: OK, visibility is good

: Do you hear what I hear?

: Copy the pattern to the final cloth

: Time to get stuffed!

: The hotel donated this ice sculpture. Good thing it was 300 degrees below zero outside.

: Friday night and it’s all alright

: Dave Grelck and his lovely bit ‘o’ honey

: Get Matt’s book! Read it now!

: Matt wanted to make sure we could find his body if it fell out of an airplane.

: “He’s safe!” “He’s out!”

: I know they don’t look it, but they are still sober at this point.

: And Heather was sick as a dog the next morning…strange.

: Assembling the slug, the myth, the legend.

: The party hasn’t started, and already people are getting naked.

: Thankfully, tons of people showed up to help.

: We jus’ keepin’ it real, G.

: “Quick! Nobody look at the camera!”

: “You all are doing marvelous work. Fantastic.”

: Matt’s awesome, but eventually unused, radio-controlled Jawa.

: Trying to turn a mess into a party.

: “Look into my eyes…you are getting sleepy, very sleepy…”

: “Quick! Everyone look at Shauna’s butt!”

: Just think, this mess turns into a party.

: Han sits (er, stands) in the corner, patiently waiting his turn.

: Even in carbon-freeze, you still get a slobber-pile taking a nap.

: “Help! I’ve fallen down and I can’t reach my drink!”

: Final clean-up, and we’re ready to party.

: Shauna awaits Jabba’s command.

: “Insert Tab A into Slot B? I don’t even see a frickin’ Slot B!”

: Before and After picture

: Hazmatt shaves his dome to prepare for wearing a latex mask for 6 hours.

: Putting the finishing touches on a hot slave chick.

: He’s an “Airhead”.

: TT-8L

: “You shall not pass!”

: “No, I swear I didn’t know she was your wife!”

: If you think this is a cute couple, you are DEFINATELY a Star Wars geek.

: Twi’lek porn.

: I don’t know what costume this is supposed to be, but I like it!

: Ladies and gentlemen, Jabba the Hutt.

: Matt serenades a bounty hunter

: Tom Servo is here. NOW it’s a party.

: The Legend of Drunken Jedi Master

: Max Rebo in da hiz-ouse!

: Nice, uh, uniform there, lady.

: Big, dumb, green pigs can love a Trill, too.

: The two hottest slave girls I have ever seen.

: Hey, I didn’t say they were Jabba’s slaves!

: Bartending droid.

: The party gets movin’

: We love us!

: “You work with a tall, gold droid too? What are the odds?”

: Salacious is jus’ chillin’.

: Jabba is in his domain.

: Jabba looks like he’s having a good time, doesn’t he?

: Is that a brain-stem on your head, or are you just happy to see me?

: It’s good to be the Hutt.

: Jabba does it for the chicks

: Jabba’s favorite decoration

: “He was no good to me dead. Come to think of it, he wasn’t very nice to me alive, either.”

: Whoa, dude, it’s like looking in a mirror.

: Tom was honored to meet Phil.

: Keeping out the riff-raff.

: Call one of them a big, fat pig. I dare you.

: Dancing for Jabba.

: Oddly, their Jedi Mind Tricks didn’t work on Jabba.

: The Corkscrews take the stage.

: “Baby, I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time…”

: “I love you, Tom, I honestly love you…”

: Keeping up with the Jones.

: Boba thinks the Corkscrews are alright!

: “Six breasts, huh? Dude, that’s awesome!”

: The Corkscrews turn it up a notch.

: “Unconventional”, and proud of it.

: Hans & Han S.

: “Utinni!”

: It was the kind of party where Jabba looked normal.

: If you look closely, you can see Jabba actually pulling the chain closer to him…

: Jabba is a great photo-op.

: Hey Luke! Hands off the slave girl!

: Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

: Security is on hand to make trouble “go away”.

: “Bo-shu-da!”

: “He must be allowed to speak!”

: I don’t remember him being in Jabba’ Palace.

: “You don’t talk much, do you?”

: “Han, Han……..why!?”

: This party attracts all sorts.

: Just call him Servo Master T.

: It looks like someone has taken an interest in our handiwork.

: “Your name’s Tom, huh? That’s cute.”

: Yarna chats up a trooper.

: “Watch what happens when I squeeze her head.”

: “Karate chop!”

: Squeezing the ‘Juice.

: Tom watches the board while Max is away.

: The Corkscrews hire some backup singers.

: Max gets jiggy wit’ it.

: This was right before the yuppie wanna-bees shut us down.

: What a motley crew.

: “Yeah, baby, take it all!”

: “Alas, poor Yargna. I knew him, Horgar.”

: I’m not as you think as drunk I am.

: It’s been a REALLY long night at this point.

: “Ray ate the Jawa!”

: It seems so lonely, now.

: “Hey! Where’d everyone go? Let’s party!”

: The harsh reality of daylight

: Jabba ain’t what he used to be.

: Ray is still unconscious. Poke him. I think he may be dead.

: We did it! Too bad Jabba won’t make it home.

: David and Matt hold a reading for their work.

: George Lucas: god or monster?

Finally, an event I don’t have to drive 2 hours to get to

Posted on December 14, 2002 by Hazmatt

…as seen by Matthew “Hazmatt” Callison

Well, the 2002 Chicago Force DVD/Christmas Party is in the past. We had almost 20 people show up, and everyone had a good time.

Somehow, we ended up not actually watching the Episode II movie. We did watch the Deleted Scenes and Humorous Outtakes, though. Other video fare included the tape from the 2002 Video Scavenger Hunt, clips from TV news programs around the time Episode II was released, and pretty much the entire movie X-Men. We also viewed “The Skywalkers”, which was a Fan Film made with the help of Chicago Force members Amber-Eyes and Brother Suess. It is a parody of the TV show “The Osbournes” using Anakin, Padme, Luke and Leia as the family. It was very funny, and recently won “Best Movie” at the 2002 FilmCon convention in Madison, Wisconsin.

Thanks go out to 501st troopers Louis, Darth Goat, Duffy, and Emily for coming down and hanging out with us. You fine folks are always welcome, and perk up any party you attend.

But who am I kidding, you don’t want to hear about that. You want pictures!

: The party gets started with a few people and the “Schoolhouse Rock” DVD

: Man, I am glad Mark was there to hold up that pole

: The buffet area was an early hit

: Thom Solo assists with the traditional “Midwest Garrison Salute”

: Liam Franklin makes his first Chicago Force appearance

: The party picks up as more people shuffle in

: Everyone is glued to “The Skywalkers”

: There was a lot of this going on

: Host JediJeff’s “Ton ‘o’ Star Wars Crap” wall

: Heather spies the “Poggle the Lesser” action figure she is missing, and tries to figure out how to get it out of the house undetected

: “Jedi Outcast” ran constantly on the PC in the corner

: “We don’t have the balls to play this game!”

: We move upstairs for the Gift Exchange portion of the evening

: Trisha is on hand to document the action

: Matt trades a gift for one he thinks is better

: Mark is so good, he can hand out presents with his eyes closed

: Everyone tears into their ill-gotten booty

: Smiles all around for the cool stuff we traded

: We congratulate each other on how cool we are

: “So, were you able to rig the Interactive R2 drawing yet?”

: The Wilk’s family tree

: Our own clonetrooper ‘bobble head’

: The proud father shows off his extrememly well-behaved offspring

: Chicago Force represent!

: Heather wins the Interactive R2-D2. Everyone else starts planning a mugging

: The gang’s all here!

: JediJeff shows us his butt

: Some great store displays

: The Franklin’s and their bundle of joy

Chicago Force rocks WindyCon!

Posted on November 9, 2002 by Hazmatt

On November 9, 2002, Chicago Force put on a room party at the 2002 WindyCon Convention, held in the Schaumberg Hyatt in, well, Schaumberg. The theme for this party was “Death Star Trash Compactor“, and the room was decorated appropriately. Guests entering the room were met by the dianoga, several large pieces (to brace the walls with, perhaps?), and of course, trash.

To say that the party was a success would be an understatement. We kicked it off at about 9:30 PM, and went until the wee hours of the morning, some how managing to esacpe the wrath of the elderly couple staying next door. The room was beautifully decorated due to the diligent work put in by the Chicago Force crew. Matt, Dave, Hazmatt, Thom, Phil, Ray, Heather, Shauna and even Devon from Milwaukee were all on hand to transform a tasteful hotel room into a pit of refuse. It was surprisingly a lot of work.

All that hard work paid of, though, when people came to visit. Practically everyone that ventured into our domain complimented us on our decor and attitude and although there was no official competition for Best Party, our exit polls indicated we would have won by a landslide.

But don’t take my word for it. See for yourself…

: The process begins with an average hotel room.

: No one could get in touch with C-3PO to open the blast doors.

: Well, it LOOKS like a trash compactor…

: Bob the Dianoga

: The other wall. This miscellaneous drunk guy would come back to haunt us later.

: We know good trash when we see it.

: Ray, that is NOT a bong!

: More trash.

: The door, and a piece of a starship that wandered too close to the Death Star.

: No flash, so you can see what the room really looked like.

: Dave mixes the first batch of “Dianoga Dream”.

: Another shot of Bob the Dianoga. Isn’t he so cute?

: A toast to us!

: Bobafemme. She is so sexy!

: TK-895 and Bird-Man, Attorney-at-law.

: Matrix Trinity and Blade.

: “He did it, officer! I saw the whole thing!”

: New Chicago Force recruit Hans and his lovely wife.

: Bird-Man and Lara Croft.

: A lovely fairy.

: A Jedi pays us a visit.

: Some of the lovely ladies that came to visit.

: What a pair.

: Me taking a picture of Trish taking a picture of……..well, you get the idea.

: One of our vampire friends.

: I ruin everyone’s night vision with a flash.

: Lemme guess, purple is your natural color?

: An awesome Quidditch outfit. The broom is handmade.

: She took pity on Ray and let him stand next to her.

: A really great Klingon.

: A Klingon and Frank Zappa at the same party? What are the odds?

: Remember the old Klingon proverb: “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

: OK, so my flash is really bright, especially “after a few”.

: We beef up security.

: A lull in the festivities.

: Chicago Force in da hiz-ouse, &^#$&%@(*!

: Ray always seems to be standing near the hot women.

: Not everyone that stopped by was drunk.

: The party gets jumpin’

: What a difference a flash makes.

: Hey, nice jacket.

: A Jedi and his serving wench.

: Klingon sisters.

: Just as he does with Life, Matt takes the bowl by both hands and holds on tight.

: Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!

: Two beautiful people.

: “Stop? We just got this party started!”

: Bobafemme, sans gorilla head. Hey! She’s hot!

: A wandering theater troupe.

: All hail the Centauri Republic!

: Ray’s past catches up with him.

: Whaddya mean throw it away? You think is this trash?

: Tear-down is accomplished with only a few minor glitches.

: Time of death – 2:43 AM

Chicago Force shows it’s Dark Side at CapriCon

Posted on February 7, 2002 by Hazmatt

Here are pictures from the Chicago Force’s 2002 CapriCon room party. I was not actually in attendance at the room party (although meeting everyone at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner was my first offical CF outing. Ah, the difference a year makes), so if anyone has any amusing anecdotes, they will most certainly be welcome.

The theme for this party was “Club Sith”.

: Commander OokOok inspects the troops

: Isn’t always nice when we just get along?

: Heather, Evil Bartender

: “I need a Vader’s Chokehold on the rocks, please.”

: CF President Matt Springer favors us with a tune…

: …then goes ‘Pete Townshend’ by ripping off his clothes and beating the floor with his keyboard.

: Some Rebels crash the party.

: You know, I saw some guys just like them in stormtrooper armor…

Convergence

Posted on July 6, 2001 by Hazmatt

“You will go to the Chicago Force party and find Bosh Talk, the fan who trained me…”

Posted on February 11, 2001 by Hazmatt

Dagobah. Yoda’s ‘hood. Swamps and droid-eating snakes. Sounds like a party!

: Check In

: Yoda’s new hat

: On a diplomatic mission

: Erica and her moss

: Slackers

: Phil concentrates

: Building vines

: The tree takes shape

: Swampy objects

: The tree is complete

: Beware the cave!

: Hey, I don’t remember a bar

: It is strong with the Dark Side

: Time to clean up

: Dave lovingly packs the stereo

: Deforestation in progress

: The horizontal Macarena. No, really.

: Just chillin’

: Now we can relax

I don’t see any dead imaginary animals…

Posted on February 1, 2000 by Hazmatt

These pictures are from the Dead Dewback Party held at Thom Solo’s apartment after Windycon 2000.

: Dave enjoys Dumb stuff

: Jedigal and MJS chat

: Everyone is tired

: Erica tries to sleep

: Dave IS asleep

: “No, really, I’m OK…”

: Shauna’s out

: Phil’s awake!

: Matt is confused

: That’s an evil look

: What a nice smile!

: What a buffoon!

: “What the hell do you want?”

: Minnesota and St. Louis represent!

: Tada!

Oh, the humanity!

Posted on January 31, 2000 by Hazmatt

During Windycon 2000, a con which will live in infamy, Chicago Force was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the insidious nature of styrofoam packing peanuts.

Chicago Force had held peaceful room parties and, until that day, was still under the impression that decorating a hotel room to look like the planet Hoth was a Good Idea™.

Indeed, one hour after the room party had commenced, there was no indication of any problem with the chosen decoration. While in hindsight this was an inaccurate assumption, Chicago Force was still in the midst of false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The packing peanuts were tracked around the room.

The packing peanuts were tracked down the hall.

The packing peanuts were tracked into the elevators.

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.

Hostilities existed. There was no blinking at the fact that that our people, our reputation and our stay at the hotel were in grave danger.

With confidence in our forces – with the unbounding determination of our people – we gained the inevitable triumph.

Since the unprovoked and dastardly attack, a state of war has existed between Chicago Force and sytrofoam peanuts.