Last week Peter, Tom, Jack, Ray and myself got together in Cleveland. We took in an Indians game, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and spent way too much time at Fatheads Brewery and Saloon.

The Indians game was fun, though we left just before a game-winning grand slam from Hafner. Damn! Though had we stayed, Fathead's kitchen would have been closed!

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a very pleasant surprise for me, as the website didn't have me expecting all that much. But to see John Lennon's and Jimi Hendrix's handwritten lyrics to iconic songs, etc. was really great. And Jack's depth of knowledge and stories from years as a musician made me feel like we were touring the facility with a historian of the genre.

We also had a wonderful experience at two friends of Jacks: Bruce and Jan. Their friendship goes back to their teens, and Bruce and Jack have played onstage together on and off for 50 years! They have a beautiful dream home and Jan put out an amazing spread!

A wonderful time was had by all, evidence of which is the fact that hardly any time was spent silently listening to music or watching movies, but rather conversing about the meaning of life, music and beer!

Here is Peter, Ray, Tom and Jack at the Indians game (I'm on the other side of the camera):

Sounds awesome. Wish I could have been there.

I want some of that weather back. It's ridiculous in VA right now.

You guys get storm damage last night? There was a tree across the main road in our subdivision this AM.

At first I assumed you were just moaning about the high temps, and I was going to call you a temp wimp, but I figured I'd better check what "ridiculous" meant first.

I was talking mostly about the humidity and temperature, but the second crazy thunderstorm in one month qualifies as ridiculous, too. No storm damage here, though I could swear my fence was going to fly away at one point. Just a bunch of leaves and small branches down.

OK. So you're a temp wimp.

Best for you not to venture further south.

I cannot tell you what a fabulous time we had. I have not laughed so much in years.

My sincere thanks to all who traveled so far so I could show them my town. Cleveland is just about like any other place in the world. There are good things about it and there are bad things about it. Regrettably, most of the good things are rarely mentioned in the media. It is my hope they left with a better image of Cleveland than the one with which they arrived.

Did you NOT see my new SIG line?

Regrettably, I wasn't there. It was great talking to you guys through Skype though! I hope this gathering happens again soon...I WILL be there...whether you like it or not!

I did not. Hey, I'm old & slow (but VERY cool ).

TRUE!

We had a two hour Skype call with Mary. I was able to set my camera on top of my TV with a view of the entire room so she could see us all at one time. It was one of the highlights of the GTG for me.

It also introduced Tom and Mark to the fun of video calls. I think they soon will be making video calls of their own, hopefully, now and then, to me.

Tell me again whether I have to be wearing pants or not?

They are optional as long as you are only showing the upper half of your body.

I was nervous, but it was so fun! Oh, and for those of you who don't know how cool Jack is, I think his entire house is automated! No Roomba though.

We should have a mid-west party and all meet at Mary's place! I can be there in 90 minutes. Randy will be about 90 minutes behind that. Not sure about those from other states.

Mary, you've been volunteered to host!

I would have responded to this thread sooner, but I was mulling over the bolded part of the above quote.

After spending all of the time together that we did and getting to know each other much better than previously, I am struck with the assumptions and missing pieces in knowing each other - as evidenced by Mark's quote above.

I would substitute "did not spend nearly enough time" for the bolded part of the quote, which is also what I would have expected from you Mark. Also, driving home gave me time to think things over and, aside from some of the blackouts/missing time we experienced, the GTG was great. Trying to tie this all together, I realized we would have done MUCH better staying/sleeping at Fat Head's and stopping in to visit at Jack's a couple of times.

To underscore Mark's comment, the venue for the group of us meeting was an audio forum (can you guess which one?), yet there was very little music/video involved in the visit; just a lot of talking. Pretty special stuff.

Jack was a gracious host, but who would be surprised by THAT?

In total, the trip was exceptional and a few parts of it were unbelievable.

I was basing the sentence on "other's" sense of what's too much!

Thanks to Mark for giving us professional services for free. Or, you know, just send the bill to Ray. Also thanks for getting the ball rolling on the thread.

Thanks to Peter for sharing his family with us. Too bad Sunny couldn't have been there, too.

Thanks to Ray for being Ray.

Thanks to Jack for being Jack.

Thanks to Bruce and Jan for being great hosts and telling wonderful stories.

Thanks to all for traveling so that we could spend some time together. I feel humbled, honored and happy to have shared those experiences with you.

I wish I could meaningfully add to what has already been said. It was great!

It's great that you guys can hook up and just hang out .

I have met some guys from Toronto on the Bluray forum and what started out as 3 of us has grown to 5 where we take turns hosting at our house's listening to each other's 2 channel and home theater set up's.

Of course my Axiom set up sounds the best .:-)

Rob

Well, to the best of my knowledge, no one "hooked up"!

Not that there is nothing wrong with that .

Very good; but you left before Hafner's walk-off grand slam??

Ray made us leave.

But how many of you did it take to carry Jack out? Certainly he wouldn't have left voluntarily until the last out!

No, in the spirit of camaraderie I acquiesced and went meekly . I'm so ashamed.

Looks like lots of fun. Beautiful photo, Mark. (You must have a really big sensor chip.)

Had I known, I could have sailed down to Cleveland except it would have taken me several weeks. . .

Cheers,
Alan

Next time we will give you at least several weeks notice. You would have been a welcome addition to the gathering.

Wow - thanks for pointing that out John! Ya know, 'cause I didn't get nearly enough abuse during the the rest of the GTG for suggesting we leave early.



Just so we have the full story on the early exit. It was getting late and the Indians had been playing a level of baseball to that point that might not have led to a win over a little league team. Then Bautista (Blue Jays) hits a home run to make it 4-0. Finally, and most important, the beer in the stadium was selling for $8.00 a bottle (and the vendors weren't even wearing masks) and it was getting late enough that, with travel time, the trip to Fat Head's for beer and an open kitchen was questionable. I might also add that a simple question of "Do you want to try and beat the traffic?" resulted in NO negative response.

I rest my case. Well, OK, I would actually HAVE a case if not for Hafner's heroics, so I'm fallin' back on the whole "Let's get some reasonably priced beer" thing.

Yes, in fairness, we all opted to leave. The ribbing Ray has endured has been all-in-fun, but he has suffered through a lot of it.

I feel guilty because I have been through this kind of thing before (incredible comeback against the Red Sox). Had we stayed, and had the Indians performed as they did through the first 8 innings (poorly), we would have been there probably another 10 minutes, max. Not much to risk for the possibility of an exciting ending. Oh well, next time we stay with the movie all the way through the ending credits.

I remember when my then-girlfriend convinced me to leave a right-up-front spot halfway through Stevie Ray Vaughan's closing set at a JVC Jazz Festival in Newport, RI.

I still haven't forgiven her, but I'll end up forgiving Ray.












In a couple of months or so.

Sounds like a blast! Thanks for sharing the photo. Not too many axiom members in or around Oklahoma...

Eight bucks a beer?
ouch
That's $7.90 Canadian.
Man alive.

Next time I'm in the area for a while, I'll let you know. My parents are in Edmond.