TARCON XI REPORT (fresh from STITCH which I left at 2305)
I got to the line outside Stitch at 1750 and immedaitely spotted Chateau and Peach in the $75, 3 hour line which was queued up and waiting to go in at 1800. I became the beginning of the $50, 2 hour line which formed behind me. It was all very well organized by Miss Donna of TWOP. Peach and Chateau had reserved me really excellent space at their table on the upper level. When 1900 rolled around in I went and found it. My next step was to get 2 nonalcoholic drinks (Stitch really made terrific profit on me) and to look for the food. There wasn't any! I had misinformed myself and you had to order and pay for food a la carte. The first hour and a half there was some discussion between Chateau, Peach and I and I showed them my Australia postcards and photo of the croc and me(the best photo of me in the past 5 years according to my wife). Peach presented me with a special gift to be used later in case two blondes came within my range(they did!). At 1930 I went looking for Miss Alli. Peach told me where to find her and I did right there holding court. She stated that she is now a full-time employee of TWOP and does no legal work anymore. Peach came by with her camera and took one of me behind Miss Alli. I bet it will turn up on RFF sometime soon. Someone took a photo of Peach, Chateau and me and our table.
At 2000, I had just gotten two more drinks(my last for the evening) and made it back to the table when Episode 13 started. The noise level was deafening. This was a huge Dustin/Kandice crowd, cheering them and booing Eric/Danielle and Charla/Mirna. This continued right up to the finish line. There was palpable disappoiontment in the final result.
Around 2030 the first former racers started arriving. Also, a camera/sound/interviewer crew set up between the bar and our table. It was for Kennedy's Fox Reality show tomorrow night at 730pm. The first former racer to reach near me was Carissa Gaghan, who sat at the next table. I went and introduced myself. Next was a clone of her who is her younger by 20 months sister, who was not a racer but is a Gaghan. Then Bill and Joe showed up downstairs. I introduced myself to Bill and told him about the question in this morning's TAR quiz. He stated without hesitation that it was at Scotty Lake Alaska where they got the notice of AR1 being over. I later shook hands with Joe and told him that I admired his shirt (colored bright orange similiar to mine but with a Guido logo on it). They went upstairs and were the first interviewees on camera. Soon thereafter, the other Gaghans showed up near out table. I introduced myself to Tammy, Bill and Billy and asked them to autograph my business card. I later was sitting next to Carissa at my table and had her autograph it also. Next up was former racer Steve the ATC guy and AR1 Drew (Kevin was not there to the best of my knowledge). I said hi, shook their hands and tried a little small talk. Teri and her son came into the area right next to our table, so I introduced myself to them. The highlight of the evening was next when the Beauty Queens came for an on-camera interview. I positioned myself next to them and used Peach's present, a framed photo of them, to obtain their autograph. A little later I told Dustin how they had missed out on the strong pro-Dustin/Kandice sentiment of the crowd. Ian was in the vicinity and I said hi to him. Next was Charla, who I saw at the bottom of the stairs. I expected her to come up, but she didn't. I later caught her and told her that I thought she was a classy racer. Mirna was there and I was inches from her, but I did not want to introduce myself. She is much shorter than I expected, probably about 5'0". Eric arrived upstairs for his on-camera interview but they had technical problems, so I chatted with him briefly. He had a babe on his arm. Later, after I had briefly met and congratulated her, Danielle joined him for the interview. On my way out, I talked briefly to Mary. She said David was around near the front. I looked for him but found Peach instead. She set up a brief discussion with Big Papi and took our picture, which I believe you will see soon. Big Papi stated for publication that Eric had asked World Race Productions to cast him again with Danielle(who was then his girlfriend) immediately after his AR9 second place finish. The genesis of the AR11 team was at that point even though Eric and Danielle's relationship did diminish. I missed out on talking to former racer Ray and with Jill, who were in a heated conversation. John Vito reportedly had been around. That's the was it was. The density of racers was incredible. The only ones not there were Uchenna/Joyce, Rob/Amber, Oswald/Danny, and Kevin.
Many thanks to Peach and to Chateau for their selection of the most strategic table in the entire restaurant. It was great to meet them and Big Papi in person.