by John Hoskin on May 08, 2006
Loading...
Yes, it's 3am, because my body's clock says it's 6am in my real time zone and time to get up!
Due to time constraints while I'm here Loading... will likely take on a bit different format. A) because it has it's own blogspace now and B) so I can send you little snippets throughout the day. Writing a full Loading... with all the trimmings can take a couple of hours. I don't want to keep you waiting. If you read this via the mailing list rest assured I will do my best to get you a once-per-day rundown of what's happening here at E3. If you can't wait, visit the Loading... Blog.
I've completed the journey to the land that reality forgot. A land of Anna Nicole Smith, earthquakes and $22 dollar breakfasts. I flew on El Al Israel, which in hindsight was probably not the best choice of airlines to use when coming to Los Angeles. They were the airline that had their ticket counter shot-up at LAX a couple of years back. I'll get into the details, and there are a lot of them, in a bit.
Our hotel is a step up from the one we stayed in last year. Clue #1 was the lack of a "This hotel contains asbestos" placard on the front window. We are staying in the New Otani, not to be confused with the Old Otani, the Elderly Otani or the CheeriOtani.
Our team got together for some cool ones and some chit chat last night where I was met a few of the editors that I didn't have the pleasure of meeting before. It's strange too, because I would call them all the time, IM them over and over, send them funny chain letters, but they would never respond. I even tried calling them at 3am when I knew they were in their rooms, but no answer. Early breakfast I guess.
The biggest E3 bombshell is not that IGE has purchased another website, but that Sony Online Entertainment is now the co-publisher/distributor of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. What do you think? Good or Bad? Leave a comment or email me directly if you are shy.
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My trip started out calmly enough. I was up at 4am to get to the airport for my early flight. As I walked into Pearson International Airport in Toronto I noticed that strangely there were military personnel walking around the check-in stations that my flight was using. Maybe security has been stepped up I thought to myself. Understatement alert!
I flew El Al Israel into L.A. this time and though I applaud their diligent and required security measures it was a pain the rear as a passenger. I was interrogated by the El Al personnel, no less than four times before boarding the plane. My carry-on baggage, with my laptop, cell phone, camera, digital recorders and other electronic gear was taken from me and held until I boarded the plane. The bag was searched, which I expected. What I did not expect was the state of the gear when they returned it.
My Tom Bihn carry-on bag has a whole lotta zippered pockets. Every item was taken out of its pocket, presumably checked, and then dumped like your high school prom date back in a heap, back into the largest compartment of the bag. Everything. By every item I really mean every item. So much, for carefully packing the gear to keep it from getting damaged.
My toiletries bag was lined with a rough plastic material to keep any liquids like shampoo, water from a toothbruch, etc., from soaking either out onto the clothes in the suitcase. They cut this liner apart, apparently to see if anything was hidden in it. I know it wasn't in pieces when I left home, but it's sure in pieces now. At least on my flight back it is already torn apart. No need for them to get all ginzu my things.
I arrived in L.A. and attempted to call the 1-800 for the car service picking me up. Unfortuantely, the 1-800 number didn't work. As it turns out, my Canadian cell phone number was the problem. the 800 number was only for U.S. calls. The anti-Canadianism here is rampant. I'm going to start wearing an Australian flag on my backpack.
The hotel is superb, though the Internet connection in my room didn't work when I checked-in. A quick phone call and they graciously moved me to another room. The staff here were fast and courteous. Thumbs up!
Questions, comments, something or someone you want me to interrogate at E3? Let me know...
Looking for a place that your guild can call home that doesn't run gold ads? Look no further than GuildPortal.com.
As always, thanks for visiting TenTonHammer.com,
-- John "Boomjack" Hoskin