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Western New York Qualifier, August 1st!

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Peter D Bakija

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May 30, 2009, 12:47:17 PM5/30/09
to
So emboldened by the big box of stuff from White Wolf that just showed
up on my doorstep (boosters, promos, Qualifier T-shirts that are both
cool *and* in various sizes from S-XXL! Thanks Oscar and/or Ben!), I'm
talking up:

-Western New York Qualifier Tournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,
12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!

Ithaca is conveniently 4 hours from, well, pretty much anywhere (NYC,
Western Mass, Canada, most of PA). I figure if folks are coming from out
of town, they'll probably be coming for just Saturday. But in the name
of making a weekend of it, Friday Night (our regular play night) will
see your chance to become the coveted Prince of Nigeria at:

- 419 Operation: Ithaca, a standard 2R+F constructed tournament, 7:00pm,
Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!

As noted, both tournaments are free (as White Wolf handed me prizes, and
we don't need to pay for the location).

If it turns out that people will be around on Sunday, and won't be
totally sick of VTES by then, I could probably get together a draft or
something too.

If anyone is interested in showing up from out of town and want to stay
over at a hotel, here are some options (although 'cause I'm not running
the event in a hotel, no special deals). Ithaca isn't well known for
good hotel rates (college town, hotels really like to gouge college
parents who are visiting), but as it is summer, maybe the rates aren't
horrible:

Hampton Inn:
http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=04H1V5WX
J4DRICSGBJBNMQQ?ctyhocn=ITHNYHX Kind of nice, kind of expensive (180 a
night) not particularly conveniently located. But not super far.

Super 8:
http://www.super8.com/Super8/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId=037
17 Virtually same location as Hampton Inn, less nice, cheaper (120 a
night).

Ramada Inn:
http://www.ramada.com/Ramada/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId=050
91&cid=carat_search-Ramada Kind of more convenient location, same price
as Super 8.

There are tons of other hotels/motels, and if you just go look at
Expedia or Priceline, you can probably get a better deal. But again,
hotels in Ithaca tend to be stupidly expensive (you can save a hundred
bucks a night by staying 30 minutes away in Cortland or Dryden).

Please send me a message if you plan on coming, so I can keep track and
give you directions and whatever.

Peter D Bakija
pd...@lightlink.com
http://www.lightlink.com/pdb6/vtes.html

"It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does?"
-Gaff

Peter D Bakija

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May 31, 2009, 11:41:24 AM5/31/09
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In article <pdb6-DCADFA.1...@news.motzarella.org>,

Peter D Bakija <pd...@lightlink.com> wrote:
> -Western New York Qualifier Tournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,
> 12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!

So here is a question--I'm running this here Qualifier. And have never
in my life run a tournament using Archon, as I'm a Mac guy, and as far
as I understand, there is still no Archon for Mac. So here are a few
questions for those in the know:

A) Is there Archon for Mac yet?

B) Is it completely necessary to run a Qualifier using Archon? I've run
tournaments a plenty using the high tech "scrap paper" method, and it
has always worked fine.

It seems reasonably likely that I could con one of my pals with a
windows laptop to download Archon and run it off of that, but I don't
know if it is actually necessary.

The Lasombra

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May 31, 2009, 12:13:49 PM5/31/09
to
On Sun, 31 May 2009 11:41:24 -0400, Peter D Bakija wrote:

>> -Western New York Qualifier Tournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,
>> 12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!

>So here is a question--I'm running this here Qualifier. And have never
>in my life run a tournament using Archon, as I'm a Mac guy, and as far
>as I understand, there is still no Archon for Mac. So here are a few
>questions for those in the know:

>A) Is there Archon for Mac yet?

Archon is for Microsoft Office. It should work on the Mac. (I
haven't tested it, not needing to ever use Mac.)

>B) Is it completely necessary to run a Qualifier using Archon? I've run
>tournaments a plenty using the high tech "scrap paper" method, and it
>has always worked fine.

Completely necessary? No.
Print out a few of the appropriate pages, i.e. seating charts and
tournament points, and everything else can be done by hand.

>It seems reasonably likely that I could con one of my pals with a
>windows laptop to download Archon and run it off of that, but I don't
>know if it is actually necessary.

You'll probably want a laptop of some sort, as the mini-qualifiers and
qualifier tournaments where the judge only judges have the potential
to be fairly boring.


1.1. Player Eligibility
-----------------------------
Any player is eligible to participate in an open, non-invitational,
V:EKN-sanctioned tournament (for non-open tournaments, see section
9.8) except for the following:
* The tournament organizer of record

2.9. Multi-Judge System
-----------------------------
The Multi-Judge System may be used at any non-qualifier,
non-championship tournament with at least eight participants (i.e.,
having at least two tables).


http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/index.php?line=veknRules

Carpe noctem.

The Lasombra

http://www.TheLasombra.com

Your best source of V:TES information.
Now also selling boxes and individual cards.

Peter D Bakija

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May 31, 2009, 12:24:39 PM5/31/09
to
On May 31, 12:13 pm, The Lasombra <TheLasom...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Archon is for Microsoft Office.  It should work on the Mac.  (I
> haven't tested it, not needing to ever use Mac.)

Huh. Interesting. I'd figure that I'd need Microsoft Office for Mac,
however...

> Completely necessary?  No.
> Print out a few of the appropriate pages, i.e. seating charts and
> tournament points, and everything else can be done by hand.

Oh, that seems reasonable. I didn't know I could do that. Print things
off. Cool.

> You'll probably want a laptop of some sort, as the mini-qualifiers and
> qualifier tournaments where the judge only judges have the potential
> to be fairly boring.

Well, yes. There is that. But if I have my laptop, I can be
entertained and not have access to the Archon :-)

The Lasombra

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May 31, 2009, 1:30:35 PM5/31/09
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On Sun, 31 May 2009 09:24:39 -0700 (PDT), Peter D Bakija wrote:

>> Archon is for Microsoft Office. �It should work on the Mac. �(I
>> haven't tested it, not needing to ever use Mac.)

>Huh. Interesting. I'd figure that I'd need Microsoft Office for Mac,
>however...

Nope, you could use the Open Office version.

http://download.openoffice.org/index.html

http://www.tenerdo.org/TheArchon1.3.zip

Peter D Bakija

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May 31, 2009, 1:41:28 PM5/31/09
to
On May 31, 1:30 pm, The Lasombra <TheLasom...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Nope, you could use the Open Office version.
>
> http://download.openoffice.org/index.html
>
> http://www.tenerdo.org/TheArchon1.3.zip

Ooh. Sweet. Lemme try that. Thanks!

-Peter

LSJ

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May 31, 2009, 2:03:44 PM5/31/09
to
Peter D Bakija wrote:
> In article <pdb6-DCADFA.1...@news.motzarella.org>,
> Peter D Bakija <pd...@lightlink.com> wrote:
>> -Western New York Qualifier Tournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,
>> 12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!
>
> So here is a question--I'm running this here Qualifier. And have never
> in my life run a tournament using Archon, as I'm a Mac guy, and as far
> as I understand, there is still no Archon for Mac. So here are a few
> questions for those in the know:
>
> A) Is there Archon for Mac yet?

Yes. Always has been. The Archon is currently developed on a Mac, as well.

> B) Is it completely necessary to run a Qualifier using Archon? I've run
> tournaments a plenty using the high tech "scrap paper" method, and it
> has always worked fine.

The Archon is not necessary.

Peter D Bakija

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May 31, 2009, 3:04:06 PM5/31/09
to
In article <fEzUl.34350$ZP4....@nlpi067.nbdc.sbc.com>,

LSJ <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote:
> Yes. Always has been. The Archon is currently developed on a Mac, as well.

Huh. I guess the issue was always "you need Excel" (or something
equivalent) which isn't something you have unless you go out of your way
to have it. But as Jeff pointed out openoffice, that seems to be working.

On to the questions...

jason...@iinet.net.au

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May 31, 2009, 8:05:15 PM5/31/09
to

> A) Is there Archon for Mac yet?

Archon works fine on my Mac. You just need Excel.

jase

Peter D Bakija

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May 31, 2009, 8:38:56 PM5/31/09
to
On May 31, 8:05 pm, jasonsv...@iinet.net.au wrote:
> Archon works fine on my Mac. You just need Excel.

Yeah, that was the trick that I didn't realize was the trick--Excel.
But Jeff pointed me in the direction of viable Microsoft Office-esque
shareware, and it works on that, so I'm all good now.

-Peter

jason...@iinet.net.au

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May 31, 2009, 10:05:35 PM5/31/09
to

> Yeah, that was the trick that I didn't realize was the trick--Excel.
> But Jeff pointed me in the direction of viable Microsoft Office-esque
> shareware, and it works on that, so I'm all good now.

All good. We mac-kids need to stick together!

jase

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 1, 2009, 12:13:50 PM7/1/09
to
As it is July 1st, I'm reposting the pertinent info for the Western
New York Qualifier in Ithaca NY on Saturday, August 1st, at 12:00
noon.

Please drop me a line if you are planning on showing up, so I can keep
track of who is coming and I can send you appropriate getting around
info--Ithaca is easy to find, but Goldwin Smith Hall, which is in the
middle of Cornell University, isn't the easiest thing in the world to
find. I'm off on Friday, so if you are showing up then, I can easily
meet you somewhere easy to find and show you around.

> -WesternNewYorkQualifierTournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,


> 12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!
>

> Ithaca is conveniently 4 hours from, well, pretty much anywhere (NYC,WesternMass, Canada, most of PA). I figure if folks are coming from out


> of town, they'll probably be coming for just Saturday. But in the name
> of making a weekend of it, Friday Night (our regular play night) will
> see your chance to become the coveted Prince of Nigeria at:
>
> - 419 Operation: Ithaca, a standard 2R+F constructed tournament, 7:00pm,
> Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!
>
> As noted, both tournaments are free (as White Wolf handed me prizes, and
> we don't need to pay for the location).
>
> If it turns out that people will be around on Sunday, and won't be
> totally sick of VTES by then, I could probably get together a draft or
> something too.
>
> If anyone is interested in showing up from out of town and want to stay
> over at a hotel, here are some options (although 'cause I'm not running
> the event in a hotel, no special deals). Ithaca isn't well known for
> good hotel rates (college town, hotels really like to gouge college
> parents who are visiting), but as it is summer, maybe the rates aren't
> horrible:
>

> Hampton Inn:http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=04H1...


> J4DRICSGBJBNMQQ?ctyhocn=ITHNYHX Kind of nice, kind of expensive (180 a
> night) not particularly conveniently located. But not super far.
>

> Super 8:http://www.super8.com/Super8/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId...


> 17 Virtually same location as Hampton Inn, less nice, cheaper (120 a
> night).
>

> Ramada Inn:http://www.ramada.com/Ramada/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId...


> 91&cid=carat_search-Ramada Kind of more convenient location, same price
> as Super 8.
>
> There are tons of other hotels/motels, and if you just go look at
> Expedia or Priceline, you can probably get a better deal. But again,
> hotels in Ithaca tend to be stupidly expensive (you can save a hundred
> bucks a night by staying 30 minutes away in Cortland or Dryden).
>
> Please send me a message if you plan on coming, so I can keep track and
> give you directions and whatever.
>
> Peter D Bakija

> p...@lightlink.comhttp://www.lightlink.com/pdb6/vtes.html

Oscar

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Jul 1, 2009, 3:37:28 PM7/1/09
to

I'm in.

--
Oscar J Garza III
Organized Play Coordinator

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 1, 2009, 4:09:44 PM7/1/09
to
On Jul 1, 3:37 pm, Oscar <orgp...@white-wolf.com> wrote:
> I'm in.

In the likely event that you are flying in (I'm not sure what other
mode of transport would work, but you never know...), flying directly
to Ithaca is a good plan, where flying to, like, Syracuse (where the
airport is, like, about 1:20 from Ithaca) which is something that the
interweb might suggest as a good idea as "Syracuse is close to
Ithaca", isn't as much.

-Peter

Oscar

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Jul 1, 2009, 4:26:02 PM7/1/09
to

Looks like a cheap direct flight to Rochester which is a little
further away, but i'll probably need a car anyways.

oscar

The Lasombra

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Jul 1, 2009, 4:29:09 PM7/1/09
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On Jul 1, 4:09 pm, Peter D Bakija <p...@lightlink.com> wrote:

> In the likely event that you are flying in (I'm not sure what other
> mode of transport would work, but you never know...), flying directly
> to Ithaca is a good plan,

Not so much, really.

Flying to Ithaca is wicked expensive from Atlanta.
Flying to Rochester is cheap and frequent.

Count me in too (just for Saturday).
If you wouldn't mind posting some directions for the college building
in question I would appreciate it.


Carpe noctem.

Lasombra

http://www.TheLasombra.com

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 1, 2009, 4:34:40 PM7/1/09
to
On Jul 1, 4:26 pm, Oscar <orgp...@white-wolf.com> wrote:
> Looks like a cheap direct flight to Rochester which is a little
> further away, but i'll probably need a car anyways.

Yeah, Rochester is about 2 hours away. But if you are renting a car
too, not a big deal at all.

-Peter

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 1, 2009, 4:36:42 PM7/1/09
to
On Jul 1, 4:29 pm, The Lasombra <thelasom...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Not so much, really.

Well, ya know, I meant in a highly abstract sense :-)

> Flying to Ithaca is wicked expensive from Atlanta.
> Flying to Rochester is cheap and frequent.

That is true of everywhere. Ithaca airport is kind of sucktackular,
really, as only rarely is there a direct flight. But if you can find
one that isn't prohibitively expensive, score!

> Count me in too (just for Saturday).
> If you wouldn't mind posting some directions for the college building
> in question I would appreciate it.

Sweet! I'll send you an e-mail.

-Peter

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 3, 2009, 2:53:54 PM7/3/09
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On May 30, 12:47 pm, Peter D Bakija <p...@lightlink.com> wrote:
> -Western New York Qualifier Tournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,
> 12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!

So just to continue to talking up of the Ithaca Qualifier, I'm gonna
keep track of who is confirmed as showing up, other than the members
of the endlessly charming Team Ithaca (including but not limited to
Dave Conroy, John Stevens, Ben Kalb, Asif Chauhdry, Ben Stein, Steve
Wampler, Greg Galyanov, Alex Korazanis, maybe Jevon Garrett):

-Dave Clooney
-Amber
-Jeff Thompson
-Oscar Garza
-D.J. Chagnon
-James Burns
-Members of Team Binghamton
-Members of Team NYC
-Members of Team Boston

Should be a good time!

-Peter


the HZA

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Jul 17, 2009, 10:15:40 AM7/17/09
to
On Jul 3, 2:53 pm, Peter D Bakija <p...@lightlink.com> wrote
> So just to continue to talking up of theIthacaQualifier, I'm gonna
> keep track of who is confirmed as showing up...

Count me in. I'll check with the rest of the greater metropolitan
Philly playgroup as well.

--heslin

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 19, 2009, 2:43:17 PM7/19/09
to
On May 30, 12:47 pm, Peter D Bakija <p...@lightlink.com> wrote:
> -WesternNewYorkQualifierTournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,

> 12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!
>
> Ithaca is conveniently 4 hours from, well, pretty much anywhere (NYC,WesternMass, Canada, most of PA). I figure if folks are coming from out

> of town, they'll probably be coming for just Saturday. But in the name
> of making a weekend of it, Friday Night (our regular play night) will
> see your chance to become the coveted Prince of Nigeria at:
>
> - 419 Operation: Ithaca, a standard 2R+F constructed tournament, 7:00pm,
> Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!
>
> As noted, both tournaments are free (as White Wolf handed me prizes, and
> we don't need to pay for the location).

As it is getting closer to August 1st, I figured I'd post some useful
information:

Cornell is covered with construction (they are losing money like
crazy, yet still are constructing 5 new buildings...). So parking is
weird. The optimal plan is to park in a lot next to The Johnson Art
Museum (which is close to Goldwin Smith Hall and open/free on
weekends) and walk 50 yards across the Arts Quad to Goldwin Smith
Hall. Another thing to consider is that food is not wildly available
on Campus (other than a soda and snack machine in the basement), which
is the trade off for not having to charge anything for the location.
You can order food to have it delivered, but there isn't really
anywhere convenient to walk to and get food--it isn't impossible to
drive off campus and eat in College Town, but that is, like, a 30
minute exercise, at best (including getting the food). We'll see what
folks want to do for dinner, but it might be prudent to bring a
sandwich for lunch or something. I'll have a cooler with drinks (non
alcoholic; you can't have open containers on campus) to share.

Here are directions to Johnson Art Museum from New York City:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Manhattan&1s=NY&2c=Ithaca&2s=NY&2z=14850&2pn=Johnson+Art+Museum#a/maps/l:::Manhattan:NY::US:40.757996:-73.985626:city:New+York+County:1/l:Johnson+Museum+of+Art:1+N+Central+Ave:Ithaca:NY:14853:US:42.44955:-76.485819:address::1/m::5:41.599414:-75.243371:0:::::1:1:1::/io:1:::::f:EN:M:/e

The directions are solid. If you are coming from Not New York, just
get to Rt 81 (an easy to get to road from either North or South of
Ithaca) and follow the directions from there. If you are coming from
somewhere that isn't reasonable to get to Rt 81 from, just mapquest
directions to Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca NY 14850.

Here is a campus map of Cornell:

http://www.cornell.edu/maps/large.cfm

Goldwin Smith Hall is kind of right in the middle on the Arts Quad.
Johnson Art Museum is right across the Arts Quad from Goldwin Smith
Hall.

Feel free to e-mail me if you need help with directions or to get my
cel phone# so you can call me if you are lost or late or something.

-Peter
pd...@lightlink.com

D.J.

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Jul 19, 2009, 6:24:07 PM7/19/09
to
On Jul 19, 2:43 pm, Peter D Bakija <p...@lightlink.com> wrote:
> Another thing to consider is that food is not wildly available
> on Campus (other than a soda and snack machine in the basement), which
> is the trade off for not having to charge anything for the location.
> You can order food to have it delivered, but there isn't really
> anywhere convenient to walk to and get food--it isn't impossible to
> drive off campus and eat in College Town, but that is, like, a 30
> minute exercise, at best (including getting the food).

Is the Green Dragon (in the basement of Sibley) open over the summer?
I know they're closed during breaks, but not sure if summer counts as
a break or not, and also not sure whether Cornell has classes in
session that week anyhow. If that's an option, it's none too far
away.

Collegetown's not horribly far away, though, in any case.

- D.J.

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 19, 2009, 8:22:51 PM7/19/09
to
On Jul 19, 6:24 pm, "D.J." <dj...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Is the Green Dragon (in the basement of Sibley) open over the summer?

Ooh! I have no idea. But I'll check. That's a good idea!

-Peter

Raintar

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Jul 21, 2009, 12:19:04 AM7/21/09
to
Oh this looks pretty cool, if the NYC group decides to go down and I
can hitch I ride with them I'd love to come down. I just gotta see
what they're doing.

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 26, 2009, 12:25:50 PM7/26/09
to
Just a quick update on directions to Goldwin Smith Hall, at Cornell
for the Qualifier and/or Friday Night 2R+F constructed tournament.

Cornell is absurdly under construction. The whole thing. So if you
follow mapquest directions to the Johnson Museum of Art (which is very
near Goldwin Smith Hall and has the parking lot we can use), you will
discover that a big chunk of Stuart Avenue (which is right at the end
of the directions) is closed. There are detour signs to specifically
point you to the Johnson Museum, so as long as you follow those,
you'll be ok (if you are driving north on Stuart, you'll hit the Road
Closed sign, which will send you to the right. Your next left will
take you to the Museum. The signs point this way). There are also,
right before the Johnson Museum Parking lot, lots of big orange signs
that say "ROAD CLOSED AHEAD". The road is closed ahead, but right
after the Johnson Museum. So ignore them and just go park.

When you are parked in the Johnson Museum lot, Goldwin Smith Hall is
about 100 yards directly across the big grassy Arts Quad in the
walking slightly up hill direction.


On Jul 19, 2:43 pm, Peter D Bakija <p...@lightlink.com> wrote:
> > -WesternNewYorkQualifierTournament on Saturday August 1st, 2009,
> > 12:00 noon, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!
>
> > Ithaca is conveniently 4 hours from, well, pretty much anywhere (NYC,WesternMass, Canada, most of PA). I figure if folks are coming from out
> > of town, they'll probably be coming for just Saturday. But in the name
> > of making a weekend of it, Friday Night (our regular play night) will
> > see your chance to become the coveted Prince of Nigeria at:
>
> > - 419 Operation: Ithaca, a standard 2R+F constructed tournament, 7:00pm,
> > Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Free!
>
> > As noted, both tournaments are free (as White Wolf handed me prizes, and
> > we don't need to pay for the location).

> Here are directions to Johnson Art Museum fromNewYorkCity:
>

> http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Manhattan&1s=NY&2c=Ithaca&2s=NY&2z=14...
>
> The directions are solid. If you are coming from NotNewYork, just

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 28, 2009, 10:36:12 AM7/28/09
to
Quick reminder/hassling!

Friday Night, 7:00pm, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY. 2R+F constructed tournament. Free!

Saturday 12:00 noon (probably actually starting, like, 12:30, but I
like to aim high!), same place, Western New York Qualifier. 3R+F.
Free!

-Peter

D.J.

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Jul 28, 2009, 11:03:40 AM7/28/09
to

No Sunday Rapid Thought on the schedule? :-(

- D.J.

Peter D Bakija

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Jul 28, 2009, 11:08:21 AM7/28/09
to
On Jul 28, 11:03 am, "D.J." <dj...@comcast.net> wrote:
> No Sunday Rapid Thought on the schedule?  :-(

Oh, heh--probably that too. I just wanted to see who was around and
what they wanted to do. So there is probably something (likely a Rapid
Thought Tournament) on Sunday. But I'm playing that one by ear.

-Peter

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