New updates from new friends

It was about the worst that the weather gets in Portland today -- sky the color of a madman's nightmares, cold, and insidious rain that resists umbrellas. But I'd tucked away a few recaps of the cruise for just such an occasion, and now, warm and dry finally, I'll share a couple with you.

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Stepto's finished his epic and enjoyable recap of the Joco Cruise at his blog. What a treat to see a bit behind the scenes. He reveals a few things that we secretly wondered, like how big Jonathan Coulton's stateroom really was, something we'd gossiped a bit about ourselves. He continues his loving tribute to Mike Phirman. And he tells us what it was like to get up and perform something new for us all:

"Dear JoCoCruiseCrazy members, I didn’t even blink in the transition. You were so awesome, and reacted so well, that I moved from a performance that was practiced and defined to one that was all new and never performed without one single ounce of fear or worry. You guys were so awesome and so receptive that you made anyone on that stage feel like they could take the riskiest possible choices and you would entertain the notion, and would cheer even harder if it didn’t work out, just because someone had the guts to try it."

The amazing thing about the Joco cruise was how often I heard everyone say the same thing -- not just the performers, but even the lowly sea monkeys like me. The positive attitude, the reward for trying, the appreciation for getting out and being different, flowed both ways. I can only imagine this is why so many of us have resolved to pick up those lost projects start doing something we enjoy with our lives.

Here's the video of Stepto's new material, as posted by adhesivemedstrip. It's from his book, which you can order in a variety of formats, but the nook version is here.

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I also enjoyed a post from a fellow fans, Mageuzi. He makes this spot-on observation:

"Besides the concerts, I just have to say that it was a really strange sensation being in the same location as all these well-known personalities. It wasn’t uncommon to, say, walk through the buffet restaurant and see Wil Wheaton come from the other direction, passing right by you. Or doing the lifeboat drill, and finding Jonathan Coulton standing a few feet away with his family. Or walking out by the pool on the Lido deck to see John Hodgman and John Roderick sitting at a table, the former wearing a large sun hat and sunglasses so as to not be recognized – unless you already knew he was on the ship, of course."

Go over and read the whole post, which provides a thorough look at the experience from another angle.

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Chicazul, maker of all things awesome, provides the first in what I hope will be many posts about the trip, where she describes the hazards of making and supplying the sea monkeys with 400 servings of Nanaimo Bars:

"I never actually asked permission to bring four pans of dessert on to a cruise ship. The closest I got was emailing Insight Cruises to ask if I could bring baked goods for my friends, neglecting to specify just how generously I defined 'friend.' I rallied around the brief reply of 'Yes baked goods are allowed' and hoped to learn to talk fast if anyone challenged me."

I'm not going to spoil the ending for you, so check out the rest of the highly entertaining post here.


There's Chicazul and the Nanaimo Bars. View this image and a whole gallery of Chicazul's awesome outfits, some of which she made on the boat itself, in Angelastic's flickr page. And if you have the money, go ask Chicazul to make you something amazing. Everyone will be jealous.

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Finally, Wil Wheaton has updated his blog with a touching post about his family, who were all on the cruise. The Wheatons, as I've alluded to before, were a bit of a shock, because they were all just so darned good looking. But they were also level-headed, fun, kind, and gregarious. For example, when we met Wil Wheaton in a cigar shop in Grand Cayman (subject of an upcoming post), Ryan made some easy, off-the-cuff jokes with us about the $200, 3-foot long cigar on display.

You just don't expect such attractive people to be so nice.

Go check out the blog, featuring more of Atom Moore's fantastic photos.