On to NYC - Part II

So...we've arrived...in New York City!

It was a quick trip, but if you're in Baltimore already...and there are people in New York you miss tremendously, then why not just scoot on up to New York for two days?

Kathryn hadn't been to New York since she was about 6, and Caitlin had never been.

It was WAY too quick of a trip to show them everything. All we could do is hit a high point

or two and plan a trip to return and do the rest!

One of the best parts of Times Square, the M&M Store. 3 floors of M&M's!

How many Elmo's are in New York City? Brad and I have an Elmo picture from a couple

of trips ago...I guess it's a NYC Tourist thing...See the Statue of Liberty, a Broadway play,

Times Square and get an Elmo Picture.... This was Friday night on our journey from

Brass Monkey to O'Lunney's with Will, Emily, Brent & Ryan...

Kathryn and Caitlin in Central Park....spot sort of resembles a

picture on the Break Big Entertainment website...maybe under...Love Advice???

I'm just sayin.... :-)

Birthday Fun!!! While we were in NYC, on Monday, we celebrated Brent's birthday!

If you don't know Brent and the rest of this crew at the party, then keep scrolling on

down to previous posts for introductions....

It was his day, his choices of what to do. A typical Brent decision, and WAY fun, I might add,

was an afternoon at Dave & Busters (basically, Chuck E Cheese for adults, ha).

Below, Brent & Caitlin showin' out on some Guitar Hero...

A little basketball...

And a trivia game for all of us...obviously a quick break for me behind the camera.

Surprising how smart, and dumb, we can all be. I will just leave it at that, my friends.

No need to share our ignorance with the rest of the world. Your welcome, Kathryn..ha.

The Birthday Boy & Girl.... Brent and Cara

In the south, we call that "Killin Two Birds with One Stone"

Well as I said, if you will scroll down to previous posts, you will find an introduction to how

this whole crew met. But this is Brent, the Birthday Boy, and one of my greatest friends.

Also in previous posts, you will notice that we always have these hug pictures, and

normally there has to be two...One for the Kid In Him...

And one for me, who would rather have the good picture.

It was truly a HAPPY Birthday for Brent!! (Which was the goal)

Not good times, but GREAT times!!

So about 20 of us met at Faces and Names to celebrate the birthdays.
Another reason it was such a good birthday for him, was because his mini-me, or

brother Ryan was in town. Brent does adore the boy, and getting to spend

the weekend with them, I got to see why and totally concur :-)......

This is Ryan below, with Caitlin and Kathryn.

Double the Birthdays, Double the Cakes, Double the Fun!

Blow them out...Make a Wish!

I guess I should explain that Cara is a friend of Emily's, Brent and Will's

business partner. (Yet again, intros in previous posts.)

Getting the candles off the cake, ready to dive in...

Some of us just lay them on the table, some use it as a toothpick,

or whatever was happening here...
Gary King! We do love Gary King! A trip to New York isn't complete without him!
It's not a birthday without a little Clemson...

I had ordered Clemson balloons for the birthday and just stuck them in my back pack

thinking, surely it's easy enough to find a place with a helium tank in NYC....right.

But who cares, a straw and hot air... works every time!

Me and Ryan.... and a little story about some Ranch dressing....

but well, we'll just leave that alone...

One of my favorite people... but we missed you Susie!
And that WAS a picture of me and Gary King. For those of you who blog, you know

that it is near impossible to insert a picture in the center of a blog...so dang it, didn't

mean to hit that button....oh well.

One of the best parts of taking folks on these trips to New York is that my

friends get to meet my friends! We all just have the best time together!

Caitlin and GaryAwww...look, it's the other "greatest friend"! My Willis...

(Meet Will in previous posts, too)

Now when nights turn into morning, on occasion, adults have been known

to take up childish ways.... or so I've heard :-)

A Little Brotherly Love...

Or Battle of the 5 Year Olds...

After coming in at oh...6 A.M.ish... we were doing good to make it to

LATE lunch! So, we had sandwiches big enough to feed a 3rd World Country

at Carnegie Deli....

Our flight out, and Ryan's, all left within about 45 minutes of each other, but we had

a couple of hours before it was time to leave for the airport....so a little people watching

in Times Square! So, we hit the steps and just relaxed for a while...

Ryan, Me & Brent..... Love that Auburn and Clemson are represented...

I wasn't kidding...relaxed.

Caitlin....where is yo' Dunkey?

Getting ready to leave, and wishing we didn't have to :-(

L to R: Cait-Land, Big Dog, Juja, Mickey & KatDawg

We truly couldn't have asked for a better weekend...

Days (some) may (or may not) remember, with the friends you'll never forget!

Just a few other notes, for those of us who were there...so we don't forget,

* there was Kurt Cobain & the first Jeep being made in 1844

* there was the birth of Ugly Baby...that's still wrong

* there was MAJOR DRAMA over how I placed the candles on the freakin cake :-)

* there was "what the * do you want?"

* there was a random well..guy that followed us back to the hotel then

"friended" us all on Facebook basically by morning...

* there was a near choking to death, and a busted lip

* there was ranch dressing

* there was a guy all decked out in his Bobcat shirt when I got to NYC ;-)

* there was me, you (B), Ryan, Caitlin, Kathryn, Will, Emily, Ken,

Cara, Gary, Mark, Fernando, Taryn, Megs, Joe,

and many more of your friends all in one weekend!

* there was just the best time ever!

Happy Birthday AB!

A Trip to Baltimore...then on to NYC - Part I

Back to Baltimore....Round 2 of the Horrorfind Convention

Kathryn, Justin, Me, Bo, Brad & Caitlin .. Good game folks, good game :-)

On Friday, September 25th, Brad and I headed back to Baltimore to represent

Freezer Locker Films at the Horrorfind Convention with the boys from Fearmakers.

Our second movie, SAVAGE, was being premiered on the following day.

A couple of pictures of the booth....

The movie was a success and was well received.... And OF COURSE we had a GREAT time

with our friends, and seeing some of the cast and crew again.

Below, Tony Becker talking with the fans and signing autographs...

Marty Kove (Karate Kid, Rambo...and SAVAGE, of course) with a fan who brought

a onesie that said "No Mercy" to be autographed for his baby. Hmmm....

Justin, Caitlin & Kathryn... We introduced Caitlin Cooper and Kathryn Langley to the

Horrorfind World this year. Something everyone should experience, ha. Justin Soponis

is part of the Fearmakers team and was a producer of the movie...

He also handles general entertainment..... LOL

Question and Answer session for actors after the screening...

Typical Brad....

One of the SAVAGE movie posters....

There just are no words.... And for heaven's sake...don't miss the shoes...

This was a KID dressed up for the costume contest...

Me and Brad Saturday night after the premiere and dinner...

Just hanging out and visiting with all our peeps..

Bright and early Sunday morning at Penn Station, Baltimore....Me, Kathryn & Caitlin headed to

Penn Station, New York City and Brad headed to Washington, DC....We completed the

whole Planes, Trains & Automobiles thing on this trip!

The "train thing" was a new experience for me, but one I loved and would do again. I highly

recommend it if you have the extra time, since it does take longer than flying.

Our train left Baltimore about 10:10 a.m. and arrived in New York City at about 12:45 p.m.

Not a bad ride, at all. Train seats have A LOT more room than planes and are WAY more

comfortable! Next stop, New York City..... check out part II of this post...lots of fun times left!!

Eat Mo' Cake...The History of Victory Cake

The Legend of The Victory Cake....

Back in beginning of the 80's when Ric Hall came back to ECHS as the Head Football

Coach, his wife, "Miss" Kaye, would make Victory Cake the following Monday after every win.

As the years have passed, Victory Cake has become Strawberry Victory Cake.

You can't imagine what a big deal a piece of cake is to a football team! The above picture is our new "Eat Mo Cake" shirt. It started somewhat as a joke. The coaches had these printed to

wear to practice one day, but when the shirts came in before a Friday pep rally, they decided to

show up at the pep rally sporting their new shirts! Grown men, especially coaches, wearing

shirts with hot pink writing, WILL get some attention. The rest is history, we gave in and

started taking orders for the shirt, and Mo' Cake shirt sales are still going strong!

Nothing but some cake mix, "store bought" icing and pie filling...guarantees a smile!

We make 4 pans of cake, approximately 120 pieces of cake for 60 boys, and it's
gone in a matter of minutes! The first two in the oven...

Last two in the holding pattern ;-)

All four left to cool....

Iced and ready to go...

On the picnic table ready to go...Just waiting for the boys

to come off the practice field...

"Miss" Kaye and I often discuss how past players will still ask if we're making that Victory Cake

when we see them. It's no special, secret recipe, or grand gesture...It's just a little something

that says "thank you for your hard work, we're here, we're proud of you and we support you"!

Just further proof that it's the little things that mean so much.

To all the fans and mamas that have made cake, THANKS! We're making a difference! Go Cats!