JCCC3 Photo Book

JoCo Cruise Crazy 3: Day 7

The final day on the boat. :^(  Fortunately there was too much to do to think about the fact that we would have to go home soon! The one problem that I have with JoCo Cruise Crazy is that there is just too much stuff to do!  The official stuff, the unofficial stuff, the unofficial official stuff!  And every bit of it is worth attending, but you can't attend it all! Before departing on JCCC3, I had already come to terms with the fact that I was just going to have to miss out on things.  There was no way to do everything and still sleep (and trust me, me not sleeping would have not been fun for anybody). Even if you were to not sleep, there are often 3 or 4 completely equally awesome things happening at the same time. So getting over "missing out" is something you have to do if you're going to go on a JoCo Cruise Crazy. 

When I learned that David Rees would be teaching pencil sharpening on the last day of the cruise, however, I knew that it didn't matter what else was going on at that time.  I had to be there. I have a pencil that David Rees sharpened for me on JCCC2, and, while I can't promise that I would remember to grab it in case of a fire, it is certainly a beloved possession. So I was excited.  

We made time for one last brief dip in the cantilevered hot tubs that had become one of our favorite spots.  I'm presuming to speak for Jay here, but it was certainly one of my favorite places to not do anything at all.  Brief, though, because I spotted Wil and Anne Wheaton on the pool deck and I didn't yet have Wil's autograph on my poster.  I always feel bad interrupting the famous people when they're just trying to hang out and relax, but I did what any determined person would do.  I asked Jay to ask Wil for his autograph on my poster.  ;^)  I did summon up the courage to ask Anne for her autograph, though.  Because, and I think these were my exact words, "you're funny on Twitter."  So I have Anne Wheaton's autograph on my JCCC3 poster.  I'm missing some of the actual performers, but I have the funny Twitter lady! As an aside, I don't even follow Wil on Twitter. I kind of feel bad about that now.  They're both lovely people.  Like all of the performers on any JCCC, really.  The entertainers are a bunch of highly talented, very friendly, down-to-earth people. 

Oh!  Pencil sharpening! I was so excited about having almost asked a famous person for their autograph that I nearly forgot! We hung around the appointed location with about 10 other people grasping unsharpened pencils determinedly until we finally spotted David Rees.  It was far too windy outside for pencil-sharpening, so we went on a search for an interior location that would work well for us. On this, the seventh day of the cruise, we almost came to regret joining the Elevator Temperance Brigade.  We started on deck 11, went down to deck 5, and then up to deck 14.  The stair people still arrived before the elevator people.  :^)  And we'd found ourselves a relatively vacant bar with ample seating and tables.  David handed out box cutters and sand paper and began the tutorial.  We were also treated to a rather colorful tale of why he'd been a touch slow to get started that morning.  It involved chairs and injuries and mayonnaise that nobody could explain.  By the end, we had beautifully sharpened pencils, using just a box cutter and 200-grit sandpaper!

Beautiful pencil tips!

That evening's concert featured John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton. Judge John Hodgman laid down the law where internet temptation and dishwasher loading were concerned.  It seems that David Rees' (founder and avid adherent of the WiFi Temperance Brigade) friend and cruise cabinmate had tricked him into viewing something on the internet!  For shame! The court found in David's favor, for the court is a reasonable man. 

Or is he? For the court also sided with the wife of Jonathan Coulton, who insists that silverware be loading into the dishwasher caddy according to type.  I have to question the sanity of a man who rules in favor of nested flatware. It will never be clean.  IT WILL NEVER BE CLEAN!

Judge John Hodgman: mad man? 

During the intermission, I went outside on the deck to look at SURPRISE! NASSAU! Earlier in the day, it had been announced that we had all the engines at full power heading straight to Nassau, Bahamas to drop off a passenger with a medical emergency.  We were in port for about 45 minutes, engines running, using the side thrusters to stay next to the dock so that the passenger could be unloaded without us needing to tie up. According to passengers on the other ship in port, we were long gone before the ambulance with the passenger had departed for the hospital.  A quick stop, but I did catch some nice photos of Nassau before heading back down to the rest of the concert. 

What little I saw of Nassau. 

Slight deviation in our course.

There were so many great parts in Jonathan Coulton's set.  There was the Fancy Pants Parade, Scarface singing Skullcrusher Mountain, the Helper Monkeys being invited up to sing Code Monkey...so much goodness. 

The fanciest pants that ever were!

The best, and most bittersweet part, however, was all of the performers singing Sloop John B, just as they did last year.  It's a great way to end the last concert (song starts at around 3:20).

We had our final dinner with Nenad as our waiter, where he sang Happy Birthday to Mike Phirman for one final time, with his pretty fantastic voice. 

Nenad was the best!

Later that night was a complimentary cocktail hour to close out JCCC3.  I'd still not managed to find John Roderick to sign my poster and had all but given up hope when Angela spotted him and came running at me "JOHN RODERICK! I FOUND JOHN RODERICK! COME QUICKLY!" Those may have not been her exact words, but the sentiment was received.  I went out to join the line of a few people patiently awaiting his autograph.  He not only signed my poster, but drew little puffs of smoke coming out of the smoke stack on the boat.  They are my most favorite puffs of smoke ever!  

With my Five Fingers, naturally. 

I can't believe how much happened on the last day.  I can't believe how much fun was packed into one little week.  And I definitely can't wait until next year!

Adieu! 

JoCo Cruise Crazy 3: Day 6

The cruise is winding down now.  Just two sea days until we would be back in Florida.  :^(

We tried to keep thoughts of reality and the return thereto at bay and enjoy the last couple of days on the boat. 

First with some free hot chocolate on the Promenade.  

Jay is showing off the many features of his NOT MY D90.

Then with some swimming.

I'm holding Jay's camera above a giant bucket of water.
He may or may not be really nervous right now.

Before the concert, I decided that it was imperative that I go over to Analog Yelp to  review the onboard ice cream establishment "Sprinkles," which is named a bunch of LIES.

It gets one star, but I gave it the second star because it is,
after all, still ice cream. 

That afternoon's concert featured Randall Munroe of the web comic XKCD, the Doubleclicks, and Wil Wheaton. 

Randall Munroe treated us to a presentation based on a story from earlier that week of John Roderick stealing and crashing his father's plane when he was a teenager in Alaska. Randall calculated what Roderick's fate would have been on the other celestial bodies in our solar system. SPOILERS: Roderick dies a lot. 

John Roderick does not fare well on Venus. 

I'd not seen the Doubleclicks before.  They're a talented duo of sisters who play the guitar and cello and make delightfully geeky music.  They have a song that makes fun of people who yell "Freebird" at musicians.  And I was of course sitting next to the smart-ass who thought he should yell "Freebird" during this song.  Oh, the shame. 


Wil did his typical routine that is a combination of heart-warming and hysterical.  And now I know what would have happened if Robocop were a 1980s sitcom. Oh, that Robocop!

We were able to catch a nice sunset from our room before dinner, now that we were heading northward.  And thanks to Jay being super awesome (Freebird-ing aside) and/or insane, I took photos of it using his Nikon D5100, which he let me use for the rest of the trip, perhaps in an effort to see what sort of fancy replacement camera I would buy him when I no doubt dropped his overboard. 

I miss you most of all!

That evening was the second and final formal night for dinner, so we got all gussied up minus the fezzes this time. 

After dinner, there was Super Sekrit Movie Night by the pool, the one time that I will give a pass to the giant annoying screen on the pool deck.  Fun was had, geeky cinema was watched, and I even managed to spot Randall Munroe and got him to sign my poster.  A super end to a super day.  :^)