unforum

[ironchefmike]

Oh, all right. I kind of avoided this just so Ms. Rutherford wouldn't feel like she couldn't do anything and not have it posted on the unforums. She's warm, funny, smart, and kind, as you already know from past interactions with her.

Indeed, we met up with Ms. Rutherford on Friday, November 19th, thanks to Avatrix, who had been communicating with Kristen after a chat session. We decided to meet her close to her hotel, which was about a block or two away from the Copley T stop. I decided to take the long way over down Newbury Street, to see if any haunts have pumpkin pie-flavored ice cream. By the time I get to Copley, Avatrix and Ensign Jennings (both of Team Chowda) are waiting. I join them, followed soon thereafter by LouMac (of the Great State of Rhode Island), and Ensign MacDuff (Team Chowda). Ensign Macduff has brought his papier-mache sculpture of the ILB beehive with him.

Ms. Rutherford arrives last, and we all introduce ourselves. We ask her where she would like to eat, and she suggests eating Thai, so we find Typhoon, an Asian restaurant that also serves Japanese and Korean cuisine. (Not a 5-star, but probably a 3++ or a low 4. I didn't get a look at the wine list, but the bar seems well-stocked. Ambience is nice, although it can get quite crowded and, therefore, loud. The waitress was extremely friendly, and quite entertaining, attempting to pour two beers at once with one hand into our glasses - didn't spill a drop!)

Once we sit down, Avatrix gives her the gifts from Team Chowda: 1 jar of smooth peanut butter, 1 jar of crunchy peanut butter, a hippopotamus plush doll, and a small hippopotamus figurine.

I'm not going to recite everything Ms. Rutherford said word-for-word, especially because I'm sure you've all heard this stuff in one form another. Amongst the things we talked about:
- The origin of "Yum-Yum."
- How she got the role of Durga/Melissa and the Sleeping Princess.
- What it's like to be a voice actor.
- What it was like recording the scenes and working for Jane, Sean and Elan.
- we still don't know the motivation behind Microsoft/Bungie funding ilovebees.

Just wanting to listen to Ms. Rutherford talk about her experiences, I generally kept quiet. Almost too quiet. Creeeeepy quiet. Hopefully she doesn't think I'm the crazy stalker type.

We walk over to a local pub to meet her husband Vin (also a really swell, funny, down-to-earth person), who is in town to shoot a reality show. There, she picks up her amazingly adorable puppy dog, whose name I'll leave for her to tell. We walk over to JP Licks, a local ice cream joint which does happen to have pumpkin-flavored ice cream (and yes, it was delicious).

We walk her back to her hotel and we take a couple photos, which Avatrix may or may not post at some point. We do get to talk about my end of the "Enemy of Mankind" phone call for a bit, and she remembers every bit (I still can't listen to that highlight clip, it's just too painful).
In the end, Ms. Rutherford spent a whopping 4 hours just hanging out with us, which was SO COOL. We say our goodbyes, and that's it. It was a very nice evening, hanging out with Team Chowda again and meeting LouMac for the first time.

Cheers

[Ens. Jennings]

Meeting in Boston

[Avatrix]

Boston Pics

[StarCreator]

[INCyr]

[Avatrix]

It depends which line you're on, I guess. I tell most people to avoid the orange line--it's pretty sketchy, and the least clean of all the lines. The green line is pretty slow, because half of the time it runs above ground like trolley cars, and stops frequently. The red line is pretty nice, as is the blue line (which I only use for the airport).

And yeah, they still have those moving sections on the green T's. Now they have "Robo-T's". They look high tech, but really aren't that good--less space for people. The one advantage is that a recorded voice announces the stops, so visitors don't have to decipher the boston accent of conductors.

[ironchefmike]

[Machiavelli]

Heh. Kind of an odd place to post this, but...

I'm up in Boston on business Dec 6-8th if any Beekeepers want to grab dinner or a brew and swap axon stories or whatnot for a few.

[StarCreator]