The POST ScOoTeRpAlOoZa thread - all afterthoughts here

I had a MAGNIFICENT time with all who attended....the weather certainly worked in our favor...the projector loaned to us by Medical Video Systems and JVC looked like a million damn dollars....and the prizes we gave away where top notch!!!!!!

I need to thank ALL who made this possible:
Ron and Parker and The Home Theater Forum
Digital Eyes and Mark Harill
Medical Video Systems/For Home Theater and Dennis Shepard
JVC and Rob Payesko
DVD International and David Goodman

Please, please, PLEASE let these folks know how much you appreciated their participation and keep them in mind when shopping!

To my sons Greg and Morgan..your help was instrumental in all of this.
And to , as she is known as on HTF, The Lovely Michelle...your support and help yesterday especially during the event itself was invaluable!

What a great group of folks you HTF'ers are! And keep watching..I hope to do another get together this fall.


Scooter

I too had a wonderful time yesterday.
The flick was GREAT and I wish I had the space in my room for one of those DILA projectors. The picture was simply beautiful.
Mother nature was on our side too and didn’t spoil the days with a single drop of rain.

I was one of the lucky ones to come home with prizes.
I got a nice package of SIX DVD’s from one of our gracious sponsors.

Oh my GOSH there was so much food there I think Scooter could easily host another party both TODAY and Monday….HINT…HINT !!!
It was great talking to old friends again.
Many that I met on the Forum and out in California at the two national meets I attended.

And if I ever have a lost package at FedEX, I’m having Scooter call them up and bang some heads together for me.
When I arrived at about 12:30 yesterday he was on TWO phone lines with different people.
The Projector DID arrive early in the afternoon and I was half expecting the CEO of FedEX to be driving the truck.

One final thanks to Scooter and family for inviting us into their home.

Shawn S

It has to be said...

I think this was the BEST ScooterPalooza ever!!!!
More members than ever. More wives and girlfriends, showing it's not just a "guy" thing. Amazing Food, and a seemingly endless supply of it. Naturally, Scooter's boundless hospitality and energy. Also, a kickin' movie on the big screen, as always.

These are the reasons I've been heading to NJ for the last 3 years. I couldn't ask for any more.

Yet...thanks to some long-standing friends(Digital Eyes and Medical Video Systems) as well as new ones(read: JVC and DVD International)...this Palooza had MANY more reasons to attend.

This year, as with last, Digital Eyes provided amazing door prizes, as did DVD Int'l. To take things to a whole new level, MVS and JVC loaned Scooter a new D-ILA projector which was AMAZING!

Let me be clear, I'd make the trip to Scooter's for the cameraderie and shop talk alone. These bonuses, however, are showing me things I wouldn't get to see otherwise.

I actually won two DVD's, which I'm really thankful for. Also, I got to see the amazing performance of the JVC D-ILA projector.

This machine rocks! The image brightness and clarity on the screen...remember, this is outside on a humid night... were amazing. Also, I couldn't detect any pixels or screendoors.
I don't know much about this technolgy, but I'm going to learn. If it was as good as it was -- outside, with LOTS of ambient light -- how must it be inside, in a dark home theater? Whew! The bar has been raised, folks.

Don't miss the next one.

Until then... Scooter, thank you again, for opening your home to my friends and I. Bill and Maureen had a great time. Also Greg, it was great to talk with you and hear your music...Afro-Puddin. Way to represent, dude. It sounded great. Morgan, too. Thanks for putting up with all of us, and loading up awesome games. That HALO match is going to be legendary. It's a shame we couldn't see Rogue Leader or HALO on the D-ILA, but I'm just happy to have seen the Evangelion game. I hope all 3 of you slept late today. You deserve it.

Thanks again.

Matt

I'll throw my two cents in again. This was my first meet with the HTF'ers and it sure won't be my last. I had a GREAT time. The day and night just flew by. The DILA projector was drool-worthy, the prizes were fabulous. We are lucky to have such generous sponsors!!

Of course, the best part was all of you folks. I look forward to the next one.

Thanks to Ron, Scooter & Michelle and everybody who made it a great day!

As I mentioned in the previous thread:

My thoughts on Scooterpalooza 2002:

Good food. Lots of it.

Dozens of very cool people that I could have talked with for another six hours.

More food.

Morgan and his cool pals and their 7-player Halo-fest that they let me participate in. (Keep reloadin' those weapons, guys!)

Two wacky dogs that howled until we let 'em roam free to pick through the half-eaten hot-dog rolls and those nasty-ass soft pretzels.

Lots of cool prizes for many of us! (A personal thanks to all the generous sponsors. I didn't get my name called personally, but the prizes were a nice addition!)

Dana Fillhart is a classy gentleman and a cool guy. Thanks for the ride, DF.

There was lots of food.

Leonardo - coolest baby I've ever met in Budd Lake.

Scoot, Pack and Ronbo organizing, introducing, and feeding everyone at every possible opportunity.

I got to see the universe's largest lollipop.

--

Great event, great people and (yes) great food. I had a great time, and the only thing that would make the next one even better: more participants. We had a solid back-yard full of people today, but hey - the more the merrier!

Thanks to everyone who showed up today. I had a ball.

And a massive thanks to Scooter. It's very rare that I'm invited to the same house twice in two years...let alone a house with its own movie theater! Scooter and his sons (and of course the lovely Michele) are some of the most gracious and groovy hosts I've ever met. Thanks guys.

I had an awesome time as well. Thanks a million to Scooter and his family for being such great hosts. Thanks even more to the sponsors who make this possible and more fun (who doesn't like prizes?) and of course JVC and Medical Video Systems for a projector that made me think "oh this isnt anything i havent seen in a good movie theater [with systems probably costing 10 times as much]... oh wait.. i'm not in a movie theater!" .. so now this means when I go to buy a projector I'm not going to be satisifed with anything less.. which of course means i'll have to sell my car to have one, but c'est la vie
I'll definitely try to make it next time and bring some more people with me!
thanks again scooter!

What a great time! I just got in about 10 minutes ago from one of the most relaxing times I have had since the last Scooterpalooza!

Scooter is the man when it comes to opening up his house for a bunch of people that get together for a fine night of great food, wonderful people and a movie to boot.

As everyone has said already the JVC D ILA projector was phenominal. When it wasn't there when we first arrived my heart sank but then I noticed that Scooter had two phones going at the same time with the guys at FedEx and pulled off getting it to us with plenty of time to spare.

For me it was a great personal experience because I was able to meet a friend that I have talked to over the years multiple times. And that person is Mark Harrill of Digital Eyes. Mark has gone out of his way many many times to make sure that Ron and I were taken care of with our DVD purchases. It was a great joy for me to be able to meet him.

I also have to say that Michelle is one fantastic lady. She and Scooter make the best hosts and friends you could ever ask for. Everytime I meet her it is like I have known her for years. The same with Scooter. Both a just good people and great to be around.

To everyone that attended thanks so much for making this the best Scooterpalooza ever. Thanks go to Digital Eyes and DVD International for great door prizes and support of this event. Thanks go to JVC and Dennis Shepard with Medical Video Systems for sending us one of THE best front projection systems I have had the pleasure of seeing. (And this was on a screen with about a 30 foot diagonal and was very watchable in the evening light before the Sun went down).

What a great time.

Parker

Thanks Scooter!!

I had a blast, it was very nice placing faces with names that I recognized from the forum. The food was great too.

Until next year!

Gregg

Let me add my sincere thanks to Scooter (and family), Ron, Parker, JVC, Digital Eyes, For Home Theater, DVD International, and yes, even FedEx.

I had a great time at ScooterPalooza this year, and can't wait until the next one!! The food was unending and fantastic! Standouts were the Philly soft pretzels, chili dogs, the deviled eggs, and a phenomenal cheesecake.

The Padron 3000 cigars from Steve Simon were also very tasty and complemented the food nicely!

I had fun setting up the projector, and even taking the drive to Radio Shack to find connectors we needed. The JVC D-ILA projector looked great even without using the QuadScan scaler. Thanks to Gregg Loewen for providing his Toshiba portable progressive scan DVD player for use with the projector!

The movie was great, the company was great, the food was great....what else can I say! ScooterPalooza is THE East Coast HTF Event to attend! I am already looking forward to next year!

Alina and I had a great time.

Many thanks to Ron, Parker, Scooter and Michelle and all the other organizers for this terrific event.

I was siting at the lucky table, which allowed to me walk away with 6 DVDs

That projector was outputing a stunning picture and it wasn't even dark yet!

The greatest part of it was finally putting a face on some of the many names around here, like the not terrible after all Ronald "Don't mess with this forum" Epstein .

Dana Fillhart has got to be the coolest guy west of the Hudson . I am looking forward to many great conversations in the future.

Scott "does he ever shut up " Weineberg was the liveliest character I have seen in a while, it is impossible to not laugh around him.

It was a pleasure talking to Micheal Lee and his wife, very friendly and easygoing couple.

Others include Sam Posten, Phil "Ange is not my twin" Hamm, Aaron Silvermann, Ed Faver etc... I hope to see ya'll again very soon.

I must apologize for leaving in a bit of hurry: The 'missus' was very affected by the movie as it dug into a very personal subject for her - the plight of military wives. So for the rest of the week end I have had to keep my regrets for not being a service man to myself

In all, a great weekend, looking forward to the next one.

--
Holadem

I really enjoyed this party and got to meet a lot of old and new friends. The food was great and there were plenty to choose from. Great atmosphere and that new projector, that was a treat!!

Aaron and I were aiming at arriving early to the party, however we got ourselves into a traffic accident on the way. Apparently not everyone knows that you need to do a full stop before a right on red. So the car behind us drove into mine, leaving my license plate imprinted on his bumper:

Decorated Bumper

I also won a scooter! (not the real one...). Thanks JVC. Have to send a picture of me on it later on.

Ron Birk

I'd like to congratulate Scooter and Company for a successful event. As most of you know, I was prevented from attending because of my wife's recent health problems so I had to miss my first ScooterPalooza ever. From all indications here it was a real blast. I look forward to the official "report" so I can share the experience vicariously.

I only wish I could have seen some of you (some new, and some again) in person, but that just wasn't in the cards. Even though I wasn't there in person I was there in spirit. I hope that conditions will allow me to attend next year.

Scooter, you da' man!

Well, I must say well done! I had made the trip last year with Matt Krapf and we had a blast at Scooter Palooza 2001, this year's party did the near impossible and topped it!

I must of course first thank Scooter and his sons for welcoming us into their home with overwelming warmth and generosity that made us all feel more than just welcome, especially to the first timers! Greg, Afro Puddin' did sound great and we wish you a lot of luck with the band! With that, thanks also goes to the Lovely Michelle, who has to be one of the nicest people (as my girlfriend agrees) I've ever met!

Ron and Parker, thank you also for not only helping to organize and host the party with Scooter, but arranging the wonderful "toys" for the evening...and also for providing a "town square" with this forum for all of us to talk, debate, question, help, and expound apon all things home theater and movies!!!!

I also wish to thank all the attendees of Scooter Palooza 2002! Not only for making a good showing for the studios and representing the hobby, but also for being such a great crowd! This year I brought my girlfriend (the smiling redhead who brought the cheesecake! LOL) and she had pretty much little interest in home theater stuff aside from the occasional DVD night at my place. Well....thanks to a good mix of the friendly folks who attended and the fact that Scooter was kind enough to show off his home theater and it's ajoining concession area, she is now hooked! We spent Sunday afternoon hanging pictures and decorations on the walls of her new home and conversation quickly disolved into how to have her family room wired for DTS sound (fishing lines through her walls and hanging rear speakers!!) with a DVD player and enclosing a larger screen TV into an existing sunken shelving unit! She wishes to say thanks as she really had a blast!

The food was phenominal!

The movie was great!

Could I leave out how mind blowingly amazing the projector was?? Man!

Last but not least, Thanks to all the sponsors! JVC, Digital Eyes, and DVD International!!

Oh, I almost forgot! Maureen was a winner of door prizes! She won the 6 pack of DVD's, which really means I won since she doesn't own a DVD player... yet! She says they are on loan to me! The DVDs are really cool, and being a car nut, I LOVE the Speed Tribe DVD. AMAZING! I hope as the week goes on I'll get the time to go through all of them!!

Thanks again everyone!



Bill

I might as well repost my message here.

I'm sure that this will get my message across regarding my first ScooterPalooza ...



and of course at seeing Scooter's setup! I wish that I had seen his setup BEFORE I designed and walled up my basement.



The best one-day trip I've done in a long, long time!

Can't wait for the next one!

Holadem is right about the wonderful Scott Weinberg. I think it's safe to say that we spent much of the afternoon sitting at the table where Scott was holding court!

I'll say! I took a short video of him talking about the cropping of some Disney releases, and right in the middle , he turned to the camera and said, "Don't tape me like this - I'm PREACHIN'!!"

As a first timer to ScooterPalooza, all I can say is WOW! This gathering exceeded all my expectations. It was great to just listen to the conversations going on around me. (Some of you guys are like "Movie Yoda" Holy cow!)

I also sat at the lucky table, and was very fortunate to come hoime with a Lord of the Rings CD.

Thank you so much to Scooter, the lovely Michelle, and your sons for opening your home to us (and letting me use your phone - no, I wasn't in trouble)

Thanks to Ron and Parker, for the forum and taking the time to come.

Thanks to all the sponsors, for all the great prizes.

Can't wait for the next one!

P.S. Scooter, I hope you're not stuck eating hot dogs for a month!

Only one word to describe a Scootapalooza:

Hoooooaaaaah!

I'm already looking forward to next year!

And, though my DVD purchases have been a little slim lately, my next batch is gonna come from Digital Eyes, you can count on that. All day long I meant to introduce myself to Mark but never got the chance, there were just too many people to meet and chat with everyone!

I cant believe the Halo 7 player shootout just started when I had to leave. I'll school you all _next_ year.

RAF, you guys were definitly in our thoughts all day long and long after.

The food rocked. Quote of the day 'I have no idea what chicken wings are supposed to look like!!!'

The projector O H M Y G O D. You rich kids all need to purchase these 10 at a time so they can come down to where us mere mortals can have these in every room in our houses. I'm not lying when I say that this projector was better than the DLP setup I saw used to project stuff at top quality theaters. Stunning out of the box, on a beat up screen, cannot possibly imagine this in the secluded confines of the scootplex.

Great day, great prizes, great food, great people. And great doesnt even begin to describe it.

Sam

Nathan: To me Hot Dogs are God's perfect food...meaning I will be in heaven!!!

Posten: Dude...ok..maybe not perfect..but a "beat up screen"?!?!?!?! Ok..wrinkled!

R.A.F. I had a toast to you and your's my friend!

Hey Hey Hey!!! Take it easy on the screen.

That was freshly painted, and I'd bet that not a single one of the staples(!) was visible during the film. I never saw any.

lol

Any way you slice it...we had a good time.

By the looks of things in this thread, Scott's built quite a cult of personality, without even breaking a sweat. You gotta love it, since that kind of enthusiasm is what got all of us hooked into HT in the first place. Or keeps us hooked. It was great to meet Scott this time, since I arrived after dark last year, and never saw him.

What can I say that hasn't already been said?

The highlights for me were...EVERYTHING!! All the cool prizes thanks to all the wonderful sponsors! The fantastic hospitality of the Scooter Squad! Seeing the Scootplex in person! Eating hot dogs (with kraut!) from the hot dog cart! Meeting Ron, Parker, Gregg Loewen, Mark Harill, Robert 'Obi' George, and all the others whose names jumble together. WOW!! What a great group of people!

And that projector. I was truly stunned at the picture that was made by throwing that projector on an upside down milk crate, leveling it with some wooden shims and aligning it with the screen by eye. As I sat watching the movie I couldn't help blurting out "My god, that picture is spectacular!" and every time I did Parker would giggle out loud. Nirvana!

Next year I'm bringing more Yuengling Lager!
Bruce

WOW! Where do I begin? Thanks to EVERYONE! I must say I feel privileged to be apart of this forum. You all are the greatest bunch of guys (and gals!) Scooter & family, you guys rule! Thanks to Ron and Packy for bringing us all together. The movie was great, the projector was amazing! My wife and I were at the lucky table! I won 6 great DVD's and Carol won one Great DVD! :wink: Every year Scooterpalooza gets bigger and better! Looking forward to the next!

Well..the projector goes back tomorrow..and what a helluva projector it is!!!! Morgan is playing Game Cube on it now...and I have NEVER seen the images as bright and sharp ever! The colors simply leap at you!!!!!


So...I am starting the "Get Scoot A D-ILA" collection....

Had a blast! Lots of fun. Cool folks.

Am I the only one who really wanted to win the Johny Cash DVD, and that mystery disc about "The South?"

Many thanks the Scooter family for hosting and providing a place to chill by Sam Adams.

The projector was great, and the setup was sweet.
Sponsors are cool for, well, sponsoring.

Looking forward for next time.

Wow! How's THAT for a way to be remembered??!??



Same here, Matt!

I, of course, had a great time. I think the more important point to bring up is that my wife, Arlene, enjoyed herself also. Getting her involved in these kinds of activities can be tough. I dragged her to an NYC meet a few years back starting at Blowout Video in Times Square and she was quickly bored, being the sole female attendee.

Scooter's event is another category entirely. It was a large, friendly crowd in a home environment with a BBQ motif. There is a mix of people and, mostly thanks to Greg, a mix of ages. I really look forward to this event to spend some quality time with these passionate people.

Although we were there most of the time, we only managed to meet a little more than half of the people. It is hard to believe that you can be somewhere for ten hours straight and still not have enough time to mingle with a backyard of people!

The D-ILA looked great, considering the size picture it was projecting and the source. Due to technical difficulties, I think the scaler was omitted. I am not sure of this though. It certainly looked like there were too many chefs in the kitchen..and I did not want to muddy things up any further.

I know a number of people expressed an interest in viewing the THX WOW disc that I recently acquired. Time constraints and Weird Al did not allow for this to happen this time around. Perhaps another day...

The generous prizes were fantastic! There were plenty of names drawn from the raffle and we got to watch Scooter take the mic and light up the stage. My wife was quite fortunate to win one of the two JVC jackets...conveniently in my size! It is a smart looking jacket and I look forward to wearing it when the temperatures fall below 90.

Seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones is the biggest thing for me when going to Budd Lake. Fortunately, with Scooter, we have a way to meet in large attendance in such a warm casual manner. The NYC meets are always fun, but it is a tough job to find a place where a large group of people can hang out for an extended period of time to converse. Virgil's can only take us for a couple of hours!

Thanks Scooter--As always, I look forward to the next one!

We had the scaler cranking if I am not mistaken. I think we missed the Anamorphic feature on the thing and thus were watching widescreen. But man...what a GREAT pic even widescreen was!!!!

With everything I had going I totally forgot about the WOW disc!!!! I had really wanted to see that too! Well..there is always this fall..

My daughter Kyria (pronounced keri-ay”) and I had a fantastic time! Scooter was the host with the most and let the kids have fun in the Scooterplex watching a nice family oriented movie….. what was it again????..... Black Hawk Down???

She is already looking forward to attending next year’s event and maybe I can even talk the better half into attending with us! Now only if I could have gotten my daughter to let me stay for the entire feature presentation!!! … oh well… maybe next year!

Oh and Ron, my daughter is still working on that GIANT lollypop!! It is resting in the fridge at the moment!

Thanks to all for great food, great cigars, and a awesome time!