The OKC nationals was my 29th national convention, and though some have been perhaps more memorable, it was still a fine convention. Being among the more sedentary set , most time was spent in the vendors room and the contest room or relaxing in the Westin. OKC's downtown "Bricktown" was a very nice place. I thought there were quite a few people bustling around there( the paper stated 75,000 on the
4th) mostly due to a ballgame, the fireworks, and the great eateries. The vendors room was not up to snuff , although Hobby Link Japan made an appearance and the old faithfuls like M-A-L Hobbies, Revellogram ,Squadron Shop, Tamiya, John Burns & Co., Lone Star plus several others I can't recall but were familiar. Motorsports out of Texas put in an appearance and many were glad to see an automotive specialty vendor show up. But since I hardly needed to buy anything (my shelves, closets and garage are pretty full) I'm kinda jaded in that respect. Anyway , the best thing about the convention is seeing old friends that you only get to see once a year and match notes with them and have a few laughs. Making new "buddies" is another positive aspect. All in all, the OKC convention really went off without a hitch (even the slides at the awards presentation was outstanding)! I think the OKC group including Rusty and maybe even especially Rusty did a great job. Just keep in mind the economy right now is not what it was in the later '80's and into the 90's. I had a good time!!!! Cliff Davis IPMS / USA 3687 Highlands Ranch, Colorado
I went to OKC last month & I went to high school near OKC. I have been to towns where what was described was pretty close to accurate, although we usually described it as watching paint dry or watching cars rust or even watching corn grow. I have read this and gave it time to research and here is my reply.
The media portrays the southwest as a desolate hellhole. If this fellow was every stationed at Ft. Sill (I also lived in Lawton for 4+ years 76-78, 85-88) he hit it pretty close. For a junior enlisted man at Ft Sill the off duty recreational options are very limited. People in town didn't want soldiers running rampant, several of the local auto dealers were declared off limits by the Army as were several other businesses - all for cheating soldiers, things like selling an E-1 in AIT a muscle car with $600/mo payments, repossesing it if the payments were more than a day late and then doing it all over again to the next E-1 that walks onto the lot. I experienced the same thing in Meridian, MS as a civilian ATC for the FAA when people would see my base sticker!
If this guy was ever stationed there, or at Vance up in Enid, I can understand his statement. Hell, sometimes in school I felt about the same way (just not in those terms). If, as pointed out by others, you blasted his town you'd be no better than he.
I went to OKC and had a good time, as I always do at the Nats. Rusty and I have had our disagreements but I did not let that stand in the way of my attendance.
As for Rusty claiming his quote was taken out of context, just look back here to about July 14 2001 - the quoted post says nothing about rubber dog shit as Rusty was specifically discussing the nudity issue and his authority as the chairman to act on his warning. I have chimed in on this issue before, and used this quote, both attacking the IPMS policy and defending Rusty & what he said. This entire issue caused quite a row in IPMS and drew a lot of negative comments from outside IPMS, especially from groups labeled by the IPMS President Chuck Davenport as anti-family events. Nowhere in the 171 posts in the thread created by Rusty does he mention Azhoser and his dog turd. In the context of the thread and the quoted text (none of which mentions Az Hoser) Rusty is not talking about the 1998 dog turd, rather he is specifically mentioning banning "sexually explicit models"
But, the intrepid investigator will find it if one digs deep enough, a search will eventually lead one to discover that he is quoting somebody quoting Azhoser - quite a stretch - who, by the way, also mentioned cows, feces and wind swept plains, as well as practically guaranteeing he'd be there (didn't see him, maybe next year when it isn't over a 30 minute drive or whatever limit he later mentioned)
Here is the original message for the record:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SHIP MDLR ( snipped-for-privacy@aol.com) Subject: Re: IPMS will ban sexually explicit models in the future View: Complete Thread (171 articles) Original Format Newsgroups: rec.models.scale Date: 2001-07-14 16:05:08 PST
We passed a rule at the Nationals in Chicago that will give the Chairman authority to completely disallow/ban such models in the future. We passed the rule after consultation with IPMS attourneys. There were a couple of entries that were entered that spurred us to make the descision. So anyway, bring your degenerate crap to OKC or VA Beach and we'll be happy to send you packing. I hope you wait until 2003, because I would personally like to disqualify it myself.
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