Rando doing some reconn in front of the Hacker Tent at the Wiesn as we approach 30 days till Operation Hacker Herren invades Munich!!! See you on Sept 27-29 at the Hacker Festzelt

Hacker Herren Cheat Sheet for 2012

Sept 2012 cheat sheet for OFEST

Print this out and take it with you to Munich

Hacker - Bavarian Heaven

 

The following is what you should expect. It is adapted previous year’s cheat sheet, but still is 99% accurate and will give you a general expectation about what to do and when to do it.

HOTEL NAME, ADDRESS, and Phone #

Ars Vivendi Hotel
Anglerstraße 19
D-80339 München
Telefon 089-508070-0
Telefax 089-508070-70
 Mail: info@hotel-ars-vivendi.de

Make your way to the hotel above and get checked in.  

It will cost about €50  for a taxi or you can take the  S Bahn from the airport for about €10.50 .  YOU MUST HAVE EUROS TO PAY FOR TAXI OR TRAIN.

If you take the S Bahn from the airport, you take the S1 or S8 train from the airport towards downtown Munich and get off at Hauptbahnhof Central Station.  Transfer to the U4 or U5 two stations and get off at Schwanthalerhohe station. The station exits are next to a park.  Walk to the other side of the park (go to the far left corner and then turn left- you can see the hotel from the corner of the park) Walk about 5 mins to hotel.   It will take about 45 mins  or so for the entire journey.  It sounds a bit complicated, but it is actually very easy.  Print the map of the train system that is located on our website or see below map.  It is all simple to read and well laid out.  The cost of the Ubahn is about 10.50 Euros/person. A taxi will cost about 50 Euros (if I remember correctly).  Once you arrive at the hotel, drop off your luggage, put your  polo shirt on and head to the tent. Your shirt is like the golden ticket. It allows you access to things that nobody else will have access to.  Once you arrive in the tents, don’t forget to PACE YOURSELF. The first litre will go down in 10 mins. So will the second one if you let it.  By then you will swill the third one within the hour and then it gets uglier and uglier from there.  Take your time.  Enjoy your beer. Veterans know how to make the beer last…rookies typically end up face down on the table (see ROY ’09 photos on website).

9/27  Thursday Arrival day  Game day shirt:   Polo Shirt with Collar

Go outside of the hotel and walk straight down the street that the hotel is located on and it will lead you directly to the Wiesn.

Arrive early and you will be the first to taste the 2012 Oktoberfest beer.  This beer is brewed specifically for Oktoberfest and is arguably the best beer in the world.  Once you have checked in, I would suggest making your way over to the Wies'n (vee-sen).  That is the piece of land on which the Oktoberfest is sitting.  Veterans call it the Wies'n, so start calling it that.  Examples, "Are you going to the Wies'n tonight?"  "Is The Hoff still passed out at the Wies'n?"  "Did Der Stinker get thrown out of the Wies'n again?"  You get the picture.  I will get there at around noon on Thursday and will be at the Hacker Festzelt tent.  In the map below, that is tent number 4.  Ask for directions at the front desk how to get there, but I assure you there will be a steady flow of people heading there. Just follow the crowd. If  you are following a bunch of totally hammered people, you are going the wrong way. These are the people who are leaving the Wiesn.  Turn around!  The hotel is only about 10 minute walk to the Wiesn.

There is a main road where all of the tents are located.  Hacker is tent 4 below.  It is between the HB (Hofbrau) and Shottenhamel tent and across from Augustiner Brau.  The picture of the front of our tent is at the top of this cheat sheet.  This is where we will hoist a few masses of beer for the next 3 days.  Go in the front doors, turn left and head towards the back of the tent down the left hand aisle.  When you are about halfway (about equal with the bandstand), look to the right for people in our polo shirts .  We’ll be near the walkway so we should be easy to spot. We'll stay there pretty much all afternoon and evening and then head for pizza afterward  We will go to Pizza after the Wiesn and tell some funny stories.  If you get too wasted, don’t forget the hotel name is printed on your shirt sleeve. 

Friday 9/28    Game Day Shirt  soccer style   shirt   Meet in the Ars Vivendi  hotel lobby at 8:15 and we will walk over together. They start serving beer at 10.  We do not have reservations for Friday. It is imperative that you are in the lobby so that we can all sit together on Friday.  It is a nightmare saving seats, so meet in the lobby by 8:15 and we will head over to Hacker.  ROOKIES MUST 100% BE IN THE LOBBY BY 8:15!!!  Veterans will already know to be there!   We will spend virtually the whole day in Hacker that day.   We must get to the tents at the opening if we are going to be able to sit together, because many of the Germans in Munich will take the day  off of work Friday and fill the tents.  The doors close around 2 or 3pm sometimes, and it is hard to get in.  If the doors ARE closed, text me +1 925 518 7437 or Joe Sanchez  +1  512 787 2876 and we will try to get you in.  All of the entrances are numbered and we will be near door S7 (south 7 next to where the waiters enter and exit).  Phones are impossible to hear inside the tent so texting is the only real option for communicating.   We will go to Pizza after the Wiesn and tell some funny stories. If you get too wasted, don’t forget the hotel name is printed on your shirt sleeve. 

Saturday 9/29   Game day Shirt :   T Shirt with Oktoberfest /iFest  on the front. 

Morning – You have options… Get up at your leisure. Today would be a good day to walk around the Wies'n and see what else there is going on.  If you can't bear to smell the beer, jump on the train and go to the town center (MARIENPLATZ).  Munich is a nice city.  Explore.   We will probably arrange a Mike’s Bike Tour like we did a last year or we will do a different bike tour this time TBD.  If you want to do the bike tour, you will need to be in the lobby at 10am SHARP!!!  It was really flat and simple tour of Munich. Like a walking tour, but on a bike.  You will definitely like this trip.  If you want to get a bit more adventurous, Dachau (concentration camp) is pretty close. The hotel will have information about Dachau. Ask at the front desk.  Whatever you do on Saturday, BE BACK AT THE HOTEL BY 3:30PM!  We will be meeting in the lobby/restaurant of Hotel Ars Vivendi at 4pm.  We will have our annual award ceremony at this time and it is normally something you do not want to miss.  We will be  departing for the tents at 5:30pm.  We will have our official Ofest Rookie of the Year at this time.    We have reservations at tent Hacker Festzelt (tent 4 above).  We all need to stay together and enter the tent around 5:45.  The reservations start at 6:00pm. If you do not come with the group, they WILL NOT LET YOU IN!!! They will clear some tables for us at that time.  It's magical.  We will drink all night Saturday.  If you are not there with our group, you likely will not get in the tent on Saturday.  It is packed and impossible to get in w/o reservations on Saturday.  This will be a great night, so be sure to meet in the hotel lobby to get your pass.  We will also give you food and drink vouchers for the night . We will go to Pizza after the Wiesn and tell some funny stories.   If you get too wasted, don’t forget the hotel name is printed on your shirt sleeve. 

Sunday 9/30  Return home.  I suggest you take a vacation day on Monday.

Miscellaneous things:

Clothes:  This is very informal.  If you don’t have lederhosen (more than 80%  of us will have them) Wear comfortable shorts or pants.  Have both available. Normally the weather is nice, so shorts are appropriate.  If it is raining and cold, then you could still wear shorts, but you’ll get wet on the walk to the tent. Might want to buy a disposable poncho from Wal Mart for the trip so that you won’t get wet walking to the tent. It is dry inside of course.   It will not be cold in the tent.  If it is 75 outside, it will feel like 175 inside.  Lots of sweaty people, and spilled beer.  Your shoes will get beer spilled all over them.  Don’t wear nice shoes.  You likely will not need a nice set of clothes, although some adventurous people have gone out to clubs after the O’fest closes at 11pm.  Take a look at the various pix that we have sent and you can see how casual the dress is.   Here is a listing of the shirts that we will all wear:  Thursday:  Polo Shirt     Friday:  soccer Jersey  Sat:  T-Shirt

Weather:  Normally it is 75 or so.  However, it could be 50 and raining.  Bring a light jacket just in case it is raining and you have to be outside for the ½ mile walk from/to the hotel. Bring a jacket that you don’t care if it gets lost or VERY dirty.

Money; Normally I would expect > $350 US to be enough to pay for beer and food and trains, but you should probably count on $400-$500 because you are going to be in a good mood and want to buy your new German friends a few beers.  A taxi to the airport is about €50 ($75).  THEY DO NOT ACCEPT US$ there.   If you are going to take taxis and buy lots of beers for your new best friends, then you need to bring lots more money. Beers are about 9Euros each (per liter). USD will not do you any good there.  They do have ATM’s that you can get Euros from or you can get them at the airport or at your bank before departure. They have ATM’s at the airports, throughout the city and at the Wies’n itself.   Tell your credit card company that you will be in Europe because some cards don’t go through when they have European transactions that aren’t approved in advance. 

Beer & Food  We will pay for our own beers at the tent. We will take a small collection at the beginning of the day to ensure we have good service from our waiters and security guards . Beers are served in liters only and normally cost about 9 Euros (+/- $12US) .  Food will cost about 15 Euros per day.  Normally we buy pizzas after the festivities across the street from the Wiesn.  This costs another 10 Euros or so.   

Phones:

Your Verizon or Sprint phone will not work in Germany unless you have a world phone or have made arrangements for them to give you a world phone in advance.  This takes about 1-2 weeks to arrange so plan accordingly. T-Mobile and AT&T will work in Germany, but calls are about $2-$3/minute!!!

Germany is 9 hours ahead of Pacific time zone.  Best time to call back home is after 5pm German time (or 8am Pacific Time)

A good website to keep track of between now and the beginning of Ofest is the official Ofest website:  www.oktoberfest.de/en

OUR WEBSITE IS

www.ofestforever.blogspot.com  

Our website is the best resource for the trip.  It has lots of info. Play around with it and you will see lots of useful info

Las Vegas Oddsmakers Have Laid Down The Morning Line for ROY 12

Danville, CA 8/17/12....Head Oddsmaker Vondii has created the morning line...

You are who you roll with... Looks like we'll be Winning @ the WIesn this year!

The Hacker Herren are all over social media

Check us out on Facebook  Hacker Herren
Twitter:   @ofest_forever

http://www.facebook.com/hackerherren#!/pages/Hacker-Herren/167532026643241
http://twitter.com/ofest_forever

This is a picture of the first days of preparation of the Ofest grounds.  This is the "before" picture.  We will add more and more as they continue creating the most magical place on earth...

The Hacker Herren Have An Official Logo...

Thanks to Brownie and Seven for designing the cool new logo which we will put on our schwag beginning in 2012!!!

Prost

Oktoberfest 2012 is SOLD OUT - 50 Lucky guys will be there Sept 27-29

Unbelievable...but there are no more spots avail for the Hacker Herren group this year.   We have expanded the # of spots and we are still oversold.  Hammer will be back to crown ROY '12, Bad Monkey is bring "The Best Rookie Class Ever." Colvin has the "Oldest Rookie Class Ever."  Der Stinker will be back after a one year nap.  We will miss Pudge and Rando, but i think we will manage to make them proud.  Are Christian and the Hacker Team going to be ready for the Hacker Herren?

The waiting list is already into double digits!  Oktoberfest...The Trip That Keeps On Giving

Spots Are Filling Up Fast For Ofest 2012...Sept 27-29, 2012

First 40 checks claim the coveted spots.  We were sold out very early last year and i expect the same again. If you are planning to go, send me your check ASAP so you don't get shut out.  Bad Monkey thinks he is going to set the bar extremely high this year with his 5 Rookies!!!  Hotel Ars Vivendi is looking forward to hosting us again for the third straight year.  Rico and his team have been awesome to us and they are ready to make us feel welcome again.  

Our First Team Chicago Member Will Join Us At The Reunion...

Looking forward to seeing Mitch a Palooza at the party. And... He's bringing a buddy!!! 

SAVE THE DATE FOR REUNION PARTY JAN 18,2012

We will be showing the DVD from 2011 at the party and this will be the first opportunity to lock in your spot for 2012. 

Reunion will be $40 payable at the door to Herr Hasselhoff

The Welcome Mat Has Been Laid Out By The Boys in Texas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItDobMlzhg
Thanks to Worm, Carp and The Godfather for opening your arms to your fellow brethren

Seven takes it up another notch... WOW!!!

Roger Emmett Will Be Drinking Beer With Us This Year

Way to go Roger!!!  Roger Stepped up large at the Par4kidssake.org auction.  He won the trip to join in the mayhem with us at the Hacker Tent this year.  Looking forward to prosting with you "Mr Goodbar"

"A Picture Of 16 Years Of Masses Doesn't Begin To Tell The Story" ...Joe Sanchez, Aug. 2011

On Deck Is In It To Win It!!!

Wow, hiking on Mt Shasta and prepping for Ofest.  I hope he isn't "peak"ing too early

A Lieutenants Pin on Your Uniform???

Congrats to Dee!!!  Promoted to Lieutenant of the Police Department in Milpitas.  You'd never know it by his blood alcohol level inside the tent.  Seems more like an Explorer Scout!  Way to go Dee, we are proud of you.

Roy '07 Puts an End to the Myth That White Guys Can't Dance...On Tables

Hacker Herren raise $2400 for Autism Research

Another great year for Autism Research at the Par4kidssake.com golf tournament.  Hacker Herren were able to raise more than $2400 for this great organization.  As you can see by this picture, Steve Venema, AKA "Seven" created a true work of art to enhance the interest in the trip to Oktoberfest that the gang donated to the organization.    Thanks to Rusty's Bar in Tracy, CA for donating a couple kegs of HackerPschorr beer and to Vista Construction for creating this table.  Some of the Herren that helped man the golf hole during the day were Ken Vonderach, Dennis Colvin, Randy Hahn, and Steve Venema.

Prost!

Official Odds for 2011 ROY Have Been Posted by our oddsmaker, Vondii

Dateline: May 17th, 2011 Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada


As spring time turns to summer, and the flowers begin to Bloom…the smell of Pretzels and Bratwurst is in the air. Yes indeed, it is that time again, where only the ice water in the veins, steel hearted, large bellied men begin the annual preparation for the pilgrimage to zee Faza Land. Schwag has been ordered, flights have been booked, and training for the once in a life time event (which by the way has become an annual life time event) is underway all across the globe. The Rookie class for the Hacker Herren 2011 group is stacked this year with an international flair, including two rookies from Germany itself. Now I know that you are asking yourself how we can have two “Rookies” for Oktoberfest that actually reside in Germany. Rest assured that the classification of rookies had to verified by the I.O.O.R.C.F. committee. The International Oktoberfest Organization for Rookie Classification Federation did extensive background and PEDD (Performance Enhancing Drinking Drug) screening, and confirmed and accepted the petition for Rookie classification from both members of the German contingency. Though team Chicago filed a last minute injunction to block this status, the 9th court of appeals within the Hacker organization denied the request, and both are entitled to compete this year as rookies for the 2011 class. While they may have the backing of the hometown crowd, the competition is going to be fierce, and only the best will rise to the top and claim ROY 2011. Here are the odds as put forth by the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.


The Long Shots


100-1 Eleven (Rob Venema). Does the apple fall far from the tree? We are about to find out. Brother to ROY 7, Eleven is bold enough to already shorten the title, and put the bulls eye squarely on his back. There has never been a repeat of family members for the ROY award, and this year we feel the odds are again stacked against that happening. Most Damaging to his claim of ’11 is that it took a cancellation of another member to get him to step up for the trip. One wonders was he shamed into going and is his heart really in it.


99-1 Wookie (Curtis Davis). Although Wookie thinks that he will not look out of place in his Lando Calrissian outfit inside the tent , he is in for a big surprise. Leave your light saber and warp speed at home Wookie, you are going to need more than the Force to navigate this galactic party. Sure, you may have won the Federation’s highest award at the last Star Wars reunion convention you attended in Los Angles, but this is a party for the big boys. Be thankful that you won’t have to deal with any Storm Troopers and you won’t have to deal with the title of ROY ’11…because the force is not with you.


75-1 BeanO (Tim Lima)- While we applaud the amount of activities that BeanO is trying to squeeze in to this get away, he may have bit off more than he can chew. Berlin a couple of days prior to Munich. Munich for two days. Return to Berlin to run the Berlin Marathon on Sunday! Awesome training schedule, but this award has to be accepted in person and present in the tents on Saturday , and unless the course takes you from Berlin back to Munich….thanks for coming. We suggest that you make the most of your time in Berlin, because you will be going hard for the 2 days that you will be in Munich.



50-1 Steele (Brian Steele) While he won’t win the ROY 2011 award, he does win this year’s award for using his last name as his nickname. There is one every year.

Contenders




25-1 Auslander (Johannes Lange). Sled 2 of the German “rookies” , Auslander has a tall order. Much like the German soccer team coming so close to winning the FIFA cup in 2002, we fear that with the weight of the country riding on him, Johannes will shoot…..and miss just right of the goal. Fear not, because he will give it the “ole German try” and represent Deutschland well, and return back home a country’s hero.



23-1 Yimmy (Jim Arnold) Guest of Doid and Oroczo, Yimmy has surly been prepped for what is to be expected and we hear has been training since he hit the confirmed button on his paypal account to submit the money. Other nick names considered “Yimmy crack corn” , “Yimmy the Greek”, and “Yimmy Cricket”.



20-1 1st Pitch (John Marrone). This guy likes a big stage….and O’fest fits right into his wheel house. Having thrown out the first pitch at last year’s World Series for the Giants, 1st pitch is no minor leaguer. He is said to have a full arsenal in his line up and is expected to be able to take it deep into the night. No relievers needed here. We don't know from which side of the plate he swings, but he has major league talent, and is looking to dominate the competition.



18-1 Mikey Likes it (Mike Swartz). Although there was some concern on the Mikey/Mike relationship, M.L.I. is said to be going through Jason Green's, Introduction to Ofest Training course. This 16 week training course has stringent requirements, including tasting 25 different types of German beers, wearing lederhosen to all family events leading up to departure for Munich, and Sausage at least 10 times per week. After completing a healthy serving of white sausage for breakfast, it was said that you could hear him mumble “Mikey likes it” under his breath.



Upsets



15-1 Vinny (Vince Boyanich) and Hammer (Stephen Spurling). Both Hammer and Vinny are flying under the radar. Quiet, reserved, and stalking their prey, Hammer and Vinny are rumored to have started a tag team approach to knocking off the other rookies one by one. Vinny is using the Maxim shipping department as a front to run his plan of discrediting all the other rookies with mass mailers, and orchestrating propaganda leaflets to be dropped over the tents claiming victory for him.


Dark Horse



10-1 Carpe Diem ( Jeff Carpenter). Loosely translated, Seize the Day. He could really vault himself to the top if he can Carpe 7 hendel. Carpe schnitzel. Carpe Pizza. Carpe fraulein’s. Carpe Berman when he gets thrown out of the tent. And Finally Carpe a round of beers for the table.



The Contenders



8-1 B-Share (John Palmer). Getting taken to ofest by Blackout is like receiving communion from the Pope. You have the connection. You have the skill. And you have the “it factor” . Palmer, as it goes, is a man among men. Blackout has groomed him for years just for this occasion. And let’s face it. If the powder blue warm up suits didn’t scare him away, like Randy Jackson says on American Idol..”He is in it to win it.” And team Chicago has never disappointed.



7-1 Worm (Kevin Bresser). Similar to B-Share, when you have Joe Sanchez backing you, you automatically command a presence in the club house. One small issue here. How or what gave him the nickname worm. While the stories are viral on the internet, TMZ, and Dead Spin.com all citing to have knowledge of the situation, nothing has been confirmed with any photos backing up the visual when you see and think “worm”. Possible better names for next year are Python, Snake, or Boa.

Co Favorites

2-1 Woody (Christopher Wuttke). Woody is officially sled one for the German Team. Woody has been drinking steins since he wasa  little boy running around with lederhosen diapers on the family farm raising Bavarian Hops. His pastimes are raising German Shepards, playing soccer with Franz Beckenbauer and Lothar Matthaus, and of course drinking more beer. The town in which he grew up erected a statue of him drinking beer, and every summer, the town gathers around to drink more beer with him. He has children, who are already practicing drinking beer and raising German Shepards. Woody hopes that someday he can become a professional beer drinker in multiple European countries.



2-1 Z Meister (Tim Zingraff). Z Meister carries the weight of the west coast and past ROY’s Vonderach, Dickinson, Mimran, 7, and the original ROY, Der Stinker as the best viable chance of returning the coveted Green Hat to its rightful location on the Left Coast. Z Meister originally hails from Indy, and as you know, other than some race, the only thing to do in Indy is Drink. Tim worked tirelessly over the last 21 weeks to increase his consumption intake by joining a bowling league. He is traveling early to Berlin to acclimate his palate to the German Beers. He is all business when it comes to representing the Hoosier pride. Tim is going to run the picket fence, and he hope to not get caught watching the paint dry.



Those are the odds as we see see it. Little do they know that evaluations and observations are already underway by the committee. All want the Green hat, but only one will stagger away with it. The only question is “who will it be?”

PROST