September 1999 Updates

At the beginning of August 1999, I was served a summons via Profile Holdings, Inc. for an examination under oath concerning the sources of information for the content of this website.

You can read the order here. The original date was set for August 16 (the day after BattleBots), but it has since been extended to September 2, as per my request.

I am seeking the advice of my attorney in this case, who will be accompanying and representing me thoroughout this deposition. I appreciate in advance any and all help and support the readers of this website can provide.

If you think you would like to help out with the Legal DefenseFund, please send your contribution to:

Jim Smentowski
PO Box 2459
San Rafael, CA 94912

9/30/99

WHEW! I'm back. Apologies to all my readers who have been wondering what the heck has been going on the last three weeks. I was on a much-needed European vacation! It was a BLAST- first time I've been out of the country, so my wife and I made every minute count. If you really want to know about it, I may put up a page or two with pictures later. We started off on September 7 in Frankfurt, Germany, made our way down through the small towns into Austria, eventually coming down into Italy, across to the other side, and then a trip up to Paris, France, where we finished off the last few days! We had a truly amazing time, saw LOTS of neat art, landmarks, museums, countryside, beaches, architecture, and met a lot of neat people along the way. I can now let out a huge sigh and reluctantly get back to real life.

In case you didn't hear it (and of course, I am late in reporting it), BattleBots released information on the November event in Las Vegas. Here are some highlight details:

- November 17 with check-in and weigh-in on the 16th
- Room and board for contestants paid for by BattleBots (wow!)
- Includes a new Super-Heavyweight of 211-325 lbs (whew, no more Giga, Mega, etc.!)
- No weight grace on limits.
- Heavyweight and SuperHeavyweight only at this event
- Maximum of 32 Heavyweights
- Will be broadcast on Pay-Per-View 10 days later
- 3 minute match time only
- Single Elimination (!)
- No more audience votes for winners

Wow, sounds good to me! Guess Nightmare gets to go up a few pounds after all... I'll make sure to put it to good use.

I will be making adjustments to the AutoLink page soon, I wanted to let you collectively know that I have been receiving your e-mails and will be making all the adjustments requested soon.

Thanks for your patience in the last few weeks as I thoroughly ignored all of you! (Hee hee!)

9/6/99

Not much new going on. Still delaying my repairs of the robots (its been nice not having to deal with them for a bit of a break). I guess I should get around to ordering the new parts I need. I have plans for 3 minor upgrades and one major upgrade on Nightmare before the November event, and possibly some work on lightening him up a little bit more (I really want him at or below the 200lb mark- he came in at 202.5lbs at BattleBots and I felt weird about that even though they let everyone up to 210).

Don't know how much I can talk about my deposition with Profile's lawyer last week, but I guess I can say it was a pain. I'm very glad I had my own lawyer with me. To date, I have received one contribution to my Legal Defense Fund, which I am very thankful for. Any others will be very welcome! If I get enough, I will be glad to pass on any extra to the others who are still fighting this battle. Please help if you can.

When I have more info to post, be assured it will show up here, in the meantime, I hope all you guys out there are keeping busy with your 'bots too!