[I] Convention - High spots and notable bits

[CCA]

Okay, the problem with big Discworld events is that I can't always
remember clearly what happened on what day and in what order, so I've
sort of listed the most memorable bits below...

Opening ceremony, and especially the introduction of the Guild leaders,
accompanied by the Musician's Guild on kazoos *g*. And Stephen Briggs'
list of reasons why people should join the Assassins - "We kill people.
We wear black. We're cool." Which would've worked on me, even if I
hadn't already chosen Assassins ages ago.

Random C's eye-catching seamstress costume.

Hunter from #afp's version of 'beer with a head on it' - bottle of beer
with polystyrene head stuck on top. (Under which was written the words
'Alfredo Garcia *g*) Hunter also brought his corn snake Barley in to
show people. He was well-behaved and very cute, and even a
snake-phobic member of staff managed to touch him briefly before
drawing away.

MovieTunes quiz - both the quiz itself, which was great fun to watch,
and Ssirienna confiscating Graham Higgin's harmonica and hiding it down
her cleavage. (From where it was carefully retrieved later)

Maskerade. I didn't hang around for the judging, so I don't know who
won prizes apart from the overall winners, Ian, Mandy and Kate Olroyd
with Sheila Wicks, with their depiction of the animated figures of
Crumley's toy store. Memorable costumes for me included Rgemini's
Willikins, the singing 'Wizard who's been away from Ankh-Morpork too
long', and the singing troll with 'One night in Morpork'. Oh, and the
cat stories were good too :-)

Hedgehog Party. Organised by me and didn't fall flat on its face,
which may be noted somewhere in the general CCApsyche for future
reference. Thank you to everyone who brought food :-) Er...there was
rather a lot of this! Leftovers were demolished at the Toast and Jam
the next day. Thank you also to everyone who helped out, particularly
Adrian Ogden, Ssirienna, Ali from #afp, Andrew Nevill and Tamara among
others (and especially Adrian who provided supportive hugs every time
he happened to be passing). And to Shevek from #afp and Edmund (St
Lemur) who did the DJing (especially Edmund as I grabbed him and roped
him in at a moment's notice).
Memorable points of this particular event include a guy dressed as
Death, who was a fantastic dancer (so much so that there was a general
shouting of 'Go Death! Go Death!' at one point).

Gala Dinner - I didn't go to it, but I had a nice time taking photos of
the people who did attend, though (although one or two of them
disappeared in the weird thing my camera did at the Toast and Jam
later)

Toast and Jam was excellent as ever. Best bits IMO were the version of
Free's 'All Right Now' with Gid on ukelele, and also 'Monster Mash' -
both Eric's general delivery of this song, and the casual way Brian
wandered up to the mike (dressed in 'Walter Plinge becomes Opera Ghost'
costume, which converted nicely into Dracula for the occasion) and
added the 'Vot happened to my Transylvanian Tvist' bit. Also Graham
Higgins on the harmonica and Simon (don't know his surname)'s delivery
of Wild Cherry's 'Play That Funky Music' and Stevie Wonder's
'Superstition'.

Post Toast and Jam on Sunday night was mostly spent singing songs of
varying rudeness with Ssirienna, Mole, CTony and others. I may have
broken Mole's brain with my additional verse for 'Bestiality's Best'...
(This was after he'd already been well and truly broken by Ssirienna
earlier). I wandered indoors when it got cold, and watched part of a
game of Munchkin in session for a while but was too knackered to take
it in (since another memorable part of the Con was the discovery that I
can survive on two hours of sleep or less for three days running. As I
said in another thread, strong espresso is good, and so are big
breakfasts and pint glasses of Coke!)

Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it chatting with
various people instead. It was nice to chat to Leo about music
briefly, as probably the only two afpers who like R&B/soul music!
Missed saying goodbye to Gid, Suzi, Loriba and Stacie when I left -
sorry I missed you folks.

It was nice to see so many people I haven't seen for a year or more,
and put faces to names I hadn't yet met. Hopefully I'll be able to get
myself organised enough to get to a meet or two soon :-)

Okay, and now a quotefile...

"He's a rescue snake."
"Does that mean he goes down into holes and pulls people out?"

"Is that my husband? It is wearing trousers. That's not my husband!"

"He's thirty-three and no-one's nailed him to a cross yet!"

Child "Can I call you elephant?"
elfin "Not elephant, *elfin*!"

"I'd like to point out that we have absolutely nothing prepared,
therefore nothing can go wrong." (Adrian Odgen at the Toast and Jam)
"It's just C and F until something else happens..." (Eric at the Toast
and Jam)

"I dressed up as a Ninja, but people thought I was a member of
Al-Quaida..."

"It's probably the first time I've ever said the words 'More kazoos!'"

"Urrrggghh..."
"Yes. Words to that effect."

"If anyone wants to go to the Harvester, we're going now."
(Pause)
"Have you *been* to a Harvester?"

"I don't need to get drunk, I'm me!"

"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

CCA

[Sabremeister Brian]

In a speech called

Post by CCA
Toast and Jam was excellent as ever. Best bits IMO were the version
of Free's 'All Right Now' with Gid on ukelele, and also 'Monster
Mash' - both Eric's general delivery of this song, and the casual
way
Brian wandered up to the mike (dressed in 'Walter Plinge becomes
Opera Ghost' costume, which converted nicely into Dracula for the
occasion) and added the 'Vot happened to my Transylvanian Tvist'
bit.

Yes! It didn't look pre-arranged! Woohoo!
(Blame Eric)

[Ssirienna]

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by CCA
Toast and Jam was excellent as ever. Best bits IMO were the version
of Free's 'All Right Now' with Gid on ukelele, and also 'Monster
Mash' - both Eric's general delivery of this song, and the casual way
Brian wandered up to the mike (dressed in 'Walter Plinge becomes
Opera Ghost' costume, which converted nicely into Dracula for the
occasion) and added the 'Vot happened to my Transylvanian Tvist' bit.

Yes! It didn't look pre-arranged! Woohoo!
(Blame Eric)

Let's not forget that Brian was also part of the floor show (that included
the dancing Death) in the Hedgehog Party - quite an impressive amount
of enthusiastic dancing was being done then :-))

I don't know all the names but they were all VERY good :-)
I especially liked the end where Jenny pointed at Brian and told
him to put more clothes on (he was in a beret, a bow tie and a pair
of trousers with braces and looked very cute ;) because he could have
someone's eye out, where upon Andrew Neveill (apologies if spelled
wrong) stripped his top off in solidarity. I missed Jenny's comment
exactly but it sounded like "Oh my god now there's more of them!"

*grin*

Ssirienna
(eclectically musical enough to like R&B/soul too)

[Sabremeister Brian]

Post by Ssirienna

Post by Sabremeister Brian
In a speech called

Post by CCA
Toast and Jam was excellent as ever. Best bits IMO were the
version
of Free's 'All Right Now' with Gid on ukelele, and also 'Monster
Mash' - both Eric's general delivery of this song, and the casual
way Brian wandered up to the mike (dressed in 'Walter Plinge
becomes
Opera Ghost' costume, which converted nicely into Dracula for the
occasion) and added the 'Vot happened to my Transylvanian Tvist' bit.

Yes! It didn't look pre-arranged! Woohoo!
(Blame Eric)

Let's not forget that Brian was also part of the floor show (that
included the dancing Death) in the Hedgehog Party - quite an
impressive amount of enthusiastic dancing was being done then :-))
I don't know all the names but they were all VERY good :-)
I especially liked the end where Jenny pointed at Brian and told
him to put more clothes on (he was in a beret, a bow tie and a pair
of trousers with braces

I was in a beret, pair of trousers with no braces, and a fake collar
attached to a cravat.

Post by Ssirienna
and looked very cute ;)

Who, me?

Post by Ssirienna
because he could have
someone's eye out,

I don't remember that. I do remember two people told me to put a shirt
on 'cos they were enjoying perving over me too much.

Post by Ssirienna
where upon Andrew Neveill (apologies if spelled
wrong) stripped his top off in solidarity.

He did? Good gravy!

Post by Ssirienna
I missed Jenny's comment
exactly but it sounded like "Oh my god now there's more of them!"
*grin*
Ssirienna
(eclectically musical enough to like R&B/soul too)

[CCA]

Post by Sabremeister Brian
I do remember two people told me to put a shirt
on 'cos they were enjoying perving over me too much.

I did find the time to glance in your direction at one point - "Hey,
Brian's got his shirt off, cool..." *reaches for camera*

CCA

[Ssirienna]

Post by CCA

Post by Sabremeister Brian
I do remember two people told me to put a shirt
on 'cos they were enjoying perving over me too much.

I did find the time to glance in your direction at one point - "Hey,
Brian's got his shirt off, cool..." *reaches for camera*

Yep - I've seen the photo :-))

Ssirienna

[Ssirienna]

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Ssirienna

Post by Sabremeister Brian
In a speech called

(snipped)

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Ssirienna
I don't know all the names but they were all VERY good :-)
I especially liked the end where Jenny pointed at Brian and told
him to put more clothes on (he was in a beret, a bow tie and a pair
of trousers with braces

I was in a beret, pair of trousers with no braces, and a fake collar
attached to a cravat.

I was almost right *pout*

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Ssirienna
and looked very cute ;)

Who, me?

Yes you - especially when you put the phantom mask on
and wore your glasses over the top *grin*

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Ssirienna
because he could have
someone's eye out,

I don't remember that. I do remember two people told me to put a shirt on
'cos they were enjoying perving over me too much.

Post by Ssirienna
where upon Andrew Neveill (apologies if spelled
wrong) stripped his top off in solidarity.

He did? Good gravy!

*snigger*

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Ssirienna
I missed Jenny's comment
exactly but it sounded like "Oh my god now there's more of them!"
*grin*
Ssirienna
(eclectically musical enough to like R&B/soul too)

--
www.sabremeister.me.uk
www.livejournal.com/users/sabremeister/
Use brian at sabremeister dot me dot uk to reply
Someone pass me that shovel

Ssirienna

[Sarah Vaughan]

CCA wrote:
[...]

Post by CCA
Hedgehog Party. Organised by me and didn't fall flat on its face,
which may be noted somewhere in the general CCApsyche for future
reference.

If that was you, then I thank you profusely! I made it to less of the
party than I might have liked, due to being on sprogling duty, but the
part I did get to was truly fantastic. Great music and great chocolate
- who could ask for more?

Post by CCA
Memorable points of this particular event include a guy dressed as
Death, who was a fantastic dancer (so much so that there was a general
shouting of 'Go Death! Go Death!' at one point).

...which was probably at the point where we were dancing to "Don't Fear
The Reaper". I felt as if I'd stumbled into an epilogue to "Bill And
Ted's Bogus Journey". Awesomely good.

[...]

Post by CCA
"It's probably the first time I've ever said the words 'More kazoos!'"

I don't know whether it's permissible to add pre-Con quotes, but about a
week or so ago my husband said to me, apropos of nothing:

"We need to get oven gloves and kazoos."

Must say I liked the mental image of him serenading the oven prior to
taking the food out. It was rather disappointing to find out that he
only wanted them for the Con!


All the best,

Sarah

[Ssirienna]

Post by CCA
Okay, the problem with big Discworld events is that I can't always
remember clearly what happened on what day and in what order, so I've
sort of listed the most memorable bits below...
Opening ceremony, and especially the introduction of the Guild leaders,
accompanied by the Musician's Guild on kazoos *g*. And Stephen Briggs'
list of reasons why people should join the Assassins - "We kill people.
We wear black. We're cool." Which would've worked on me, even if I
hadn't already chosen Assassins ages ago.

I also liked Diane's reply as the Head of the Seamstresses Guild in the same
vein - "We're dressed in all different colour of the rainbow, we're HOT and
we can raise the dead!"

Post by CCA
Random C's eye-catching seamstress costume.

Oh Gosh Yes!! *wolf whistle*
Well worth the mulled wine soaked chocolate covered cherry I gave her!
(reluctant snake snippage - as I missed him)

Post by CCA
MovieTunes quiz - both the quiz itself, which was great fun to watch,
and Ssirienna confiscating Graham Higgin's harmonica and hiding it down
her cleavage. (From where it was carefully retrieved later)

LOL
Twice :-))
I got fined by the Seamstresses (ali from #afp) for that :-)
But it *was* fun - I only hope I didn't warp the metal ;-)

Post by CCA
Maskerade. I didn't hang around for the judging, so I don't know who
won prizes apart from the overall winners, Ian, Mandy and Kate Olroyd
with Sheila Wicks, with their depiction of the animated figures of
Crumley's toy store. Memorable costumes for me included Rgemini's
Willikins, the singing 'Wizard who's been away from Ankh-Morpork too
long', and the singing troll with 'One night in Morpork'. Oh, and the
cat stories were good too :-)

Gosh - I would have hated to be a judge, they were all so good.
I did like that they awarded Sabremeister Brian a special award
for carrying on in the face of technical meltdown!!

Post by CCA
Hedgehog Party. Organised by me and didn't fall flat on its face,
which may be noted somewhere in the general CCApsyche for future
reference. Thank you to everyone who brought food :-) Er...there was
rather a lot of this! Leftovers were demolished at the Toast and Jam
the next day. Thank you also to everyone who helped out, particularly
Adrian Ogden, Ssirienna, Ali from #afp, Andrew Nevill and Tamara among
others (and especially Adrian who provided supportive hugs every time
he happened to be passing). And to Shevek from #afp and Edmund (St
Lemur) who did the DJing (especially Edmund as I grabbed him and roped
him in at a moment's notice).
Memorable points of this particular event include a guy dressed as
Death, who was a fantastic dancer (so much so that there was a general
shouting of 'Go Death! Go Death!' at one point).

*blush*
Aw shucks - it was fun and Shevek was a fab DJ and a pretty cool
dresser too!

Post by CCA
Gala Dinner - I didn't go to it, but I had a nice time taking photos of
the people who did attend, though (although one or two of them
disappeared in the weird thing my camera did at the Toast and Jam
later)

Costumes were fab, food was fine, company was great, speeches were
brilliant and the string quartet were pretty cool. I must admit that the
dancing was pretty good too - improv fan dancing from Peter Morwood,
who then started dancing with Diane Duane. Then the tango started and
she dragged him out again, stripped his jacket off, nearly garrotted him
with his tie (let's not mention the holding of the dress up ;) and then
got carried out of the hall over his shoulder!

Where's a camera when you need one!!

Post by CCA
Toast and Jam was excellent as ever. Best bits IMO were the version of
Free's 'All Right Now' with Gid on ukelele, and also 'Monster Mash' -
both Eric's general delivery of this song, and the casual way Brian
wandered up to the mike (dressed in 'Walter Plinge becomes Opera Ghost'
costume, which converted nicely into Dracula for the occasion) and
added the 'Vot happened to my Transylvanian Tvist' bit. Also Graham
Higgins on the harmonica and Simon (don't know his surname)'s delivery
of Wild Cherry's 'Play That Funky Music' and Stevie Wonder's
'Superstition'.

Nice to know that the harmonica survived!
But I came late to the T&J (having attended the Gala Dinner) but
it was still fabulous! There was some pretty impressive tunes being
played, sung and generally enjoyed. I did like the Uberwald song
we all joined in with ;-)) The gentleman who'd sang it had
impressed me at the MR folk song too

Post by CCA
Post Toast and Jam on Sunday night was mostly spent singing songs of
varying rudeness with Ssirienna, Mole, CTony and others. I may have
broken Mole's brain with my additional verse for 'Bestiality's Best'...
(This was after he'd already been well and truly broken by Ssirienna
earlier).

*grin* Ayethenkeew!!


(snip)

Post by CCA
Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it chatting with
various people instead. It was nice to chat to Leo about music
briefly, as probably the only two afpers who like R&B/soul music!
Missed saying goodbye to Gid, Suzi, Loriba and Stacie when I left -
sorry I missed you folks.

Managed to say goodbye to Loriba, CCA, BriD & BethD, Donal,
ali from #afp and a few others but there were so many I missed :-(

I did manage to talk to Stephen Briggs on my way out which was
pretty cool though *sigh*

Post by CCA
It was nice to see so many people I haven't seen for a year or more,
and put faces to names I hadn't yet met. Hopefully I'll be able to get
myself organised enough to get to a meet or two soon :-)

Where's the list for 2008?

Post by CCA
Okay, and now a quotefile...
"Is that my husband? It is wearing trousers. That's not my husband!"

Oh I wish I'd heard that one - that's fab!

I can add one

"Has it been officially fiddled with?
What are we saying you have to come to Ops to be officially
fiddled with now?"

Ssirienna

[Torak]

Post by Ssirienna

Post by CCA
Gala Dinner - I didn't go to it, but I had a nice time taking photos of
the people who did attend, though (although one or two of them
disappeared in the weird thing my camera did at the Toast and Jam
later)

Costumes were fab, food was fine, company was great, speeches were
brilliant and the string quartet were pretty cool. I must admit that the

Costumes were fun (Did anyone notice my solution to the "forgot my black
shoes in Sweden" problem? Masking tape labels marked "REALITY
ADJUSTMENT: These Boots Are Black"...).
Food was... interesting.
Company and speeches made it worth the ticket price. Food didn't.

Post by Ssirienna
dancing was pretty good too - improv fan dancing from Peter Morwood,
who then started dancing with Diane Duane. Then the tango started and
she dragged him out again, stripped his jacket off, nearly garrotted him
with his tie (let's not mention the holding of the dress up ;) and then
got carried out of the hall over his shoulder!
Where's a camera when you need one!!

Agreed, that was fun. Wonder if the video cameras were rolling... anyone
know?

[Leo Breebaart]

Post by CCA
Opening ceremony, and especially the introduction of the Guild
leaders, accompanied by the Musician's Guild on kazoos *g*. And
Stephen Briggs' list of reasons why people should join the
Assassins - "We kill people. We wear black. We're cool."

I was mightily impressed with Peter Morwood's atrocious punchline
in his spiel for the Lawyers Guild. After having listed the many
services his lawyers would be willing to provide to the other
guilds for only a very small amount of money, he ended by
identifying the members of his guild as the "wee fee men". Argh!

Post by CCA
MovieTunes quiz - both the quiz itself, which was great fun to
watch,

Also great fun to participate in, although it was quite clear
that against the phenomenal movie-music recognition skills of Meg
and her team we were pretty much non-starters. Luckily we did a
little better on the "find the Discworld reference associated
with the music" front.

Post by CCA
and Ssirienna confiscating Graham Higgin's harmonica

Ah, so that was Ssirienna? Darn. Another familiar name I missed.
They really should re-introduce special-coloured badges (or maybe
some sort of hedghog sticker a la Briggs's a.f.p. pin?) for
afpers; that would be so helpful.

Post by CCA
Maskerade

The Maskerade is really not my thing, but even to my
disinterested and untrained eye it seemed that the number of
high-quality hall and Maskerade costumes I saw throughout the
convention was extremely high -- a visible leap over previous
years.

My personal favourite was the young grey-robed Auditor who kept
walking up to people, silently standing there facing them for a
while, and then quietly turning and walking away. Very simple,
extremely effective.

Post by CCA
Hedgehog Party. Organised by me and didn't fall flat on its
face,

It was a great success, and I think everybody had a whale of a
time. Many thanks to you and your crew for helping to organise it
and making sure that good afp traditions live on.

Post by CCA
Gala Dinner - I didn't go to it

Neither did I. Luckily, we had on Thursday already discovered a
very nice Indian restaurant (The Balti Raj on Coventry Road in
Hinckley, if you're ever in the neighbourhood) that had
absolutely no problem providing excellent food for 21 people, and
whose owner spontaneously helped us get back to the hotel
afterwards by driving two car-loads of us there (two trips!) when
it turned out that taxis were going to take over forty minutes to
arrive. Now *that* is good service.

Post by CCA
Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it chatting
with various people instead. It was nice to chat to Leo about
music briefly

Ayep, I had fun chatting to you and Adrian.

That was at the Dead Monkey Party, which I thought was a nice
final event. Last time, the DMP had just consisted of people
sitting in the hub lounge and chatting -- very enjoyable, but not
any different from what happens in the Hub *every* evening. This
time, Bruce had taken care of some actual organising, so we had
a real convention room available, with a bar to order from, some
games to play, etc.

The only bad thing was that the room itself looked like a brothel
with all that red neon lighting. Like many other bits of the
renovated hotel (including the real Bar itself) it pretty much
had a negative ambiance and atmosphere -- it was only the people
who made it fun. I shudder to think what the Hub area will look
like in two years time when they will have gotten round to
'improving' that as well. Damn, I hope they keep those chairs and
sofas...

Post by CCA
It was nice to see so many people I haven't seen for a year or
more, and put faces to names I hadn't yet met.

Seconded. That is always the best thing for me about DW
conventions.

Post by CCA
Child "Can I call you elephant?"
elfin "Not elephant, *elfin*!"

<grin> Wish I'd been there to witness that particular exchange. :-)



One other thing I myself particularly liked about this Convention
that I don't think I have seen mentioned so far, was the
"emergent behaviour" erupting from the whole Guild concept.

I'd had my doubts about whether doing the Guilds a second time
could ever lead to the same magic as last time, but I need not
have worried: it worked all *new* sorts of magic.

I thought it was amazing to gradually see this whole kind of
"shadow convention" appear, with a myriad of guild-initiated new,
real 'eventlets' being scheduled in parallel to and in between
the actual programme items, in order to earn tokens, sure, but
mostly really just to entertain the other guests.

Special mention must of course go to the Alchemists &
Seamstresses Guild's highly professional and popular (deservedly
so!) XXXX-rated movie-making efforts, but really everybody was
organising things left and right in ways I don't think anybody
could have predicted even if they'd tried.

I am already looking forward to seeing what is going to happen
next year, now that people have a better idea of what the
possibilities are and will e.g. be able to use Internet resources
to organise and coordinate much more in advance...

[Leo Breebaart]

Post by Leo Breebaart
I am already looking forward to seeing what is going to happen
next year,

Sorry: next *time*, i.e. in two years. As the Dutch say: "the
wish is father to the thought".

[Len Oil]

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by Leo Breebaart
I am already looking forward to seeing what is going to happen
next year,

Sorry: next *time*, i.e. in two years. As the Dutch say: "the
wish is father to the thought".

Ignore my other comment, then... ;)

[Torak]

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by Leo Breebaart
I am already looking forward to seeing what is going to happen
next year,

Sorry: next *time*, i.e. in two years. As the Dutch say: "the
wish is father to the thought".

No no, "next year" is better. Go with that.

[jester]

On 22 Aug 2006 22:37:16 GMT, Leo Breebaart

Post by Leo Breebaart
Special mention must of course go to the Alchemists &
Seamstresses Guild's highly professional and popular (deservedly
so!) XXXX-rated movie-making efforts,

Lots of hats with corks and wagons powered by rare and hard to get fuel?

[Ssirienna]

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by CCA
Opening ceremony, and especially the introduction of the Guild
leaders, accompanied by the Musician's Guild on kazoos *g*. And
Stephen Briggs' list of reasons why people should join the
Assassins - "We kill people. We wear black. We're cool."

I was mightily impressed with Peter Morwood's atrocious punchline
in his spiel for the Lawyers Guild. After having listed the many
services his lawyers would be willing to provide to the other
guilds for only a very small amount of money, he ended by
identifying the members of his guild as the "wee fee men". Argh!

*groan*
I'd only *just* managed to forget that!!

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by CCA
MovieTunes quiz - both the quiz itself, which was great fun to watch,

Also great fun to participate in, although it was quite clear
that against the phenomenal movie-music recognition skills of Meg
and her team we were pretty much non-starters. Luckily we did a
little better on the "find the Discworld reference associated
with the music" front.

Post by CCA
and Ssirienna confiscating Graham Higgin's harmonica

Ah, so that was Ssirienna? Darn. Another familiar name I missed.
They really should re-introduce special-coloured badges (or maybe
some sort of hedghog sticker a la Briggs's a.f.p. pin?) for
afpers; that would be so helpful.

Ah rats!
Another person I missed - and you were on Jenny's team!!
(sigh)

I think a hedgehog pin would be a smashing idea!
Although more pins on my bag may cause me to topple
over! If anyone else needed to recognise me - for at least
2 days I was in the caramel harem trousers, pink tunic top
with sequins round the neck and a silver indian necklace
draped over my head - I also had a large black backpack
with LOTS of pins and badges!

Post by Leo Breebaart
My personal favourite was the young grey-robed Auditor who kept
walking up to people, silently standing there facing them for a
while, and then quietly turning and walking away. Very simple,
extremely effective.

Oh yes! He was wonderful!
Apparently his Mum was really impressed that he managed to
stay silen for the whole time he was in the costume! I do hope he
got some sort of recognition

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by CCA
Gala Dinner - I didn't go to it

Neither did I. Luckily, we had on Thursday already discovered a
very nice Indian restaurant (The Balti Raj on Coventry Road in
Hinckley, if you're ever in the neighbourhood) that had
absolutely no problem providing excellent food for 21 people, and
whose owner spontaneously helped us get back to the hotel
afterwards by driving two car-loads of us there (two trips!) when
it turned out that taxis were going to take over forty minutes to
arrive. Now *that* is good service.

Impressive!

Post by Leo Breebaart
That was at the Dead Monkey Party, which I thought was a nice
final event. Last time, the DMP had just consisted of people
sitting in the hub lounge and chatting -- very enjoyable, but not
any different from what happens in the Hub *every* evening. This
time, Bruce had taken care of some actual organising, so we had
a real convention room available, with a bar to order from, some
games to play, etc.

One I had to miss - unfortunately.
My son had a hospital appointment the next day and I had one too.
Maybe next time - it sounded fun
Is anyone going to do an article for the Chronicle?

Post by Leo Breebaart
The only bad thing was that the room itself looked like a brothel
with all that red neon lighting. Like many other bits of the
renovated hotel (including the real Bar itself) it pretty much
had a negative ambiance and atmosphere -- it was only the people
who made it fun. I shudder to think what the Hub area will look
like in two years time when they will have gotten round to
'improving' that as well. Damn, I hope they keep those chairs and
sofas...

Oh no! I do hope not - the Hub was really comfortable

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by CCA
It was nice to see so many people I haven't seen for a year or
more, and put faces to names I hadn't yet met.

Seconded. That is always the best thing for me about DW
conventions.

Well - I enjoyed it as a Con Virgin :-)

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by CCA
Child "Can I call you elephant?"
elfin "Not elephant, *elfin*!"

<grin> Wish I'd been there to witness that particular exchange. :-)
One other thing I myself particularly liked about this Convention
that I don't think I have seen mentioned so far, was the
"emergent behaviour" erupting from the whole Guild concept.
I'd had my doubts about whether doing the Guilds a second time
could ever lead to the same magic as last time, but I need not
have worried: it worked all *new* sorts of magic.
I thought it was amazing to gradually see this whole kind of
"shadow convention" appear, with a myriad of guild-initiated new,
real 'eventlets' being scheduled in parallel to and in between
the actual programme items, in order to earn tokens, sure, but
mostly really just to entertain the other guests.
Special mention must of course go to the Alchemists &
Seamstresses Guild's highly professional and popular (deservedly
so!) XXXX-rated movie-making efforts, but really everybody was
organising things left and right in ways I don't think anybody
could have predicted even if they'd tried.
I am already looking forward to seeing what is going to happen
next year, now that people have a better idea of what the
possibilities are and will e.g. be able to use Internet resources
to organise and coordinate much more in advance...

Well I can honestly say - I really enjoyed being in my guild
and it certainly added to my visit. I felt that I had a head start on
knowing more people and some of the ideas we had were such fun!

Roll on 2008!!

Ssirienna

[Len Oil]

Post by Leo Breebaart
Ah, so that was Ssirienna? Darn. Another familiar name I missed.
They really should re-introduce special-coloured badges (or maybe
some sort of hedghog sticker a la Briggs's a.f.p. pin?) for
afpers; that would be so helpful.

At times I was continually bouncing between "I know that face, now is it
someone I know, or just a face from last Con, let me check the badge"
and "Oooh, that badge on that random person says <RandomAFPersName>... I
never knew they were old/young/tall/short/bald/female*" (* - Delete as
inapplicable, or replace with any other terms that applied).

[about the Dead Monkey Party]

Post by Leo Breebaart
The only bad thing was that the room itself looked like a brothel
with all that red neon lighting. Like many other bits of the
renovated hotel (including the real Bar itself) it pretty much
had a negative ambiance and atmosphere -- it was only the people
who made it fun. I shudder to think what the Hub area will look
like in two years time when they will have gotten round to
'improving' that as well. Damn, I hope they keep those chairs and
sofas...

Really early on, someone was messing with the light switches and
switched off the white fluorescents and got the red and blue ones
working instead. And I must say that I got so used to the colour that I
can't really be sure whether anyone turned it back to white, but it
wasn't entirely the hotel's fault... ;)


As for the improvement /I/ had problems with, it was the removal of
various sets of stairs. Ok, so the one in the road up to the hub was a
good removal (assuming I remember how it was two years ago) but I seem
to recall there being some side-stairs either side of the hub that
should have been useful in getting up to my room wing without having to
carefully push through the Book Signing queues that often obstructed my
way... ;)

Post by Leo Breebaart
I am already looking forward to seeing what is going to happen
next year, now that people have a better idea of what the
possibilities are and will e.g. be able to use Internet resources
to organise and coordinate much more in advance...

Two years' time! (Next year is the CCDE-replacement 'inna-field'
thingy, IIRC, which I understand is rather hard for furriners to get
to...) But rather than the indecision this time round (should I be an
Alchy this time round again just 'cos I was last time, or try another
guild) I think that (no offence to the other guild's heads and deputies)
Jack and Eelco and Patrick might prefer that I not run off with Guild
Secrets, such as how the de-Frogging (with only a slight risk of
explosion) potion actually works... *nodnod*

Besides, having excessive (albeit fictional!) mercury in my system isn't
conducive to many other guilds... ;)

[The Flying Hamster]

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 01:01:22 +0100, Len Oil <***@lenoil.demon.co.uk> wrote:
[...]

Post by Len Oil
Two years' time! (Next year is the CCDE-replacement 'inna-field'
thingy, IIRC, which I understand is rather hard for furriners to get
to...) But rather than the indecision this time round (should I be an

Certainly harder as it's in Wincanton which while not in the middle of
nowhere (that's a 20 minute drive north where we live) it's still not
particularly brilliant for the trains (Castle Carey [10 minutes north]
and Templecoombe [5 minutes or so]) though it is right off the A303 so
driving isn't too bad [remember children, Somerset miles are twice as
long as all other miles].

[jester]

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:10:29 +0100, The Flying Hamster
<***@lspace.org> wrote:
<snip location of next year's thing>

it is right off the A303 so driving isn't too bad

Ha, ha, and indeed ha.
I've been done that way, I think, twice (might only be once), and it took
flipping forever to get anywhere.

[The Flying Hamster]

Post by jester
On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:10:29 +0100, The Flying Hamster
<snip location of next year's thing>

it is right off the A303 so driving isn't too bad

Ha, ha, and indeed ha.
I've been done that way, I think, twice (might only be once), and it took
flipping forever to get anywhere.

Somerset miles, nuff said.

[CCA]

Post by The Flying Hamster
[...]

Post by Len Oil
Two years' time! (Next year is the CCDE-replacement 'inna-field'
thingy, IIRC, which I understand is rather hard for furriners to get
to...)

Certainly harder as it's in Wincanton which while not in the middle of
nowhere (that's a 20 minute drive north where we live) it's still not
particularly brilliant for the trains (Castle Carey [10 minutes north]
and Templecoombe [5 minutes or so]) though it is right off the A303 so
driving isn't too bad [remember children, Somerset miles are twice as
long as all other miles].

And apparently there's not going to be a chip van either, which may
make it harder for those of us who prefer to stay at a local B&B (thus
not having own food on site) and don't drive. (A taxi from B&B to
campground is fine - however, phoning a taxi and saying 'take me to
somewhere with food' might be more of a problem) This is something I'm
going to have to take into account before deciding whether to go.
CCA

[Suzi]

In article <***@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>, CCA
***@aol.com wibbled...

[Snip]
[Re: event-inna-field]

Post by CCA
And apparently there's not going to be a chip van either, which may
make it harder for those of us who prefer to stay at a local B&B (thus
not having own food on site) and don't drive. (A taxi from B&B to
campground is fine - however, phoning a taxi and saying 'take me to
somewhere with food' might be more of a problem) This is something I'm
going to have to take into account before deciding whether to go.

Me too. Words may have to be had on that one! Although we always camp,
we have also only used the van for our food requirements during CCDEs!!
I hate having to cook while camping :-(

Suzi

[CCA]

Post by Suzi
[Snip]
[Re: event-inna-field]

Post by CCA
And apparently there's not going to be a chip van either, which may
make it harder for those of us who prefer to stay at a local B&B (thus
not having own food on site) and don't drive. (A taxi from B&B to
campground is fine - however, phoning a taxi and saying 'take me to
somewhere with food' might be more of a problem) This is something I'm
going to have to take into account before deciding whether to go.

Me too. Words may have to be had on that one! Although we always camp,
we have also only used the van for our food requirements during CCDEs!!
I hate having to cook while camping :-(

I suspect a lot of people will feel the same way. Even if they've got
cars with them, lots of people like to be able to drink while at CCDE
or equivalent, and therefore won't want to drive to food (or anywhere
else). And like you and Gid, a lot of the camping folk don't like to
be bothered with cooking while camping. (It means bringing a lot of
extra stuff, for one thing, that will be difficult to carry if
travelling by train)
CCA

[Sabremeister Brian]

In a speech called

Post by CCA

Post by Suzi
[Snip]
[Re: event-inna-field]

Post by CCA
And apparently there's not going to be a chip van either, which may
make it harder for those of us who prefer to stay at a local B&B
(thus not having own food on site) and don't drive. (A taxi from
B&B to campground is fine - however, phoning a taxi and saying
'take me to somewhere with food' might be more of a problem) This
is something I'm going to have to take into account before
deciding
whether to go.

Me too. Words may have to be had on that one! Although we always
camp, we have also only used the van for our food requirements
during CCDEs!! I hate having to cook while camping :-(

I suspect a lot of people will feel the same way. Even if they've got
cars with them, lots of people like to be able to drink while at CCDE
or equivalent, and therefore won't want to drive to food (or
anywhere
else). And like you and Gid, a lot of the camping folk don't like to
be bothered with cooking while camping. (It means bringing a lot of
extra stuff, for one thing, that will be difficult to carry if
travelling by train)
CCA

Whaddya mean "train"? I'll probably be going the last few miles by
bike! Try getting just a tent, clothes, food and costume (including
sword) in a bag that is compatible with cycling, without adding a
whole lump of stuff for cooking!

[Kayla]

[...CCDE replacement]

Post by The Flying Hamster
Certainly harder as it's in Wincanton which while not in the middle of
nowhere (that's a 20 minute drive north where we live)

Uh... ITYM "south".... <checks map> Yes, you definitely mean that
Wincanton is 20 mins _south_ of us ;) Unless, of course, you mean that
the middle of nowhere is 20 mins north of us... which would make that
somewhere near Midsomer Norton *g*

Lady Kayla

[The Flying Hamster]

Post by Kayla
[...CCDE replacement]

Post by The Flying Hamster
Certainly harder as it's in Wincanton which while not in the middle of
nowhere (that's a 20 minute drive north where we live)

Uh... ITYM "south".... <checks map> Yes, you definitely mean that
Wincanton is 20 mins _south_ of us ;) Unless, of course, you mean that
the middle of nowhere is 20 mins north of us... which would make that
somewhere near Midsomer Norton *g*

Nope, the middle of nowhere is twenty minutes north of Wincanton, aka...
here. :)

[Torak]

Post by Leo Breebaart

Post by CCA
Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it chatting
with various people instead. It was nice to chat to Leo about
music briefly

Ayep, I had fun chatting to you and Adrian.
That was at the Dead Monkey Party, which I thought was a nice
final event. Last time, the DMP had just consisted of people
sitting in the hub lounge and chatting -- very enjoyable, but not
any different from what happens in the Hub *every* evening. This
time, Bruce had taken care of some actual organising, so we had
a real convention room available, with a bar to order from, some
games to play, etc.

Yeah - and what on earth was that green squeezy pustule thing, anyway?
We still managed to build it into our
KitKat-onion-glass-lollipop-hat-crisps tower, though.

Post by Leo Breebaart
The only bad thing was that the room itself looked like a brothel
with all that red neon lighting. Like many other bits of the
renovated hotel (including the real Bar itself) it pretty much
had a negative ambiance and atmosphere -- it was only the people
who made it fun. I shudder to think what the Hub area will look
like in two years time when they will have gotten round to
'improving' that as well. Damn, I hope they keep those chairs and
sofas...

Oh, I like the Hub as it was this time round - they're not really going
to ruin it, are they?

The green-orange-purple lighting in the Cavern and the Dysk was probably
not optimal, particularly when food got involved.

Post by Leo Breebaart
One other thing I myself particularly liked about this Convention
that I don't think I have seen mentioned so far, was the
"emergent behaviour" erupting from the whole Guild concept.
I'd had my doubts about whether doing the Guilds a second time
could ever lead to the same magic as last time, but I need not
have worried: it worked all *new* sorts of magic.
I thought it was amazing to gradually see this whole kind of
"shadow convention" appear, with a myriad of guild-initiated new,
real 'eventlets' being scheduled in parallel to and in between
the actual programme items, in order to earn tokens, sure, but
mostly really just to entertain the other guests.

Yeah, the guilds made things even more fun. Managed to fine a seamstress
for clapping time for a belly-dancing colleague, and I had this scheme
to phone people up to fine them for musical ringtones.... Never got to
do that, though. Whaddya mean, "entrapment"?

[graham]

Hi there,

That was at the Dead Monkey Party [...]
The only bad thing was that the room itself looked like a brothel
with all that red neon lighting.

At the 2004 Con when I arrived at the hotel and looked at the big
statue, the mirrors and even the mirrors over the bed and wondered if
the place was used by Swingers at other times...!

Cheers,
Graham.
Nil Flagellate Sine Lucre

[Sabremeister Brian]

In a speech called

Post by CCA
"He's a rescue snake."
"Does that mean he goes down into holes and pulls people out?"
"Is that my husband? It is wearing trousers. That's not my
husband!"
"He's thirty-three and no-one's nailed him to a cross yet!"
Child "Can I call you elephant?"
elfin "Not elephant, *elfin*!"
"I'd like to point out that we have absolutely nothing prepared,
therefore nothing can go wrong." (Adrian Odgen at the Toast and Jam)
"It's just C and F until something else happens..." (Eric at the Toast
and Jam)
"I dressed up as a Ninja, but people thought I was a member of
Al-Quaida..."
"It's probably the first time I've ever said the words 'More
kazoos!'"
"Urrrggghh..."
"Yes. Words to that effect."
"If anyone wants to go to the Harvester, we're going now."
(Pause)
"Have you *been* to a Harvester?"
"I don't need to get drunk, I'm me!"
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."
CCA
"Has it been officially fiddled with?
What are we saying you have to come to Ops to be officially
fiddled with now?"
Ssirienna

Me: Please don't whistle Christmas tunes.
Teddy: <Whistles some more>
Me: Do you want to be turned into a frog?
Teddy: But you can't! You can't turn the Fluffy Bunny of Destiny into
a rabbit, it's just not right!

<In Sator Square dressed as Nigel>
Dealer: Would you like me to sell you a T-shirt?
Me: Not just yet...

<To the assassin who'd just killed me>
Me: How much was I worth?
Assassin: One token
Me: I'm a deputy, I'm worth more than that! Go away and get another
token, /then/ you can kill me!

<Repeatedly>
Me: What?

[Sabremeister Brian]

In a speech called

Post by CCA
"He's a rescue snake."
"Does that mean he goes down into holes and pulls people out?"
"Is that my husband? It is wearing trousers. That's not my
husband!"
"He's thirty-three and no-one's nailed him to a cross yet!"
Child "Can I call you elephant?"
elfin "Not elephant, *elfin*!"
"I'd like to point out that we have absolutely nothing prepared,
therefore nothing can go wrong." (Adrian Odgen at the Toast and Jam)
"It's just C and F until something else happens..." (Eric at the Toast
and Jam)
"I dressed up as a Ninja, but people thought I was a member of
Al-Quaida..."
"It's probably the first time I've ever said the words 'More
kazoos!'"
"Urrrggghh..."
"Yes. Words to that effect."
"If anyone wants to go to the Harvester, we're going now."
(Pause)
"Have you *been* to a Harvester?"
"I don't need to get drunk, I'm me!"
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."
CCA
"Has it been officially fiddled with?
What are we saying you have to come to Ops to be officially
fiddled with now?"
Ssirienna

Me: Please don't whistle Christmas tunes.
Teddy: <Whistles some more>
Me: Do you want to be turned into a frog?
Teddy: But you can't! You can't turn the Fluffy Bunny of Destiny into
a frog, it's just not right!

<In Sator Square dressed as Nigel>
Dealer: Would you like me to sell you a T-shirt?
Me: Not just yet...

<To the assassin who'd just killed me>
Me: How much was I worth?
Assassin: One token
Me: I'm a deputy, I'm worth more than that! Go away and get another
token, /then/ you can kill me!

<Repeatedly>
Me: What?

[Orjan Westin]

Post by Sabremeister Brian
<To the assassin who'd just killed me>
Me: How much was I worth?
Assassin: One token
Me: I'm a deputy, I'm worth more than that! Go away and get another
token, /then/ you can kill me!

To be fair, the contract had not included the title, but only the name, so
they charged what they thought was the going rate. I had a word with them
once I found out about it, though, and made sure they charged full price on
any contracts after that. However, I do apologise for the unintended
slight.

More quotes

Someone at the Closing Ceremony: How could the Conjurors win?
Marco: It was a trick.

Torak: If I ever were to get a tattoo, it would have to be a [C] tag.

Bjorn, on seeing Marco in his Moist costume: Diggi-loo, diggi-lej

Me, presenting my helpers at the Swashbuckling: ... barbarian from
Nothingfjord, "Kevin the not very nice at all, really".
Kevin: of the Seamstresses Guild.

Orjan

[Marlies]

At the Alchemist's meeting:

Alchemist: "It seems the Assassins have a contract out on one of us"
Another alchemist: "So? We're alchemists!. It's not like we have any
life expectancy anyway!"

[MEG]

Post by Marlies
Alchemist: "It seems the Assassins have a contract out on one of us"
Another alchemist: "So? We're alchemists!. It's not like we have any
life expectancy anyway!"

Hotel staff member observed looking down from the second floor of the Hub on
Friday:
"Yes, I know they're weird but they're so much nicer than the suits".

- MEG

[Sabremeister Brian]

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by Sabremeister Brian
<To the assassin who'd just killed me>
Me: How much was I worth?
Assassin: One token
Me: I'm a deputy, I'm worth more than that! Go away and get another
token, /then/ you can kill me!

To be fair, the contract had not included the title, but only the
name, so they charged what they thought was the going rate. I had a
word with them once I found out about it, though, and made sure they
charged full price on any contracts after that. However, I do
apologise for the unintended slight.

I think I know who took it out, anyway. A woman saw myself and
Worbleook coming out our Guild meeting on Saturday and took a photo.
As soon as she took it, we and four other wizards asked "Have you got
a licence for that thing?" A few hours later, she asked for my badge
number. Not long after the event, I not only acquired insurance, I
also put out a contract on her - so no apology necessary, I probably
spent as much on the Assassins' over the weekend as I would have done
getting resurected by the Priests'.

[Len Oil]

Post by Sabremeister Brian
I think I know who took it out, anyway. A woman saw myself and
Worbleook coming out our Guild meeting on Saturday and took a photo.
As soon as she took it, we and four other wizards asked "Have you got
a licence for that thing?" A few hours later, she asked for my badge
number. Not long after the event, I not only acquired insurance, I
also put out a contract on her - so no apology necessary, I probably
spent as much on the Assassins' over the weekend as I would have done
getting resurected by the Priests'.

Pshaw! Cameras and all other chemical-driven devices (inclusive of
batteries) all came under the Alchemical remit... Save for those you
could show the imp for, anyway...

I got challenged by a UU member about my mobile phone (relegated to
timepiece, as it happens), to which I gave the above reply, "and the
Lawyers guild have made that official"

Her: I've just turned a lawyer into a frog.

Me: That deserves a token in it's own right.
<hands one over>



I kept meaning to record where my tokens went...

One (originally IOUed, but later handed over once I /had/ tokens) for an
all inclusive licence to laugh, giggle, guffaw, etc... (to last 24
hours, but not stating when from, so it lasted me the whole Con, even if
the Guild hadn't managed to get one to cover everyone, again through a
lapse in filling in... ;)

A couple to get into the joint Alchy/Seamstress film (which
automatically went into the Seamstress's share)

One to the wizardry for the previously mentioned Service To Humanity.

And the rest I momentarily forget... though I think I handed a couple to
one of the more impoverished guild sometime near the end while sitting
in Ops and feeling flush with my cash...


Oooh, that's interesting:
http://workshy.org.uk/guilds/forums.cgi?fid=12&topic_id=1156332774

[Alice Chapman]

Post by Len Oil

Post by Sabremeister Brian
I think I know who took it out, anyway. A woman saw myself and
Worbleook coming out our Guild meeting on Saturday and took a
photo. As soon as she took it, we and four other wizards asked
"Have you got a licence for that thing?"

An accusation of entrapment was made over that incident.

*Smile* *Click* "Do you have a licence for that?"

Mind you, it was not as bad as the citation we acquired from the
Conjurors via the Lawyers for "Frogging with menaces". A certain
Conjurors Guild member was being irritating whilst we were waiting in a
queueueueueue, it was rather long :), for an event in the Dysk. "No. We
can just turn you into a frog". It was pointed out that she could be
unfrogged for appropriate remuneration. Hint not taken ("Go away and
stop bothering us"). Person frogged. Person runs away.

Post by Len Oil

Post by Sabremeister Brian
A few hours later, she
asked for my badge number. Not long after the event, I not only
acquired insurance, I also put out a contract on her - so no
apology necessary, I probably spent as much on the Assassins' over
the weekend as I would have done getting resurected by the Priests'.

Pshaw! Cameras and all other chemical-driven devices (inclusive of
batteries) all came under the Alchemical remit... Save for those you
could show the imp for, anyway...

Which led to Alchemists being frogged.

Post by Len Oil
I got challenged by a UU member about my mobile phone (relegated to
timepiece, as it happens), to which I gave the above reply, "and the
Lawyers guild have made that official"

Sorry, but "Clarkes Law" trumps the Lawyers Guild. If you can't explain
how it works it is therefore indistinguishable from magic. Ergo, you
need a licence for it.

Post by Len Oil
Her: I've just turned a lawyer into a frog.
Me: That deserves a token in it's own right.
<hands one over>

I was frogging Lawyers on principle.

Alice.
(alan_c according to my con badge)

[Orjan Westin]

Post by Alice Chapman
An accusation of entrapment was made over that incident.
*Smile* *Click* "Do you have a licence for that?"

Quite.

Post by Alice Chapman
Mind you, it was not as bad as the citation we acquired from the
Conjurors via the Lawyers for "Frogging with menaces". A certain
Conjurors Guild member was being irritating whilst we were waiting in
a queueueueueue, it was rather long :), for an event in the Dysk.
"No. We can just turn you into a frog".

I can't help but wonder what Vimes would say about that attitude.

<snip>

Post by Alice Chapman
I was frogging Lawyers on principle.

And I expect they only had themselves to blame, blatantly going around being
members of a guild whose real-life counterparts you are prejudiced against?

I'm sorry, this is not meant as a personal attack, but this attitude, which
was displayed by lots of people from most guilds, is rather unpleasant.

We had very good reasons for prohibiting any assassination not ordered and
paid for by a client from outside our guild. It largely helped preventing
abuse of power.

Orjan

[Sabremeister Brian]

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by Alice Chapman
An accusation of entrapment was made over that incident.
*Smile* *Click* "Do you have a licence for that?"

Quite.

Post by Alice Chapman
Mind you, it was not as bad as the citation we acquired from the
Conjurors via the Lawyers for "Frogging with menaces". A certain
Conjurors Guild member was being irritating whilst we were waiting in
a queueueueueue, it was rather long :), for an event in the Dysk.
"No. We can just turn you into a frog".

I can't help but wonder what Vimes would say about that attitude.
<snip>

Post by Alice Chapman
I was frogging Lawyers on principle.

And I expect they only had themselves to blame, blatantly going
around being members of a guild whose real-life counterparts you are
prejudiced against?
I'm sorry, this is not meant as a personal attack, but this
attitude,
which was displayed by lots of people from most guilds, is rather
unpleasant.
We had very good reasons for prohibiting any assassination not
ordered and paid for by a client from outside our guild. It largely
helped preventing abuse of power.

After the lawyers got onto us for that, I issued a similar wossname
regarding frogging - ie. as punishment or for payment only. However, I
think that most wizards were only frogging with good reason.

[Alice Chapman]

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by Alice Chapman
I was frogging Lawyers on principle.

And I expect they only had themselves to blame, blatantly going
around being members of a guild whose real-life counterparts you are
prejudiced against?

Oh, don't make BS assumptions.

Actually, there is a *missing* "irritating" in the above.

Post by Orjan Westin
I'm sorry, this is not meant as a personal attack,

Really? I certainly read like one.

Alice.

[CCA]

Post by Alice Chapman

Post by Sabremeister Brian
I think I know who took it out, anyway. A woman saw myself and
Worbleook coming out our Guild meeting on Saturday and took a
photo. As soon as she took it, we and four other wizards asked
"Have you got a licence for that thing?"

An accusation of entrapment was made over that incident.
*Smile* *Click* "Do you have a licence for that?"

I recall a similar incident near the coffee bar, when I happened upon
Brian dressed as Nijel the Destroyer.

Me: "Oh look, Brian dressed as Nijel" *click*

At least two hench-wizards: "Have you got a licence for that camera?"

The only other tokens I gave away were to a sweet little girl who was
going around selling ribbons for tokens (when a kid asks for tokens, I
generally give them - they're kids, after all). And some to the
Musician's Guild at the Toast and Jam.

CCA

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

The time: 24 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by CCA
The only other tokens I gave away were to a sweet little
girl who was going around selling ribbons for tokens

This "sweet little girl" was almost certainly the ruthless
mastermind Torak's been talking about.

[graham]

Hi there,

On 24 Aug 2006 21:22:54 GMT, Daibhid Ceanaideach

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach

Post by CCA
The only other tokens I gave away were to a sweet little
girl who was going around selling ribbons for tokens

This "sweet little girl" was almost certainly the ruthless
mastermind Torak's been talking about.

IIRC she was one of a gang of "sweet little children" who were members
of the Seamstresses' Guild at the 2004 Convention.

The Merchants' Guild (of which I was a member at that time) did
consider raising a protest at the exploitation of small children for
gain, on the grounds that if anyone was going to do that, it should
have been us!

Cheers,
Graham.

Nil Flagellate Sine Lucre

[Torak]

Post by graham
Hi there,
On 24 Aug 2006 21:22:54 GMT, Daibhid Ceanaideach

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach

Post by CCA
The only other tokens I gave away were to a sweet little
girl who was going around selling ribbons for tokens

This "sweet little girl" was almost certainly the ruthless
mastermind Torak's been talking about.

Yes, that's the one. I hear she's using her ill-gotten tokens to build
herself a secret lair inside a volcano.

Post by graham
IIRC she was one of a gang of "sweet little children" who were members
of the Seamstresses' Guild at the 2004 Convention.

Only "one of"? [1]

Post by graham
The Merchants' Guild (of which I was a member at that time) did
consider raising a protest at the exploitation of small children for
gain, on the grounds that if anyone was going to do that, it should
have been us!

We had a rather lengthy conversation after the paper plane contest about
the ethics of letting kids join the Seamstresses. We eventually came to
the conclusion - as I recall - that while it was probably a bit dodgy,
it was perfectly fine for kids to join the Assassins.


[1] - TBH I was rather impressed by her marketing acumen. She'll go far,
I suspect.

[Torak]

Post by CCA
The only other tokens I gave away were to a sweet little girl who was
going around selling ribbons for tokens (when a kid asks for tokens, I
generally give them - they're kids, after all).

Hah, that's what you think... Some kids are kids, some are evil little
marketing geniuses. So she got you, huh? Yup, me too... :-)

[Torak]

Post by Len Oil

Post by Sabremeister Brian
I think I know who took it out, anyway. A woman saw myself and
Worbleook coming out our Guild meeting on Saturday and took a photo.
As soon as she took it, we and four other wizards asked "Have you got
a licence for that thing?" A few hours later, she asked for my badge
number. Not long after the event, I not only acquired insurance, I
also put out a contract on her - so no apology necessary, I probably
spent as much on the Assassins' over the weekend as I would have done
getting resurected by the Priests'.

Pshaw! Cameras and all other chemical-driven devices (inclusive of
batteries) all came under the Alchemical remit... Save for those you
could show the imp for, anyway...
I got challenged by a UU member about my mobile phone (relegated to
timepiece, as it happens), to which I gave the above reply, "and the
Lawyers guild have made that official"

Oooh, the lawyers were useful. ISTR Aquarion got a note saying that he
could do anything, which meant that all musicians wearing black got a
note saying "This is not black, by order."

[Eric Jarvis]

Post by Torak
Oooh, the lawyers were useful. ISTR Aquarion got a note saying that he
could do anything, which meant that all musicians wearing black got a
note saying "This is not black, by order."

Though I didn't need to, having already retained a lawyer to prove that it
was actually midnight gray when required.

[Torak]

Post by Eric Jarvis

Post by Torak
Oooh, the lawyers were useful. ISTR Aquarion got a note saying that he
could do anything, which meant that all musicians wearing black got a
note saying "This is not black, by order."

Though I didn't need to, having already retained a lawyer to prove that it
was actually midnight gray when required.

Yeah. And I didn't need the note either, since I got rid of all relevant
assassins by saying, in effect, "Yes, it is black, and there's sod all
you can do about it". :-D

[Torak]

Post by Orjan Westin
Torak: If I ever were to get a tattoo, it would have to be a [C] tag.

YAY! I've been quoted!

Post by Orjan Westin
Bjorn, on seeing Marco in his Moist costume: Diggi-loo, diggi-lej

Just about all of us in that little batch of seats during the hedgehog
party, in fact. Cue singalong.

[Torak]

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Ssirienna
"Has it been officially fiddled with?
What are we saying you have to come to Ops to be officially
fiddled with now?"

Me: Please don't whistle Christmas tunes.
Teddy: <Whistles some more>
Me: Do you want to be turned into a frog?
Teddy: But you can't! You can't turn the Fluffy Bunny of Destiny into
a frog, it's just not right!
<In Sator Square dressed as Nigel>
Dealer: Would you like me to sell you a T-shirt?
Me: Not just yet...
<To the assassin who'd just killed me>
Me: How much was I worth?
Assassin: One token
Me: I'm a deputy, I'm worth more than that! Go away and get another
token, /then/ you can kill me!
<Repeatedly>
Me: What?

UU REP: Do you have a licence for that computer?
ME: What?
UU REP: It's a technomantic device. You need a licence from the University.
ME: Um... It's powered by electricity. Lightning comes from the gods,
so talk to the Priests.
UU REP: OK, so you have a licence from them?
ME: Um... <presses PLAY, starts Old Time Rock & Roll> It produces
music, thus it's a musical instrument. I'm in the Musicians' Guild.
UU REP: Oh. Bugger. Fine, I'll just turn you into a frog then.

Me, Ed, etc, at about three AM after the DMP, upon spotting the hatless
behatted one climbing the stairs in the hub:
(in unison) GOOD NIGHT TERRY!!!

PA System during Vetinari's entrance to his trial: POOM POOM POOM pom-PA
PAAAM pom-PA PAAAM...

NOBBY: Do you have a licence to wear black?
ME: What?
NOBBY: The Assassins have trademarked black. You need a licence.
ME: Look, it's got a green bit. Assassins' accoutrements are
traditionally also black.
NOBBY: Oh...
ME: Besides, there's long precedent establishing black as the de facto
uniform for blues musicians.

[The Flying Hamster]

Post by Torak
UU REP: Do you have a licence for that computer?

Which reminds me, I need to take along my TKD belt as a not so subtle
hint to guild members that people without little stickers on their
badges means that they're not playing the guild games so stop bugging
them and I think a slightly less subtle reminder to some when in the
dealers room (ie don't ask for stock in return for guild tokens...)

However listening to the antics was nice :)

[Orjan Westin]

Post by The Flying Hamster

Post by Torak
UU REP: Do you have a licence for that computer?

Which reminds me, I need to take along my TKD belt as a not so subtle
hint to guild members that people without little stickers on their
badges means that they're not playing the guild games so stop bugging
them

TBH, that's something I don't like with the Guilds. Asking for tokens in
exchange for something you want - like having an indulgence, assassination,
favourite tune or whatever - is fair enough, but the whole "get a licence"
thing is largely annoying.

This is said with hindsight, and I did not get accosted often enough to get
annoyed with it, but the one licence we asked for (impersonating an assassin
when wearing black) was an idea we abandoned quite soon.

The idea of the guilds is to be entertaining. Being threatened for using a
camera, or receiving a call on the mobile, is not, as a rule, entertaining.

Post by The Flying Hamster
and I think a slightly less subtle reminder to some when in the
dealers room (ie don't ask for stock in return for guild tokens...)

You mean the dealers room that was stated to be off-limit for guild
activities?

Orjan

[Kayla]

[...guilds]

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by The Flying Hamster
and I think a slightly less subtle reminder to some when in the
dealers room (ie don't ask for stock in return for guild tokens...)

You mean the dealers room that was stated to be off-limit for guild
activities?

Yup. That's the one. The one with the laminated sheets of "No Guild"
badge templates on the doors. The reason Hamster didn't have one of
(or really know anything about) the "No Guild" badges was quite
simple. He's married to a member of the concom. This meant he didn't
actually go through registration as such because I got his stuff with
mine - there was also probably the assumption by others that he knew
because I knew *g* Not always the case.

Kayla

[The Flying Hamster]

[...]

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by The Flying Hamster
and I think a slightly less subtle reminder to some when in the
dealers room (ie don't ask for stock in return for guild tokens...)

You mean the dealers room that was stated to be off-limit for guild
activities?

That's the one, I might be more awake next time and slightly less polite
in dealing with persistent offenders, on the other hand I might remove
their rights to buy chocolate, which is a far more serious threat than
anything the watch can come up with >:)

[Alice Chapman]

but the one licence we asked for (impersonating an assassin when
wearing black) was an idea we abandoned quite soon.

Is that why it was still being done on the Monday[1]? It maybe that it
was *intended* to be abandoned, but it certainly wasn't by some members
of the Assassins Guild.

The idea of the guilds is to be entertaining. Being threatened for
using a camera, or receiving a call on the mobile

In what way is "Could I see your licence for that technomantic device?"
threatening? Is it somehow more threatening than the Seamstresses
"licence to ogle", or being fined (by the Fools) for unlicenced humour?

Post by The Flying Hamster
and I think a slightly less subtle reminder to some when in the
dealers room (ie don't ask for stock in return for guild tokens...)

You mean the dealers room that was stated to be off-limit for guild
activities?[2]

[1] the only day I was informed I needed a licence for black clothes[3]
even though I was wearing predominantly black Friday and Saturday.

[2] as was Ops and programming.

[3] "Can I see your licence for those black clothes." "Eh?" "You've got
to have a licence as you are impersonating an Assassin." "Really?"
"You'll have to buy one." "I don't somehow think frogs can sell
licences." <Turns Assassin into a frog.> "Bye."

Alice.

[Orjan Westin]

Post by Alice Chapman

but the one licence we asked for (impersonating an assassin when
wearing black) was an idea we abandoned quite soon.

Is that why it was still being done on the Monday[1]? It maybe that it
was *intended* to be abandoned, but it certainly wasn't by some
members of the Assassins Guild.

I apologise. Obviously the information didn't reach them. We did try to
tell everyone, believe me.

Post by Alice Chapman

The idea of the guilds is to be entertaining. Being threatened for
using a camera, or receiving a call on the mobile

In what way is "Could I see your licence for that technomantic
device?" threatening? Is it somehow more threatening than the
Seamstresses "licence to ogle", or being fined (by the Fools) for
unlicenced humour?

Asking to see a licence is not threatening. Turning people without one, or
without a desire to give up tokens for using their own equipment, into a
frog (which will prevent them from participating in guild activities for two
hours), is bullying.

Post by Alice Chapman
[1] the only day I was informed I needed a licence for black
clothes[3] even though I was wearing predominantly black Friday and
Saturday.
[3] "Can I see your licence for those black clothes." "Eh?" "You've
got to have a licence as you are impersonating an Assassin." "Really?"
"You'll have to buy one." "I don't somehow think frogs can sell
licences." <Turns Assassin into a frog.> "Bye."

Ah. How... sporting. Had you just said "Thanks, but I don't think so" you
wouldn't have been assassinated.

Ah, well. Time to re-read Sourcery, methinks.

Orjan

[Sabremeister Brian]

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by Alice Chapman

but the one licence we asked for (impersonating an assassin when
wearing black) was an idea we abandoned quite soon.

Is that why it was still being done on the Monday[1]? It maybe that
it was *intended* to be abandoned, but it certainly wasn't by some
members of the Assassins Guild.

I apologise. Obviously the information didn't reach them. We did
try to tell everyone, believe me.

Post by Alice Chapman

The idea of the guilds is to be entertaining. Being threatened for
using a camera, or receiving a call on the mobile

In what way is "Could I see your licence for that technomantic
device?" threatening? Is it somehow more threatening than the
Seamstresses "licence to ogle", or being fined (by the Fools) for
unlicenced humour?

Asking to see a licence is not threatening. Turning people without
one, or without a desire to give up tokens for using their own
equipment, into a frog (which will prevent them from participating
in
guild activities for two hours), is bullying.

Or self defence. If a wizard perrceives themselves as about to be
assassinated, they would be quite within their rights to frog the
potential assassin. I don't know the exact perpendiculars of the
situation, but at the first Guild meeting it was explained that
frogging was to be a punishment for Guild infractions, a service for
payment, or a means of preventing hostile Guild action. If some people
took it to what others perceive as too far, I can only assume that
they got carried away on the power rush.

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by Alice Chapman
[1] the only day I was informed I needed a licence for black
clothes[3] even though I was wearing predominantly black Friday and
Saturday.
[3] "Can I see your licence for those black clothes." "Eh?" "You've
got to have a licence as you are impersonating an Assassin."
"Really?" "You'll have to buy one." "I don't somehow think frogs
can
sell licences." <Turns Assassin into a frog.> "Bye."

Ah. How... sporting. Had you just said "Thanks, but I don't think
so" you wouldn't have been assassinated.

Yes, but would she have been issued with an IOU?
I did get a letter from the Lawyers about some wizards' overzealous
frogging. The fine was enough to prompt me to remind people of the
rules - payment, punishment, protection.

Post by Orjan Westin
Ah, well. Time to re-read Sourcery, methinks.
Orjan

Read it? I was part of it for most of Saturday!

[Orjan Westin]

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Orjan Westin
Asking to see a licence is not threatening. Turning people without
one, or without a desire to give up tokens for using their own
equipment, into a frog (which will prevent them from participating
in
guild activities for two hours), is bullying.

Or self defence. If a wizard perrceives themselves as about to be
assassinated, they would be quite within their rights to frog the
potential assassin.

Oh, certainly.

Post by Sabremeister Brian

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by Alice Chapman
[3] "Can I see your licence for those black clothes." "Eh?" "You've
got to have a licence as you are impersonating an Assassin."
"Really?" "You'll have to buy one." "I don't somehow think frogs
can
sell licences." <Turns Assassin into a frog.> "Bye."

Ah. How... sporting. Had you just said "Thanks, but I don't think
so" you wouldn't have been assassinated.

Yes, but would she have been issued with an IOU?

I hope not. I told people that if someone did or could not pay, that should
be an end of the matter. If people don't want to play, there's no point in
trying to make them.

Orjan

[Kayla]

[...]

Post by Alice Chapman

Post by Orjan Westin
The idea of the guilds is to be entertaining. Being threatened for
using a camera, or receiving a call on the mobile

In what way is "Could I see your licence for that technomantic device?"
threatening? Is it somehow more threatening than the Seamstresses
"licence to ogle", or being fined (by the Fools) for unlicenced humour?

AFAIAC they were all equally as bad when it came to demanding tokens
in that way... mind you, very very few people tried asking me for
tokens for anything ;) Those that knew me perhaps knew better than too
bother, and those that didn't probably realised that I was generally
intent on dealing with a problem and best not interupted.

Kayla

PS. I must emphasise that it seemed to only be a small handful of
people in any one guild that took things too far on occasion, most
participants knew where to draw the line.

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

The time: 24 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:19:34 +0100, Torak

Post by Torak
UU REP: Do you have a licence for that computer?

Which reminds me, I need to take along my TKD belt as a not
so subtle hint to guild members that people without little
stickers on their badges means that they're not playing the
guild games so stop bugging them

I thought that was what the big "No Guild" badges meant.
Stickerless badges meant that you weren't particularly pro-
active when it came to Guild activities (and had missed all
Guild meetings) but were okay with getting accosted as part of
someone else's Guild activities.

Or maybe that was just what *mine* meant...

[The Flying Hamster]

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
The time: 24 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:19:34 +0100, Torak

Post by Torak
UU REP: Do you have a licence for that computer?

Which reminds me, I need to take along my TKD belt as a not
so subtle hint to guild members that people without little
stickers on their badges means that they're not playing the
guild games so stop bugging them

I thought that was what the big "No Guild" badges meant.
Stickerless badges meant that you weren't particularly pro-
active when it came to Guild activities (and had missed all
Guild meetings) but were okay with getting accosted as part of
someone else's Guild activities.

It also means you've had the time to work out what the "no guild" badges
were for and been able to get to the appropriate place to obtain one :)

[Jens Ayton]

Post by CCA
Okay, and now a quotefile...

"I just realised ... this is _my_ sofa." -- Aquarion

"Are you banging the children, then?" -- Jenny Delaney

[CCA]

Post by Jens Ayton
"I just realised ... this is _my_ sofa." -- Aquarion
"Are you banging the children, then?" -- Jenny Delaney

Mad Hamish: "Does anyone know who stole the sign from the car park
outside? 'Cause that's the one *I* wanted!"

CCA

[Ingo Korb]

Post by CCA
Mad Hamish: "Does anyone know who stole the sign from the car park
outside? 'Cause that's the one *I* wanted!"

This one? Loading Image...

-i 'That's not me' k

[Torak]

Post by Ingo Korb

Post by CCA
Mad Hamish: "Does anyone know who stole the sign from the car park
outside? 'Cause that's the one *I* wanted!"

This one? http://snowcat.de/tmp/sign.jpg
-i 'That's not me' k

That's a very spooky picture, by the way.

[Ingo Korb]

Post by Torak

Post by Ingo Korb

Post by CCA
Mad Hamish: "Does anyone know who stole the sign from the car park
outside? 'Cause that's the one *I* wanted!"

This one? http://snowcat.de/tmp/sign.jpg
-i 'That's not me' k

That's a very spooky picture, by the way.

1s exposure time (at ISO 3200!) without tripod isn't that good for
capturing moving subjects (e.g. someone removing a sign). A flash wouldn't
have helped much either because of the high reflectivity of those signs.

-ik

[BriD([e-mail])]

Post by Jens Ayton

Post by CCA
Okay, and now a quotefile...

"I just realised ... this is _my_ sofa." -- Aquarion
"Are you banging the children, then?" -- Jenny Delaney
--
\\\\ Jens Ayton, Fratello di Vetinari 36.3636363636364% insane
\\\\\__, Bringing sarcastic one-liners to the common hedgehog since 1999
\\\\\`/

Speaking of Jenny:-
On "Whats my Line" (Blindfold trying to identify Lu-Tze i.e. me) on
finding broom
"It's long and hard and bushy at the end"

BriD

[Julian Hall]

Post by CCA
and the singing troll with 'One night in Morpork'.

Oh no. Oh dear.

Cue jokes about 'Troll who walk through airport turnstile sideways going
to Ankh-Morpork' ;)

IGMC

Post by CCA
Toast and Jam was excellent as ever. Best bits IMO were the version of
Free's 'All Right Now' with Gid on ukelele,

George Formby v Free. Sounds like a bizarre version of the guitar contest
at the end of Crossroad[1]

'There she stood... in the street..' '.. with me little stick of Blackpool
rock..' '.. smiling from her head to her feet.. I said heyy.. ' ' If you
could see what I can see..' 'What's your name? Are you trying to put me to
shame? She said..' When I'm cleaning windows!'

GC&R

Post by CCA
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

There were some there to start with?

[1] Ralph Macchio not Britney!

[Ssirienna]

(snipped bits)

Post by Julian Hall

Post by CCA
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

There were some there to start with?

Was there any truth in the rumour that a married couple
complete in full wedding dress regalia actually arrived
and checked in and were escorted to their rooms by
lines of Con-tendees??

Ssirienna
(enquiring minds have to know!)

[Martyn Clapham]

Post by Ssirienna
(snipped bits)

Post by Julian Hall

Post by CCA
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

There were some there to start with?

Was there any truth in the rumour that a married couple
complete in full wedding dress regalia actually arrived
and checked in and were escorted to their rooms by
lines of Con-tendees??
Ssirienna
(enquiring minds have to know!)

Yep.

I saw the preparations when folk heard they were coming, but went in the
bar to keep out of the way.

Apparently they got some very loud cheers and the line-up ended with a
feegle!

That makes it 3 Cons and 3 couples, you'd think the hotel would have
learnt by now! :-))

Mart.

[Peter Ellis]

Post by Martyn Clapham
I saw the preparations when folk heard they were coming, but went in
the bar to keep out of the way.
Apparently they got some very loud cheers and the line-up ended with a
feegle!
That makes it 3 Cons and 3 couples, you'd think the hotel would have
learnt by now! :-))

Maybe they have a sideline selling rooms at high prices to particularly
strange couples :-)

Peter

[Eric Jarvis]

Post by Ssirienna
Was there any truth in the rumour that a married couple
complete in full wedding dress regalia actually arrived
and checked in and were escorted to their rooms by
lines of Con-tendees??

If that is the complete rumour then it's in the immediate vicinity of one
hundred percent true.

[Torak]

Post by Ssirienna
(snipped bits)

Post by Julian Hall

Post by CCA
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

There were some there to start with?

Was there any truth in the rumour that a married couple
complete in full wedding dress regalia actually arrived
and checked in and were escorted to their rooms by
lines of Con-tendees??

Sort of. A honeymoon couple still in wedding regalia did arrive and got
a standing ovation as they passed through the reception, bar and
corridor. Don't know what happened after that, but they certainly hadn't
been expecting it.

[Len Oil]

Post by Torak
Sort of. A honeymoon couple still in wedding regalia did arrive and got
a standing ovation as they passed through the reception, bar and
corridor. Don't know what happened after that, but they certainly hadn't
been expecting it.

A visit by the /Papal/ Inquisition?

(Referring to one of the pub-quiz answers, to stay on subject /and/
avoid a fine... ;)

[graham]

Hi there,

On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:09:43 GMT, "Ssirienna"

Post by Ssirienna
Was there any truth in the rumour that a married couple
complete in full wedding dress regalia actually arrived
and checked in and were escorted to their rooms by
lines of Con-tendees??

Yep, I was in the corridor just past the Piazza Bar in a group
chatting with Mr P when they came through looking somewhat bemused as
all these people were applauding them! :-)

Cheers,
Graham.
Nil Flagellate Sine Lucre

[Torak]

Post by graham
On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:09:43 GMT, "Ssirienna"

Post by Ssirienna
Was there any truth in the rumour that a married couple
complete in full wedding dress regalia actually arrived
and checked in and were escorted to their rooms by
lines of Con-tendees??

Yep, I was in the corridor just past the Piazza Bar in a group
chatting with Mr P when they came through looking somewhat bemused as
all these people were applauding them! :-)

The bride seemed to be getting into the swing of it, though - she seemed
to have developed a bit of a swagger by the time she reached the doors
to the Hub.

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

The time: 23 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by Julian Hall

Post by CCA
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

There were some there to start with?

When I was checking out I noticed some people in suits had
materialised in the coffee shop. At least one of them was
trying very hard to pretend he hadn't noticed anything odd.

[Len Oil]

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
The time: 23 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by Julian Hall

Post by CCA
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

There were some there to start with?

When I was checking out I noticed some people in suits had
materialised in the coffee shop. At least one of them was
trying very hard to pretend he hadn't noticed anything odd.

The 'normals' that were there on the Thursday night[1] were very
interested to hear about what was going on, but were probably spared the
worst (BWIM 'best') excesses of the costumed Con-goers that started to
be noticeably prevalent on Friday.


[1] Asked me if I was there for a flight connection too, as I was
standing in the doorway to the bar listening at the "Real World
questions based upon Discworld guilds"-themed Pub Quiz... To which I
did atrociously bad in my single-effort-just-for-fun manner.

[Alice Chapman]

*Date:* 23 Aug 2006 21:20:14 GMT
The time: 23 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by Julian Hall

Post by CCA
"We seem to have scared all the normals away..."

There were some there to start with?

When I was checking out I noticed some people in suits had
materialised in the coffee shop. At least one of them was
trying very hard to pretend he hadn't noticed anything odd.

The suits in the coffee shop were trying[1] *very* hard to pretend
everything was normal.

[1] but not succeeding.
Alice.

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

The time: 22 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by CCA
Okay, the problem with big Discworld events is that I can't
always remember clearly what happened on what day and in
what order, so I've sort of listed the most memorable bits
below...
Opening ceremony, and especially the introduction of the
Guild leaders, accompanied by the Musician's Guild on
kazoos *g*.

Could someone help me ID the Guild fanfares? The ones I
remember are:

Alchemists' Guild: "Lily the Pink"
Priests' Guild: "Beautiful Songs of Love" (Father Ted theme)
Fools' Guild: "The Liberty Bell March" (Monty Python theme)
Unseen University: "We're Off To See The Wizard"
Assassins' Guild: "James Bond"
Seamstresses' Guild: "Like A Virgin"

The Conjurors and Lawyers I'm sure recognised at the time, but
have since forgotten; the Musicians I didn't recognise at the
time.

[Suzi]

In article <***@130.133.1.4>, Daibhid Ceanaideach
***@aol.com wibbled...

[Snip]

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
Could someone help me ID the Guild fanfares? The ones I
Alchemists' Guild: "Lily the Pink"
Priests' Guild: "Beautiful Songs of Love" (Father Ted theme)
Fools' Guild: "The Liberty Bell March" (Monty Python theme)
Unseen University: "We're Off To See The Wizard"
Assassins' Guild: "James Bond"
Seamstresses' Guild: "Like A Virgin"
The Conjurors and Lawyers I'm sure recognised at the time, but
have since forgotten;

Conjurors - Magical Mystery Tour
Lawyers - If I Were a Rich Man

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
the Musicians I didn't recognise at the time.

Musicians was Dave Brubeck's "Take Five".

HTH :-)
Suzi

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

The time: 23 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by Suzi
[Snip]

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
Could someone help me ID the Guild fanfares?

<snip>

Post by Suzi

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
The Conjurors and Lawyers I'm sure recognised at the time,
but have since forgotten;

Conjurors - Magical Mystery Tour
Lawyers - If I Were a Rich Man

That was them. Thanks!

Post by Suzi

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
the Musicians I didn't recognise at the time.

Musicians was Dave Brubeck's "Take Five".

Darn! 'Course it was!

[Eric Jarvis]

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
The time: 22 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by CCA
Okay, the problem with big Discworld events is that I can't
always remember clearly what happened on what day and in
what order, so I've sort of listed the most memorable bits
below...
Opening ceremony, and especially the introduction of the
Guild leaders, accompanied by the Musician's Guild on
kazoos *g*.

Could someone help me ID the Guild fanfares? The ones I
Alchemists' Guild: "Lily the Pink"
Priests' Guild: "Beautiful Songs of Love" (Father Ted theme)
Fools' Guild: "The Liberty Bell March" (Monty Python theme)
Unseen University: "We're Off To See The Wizard"
Assassins' Guild: "James Bond"
Seamstresses' Guild: "Like A Virgin"
The Conjurors and Lawyers I'm sure recognised at the time, but
have since forgotten; the Musicians I didn't recognise at the
time.

Magical Mystery Tour, If I Was A Rich Man, Take Five.

Though If I were you I'd not take my word for it. Just because those were
the tunes I thought I was playing doesn't necessarily they were the same
tunes anyone else was playing or that anyone was hearing.

[Ssirienna]

Post by Eric Jarvis

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
The time: 22 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by CCA
Okay, the problem with big Discworld events is that I can't
always remember clearly what happened on what day and in
what order, so I've sort of listed the most memorable bits
below...
Opening ceremony, and especially the introduction of the
Guild leaders, accompanied by the Musician's Guild on
kazoos *g*.

Could someone help me ID the Guild fanfares? The ones I
Alchemists' Guild: "Lily the Pink"
Priests' Guild: "Beautiful Songs of Love" (Father Ted theme)
Fools' Guild: "The Liberty Bell March" (Monty Python theme)
Unseen University: "We're Off To See The Wizard"
Assassins' Guild: "James Bond"
Seamstresses' Guild: "Like A Virgin"
The Conjurors and Lawyers I'm sure recognised at the time, but
have since forgotten; the Musicians I didn't recognise at the
time.

Magical Mystery Tour, If I Was A Rich Man, Take Five.
Though If I were you I'd not take my word for it. Just because those were
the tunes I thought I was playing doesn't necessarily they were the same
tunes anyone else was playing or that anyone was hearing.

If you were playing them Eric, that's good enough for me :-)

Ssirienna
(who got a hug from you which was very nice :)

[Torak]

Post by CCA
Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it chatting with
various people instead. It was nice to chat to Leo about music
briefly, as probably the only two afpers who like R&B/soul music!

Um... hello?

Proper R&B, that is, back when it still meant "rhythm & blues" as
opposed to "silly teeny-rap".

[jester]

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:58:42 +0100, Torak

Post by Torak

Post by CCA
as probably the only two afpers who like R&B/soul music!

Um... hello?
Proper R&B, that is, back when it still meant "rhythm & blues" as
opposed to "silly teeny-rap".

Indeed. I like R&B, and I like Soul.
I generally don't like the current "doesn't have any" soul that's called
R&B.

[CCA]

Post by Torak

Post by CCA
Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it chatting with
various people instead. It was nice to chat to Leo about music
briefly, as probably the only two afpers who like R&B/soul music!

Um... hello?
Proper R&B, that is, back when it still meant "rhythm & blues" as
opposed to "silly teeny-rap".

Hmmm...
As a just-about-lifelong lover of various forms of soul music, I really
don't like hearing it called 'silly teeny rap'. Yes, I know not many
people on afp share the same musical tastes as I do. That doesn't mean
I'm going to put up with it being called that.
CCA

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

The time: 24 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by CCA

Post by Torak

Post by CCA
Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it
chatting with various people instead. It was nice to
chat to Leo about music briefly, as probably the only
two afpers who like R&B/soul music!

Um... hello?
Proper R&B, that is, back when it still meant "rhythm &
blues" as opposed to "silly teeny-rap".

Hmmm...
As a just-about-lifelong lover of various forms of soul
music, I really don't like hearing it called 'silly teeny
rap'.

Er, no-one did. Torak is saying he *shares* your taste in
music, as long as it's the proper stuff.

[Torak]

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach

Post by CCA

Post by Torak

Post by CCA
Didn't go to many events on the Monday but spent it
chatting with various people instead. It was nice to
chat to Leo about music briefly, as probably the only
two afpers who like R&B/soul music!

Um... hello?
Proper R&B, that is, back when it still meant "rhythm &
blues" as opposed to "silly teeny-rap".

Hmmm...
As a just-about-lifelong lover of various forms of soul
music, I really don't like hearing it called 'silly teeny
rap'.

Er, no-one did. Torak is saying he *shares* your taste in
music, as long as it's the proper stuff.

Exactly. It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers") who nowadays call their assorted brands of cheesy pop and rap
"R&B" that I treat with extreme derision. OK, Usher can dance. But
it's not R&B, and it's not soul. It's pop.

Aretha Franklin is soul. James Brown is soul (and R&B, and funk,
and...). Even Michael Jackson has, at one time or another, been R&B.

R&B and soul are *good* music, and I don't like seeing the genre watered
down by insipid MTV nonsense... ;-)

[CCA]

Post by Torak
It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers")

See? If I went around saying (insert name of rock group here) aren't
proper singers, I'm sure lots of people would object.

Post by Torak
... who nowadays call their assorted brands of cheesy pop and rap
"R&B" that I treat with extreme derision. OK, Usher can dance. But
it's not R&B, and it's not soul. It's pop.

And that's where we differ.
I like modern soul too, and call it soul or R&B, rather than pop.

CCA

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

The time: 24 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by CCA

Post by Torak
It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers")

See? If I went around saying (insert name of rock group
here) aren't proper singers, I'm sure lots of people would
object.

Can I insert the name of Lordi?

(I know, missing the point...)

[The Stainless Steel Cat]

Post by CCA

Post by Torak
It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers")

See? If I went around saying (insert name of rock group here) aren't
proper singers, I'm sure lots of people would object.

Post by Torak
... who nowadays call their assorted brands of cheesy pop and rap
"R&B" that I treat with extreme derision. OK, Usher can dance. But
it's not R&B, and it's not soul. It's pop.

And that's where we differ.
I like modern soul too, and call it soul or R&B, rather than pop.

The point where I agree with Torak is that IMO most of the new stuff
shouldn't be *called* R&B. (Personal definition: if I can't imagine Ray or
James or Aretha singing it, it ain't R&B.) I've no objections to musical
styles evolving, but most other categories have no trouble thinking up new
names for the offshoots. Why not stick to calling it "funk" or "hip hop" or
whatever that "swearing-to-the-rhythm-of-a-triphammer" stuff is called...?

Now that I think on it though, Jazz as well has grown too big and diverse
to be properly confined under that one label. (Don't start me on
"When-does-the-tune-start? Jazz" ;o)

Cat.

[CCA]

Post by The Stainless Steel Cat
Now that I think on it though, Jazz as well has grown too big and diverse
to be properly confined under that one label. (Don't start me on
"When-does-the-tune-start? Jazz" ;o)

I think Jazz has been diverse for quite some time though - even before
Acid Jazz (yaay!) and jazz-funk (also yaay!), there was Dixieland,
Be-Bop, and Cool, etc...
CCA
--
Jazz-loving soulmate to Cat
"Isn't that magazine usually aimed at the worst kind of weapon-obsessed
gun nut in the galaxy?"
"Your point being...?"

[Torak]

Post by CCA

Post by The Stainless Steel Cat
Now that I think on it though, Jazz as well has grown too big and diverse
to be properly confined under that one label. (Don't start me on
"When-does-the-tune-start? Jazz" ;o)

I think Jazz has been diverse for quite some time though - even before
Acid Jazz (yaay!) and jazz-funk (also yaay!), there was Dixieland,
Be-Bop, and Cool, etc...

Mmm.... dixieland... Trad jazz, blues....

[Torak]

Post by CCA

Post by Torak
It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers")

See? If I went around saying (insert name of rock group here) aren't
proper singers, I'm sure lots of people would object.

I suspect I might not. Particularly if metal is involved. ;-)

[Orjan Westin]

Post by Torak

Post by CCA

Post by Torak
It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers")

See? If I went around saying (insert name of rock group here) aren't
proper singers, I'm sure lots of people would object.

I suspect I might not. Particularly if metal is involved. ;-)

You haven't heard Rob Halford of Judas Priest sing then, I take it?

Orjan

[Torak]

Post by Orjan Westin

Post by Torak

Post by CCA

Post by Torak
It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers")

See? If I went around saying (insert name of rock group here) aren't
proper singers, I'm sure lots of people would object.

I suspect I might not. Particularly if metal is involved. ;-)

You haven't heard Rob Halford of Judas Priest sing then, I take it?

Nope.

[Suzi]

In article <***@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>, CCA
***@aol.com wibbled...

[Snip]

Post by CCA
I like modern soul too, and call it soul or R&B, rather than pop.

You can call a lead weight a ship, but it still won't float! :-)

Suzi

[Torak]

Post by Suzi
[Snip]

Post by CCA
I like modern soul too, and call it soul or R&B, rather than pop.

You can call a lead weight a ship, but it still won't float! :-)

Ouch! And I thought I was being mean... ;-)

[Eric Jarvis]

Post by CCA

Post by Torak
It's the artists (I refuse, on the whole, to call them
"singers")

See? If I went around saying (insert name of rock group here) aren't
proper singers, I'm sure lots of people would object.

Actually it is the same with any genre, and not only when it comes to
music. There is a lowest common denominator commercialised product that
reaches a mass market that rarely owes more to creativity than it owes to
market research, and there's the real thing that you can generally only
find if you make an effort. This is as true for R&B music as it is for sf
novels.

Which doesn't mean to say all genres can appeal equally to everyone.
However it does mean that if you have immersed yourself in a genre you'll
know about the good stuff that other people don't realise exists. So, for
me, death metal is something I'm not impressed by, but that's because I've
almost certainly only ever heard the worst it has to offer. It's enough to
know that it's a genre of music that is liable to remain fairly low on my
list of genres to explore, but that's not because it's bad music rather it
simply doesn't particularly appeal to me.

In general everyone vaguely appreciates a moderately tuneful voice that's
produced to within an inch of it's life. However it doesn't really excite
anyone since there's not a lot there to make a connection with. That's
fine for mass market pop music where the focus is on a catchy hook and
marketing. It doesn't work for a genre because people won't make the
effort to seek out that type of voice.

A more quirky and unusual voice may well be interesting enough to many
that they will make the effort to get hold of recordings without needing
them to be spoon fed. However it will also put off many other people thus
making it less useful for commercial pop.

A great example is the song "Here's Where The Story Ends". Done by The
Sundays it's a truly extraordinary song with an amazing vocal performance.
However it requires listening to in order to work, it's too subtle to
catch your attention when played on the radio. Stephen Tintin Duffy
released a version with vocals by Shelley Nelson that lost almost all the
subtlety. It was a hit. The original is something I listen to over and
over again, the cover is always vaguely disappointing. That isn't because
Shelley Nelson can't sing, she has a superb voice, it's because the cover
is produced in a way that emphasises the "surface" and ignores the
"depth". It's shinier. We share an enormous proportion of our genetic code
with the magpie.

There are a limited number of people who can pull off the trick of singing
in a way that has mass appeal and yet which can attract aficionados. Most
singers have to choose. To a large extent this is true of all artists.

If you don't put the effort into finding the hidden gems in a genre then
you'll only ever see the shiny dross that has instant mass appeal. That's
fine so long as you don't assume that only the dross exists.

[CCA]

Post by Daibhid Ceanaideach
The time: 24 Aug 2006. The place: alt.fan.pratchett. The

Post by CCA

Post by Torak

Post by CCA
It was nice to
chat to Leo about music briefly, as probably the only
two afpers who like R&B/soul music!

Um... hello?
Proper R&B, that is, back when it still meant "rhythm &
blues" as opposed to "silly teeny-rap".

Hmmm...
As a just-about-lifelong lover of various forms of soul
music, I really don't like hearing it called 'silly teeny
rap'.

Er, no-one did. Torak is saying he *shares* your taste in
music, as long as it's the proper stuff.

And that's what I'm complaining about. Because I like stuff like Usher
too, and am just about fed up of being told it's rubbish. *You*
(generic) may think it's rubbish, but I don't.
CCA