Gathering 16, The First One (of 1998)

A new year, and methinks time for a new format for these reports...

...something perhaps a little shorter, a little more factual, and a little
less taxing on the old noggin to write.  Writing nice long flowing,
occasionally accurate and vaguely amusing accounts of our meetings might 
have been doable in the beginning, but they take time and effort, two
things I don't have huge reserves of currently.
So rather than stop reporting on the Gatherings entirely, for now, I'll
merely stop reporting on them to any great length.  This will, I'm sure,
please some people who were wondering when I'd stop babbling on
semi-coherently about things that no-one except me remembered anyway :-)


Anyway, the Gathering...

It started off rather dubiously, given that, by 20 to 8, the only people there
were me and Andy IV.  But then, as if by magic, the rest of the unruly mob
started to pour into the pub, and by 20 past 8 everyone who was going to turn
up (in total, a quite healthy 7 of us) had turned up.  Just as well really,
considering that the Tap & Spile had decided to spring a surprise pub quiz
on us... the more brains the better :-)

So, from about half 8 to just after 9, we quizzed, going under the collective
team name "Deconstruction of Falling Stars".  Can't quite put my finger on
where I've heard that before, but I'm sure I'll remember later.  Anyway,
regardless of various sabotage attempts by most of us (I *do* know how to
spell herring, just not upside down...) we managed against quite stiff
competition...

...from one team, and competition limper than someone who's just stepped on
a drawing pin from everybody else, including the annoying gits in the corner
who were oh so sure they were Gods Gift to Pub Quizzes...

...to come a respectable 2nd out of about 8.  Now, the first prize was
supposed to be the collected entry fees, and second prize should have been
6 free pints of beer.  But for some unknown reason, the smart-arses who beat
us decided to take the beer instead, leaving us with £10.50 to share out :-)
Not bad for 40 minutes work...


Following this, the evening settled down into the usual sort of mishmash of
B5 avoidance, singing along to the jukebox, looking at the wierdos in the
street, ducking every time a police car went past and drinking whatever the
T & S had to offer.  Which reminds me.  Last time at the T & S, the Guinness was
on and the Caffreys was off.  Tonight the Caffreys flowed free and, yes,
you've guessed it, the Guinness was on hold.  Why do I get the feeling the
T & S are trying to prevent us from ever again restarting the legendary
Guinness-Caffreys wars of Gatherings past?

Ian, being a responsible type, left at quarter to 10 to return to work.  Who
says people in academia have an easy life?  And about 10 minutes after Ian
departed, the old chap who'd been propping up the far corner of the table
all evening decided it was time to go as well.  Haven't the foggiest who
he was, what his name was or whether he particularly wanted any company for
the evening, but he seemed to have enjoyed himself nontheless, so I'll mark
him down as an Associate Gatherer (which therefore, with a bit of fiddling,
gives us 8 attendees in all).

Trying to read the near-unintelligible scrawl of whoever wrote this addendum
to my notes, I see that, allegedly, Keith managed to tickle my sense of
humour in a big way with:

"If you're kneeling down, that guy looks like Andy 4"

(Note to whoever did the scrawling: Wasn't it Andy 3?)

OK, so there's no allegedly about it, if the table hadn't been in the way I'd
have been ROTFL...  Damn, my defence grid is obviously in need of an upgrade,
I'm supposed to be the cool, calm, unruffled Shai Alyt of the group, I can't
be seen cracking up over comments like that, no matter how bloody funny they
were {:-)


And that, as they say, is that.  Oh, except for one thing.  If Andy IV's
boss is reading this (unlikely I know, but just in case), I should point
out that he wasn't really there.  I have no idea where he was, but wherever
it was, it wasn't in the Tap & Spile.  No siree, not at all...  Who is
this Andy IV bloke anyway?


Until the next time
Chris

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