Gathering 20, A Tale of Two Hostelries...

Wow.  Wowie wow.  Wowzie wowie wow wow wow.  And a big side order of
wa-hey!  Yup, G20 was a good-un.  So good, in fact, that it's the
first one (since G1) that I didn't bother making notes about as the
evening progressed.  Partly because I figured I couldn't be arsed to
do another big writeup, after getting used to the idea of the G19-style
review, but mainly because I was having too much fun to be faffing on
with pens and bits of paper.  So, this is gonna be a sort of overall
round-up type review thingy, rather than a blow by blow account of
the interesting points of the evening.  

And so it begins...


There is a hole in your mind, dear Liza, dear Liza
There is a hole in your mind, dear Liza, a hole.


Umm, OK, failed attempt at on-topic humour over, back to business.


We'd been thinking about a new permanent home for the Gatherings ever
since G17, which was the last of the Tap & Spile G's.  And although
the Head of Steam was a handy stop-gap for the last two G's, it was
never really a suitable venue for long-term gathering.  So, with about
a week to go before G20, the idea of having a mini pub-crawl around
the Manors area was raised.  Some of us had already undergone the
Queens Bits Experience (TM), thanks to our Special Edition Gatherings,
so we knew that it was a decent little pub, and not too difficult to
get to.  And so, there we found ourselves gathering for the first 2
hours.  And yes, right on cue, after Andy IV and Oliver had arrived,
in shuffled Yoda :-)

Anyway, once the posse had been rounded up with the arrival of Number
Six, aka Keith, once he'd finished off Theakstons Sausage, and once
he'd showered Oliver with praise (or was it best bitter?) after Andy
dared to mention the Commodore PET, we decided to move on to our
second chosen venue for the evening, the Stout Fiddler.


Oh mumma, look at that lineup of Irish beers on tap...  When you walk
into a pub and see a line of taps marked Caffreys, Kilkenney,
Guinness, Murphys etc. etc., you KNOW it's going to be a pub that
you'll be seeing more of in the future.  What's more, the selection of
nibbles should suit all tastes, including Nicks (if he ever returns
from his American jaunt) - yes, pork scratchings were there for the
munching, and rather nice they were too :-)

Settling down in a quiet corner (and there were plenty to choose from),
we spent the remaining 2 hours of the evening getting on with having
fun, aided by, amongst other things, a freebie film review magazine,
which led to a major discussion about who REALLY should have played
Steed in the new Avengers film...  (we eventually, after discarding
just about everyone else, decided on Paul Darrow).


So anyway, enough with the details, back to vague outlines.
Umm, err, well, lemme think.  Ah yes, closing time arrived, far too
soon for our liking, and off we drifted, with one common thought in
mind - that HAS to be our new home from home...


I'm not even sure G's 6 or 14 were as good as this, and that's 
the highest praise I can give a Gathering.  Which is why I for one
can't wait for the next G.  Just as well I'm in charge of event
scheduling then :-)


Gatherings in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are,
but G21 is definitely closer than it appears, so watch out!


Chris

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