Some of these notes were provided by the people concerned, most were quickly scribbled down by me in a spare moment. So if you want your entry to look a bit more interesting, mail me some useful, interesting or revealing info, and your entry will be updated........unless the info is REALLY revealing, in which case I'll just keep it to myself :-)
For those regulars with homepages, a link to their front doors can be made by clicking on their name.
Chris Coulson
Hmm, I know that name from somewhere... I took over organising the meetings from
Mel and Keith after discovering I had a more reliable email account than they did,
and was therefore in a better position to mail the others with announcements etc...
If only all elections could be settled so easily :-). As el Presidente (or even
Shai Alyt if you prefer staying on topic) of the group, I do have a few priviledges,
and if you give me a while I could probably think of one or two.
Keith Suddick
One half of the organising team for Gathering 1, Keith works in the offices
right next to the Head of Steam, which is why we chose the place as our first home
from home. Supplier of peanuts, season 3 episodes I managed not to tape (and the
less said about that the better :-), and in his words (after a little bit of filtering
and tweaking) "a Keanu Reaves lookalike". You decide, check out the photo in the
Gallery...
When not Gathering, Keith works at a very well known telesales company here in
Newcastle (why aye man, they've been taalked aboot in the Chronicle :-) as a
computer support person.
Ian Pitcher
Ian, computer support person number four, is another University bod. Although
he's a Caffreys drinker, I can forgive him because we share a deep passion
for the StarFury. I can also forgive him because if I didn`t, there`s no knowing what
evil things he could do to my lab PC...
He used to maintain (and I use the term in its most loose sense) the Gatherings
mailing list, until it grew intelligent enough to develop language skills, at which
point it decided to run amok and had to be put down. However, he's recently been
redeeming himself (he's only worth 350 vouchers though ;-) by arranging the tickets
for our three Gathering: Special Editions, a job he handled with such ease that he
may be in danger of getting more organising work thrust his way in future...
[Ed: Why do we seem to collect these computer support people? Don't they have a real life to get on with???]
Janet Graham-Russell
Janet works across at the University of Northumbria (or for those of you watching in
black & white, the Poly)....boo hiss. But does that matter when we're all coming together
to share in the thing of beauty that is Babylon5? I think not. Whatever you do though,
don't mention Haagen-Dazs (umm, that spelling looks well dodgy) or peanut butter when
she's within earshot...
Nick Cross
Nick was the third new face to attend Number 5, battling pain and discomfort
from his recent encounter with the bastard dentist from hell. And I really
can't think of anything else to say about him yet - but I'll keep waffling
on for a bit just to fill out the space provided...
Andy Easten
Our third Andy appeared at G11, neatly slotting into the space left for him by the
departure of Andy T after G10... Say what, you want to know more? Come back
later, much later, just give me time to build a plausible sounding yet almost
entirely false pen portrait of him :-)
Anna Isherwood
Anna was dragged kicking and screaming to G12a by Ian, but strangely enjoyed herself
nontheless, enough to make a return appearance without any help from Ian at G14. The
poor lass is a Manchester United fan, but we can't all be perfect, and aside from
occasionally flashing her ManU wallet at us, she keeps her addiction under control...
Oliver Bowe
Oliver was the first of the two new faces to arrive at G14. Following in the illustrious
footsteps of Keith and Janet, he hails from the Jarrow area, and therefore knows everyone
and everything that K & J do. You think I'm joking, don't you...
Andy Carr
Bringing our Andy contingent up to 4, he was the second fresh faced initiate at G14.
Bearing more than a passing resemblance to Eddie Izzard, though without the makeup and
high heels, he seems to understand the true nature of Gatherings - they aren't for talking
about B5, they're just a convenient excuse to go to the pub for the evening. So, he's
definitely a welcome addition to the mob :-)
Ruth Charles
After losing a few of our University and Computer Support people, it came as a bit of
a relief, at G18, to welcome Ruth into the fold, who freely admits to "working" at the
University, and when pressed, will quietly admit that she does unofficially do a bit of
computer support work for the department... Anyway, she does something in the Archaeology
department, she wears her B5 t-shirts with pride, and err umm wibble wibble fill out the
space provided with meaningless waffle :-)
Andrew has, as a result of a new job dahn sarf, left the North-East and therefore finds it just a wee bit tricky to come to any more Gatherings...
Christopher Jewell
Chris Two, as he became known in a vain attempt to avoid confusion with me, is
our shortest serving member, clocking in at around one hour's attendance
during the 322 Gathering. He did have his reasons for not staying longer and
soaking up the atmosphere, and we hope to see a bit more of him in future events.
That is, a bit more of him in the 'staying in the pub for longer' sense, not a bit
more of him in the 'getting yer kit off' sense!
No idea what happened to Chris J, so I'll list him here as missing, presumed assimilated...
Andy Thomas
Andy first appeared at G7, so never had to suffer the "delights" of the Head of Steam.
Another one of our Durham contingent, he's a student of something or other at, oddly
enough, Durham University... And just like his namesake above, he's got a rather
nice collection of photos and tales from a B5 convention.
Due to an arcane ceremony known as a "Graduation", Andy has no further need to remain in the North-East, and has returned from whence he came.
Sean Kelly
Sean, our third computer support person, works (this being a relative term when
applied to academics) at the University. A Guinness drinker, he used to cause
endless torment for the Caffreys lot back in the Head of Steam days.
He also seems quite capable of out-Morgan`ing Morgan, when it comes to the
indiscriminate use of Latin during everyday conversations.
Not entirely sure what happened to Sean, he appeared to vanish after the Star Wars excursion, and we haven't heard from him since.
Jeff and Sherrie Sanda
Jeff and Sherrie form our American section, so it's just as well that they
are Americans :-) Living in Durham, they show great dedication in making the
trip up to Newcastle just for the Gatherings, and we thank them for it. Some
of you may recognise Jeff's name, as he was the winner of the competition run
by Channel 4 last year as part of their web site launch.
Thanks go to Jeff for the group photos in the gallery.
From the comments on their website, it appears that they've simply lost interest in B5.
Melanie March
Mel, the other half of the Gathering 1 team, is number two in our set of computer
support people, but that aside she's really quite a normal person (I think). Now
let me see, where's that list of stuff she asked me (note asked, not bribed, arm
twisted or forced) to write about her.....
Ah yes, she's wonderful, sexy, charming, coherent at the end of the evening,
Guinness loving and a generally supremely decent individual.
That should keep my shins bruise-free for another Gathering or two :-)
Thanks to a breakdown in communication (when will Northern Electric get their email accounts sorted out...), Mel's been a bit out of touch recently :-(
Bob and
Pamela Bruce
Pam (or for #Babylon5 IRC'ers, MissLeFey) appears to have something for the
Psi Corp, hmmm...... Still, this is offset by the fact that she has a collection
of B5 friends, and does a fairly decent job of persuading them to come along to
Gatherings. Taking her leave of the Civil Service, she now runs a small handicraft
business.
Bob is, and I really didn't believe it when Pam told me, a Computer Support person!!!
That makes, so far, FIVE of the boogers - we'll have to call in the pest control
people soon :-). When he's not putting the National Insurance computers
to rights, Bob (and you can't help but do a Blackadder impersonation
when you say it) collects 2000AD, watches B5 (of course) and Trek. Bob is, however,
just an insignificant particle in the great scheme of things..... and that's not
me talking by the way, that's his loving (!?!) wife.
One-hit wonders :-) After G5 no more has been seen of them at Gatherings, although they were reportedly seen at Wolf.