Gathering 3, Grey 17 is Over

Damn, I'm suffering for the cause here...

Yes, it's 23:50 on the evening of North-East Gathering 3, just half an
hour after leaving the pub, and I'm not entirely in control of my 
fingers, which makes typing an interesting challenge.  Nevertheless, 
this report needs to be written and so it shall be, no matter how 
tempting it may be to simply crash out on the bed and sleep till 
Christmas.

Well, after the overall success that was Gathering 2, could 3 be any 
better.  The answer is a resounding yes.  Not only did everyone from 
2 turn up (eventually - yes Sean, *you* know what I'm on about :-), 
but we also said hello to Andrew (I think, my memory for names is 
lousy at the best of times, and after four hours of Guinness and 
really crap music, it doesn't improve).  All we need now is one more 
and we'll have our very own Grey Council!


After an odd first half hour or so which we spent talking about 
anything but B5, it eventually crept into the conversation somehow.  
Or did it leap in during one of the pauses that punctuated the 
evening's chat?  I guess it's just one of those things, but whenever 
you get a bunch of people together to talk about something, you 
always end up with bouts of intense discussion separated by slightly 
embarrasing pauses, where no-one can think of anything to say that 
might kickstart the chat again.  After a while, it was decided by 
someone who's name will crop up later, that it resembled a Quaker's 
Meeting.  Whether this is an apt analogy or not is up for debate, but
I suspect that if we did debate it, we'd only end up pausing every few
minutes to think of what next to say, so perhaps it's best left.


Once more that man Ian explained his love of the Starfury, though I 
was a bit disappointed to hear his preference for the Enterprise-C 
over the -D or the Excelsior.  Hmmmmm.  But, since he likes the Fury,
I can forgive him.  Equally, his Magnus Pyke-like gesticulations every
time he mentioned Deanna Troi left nothing to the imagination, but his
expression at Andrew's explanation about a certain meeting with 
Claudia Christian was priceless.  I suspect mine wasn't too far 
behind, though if Elaine Thomas had been involved instead, I would  
easily have won the "looking most like a stunned goldfish" award.

Keith and a packet of peanuts provided a little bit of light 
entertainment at one point, though since I'm sworn to a modicum of 
secrecy over the event, more I cannot say.  On a related note
however, we finally discovered how the Mexican Wave was originated,
when Mel demonstrated perfectly how to catch a bag of nuts thrown
at medium velocity at a point 1.3 feet above head height when
seated.


Perhaps it was to be expected, given the response to the ep. on the 
group, but Grey 17 was still notable by it's almost total absence 
from the discussion.  In fact, beyond a short but cute (damn, 
shouldn't say that, or jms'll have it out the airlock before you can 
sa..........)

Where was I?  Ah yes, beyond a bit of talk about Neroon, Freddie 
Kru....errr...Willie....errr....Kenny Ever...oh damn, that Robert 
Englund guy, and Marcus, G17 was hardly mentioned at all.  On the 
other hand, War Without End was once again picked over in some detail,
with Ian (once again) providing visual aids with the help of some 
spilt beer, a beermat, and his fingertip.  Yes, finally I think we all
now understand how the triluminaries arrived at their respective
locations.  Even if we don't, I doubt any of us are too eager to ask 
Ian to repeat his explanation...


Further chat varied from the light to the deep and meaningful, veering
from simple topics like the US Presidential elections, to the 
seriously brain taxing stuff like how many people ordered Guinness, 
and how many ordered Caffreys.  And yes, once again, that Sean guy 
managed to slip under the defences of the Caffreys table to provide a
vital outpost in enemy territory.  A medal of valour is being struck 
even as we speak.


Oh look, I've finished my cheese and pickle sandwiches, and it's just
gone 00:50.  Doesn't time fly when you're typing.  I think it's time 
to call time on this report.  Thanks to the "regulars" for turning out
once again, and also to Andrew for being suicidal enough to want to 
turn up and join a bunch of total nutters for four hours.


Advance Warning!!!  Tuesday 24th = 322 Gathering.  There'll be a full
announcement posted soon, so watch out for it.


Chris

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