Eindhoven: Report

From: sierra@wingnut.demon.nl (Kimberley Verburg)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pratchett
Subject: [F] Eindhoven Post-CCDE Meet Report
Date: 16 Aug 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <slrn7rgp3f.7t.sierra@wingnut.demon.nl>

Attendees: Eelco Giele, Jeroen Burger, Jeroen "Labrat" Metselaar, Jos
Dingjan, Leo Breebaart, Patrick Dersjant, Rolf Milde, Uwe Milde, and me
with attendant small notebook and a rather nice blue Parker pen which
somehow came into my possession at the CCDE.

After greeting those who had already arrived in the Trafalgar Pub last
Saturday evening, I immediately tried to the lighten the load in my bag by
distributing the pile of books and CDs therein and returning to Jeroen B.
the red Parker pen which had run away to the CCDE with me and had taken
part in true CCDE spirit by noting down the evidence for my CCDE report
(still in draft form and late, I know, sorry). Alas, others had precisely
the same plan and I ended up with as many books as I'd started with. I do
mean "alas" because I've got a literature exam in little over a week --
Italian that is, not science fiction. Is my willpower stronger than the
forces of Gentle, Simmons, Vance and Waldorp combined?

Four toy elephants were sat on the tables; the fifth elephant had been
left behind in England and was replaced by a duck. "What duck? - Chorus.
They were offered to me for juggling and I found them of an easy size and
weight to handle, similar to my Thuds and much easier than the toothpicks
that were attempted during dinner. Each elephant screamed annoyingly as it
hit my hand, the duck seemed to quack without provocation. Minor surgery
soon meant that the duck screamed and an elephant was confused -- "I call
this elephant Igor, it has a lithp" - Jos.

As this was the post-CCDE meet, there were photos to admire and be
nostalgic over or, alternatively, to cringe at. Rolf and Uwe had come
well-prepared with not only four envelopes of photos to look at but also a
laptop so we could see the rest on the website.

The waiting staff served up overheated plastic and green chicken among the
edibles, while matters of culture were discussed, although they often had
to be rescued out of the mire of the attendees' minds. The talk of
_Hyperion_ and other books at one end of the table turned into a challenge
of building toothpick structures while keeping the pointy ends off the
table. Meanwhile, Uwe and Rolf were entertaining the other end of the
table with a recount of their week in London, including the impressive St.
Paul's and the London Science Museum which had a butt-measuring device in
its special ergonomics exhibit, but we soon descended to the juicy scandal
for which Dutch meets are renowned and started to gossip about who was
vomming with who at the CCDE.

Unexpected relevance passed by in the form of a gentleman who resembled
Terry, lacking only the hat. Leo read a favourite set of rules concerning
crocodiles from the Assassin's Diary, which was then passed from hand to
anticipatory hand. Those who had read The Science of the Discworld debated
whether it had succeeded in reaching its target audience and what that
target audience actually was.

After I became a civilian casualty of an OS war, ambitious plans were laid
for the future with talk of an AFPMillenniConvoy to cross countries of
meets before ending at the Con itself, bringing the appropriate toys to
make it a Conn Withe 1,000!! Screaming Ellyfants!! (or perhaps 999
screaming elephants and one that quacks after suitable surgery.)


QUOTES

"Amazingly enough, the photos with you in them and those without you in
them equal 100%." - Patrick

"What didn't you say?" - Jeroen M.

"It was a nekkid wimmin meet without the nekkid wimmin." - Eelco
"I still blame Kimberley for that." - Leo

"Do you think like a rabbit?" - Jeroen M.?

"I'm not your type, I'm not inflatable." - Kimberley to Leo

"Wir leben allen in einem gelben Unterzeeboot." - Rolf

"It's an oozey-woozey-cuddly-wuddly-elephanty-phanty-wanty." - Leo


-- 
Kimberley Verburg        kim@lspace.org
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