LondonFur Meet Report 10/11/01
Nov. 11th, 2001 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slycatOK so yesterday's LondonFur meet... (Be warned - It's long!)
The plan was to get the same bus as TK and Brownwolf, meet B-H & Aerocoon at the train station and get the same train into London. However, this would not have seemed to be the case as when I was walking to the bus stop, I called TK to see if he was awake and getting ready (He's not well known for being punctual) and he was already on the bus that went half an hour ago! Turns our Brownwolf never told him that we were planning to get the same bus.
En route to the train station, I SMSed B-H to tell him that TK and Brown went on ahead without telling us only to find that B-H said that he saw TK get on the 8.15 so he got on that too. I had already told him that we were getting the 8.45... I decided to see if Torque was planning on going to London via SMS and turned out he was but not planning to get to the station until 9ish. I said that we (Aerocoon and myself) would wait for him. Apparantly, Torque had planned to go with Ferral anyways so there would be more of us to go.
Hanging around the train station, Aerocoon gave me a scare by creeping up behind me and giving me a tap as I didn't know he would be coming from that direction... Gave Torque a call to if he wanted me to buy his ticket for him as he doesn't have a discount card so I could get a discount for him and it turned out that Cabbit was with him as he stayed over the night before. Torque was buying Cabbit's ticket so I bought them both and Torque paid me for them when he arrived. Ferral arrived a few moments later and got his ticket and so we were all ready to catch the 9.15.
Train journey was.. um... interesting as I chatted with Cabbit about what he's been up to and stuff, meanwhile I'm sure we were offending the passengers with our tales and language... ;o)
Got to Waterloo, I bought a tube ticket and we made the rather uneventful journey to Kings Cross via the tube. Upon arriving at Kings Cross, we went to the usual meeting place. There were a few furs there but not too many which was suprising considering we were late and got there at 11:30. TK managed to correctly point out that there were more HantsFurs there than any other kind of fur. There were 9 out of the 20 being from Hampshire - kinda impressive.
After much loitering and greetings and stuff, some fur suggested the Forbidden Planet to go visit (As usual) to go waste time before the pub's function room opens. I decided to go as I hadn't been there in ages and would probably like to get something there. In Forbidden Planet, I wondered around until I could think of stuff I wanted. I got me a Futurama comic as I found the last one I bought amusing and I like the show, and I got the 8th Ranma Graphic Novel. I joined the queue to purchase my selections when I suddenly got reminded of the last time I was in the queue, with Shinji, and I was buying him a copy of 'Johnny the Homocidal Maniac' by Jhonen Vasquez. I remembered the till operator said that they had 'Squee' in stock too which was by the same author as JTHM. I broke away from the queue to find me a copy of Squee which I finally managed to find after scanning through many bookshelves. Rejoined the queue, paid in cold hard cash and then left the Forbidden Planet and waited outside for the others.
Once all the furs had made their purchases / finished looking, we made our way to the pub in Kentish Town. My body wanted to get off at Camden for some reason as I instictively stood up when we got to Camden by mistake... :oP
Arrived at Kentish Town and immediately headed for the pub and went straight into the function room. Not a huge number of people there but a fair few. Bare in mind it was only about 1.30pm (Opens at 1pm).
I was a little disorientated as I had no idea what to do and couldn't really find anyone I wanted to talk to. Had planned to hang out with Silverwind but looked like he was already doing his own thing so we never got time for that. I just ended up sitting down and reading some of my new book, Squee. I just don't feel as comfortable as I used to, to just go round hugging folks and stuff... Encountered my fear of fursuiters again with Brownwolf and Southpaw suited up. I dunno what it is. Maybe it's just where I have a problem with being able to actually publicly wear fursuits or whatever but I guess being around people I know, fursuited, just makes me a bit uneasy so apologies if I seemed a bit untalkative. Brownwolf had done a really good job with his suit - wasn't able to say so tho.
.Digression Start.
Thinking about it, I found furry though my interest in fursuits but I'm still afraid to wear them publicly. Doesn't make me much of a fursuiter. I guess I have to have a justified reason to wear it. I think I'd be happy to wear one if it was for a job or whatever. I'd probably be OK wearing one at a con too but furmeets just don't seem right and never will. Hence, I feel a bit of anxiety when folks wear suits at meets where I couldn't.
.Digression End.
I had previously spoken with Hawx about joining him and some others for a few games of pool. I'll never say I'm any good at pool (Which is suprising considering how much I've played over the years) but I like playing. SO anyways, Hawx and Makali had finally found some folks to go with us and we went off to the pool hall.
There was only one table free when we got there so we decided to play winner stays on. Makali played Cabbit first. Makali won easily. Makali played Hawx. Makali won but it was a tight game. Dresen spilled Cabbit's pint. Cabbit got angry. Dresen bought Cabbit a pint of Snakebite and Black. Cabbit returned to being happy. Makali played me. I was really shit, kept on miscueing, missing easy shots, etc. I can only really think that the pool cue was the problem as it was Makali's and it was a bit sticky ( O-o ) and didn't slide easily...
Makali's strange rules could also probably contributed to his winning streak. He said in a game of English pool, you not only get 2 shots after a scratch (foul) but you get to move the ball. It was my understanding from playing English pool previously and also this being backed up by virtual pool games, that you only get the two shots, not the ability to move the ball. That rule is reserved for American pool where you get the 'Ball in Hand' after a scratch but you only get the one shot.
Another table opened up and so I played Hawx (Who beat Makali last meet by around 3 games) using what we agreed were the correct English pool rules. Using another cue, I found myself to be much better and to both Hawx's and my suprise, I won! :oD It's not often I win a game of English pool although in the rules I usually play, you have to nominate the pocket that you are going to hit the black ball into. We weren't playing that rule as Hawx and everyone else had never heard of the rule(?!).
Anyways, I left after my game to return to the pub. When I got to the pub, I noticed a gathering outside who were planning to go to Namco. I'm always up for a go on a few games so I joined them.
En route, it was decided to go to get some grub in Camden Town. I made the suggestion of the chip shop / sit down restaurant thing that's near to the station as the food is good there and you get to sit down. Not much happened, I ordered a cheese and bacon burger, chips with a chocolate milkshake and got a chicken and bacon burger instead... I dunno, I guess cheese begins with the same letter as chicken :oP
Anyway, with the grub eaten and paid for, we left for Namco, via the Waterloo station. Got to Namco to find that the DDR machine was quite busy so we walked around and watched Paddy be stupidly good on EZ 2 Dancer. After him playing a few rounds, we got bored and went in search of other entertainment. We had a four player game of Daytona which was an eventful game where I managed to win at the very end. I always play Daytona violently - try to bash other cars off the track ;o)
Next game, I played the guy who looked like Silent Bob / Kevin Smith at Soul Calibur (If you know his name then please let me know!). He said he was really good. I hadnt really played it before. Anyways, I won most of the rounds, consecutively, much to my amazement and was most pleased.
We then walked around to find the other furs only to find Dio playing on DDR. I put a pound up to have a go. Didn't have anyone to play against so I played GreenFox / Anarta. I wasn't so good because his stomping at the wrong times put me off my rhythm... but hey, I'm not bitter. Had another go or two and made my legs ache.
Ruin and Glis announced that they were off so I decided to join them as it is via Waterloo, where I needed to get to. The rest of the furs joined us as there weren't really enough furs left to justify staying. I had failed to arrange to be able to get the train home with anyone even though about 7 of them would be getting the same train... Oh well.
Had a rather non-eventful trip back on the train - I just read the majority of my Squee book which I think disturbed the old lady that was sitting next to me (Shortage of seats).
I managed to lose my return bus ticket and so had to buy another (Curses!) and um there was a drunk who fell asleep on the bus home when there was just me and him on the bus. We were at his stop and myself and the driver had to make loud noises to wake him up...
Got home around 10:30 and that was that. I hope you enjoyed this journal entry and if you made it down this far in one go, I congratulate you (and myself for keeping your interest!).
Until next time, goodbye!
The plan was to get the same bus as TK and Brownwolf, meet B-H & Aerocoon at the train station and get the same train into London. However, this would not have seemed to be the case as when I was walking to the bus stop, I called TK to see if he was awake and getting ready (He's not well known for being punctual) and he was already on the bus that went half an hour ago! Turns our Brownwolf never told him that we were planning to get the same bus.
En route to the train station, I SMSed B-H to tell him that TK and Brown went on ahead without telling us only to find that B-H said that he saw TK get on the 8.15 so he got on that too. I had already told him that we were getting the 8.45... I decided to see if Torque was planning on going to London via SMS and turned out he was but not planning to get to the station until 9ish. I said that we (Aerocoon and myself) would wait for him. Apparantly, Torque had planned to go with Ferral anyways so there would be more of us to go.
Hanging around the train station, Aerocoon gave me a scare by creeping up behind me and giving me a tap as I didn't know he would be coming from that direction... Gave Torque a call to if he wanted me to buy his ticket for him as he doesn't have a discount card so I could get a discount for him and it turned out that Cabbit was with him as he stayed over the night before. Torque was buying Cabbit's ticket so I bought them both and Torque paid me for them when he arrived. Ferral arrived a few moments later and got his ticket and so we were all ready to catch the 9.15.
Train journey was.. um... interesting as I chatted with Cabbit about what he's been up to and stuff, meanwhile I'm sure we were offending the passengers with our tales and language... ;o)
Got to Waterloo, I bought a tube ticket and we made the rather uneventful journey to Kings Cross via the tube. Upon arriving at Kings Cross, we went to the usual meeting place. There were a few furs there but not too many which was suprising considering we were late and got there at 11:30. TK managed to correctly point out that there were more HantsFurs there than any other kind of fur. There were 9 out of the 20 being from Hampshire - kinda impressive.
After much loitering and greetings and stuff, some fur suggested the Forbidden Planet to go visit (As usual) to go waste time before the pub's function room opens. I decided to go as I hadn't been there in ages and would probably like to get something there. In Forbidden Planet, I wondered around until I could think of stuff I wanted. I got me a Futurama comic as I found the last one I bought amusing and I like the show, and I got the 8th Ranma Graphic Novel. I joined the queue to purchase my selections when I suddenly got reminded of the last time I was in the queue, with Shinji, and I was buying him a copy of 'Johnny the Homocidal Maniac' by Jhonen Vasquez. I remembered the till operator said that they had 'Squee' in stock too which was by the same author as JTHM. I broke away from the queue to find me a copy of Squee which I finally managed to find after scanning through many bookshelves. Rejoined the queue, paid in cold hard cash and then left the Forbidden Planet and waited outside for the others.
Once all the furs had made their purchases / finished looking, we made our way to the pub in Kentish Town. My body wanted to get off at Camden for some reason as I instictively stood up when we got to Camden by mistake... :oP
Arrived at Kentish Town and immediately headed for the pub and went straight into the function room. Not a huge number of people there but a fair few. Bare in mind it was only about 1.30pm (Opens at 1pm).
I was a little disorientated as I had no idea what to do and couldn't really find anyone I wanted to talk to. Had planned to hang out with Silverwind but looked like he was already doing his own thing so we never got time for that. I just ended up sitting down and reading some of my new book, Squee. I just don't feel as comfortable as I used to, to just go round hugging folks and stuff... Encountered my fear of fursuiters again with Brownwolf and Southpaw suited up. I dunno what it is. Maybe it's just where I have a problem with being able to actually publicly wear fursuits or whatever but I guess being around people I know, fursuited, just makes me a bit uneasy so apologies if I seemed a bit untalkative. Brownwolf had done a really good job with his suit - wasn't able to say so tho.
.Digression Start.
Thinking about it, I found furry though my interest in fursuits but I'm still afraid to wear them publicly. Doesn't make me much of a fursuiter. I guess I have to have a justified reason to wear it. I think I'd be happy to wear one if it was for a job or whatever. I'd probably be OK wearing one at a con too but furmeets just don't seem right and never will. Hence, I feel a bit of anxiety when folks wear suits at meets where I couldn't.
.Digression End.
I had previously spoken with Hawx about joining him and some others for a few games of pool. I'll never say I'm any good at pool (Which is suprising considering how much I've played over the years) but I like playing. SO anyways, Hawx and Makali had finally found some folks to go with us and we went off to the pool hall.
There was only one table free when we got there so we decided to play winner stays on. Makali played Cabbit first. Makali won easily. Makali played Hawx. Makali won but it was a tight game. Dresen spilled Cabbit's pint. Cabbit got angry. Dresen bought Cabbit a pint of Snakebite and Black. Cabbit returned to being happy. Makali played me. I was really shit, kept on miscueing, missing easy shots, etc. I can only really think that the pool cue was the problem as it was Makali's and it was a bit sticky ( O-o ) and didn't slide easily...
Makali's strange rules could also probably contributed to his winning streak. He said in a game of English pool, you not only get 2 shots after a scratch (foul) but you get to move the ball. It was my understanding from playing English pool previously and also this being backed up by virtual pool games, that you only get the two shots, not the ability to move the ball. That rule is reserved for American pool where you get the 'Ball in Hand' after a scratch but you only get the one shot.
Another table opened up and so I played Hawx (Who beat Makali last meet by around 3 games) using what we agreed were the correct English pool rules. Using another cue, I found myself to be much better and to both Hawx's and my suprise, I won! :oD It's not often I win a game of English pool although in the rules I usually play, you have to nominate the pocket that you are going to hit the black ball into. We weren't playing that rule as Hawx and everyone else had never heard of the rule(?!).
Anyways, I left after my game to return to the pub. When I got to the pub, I noticed a gathering outside who were planning to go to Namco. I'm always up for a go on a few games so I joined them.
En route, it was decided to go to get some grub in Camden Town. I made the suggestion of the chip shop / sit down restaurant thing that's near to the station as the food is good there and you get to sit down. Not much happened, I ordered a cheese and bacon burger, chips with a chocolate milkshake and got a chicken and bacon burger instead... I dunno, I guess cheese begins with the same letter as chicken :oP
Anyway, with the grub eaten and paid for, we left for Namco, via the Waterloo station. Got to Namco to find that the DDR machine was quite busy so we walked around and watched Paddy be stupidly good on EZ 2 Dancer. After him playing a few rounds, we got bored and went in search of other entertainment. We had a four player game of Daytona which was an eventful game where I managed to win at the very end. I always play Daytona violently - try to bash other cars off the track ;o)
Next game, I played the guy who looked like Silent Bob / Kevin Smith at Soul Calibur (If you know his name then please let me know!). He said he was really good. I hadnt really played it before. Anyways, I won most of the rounds, consecutively, much to my amazement and was most pleased.
We then walked around to find the other furs only to find Dio playing on DDR. I put a pound up to have a go. Didn't have anyone to play against so I played GreenFox / Anarta. I wasn't so good because his stomping at the wrong times put me off my rhythm... but hey, I'm not bitter. Had another go or two and made my legs ache.
Ruin and Glis announced that they were off so I decided to join them as it is via Waterloo, where I needed to get to. The rest of the furs joined us as there weren't really enough furs left to justify staying. I had failed to arrange to be able to get the train home with anyone even though about 7 of them would be getting the same train... Oh well.
Had a rather non-eventful trip back on the train - I just read the majority of my Squee book which I think disturbed the old lady that was sitting next to me (Shortage of seats).
I managed to lose my return bus ticket and so had to buy another (Curses!) and um there was a drunk who fell asleep on the bus home when there was just me and him on the bus. We were at his stop and myself and the driver had to make loud noises to wake him up...
Got home around 10:30 and that was that. I hope you enjoyed this journal entry and if you made it down this far in one go, I congratulate you (and myself for keeping your interest!).
Until next time, goodbye!
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no subject
Date: 2001-11-11 03:29 pm (UTC)Blah :) Fun game though, especially that chap who sits down and eats the edge of his sword and says "Num num num num num!" really growly like. Silly arse.
Anyway, rules of pool that I and my friends traditionally play are based on some "ground" rules and depending on the players (you negotiate the rules, it's one of those friendly "conversation" things) you can add more restrictions:
1. Two cushions must hit the back cushion on the break
2. Potting the cue ball, or hitting your opponent's colour before your own are both fouls.
3. After a foul shot, your opponent has 2 shots. The 2nd shot carries, meaning that if you pot something with your first foul shot, you still have the extra shot. If you choose, you may move the cue ball on or behind the line before you take the first foul shot.
4. You don't have to nominate a pocket for the black.
These are very relaxed rules indeed and are generally intended for fun, casual play between friends. But like I said, they're the baseline rules, and you can add variations:
I had heard of nominating pockets, but no one I've played has ever wanted to play that rule unless money was involved.
More interesting rule:
If you get "seven-balled", that is, you fail to pot any of your colour and your opponent pots all of theirs and the black, then you have to pay the forfeit, which usually involves dropping your trousers (not your pants) and jumping around the table, though can be negociated (read: begged) into simply buying a round of drinks :)
no subject
Date: 2001-11-11 03:42 pm (UTC)