Ghost of nerdfests past.

Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the capital city of Australia,
Canberra. We were there to attend what we affectionately term
"Nerdfest", or as it is more formally referred to, "CanCon", the
Australia Day Weekend gaming convention. Back in its heyday, we used to
stay down in Canberra with our roleplaying group, and have a full three
intense days of roleplaying, feasting, quoting Monty Python, blowing a
squill of dosh on merchandise, books, source material, pretty polyhedral
dice, crappy fast food and boutique beer, and having an absolute ball
with like minded fellow nerds. It is no longer a role playing convention
sadly, but out of its ashes (it was pretty sad there for a while) it has
risen again as a games expo. So, at least in previous years, there has
at least been the merchandise, books, source material, pretty polyhedral
dice and crappy fast food available, and there were still enough fellow
nerds (if not fellow *roleplaying* nerds) to make a day trip enjoyable.
This year, one of the major stall holders - and indeed the one we would
blow most of our budget at - didn't show, and there laser tag folks
weren't there, so it was rather missing something and we're debating
whether it will be worth blowing a tank of petrol to make the pilgrimage
next year when its really not for us JAGs (Jaded Old Gamers).

Which is not to say we didn't enjoy the trip, so much as we didn't enjoy
it as much as we had hoped. Both the highlight and the lowlight for me
was the charity stall. Last year was The Salvos, and the year before was
the Red Cross. Ever since the Canberra Bushfires in 2003, there's been a
charity stall collecting money for a Good Cause. This year, it was the
RSPCA. Perhaps I was feeling a little sensitive because of the situation
with my friend and the abandoned cats there, but instead of just
dropping the change from my coffee in the bucket and walking on, I
stopped. And I looked at the two kittens in the cage - they weren't
there for adoption as such but just as a heartbreaking example (y'know,
nerds and cats.... nerds are more cat people than dog people). So I had
to get down on the floor and have a good look and stick my finger in to
play.

And there was Shmogg. Well, not Shmogg, not really, but as well as a
very adorable grey tuxedo, there was the spitting image of Shmogg as a
kitten. The staff member asked me if I wanted a cuddle, and of course I
said yes. So I was given "Shmogg" and out of nowhere, and over 5 years
since Shmogg left for RB, I was suddenly blubbering. In the corridor
between the two main halls, at the charity stall, some crazy middle aged
woman in a sea of young and mostly male nerds was raining tears on a
small (but not objecting) grey fuzzy kitten. I think I had forgotten -
well not *forgotten* but *repressed* - just how damn much I miss that cat.

The volunteer kindly took "Shmogg" away (maybe she didn't want him to
drown?), told me firmly (although kindly) that "Richard" was not for
adoption, and asked me what the name of the cat I was crying for was. I
eventually stammered out the basics - Shmogg, died in 2007, loved him
stupid, missed him horrible etc. She handed me a tissue and let me cry.
People stared, I didn't care. Eventually, I had to get up, thank the
RSPCA volunteer (who patted my shoulder) and go back to Cary & Joel who
wondered why on earth it took me so long and why buying a skinny coffee
had brought me to tears. I said "******* Cat Tricks", Joel gave me the
"You're crazy" look, and Cary wanted to know why I didn't bring back
anything for him. I didn't get to wallow in self pity for long.

But when we went to church later this evening, The Yowlet asked if he
could light a candle. Now usually that means "I'm bored, I wanna go play
with something cool. Like fire", so I tried to put him off by saying
"Look, you can't just go and light a candle, you need to light a candle
*for* something. You need to have a *reason*". Not even missing a beat
he said, and I quote, "I want to light a candle for Shmoggleberry and
Fluffy".

That kid can be *too* insightful sometimes. And for the second time
today, Shmogg had reduced me to tears from beyond the grave.

Shmogg - King of ******* Cat Tricks, still ruler of my heart.

Yowie
(Also posted on RPCA-FB)

On 1/27/2013 5:50 AM, Yowie wrote:
of just dropping the change from my coffee in the bucket and walking on,
I stopped. And I looked at the two kittens in the cage - they weren't
there for adoption as such but just as a heartbreaking example (y'know,
nerds and cats.... nerds are more cat people than dog people). So I had
to get down on the floor and have a good look and stick my finger in to
play.

And there was Shmogg. Well, not Shmogg, not really, but as well as a
very adorable grey tuxedo, there was the spitting image of Shmogg as a
kitten. The staff member asked me if I wanted a cuddle, and of course I
said yes. So I was given "Shmogg" and out of nowhere, and over 5 years
since Shmogg left for RB, I was suddenly blubbering. In the corridor
between the two main halls, at the charity stall, some crazy middle aged
woman in a sea of young and mostly male nerds was raining tears on a
small (but not objecting) grey fuzzy kitten. I think I had forgotten -
well not *forgotten* but *repressed* - just how damn much I miss that cat.

The volunteer kindly took "Shmogg" away (maybe she didn't want him to
drown?), told me firmly (although kindly) that "Richard" was not for
adoption, and asked me what the name of the cat I was crying for was. I
eventually stammered out the basics - Shmogg, died in 2007, loved him
stupid, missed him horrible etc. She handed me a tissue and let me cry.
People stared, I didn't care. Eventually, I had to get up, thank the
RSPCA volunteer (who patted my shoulder) and go back to Cary & Joel who
wondered why on earth it took me so long and why buying a skinny coffee
had brought me to tears. I said "******* Cat Tricks", Joel gave me the
"You're crazy" look, and Cary wanted to know why I didn't bring back
anything for him. I didn't get to wallow in self pity for long.

But when we went to church later this evening, The Yowlet asked if he
could light a candle. Now usually that means "I'm bored, I wanna go play
with something cool. Like fire", so I tried to put him off by saying
"Look, you can't just go and light a candle, you need to light a candle
*for* something. You need to have a *reason*". Not even missing a beat
he said, and I quote, "I want to light a candle for Shmoggleberry and
Fluffy".

That kid can be *too* insightful sometimes. And for the second time
today, Shmogg had reduced me to tears from beyond the grave.

Shmogg - King of ******* Cat Tricks, still ruler of my heart.

Yowie

Awwww. Those moments do sneak up, don't they? (Patting Yowie gently on
the back.) I'm glad the Yowlet is so intuitive.

Jill

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the capital city of Australia,
Canberra. We were there to attend what we affectionately term "Nerdfest",
or as it is more formally referred to, "CanCon", the Australia Day Weekend
gaming convention. Back in its heyday, we used to stay down in Canberra
with our roleplaying group, and have a full three intense days of
roleplaying, feasting, quoting Monty Python, blowing a squill of dosh on
merchandise, books, source material, pretty polyhedral dice, crappy fast
food and boutique beer, and having an absolute ball with like minded
fellow nerds. It is no longer a role playing convention sadly, but out of
its ashes (it was pretty sad there for a while) it has risen again as a
games expo. So, at least in previous years, there has at least been the
merchandise, books, source material, pretty polyhedral dice and crappy
fast food available, and there were still enough fellow nerds (if not
fellow *roleplaying* nerds) to make a day trip enjoyable. This year, one
of the major stall holders - and indeed the one we would blow most of our
budget at - didn't show, and there laser tag folks weren't there, so it
was rather missing something and we're debating whether it will be worth
blowing a tank of petrol to make the pilgrimage next year when its really
not for us JAGs (Jaded Old Gamers).

Which is not to say we didn't enjoy the trip, so much as we didn't enjoy
it as much as we had hoped. Both the highlight and the lowlight for me was
the charity stall. Last year was The Salvos, and the year before was the
Red Cross. Ever since the Canberra Bushfires in 2003, there's been a
charity stall collecting money for a Good Cause. This year, it was the
RSPCA. Perhaps I was feeling a little sensitive because of the situation
with my friend and the abandoned cats there, but instead of just dropping
the change from my coffee in the bucket and walking on, I stopped. And I
looked at the two kittens in the cage - they weren't there for adoption as
such but just as a heartbreaking example (y'know, nerds and cats.... nerds
are more cat people than dog people). So I had to get down on the floor
and have a good look and stick my finger in to play.

And there was Shmogg. Well, not Shmogg, not really, but as well as a very
adorable grey tuxedo, there was the spitting image of Shmogg as a kitten.
The staff member asked me if I wanted a cuddle, and of course I said yes.
So I was given "Shmogg" and out of nowhere, and over 5 years since Shmogg
left for RB, I was suddenly blubbering. In the corridor between the two
main halls, at the charity stall, some crazy middle aged woman in a sea of
young and mostly male nerds was raining tears on a small (but not
objecting) grey fuzzy kitten. I think I had forgotten - well not
*forgotten* but *repressed* - just how damn much I miss that cat.

The volunteer kindly took "Shmogg" away (maybe she didn't want him to
drown?), told me firmly (although kindly) that "Richard" was not for
adoption, and asked me what the name of the cat I was crying for was. I
eventually stammered out the basics - Shmogg, died in 2007, loved him
stupid, missed him horrible etc. She handed me a tissue and let me cry.
People stared, I didn't care. Eventually, I had to get up, thank the RSPCA
volunteer (who patted my shoulder) and go back to Cary & Joel who wondered
why on earth it took me so long and why buying a skinny coffee had brought
me to tears. I said "******* Cat Tricks", Joel gave me the "You're crazy"
look, and Cary wanted to know why I didn't bring back anything for him. I
didn't get to wallow in self pity for long.

But when we went to church later this evening, The Yowlet asked if he
could light a candle. Now usually that means "I'm bored, I wanna go play
with something cool. Like fire", so I tried to put him off by saying
"Look, you can't just go and light a candle, you need to light a candle
*for* something. You need to have a *reason*". Not even missing a beat he
said, and I quote, "I want to light a candle for Shmoggleberry and
Fluffy".

That kid can be *too* insightful sometimes. And for the second time today,
Shmogg had reduced me to tears from beyond the grave.

Shmogg - King of ******* Cat Tricks, still ruler of my heart.

Yowie
(Also posted on RPCA-FB)

(((((((Yowie)))))))

That brought me to tears, too.

Joy

On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:28:32 -0800, Joy wrote:

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the capital city of Australia,
Canberra. We were there to attend what we affectionately term "Nerdfest",
or as it is more formally referred to, "CanCon", the Australia Day Weekend
gaming convention. Back in its heyday, we used to stay down in Canberra
with our roleplaying group, and have a full three intense days of
roleplaying, feasting, quoting Monty Python, blowing a squill of dosh on
merchandise, books, source material, pretty polyhedral dice, crappy fast
food and boutique beer, and having an absolute ball with like minded
fellow nerds. It is no longer a role playing convention sadly, but out of
its ashes (it was pretty sad there for a while) it has risen again as a
games expo. So, at least in previous years, there has at least been the
merchandise, books, source material, pretty polyhedral dice and crappy
fast food available, and there were still enough fellow nerds (if not
fellow *roleplaying* nerds) to make a day trip enjoyable. This year, one
of the major stall holders - and indeed the one we would blow most of our
budget at - didn't show, and there laser tag folks weren't there, so it
was rather missing something and we're debating whether it will be worth
blowing a tank of petrol to make the pilgrimage next year when its really
not for us JAGs (Jaded Old Gamers).

Which is not to say we didn't enjoy the trip, so much as we didn't enjoy
it as much as we had hoped. Both the highlight and the lowlight for me was
the charity stall. Last year was The Salvos, and the year before was the
Red Cross. Ever since the Canberra Bushfires in 2003, there's been a
charity stall collecting money for a Good Cause. This year, it was the
RSPCA. Perhaps I was feeling a little sensitive because of the situation
with my friend and the abandoned cats there, but instead of just dropping
the change from my coffee in the bucket and walking on, I stopped. And I
looked at the two kittens in the cage - they weren't there for adoption as
such but just as a heartbreaking example (y'know, nerds and cats.... nerds
are more cat people than dog people). So I had to get down on the floor
and have a good look and stick my finger in to play.

And there was Shmogg. Well, not Shmogg, not really, but as well as a very
adorable grey tuxedo, there was the spitting image of Shmogg as a kitten.
The staff member asked me if I wanted a cuddle, and of course I said yes.
So I was given "Shmogg" and out of nowhere, and over 5 years since Shmogg
left for RB, I was suddenly blubbering. In the corridor between the two
main halls, at the charity stall, some crazy middle aged woman in a sea of
young and mostly male nerds was raining tears on a small (but not
objecting) grey fuzzy kitten. I think I had forgotten - well not
*forgotten* but *repressed* - just how damn much I miss that cat.

The volunteer kindly took "Shmogg" away (maybe she didn't want him to
drown?), told me firmly (although kindly) that "Richard" was not for
adoption, and asked me what the name of the cat I was crying for was. I
eventually stammered out the basics - Shmogg, died in 2007, loved him
stupid, missed him horrible etc. She handed me a tissue and let me cry.
People stared, I didn't care. Eventually, I had to get up, thank the RSPCA
volunteer (who patted my shoulder) and go back to Cary & Joel who wondered
why on earth it took me so long and why buying a skinny coffee had brought
me to tears. I said "******* Cat Tricks", Joel gave me the "You're crazy"
look, and Cary wanted to know why I didn't bring back anything for him. I
didn't get to wallow in self pity for long.

But when we went to church later this evening, The Yowlet asked if he
could light a candle. Now usually that means "I'm bored, I wanna go play
with something cool. Like fire", so I tried to put him off by saying
"Look, you can't just go and light a candle, you need to light a candle
*for* something. You need to have a *reason*". Not even missing a beat he
said, and I quote, "I want to light a candle for Shmoggleberry and
Fluffy".

That kid can be *too* insightful sometimes. And for the second time today,
Shmogg had reduced me to tears from beyond the grave.

Shmogg - King of ******* Cat Tricks, still ruler of my heart.

Yowie
(Also posted on RPCA-FB)

(((((((Yowie)))))))

That brought me to tears, too.

Joy

Me too. NLB

On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:50:10 +1100, Yowie
wrote:

Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the capital city of Australia,
Canberra. We were there to attend what we affectionately term
"Nerdfest", or as it is more formally referred to, "CanCon", the
Australia Day Weekend gaming convention. Back in its heyday, we used to
,...

That kid can be *too* insightful sometimes. And for the second time
today, Shmogg had reduced me to tears from beyond the grave.

Shmogg - King of ******* Cat Tricks, still ruler of my heart.

Yowie
(Also posted on RPCA-FB)

I used to go to comic conventions and SciFi ones. I never dressed up;
I was much too dignified (and lazy, that takes effort).

One day around 1982 when I was just beginning my first programming
job, I was in the training room and heard someone say "take bird". I
looked over, saw two of the more senior programmers, and walked over
to see what they were up to. They were playing what I found out was
the first real computer adventure type game, Colossal Cave. Yup, here
it is: http://rickadams.org/adventure/.

I once got the Fortran source code and we dumped it and spent quite
some time figuring out how they had done the cross-references. Very
entertaining and our scores went up considerably.

I'm currently playing Borderlands 2. Great fun but it's killing my bad
elbow since i use the right mouse button (to zoom) so much. That seems
to really irritate tennis elbow. I mean, I have to put it in ice after
a mere few hours of playing.

Anyway, I can hardly bear to attend the local Cat show once a year.
There is always an adoption area and I can never walk through it. I
really can't take any more cats and I just feel awful seeing them and
having to walk away. If one looked like Espy I would be unable to
leave without taking him. But it wouldn't be Espy anyway.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:50:10 +1100, Yowie
wrote:

Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the capital city of Australia,
Canberra. We were there to attend what we affectionately term
"Nerdfest", or as it is more formally referred to, "CanCon", the
Australia Day Weekend gaming convention. Back in its heyday, we used
to
,...

That kid can be *too* insightful sometimes. And for the second time
today, Shmogg had reduced me to tears from beyond the grave.

Shmogg - King of ******* Cat Tricks, still ruler of my heart.

Yowie
(Also posted on RPCA-FB)

I used to go to comic conventions and SciFi ones. I never dressed up;
I was much too dignified (and lazy, that takes effort).

One day around 1982 when I was just beginning my first programming
job, I was in the training room and heard someone say "take bird". I
looked over, saw two of the more senior programmers, and walked over
to see what they were up to. They were playing what I found out was
the first real computer adventure type game, Colossal Cave. Yup, here
it is: http://rickadams.org/adventure/.

I once got the Fortran source code and we dumped it and spent quite
some time figuring out how they had done the cross-references. Very
entertaining and our scores went up considerably.

I'm currently playing Borderlands 2. Great fun but it's killing my bad
elbow since i use the right mouse button (to zoom) so much. That seems
to really irritate tennis elbow. I mean, I have to put it in ice after
a mere few hours of playing.

Anyway, I can hardly bear to attend the local Cat show once a year.
There is always an adoption area and I can never walk through it. I
really can't take any more cats and I just feel awful seeing them and
having to walk away. If one looked like Espy I would be unable to
leave without taking him. But it wouldn't be Espy anyway.

I go to Circle-The-Cat for a while, once in a while...
http://www.members.shaw.ca/gf3/circle-the-cat.html

After I manage to trap her a couple of times, I leave...
I let her sulk off the screen a few times though.
Wouldn't do that to Pit2nya, she would hmmmf back at me.
Sylvia M.

On Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:02:39 -0800, "Sylvia M"
wrote:


"dgk" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:50:10 +1100, Yowie
wrote:

Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the capital city of Australia,
Canberra. We were there to attend what we affectionately term
"Nerdfest", or as it is more formally referred to, "CanCon", the
Australia Day Weekend gaming convention. Back in its heyday, we used
to
,...

That kid can be *too* insightful sometimes. And for the second time
today, Shmogg had reduced me to tears from beyond the grave.

Shmogg - King of ******* Cat Tricks, still ruler of my heart.

Yowie
(Also posted on RPCA-FB)

I used to go to comic conventions and SciFi ones. I never dressed up;
I was much too dignified (and lazy, that takes effort).

One day around 1982 when I was just beginning my first programming
job, I was in the training room and heard someone say "take bird". I
looked over, saw two of the more senior programmers, and walked over
to see what they were up to. They were playing what I found out was
the first real computer adventure type game, Colossal Cave. Yup, here
it is: http://rickadams.org/adventure/.

I once got the Fortran source code and we dumped it and spent quite
some time figuring out how they had done the cross-references. Very
entertaining and our scores went up considerably.

I'm currently playing Borderlands 2. Great fun but it's killing my bad
elbow since i use the right mouse button (to zoom) so much. That seems
to really irritate tennis elbow. I mean, I have to put it in ice after
a mere few hours of playing.

Anyway, I can hardly bear to attend the local Cat show once a year.
There is always an adoption area and I can never walk through it. I
really can't take any more cats and I just feel awful seeing them and
having to walk away. If one looked like Espy I would be unable to
leave without taking him. But it wouldn't be Espy anyway.

I go to Circle-The-Cat for a while, once in a while...
http://www.members.shaw.ca/gf3/circle-the-cat.html

After I manage to trap her a couple of times, I leave...
I let her sulk off the screen a few times though.
Wouldn't do that to Pit2nya, she would hmmmf back at me.
Sylvia M.

Oh thanks a lot for that. And my employer thanks you as well.

On 1/30/2013 10:18 AM, dgk wrote:
One day around 1982 when I was just beginning my first programming
job, I was in the training room and heard someone say "take bird". I
looked over, saw two of the more senior programmers, and walked over
to see what they were up to. They were playing what I found out was
the first real computer adventure type game, Colossal Cave. Yup, here
it is:http://rickadams.org/adventure/.

DOS-executable games were fun back in the day. It's all we had other
than tic-tac-toe or solitaire

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
DOS-executable games were fun back in the day. It's all we had
other than tic-tac-toe or solitaire

And hangman. Though that may have been a unix-ish game. I
remember playing it on Sun workstations and Primos systems back
in the day.

Deborah

Phoenix wrote:

jmcquown wrote:
DOS-executable games were fun back in the day. It's all we had
other than tic-tac-toe or solitaire

And hangman. Though that may have been a unix-ish game. I
remember playing it on Sun workstations and Primos systems back
in the day.

Me, too! Somewhat compulsively, if I remember correctly...

--
Joyce

Whenever you feel anger, you should say, "May I be free of this
anger!" This rarely works, but talking to yourself in public will
encourage others to leave you alone.