Unconventional
2003 continued...
Sunday
31 August 2003 Joining me in the late
night owl club this time were the MNX crew and
R.I.K., the mad funsters were playing Worms
on the Jaguar and enticed me to play as well.
I could still remember my embarrassing defeat
(mainly caused by suicide) in this game at JagFest
UK so pleaded to be given time to practice,
but I joined the game anyway. All of a sudden
I understood it and was wiping everything out
with the homing missile, even if it was standing
right in front of me. This game was simply hilarious
fun! We played for hours and were still at it
by 05:30, sipping energy drinks brought by R.I.K.
and TXG while Fox-1 seemed intent on poisoning
himself with a mixture of beer, coffee and rum.
![[Photo: Playing Worms]](images/uc01569.jpg)
Slowly,
the other guys went to sleep one by one, which
left me free to play... SuperFly! I knew it
was hopeless trying to match the Butscher's
score but my head was buzzing and I needed to
practice. Full of caffeine, there was no chance
I would sleep now so I played until dawn again.
When Helmut arrived at the hall, he was already
starting the cleaning up operation.
As
others woke up, I went with Charlie Chaplin
to the petrol station for some food. I had foolishly
walked down the hill earlier expecting to be
able to buy some food at the shops, none of
which were open. It was Sunday, of course, but
in the UK we're used to Sunday opening. Mad
Butscher was adding up the scores from the gaming
challenges when we got back - from here it was
a very slow moving and relaxed atmosphere as
people started to pack things away ready to
leave.
![[Photo: Children playing Worms]](images/uc01595.jpg)
![[Photo: Czechs talking]](images/uc01603.jpg)
I
spent my time playing Club Drive, I even
managed to crash the game, or at least get the
car wedged at an angle all wheels off the ground
so it could no longer move, and some children
asked TXG if they could play Worms on his Jaguar.
It was early afternoon when the prize-giving
ceremony was started. The prizes had been laid
out on the stage long before. Mad Butscher scooped
most of the nice ABBUC coffee mugs, it was suggested
he should win another one for having the most!
![[Photo: TWW receiving his prize]](images/uc01617.jpg)
![[Photo: Mad Butscher winning a prize]](images/uc01618.jpg)
![[Photo: Wizard receiving his prize]](images/uc01631.jpg)
![[Photo: Sacha receiving his prize]](images/uc01638.jpg)
The
final spectacle was watching the MNX crew attempt
to pack everything back into TXG's car. Various
people offered help, including Floppy Doc with
an ingenious optimization of selected boxes,
unfortunately it didn't account for a few extra
boxes that would have to be fitted inside as
well. Fox-1 took the brute force approach and
we heard the distinct sound of cracking PCB,
the Alpine board, maybe? Helmut started filming
this event and we all look forward to it! In
the end they were taking beer bottles (even
the empty ones, because they have to return
them to get some money!) out of bags and inserting
them into every available space, it was like
one of those puzzles where you have to carefully
stack or remove objects as far as possible without
the overall structure collapsing!
One
notable tradition we missed this year was a
group photograph, though some people didn't
forget and I did some small group shots instead,
namely the Czechs, and Wizard and Bunsen of
the WGL.
![[Photo: Czech crew]](images/uc01643.jpg)
![[Photo: Wizard and Bunsen]](images/uc01648.jpg)
Mad
Butscher and I packed his car very quickly,
there was not much to load. Our journey back
to Wiesbaden was relaxed and we travelled earlier
than in 2001 so it was daytime all the way.
At one stage we saw three traffic accidents
within 15 minutes, the last one being an overturned
petrol tanker, then on final approach it started
raining. We got back in time for me to meet
R.I.K.'s wife, who'd been shopping with Mad
Butscher's girlfriend, Nicole. To finish the
day we went to a local "international"
restaurant, which was actually owned and run
by Indian people and of course curry was on
the menu. I opted for a Madras, it was far tamer
than what we're accustomed to in the UK (and
yes, I do know what home-cooked Indian curry
is like) but all very enjoyable.
Monday
1 September 2003 06:00, I woke up automatically,
knowing I had to be ready to be taken to
the airport early, since Mad Butscher had to
go to work. Nobody else was awake so I slept
again and was woken an hour later. Soon, I was
at the airport, I didn't even have a chance
to treat Mad Butscher to breakfast because he
was in a real rush.
![[Photo: Airport]](images/uc01656.jpg)
![[Photo: Plane]](images/uc01660.jpg)
General
observations In spite of the various
Jaguar consoles dotted around, nobody
played Tempest 2000 until I pointed it out and
asked what was wrong!
There
were no party "releases" - unlike
previous years where there were some people
painting and composing for competition, this
year the only artistic output was purely for
leisure. No pressure. Everyone still had a fantastic time
with a lot of constructive discussion going
on, there will be some interesting things to
come of it, for sure.
None
of the other UK-based MyAtari team members could
make it to Unconventional. TXG from the Netherlands
was there and Christoph Brincken from nearby Berlin
had planned to come but an urgent print job
messed up his weekend. In fact there was only
one other person from the UK, Nick Harlow. I'm sure
we can do better than this!
Goodbye I'd
like to thank the German people for their kind
hospitality, especially Mad Butscher for the
transport and accommodation, and Helmut for
the good organization. It was a great convention,
let the next one be even better!
Talk
later, I'm now off to play Iron Soldier...
shiuming@myatari.net
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