Wow. What a month! Work proceeds apace with my new work venture. We have incorporated, are booked up well into the Summer, and are learning more about the Internet, starting and running a small corporation, and ourselves than we probably ever cared to.
As soon as we have our corporate page up and running I'll pass on the name, occupation, and net address for the company!
Work combined with the tragic events in Britain have conspired to delay this month's edition of the Cabinet. As many of you may know, Mike Siggins, Cabinet Maker and publisher/editor of Sumo, was involved in a tense and dangerous, or so it seemed at the time, hostage situation earlier in the month.
As part of Sumo 28, Mike ran an inflammatory exposé about a small, English games company now in its sophomore year. Rush copies of the review fell in to the hands of the lads at this company and they, as is their habit, were hopping mad. Events took a turn for the worse when they decided to seek revenge. Arming themselves with an array of handguns and hunting rifles, these misguided games enthusiasts stormed the Siggins home, subdued the inhabitants thereof, and, with malice aforethought, forced them into a Jack Jaffe games marathon. Alarmed by cries of pain intermixed with loud yawning, neighbors contacted the police. A tense standoff ensued for the next three days as the torture continued while the London bobbies negotiated with the game designing terrorists. Finally, when the miscreants threatened to move on to Victorian parlor games, the authorities rushed the house. Brandishing their weapons the villains attempted to open fire but to no avail. In the end the hostages were freed with no loss of life or apparent bodily harm to captives, police, nor amphibious belligerents. Later inspection showed that none of the rifles were loaded and all of the handguns were jammed beyond repair. When questioned the criminals revealed that they had just assumed that the weapons would work but they had never actually tested them.
Mike and family are recovering nicely under a therapy of Klaus Teuber classics. The misguided game designers have been sent home with a stern warning. And the police are still looking into whether or not to bring charges against Mr. Jaffe for illegal use of cardboard.
Later in the month Mike felt well enough to venture across the channel to Paris for the world's "largest" board game show. Be sure to check out his report in this month's Across the Board.
Game enthusiasts from across North America and from Western Europe.will be coming together this month for the Gathering of Friends. Held annually along the border between Massachusettes and Connecticut, this invitation annual only game-a-thon is the largest event of its kind in North America. This is a source of endless amusement in Germany and other parts Western Europe where a gathering of 100 or so spielfreaks would be nice weekend but hardly a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things. Alan Moon hosts the event with style and panache and year after year a good time is had by all.
The five day event is dominated by free gaming. Attendee pile their games along the walls in large hotel conference room where other gamers can borrow them for a quick game of whatever strikes their fancy. Alan also encourages the organization of tournemants. Tournemant winners are rewarded with early picks from the prize pile. The pile of prizes is built by Alan using left over funds from the previous year's Gathering and from a required two game donation per attendee. On Saturday evening, the last night of the Gathering, the prizes are distributed amongst much hooting, consternation, dice rolling, and bartering for position. Once the prizes are distributed, players begin to drift away, saying their goodbyes till next year.
In an effort to keep gamers in town through the Sunday, Alan promises to run several special events on the final day of the Gathering this year. Highlights will be a strip poker tournemant, a wife swapping raffle, and the ever popular gal and guy popping out of a game box. When question about the propriety of such activities on a Sunday morning, Alan replied that since he disavowed the monastic lifestyle he felt he had moved beyond such concerns. I will, of course, dutifully cover these events and report back next time.
And on a final note, I would like to point out that I was very busy on April 1 and I hope that explains the tardiness of the above tomfoolery. Please note that if your culture does not celebrate April Fools Day then the above should be taken with a grain of salt. If your culture does celebrate April Fools Day then might I suggest taking them with a tongue in cheek.
Take care,
ken