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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Gaming and Guiness VI

Stephen Fitzpatrick has already blogged at length about G&G VI, the annual "friend summit" he originated over a half-decade ago. I described last year's gathering in detail here. This year, rather than retread old ground, I merely present a selection of images that capture a small smidgen of the fun we had.

First, the participants:
G&G Guru Steve Fitzpatrick
Host Mike Totman
Swag organizer, graphic designer and chef Peter Harris.
Warhammerhead Scott Friel
Island Mike Parlow
Jeff "The Flash" Pitts
Rob "Mr. Intensity" Day
Earl J. "Tries to Fit In" Woods
And special guest Dave Ticheler of Grande Prairie
As usual, I was working for the first couple of days of the festivities, unable to get away from work when the Legislature is in session. But I did arrive in time to snap a few photos of this year's impressive Warhammer 40,000 battle, with new winter terrain custom-built by Scott:
Once the war between fascist humans and demonic monsters was over, we enjoyed a more earthbound pastime: the racing game Formula De. I usually do pretty well at this, but this year I flamed out big time, taking a corner too fast and wrecking my car.
Usually we attend a film on Friday night, but this year we decided instead to attend the Rammstein concert. I can't say I appreciated the music much, but I certainly admired the showmanship and spectacle of this very energetic German band.
Scott's brother Dustin sometimes drops in on G&G; this year, we saw him only at the concert.
Our little geek festival formally concludes with Circvs Maximvs, the Roman chariot racing game. We always begin by watching the chariot race from Ben Hur, then do our best to emulate the gripping action of that amazing Charlton Heston epic. As noted last year, Mike, Steve and Pete crafted an amazing custom game board, trophy and chariot teams, turning a fairly simple papercraft game into something epic.
As last year's reigning champion, everyone was out to defeat Jeff this time. But he evaded all comers and once again won the laurel wreath. I finished last, an improvement over last year, when I didn't finish at all, crashing out.
By the time Circvs Maximvs concludes, the guys are usually drunk enough to indulge in Rock Band, AKA "home karaoke." I don't really have a good excuse.
Mike usually gives me the finger whenever I try to take his picture, and yet for Steve he does this.

As always, G&G was a year's worth of fun packed into just a few days. I'm grateful to Steve, Pete and Mike for handling the organizational heavy lifting, and the others for just being there to have a good time.

1 comment:

Stephen Fitzpatrick said...

Another great time, to be sure, thanks for writing it up!

I'm sorry that your legislative commitments prohibit you from greater participation, but we are all very gratified you could make it at all, and completely chuffed that you came to the Rammstein concert and enjoyed the spectacle!