28 June, 3 o'clock, The Bandstand, Hyde Park. The time and the place were clear but
unattainable goals for Researchers Gnomon and Azara. Delayed by crowds, the tube and the
general lethargy induced by a hot day in London, we didn't reach the bandstand until 3:40.
We found a crowd of odd-looking people - an enormous crowd! These were no pale-faced
internet junkies, these were Bon Jovi fans, assembling for an outdoor concert. The h2g2ers
had already departed for parts unknown, only to be guessed at. Luckily, I'm good at guessing,


so it was only a few minutes wander before we spotted the distinctive profile of Natalie and
knew that the group huddling in the shade was special. We'd arrived at the h2g2 Summer
Party!

The first person to greet us was Abi, the organiser with Mina of this great event. Then
fellow Dublin Researcher Recumbentman said hello. It's odd that we'd both travelled all the
way to London to have our first face-to-face conversation. Whoami? demonstrated his
practical nature by handing out cups of water to all and sundry from a giant bottle. Next I
met Demon Drawer. Not only is he one of h2g2's most prolific writers, but he is also
obsessed with the facts and figures of who's written what and how many times. True to form,
Demon Drawer noted down the time at which we met in a little notebook, already full of
entries.

Now it was time to meet some of the people sitting on the ground in the shade. There were
many faces new to me, such as Amy + who'd come from America, Titania from Sweden, and
Master B who I won't say anything else about thank you. There were also a lot of familiar
faces, including KerrAvon, J'au-aemne and Galaxy Babe, who gave me a choice of postcards; I


had to pick one which represented my personality - I ended up with a combination of the
Yellow Brick Road and There's No Place Like Home. Kaz, who I'd met last year, had brought
baby Eris, who eventually gave me a gummy smile. To confuse things, last time I met Kaz, her
h2g2 name was Eris.

Sam decided we'd come to Hyde Park to play softball so we were going to play softball. A
team was assembled, but seemed fairly half-hearted in the intense heat. Meanwhile Munchkin
and Toccata got a game of croquet going, with Zagreb, VIP and me. With half-remembered
versions of the rules, this proceeded in a very genteel way until Uncle Heavy arrived and
introduced us to the real rules and the cut-throat all-out warfare that is real Croquet.

Eventually it was time to leave the park. Anna's little Dominic happily said goodbye to
everybody, no doubt in the hope that all these strange people would go away. We wandered
down to Knightsbridge, from where we caught the tube to Holborn, with a short walk to the
Penderel's Oak pub. Here we had a basement room reserved.

One of the advantages of this type of pub is that food is available, so orders were placed
and we tucked in to such delicacies as lamburgers, Spaghetti and Canneloni. One of the
disadvantages was that beer seemed to be in short supply. They'd already run out of
Kronenbourg and cider before we even started drinking, and the Stella ran out later on.
Nevertheless, a great time was had by all.

I shared a table with MaW, J'au-aemne, Recumbentman and Azara and got into some
interesting conversations on the subject of laser eye surgery, punctuation and the recent
origin of Wicca. Just as the quiz was about to start, who should turn up but Bels! We've had
many a discussion in Peer Review, particularly on musical topics, and I was delighted to see
him. Bels decided to join our team and help us win the quiz. Alas, it was not to be. The
fiendish quiz devised by Abi based on that treasure trove of trivial facts, the Edited Guide,
had many people stumped. Our teams scored a respectable 14 out of 25, earning us a joint
3rd with three other teams and a mouse mat each. The winning team scored 19 points.

After the quiz, we mingled, allowing me to meet Jack Naples, newly returned from the far
east, and Queeglesproggit. Neither of these were as I had imagined them. Jack was older than


my mental picture of him, and Queeglesproggit was more ... how shall I put it ... more
female.

Kelli arrived late, straight from the bedside of her sick boyfriend. I've spoken a lot with
Kelli and know her to be a lovely person to talk to, but I was surprised to find that she looks
absolutely stunning too. She's lost 70 pounds in weight over the last year or so - I'd
expected her to look like a deflated football.

As the evening drew to a close, and the amount of lager I'd consumed increased, my
memories get hazier. I remember meeting Xanatic and hardly recognising his name. Apologies,
Xan! I've talked a lot to you as well over the years and should have had more to say.

Eventually, the time had come to leave. We walked back to the tube, happy to have met
everybody and to have been to another great h2g2 Party.

Photo's by Pastey
Photo's by Bald Bloke
Photo's by Dr E Vibenstein
Photo's by Munchkin

Gnomon

03.07.03 Front Page

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