X'2010
Party Report
Submitted by Jazzcat (Jazzcat) on December 25 2010
Written by Jazzcat/Onslaught
European Tour & X'2010 Report
European Tour 2010 Report
(This is more than a party report - it is a fucking epic adventure!!!)
One day, long ago on IRC...
<Jazzcat> I would like to go to X2010
<Jazzcat> I guess I should book
<alih> yeah, now that the dates are confirmed I should probably do the same
<Jazzcat> alih, we should hook up together
<alih> Jazzcat: that would be sensible, actually, yes
<Jazzcat> for x2010
<alih> yes
<alih> for x2010
12 months before the party, saving money for the flights, planning releases, working on disk mags... and that's how it all started. Jazzcat tapping away on the keys here. Wooo, holy ninja, we made it (again)... this little adventure was a jointly organised project by A Life In Hell and myself. It was awkward to begin with, as I was balancing my scene and family commitments, I mean - flying 18000KM and leaving your family behind to attend a sweaty data event in Holland is kind of crazy. This kind of crazy also meant exciting though. Anyway, all of this started with some IRC chat.
Everyone was talking about X2010 on IRC; everyone was going except me (boohoo). What bothered me was that I was envious of all these other people in Europe - how easy is it for them to go to big events like this?! So, I chatted with Alih about smashing the borders, you know... a flying fuck fist into the face of those things that were not meant to happen (Alih described this to me as the feeling you get when you take off in an Aeroplane - "haha! defy nature!!! RHOOOAR!"). Well, we defied the odds and organised this trip. Originally Conjuror and Redback were meant to come with us too, Redback dropped out due to relationship commitments and Conjuror moved to the United Kingdom (so he travelled separately to X).
Tasmania, the natural state - the prison colony, home of Jazzcat and his kittens. Well, the big day had come, kiss the family goodbye get a taxi to the airport and take a small plane on the 1 hour flight to Melbourne. Arriving, I send a text to Alih, what?! No reply!!! OH NOES!!! This is not happening!!! <GRIN> "See you soon" appears on my phone. Sipping coffee, I sit in the airport like an excited child at a birthday party...
Jaymz arrived on time, I had not seen him since Syntax 2009 so we had a bit to catch up on. We found a place to grab a beer and something to eat and had some scene/non-scene and elephant related discussions... after a while we were sitting on the plane, the engines had started up, destination Malaysia... Arriving we had a couple of hours to kill so we went and got some food at the only Malay restaurant we could find in The Tower terminal (I mean, damn - Hungry Jacks and others were present). Anyway... Malaysia Airlines followed by KLM, we arrived at Schipol, Amsterdam around 5:50AM and quickly told gate security our intention in Holland was to go to a 'conference'. Grabbing a train from the Airport to the city was quite easy, we left our luggage in some lockers at Centraal Station and went for a morning walk, taking advantage of the quiet morning and took a heap of photos before having some breakfast to get the energy level boosted before the big day really got going.
Bikes, Coffee Shops and Weird Leaning Buildings - Amsterdam is quite a place! We killed a lot of time before meeting up with Macx, Devia and ZZAP69 at the Centraal Station, some man hugs and dry humping occurred and then we had to find the next arrivals. We eventually hooked up with Conjuror just before lunch and decided it was a good time to check-in to our hotel rooms. On the way to the hotel, those damn Dutch cobble-stones broke one of my suitcase wheels, so I had a steel axle that grinded along the streets as we drew closer to the Ibis Amsterdam Hotel. After some quick showers which were refreshing after our hike from the station, we decided to hit the pubs, just before this White Flame (from the USA) met us in the hotel foyer - perfect timing!
I must admit, so far we were a motley and quite unusual bunch, guys from all over the world, mixing our accents, mixing our drinks, walking along the seedy streets of the city of sin. Along the way we did some tourist stuff then we found a pub, then another... Macx leading the way. We had a meal in this tiny place and then the phone rang "good news, soon joining the table is SounDemon"! The Finn arrived and we ordered our meal, the throng was getting larger, the more alcohol that was consumed the more we started to berserk. Our posse soon moved on to more pubs, and then some more. I was in one of these places in the Red Light District and I thought it would be a nice idea to sneak a photo of one of the ladies in the window, so I stepped outside the main entrance with stealth and pressed the button - oh noes - she spotted me and pulled the red curtain across. I quickly walked back into the pub and looking through the pub window I spotted her speaking to two tall burly looking men and pointing in my direction. ZZAP69 whispered to me that I should maybe get away from the place, instead I thought it was best to confront the situation, so I walked over, camera in hand. I showed the photo to the two guys, advised them that I was a tourist and meant no disrespect. They threatened to call the police, so I deleted the photo and showed them while I did that and apologised again. They seemed okay with that and let me go. When I walked back in the pub, some locals came and chatted to me and said not to worry about that stupid bitch in the window, she was from eastern Europe and new to the area, so just forget about it. I took their advise and drank some more. It soon got dark and we decided to make our way back to the hotel, on the way we stopped at a cafe and Conjuror got some Jack Herer (you know, winner of the seventh High Times Cannabis Cup). In the cafe, I was thinking this might be bad, I will fall asleep due to being so wrecked by long flights and big beer jugs, but no!!! This did not happen! Instead I became very hyper all of a sudden. On the way back to the hotel, somehow we stopped at every arched-bridge (every 20 metres or so) and had some deep conversation. Arriving back at the hotel, our stoned posse tried to fit in the elevator and we broke it. Luckily we managed to force the doors open and climb out, quickly running up the stairs to the third level, laughing our faces off.
The next day we went to the Waterlooplein flea market, I needed to buy a new suitcase and have a look for some souvenirs for my family. We were sipping this White Lion Whiskey that Macx had been buying quite regularly. It really helped the mood, particularly after having a big night, sipping whiskey straight whilst walking the seedy streets of Amsterdam in the morning. After the market I needed to take a piss, now I really have to laugh - there is such an unexpected, non-universal approach to public toilets in Amsterdam. On one street there is a "piss coil" (thanks Knoeki, I wondered what they were called). Where you can stand in the middle of this coil and piss into a hole. In a pub there is just this steel mesh that you piss in, no actual toilet (too bad if you needed to do a dump, but it was a pub after all), and the ones in Centraal Station you have to pay for (0.50E). MAN oh man! sensor lights for the flush, buttons, leaver and then button, or just a fucking hole gimme the Aussie dual flush system any day!
Anyway, after the market we went to the Rijksmuseum of Art and History which of course holds a magnificent selection of Dutch paintings from the Golden Age. I had never been to anything like this before and did not know what to expect, but wow! I was blown away, the detail of those paintings, being up close and checking the work of Rembrandt and his pupils really left an impression on me. Rijksmuseum had been taken over by sceners and have some hours of investigation we went back outside and got something to eat. A Life in Hell (Alih), Conjuror, Devia, Macx, SounDemoN, White Flame, ZZAP69 and myself were sitting in the Lunchkiosk Museumplein munching on double-burgers. At this point I started getting a fucking migraine. Did I mention that I was on medication at the time to clear sinusitis and on top of this I was starting to get a cold. We got back to the hotel and unloaded our daily purchases. Everyone was getting ready to go out and meet the Norwegian sceners at a pub, I decided to rest a bit and catch up later on - a little sleep turned into a long one and I woke up at midnight having missed numerous calls from Macx. Damn, oh well, I heard the sordid tales when the drunken louts came back to the hotel around 2AM. The piss heads had drunk quite a bit at the same pub where I got into trouble with the pimp. This was the Pre-X2010 party, where a bunch of multinational scene berserkers violated their bellies with beer. Present at the pub were A Life in Hell, Conjuror, Devia, Dize, Geir Tjelta, Jeff, Kribust, Macx, Olav Mørkrid, Ole Marius Pettersen, Pal, Perplex, Sander, SounDemoN, Stein Pedersen, Twoflower, White Flame and ZZAP69. Devia had apparently had an accident with around 6 large pints, all of them had spilt onto the ground and smashed and some ended up all over Alih (beer bath!). The waitress was kind of pissed but must have realised that these scene boys were spending about 100 Euro every round on drinks. Anyway, the drunks came back and I took it in turns with Macx to throw pillows at a sleepy Devia who was sitting on a seat in a stupor rather than getting into bed.
It was Friday - X2010 was very close! In anticipation for this Conjuror, White Flame and I decided to have a look around to buy some cheap sleeping bags. Do you think we could find any? We even split up to cover multiple blocks - all we found was bitches and bong shops and more bong shops!!!! ARRGHHHH! Obviously the wrong part of town. We were thinking that at the X party place it would be handy to have a sleeping bag. Anyway, back to the hotel and then check-out, off to Centraal Station we went. Now this felt like déjà vu, we were at the station waiting for CBA and Mr.Ammo to show up, six years ago I had been in this same position but with Vengeance instead. I decided to retrace my steps back to where I met those guys last time (front of the GWK exchange office) and sure enough they had already arrived and we had been standing in the wrong place waiting for them! I went back outside and grabbed the clan and we all started shaking hands with the new additions. Group after group of sceners started arriving and before long it was the biggest 'X Train' gathering ever (I think CBA told me it was around 28 guys or something). On-board the train it was the usual farting and joking around. It was good to see the guys again and to meet some new people, like the guys from Glance that came over from Turkiye! Anyway, the train from Amsterdam to Eindhoven took about an hour and when we got there we had to wait for a while for Ream and WVL to take us to the party place which was about a 10 minute drive in the small country town called Someren.
X-2010 Day 1
I was expecting we would be amongst the first to arrive, but this was not the case, there was already a large group of people. Mainly polish guys such as Leming, Booker, Dezert and Lolita. Also some Germans had gathered too such as StreeTuff. Gathering in the court yard we moved around the different sceners. People were in their groups and I think were more keen to get their baggage and bunk beds reserved and then move to the main hall. This was perhaps the most awkward moment for me, I felt we waited far too long to get shit sorted, but maybe because we arrived early afternoon. Anyway, rather than line-up for the party hall and payment collection Macx and I went selected a room and reserved some bunks then went back to join the line. The party place was much bigger than previous events, there were two separate sleeping buildings, the main party hall with downstairs basement that would be used for the performances and compos. The sleeping area was kind of cool, warmer than I thought it would be (although I did use a blanket I stole on the flight over with KLM). Anyway, once the payment was made into the main hall we went - the drinking began and the usual shaking hands. There were so many people, some I had met before others were new. A lot of guys did not recognise me as I did not wear a name badge for very long and I had put on weight and had short hair since that skinny rat had shown up at the last X party 6 years earlier. Moving around I managed to introduce myself to most people, I have to thank Archmage for remembering to bring me a Norwegian Conan comic (I collect them), TCE for bring me some things from Derbyshire Ram's personal collection, Duce for allowing me to give Electric a call live from the party and for the paper art - awesome! Thanks to all for remembering the paper mags and all the other things! (Maestro, MdZ, Acidchild, etc). It was not just about gifts though, several people were trying to help me forget my cold that I had and my sinus infection, by getting me drunk with top-shelf spirits (StreeTuff), German beer (The Ignorance) and some other drink someone gave me with some lime added (now who was that?).
Prior to coming over to Europe, I had worked for some months on the third edition of my solo magazine project, Recollection. Together with Krill, Hein, Mermaid, Deev and others the mag had been completed and I made 40 disks (virgin disks I should add, at least until I had finished with them) with the mag and bonus material. These disks are also encompassed with a full-blown disk cover by my Norwegian pal Mermaid. I distributed one box (20) and Scout eagerly grabbed the other box from me, I think Macx also help spread some. It was so nice to spread the disks on the party, I had worked very hard on the magazine and was happy to get it out. Walking around the hall, I noticed that most computers were setup and on some of them, including the projector on the Finnish table, the magazine was being flicked through. What I also noted was that it was mainly C64 equipment - now this was heaven, there were a laptop or two here and there but mostly the old breadbins, C128D and other exotic stuff with bursting character. After doing several donuts around the party hall, mingling and stuff, I started to feel quite hungry and those Poles were my salvation, thanks guys for the Polish delights, they really hit the spot and allowed me to feel good again! I really ate a heap. The table and surroundings were ordained with photos of famous Polish people, flags and such, a real treasure - especially for a tourist like me. Perhaps other nationalities will copy the idea? I remember missing some of the music performances because I was in bed trying to fight the fucking cold and sinus crap, it was mostly DaTucker but I managed some of the Tel performance before it finished. I also remember waking up with some fever and meeting Puterman in the main hall, sorry about my abrupt and scattered impression Linus, totally unintended! Eventually later in the evening I crashed again... slightly drunk, stoned, sick, excited, horney for data and all that weird shit...
X-2010 Day 2
I woke up bright and early. Quite refreshed after getting some sleep. My nose was blocked so I was looking forward to the shower, you know, where you can blow all that shit out of your nose and feel refreshed. The showers were warm at best, but I did not really care. After scrubbing some breakfast was in order.
After breakfast it was back into the party hall. White Flame had come to the party from the United States, he was one of the nicest guys you could meet and a very unique individual. During the majority of the party he was working (slaving) on the new Onslaught game, the sequel to Hawkeye. We were hoping to get the teaser working and available to display after the compo. Damn fucking bugs! Ninja helped a bit with getting rid of a nasty gremlin inside the code, I do not think I have seen an expression of happiness like what appeared on White Flame's face. The Booze guys were in their room mostly, concentrating on the finishing of their demo. HCL spent a considerable amount of time on it and the music was also being worked on by Dane. The game compo during the day had been cancelled, but never mind the Finns had a beauty of an idea, reading Finnish poetry out loud to all! Alih got up on the table and cleared the cobwebs from his lungs, the beautiful words from Finland rang out through the Dutch hills... It had rained on and off throughout the day, so I got some cover near the food van and decided to buy some grub. Had a brief chat with the Booze Design guys as well as some of the Fairlighters. Later in the day there of course was further drinking. The free alcohol (well, it was paid for with our entrance fee) supported by Ignorance's German supply really made things go quickly. Before long it was close to dinner, White Flame was still struggling with Hawkeye 2 teaser, Macx was starting to get my cold and Slator had decided to take a nap in my bed (Conjuror had thought I had grown really big - "who is this huge man in Jazzcat's bed?"). Beer in one hand and a cigar in another (thanks again to ZZAP69's marvellous supply) I left White Flame's desk and noticed the Ninja and Alih were head banging, it is always interesting to share moments like that with people and I can sense they were really getting into it. Back to White Flame's desk and he had FINISHED! RHOOOOAAARR!!! H2 is born. Grabbing the disk I had a brainwave that I needed to include the original Hawkeye 2 preview with the modern one. Thanks to the dedicated conversion team near the main hall entrance (Mdz, Steppe, maestro, Acidchild, Mason, TCE etc) I managed to get it all on a disk. This was then handed to the organisation with still some time to spare. White Flame was running around like a maniac... "I am free, freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!". It really was a nice effort he made.
Dinner time, the meal was okay, I can't remember what I ate but I am not fussy at all so it was very good. Food in belly and back outside into the courtyard for another cigar. I remember some late arrivals like DCMP and Moren - it was so cool to see some extra people I did not expect to show! Back in the main hall Stroker was being played by some hardcore dudes. The Finnish table had some old and new friends, such as Duce, Mixer and Barfly (not sure which guy it was laying on the ground). Other people that I enjoyed meeting was of course my own group members - damn, a huge amount of us too, almost everyone was there! Some still had the Onslaught t-shirts I had brought over to Europe at X2004. enthusi was wearing a special one that Veto had modified, over at his desk near the Arsenic table, myself, Conrad and enthusi were checking out Onslaught's one-file demo contribution. Approval and thumbs up!
The graphics competition was just around the corner - the unexpecting audience were about to be shocked with the biggest and best graphic compo of any C64 party ever - none come close. Downstairs we went, the basement started to fill up with nerds. Amazing pictures, I mean really amazing - the new trend of NUFLI was really in effect also - not one IFLI picture was present. My personal favourites, were the work of Duce, Veto and Electric (NUFLI version of his previously released graphic - clearly original in motive). Much applause during the competition - driven by the announcers' microphone. No less than 38 entries! Very pleased the crowd dispersed. After the compo I really had to piss. Feeling relieved it was time for some fresh air - I got chatting outside with Pantaloon and Louie64. I discussed with them about the history of Fairlight that was released at the party with Recollection #3. One of the cool Fairlight t-shirts was in order so Louie64 took me back to the Fairlight room and found one that fitted perfectly. On the way he described how he first met Panta, completely drunk and how their friendship had begun etc. Cool stuff. I packed the t-shirt away along with all the other trades and gifts that some of the guys had given me (fuck yeah). Soon starting was the 6581 rock band (Morpheus, Anton, Anders and Romeo Knight). The place I found easiest to view these guys was halfway down the stairs looking directly across at them and the large group of sceners shaking all their bits to the beats. They played around 14 tracks, my favourite was "Mutants" and also the opening of "Ghosts'n Goblins". The band really did a splendid job and for me was one of the major highlights of the party. Special greets to Morpheus who I have known for quite a long time now and finally got to meet after the performance. Great stuff man, seriously do this again at X2012!
Okay, some more beer then back to my room for a bit. Alih had really partied hard, he decided to take a nap, Macx and I said we would wake him up before the demo compo started. Soon the music competition was on the way, it was a surprise for me that Jeff's tune did not win but it was tight competition up the top. I was quite proud of the fact that in the top ten were four Onslaught members, right on!
Anyway, time to get my flak jacket on, grab a fresh brew (again another one supplied by Ignorance, WTF!? how many did he bring - I am pleased he did not give me his flu, I already had enough to handle). The demo competition was about to start, I was sitting next to Count Zero (who was fried to the max. man that guy can smoke), also close was Pegasus and his wife. Jerry/Triad had passed away only some weeks before the party and I decided to organise a little picture of him for the big screen (thanks to Sander and Scout). The picture was shown and rather than silence there was some applause. Really, quite an emotional moment for some of us who have known Gunnar for so long. Very fitting and thanks to the organisation for the opportunity to pay our respects in such a special way. The screen went blank and then it was announced that the demo compos were set to begin. The opening demo was just to get the crowd warmed up in the right mood. It was Crest with their dirty syncing "Farmtro" in NUFLI. Some of the syncing/animation/music was really quite funny, I glanced over at Pegasus' wife who had a strange expression on her face. HAHA! Priceless. Some of the early demos were so so... things really warmed up with the new Offence demo. FUCK yeah, this rocked, some awesome parts. I have to say that the basement was perfect for the sound, it really kept it clear... anyway, the demo was awesome. When the Fairlight demo came on, the chants from their members in the crowd "Fair-light" "Fair-light"... hah! these guys really competed against Booze Design/Instinct, but it was Offence that stole the compo with a press-space demo! Awesome! Some 15 demos were shown and they were quite strong, I think it fell short of X2008's bar-raising extravagant, but still awesome and the return of so many oldies (Camelot, Offence, Mahoney with his cool music release).
I was a bit dismayed that there was no intermission - people wanted to have a smoke, go to the toilet, get another beer etc... when the compo had finished everyone rushed out and the shame in that is that they missed some brilliant out of compo releases. Despite that, there were still around 30 people in the basement who got to see Hawkeye 2 Teaser, Richard Joseph Tribute Demo, Lifework and more... Maybe next time they can have an intermission or something, as the productions that were equally requiring a lot of effort were sorely missed by many (maybe have them at the start of the compo instead of at the end or something).
As usual for X, the compos were amazing - the data is really the best any scene has to offer in terms of quality on a restricted platform. Particularly the graphics compo was the big one this time round. I emerged from the pit and walked out into the night. I managed to have some lengthy discussion with Jeroen Tel, Reyn Ouwehand and Katarina (a Ph.D. student in musicology from the University of Gothenburg who was writing a thesis on the scene). I also remember sharing a lovely conversation with Ben/Focus on some of the struggles in life, we had a really good chat!
Back in our room, Conjuror and I strapped together some joint, it was a struggle to get it together, especially with the light breeze that was blowing but we got there. Soon 6R6 and SounDemon came over and the four of us shared the scooby and had some chat. This really got me buzzing again and when we had finished I went back up to our room to check some C64 stuff on my laptop together with those that had gathered there. Because of this excitement I missed the Awards Ceremony which I kind of regret now but I was enjoying myself, that's all that mattered. White Flame had taken note in his memory of the password labelled to the router for the SceneSat connection (I think it was SceneSat). Anyway, with the password in mind he came back to the room with his reconnaissance and we quickly got on CSDb and Facebook to spread some gossip. HCL was brushing his teeth (the sink/toilet was very close to our room), I motioned to him to come in and check the net if he wanted to (there was hardly any net connection way out in the countryside, which was a good thing as it was a disconnection from distractions such as IRC). Anyway, no pr0n surfing... I started showing off some of the out-of-compo entries to those in our room as well as passers-by, Hawkeye 2 and the Richard Joseph Collection turned some heads indeed! It was around 5AM and the guys were trying to get to sleep, I kept going with showing stuff and eventually thought I better get some sleep. I set my phone/alarm for waking up in a couple of hour's time...
X-2010 Day 3
Stumbling around in the kitchen, there was only two other strangers in there. I managed to make some black coffee (American style) and then I checked the main party hall to see what damage was done. Most guys were still asleep but some were stirring. Booker, Jeroen Tel, DCMP and some others were having some discussion. As usual, Jeroen had stayed up all night. He was quite drunk by this time and was having difficulties speaking properly. :D
It was close to breakfast time and I thought I should have a shower; it was colder than the day before, maybe all the hot water had been used already. Blowing my nose again (clearing 1 kilo of snot), I felt refreshed that I did not sound like a New Zealander again (blocked nasal passage = kiwi sheep shagger). Breakfast for the hung over party crowd, I really wish they had eggs and bacon and some real greasy heart attack material. Also, more coffee etc. Maybe next time I will assist with catering (I know Jeff would be good in the kitchen), Intensity tried his best at serving coffee (thanks Arman). Anyway, outside again and the sad part of the event is starting to take place - people are starting to pack up and leave. I feel a loss when this happens as I know I have missed people that I did not chat long enough with or simply missed altogether! The only real big downside of an event with an increasing attendance is that it becomes less and less personal or intimate. Alas, there is no way we can spread all our man-juices so thinly across so many people; so we have to give them to the chosen few.
We had discussed it several times on the party that we should get an Onslaught photo. Everyone was to meet in the courtyard, we missed a few guys and Macx and ZZAP69 had already gone. Still, the biggest group photo we had amassed yet, comprising of myself, Almighty God, booker, enthusi, Conjuror, Conrad, Leming, Slator, SounDemoN and White Flame. Quite a nice one, after a rainy Saturday, the day of the photo was lovely and blue, the countryside was picturesque and perfect taking picture (also thanks to Dezert for his fine photo of us too). I managed to steal a X-2010 Schedule poster off one of the walls and pack with my things, coming back out I managed to meet some more guys I had missed; the fellows from Arsenic/Oxyron (hello Axis, Yazoo and DJ Gruby).
Packing up and getting ready for our next destination, Alih and I said our goodbye to everyone that was remaining (which was very few as we had hung around to the last or second last car load to the train station close to Someren. I hate saying goodbye to people, especially when you live so far away, it really really sucks. Anyway, when we arrived at the train station most of the guys were still waiting there for the next train to Eindhoven (and some kept going through to Amsterdam). Well, it was X train all over again, but a much shorter trip this time. I think I said goodbye to SounDemoN like four times or something. Man hugs and dry humping aside we were in Eindhoven. The journey to Europe that had begun with two was now also ending with two. Before leaving to come to Europe I knew we would be quite tired after our intense short stay and would need a little rest, so I booked this hotel in Eindhoven and managed to get a decent price for the business class suite. We got to Eindhoven station and could not be fucked catching buses so we called a taxi. Destination: Park Plaza Mandarin. Awaiting us was a business suite and I have to say, this place was kind of classy. It had a heated indoor swimming pool, saunas, three restaurants AND it was rated four stars. Well, enough showing off... we arrived at the front entrance, checked in and looked around our big rooms. The first real bed in a few days - yay! Free WiFi so we grabbed all of the X2010 releases we could, ready for a revisit of the compos (which is always fun).
First things first, unpacked everything, got our shorts on (yes, this was pre-meditated before we left Australia) and headed for the pool. There was already three Dutch girls in the pool; they looked like they were in their early twenties. Getting into the pool and doing a few laps was quite nice. We managed to chat some scene stuff in-between talking about or favourite TV shows and stuff like that. I really got to know Alih a lot by the end of the trip and I was very happy he decided to come along for this adventure! Anyway, back to the pool as I have to share some interesting tale (at least for me!). I am privy to the Dutch ways but still, what happened next came as a surprise! Alih and I were on the side of the pool, leaning against its edge. The three girls were getting out at the end of the pool, I thought they would immediately go to the changing rooms which were close to the end of the pool but instead they proceeded immediately to fully derobe in front of us showing off all their lovely bits and pieces. Now, I knew that I should not look <evil grin>, but I was more in shock... did they care we were looking upon them? Anyway, they left and not long after we also got out. Feeling refreshed after a shower we went to get something to eat - a small place across the road looked really ideal so we plodded over and sat ourselves down. It was actually a very nice little Bistrocalled Tout Le Monde and we ordered a full meal with entrée. We had a couple of beers and I lit up my last remaining cigar that was left over from the whiskey-splurge-zzap69-supply in Amsterdam. Oh, this is the life, the weather was great, and I relaxed in the arm chair reminiscing on the events that had taken place in the last few days.
Back in the hotel, I was hoping I could catch up with Ben and Hein but both were busy (Eindhoven is their hometown). Alih and I contented ourselves with looking at the compo entries. We thought that Fairlight maybe could have one the compo but it was a hard decision, particularly with some of the powerful parts by the guys in Offence. After sometime we had a nap, I was really quite tired and the cold was still biting my head off. I think I slept for around 9 hours, waking up around 8AM. A big breakfast followed by another trip to the pool and it was soon time to do some shopping in Eindhoven. I had not got any gifts for my children so far and I really needed to get some special things for them as it was soon time to make the 21 hour flight back to Australia. We managed to locate after some advice from a local and found our way to the Heuvel Galerie. I went straight to Intertoys and got some toys and Alih found that there was indeed more elephants!!!
Anyway, long flight back, stuck in Malaysian airport for five hours awaiting the connection. We arrived in Melbourne eventually and we picked up a shit load of alcohol at the duty free shop (two bottles of Vodka and a bottle of Mezcal). Going through customs, I was meant to declare goods I had brought back to Australia. I took the wrong turn and basically ended up out of the security zone (I was like WTF!? Anyone could just walk out). At this point I had lost Alih as he had to declare and have his bags searched etc. Eventually I met Jaymz outside, he was keen to get home as he lived only 15 minutes away from the airport. Our farewell complete the mission was over - our adventure complete! I still had another plane to catch and a family waiting for me back in Tasmania...
Summary
Don't take photos of hookers.
Take rambones advice on his brother - be careful as Devia loves to party.
My favourite description on the party sports hall next to the X2010 hall was by Hedning/G*P:
"Another memory was the neighbour sports hall at the party place. The hall was used by local teenagers at the same time 300 hairy, testosterone high sceners lurked around in the dark night outside the party place looking for food and alcohol and finally stood right outside the sport hall, staring at the local teenage girls and mumbled stuff in different mixed European and Neanderthal languages about asses, man boobs and how the local girls should jump around more - at least I think that was the meaning with the growls and cro magnon-styled sounds. Or it could have been a normal Danish conversation."
Dutch girls don't mind if you look.
It was because we were stoned that the elevator broke. If we were sober it wouldn't have happened.
Don't ask Jeroen Tel for his email address when he is drunk.
If Slator is sleeping in your bed - do not disturb.
When chatting up KLM flight attendants, make sure to get their damn email addresses!
Lolita needs to bring a hair dryer, but her hair looks fine all sexy and messy anyway.
My favourite description of the sports hall next to the main party hall was from Hedning/G*P:
"The hall was used by local teenagers at the same time 300 hairy, testosterone high sceners lurked around in the dark night outside the party place looking for food and alcohol and finally stood right outside the sport hall, staring at the local teenage girls and mumbled stuff in different mixed european and neanderthal languages about asses, man boobs and how the local girls should jump around more - at least I think that was the meaning with the growls and cro magnon-styled sounds. Or it could have been a normal danish conversation."
Final notes:
This party report is not the usual one, there is less chat about the demo and compo stuff (where you can easily find elsewhere) and more consideration on the feelings and recollections of the adventure itself. Afterall, it is the people that make the scene, not the releases (e.g. and all that friendship crap blabla).
It was a fun ride, thanks to all that helped me, gave me presents, hugs, words, drinks, put up with my shit at times (Alih) and made the whole thing an experience I will never forget - thanks guys, bring on the next party!
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