The Friday
Oh WOW! - What can I say... It was just amazing...
We all met up in the 6D offices, arriving there over about two hours. When we first arrived everyone was quiet and perhaps a little nervous, they sat around in small groups and nibbled on the kibble, and supped on the beer provided in a big ice fish-tank by the generous 6D benifactors. This sedate and mellow group were to prove almost unrecognisable later, but it all started as a very chilled out affair. Many people didn't make it to the hotel the night before, and so a lot were meeting for the first time in the offices that introduced them online. People chit-chatted, and Nicole hovered around making sure everyone was OK. We formed into small groups, people wandering round from group to group, kinda like in chat really. Everyone was friendly, and we were all just really glad to see that everyone (including FLC - phew) had made it.
Slowly but surely the beer started to take effect, and through the night the alcohol was more and more strongly felt - strangly making people behave more and more like they were in the pub. The first effect was to make everyone more chatty, so the 6D offices became infused with the general Bmans spirit, everyone seemingly just as you would imagine them on-line.
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The next good thing that the wonderful 6D people did
for us, is hand out the freebees... The caps would have to wait till
later, but we all got free travel in the city for a week, and better
still free cameras. This being Bmans - everyone instantly started taking
pictures of each other taking pictures.
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We also throught about the people who weren't there and how we wished they could be. We had managed to gather together a lot of the regular pubbers into one room, but there were still a lot of people who were notable by their absence. Merc was greatly missed, but in an attempt to bring her into the meeting, we all signed her book for her. A lot of us also took the opportunity to chat from the 6D offices. It's quite an experience to talk in the pub from the offices that started it all, especially when the chat server takes longer to load than it does for a lot of regulars. Still, we gave the honor of opening the pub to Nicole for all her hardwork. I'm sure she thinks it's worth it...
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FLC, King Jelly, Noddy, Lamour, Kane, Mike_o'manynames, Form_Function,
Scooby
Nicole6D, King Jelly, Aat, Noddy
 PillDickle, Form_Function, Black_Cat |
 Kane with lipstick, and Scooby with Dogg |
This posing phase could only last so long before the crazy people got loose, and since Bmans has no sane people in it's ranks, it really started to get a little frantic for the poor 6D representatives. They are so thankful that we didn't destroy 6D completely by the time we left, that they have almost forgotten the beer stains. So it was the publicity photo, with added Bman stains (who hasa copy for littl' old moi?), and then we all piled into the lift and out onto the street.
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A final look back into the offices that we call home.
This is the actual location of the virtual pub called Bman's.
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So we all piled out onto the street, but due to some
confusion, rather than walk straight to the river tour, we ended up sending
a long time standing around on the streets of New York. Of course, by the
time we actually got moving, we had scared a lot of peole both on the streets
and in the buses going by. Never leave a hoarde of pubbers unattended in a
public place!
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Everyone learks outside the 6D offices waiting for
something to happen. A lot of things happened, and some people didn't
have to wait to long...
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Tommy gets it in both ears from Dogg and FLC. Please
note the extensive use of sixdegrees.com caps.
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King Jelly, Brown Eyed Girl, Noddy, and what else can I say???
We finally got underway, and after a forced march managed to make it to the ferry just before it left. You could see fear in the eyes of the other people on the boat, all except one. The DJ, seeing his kindrid 70's disco junkies (didn't I mention it was a disco cruise... hey baby, 80's is for another continent!) he started wiggling and spinning in derision. Some suspected taurantula bite, but no wait, he sings out of tune too! Never the less, such minor matters are not about to stop the pubbers having a good time, oh no - cue the music...
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Dogg gets up and wows the ladies with his deep and
dark as mollasis vocals, while the guys look on in awe. With all that
and more kills the competition dead and walks with the prize for coolest
lurve machine on the boat.
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Everyone seriously larging it up - following the lead of the nights official groovemeister award for best dancer, Brown_Eyed_Girl |
The ship finally docked back at NYC, and the people poured off - the other guests first, white as sheets, and then the Bmans lot, storming into the dock only to discover that the Canadians had finally arrived. Much shouting, hugging and ensued, with mass introductions allowing us all to finally come together as a cohesive force. We clambered onto the nearest bus, and after the remaining drivers haggled who should drive us, the loser got us on our way.
The Bmans Bus
Then, it was all off for the night, for more disco dancin', in a fleet of especially commisioned (right there - right then) NYC taxi's. The fun surely continued way into the night, but for some (ie. da teardrop) it had all gotten a bit to much and so this is where Friday must end.
