Mat Bowles

What was I going to write about again?

Godsdamn it! I decidd to update because I’d got a cool idea, but went to a few other tabs first. Now I’m back here and, um, it’s gone. Ah well, just blither about the weekend I guess.

Went to the Bunker Saturday night, apparently got there about ten minutes after left. Still, was there and was down, so that meant there was a human to talk to and Mike to take the piss out of (lots, sorry Mike, but, well, open goals and all)…

Chris and Anne-Marie were there, which kinda segues me into my next bit. Y’see, I first met Chris when he was a customer in the shop I worked at. I’d left school, dropped out of college, and was working full time. He was 11. Anne-Marie, I met independently. I worked for her dad. Again, the time I met her, she was 11. Now, they’re both functioning adults, and a pretty happy couple. Gods I feel old, of the 5 people in the nightclub I actually like talking to, two of them I’ve known, as an adult, since they were kids.

That, and the club was full of kiddies and teenygoths. Seems to be getting worse. That’s not just me getting old. So few people there that were worth speaking to. I had to check probable age before admiring the women; half, on a proper look, were cute kids, not women yet, certainly too young for me. Gah! What the fuck happend to the Bunker being the hangout of people into their 20s? That’s what it was like when I first moved to Exeter. Where are the students? Oy, Wordsworth, Franglen! What’s happened to you lot bringing people down for me to talk to? It’s getting to the point that I may stop going unless people tell me they’ll be there. Ah well.

Watching Mike was fun. Mike? Next time we talk, a few more notes on technique needed methinks. That was one pretty impressive crash and burn. Still, a worthy effort…

Night all, job to go to tomorrow (not that I’ll sleep tonight)…

November 30th, 2004 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | 8 comments

Hectic, and mostly cool, week :-D

K, spent last weekend at ’s, and went to , which was, as before, very very cool.

Saw lots of people I knew as well, including Louise/”Gothic Britney” from the bunker who’s now all grown up and studying up there, and Rich/Angel of Black, who lives in Salisbury now and was celebrating his birthday. Good mix of music, good mix of people, some very attractive women. And I even managed to sleep a bit on Mike’s floor, despite the snoring. I’m considering a hotel closer to the venue for next month, if I make it. definately going again.

Saturday, I slept the morning, then went shopping in London. Bought the Best of Ministry CD and the new one (thanks to and for going on about it and reminding me, very cool). Also bought Bauhaus Gotham, which turned out to be a live album, not a best of, but very cool nonetheless. Anyone know if Bauhaus has done a best of CD? Not a huge fan, but I like Ziggy and Bela Lugosi so I reckon I’ll like more. Then I went to Waterstones Piccadilly. Large bookshops are really bad for my wallet. Bought the rest of Scott card’s Ender books, which I’ve completed now; anyone who hasn’t read it, read Ender’s Game. Just do it. I also bought the then China Mieville and the new Jon Courtney Grimwood. Half way through the Mieville, bit more confusing than Perdido St Station, but very cool. Barry: China Mieville, Perdido St Station. Seriously, I suspect you’ll love it.

Afterwards, went back to Mikes, chatted a bit, then drove home, got back to Torquay at 1.30am, 3.5 hours after leaving London; not bad journey time that, A303 was pretty clear…

Sunday, I woke up mid afternoon; then went to Exeter, played some games,t hen went back tot he flat to sleep.

Work? Well, Monday and Tuesday we had colleagues from Germany over; 2 I’d met before, good to see them again, in contact with both a lot by email so faces useful. 3 others, one actual agent from Munich, and two newer staff I also contact a lot. Sandra was nice. Michaela was gorgeous, and a vegetarian. Spent a lot of time chatting to her, and definately going to really push to get sent over there at some point soon. Damn my professionalism (and the untidy state of my flat, really must clean the place up if I’m going to start flirting with women again)…

Rest of the week has gone pretty quickly, read books in free time, slept a lot (really tired after germany/London) and got through a bit of work.

Ah well, off to have a shower, Mike down, so a Bunkering we go…

November 28th, 2004 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | 8 comments

Meh, how many friends have you got?

Who’s been commenting in your journal?

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These statistics were generated using the LJ Stats Web Interface by . Original idea from ’s LJ Comment Stats Wizard.

Why do we do these things?

November 19th, 2004 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | 5 comments

Weekend plans…

Well, I’ve spent the week sat in the flat trawling the internet, so much for sorting my flat and my life out in the week off. Oh well, another time.

Tomorrow, I go to London for Synthetic Culture at the Egg, staying at ’s place and meeting up with people from the Turbulent Soundscape forums.

In the meantime, apparently my life rates 12A. The questions didn’t really allow me to answer fully I suspect…

My life has been rated:
See what your rating is!
Created by bart666

See you tomorrow Mike…

November 19th, 2004 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | one comment

Meh, T-shirt slogans

Mike wants us to collect T-shirt slogans. I only do insults, but even so, it might be vaguely amusing.

Any ideas for a tshirt slogan I should wear?

November 18th, 2004 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | 9 comments

Back home and online…

Germany was (as usual) great.

Journey to Stanstead was easy by NatExp, so I’ll likely use them next time instead of driving. Met up with everyone at the airport, including, eventually, Mike, who managed to arrive after us, check in, then walk right past us as we drank coffee at Starbucks, ringing me from the departures lounge. Silly Nadriel

Arne met us at the airport, took us to the accommodation. Next day, we met up with Todd from the US and then Olaf walked us around town to give us a brief tour; nothing I hadn’t seen before but Muenster truly is a beautiful city, and I always love walking around it.


KoHIT itself was really cool, Roberto won the Open, Simone took the Campaign, I was 7th (me, 7th in a huge event!), it was the largest event for the game held so far. Always good to meet up with friends made at previous events, even better to make new ones, this time the Greek and Czech guys stand out, Pawel was a cool roommate and Konstantin… (Yo!Master) and friends were really fun all weekend, especially in the pizzeria afterwards.


Monday, the French players bought Arne, Simone, Todd and me lunch, we chatted a lot, and then split up. I went to the train station, and decided to go visit Koln (Cologne; why we call a German city by its French name is beyond me…). Boring to be honest, the Cathedral was huge, the town nice to walk around, but not much to do once I’d done that, perhaps because I know little about the town, unlike the cities I visited the previous few times I was abroad.


Left early Weds morning to Frankfurt, found a cheap hotel, wondered around a bit. Much nicer town, really felt welcoming. Thurs PM went to the meeting point for the L5R EC, and everything from there was sorted. As usual, the greek players stand out as highlights of the weekend, always friendly and chatty. Borrowed a deck from Thomas Scheer, played it badly, but enjoyed the experience. However, watched several of Simon Slater’s games with his Ratlings, the games were such fun I started trading for the cards I need to make a similar deck. 3 CCGs at once? I think not a good plan, but, well, they’re al great.


Monday. Meet up with UK guys at coach stop, travel to Hahn, and we have a silly idea. After check in, we go to a cafe, and play a Spycraft tournament. 8 players, public place, perfectly legit. Simon and I both win our first 2 games, so we are to play in the final. But, we have to go catch the flight.

So, we sit next to each other, and play the final in the plane. I win while we cross the north sea, making me the first International Airspace Champion for Spycraft. That realy was silly, but great fun, and we’re thinking of repeating the experience on the way to Mouzaka in Athens in February…

Got home late last night, slept the morning, downloaded 200+ emails this afternoon, and am now trying to catch up with stuff. Did that silly personality test everyone else seems to have done. Very American, uses their false definitions of ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’, but beyond that…