Like many people about the UK, it's now late on the 21st and I'm writing my

                     M A N O R C O N   X V   R E P O R T

        Manorcon XV was held in Lake Hall, Birmingham University from the 18th
to the 21st of June this year. I was there and I had a whale of a time, and, 
yet, not very much happened. Thinking back I can't quite work out why it was
so good, but that's not a problem. Travel there was not a problem (in fact, I
got there 90 minutes ahead of schedule, having had my dole interview start
early and finish very quickly, so I caught an earlier train) and I rode to
Birmingham University station. The walk from that station to Lake Hall was
not the pleasant canalside stroll I was hoping for; turn right out of the
station, right at the roundabout, along down the hill, across the mini
roundabout, up the hill and maybe half a mile along the road to the
crossroads, turn right, go down the hill, first left after crossing the
bridge, down the hill and left along the campus road. Advice provided at
the station was helpful, but my famous seat-of-the-pants urban navigation
skills and the skyscraper that is High Hall (Chamberlain Hall?) helped too.
        Erm. Got there, played games. Somehow I managed not to play anything
longer than Settlers, Acquire or Modern Art all weekend, which somehow seems
to indicate I was doing something wrong. I was particularly hoping for a game
of McMulti; oh well, maybe next year. Tried some new games. The Settlers card
game was quite nice - I can't think of anything off-hand I'd rather play for
two, except perhaps Gin. The '97 Spiel Des Jahres Mississippi Queen was quite
good fun, but nothing terribly dramatic. I tend to use a very conservative
strategy in most racing games, hence seldom win. Take It Easy was intriguing
and worth playing again. This was also my first exposure to Loopin' Louie,
but more of that later. I think I also ended up playing Perudo on each of the
four days, which is quite a lot.
        Enough of the overview, though - you want to know about the memories!
1) Last Manorcon I asked Nick Parish if anyone had ever pulled at a con, and
he replied that he didn't think so, so I was keen on trying it this time. To
this end I wore green jeans on day one, after Nick declared that his pair of
such trousers were his pulling jeans with which he had wooed his significant
other, Becky. Only luck they brought me was whilst I leaned on a pillar to
read about "The Mark Stretch Event", Jim Hardy tickled me in the armpit. Hmm.
2) Teaming with Mahala Hodgson against the undisputed, undefeated doubles
Loopin' Louie champions of the world, Marks Stretch and Sheiham, and winning
handily, then defending the prestigious title against about half a dozen
opponents. Yet somehow both Mahala and I, when paired with different partners,
were little better than fair. Some teams just click. Maybe it was the jeans.
3) Ian Willey.
4) Two b-i-g balti trips in two days. Perhaps it was just the meals I chose
and Chicken working much better than Lamb at being Tikka-ed, but I preferred
(Balti International?) where we went the first night to the place we went
the second time. Cabbage just does not work as part of a curry.
5) NMRing in the United more than once - and winning it. I used a tactic that
could be said to have "all the winning flair of a sloth on valium".
6) A particularly preposterous (yet justifiable) call by Dave Horton of ten
fours at the start of a six-player game of Perudo. I called, he was bluffing,
there were four in all. A quick and inglorious exit. How we laughed. (Sorry!)
7) "Oh, _you're_ Chris Dickson!" several times. Being able to approach semi-
famous people and engage them in casual conversation and games.
8) My room. It was noisy as fans were directly outside. The curtain was not
opaque enough to block out the light and it kept falling off the rail. On top
of that, on one side were the gentlemen's toilets, on the other, Neil Duncan.
9) Oxford Uni dip team doing extremely well (8th) considering all the players
were current students. There were three particularly valiant survivals from
dire-looking positions and two very strong draw participants. Good work! The
running score is now Oxford University 2, One Man's Rubbish 0. Nice one, Mark.
10) Erm... everything. I really enjoyed meeting lots of people who I only
knew as the most casual of acquaintances from the hobby at large and turning
them into firm friends. The games I played at my first two Manorcons were
probably better, yet this time I felt a lot more confident at being able to
go up to people and get on with them. Being a subeditor and a "name", albeit
a tiny one, really did make things a lot easier in this regard. So warmest
regards to all those who I shared games, conversation and song with at this
Manorcon; it'll be a hard one to forget, and for all the right reasons.