I've been hanging out with the Fire-Hazard folks recently. The organization is run by a man named Gwyn and since I've been involved in a number of his games, seen him at other events, and been very vocal about my desire to help out- on Friday he asked if I wanted to be and extra helper for Survivor Sports- a set of glow in the dark games at a sports centre by London Bridge. Heck yes I did, so I threw on some tennis shoes and got myself down there were I proceeded to pop a number of glow sticks (oops) and hang black cloth over the entrance way to get rid of a bit more of the ambient light.
One of the things that Gwyn has been hoping for is some footage of Survivor Sports, because wouldn't a video of a bunch of people in the dark throwing glow sticks at each other look cool? It would. But unfortunately the video camera that we had available really, really didn't pick up any of the light from the glow sticks. I ended up taking about 10 minutes of footage over the course of the event and none of it looks like anything other than a blank, black screen with screaming and hollering on the audio track.
The whole night went very smoothly and afterward we managed to find a quiet pub on a Friday night. It was most impressive and we had a great time chatting and getting pysched up for Saturday which was when Gwyn and his team were running four sessions of Heist a game wherein 15 people try to break into a warehouse and steal six toolboxes without getting caught by the guards- you have to disable pressure sensors and motion sensors, pick locks, keep track of what has been taken and what hasn't, and get people out of the holding area when they get caught. It's way super fun.
In my team on Saturday I was in charge of DECEPTION which meant that I had to deliver a package, prop a door open, and keep the guards talking to me as long as possible so that there were fewer guards wandering around inside to catch the rest of my team. This job involved quite a lot of talking random nonsense which, for some reason, everyone on my team who had met me before (even if briefly at a previous game) thought I would be good at...
Other roles included LOCK PICKING, STRONG MAN (one of the boxes was very heavy), SOCIAL ENGINEERING (a lot of how we knew what to do next was done by text message- how high tech!), HACKING (there was computer that we had to get codes off of, I don't remember why.), and COMBAT (they had a nerf dart "stun gun" that would take out a guard for two minutes assuming it properly fired.)
Does this all sound ridiculous? It was, but oh so very much fun.
Showing posts with label EVENTS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EVENTS. Show all posts
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Bright Colors/Busy and Social
I have been SO busy recently. I don't think I've been at home for an evening in two weeks- though of course, going to Scotland helped with that...So I want to tell you about some of what I've been up to.
That being said, the real reason I decided to start blogging right now is because of the incredibly bright colors I happen to be wearing- red hoodie, pink yoga pants, and my delightfully warm rainbow patterned knit socks from Andy and Nancy. I think I may be a little bit blinding in this outfit.
Last night I went to the Science Museum for one of their late night events-this is the second one I have been to and this time the theme was "music" which was, as you may have guessed, right up my alley. In addition to having their regular exhibits open (and free from small children, so you get to play with all the toys too!) they also have all sorts of special events to do with their theme. My favorites from last night were the silent disco where everyone is given a pair of wireless headphones and you choose from two competing DJs, KaraUke, and kazoo making with clothes pins and rubber bands.
Silent disco is hilarious to walk by because you can't hear anything anyone is listening to because it is all through headphones and half the group is bopping around to a completely different beat than the other half. It's especially great when the two DJs have chosen music that encourages very different styles of movement- like reggae on one channel and a Ramones remix on the other.
KaraUke is karaoke with a ukulele backing band. It was ridiculous and *awesome.* I am going to go to some more of their gigs because...well, do I really need a reason? My life will not be complete until I have sung Eye of the Tiger with them.
On Monday Ella and I went to the South Bank Centre for Hide and Seek: Sandpit which is a "monthly" pervasive gaming testing ground. It's getting to the point where I've now been to enough events like this that I am recognizing a lot of people. Am I turning into a groupie a little? Yes. In addition to playing an intense version of "Mafia" I also ran into my friends Emma and Will whom I haven't seen in six months since they left on a train trip through Russia and the rest of Europe and then moved to Bristol. What were they doing in London? Clearly they showed up for the express purpose of catching up with me...
On Tuesday I went to Gwen and Rob's friend's album launch which Rob was doing the sound for. Gwen and I also spent Tuesday afternoon talking to an accountant friend of hers about how to do taxes in the UK. He was incredibly generous with his time and we both feel both more relaxed about the whole tax situation and far more knowledgeable.
On Friday I took Meredith to a game run by Fire-Hazard called "Survivor Sports" which basically boils down to dodge ball in the dark with glow sticks. It was totally sweaty and fun.
Saturday was another Jezebel meet up followed by scrabble with Rob and Gwen. (I lost, not as badly as possible, but still. Gwen won. AND made cool words. Go Gwen!)
Sunday I went to the lamest Chinese New Year celebration ever with Linda, my tiny tykes co-worker. Man, they really needed a stage manager. The event was in Trafalgar square, and to be fair it had been raining, but really- don't have 5 minutes of down time followed by 15 minutes of random people painting the eyes of the dragon that no one in the audience can see, followed by really lame audience participation (clue- if the giant crowd isn't cheering for you and hasn't yet done so at all- don't heckle us. It doesn't create goodwill between the audience and you. It creates quite a lot of ill-will actually.) Linda and I were out in the rain for over an hour and they finally started doing a dragon dance for 2 minutes but cut that short to do another photo call, so we left. But we had a really nice time chatting! So it wasn't a total wash!
Sunday night we found out that Rob had finally gotten a job! So Gwen and Rob and I celebrated- which was bunches of fun. (Who finds out they've been hired on a Sunday? Isn't that weird?) We ended up at this delicious Belgian restaurant that I don't remember the name of. They had long, sort of communal tables, so we ended up talking to the guy next to us who is a buyer for some sort of knock off fashion house in America. He travels all the time and ended up buying us drinks because he felt so bad for us that eating at this restaurant was a treat rather than just a matter of course. He left his billfold on the table at one point and it was full of $100 bills. We were like "....right. Different world."
That being said, the real reason I decided to start blogging right now is because of the incredibly bright colors I happen to be wearing- red hoodie, pink yoga pants, and my delightfully warm rainbow patterned knit socks from Andy and Nancy. I think I may be a little bit blinding in this outfit.
Last night I went to the Science Museum for one of their late night events-this is the second one I have been to and this time the theme was "music" which was, as you may have guessed, right up my alley. In addition to having their regular exhibits open (and free from small children, so you get to play with all the toys too!) they also have all sorts of special events to do with their theme. My favorites from last night were the silent disco where everyone is given a pair of wireless headphones and you choose from two competing DJs, KaraUke, and kazoo making with clothes pins and rubber bands.
Silent disco is hilarious to walk by because you can't hear anything anyone is listening to because it is all through headphones and half the group is bopping around to a completely different beat than the other half. It's especially great when the two DJs have chosen music that encourages very different styles of movement- like reggae on one channel and a Ramones remix on the other.
KaraUke is karaoke with a ukulele backing band. It was ridiculous and *awesome.* I am going to go to some more of their gigs because...well, do I really need a reason? My life will not be complete until I have sung Eye of the Tiger with them.
On Monday Ella and I went to the South Bank Centre for Hide and Seek: Sandpit which is a "monthly" pervasive gaming testing ground. It's getting to the point where I've now been to enough events like this that I am recognizing a lot of people. Am I turning into a groupie a little? Yes. In addition to playing an intense version of "Mafia" I also ran into my friends Emma and Will whom I haven't seen in six months since they left on a train trip through Russia and the rest of Europe and then moved to Bristol. What were they doing in London? Clearly they showed up for the express purpose of catching up with me...
On Tuesday I went to Gwen and Rob's friend's album launch which Rob was doing the sound for. Gwen and I also spent Tuesday afternoon talking to an accountant friend of hers about how to do taxes in the UK. He was incredibly generous with his time and we both feel both more relaxed about the whole tax situation and far more knowledgeable.
On Friday I took Meredith to a game run by Fire-Hazard called "Survivor Sports" which basically boils down to dodge ball in the dark with glow sticks. It was totally sweaty and fun.
Saturday was another Jezebel meet up followed by scrabble with Rob and Gwen. (I lost, not as badly as possible, but still. Gwen won. AND made cool words. Go Gwen!)
Sunday I went to the lamest Chinese New Year celebration ever with Linda, my tiny tykes co-worker. Man, they really needed a stage manager. The event was in Trafalgar square, and to be fair it had been raining, but really- don't have 5 minutes of down time followed by 15 minutes of random people painting the eyes of the dragon that no one in the audience can see, followed by really lame audience participation (clue- if the giant crowd isn't cheering for you and hasn't yet done so at all- don't heckle us. It doesn't create goodwill between the audience and you. It creates quite a lot of ill-will actually.) Linda and I were out in the rain for over an hour and they finally started doing a dragon dance for 2 minutes but cut that short to do another photo call, so we left. But we had a really nice time chatting! So it wasn't a total wash!
Sunday night we found out that Rob had finally gotten a job! So Gwen and Rob and I celebrated- which was bunches of fun. (Who finds out they've been hired on a Sunday? Isn't that weird?) We ended up at this delicious Belgian restaurant that I don't remember the name of. They had long, sort of communal tables, so we ended up talking to the guy next to us who is a buyer for some sort of knock off fashion house in America. He travels all the time and ended up buying us drinks because he felt so bad for us that eating at this restaurant was a treat rather than just a matter of course. He left his billfold on the table at one point and it was full of $100 bills. We were like "....right. Different world."
Monday, April 6, 2009
Travels with Grammy II
Sunday was Palm Sunday so we went to Southwark Cathedral. We had visited earlier on when Laine was here and decided that they seemed like particularly nice people. We also felt that it would be a smaller, less crowded Palm Sunday than St. Paul's. The procession began at 10:30 in the Borough market, so in order to make sure that we would get there in time we left my flat at 9am. However, the bus was trucking along- and we made it there before 10. This ended up being just fine because that meant that we met Michelle. Michelle is originally from Chicago and seems to work for the Cathedral (we never did find out exactly what she does...) Michelle was very chatty and not only helped us figure out *where* in Borough market we were meant to be, but also had a fun time talking with us about the realities of Americans living in London.
For the procession they had the congregation line up on either side of a random road in the market. We sang songs as a whole group with the accompaniment of two painfully bad trumpeters. I kept catching the eyes of people across the aisle as the trumpets messed up *again* and then struggled to keep from laughing. Fortunately everyone seemed to be pretty good natured about the terrible, terrible trumpets. They were so bad that the congregation had to sing loudly and forcefully to keep the tempo/melody/tune/really any musical element you can think of- steady. Finally the choir came out, some more hymns were sung, a bunch of holy water was splattered and incense jangled around. We processed in with the same first hymn again and the beginning of the procession, the end of the line, and the trumpeters were all in completely different places in the song...
The service was long, involved a LOT of standing, and a lot of intonation. Grammy and I both decided that we think the people are wonderful, but we are not excited about the services at Southwark.
Afterwards we found the coffee area and sat at a little table and watched children race about. Michelle came and found us again and we had another great conversation with her before exchanging phone numbers. Grammy noticed that the patio we were sitting on also belonged to the Cathedral's cafe- so we went and had lunch there. Very nice chicken pies with carrots and thick cut french fries.
That evening my friend Sarah came round and we had vegetable stew, home made scones with clotted cream butter, and watched Amelie together before having a sleepover.
For the procession they had the congregation line up on either side of a random road in the market. We sang songs as a whole group with the accompaniment of two painfully bad trumpeters. I kept catching the eyes of people across the aisle as the trumpets messed up *again* and then struggled to keep from laughing. Fortunately everyone seemed to be pretty good natured about the terrible, terrible trumpets. They were so bad that the congregation had to sing loudly and forcefully to keep the tempo/melody/tune/really any musical element you can think of- steady. Finally the choir came out, some more hymns were sung, a bunch of holy water was splattered and incense jangled around. We processed in with the same first hymn again and the beginning of the procession, the end of the line, and the trumpeters were all in completely different places in the song...
The service was long, involved a LOT of standing, and a lot of intonation. Grammy and I both decided that we think the people are wonderful, but we are not excited about the services at Southwark.
Afterwards we found the coffee area and sat at a little table and watched children race about. Michelle came and found us again and we had another great conversation with her before exchanging phone numbers. Grammy noticed that the patio we were sitting on also belonged to the Cathedral's cafe- so we went and had lunch there. Very nice chicken pies with carrots and thick cut french fries.
That evening my friend Sarah came round and we had vegetable stew, home made scones with clotted cream butter, and watched Amelie together before having a sleepover.
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