Propaganda 14 ch07

        T   O        ECTS R
 **     The Official ECTS-Report    **
 \/                                 \/
    London, September 4th-6th, 1994
________________________________________
A couple of years back, the ECTS-show
in London was an incredibly interesting
event for Commodore 64-owners. Today
the value is mere, while some persistant
sceners still insist on meeting up in
London every year.

With the Commodore 64 being on decline
whereas the big moneymaking companies
are concerned, support for the machine
is all to all at the lowest of levels.

________________________________________



W           ECTS
What is the ECTS-Show?
________________________________________
Twice a year, all the leading companies
whereas computers are concerned gather
up for gigantic rendez-vous in London.
Deals are made and softwarepublishers
show their latest work to ipress the
press, and of course, each other. Today
the show is dominated by the PC and
modern consoles, and I dare saying this
is where many new machines are launched.

64-wise, the attendants head straight
for the bar, as we know the support
is vague, if any at all.

________________________________________



T        RENDEZ VOUS
The best RENDEZ VOUS so far!
________________________________________
1994 was an interesting year, at least
for the few brave 64-people attending.

I for one, left for London early Satur-
day morning from Gothenburg, Sweden.
Not only did I have a few jolly days
ahead of me, but I was indeed meeting
up with Charlotta, my girlfriend, who
unfortunately moved to Oxford just a
few days before the show.

Afternoon, Saturday, I found myself
sitting waiting for her at Shakespeare's
Tavern just outside Victoria Station.
Frustrated as I am about women always



being late, I quietly drink my ciders
steadily puffing away on my Marlboros
by the minute and as I do I glance on
my watch on regular intervals. One
hour and a half she shows up, closely
followed by my dear friends SOLAR/F4CG
and DEFF/AVANTGARDE. About goddamn time.
Sitting there on a pub in London by my-
self was rather gloomy, I tell you.

In some wicked way, me, Charlotta, SOLAR
and CHIEF/PADUA end up walking around in
Soho, basically in order to kill time.
Apperently we've set up a meeting at
Picadilly Circus, 8 o' clock sharp. Not
that the German guys know the words
sharp and decide to show up only 4O
minutes later than agreed.



Friday night was in my eyes a bit
disastrous. With so many people and
so many wills we really end up in the
middle of nowhere, and it really starts
to feed some of us up. Charlotta is the
first to lose her faith in the brave
crowd and as she heads for the busstop
at Victoria Coach Station, me and SOLAR
perform a smaller Marathon accompanying
her along the way. SOLAR must have
beaten the goldarn worldrecord in his
attempts to make it to the bus on time!

Returning back to the confused crowd
we realize it is long overdue, so me,
SOLAR and DEFF deliberately 'lose'
the other people and head back for
the hotel...



THE HOTEL
THE HOTEL - Not your average Sheraton
________________________________________
Last ECTS-show, FREESTYLE and some of
the other attendants rented rooms in
this cozy neighborhood called Angel.
Clever souls did the same this year,
and indeed it was a jolly bunch of
rooms. SOLAR made a nice mistake and
made sure he and I shared beds for two
nights. Yes, when booking, the hotel-
clerks thought I was SOLAR'S girlfriend.

(Looking back at it now, I can't help
 thinking he did it on purpose! Haha!)

 O
 Once we returned to the hotel, we meet



up with HOK/AVT and ANTITRACK/F4CG. HOK
is not only drunk, but furious for
getting lost in the streets of London,
but the problem is easily solved and a
few minutes later, we are puffing away
happily on our ciggarettes driking
DEFF'S nasty snakebites. I don't know
what killed the time, but a couple of
hours and laughs later, the other guys
arrive, terribly woozy and jibbed up
about the techno-club they visited.

We sit around chatting around happily
about life in general and HOK performs
wonders with the English language
stating some simple facts, "Hey, that's
way fucking before your time" and
"Okaaaaaay", words that strike hard in



SOLAR'S ears having to bear with it.
The first night has passed, and after
spending a night in bed with the leader
of F4CG I feel slightly aching. I tell
you!

SUNDAY   I
SUNDAY _ It's Showtime!
________________________________________
Sunday morning reveals some very torn
and tired faces, but everybody still has
a glimpse of joy stuck in the eye, and
with that, we concentrate on getting
ready for the show. STEVE/AVT is said
to be headed for the hotel, and while
I'm taking a hotshower, he apperently
arrives. SOLAR has presented himself as
NEWSCOPY, me that is, and as I come out



of the shower, I say I'm SOLAR. We start
talking and as we do, I tell him about
my (haha!) board, my dear PIRATES and
most important of all, my dear F4CG.
Haha! It is always funny meeting up with
people from the scene. Indeed it is.

Headed for the show (Where did we eat
breakfast guys?) we think happy thoughts
of life in general. The show in interes-
ting, but very much out of our focus,
not giving as much as an inch for a
Commodore 64. Instead, like last year,
me and SOLAR head for the bar, steadily
followed by a few brave ones. The bar
is as usual jammed, and the prices are
far from modest. Still, I do manage to
squeeze down a few beers.(Belgian crap!)



The day passes, and we manage to do
some very interesting things. DEFF/
AVT manages to get a meeting with
CODEMASTERS for selling a game, and
up with another company, but the concept
of selling a 64-game seems rather vague
for the Brittish, and from there it is
down the drain.

Me and SOLAR talk a bit with the people
at COMMODORE FORMAT, in general about
TRIBUTE 1994, but also about helping a
magazine that sadly enough is facing
the worst of problems. With only 1OOOO
copies being sold each month, it rounds
up that COMMODORE FORMAT might not be
released from November and onwards. It
is our task and wish to help them in any
possible way. Indeed it is.


SUNDAY WOOZY SUNDAY   T
SUNDAY,WOOZY SUNDAY _ The last night
________________________________________
Sunday night is an orgy. After the show
we head for DEEP PAN PIZZA CO., all of
us eating a delicious buffet, where one
can eat as much as wanted for 3.99,
which is great. In general, we burp,
talk loud and behave like any ordinary
prank that I would usually consider be-
ing an annoying little shit. Today, I
am not.

Stuffed and content, we head back to
the hotel passing a nice liquourstore
with lamerdetectors at the door.  :)

We head for a pretty local pub, and by



golly it is a nice one. Everybody is
rather woozy, and being so we have the
happiest of nights, celebrating every-
thing we can. The Sunday brings along
many fine memories. Several beers and
laughs later, back at the hotel, a
guitar appears and all of a sudden we
interpret our own versions of famous
songs, and indeed perform some of our
own. We sit out in the backyard of the
hotel, starting a little modest with
"Under the Bridge", only to continue
with other hits. SOLAR for instance gets
a boot when calling his girlfriend and
me and DEFF sing the notorios "I used
to love her"(Guns n' Roses). The clerks
and the neighbors complain, and un-
fortunately we are forced to go in.



Doing so, HOK/AVT and SOLAR/F4CG sing
along to the great G*P-hit "OH Debbie",
and ode to Sorceress from Antichrist,
and by golly, the clerks confiscate our
belove guitar! We are forced to cont-
inue without it. HOK, SOLAR, FREESTYLE
and me decide to continue, in the
kitchen performing nasty drinking game.
At 5 o' clock, all of us are just as
wasted as desired and FREESTYLE looks
up at me with a very, very pale face
saying, "Oh no, please don't make me
drink another one. I cannot take it!",
and that more or less puts an end to a
nasty night. Going to sleep, I feel a
comfort inside. We have had the best of
times, and though we were to say good-
bye the next day, I knew we would meet



again. Exactly 2 months later, at
TRIBUTE 1994, where the party will
continue.

PARTICIPATORS
PARTICIPATORS
________________________________________
 DEFF, HOK, JACK DANIELS, RICHIE, STEVE
       AND FREESTYLE (AVANTGARDE)
   SOLAR,SNEAPER AND ANTITRACK (F4CG)
          COMMUNIST (HARDCORE)
             CHIEF (PADUA)
             RAZE (SUCCESS)
             NEWSCOPY (G*P)

Where were the traditional people from
TRC? Where were some of the old people
from RSI? Yeah, where were YOU?



NEWS FROM THE FRONT   C
NEWS FROM THE FRONT _ Changes in London
________________________________________
ANTITRACK changed his handle to
ANTISEX.

FREESTYLE/AVT quit drinking.

________________________________________
              ** DAY 1 IN LONDON
              \/
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            ..
            --
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          .. DAY 3 IN LONDON.
          >< NO MORE SOLAR IN BED!