Hejmo » Events & Entertainment » Congresses & Meet-Ups (Kongresoj & Renkontig'oj) » So ... How Was Letchworth?
| So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2401] |
Fri, 11 May 2007 22:05  |
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OK ... I have limited internet access and next to no time, so don't know whether I'll be the best to do this.
A few of us weren't able to make it to the Brita Kongreso. Of course, Radio is better informed than the whole ĉeestantaro combined, seeing as she did her thing and got talking to absolutely everybody who was there. In fact, people had to miss out on various parts of the event in order to keep her informed of ultra recent happenings. 
Anyway, the most relevant JEB affair was the annual election of a committee. JEBCOM for 2007/08 is:
Tim Owen - Prezidanto
Daniel White - Sekretario
Mikeo Seaton - Kasisto
Clare Hunter - Komitatanto
Petra Fantom - Komitatanto
Rolf Fantom - Komitatanto
Hannah Tellier - Komitatanto
Please use this thread to list your memories and impressions of Letchworth, just so that those who weren't there (and thus didn't have to suffer the Hellhole Hotel) get an idea of what went down.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2417 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 03:04  |
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Well, it started off in a pub, let's put it like that. Daniel and Mikeo had already driven down and checked into the hotel. Daniel met me at the train station, after having phoned me seemingly every couple of minutes to see where I was. Possibly the line of the weekend came on my way in; an impatient Daniel rang me (again!) to check on my ETA. "I've still got a couple of stops. Stevenage, Hitchin, then it's Letchworth."
Not a few minutes later, my phone rings again, and I respond to hear the dulcet tones of JEB's hyperactive Scouser. I explain that in the two minutes since the last chat, I've passed Stevenage, but Hitchin is still on the to-pass-through list.
"Phookinel", elicited the oratorian. "Can't ya 'urry up?"
I think that, even a week later, Daniel still hasn't registered why I find his asking me to speed up whilst I'm on a train funny!
Anyway, we meet up, and are soon joined by Marteno Milich (from Slovakia) and Mikeo, who received his customary jab about having put on enough weight to make me look as though I'm losing a battle with anorexia.
Into the pub we went; not a single place to sit did we find. Right on cue, the sky became grey and gloomy, and Victor Meldrew's role model, 'Nigra Besto' Orry Holmes, arrived at the scene, already whinging about something or another.
Out came the booze, soon followed the usual jokes aimed at Mikeo (seriously dude, DON'T stick your tongue out at me like that; it gives you away immediately!  ), and, eventually, The Deviant's kongreslibro made its first appearance.
For some reason, we all started to read page four, on which Ian Fantom had written articles about the people after whom the rooms at the kongresejo were named. One of these was Ivo Lapenna, former head of UEA, and the last line read that UEA 'estis infiltrita de la brita militinteligentservo MI5.'
Well, I recoiled in shock at the fact he went there. We all took it in turns to read the line, and sure enough, there it was, loud and proud. I remember thinking to myself that it looked as though he was going to use this kongreso to make those points that he's held for a while but never been in a position to declare publicly. I braced myself for a repeat of last year's AGM, my curiosity piqued about who would be the first person to lose his temper at the AGM, and thus win some lucky Jebano some kudos ...
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2423 is a reply to message #2417 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 12:11 |
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 erinaco
Messages: 163
Registered: November 2006
Location: Birmingham |
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Ah good, I've been waiting for this thread as I was unfortunately unable to be at the BK this year. Can't wait to hear what happened at the AGM ....!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2424 is a reply to message #2423 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 19:40 |
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AGM?! A-G-M?! Just wait till your hear about Ian Fantom's prelego, during which he played recordings from ManCom meetings and put a photo of a prominent EAB member on the wall, accusing him of being a swindler.
Ne maltrankviliĝu pri la jarkunveno ... atendu nur, ke oni sciigu vin pri la prelego de Ian Fantom, dum kiu li aŭdigis elĉerpaĵojn de ManCom kunvenoj kaj surmurigis foton de konata EAB membro, akuzante lin pri financa trompado.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2427 is a reply to message #2424 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 20:15 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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hahaha, i never heard of that...
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2429 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 21:15 |
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Anyway, we had a few beers. Well, a lot of beers. Rolf, Petra, and some others had joined us at this point. Now, Daniel had already tipped us off about some problems with JEBacCOM; he had reserved rooms for six people ... all single rooms, although he agreed to giving up two single rooms for a double if necessary. Anyway, he arrived to find that we had three double rooms ... for the nine or so of us.
Off we went to deal with the problem. The guys at the hotel weren't going to give up an inch. Plus, one of us refused to share. The jabroni was going to leave eight of us with only two rooms 
Daniel had the idea of putting that selfish so-and-so into the single room that Angela Tellier had, and having Angela share a double with Hannah. I offered to join them (thus freeing up some space for others in sacrifice). Angela informed me that she bet she could teach me a thing or two ... but nonetheless wouldn't let me in 
Anyway, Daniel was getting nowhere with the idiot staff, so I decided to stagger in. Petra told me the next day that her favourite bit of Bulldozer Tim was when the owner said to me, "Listen to me, boss", touching my hand. "No! You listen to me!"
Anyway, we got nowhere with that approach. It finished up that Angela and Hannah shared, jabroni had his double room to himself, Mikeo, Dan, and Orry had one room, and Petra, Rolf, and I shared another.
What happened next is up to debate; Mikeo reported that he shared the bed with Daniel, and the drunken Scouser snuggled up to him. Orry backs this up, having frozen to death on the floor (not realizing that Dan had brought a sleeping bag that he didn't use), he saw that Daniel's side of the bed had been vacated, since the Ginger Ninja had snuggled up to Mikeo. Orry jumped into the bed. Dan later moved himself to the foot of the bed.
Now, if you speak with Daniel, he'll tell you that it was Mikeo snuggling up to him. I'll just say that that's not what I heard! Thrash it out here, boys!
Things were much better in our room. Rolf and I shared the bed (no snuggling involved!), Petra had the floor in her sleeping bag, although I was nice enough to offer her my side of the bed
Meanwhile, we found out that Angela and Hannah had quit the hellhole in disgust at 08:15, having been bitten to pieces by bed bugs. Although she still looked stunning, Hannah had bite marks all over her face for the whole duration.
We stormed out, annoyed to hell that the showers barely worked, the toilets wouldn't flush, and the floorboards were loose.
Take my advice people; if you're ever stuck in Letchworth, sleep on the streets or cut your wrists or something, instead of visiting the Garden Lodge Hotel, it's absolutely shit.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2430 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 21:29 |
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Straight off to the Kongresejo.
We got in there. Late, of course. There was a table set out at front for the LKK, in the middle of which sat Oliver Heald MP, the local MP.
Anyway, I moved to the front row ... every other seat was taken. Behind me by one row and a few seats to the right sat my favourite president, John Wells. Seriously, he's such a cool guy, folks.
Anyway, Ian was translating everybody's comments. There was one point where he was translating his own too. He said that the theme was 'renoviĝo' and he would be discussing Esperanto in Britain over the previous ten years and how we got to 'where we are now'. Haha! I looked over my shoulder, and, right on cue, John looked at me and grimmaced. It was all I could do not to laugh, thinking, 'Yes! There'll be a loss of temper in the AGM!'
Not long into the presentation, there was a bit of fuss at the back. As it happens, Albert Lindsay (in his 80s or 90s) had passed out. Fortunately, Diana Robin and Sally Philips were straight on the scene.
Rolf called an ambulance, I got his details, and the ambulance crew did their thing. I particularly liked that discussing Albert's condition gave Rolf, Petra, and me a reason to speak through Ian's rather aggressive rendition of la Espero.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2431 is a reply to message #2430 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 22:11 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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nah, I think clare said it right, everyone tells it differently... haha, I definately wasn't at the same letchworth as you lad!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2432 is a reply to message #2429 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 22:19 |
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| Tim wrote on Sat, 12 May 2007 21:15 |
What happened next is up to debate; Mikeo reported that he shared the bed with Daniel, and the drunken Scouser snuggled up to him. Orry backs this up, having frozen to death on the floor (not realizing that Dan had brought a sleeping bag that he didn't use), he saw that Daniel's side of the bed had been vacated, since the Ginger Ninja had snuggled up to Mikeo. Orry jumped into the bed. Dan later moved himself to the foot of the bed.
Now, if you speak with Daniel, he'll tell you that it was Mikeo snuggling up to him. I'll just say that that's not what I heard! Thrash it out here, boys!
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It was definitely Daniel who snuggled up to me in bed on the Friday night, not the other way round ... I was deliberately lying in bed so I was facing away from him and at the edge of the bed, only to find he was putting his arms around me and getting closer to me than I would ordinarily want him to be! Fortunately, he didn't do that again on Saturday or Sunday nights.
| Tim wrote on Sat, 12 May 2007 21:15 |
Take my advice people; if you're ever stuck in Letchworth, sleep on the streets or cut your wrists or something, instead of visiting the Garden Lodge Hotel, it's absolutely shit.
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I agree - if I'd had a choice in the matter, I would've moved out of that hotel and booked into a single room in a different hotel.
Let's have a gay-off! Ready?! Lips pursed, hands on the table and GO!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2433 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 22:39 |
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First off the bat was Renato Corsetti's 'Buchanan' lecture on, if I recall correctly, the use of Esperanto as a means of facilitating the learning of extra languages.
(Professor John Buchanan worked at the University Of Liverpool. He died in 1930, leaving a bequest of 3 grand to finance a part-time Esperanto lecturer and a prize every year. Unfortunately, the trustees decided to impose a rule saying that 3 grand had to be left in the account at all times (instead of accounting for inflation and wage changes etc) and so only 3 grand is left now. The result is that nothing can be paid out for lecturers since the 200 quid for the lecture eats up all of the year's interest. Jabronis.)
Anyway, this was alright. He received a book wrapped in silver foil. Afterwards, it was asked, who will be the next to win. I must admit, I kinda like the idea of having a book wrapped in silver ...
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2434 is a reply to message #2433 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 22:49 |
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After the Buchanan Lecture's drinks and nibbles, almost all of the congress went off into the centre of Letchworth to watch jOmO break the Guinness World Record for the greatest number of languages used in a concert. I didn't go as it was cold outside and I had a bad cold, so I stayed in the warm at the kongresejo and spent a bit of time working on some stuff and chatting to a couple of other people who didn't venture outdoors.
Anyway, once everyone got back from the concert - at which jOmO apparently did break the record - there was a literary lecture by Renato Corsetti's wife, Anna Löwenstein, on the hidden messages in children's books. (It actually started with a condensed list of books in US libraries that people have complained about - including the Harry Potter series.) It was quite an interesting talk, although it was about to be overshadowed by the very next lecture ...
Let's have a gay-off! Ready?! Lips pursed, hands on the table and GO!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2435 is a reply to message #2434 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 22:59 |
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| Mikeo wrote on Sat, 12 May 2007 22:49 |
although it was about to be overshadowed by the very next lecture ...
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... because Ian Fantom was running it, and had access to both a microphone and an audience.
Some things in first place. I like Ian. I've liked him since I first met him in 2003. He's quite a soft man, who doesn't appear to wish harm on anyone.
However, as far as he's concerned, there is something rotten in the state of ManCom. Over the years, Ian has combed through minutes of old meetings, conducted interviews with people from EAB's past, read up a lot on previous controversies, and has found his points falling on deaf ears. It's common knowledge that his zeal in this quest saw him first suspended from ManCom last year, then voted off the committee by the membership.
This year, however, he had an open mic, seeing as he was the chief motor of this year's congress. It boded well for those who wanted a free firework display ...
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2436 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 23:11 |
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The kongreslibro explained that this was a lecture that was originally planned for 2003's congress in Glasgow. Ian reported that it mysteriously got pulled at the last minute. Nonetheless, people had been eagerly asking him to go ahead with it one day. This was his moment.
The prelego was titled "Psikologio De Esperanta Informado".
Off he started. He deserves his due; he put a lot of work into this multimedia presentation.
One of the first things in his display were excerpts from a documentary about electric cars. It showed that they were a bright new idea that would carry into the future, for the benefit of all mankind.
He then mentioned that there were no electric cars on the road. This good idea had been derailed by parties eager to maintain the status quo. he played footage from the documentary alleging that petrol companies saw to it that electric cars were squashed. The bright new thing was squashed like a bug through subversion.
At this point, I recalled that the lecture was apparently on "Psikologio De Esperanta Informado", but could see where this car crash was heading. It's just that I didn't think that it would be a fatal car crash ...
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2437 is a reply to message #2436 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 23:26 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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lad, you're excuses just sound too rehearsed to me.. and a bit too quick to get your alibi across... I dunno what was happenin on friday, but I had enough sense to not stick around, that's all am sayin. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time lad, but watch yourself, we all know you've got previous.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2438 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sat, 12 May 2007 23:35 |
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Ian concentrated on the move of EAB's HQ from Holland Park to Barlaston. He used excerpts from old minutes to show that some board members expressed reservations about the move.
He also settled on a point. Esperanto House doesn't belong to EAB; it's a 99-year leasehold, after which control reverts to Wedgewood Memorial College. Further to this, EAB paid for the construction of three bedrooms ... to which WMC has priority.
This all is a source of chagrin to Ian. EAB moved ... against a member's wishes. EAB paid for construction over which the host has priority. After spending this, EAB will have nothing after 99 years.
He played sound recordings from ManCom meetings. His point was that the same question yielded yielded different answers from different ManCom members. Whilst one said that the deal was privately arranged between EAB and WMC, another said it was between EAB and Stoke Council.
Ian's 'spyder' sense was tingling. Already convinced that MI5 had infiltrated the British movement, he believed he'd now uncovered a plot by somebody in ManCom to make an illicit profit at the expense of EAB.
He was reminiscent of Loyd Grossman asking 'who would steal an Esperanto House like this?', as he went over all the clues he'd already presented.
He led the audience through it all until he reached his conclusion; he didn't name anybody ... he merely posted Derek Tatton's picture on the wall.
That was the end of his lecture. I missed the whole "Psikologio De Esperanta Informado" part. Besides, the claim was ludicrous; what could Derek have claimed of benefit in 99 years' time?
I felt quite relieved for Ian. He's been waiting years to present his beliefs to others. This was his day. Judging by the reactions (slow or polite applause from some, outright scorn from others), people didn't share his opinion, but at least he got to present it.
As for Derek Tatton? He didn't give a darn. He and I laughed about our villainising the next day, after Ian decided to publicly flame me too, the jabroni.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2439 is a reply to message #2437 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 00:04 |
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| Daniel wrote on Sat, 12 May 2007 23:26 |
lad, you're excuses just sound too rehearsed to me.. and a bit too quick to get your alibi across... I dunno what was happenin on friday, but I had enough sense to not stick around, that's all am sayin. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time lad, but watch yourself, we all know you've got previous.
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What previous? If you mean cuddling up with other men, I'm definitely not denying that as I am, uh, gay!  However, I am sensible enough not to cuddle up to any man in bed just because they are there ... I would have the common courtesy to ask first (unlike some people!).
Anyway, a few points:
- I had driven down for about three and a half hours that day and only had two hours' sleep the night before, so I just wanted to get some sleep;
- You were definitely worse for wear that night - certainly far drunker than I was; and
- I wouldn't be interested in you even if you were the only other man alive on this planet!
Happy now?
Let's have a gay-off! Ready?! Lips pursed, hands on the table and GO!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2440 is a reply to message #2439 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 03:32 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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I believe you mate, if that's what you say. lucky i brought me sleepin bag though, ey.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2441 is a reply to message #2429 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 14:47 |
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Soothsayer
Messages: 86
Registered: September 2006 |
NeKomencanto!!
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Meanwhile, we found out that Angela and Hannah had quit the hellhole in disgust at 08:15, having been bitten to pieces by bed bugs. Although she still looked stunning, Hannah had bite marks all over her face for the whole duration.
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And a lot longer than the whole duration!! I wish I'd chosen to bunk down with the boys By Monday evening, the cluster of bug bites above my eye had become seriously infected, to the point that I had to miss an interview and have a day off school to go to the doctor's on Tuesday morning. She definately said I had done the right thing, advised me to take antihistamines and told me to come back in two days if there was no improvement. As the drugs enduced drowsiness, and the swelling was still quite severe on Wednesday, I was forced to have another day off. I returned to work Thursday, and got much sympathy (amid looks of horror when I mentioned bed-bugs ) from my colleages, and many amusing remarks from my kids. Anyway, by Friday, the one under my eye had become seriously inflamed to the point that the whole underneath of the eye was puffed up. I still went to work, but everyone there told me I should see a doctor asap as it could affect the eye. So, I duly phoned the doc, and got an appt. late afternoon which meant I could spend the majority of the day at school. He was horrified when he saw me, gave me a prescription for some strong antibiotics and told me I should send the bill to the hotel and notify the tourist board, environmental health etc. immediately. Now Sunday, the bites on my forehead are slowly subsiding (though still causing a visible blemish), but the inflamation under my eye is still very much there. Most of my students thing I should sue! I'm thinking it's not a bad idea seeing as I have suffered serious disruption to everyday life! I prided myself on having a 100% no-days-off work record before now. I am also forced to keep off the booze because of the drugs, which is a little irritating.
However, sorry to have ranted on a bit, about something which, really has no relevence to the actual congress programme, I'll add my comments later about the actual congress itself.
Anyways, moving on, if anyone who stayed in that hotel who has any particular grievance about it could email me their comments, it'd be helpful, cause I'm going to write a complaining letter and it would be useful to have back-up.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2442 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 17:04 |
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My god, Hanhan, that sounds absolutely awful. I hope you're back to your usual gorgeous self before too long.
I'm sure we all have horror stories about that shithole hotel. If I were you, I'd send a mail to JEBCOM asking for bits that others could give you to put in your complaints letter, because there's no guarantee that people will be reading this particular thread.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2443 is a reply to message #2440 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 17:07 |
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| Daniel wrote on Sun, 13 May 2007 03:32 |
I believe you mate, if that's what you say. lucky i brought me sleepin bag though, ey.
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I bet Paul Williams would agree with that, seeing as he made use of it. Nonetheless, I'm not sure that you got any use out of it yourself!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2445 is a reply to message #2444 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 17:54 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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P.S.
The whole bed thing. Fuckinell. I ordered the beds, right, for everyone. I said to the guy i was dead flexible, theres a few of us going, can you give us a cheaper price. He goes yeah, no worrys, the rooms should be all twins and singles, is that okay? I went, yeah, sound, whatever. Then he asked if actually we wouldn't mind havin 'a double'. I said sure, okay, we'll manage. Get down there, mikeo in tow, the young lad on the desk goes, oh mate, sorry, think u'll have to have one double bed. I start pullin a face, going 'what can you do about it?', edging for him to change it for us. He gave me the tour of the hotel, checkin out all the rooms, i was like, yeah they'll do. then he goes an speaks to the bid boss, and he was like, nah lad, they are all going in doubles. I was going, what d'yeh mean were all going in doubles, u said 'a double' as in like 'one double', i knew they was fully booked like, so i was thinkin i can't argue we'll just after cope. there was this one italian guy there who doesn;t like sharing with noone so i asked hannahs mum to swap with him and give him her single and then them two cud go in on of the doubles. now this was where it was getting a bit confusing, the paying bit, because i was a bit half cut by now, and was tryina werk out who needs payin what, who's bunkin in an needs to keep quiet, whos swaping with who and all that. you'd have been proud of me accounting skills, but mikeo to shame anyway. well all through this i was tryna get mikeo in some single and before that i was going to him well you'll have to get in with hannah, an i was edging to get in the same room as with tim an them, thought i'd be more fun like. well turns out, it me, mikeo and rolfs slap-head mate, three in a bed. sound. starts off me and mikeo in the bed next to each other and slap on the floor. i wakes up and im on the foot on the bed like longways with slap tooked up nice next to mikeo. No idea what happened there like, some smart move i'd done in me sleep. So thats we're i went the next night as well, on the foot of the bed. except its not as comfy when you've not have a couple of bevvies, cold as fuck and getting kicked in the neck every so often. That new lad, paul williams he was on the floor by now, lent him me sleepin bag. he only stayed one night, so the next night i robbed that back off him. I went from in the bed, then foot of the bed, then out the bed and on the floor. I think if we'd have been staying four night's i'd a ended up in the corridor. And the other thing, Hannah and her mum wake up on the saturday, been bitten to fuck, bed bugs, so they say. the pulled the sheets back the next morning and said it was crawling with 'em. Left that night, went to some expensive place, an hannah had been bitten on her face, i told her to just but her hair over it and i'd be alrite. Bedbugs though! not in our room, with as many people as there was in our bed there was no space for them! just mikeo u have to be careful of, ey!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2447 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 18:49 |
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So, we're now into Saturdaz evening. It was Klarita Velikova's turn to present, this time on the role that Esperanto can play in sport.
Earlier in the day, Terry Page asked me to introduce her to the audience. I felt he was having a laugh when he said that it made sense for me to do it, because I 'obviously know a lot more about sport than I do.' I choked, pointing out that I scarcely look sporty. Maybe if pie-eating were a sport ...
Anyway, I looked over what I would have to say. There was no way I'd be able to remember it all. For a start, there was no way to memorise the names of the martial arts that Klarita had mastered during her stay in South Korea. Some of the names have stuck with me; Tekkong is rather like Brazilian Capoeira; she also mastered Kukkung, which is archery.
Klarita appeared in her Tekkong costume looking rather attractive. Any pretence at being dainty was quickly foiled however when a few kicks came my way. She stopped short of hitting me, but I can't say that I had a natural affinity with being used as a target.
Taking my piece of paper, I introduced her, and she quickly got underway. It turns out that she learnt Tekkong through Esperanto; without it, she would never have understood the language. Since then, she became the only non-Korean to hold ablack belt in it, and won the gold medal at the women's national championship.
In the meantime, I absent mindedly pulled my phone out of my pocket and noticed that I had nine missed calls from Paul Williams. I didn't realise that putting my phone on to silent also stopped it from vibrating. It turned out that the youngster was waiting in the kongresejo's reception area, having first tried to find us at the hellhole hotel. I led him in and introduced him to the gang.
Before too long, Klarita asked me to do a display with her. I figured that she was going to kick my head in, but it was actually a lot worse; I had to do some form of exercise.
Of course, I lacked any grace whatsoever, being totally unable to coordinate, and nearly toppling over when asked to balance on one leg. Her reason for picking me soon became evident; she said that the first thing that shocked her about England was seeing so many men with huge bellies. Yup, I got EsperantOWNED.
After this, JoMo did an impromptu set, people got a few drinks in, we hit a bar, and then went back to the hellhole hotel.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2448 is a reply to message #2445 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 18:55 |
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| Daniel wrote on Sun, 13 May 2007 17:54 |
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P.S.
The whole bed thing. Fuckinell. I ordered the beds, right, for everyone. I said to the guy i was dead flexible, theres a few of us going, can you give us a cheaper price. He goes yeah, no worrys, the rooms should be all twins and singles, is that okay? I went, yeah, sound, whatever. Then he asked if actually we wouldn't mind havin 'a double'. I said sure, okay, we'll manage. Get down there, mikeo in tow, the young lad on the desk goes, oh mate, sorry, think u'll have to have one double bed. I start pullin a face, going 'what can you do about it?', edging for him to change it for us. He gave me the tour of the hotel, checkin out all the rooms, i was like, yeah they'll do. then he goes an speaks to the bid boss, and he was like, nah lad, they are all going in doubles. I was going, what d'yeh mean were all going in doubles, u said 'a double' as in like 'one double', i knew they was fully booked like, so i was thinkin i can't argue we'll just after cope. there was this one italian guy there who doesn;t like sharing with noone so i asked hannahs mum to swap with him and give him her single and then them two cud go in on of the doubles. now this was where it was getting a bit confusing, the paying bit, because i was a bit half cut by now, and was tryina werk out who needs payin what, who's bunkin in an needs to keep quiet, whos swaping with who and all that. you'd have been proud of me accounting skills, but mikeo to shame anyway. well all through this i was tryna get mikeo in some single and before that i was going to him well you'll have to get in with hannah, an i was edging to get in the same room as with tim an them, thought i'd be more fun like. well turns out, it me, mikeo and rolfs slap-head mate, three in a bed. sound. starts off me and mikeo in the bed next to each other and slap on the floor. i wakes up and im on the foot on the bed like longways with slap tooked up nice next to mikeo. No idea what happened there like, some smart move i'd done in me sleep. So thats we're i went the next night as well, on the foot of the bed. except its not as comfy when you've not have a couple of bevvies, cold as fuck and getting kicked in the neck every so often. That new lad, paul williams he was on the floor by now, lent him me sleepin bag. he only stayed one night, so the next night i robbed that back off him. I went from in the bed, then foot of the bed, then out the bed and on the floor. I think if we'd have been staying four night's i'd a ended up in the corridor. And the other thing, Hannah and her mum wake up on the saturday, been bitten to fuck, bed bugs, so they say. the pulled the sheets back the next morning and said it was crawling with 'em. Left that night, went to some expensive place, an hannah had been bitten on her face, i told her to just but her hair over it and i'd be alrite. Bedbugs though! not in our room, with as many people as there was in our bed there was no space for them! just mikeo u have to be careful of, ey!
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 I love the stuff in bold! Especially referring to Orry as 'slap'  In the interest of fairness, it's only fair to point out that Orry probably deserves it, seeing as he was making loads of derogatory comments about Daniel's hair. I believe his philosophy on the subject was 'rather bald than ginger'.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2449 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 19:18 |
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So, we wake up on the Sunday morning. I was looking forward to this; it was the day of EAB's AGM!
Rolf set out, whilst I stayed in the room talking to Petra. Mikeo popped in, and needed to get a few frustrations off his chest. I should've gone off to see the start of the session on Esperanto Lobby at 11:00, but was stuck in conversation with him and Petra.
Anyway, nearing the end of the session on Esperanto Lobby, I received a text message from a friend to say that Ian Fantom had just publicly 'named and shamed' me, and I needed to speed down there to shoot on him. I wasn't overly worried, since Ian talks shit about everyone that's not a finavenkisto.
This is what his issue was:
During the talk, one member complained about the novula programo. Simply enough, there was supposed to be one (according to the website), he brought a beginner with him, and nothing was in place. He said that this was dishonest, and he had a good mind to quit the movado and never come back again.
Anyway, Ian decided to lay the blame for this at my feet ... and pointed out that I couldn't even be bothered to attend the meeting. (Recall that I was actually sitting with Mikeo discussing an issue that left him in doubt as to whether he wanted to stay involved with Esperanto in the UK.) And, in all honesty, I couldn't give two fucks about harassing MPs into accepting Esperanto, all in the name of 'la movado', anyway. If they want to publish blacklists of MPs that don't agree to promote Esperanto, let them do it (and almost get EAB sued again) on their own ~snarf~
So, that jabroni let fly in my direction. Here's my defence:
- I had had three days' notice asking me to provide a novula programme
- When I got there, no-one was able to tell me how many people I was catering for, who they were, or what their levels were
- There was ZERO room in the program. Not one free slot at all
So ... what's a man to do? To be honest, I wish I'd been there to show Ian up in response. (Going out for food ... more later)
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2450 is a reply to message #2449 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 19:32 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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i mean what does he do? does he go into the barbers and says 'give us a homer simpson, please...'
An thought you was ment to be working over in germany, pure essay here on the BK
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2452 is a reply to message #2449 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 20:09 |
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| Tim wrote on Sun, 13 May 2007 19:18 |
Rolf set out, whilst I stayed in the room talking to Petra. Mikeo popped in, and needed to get a few frustrations off his chest. I should've gone off to see the start of the session on Esperanto Lobby at 11:00, but was stuck in conversation with him and Petra.
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Sorry about that, mate ... I think I just lost track of time and I realise now that I should've asked you if you wanted me to drive you to the kongresejo. (Although you're right - I was really upset about something and feeling a bit depressed about being involved with Esperanto, so I needed the pep-talk!) Anyway, I don't think it was entirely fair that you were supposed to arrange a novices' programme with such short notice; Ian was definitely out of order on that point! 
| Tim wrote on Sun, 13 May 2007 19:18 |
Anyway, Ian decided to lay the blame for this at my feet ... and pointed out that I couldn't even be bothered to attend the meeting. (Recall that I was actually sitting with Mikeo discussing an issue that left him in doubt as to whether he wanted to stay involved with Esperanto in the UK.) And, in all honesty, I couldn't give two fucks about harassing MPs into accepting Esperanto, all in the name of 'la movado', anyway. If they want to publish blacklists of MPs that don't agree to promote Esperanto, let them do it (and almost get EAB sued again) on their own ~snarf~
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Well, you seem to share a similar view to Paul Gubbins on the Lobby - although he seems to be critical about how much influence the Lobby had against what time/effort/money was being spent, which is a fair enough point. If the people who actually make the decisions on language learning at schools were involved in an Esperanto Lobby, it would have had an effect, but certainly it seemed as though they weren't involved when the National Curriculum was introduced in the late 1980s.
If the Lobby is planning to persuade those key MPs to be sympathetic to Esperanto as well as other ones, that would be fair enough ... but I don't know if that's what they're up to.
Let's have a gay-off! Ready?! Lips pursed, hands on the table and GO!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2453 is a reply to message #2450 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 20:43 |
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| Daniel wrote on Sun, 13 May 2007 19:32 |
i mean what does he do? does he go into the barbers and says 'give us a homer simpson, please...'
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Heh! Although he owns a set of clippers, I'm sure he's been to the barber's too. You probably noticed at the weekend that he was growing it out a little though. He looks like a hippy with it that long!
Actually ... he did pull a Big J a couple weeks back. Despite being bald for the last seven years, he nevertheless lectured Rolf on which shampoo to buy and to avoid his [Rolf's] preferred choice 
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An thought you was ment to be working over in germany, pure essay here on the BK
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Which is why I was hoping that someone else would step in and write about the BK!
You see, I'm a caring president, and go out of my way for the general populace of planet JEB
I've been Esperanting non-stop since I got here! Had some serious prelegoj over the weekend from a professor who's just produced the world's biggest Esperanto dictionary. It's 1700 pages long ... and took him over FORTY YEARS to produce! He pointed out that he wasn't in it for the money; his pay works out at ten cents per page.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2454 is a reply to message #2453 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 20:57 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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oh aye, general populace, you're doin like im doin with me revision, any distraction!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2456 is a reply to message #2455 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 21:26 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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yeah, dead stetsonless, he's being stetsonless all weekend. i was going, rolf, pack it in with all the stetsonin, will yeh
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2457 is a reply to message #2401 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 21:27 |
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Anyway, right after the session on Esperanto Lobby came the first of two sessions involving EAB ManCom: La kandidatoj respondas.
This session was the result of a comment Angela made during last year's AGM about there having been such a session during a previous congress. John Wells had suggested it should become an annual feature, and so for the first half hour we had the various candidates for ManCom (who would be facing the vote at this year's AGM) talking about themselves and what they were hoping to contribute to EAB and the Esperanto movement. So far, so good ...
And then they opened the floor to questions ... and guess who spoke first? Only Ian, that's who!  I can't remember his precise questions, but he was certainly making comments on how EAB had apparently been difficult to work with when organising the Congress and to do with various issues that he raised in his "Psikologio" lecture. What I do remember very clearly was how various people reacted: John Wells was getting visibly irritated by Ian as he went over a lot of what had been said before, Anice Page was sat next to me and I could hear her tutting as Ian blundered away and I think Sally Phillips was pretty indignant about his last question and tried to answer it but had to be stopped due to lack of time.
At this point, most people went away for lunch ... not entirely sure what followed immediately afterwards, but apparently Paul Kwasi Mensah (who had come from Ghana) was supposed to do a short talk/demonstration on Afrikaĵoj which had been postponed due to Ian going on too long the previous evening. (I don't know whether it did go ahead, though, as I got persuaded to help Tim with the Novuloj in that session.)
Anyway, the big event itself draw nearer and nearer ... while Tim, me, Paul Williams, Elizabeth Stanley and a couple of novices played Feliĉaj Familioj.
Let's have a gay-off! Ready?! Lips pursed, hands on the table and GO!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2458 is a reply to message #2449 ] |
Sun, 13 May 2007 21:53 |
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| Tim wrote on Sun, 13 May 2007 19:18 |
So ... what's a man to do? To be honest, I wish I'd been there to show Ian up in response. (Going out for food ... more later)
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OK, this was the issue. Ian is absolutely obsessed with the idea that some operative of MI5 has infiltrated ManCom, and is deliberately sabotaging the Esperanto movement in this country. And he never shuts up about it. Ever. I popped round to pick up a bag once and was subjected to a four-hour talk on the subject. It took me forty minutes to get out the hallway!
Anyway, his obsession has reached the point where he can't talk about anything other than conspiracy theories. One of Rolf's friends (a non-Esperantist) was holding his stag night. He popped into the house whilst Rolf changed. When Rolf came down, he found Ian talking about ManCom to this poor chap.
Anyway, it got to the point where Rolf couldn't get any work (professional or congress) done, because Ian would constently go on about his conspiracy theories. Rolf had had enough, and Ian went apeshit. Rolf moved out and resigned from the committee. That left no-one in charge of the novula programo, which is why Ian asked me to prepare something on three days' notice.
Of course, I never (even during the congress) found out how many novuloj there were, who they were, what their levels of competence were, nor had any space left in the program in which to do any activities.
And whose fault was all of this? Say 'Ian Fantom's' and you win a cookie 
(Man, I wish I'd been there to shoot back!)
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2466 is a reply to message #2458 ] |
Mon, 14 May 2007 01:58 |
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Anyway, the time came for EAB's AGM ... and I was still playing Feliĉaj Familoj! Fortunately, I was able to get an entire family together and get rid of the rest of my cards quickly, before running into the main room in the kongresejo, where the AGM had already started. (EDIT: I don't deny I was a bad player of the game anyway, but I was kinda deliberately playing badly as well so I didn't miss too much of the AGM.)
Surprisingly (at least as far as I was concerned, as I was only about 5 minutes late), the minutes of last year's AGM and the Trustees' Report had already been approved and Joyce was about to go through her Financial Report. So that and the votes for reappointing the independent examiner and keeping the subscription rates unchanged went through OK (noting that both Ian Fantom and a lady called Anice Szrajbman kept abstaining). Then a couple of vote counters were selected (and Olga Kerziouk, who was soon to give a lecture on the Esperanto collection at the British Library, was asked to independently check the process) before the secret ballot started.
Once all the votes had been collected and were being counted, John asked the meeting for comments and suggestions ... no prizes for guessing who put his hand up first! 
Ian's first complaint was that there had been a tradition (since the British Esperanto Association was founded in 1904) whereby the chair of the meeting left the room while his votes were counted (and presumably this applied for the other candidates for ManCom). However, Stephen Thompson answered Ian by saying that it wasn't anything he did while he was President of EAB during the 1990s, and John also pointed out that the ballot was now a secret one, so it didn't matter. This still didn't seem to placate Ian, and he commented that he "was never a member of EAB ... except being a life member", which made quite a few people laugh [although to be fair to Ian, he had been a life member of BEA and became a life member of EAB when the limited company and charity merged in 1995].
He then moved onto what he was doing as Information Officer for EAB a few years ago ... part of his remit was to design a website for EAB. What was in contention was who was supposed to update the website and how: Ian maintained that all he was supposed to do was design the site and that he provided webforms for ManCom to update it themselves. However, John (who was getting visibly more agitated during the exchange) said that he thought the pages had to be hand-edited. [I asked a couple of the other ManCom members after the meeting about this, and they said that Ian had not left proper instructions on how to update the site, so it was nearly impossible to change anything.] During the argument, John mentioned that the (subsequently-redesigned) website was now maintained and updated regularly, to which Ian said that it was inferior to his own. Unfortunately, the current EAB webmaster (Bill Walker) was in the room taking minutes of the meeting and he spoke up, protesting Ian's seemingly personal attack against him! Ian did actually get almost tearful during the exchange, and eventually John said (probably in sheer exasperation) that ManCom had been in error about the website and he wanted to move on.
Various other things came up which I don't remember that much about, so I will wait until the official minutes come up, but the comments section of the meeting was pretty much dominated by Ian's complaints. Although other ManCom members commented on things from time to time, the only person (apart from Ian) who appeared to be losing his temper (and understandably so) was John Wells. In order to lighten the mood at one point, John asked Tim to talk about JEB's activities, but while Tim was able to start each sentence, he was almost always interrupted by the Ginger Ninja! (I don't think he said anything that went against what Tim wanted to say, but it seemed a bit odd that the soon-to-be JEB President kept getting interrupted.)
Anyway, the votes were finally counted and everyone who was up for election (David and Jean Bisset, Joyce Bunting, Helen Fantom, Edmund Grimley Evans, David Kelso, Derek Tatton and John Wells for president) was elected. What was interesting was that only 63 people cast their votes this time, and about half of those were postal or proxy votes. There were actually relatively few people at the AGM ... maybe what happened last year in Scarborough put people off?
However, the AGM actually closed somewhat earlier than the given end time of 4pm, so there was some time before Olga's lecture and JEB's own AGM. 
Let's have a gay-off! Ready?! Lips pursed, hands on the table and GO!
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2467 is a reply to message #2466 ] |
Mon, 14 May 2007 02:17 |
Daniel
Messages: 297
Registered: September 2006 |
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but while Tim was able to start each sentence, he was almost always interrupted by the Ginger Ninja! (I don't think he said anything that went against what Tim wanted to say, but it seemed a bit odd that the soon-to-be JEB President kept getting interrupted.)
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hang on a mintute there lad, for one tim said to me is there anything else and yeah there was; and what was being talked about was what JEB had been up to over the last 12 months, suprise suprise, I do know a little bit about that. Like I didn't have the right to speak up, that was the time to do it, I said things tim wasn't going to. what is your problem?
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2468 is a reply to message #2466 ] |
Mon, 14 May 2007 02:30 |
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| Mikeo wrote on Mon, 14 May 2007 01:58 |
Fortunately, I was able to get an entire family together and get rid of the rest of my cards quickly, before running into the main room in the kongresejo, where the AGM had already started.
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That's one hell of a good spin! The aim of the game (for those that don't know) isn't to get rid of your cards asap. If you do, that means that they go to your competitors, who use them to create families, thus winning. In other words, Mikeo was such an awful player that he quickly found himself devoid of cards, and was free to leave.
For my own part, I also performed poorly, but lasted longer than Mikeo. I arrived at the AGM half an hour into it. Things must have been progressing well, because the first thing I heard was John saying, "And now to point seven on the agenda."
Still, things weren't going to stay that way. As the secret ballot was about to get underway, Ian (who else?!) asked for confirmation whether something about it was on the statute. Ian knew very well that this statute had been misplaced, so made a point of asking them to check. Of course, EAB had to comply, even though they knew that they didn't have it, and Joyce set to flicking through the files in front of everybody.
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However, Stephen Thompson answered Ian by saying that it wasn't anything he did while he was President of EAB during the 1990s, and John also pointed out that the ballot was now a secret one, so it didn't matter.
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Yeah! I love that Ian ws arguing this one tooth and nail!
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This still didn't seem to placate Ian, and he commented that he "was never a member of EAB ... except being a life member", which made quite a few people laugh [although to be fair to Ian, he had been a life member of BEA and became a life member of EAB when the limited company and charity merged in 1995].
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That was an awesome line: "So I did all of this, and I wasn't even a member ... well, except for being life member." Cue a massive round of laughing. What stood out for me was the sound coming from the balcony behind us, the people laughing the loudest were Ian's kids!
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During the argument, John mentioned that the (subsequently-redesigned) website was now maintained and updated regularly, to which Ian said that it was inferior to his own.
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That was another great line from Ian too! "Then you gave it away in favour of one that's not very good."
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Unfortunately, the current EAB webmaster (Bill Walker) was in the room taking minutes of the meeting and he spoke up, protesting Ian's seemingly personal attack again him!
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I thought Bill did really well. He pointed out that his presence there was a last-minute decision, and that he was most put off by the unsaviouriness of last year's AGM, to which Ian loudly voiced, "Hear, hear!", which caused a bunch of us, Bill included, to pause in disbelief for a second.
It was a really fair point made by Bill though. Once again, Ian had gone off on one about declining membership numbers, and pointed out the lesser attendance this year compared to last as proof. Bill clevrely pointed out to him that Ian's more responsible than anyone for people staying away!
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Various other things came up which I don't remember that much about, so I will wait until the official minutes come up, but the comments section of the meeting was pretty much dominated by Ian's complaints.
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I can't remember either, but that was a great line thhat captures things personally. I recall that one of Ian's points was on the subject of membership decline (just for a change, like). He used the brilliant argument that a group that he belongs to has grown in members over the last couple of years (to 7,000), so EAB's numbers should have increased too, unless somebody is deliberately mismanaging. Of course, he completely forgot to point out that the group in question is Liberty, and that it is benefitting from public disgruntlement about Iraq, stories such as Guantanamo Bay, and that Liberty doesn't require any intellectual investment like a language does. Hardly a compelling argument.
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In order to lighten the mood at one point, John asked Tim to talk about JEB's activities, but while Tim was able to start each sentence, he was almost always interrupted by the Ginger Ninja!
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Actually, I did finish my first comment. I then deferred to Daniel to see whether he wished to add anything. After that, I couldn't further than three words into a sentence without Daniel talking over me.
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(I don't think he said anything that went against what Tim wanted to say, but it seemed a bit odd that the soon-to-be JEB President kept getting interrupted.)
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Nah, what he said was fine, but I've lost my rag with him before (in the Plume Of Feathers) for constantly interrupting.
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There were actually relatively few people at the AGM ... maybe what happened last year in Scarborough put people off?
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Undoubtedly. We both know people that only came down for the Saturday. I also know of others tat would've skipped the entire event, but came out of loyalty to particular people who were preleging.
Man, it had its moments, but Ian was nowhere near as bad as last year.
As far as our bets go:
- John did indeed lose his temper.
- It's a toss-up as to who did first (other than Ian). John was getting exasperated, but I'd probably give the award to Bill Walker.
- Ian actually didn't leave his chair to complain.
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| Re: So ... How Was Letchworth? [message #2469 is a reply to message #2467 ] |
Mon, 14 May 2007 02:34 |
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| Daniel wrote on Mon, 14 May 2007 02:17 |
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but while Tim was able to start each sentence, he was almost always interrupted by the Ginger Ninja! (I don't think he said anything that went against what Tim wanted to say, but it seemed a bit odd that the soon-to-be JEB President kept getting interrupted.)
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hang on a mintute there lad, for one tim said to me is there anything else and yeah there was; and what was being talked about was what JEB had been up to over the last 12 months, suprise suprise, I do know a little bit about that. Like I didn't have the right to speak up, that was the time to do it, I said things tim wasn't going to. what is your problem?
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Dude; you did speak over me, after I'd deferred to you. On two or three occasions after you appeared to have finished, I got two or three words out and you jumped in, talking a lot louder than me. There was no harm done, but it was telling that when I acted mock-shocked and looked around, a few people - including the chairman - gave me a cheeky grin.
Anyway, no harm, no foul. Let's not deviate from the script here, we're talking about Ian!
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Though pretty much everyone kept me more informed than *you* did 
