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0x9D  -  Helsinki  -  mR.mEgAsTuFf  -  1999-09  -  1016 lines
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I turned eighteen on September 16th, 1999. It was a Thursday, but we'd agreed to postpone the party until Friday so all the CWU members, even those coming from the sticks, could make it.

Osmo had already packed his stuff into boxes, ready for his move beck to Lietevesi. It would be his birthday gift to me to leave me to live alone in the apartment. I'd say it's the best birthday present ever! Especially since I'd kind of gotten fed up with Osmo over the past couple of years. Osmo probably would've headed back to Lietevesi even before this, but maybe he just figured it was better to wrap up our deal properly. Meaning his promise to be my official guardian until I turn eighteen.

On Thursday, I got home from work sometime before four PM. Osmo had brought me a layer cake he'd found on sale at some supermarket, and he wanted to devour it with me before starting to move the first cargo to Lietevesi. Yeah, the first cargo, because Osmo's stuff would no longer fit in the trailer, as he had accumulated quite a bit over the past couple of years. The second cargo would be sometime on Saturday. The cake was okay for something Osmo had snagged.

The apartment felt a lot emptier after Osmo left. Well, at least there would be more room for the CWU crew now! Luckily, he decided to leave me the TV and the VCR, and the sofas and armchairs we'd hauled from Helsinki flea markets. But all of Osmo's oscilloscopes, circuit boards, and other work stuff was gone. And some lamps and rugs and that kind of stuff too.

Early in the evening, Samppa showed up, the first visitor. He'd taken the train from Oulu and managed to make it from Pasila station to Käpylä, even though he'd never been around here before.

myXTer: No one else here yet?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: What's it fuckin' look like?

myXTer: I was just wondering, weren't they supposed to be here a couple of hours ago...?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Think about it, for the fuck's sake. Masa's driving, and he's got some old Datsun from the Kopsanen family! It'd be a miracle if they were on time.

myXTer: Oh, so Masa's coming too!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah. Everyone coming from the Savonia area is riding with him...

myXTer: Oh, right, there was something on IRC about them coming together... didn't really pay attention.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah.

myXTer: Do any of them have cell phones so we can call them and check where they are?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I'd bet they don't. Think about it: Masa, Jussi, Kassu, Jyri, and Dikkari! They're all either broke or just country bumpkins, so it's unlikely anyone has a cell phone.

myXTer: Dikkari might actually have one. He still lives with his parents, and as far as I know they're quite rich.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I don't think even they'd be vain and shallow enough to buy a fucking GSM CELLULAR PHONE TO THEIR KID!!

myXTer: Oh, yeah, I think you're right. But maybe they could call us from some phone booth to give us a more accurate ETA.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: But you yourself have actually bought a cell phone, though.

myXTer: Yeah, an Ericsson GH388...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Is that some kind of a NMT firewood?

myXTer: It's a GSM, actually...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I figured you'd get some ancient NMT. Its design looks pretty clunky anyway. Those Swedes don't -

myXTer: I'm going abroad right after my exams, so I needed a GSM. NMT only works in the Nordics...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Oh, right then. How much did you pay for that thing?

myXTer: Around 150 marks, I bid on it on Huuto.net...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Not too expensive, even for you.

myXTer: Nope...

BLING BLONG

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Here they come! I'm opening the door...

schistic: Hi...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: WHAT THE FUCK!?

schistic: Wasn't I supposed to be coming here?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I meant, what the hell is going on, since you're here and the Savonia crew ain't...

schistic: So, I'm the only one here besides you two?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Fucking right! That damned Savonian-bumpkin caravan TAKES FOREVER!!!

schistic: Okay...

myXTer: Hi, Heidi...

schistic: Hi to you both too...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yep, hi...

myXTer: I guess you haven't seen Meka in a few years either, even though you both live in the Helsinki area?

schistic: I wasn't really interested, because there were never other CWU members around at the same time! But now that we're going to have them, it might be a nostalgic experience...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: But didn't you have something to do with those Vuolenkoski morons at some point?

schistic: Yeah, and I spent one summer mostly hanging out with them because I had some kind of relationship with PÄÄNRÄÄKKÄÄJÄ...

myXTer: Was he the only MAHTI guy you dated?

SCHISITC: What's this sudden interrogation about?

myXTer: I'm just curious, we haven't talked about it much...

schistic: Well, yeah, if you just count the actual relationships -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: So MAHTI and CWU are tied for first place!!

schistic: Sigh...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Which one do you think you're more of, a MAHTI or CWU member?

schistic: I hang out on both IRC channels and if some meetups come up, I'll definitely come. But I don't really consider either of them primary...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: So, what's better about CWU and what's worse?

schistic: Why the fuck do you always have to rank groups in everything?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: The whole fucking idea of the scene is to fucking rank groups!

myXTer: I'm kind of curious about the same question too, actually...

schistic: Well, I've had somehow deeper experiences with CWU, like that '95 meet-up in Lietevesi, with all the magic and spiritual beings, but with MAHTI I've had more of that wild punk vibe where you never knew where the night would end up.

myXTer: Which group has influenced your life more?

schistic: Well, thanks to CWU and especially you, I started going to meetups and parties in the first place, so in that sense, CWU was kind of a gateway drug that brought a lot of cool new things into my life.

BLING BLONG

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Now it'd better be the fucking Savonian caravan finally!! And not some fucking TV license inspector...

*clack, clang*

wArlord: Hello there...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: WHAT THE HELL TOOK SO LONG!?!?!

MASA: Well, it took a while with those stops, because the coffee was so good, and -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: You could have at least fucking stuck to the promised schedule, dammit!! Or even called us from a fucking phone booth -

dArK sTuFfEr: An exceptionally pleasant evening to you, mR.mEgAsTuFf, myXTer, and schistic.

schistic: Hi everyone!! I'm gonna hug you all!!

DaRK FuCKeR: Hi Heidi!!!

myXTer: I'd really like that you hugged me too...

schistic: So, you're okay with hugs again!

myXTer: Yeah...

schistic: Okay, let's hug then...

wArlord: So, what's up, Heidi? Didye get in to the university?

schistic: Heck, it's so cool to hear your Savonian dialect once again!! Yeah, I got in, to study history, a few weeks ago...

wArlord: Okey...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: But hey, let's get to the living room, we can even sit there...

DaRK FuCKeR: Allrighty! I'm so excited that you've got A TWO-ROOM APARTMENT OF YOUR OWN!!! And A TOP KEWL ONE!!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: It's worth going to work so you can afford the rent...

DaRK FuCKeR: It's such a big living room!! Bigger than my cell in Iisalmi!

wArlord: Is Osmo still living here too?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Well, he just started hauling his stuff out... it didn't all fit into his trailer so he'll may come back tomorrow for another load...

wArlord: Where's he actually moving to?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: You should fucking visit IRC more often so you would know...

MASA: Maybe he's gonna get back to his Höttövaara cabin?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, that's where, right...

wArlord: Why there? Wouldn't he get paid more if he lived a bit more southern or even someplace near Kuopio...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Fucking ask him tomorrow or something? I'm not gonna guess about his motivations...

wArlord: Allright then, maybe you're right.

MASA: But maybe it's the time to drink some KILJU!!

DaRK FuCKeR: Yeah, absolutely yes!!

wArlord: It'd be about the time to start the boozing! It was so tough sitting there on the Datsun's back seat...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I've actually already taken some beer, but maybe I can get some kilju too, at least for the nostalgia.

*glug glug glug*

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Is this kilju from Jussi or Masa?

MASA: Some bottles are mine, but some are Jussi's...

wArlord: This one is mine.

schistic: MAHTI also always uses your recipe in their kilju!

DiCKiNSTASiA: But it ain't got no fly agaric this time, I guess.

wArlord: Yeah, definitely not. And why in hell wouldn't I even have made fly agaric kilju because we ain't in Lietevesi?

DaRK FuCKeR: So, it just works in Lietevesi?

wArlord: At least my grampa said something like that...

dArK sTuFfEr: This would at least fit well with the theory that most of the magick we have adopted is Lietevesi-specific.

MASA: "Specific", you say. "Lietevesi-specific".

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Are all the living members of CWU here right now with us?

wArlord: It'd seem so...

schistic: Oona is missing.

DiCKiNSTASiA: I dunno if she's even an actual member...

dArK sTuFfEr: Othra's member status is somewhat ambiguous right now, because we never discussed the issue after losing our correspondence and relationship.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: So, she's not a member.

dArK sTuFfEr: On the other hand, CWU has never been silent when expelling members; issues like this have always been communicated face-to-face.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, right. But maybe you could send her a fucking letter or something that says she's no longer a member, so that she won't even slightly fucking think she is.

dArK sTuFfEr: I would prefer not to hurry with the issue. It may be possible that she will suddenly return to our circles after finishing her Gymnasium studies. Besides, I am currently at least as subculturally interesting as the art students, so she may very well even want to return to a relationship with me...

wArlord: Can't say you're that interesting, you're spending most of your time in front of a computer anyway. You should at least go fishing -

dArK sTuFfEr: Actually, I have been working on a major survivalist project this summer. I have been charting for multidimensional "pockets" especially in the Neulamäki area, and visited -

wArlord: All right, all right.

DaRK FuCKeR: But anyway, here's now everybody who we know to be members? Besides Marko of course...

DiCKiNSTASiA: Sniff, Marko...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: That Makaron was really a fucking great guy.

wArlord: Yeah, he was. Shouldn't we at least get a few quiet drinks to Makaron's memory?

DaRK FuCKeR: Yeah, to Makaron's memory!

DiCKiNSTASiA: Sniff, to Makaron...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: But now SHUT THE FUCK UP for the quiet moment, dammit!!!

*glug glug*

*glug glug*

*glug glug*

dArK sTuFfEr: You shall forever be remembered, Makaron of CWU.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah.

wArlord: But what about Meka? Still working at that homepage firm?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, for the fuck's sake, because I can't get myself off it even though I've threatened to quit a bunch of times...

wArlord: What do you mean you can't get yourself off?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: They always get to persuade me!! The last time I threatened them they actually rose my salary and promised me some more interesting projects... and they also warned me not to lose my firm ground when resigning, and to make sure that there's a black-on-white paper from the next job before -

DaRK FuCKeR: So, none of those game firms got you in?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Nope. But I don't now if games actually even are the most optimal way to troll lamers right now...

schistic: Sigh...

wArlord: What have you been thinking about instead of the games then?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I've been thinking about developing some GSM services, now that there are so many GSM phones in use already.

wArlord: You say what? You mean like some porn services where you get to listen to some sex sounds, ten marks per minute plus -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: FUCKING BUMPKIN!!! Don't you even know what GSM services are!? I meant like SMS-based ones, that are charged per text message... like, ringtones and logos and such.

DiCKiNSTASiA: So, like something they've got at that fucking jippii dot fi?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, just like that.

wArlord: I kinda missed what kind of service you mean right now?

MASA: I missed it too!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: FUCK'S SAKE! Could Samppa or somebody explain to those cavemen!?

myXTer: Allright... so, some newer GSM phones have a kind of system that it's possible to also send binary data with a text message, like ringtones and some simple bitmap pictures...

dArK sTuFfEr: I believe the phones also have integrated editors at least for the ringtones.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, of course they have, but some folks are so lame and lazy that they rather pay something like FIVE FUCKING MARKS to avoid the keypresses!!

wArlord: And you think that'd gonna earn you much more money than those games would? Sounds like total scam bullshit in my opinion.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Well, at least in Helsinki, nearly every other moron al ready has a GSM phone, even those who don't even have a fucking computer! And some irrelevant clowns buy some Nokia 3210 phones that support all those special message formats... so, at least there'd be plenty of customer base...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: All right. But ain't them usually quite short-lived, all the scams like that? So, they'd eventually notice they've been scammed and stop using the entire "service"...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Well, at that time there would be an ever harder scam to replace it. Like, some fucking SMS-based MUD or some other game that you constantly need to send new paid messages in to keep playing...

DaRK FuCKeR: I've heard that them phones already got some games pre-installed!!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, but they're all some fucking irrelevant worm games. The MUD-type ones would be so much more addictive...

DaRK FuCKeR: But couldn't somebody like program some new games for them, all oneself?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: At least I haven't heard about a way to run custom software on them anyhow.

myXTer: It would be possible with some Communicator but not those basic phones. Or maybe it could be possible with some custom SIM card, but that wouldn't either affect the actual code the phone is running...

dArK sTuFfEr: Because of this reason, I shall never purchase a single "cellphone" for myself, unless all of its software can be replaced if necessary. Running closed software is so totally against my ideology.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Allright, then wait for ten years until Communicators get cheap enough for you and then port some fucking lousy Linux to one of them...

myXTer: Now there's also that newer 9110 Communicator, so the 9000 one may actually start getting quite inexpensive soon...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, right. But will somebody like Jyri have the money for it like FUCKING EVER?

dArK sTuFfEr: I am fully convinced that before long, even Communicators will start to become available practically for free. And since I probably won't have a real need for a GSM phone for a while, I'll be able to wait.

DaRK FuCKeR: But hey, ain't it wicked cool that we're soon gonna be in the future!! And have all kinds of cool phones!! That you can get games for, and everything!! I'm also gonna get me a GSM once I get a job and enough money...

wArlord: Sigh...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Seriously though, you could've guessed he'd grab some lamers' 3210 the second he could, and then order a new operator logo and ringtone every day from some fucking JIPPII.FI!

dArK sTuFfEr: It is truly very lowbrow and concerning. If one wishes to indulge in lameness, one could at least direct it toward something other than the deepest and darkest kind of mainstream stupidity.

DaRK FuCKeR: IT AIN'T NO STUPIDITY!! IT'S THE FUTURE!!

dArK sTuFfEr: The future should be embraced with considered selectivity rather than rushing headlong into all sorts of mass phenomena -

DaRK FuCKeR: NO WAY!

wArlord: Give it time, though. That future-mania of yours will probably fade once the millennium actually changes and it becomes everyday stuff.

DaRK FuCKeR: I DON'T THINK SO!

wArlord: Speaking of the future, have you guys had your military draft yet?

MASA: Mine came last year, and I leave for Kainuun Prikaati next July...

wArlord: Yeah, I figured that about you, but what about the rest of you?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Well, at least I told them I'm gay, so they promised me a deferment. I've already had one doctor's appointment scheduled –

wArlord: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TELLING ME NOW?!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I don't GIVE A FUCKING SHIT about going to some fucking backwoods when I can actually be useful to this country by paying taxes and –

wArlord: Your GSM services will be worth nothing when the enemy crosses the border! Then every man is needed on the lines, not messing around with "logos and ringtones" -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I DON'T GIVE A FUCKING SHIT!

wArlord: Now hear me, in my books you're a TRAITOR TO THE FATHERLAND if you don't join the army like proper citizens do, DAMMIT! And with that said, I'm seriously considering whether I can even be your friend anymore -

MASA: Is it really that big a deal? One man won't matter in a war...

wArlord: EVERY SINGLE ONE MATTER! Hell's bells, someone say something sensible to that guy...

dArK sTuFfEr: I do not acknowledge any obligation that I have not consciously imposed upon myself, therefore I support Meka's choice -

wArlord: And WHAT THE FUCKING HELL is that supposed to mean!?!?

dArK sTuFfEr: I believe all forms of conscription are imperialist oppression, civilian service included. I intend to refuse them all before the my E-class period is over.

wArlord: You're GOING TO JAIL THEN?!

dArK sTuFfEr: Indeed, I am.

wArlord: FUCKING GODDAMN HELL!!!

DaRK FuCKeR: But I'll be joining the army just like I'm supposed to!

dArK sTuFfEr: I was sure that you would make that choice, given how much you are into sheep-like adherence to mass stupidity.

DaRK FuCKeR: I don't have anything else to do after I finish my school! I'm not going to rush off to a job right away -

wArlord: You're saying your service wasn't even postponed at all despite you being such a blockhead?

DaRK FuCKeR: They thought I was completely healthy!!

myXTer: But I got a three-year deferment when they classified me in some "high-risk group"...

wArlord: Right. So you're the one who is in the high-risk group but not Kassu. Well, at least you're gonna fulfill your obligation eventually...

myXTer: I haven't decided yet if I'm going to fulfill it or how...

wArlord: What?! Then you're a traitor to the fatherland in my eyes until you decide whether you're going or not!

myXTer: Alright...

schistic: Am I also a traitor to the fatherland if I don't join the army?

wArlord: Well, you're female, so no.

schistic: Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

wArlord: No, because women compensate for it by having children...

schistic: So, if I don't have children, you think I'm a traitor!?

wArlord: Well --

schistic: You're a TOTAL BUMPKIN with those opinions!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, I agree with you on that one! And even his dad is one fucking nazi, always listening to some stupid war-era EERIKA record in the evenings!

wArlord: He doesn't do that that often -

dArK sTuFfEr: wArlord is indeed so thoroughly entrenched to the extreme Centre-party conservatism he has uncritically adopted from is parents, that -

wArlord: I AM NOT A CENTRIST, DAMMIT!

DiCKiNSTASiA: So you're a traitor in your parents' eyes?

wArlord: Well, they did have a few things to say when I told them I support Lipponen and the SDP more than the Centre-party mafia, but Finland is A FREE COUNTRY, you know, so a political stance -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, a free country, but does that freedom also include the freedom to skip play-pretend army games?

wArlord: NO, IT DOESN'T, DAMMIT!

Then discussions went on like this for the rest of the Friday night, or at least until my memory started to fade. The drunkedness was getting deeper and deeper, and the things started to just repeat themselves, but this was the general vibe. At some point of time, Heidi left for home, but the rest of us kept going until the early hours of the morning.

Let's move on to the following morning. It was maybe about one PM when the doorbell rang.

BLING BLONG

OH7MO: Hello? Still asleep?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Nah, not asleep, just couldn't be bothered to get up 'coz you had the key anyway...

OH7MO: Yeah, I've still got it...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Just remember to give it back before you leave.

OH7MO: Sure I'll recall that one...

wArlord: Hey, Osmo, what's up.

OH7MO: Hey...

wArlord: So, moving back to Lietevesi, right?

OH7MO: Yeah, that's the mission... 'Cause I still own that Höttövaara cottage, so the living expenses would be much lower there than here in the capital.

wArlord: Why don't you sell it and buy a place from somewhere closer to some city?

OH7MO: I doubt I could even sell it. It ain't worthy even as a summer cabin for any city-slicker, 'cause it ain't next to a lake. And anyway, I'd have more work than I can even do, so it's all the same to do it in Lietevesi.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: But who even lives in Lietevesi anymore? Even Ritu doesn't visit Lahnala very often now that she rented a place closer to her new job, and she's even trying to sell Lahnala if she can find a buyer...

wArlord: Well, the Hirvonen family's still there.

MASA: And Korhonen.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, I figured they weren't going anywhere, even if it was a nuclear war, but do the Berglunds and the rest of the downtown folks still live there?

wArlord: Yeah, I think they still live there, at least for now... and even the downtown school's still standing, even though the Pielavesi municipal council's been talking about closing it.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Seriously, they're fucking closing the downtown school?! But then, on the other hand, I'm really not gonna miss it... it's just that damn CLAN ZERO playing gods at the school now, with no clue about any scene stuff.

wArlord: Yeah, things seem pretty sad there. Those guys are even in the Perä-Savon Uutiset newspaper every now and then...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Like, some dumb "computer game event for the multimedia youth"?

wArlord: Yeah, something like that, but there's also been some Satan-worship scandal stuff about them too...

OH7MO: Like what?

wArlord: Well, last summer's confirmation camp, they apparently pulled off a kinda Satan-worship attack like the one Jyri and Kassu did back in our days...

OH7MO: Oh yeah, you guys did something like that back then...

dArK sTuFfEr: Delightful. This proves that CZ has potential after all, despite our doubts -

wArlord: Well, at least I DEFINITELY wouldn't make any conclusions about some potential based on some Satan worship, GODDAMMIT!

myXTer: I actually recall now that CLAN ZERO showed up somewhere in the Assembly results, in a music or graphics compo...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Seriously, dude, you still go on about some damn Assembly results?!

myXTer: I didn't look too closely, but at least it's a sign they're doing something creative, not just playing.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Those Assembly music or graphics compos don't mean jack about scene potential anymore...

dArK sTuFfEr: Not at all, indeed. As far as I understand, music compo entries can now be submitted in the MP3 format.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: What the FUCK?!

myXTer: Yeah, now there are separate compos for MP3 music and tracker music...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Great, now we don't even need to visit Assembly if you don't even need to use a computer for your music compo entry, just record the song and pack it in an MP3...

DiCKiNSTASiA: Exactly! And they probably accept scans directly for the graphics compo too!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: They've accepted them before...

DiCKiNSTASiA: But it always SHOWS TO THE OUTSIDE that they're scans! I've hear they can have such a big resolution and so many colors that you don't even have to fix the pixels by hand anymore...

dArK sTuFfEr: Sounds like a very deplorable development. As far as I understand, Windows and 3D acceleration are now allowed in the PC demo compos as well.

myXTer: Actually, there's a separate "accelerated" and "non-accelerated" compo, and Windows is allowed in both...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: And obviously, the "accelerated" one is the main compo, right?

myXTer: As far as I understand it isn't, and besides, it's only some game companies that even participate in it, under fake names...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Well, at least next year they won't be separated!! Future Crew FUCKING SUCKS with all of their insane reforms!!! And then the damn SPONSORED COMPOS like that Sonera one -

wArlord: What the HELL!?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, so Sonera sponsors some dumb Java demo compo, and before it, there's always some totally INSANELY BLEAK commercial from Sonera that wipes out all the party vibes completely!

wArlord: Well, then there's a reason for some folks to once again declare that the scene is dead.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: If this trend spreads to other parties from Assembly, I'm seriously gonna declare the scene DEAD, FOR GOOD!!! And even if CLAN ZERO makes something for an Assembly compo, even if they win a demo compo, they're FOREVER gonna be non-scene lamers, PERIOD!!!

dArK sTuFfEr: Absolutely. I currently only consider Alternative Party to be the true representative of the demoscene.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Go piss off, those MSX lamers haven't been part of the scene since the beginning, DAMMIT!! They won't save ANYTHING!!!

OH7MO: But maybe I should start heading back to Lietevesi now?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Okay. Are you gonna leave your key to me now?

OH7MO: Oh, yeah, right, here you are.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Alright.

OH7MO: So, nothing but have a good life, all of you. And Meka, just behave yourself so you won't get into trouble...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, yeah, we're gonna do that, GET OUT ALREADY!!!

OH7MO: Alright, bye then!!

wArlord: Bye...

MASA: See ya.

DaRK FuCKeR: Bye...

*clank*

mR.mEgAsTuFf: YES YES YES!!! I'VE GOT MY OWN APARTMENT TO MYSELF NOW!!! TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

DaRK FuCKeR: This RULEZZ so lots!!!

wArlord: Looks like a new era has dawned for your "ELiTE life".

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Tell me about it, fucking seriously! ELiTE-LiFE rulez, dammit!! And being eighteen, and having a driver's license, and -

DaRK FuCKeR: You already got your driver's license?!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah! Well, the test is next week, but then it's gonna be TOTAL FREEDOM!!

wArlord: Have you gotten a car for yourself yet?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, Ritu sold me our old Corolla when she got a new one...

wArlord: Look at this, dammit, there's already a lot of folks in our crew with cars on their own. I've been looking for a little Fiat for myself too...

Yeah, maybe I shouldn't write anymore because most of it was pretty boring and didn't even relate to the scene. Heidi came back to the place sometime later. Then we started talking about whether we could hold a compo now that Samppa even had a piece of a demo ready. But Kassu said we should hold it only after the Babylon 5 episode so we could focus better.

I wouldn't have remembered the B5 in the first place if Kassu hadn't been rambling about it all the time. Jussi and Masa didn't care about watching it, preferring to booze in the other room at the time, but the rest of us did. I don't think it was a particularly good episode.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: So, that fucking was the entire episode?

DiCKiNSTASiA: Right, wasn't really a top one this time...

myXTer: I actually liked it, a bit more minimal for a change -

DaRK FuCKeR: But what was even going on in the station while they were questioning Sheridan!? I was waiting the entire week for the plot to continue, and then there was SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT LIKE THAT!!!

DiCKiNSTASiA: I guess they're gonna get back to the plot next week...

dArK sTuFfEr: I have noticed that I have lost my interest towards the series after the First Ones left. Since then, all the events have been far too mundane.

schistic: I agree with you at that, it kinda lost the mystery element entirely when there's only the humans and the Minbari and such...

DaRK FuCKeR: I don't fucking care, it should've just had some SPACE BATTLES!!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, I would've expected some effects given that the episode was named like that...

dArK sTuFfEr: "Intersections in Real Time" indeed sounds like an Amiga demo effect from the early nineties.

wArlord: Did that Babylon of yours already end?

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, it did -

dArK sTuFfEr: But I thoroughly agree with schistic about the loss of the mystery element. On the other hand, even the IRL world seems to be losing its magical and mysticism as we get closer to the year 2000.

DaRK FuCKeR: NO, IT AIN'T!! In 2000 there's gonna be so damn tough magics and mystics, much tougher than we can even imagine right now!!

dArK sTuFfEr: I, on the other hand, am convinced that the most accurate concept to describe "the new millennium" with will be "lameness".

DaRK FuCKeR: Like whatcha mean!??

DaRK FuCKeR: It seems, for example, that after the triumph of Microsoft Windows, proper computer-using skills serve no purpose anymore. For instance, the Melissa worm that worried Windows lamers in the spring, has been written in a miserably lame macro language based on Visual Basic. mIRC had its own script.ini worms earlier. Only a few years ago, PC virii needed to be programmed in Assembly in order to spread anywhere.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, now the Internet is so full of such idiotic imbeciles that they just "click open" all the files they stumble upon, no matter what kind of autospammer or Back Orifice started from them...

wArlord: Yeah, it's really a fucking dumbass morons' network, the Internet.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, trolling all the lamers is so too fucking easy nowadays. And there's no way for proper groups to distinguish from lamers, now that it's possible to make fucking viruses and demos with some fucking Visual Basic or Java, dammit!!!

DaRK FuCKeR: But on the other hand it's a good thing that stuff like MP3 trading is so much easier than before!! Now that there's that Napster...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: All those over-easy warez programs are fucking substandard shit!!

DaRK FuCKeR: Yeah but I mean that it's so EASY to FAST to find just about anything, just write the name of the song in the search and then it finds you someone to get it from!! No more need to go thru servers -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I won't get as low to start using Napster dammit!! FTP sites, newsgroups and maybe EFnet warez channels in some cases, that's all I support!!

dArK sTuFfEr: I am not going to use any closed Windows-only dung either.

myXTer: There's already some Unix client for it actually...

dArK sTuFfEr: Is there?

myXTer: Yeah, somebody's reverse-engineered the protocol I think...

DS I did not know this. Maybe I should get familiar with it and re-evaluate my conclusions accordingly.:

DaRK FuCKeR: But I really wish they were some warez program like Napster for videos and movies also!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Are you so fucking lame nowadays that you can't find new movies from any normal warez sites anymore!?

DaRK FuCKeR: It's always easy to find the new ones, but I'd like to find some TV-series episodes and that kind of stuff!!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Do you really think there's a lot of people who keep some TV series lying on their harddisks??

DaRK FuCKeR: There are big harddisks nowadays too!! Like ones that could hold like all the B5 episodes!!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Yeah, right, maybe someone would buy some twenty-gig disk just to fill it with some B5 episodes...

DaRK FuCKeR: Many folks got extra money!

wArlord: Yeah, like our mister traitor-of-fatherland who thinks taxpaying compensates for not going to the army -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Fucking PISS OFF! Didn't we talk about this enough yesterday goddammit?!

wArlord: No we didn't, if you still think you're gonna dodge the draft. Now, listen to me: next Monday, you're gonna call your doctor right away, and tell him not to send that statement to the military staff -

mR.mEgAsTuFf: I'm fucking ADULT now dammit! MY DECISION IS MY DECISION, FUCK OFF!!

wArlord: YOU FUCK YOURSELF, YOU'RE SUCH A SPINELESS TRAITOR OF FATHERLAND!!! IF IT WERE WAR RIGHT NOW, YOU'D ALREADY BE IN THE EXECUTION PIT -

schistic: Sigh, did they have to start that all over again...

And again the evening continued with the same military debate as on Friday, but maybe even a bit worse and louder. Booze flowed, and my film eventually snapped just like then.

- -

Sunday morning, I woke up before most others, like before eleven, and I noticed a note on the kitchen table:

DaRK FuCKeR: What the hell?!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: That guy really took our trolling seriously.

DaRK FuCKeR: And they even left without me, even though I promised I'd go to the army!!

dArK sTuFfEr: Maybe they wanted to leave secretly, and this probably wouldn't have been possible if you'd woken up making all kind of noise. In any case, it's a fairly cowardly betrayal by wArlord.

DiCKiNSTASiA: Fucking fuck dammit! Wonder if I even have enough money for a train ticket?

myXTer: They actually left by car already this morning? They probably still had quite some alcohol in their blood...

dArK sTuFfEr: According to my observations, wArlord and MoTHeR FuCKeR did not drink after the B5 episode had ended. He could very well have been sober enough a couple of hours ago.

myXTer: Well, in that case...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: That was such a crooked anticipation, if they already decided last night to stop boozing early enough!!

dArK sTuFfEr: Indeed. I assume that wArlord and MoTHeR FuCKeR decided about it together already when we were watching B5. Even the discussion shifted to our "traitorness" quite soon, which I suspect was part of the plan.

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Right. So, do I have to fucking escort you to the Käpylä station so you can get back by train?

myXTer: I can show them the way 'cause I'll be taking the train anyway...

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Oh, yeah, okay.

DiCKiNSTASiA: But can someone borrow me the money for that fucking ticket!??

dArK sTuFfEr: Hitch-hiking would be a less expensive alternative.

DaRK FuCKeR: Hey, yeah, I haven't hitch-hiked ever before!!

mR.mEgAsTuFf: Aren't trains the "rulez" choice anymore?

DaRK FuCKeR: They are, but they're always so predictable!! There's so much of the kinda adventure spirit in hitch-hiking!!

DiCKiNSTASiA: I'm not fucking gonna start hitch-hiking!!

dArK sTuFfEr: Don't you have any adventure spirit left?

DiCKiNSTASiA: In this case, NO!!!

Well, they all ended up with hitch-hiking nevertheless. But before they left I forced them to help me with cleaning the place. I've now got an adult responsibility that I must remember!!

But after the cleaning was over they left and got a ride up to somewhere around Lahti on highway four. But in Lahti there had been some fucking debate so the crew split. Jyri was the only one who continued to Kuopio by hitch-hiking, and Kassu and Dikkis took the train. And in the evening when Kassu and Dikkis got back on IRC they just left #cwu without saying anything. What the fuck's going on once again!?

I still haven't figured out exactly what happened, but one thing's for sure: the group is broken again. Jussi thinks we're traitors, and now, for some reason, Kassu and Dikkis don't want to be in the group anymore. Heidi is still on the channel though. So the group now only has me, dArK sTuFfEr, myXTer, and schistic. For the fuck's sake, it's bringing back some of our high school crises, dammit!

And the guilty party for all this is our Centre-party conservative extremist, who has made joining the army a kind of religious dogma, dammit!! FUCKING FUCKING FUCK!!!

But the CWU meetup was still pretty good for what it was worth, for the part that guy didn't ruin. I'd like to have another meeting like this, as long as wArlord gets banned!

And yeah, we were even supposed to have the compo too, but we got distracted by that fucking army debate that we forgot it, GODDAMMIT!

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