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HELLO, good evening and welcome to issue 42 of Octopus's Garden, the subzeen with its very own search engine. An html version of this subzeen is available on the Web at http://www.manorcon.demon.co.uk/octopus/index.html. It's also sent to the TAP mailing list, which you can join automatically by sending the message 'subscribe tap' to majordomo@diplom.org. The message 'unsubscribe tap' sent to the same address will get you off the mailing list.
Rolls for Round Five : 6, 2, 5. Could you all let me have Round Five orders by FRIDAY, 29th OCTOBER, 1999 to Peter Sullivan, octopus@manorcon.demon.co.uk
GOOCH: Oh yeah - I forgot, it is leapfrog, innit?
TURN - All: My final build in Round 3 Consett to A61 will come back to haunt me! Ever experienced the feeling of it all slipping away? GOOCH made the decisive move. Suddenly I'm playing catch-up. About a week before the deadline I looked at my orders again and considered changing this last build to the obvious location. But it was a Sunday, and the library was closed. Oh, to have my own computer ...
TURN - PEAT: Your leap was not unexpected, as I wrote last time. But, in light of developments to the southwest of Newcastle I am now forced to grab the remaining early points. Nothing personal!
TURN - GOOCH: You capitalised on my error. Ten years is a long time, and strategy is not instinctive; it is acquired. Given a few more games, I shall be up to speed.
GOOCH - GENEVA: All right, so you've already seen Bellingham. Good, you've saved some petrol. But you may now use it, at your convenience, to go scout about in ALLENDALE and give us a report. I don't suppose this village's name has anything to do with Allen a'Dale and the relevant legends?
GENEVA: Well, Aileen has been to Allendale. There is apparently nothing of interest to say about it whatsoever, apart from the fact that it is near Alston, a fact you may already have deduced from the map.
CONNIE - BARNO: Interesting you should talk in terms of "31
cities" instead of the usual for Americans, "X number
of states." I suppose it really makes more sense your way,
as you're visiting the throbbing heart of the place instead of
some wilderness woodland where you can't hear a tree fall because
you're not there to hear it, unless of course you are at the time....
The problem comes when we talk about what constitutes a city for
your purposes. For instance: I was once in Wisconsin, but never
to any large settlement; one of only two cons I've ever attended
was held in Lake Geneva, and Walt Buchanan and I drove in from
his home (Indianapolis) and thus missed even the suburbs of
Milwaukee and Madison. Do I get credit for any "city"
this way? (In Wisconsin, I mean.)
Similarly Vermont. I was there and in several different places,
but of course there isn't anything we urban-dwellers would really
call a "city" anywhere in the state. The largest 'places'
we stopped in were Bennington, Brattleboro and White River
Junction. The first-named does have some urban characteristics (e.g.
a movie theatre and a strip mall), but a "city" it ain't.
So until we can get some defintion of what constitutes a "city"
I can't really see how you and I match up. In the meanwhile, to
revert to my more traditional system, I've been in 21 U.S. states
plus D.C., 3 Mexican ones and one Canadian province. Of this
total, 4 states - 3 U.S. and one Mexican - are mere
technicalities (i.e. short drive-throughs or airline stopovers).
In other words, I don't travel much either....
GENEVA: Well, I think in this particular context, I *think* we are talking about cities using the David Watts definition, i.e. a numbered town on an R.R. map. Using instead the von Metzke methodology, I can manage 11 U.S. States (NY, NJ, VA, NC, SC, GA, CA, MA, TN, OH, NV). I would also like to claim AZ, but since the flights for the Grand Canyon technically leave from Boulder City, NV, I have never touched ground there, and if you allow fly-overs then that boosts the numbers for almost everyone. Of the 11, two were connecting flights (VA and OH), and one was a connecting flight that ended up being an overnight stay (TN).
Rolls for Round Four : 5, 2, 3. The deadline for Round Four orders is FRIDAY, 29th OCTOBER, 1999 to Peter Sullivan, octopus@manorcon.demon.co.uk
BLUES - BOURBON & GENEVA: The only town on this map I've been to is Bristol, which lies in two states actually. It's a very quiet town, with so little traffic that some times unless you go into a building you might think all people disappeared from it due to some mysterious mishap. Besides hiding from exposure to daylight, the people there are a bit course and slow, and don't say much, but when they do they're very friendly and helpful.
GENEVA: Not a bad description of much of the Old South, I would guess.
BLUES : I don't know, it's the only bit of the "Old South" I visited. After Bristol. I spent 3 full days on buses to end up in Portland, Oregon.
GENEVA: Um, yes, well I don't suppose anyone would claim that Portland is part of the Old South...
MIKE to RICHARD W: Are you an ant? I see a big difference between "follows replicable patterns" and "is determined, not freely chosen". However, your press keyed on the words "MIGHT be", so I have to agree, I can't rule out a deterministic system. I like my [might-be-illusionary] free choice. I live as though I believe in both freedom and responsibility for consequences, regardless of whether freedom exists, whether responsibility exists, and whether cause-and-effect exists.
MB to RW: The hackysack exists and I am one with it. The kind herb exists and I am one with it.
RIP GOOCH - MIKE BARNO: Redraw the TT map and you will see my downfall. An illogical and erratic build. Not to say precipitate and thoughtless! Your subliminal message reached me across the ether. Now, go away and work your evil on Conrad or someone ...
GENEVA: A parting comment. Next issue will be the 5th Anniversary Special Issue. I have yet to decide whether this will mean anything more than me inserting the text "5th Anniversary Special Issue" somewhere in the text...
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