destination europe ·
6 June 07

Well if things work out I could be heading to Finland and Germany during August to attend two demo parties. Paul was going to go to one, but didn’t know which one, then I suggested that we go to both as they’re five days apart from the end of one to the beginning of the next.

He agreed it was a sound idea, and would give us time to enjoy the parties as well as take in the cities. Sort of. At least that is the plan anyway.

The plan is to go to Helsinki, Finland in the first instance, spend approximately 4 days at the party, and then spend another four or five days chilling out in the city. Hopefully there are things to do in Helsinki as I’ve never been before.

Then after that we move on to Cologne for another demo party. This one will be more homely I think, focused more on or exclusively about the demo scene. Unlike it’s commercial elder brother, Assembly, Evoke will only take place for a couple of days. I’ve been to Germany before, but not Cologne, it’s highlight for tourists is supposedly the cathedral. I’m not particularly keen on that, it doesn’t really excite me.

If you’re wondering what a demo party is, then you can check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demoscene If you’re too lazy to click it, here’s a quote from Wikipedia.

“The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes itself on producing demos, non-interactive audio-visual presentations, which are run real-time on a computer. The main goal of a demo is to show off better programming, artistic and musical skills than other demo groups.”

So the demo party is simply a celebration and competition to demonstrate those abilities.

I’ve been split down the middle on going though. At first I wasn’t interested in going, but then when Paul told me there were two parties and he wasn’t sure which to go to, I thought why not join in the fun.

There are a few reasons why I don’t want to go. I’m not as confident or as lively as I used to be, so it would be far more difficult for me to integrate and mingle with people that I don’t know. I don’t know as much about demos as Paul does, he’s grown up with the scene, I only ever dipped my toe in the scene, was aware of it, but not a die-hard fan. I don’t know how die-hard fans would welcome a casual scener in. Probably with caution.

My thing would be a literary festival, or a film festival. I haven’t been to any, because I haven’t found anyone to go with. Though I will travel abroad on my own, I wouldn’t attend a UK-based book or film festival on my own. It’s a strange one as I do have a desire to attend them, but even when the opportunity arises I would like to share that with someone, rather than take the lonely trudge to a festival on my own.

I’m continually amazed and bewildered at how good these people are at what they do. The best demo groups do things that make your jaw drop and I have a real appreciation for what they do and how they do it. The best are constantly pushing themselves to do even greater things, while some lead and others follow. It’s an interesting area to be a part of, but again I am not die-hard just casual.

Going to places in the Far East would take greater priority for me, than travelling in and around Europe which is a cheaper diversion. I don’t know if Europe is that interesting for me, as when travelling in Europe I’ve often seen the cities as London in another country. With the Far East or South America I wouldn’t, I believe, have that familiar experience that I have had in European cities to date.

At one point I even told Paul I wouldn’t be going because I couldn’t find my passport. I really wasn’t going to go, because I didn’t want to fill in a form to get another passport, knowing I’d have to wait 4-6 weeks just to receive it. I don’t like hanging around without a valid reason, I can be impatient these days. I used to be quite patient, but since I’ve been on meds, patience is one of the virtues I no longer have. Eventually I felt I could use it as an excuse to not go, but then I found it.

I also snapped out of my need to make the whole thing a downer and decided to make the most of it. It was a good opportunity to me, I get to enjoy something I have a casual interest in, I get to travel to two countries and in turn two European cities, so why not make the most of it?

It’s going to be a good experience, I reckon, with new faces, new cities to enjoy, new demos, new people to drink with, clubs to go to, bars etc. I don’t think it can be all that bad, if so many people are attending. Not only that, it will be a good for me mentally to be able to interact with different people, with some familiar faces, to get pissed with:)