Day 3 - Bodies, Bodies Everywhere!

It's like a campsite without grizzly bears or grandpa's recycled stories.
Participants, exhausted from all of the surrounding excitement, crash inside the open arena, defying The Gathering's most important commandment: "Thou shalt not sleep." For some, falling asleep in the arena is a challenge as noises can be overbearing; nevertheless, for most, spending nights in a place free of charge is an uber-deal, considering that most local hostels and hotels are booked weeks in advance, only offering available rooms at a king's ransom.

Those who sleep have an unusual immunity to noise. This immunity makes the 24-hour radiation of low bass tones, high-pitched screams and keyboard clicks into nothing more than good vibrations. Those who don't sleep depend on insomnia, natural energy or energy drinks—like Panther—to stay awake. Moreover, participants depending on energy drinks may have to sling back a few of them as Norwegian law limits energy drinks to no more than 150mg of caffeine per liter.

Around 12:00P.M., those who managed to get some shut-eye arise from sleeping bags and inflatable beds like mummies, reentering their chairs and punching-in for another long shift of gaming, programming, movie-watching and/or digital art-creation.

Besides taking time out of their computer lives to sleep, these participants also enjoy other endeavors at The Gathering—political endeavors. Most would think that these participants only stay indoors on a computer, listening to the Banana Phone melody: ring, ring, ring... However, as can be seen in the video, these participants actually do go outside, stepping into snow and sunlight, carrying picket signs, melting the ice in the frosty city with stomping feet and heavy fists.


The political endeavors relate to a tax levied on tickets sold by The Gathering. These taxes increase each ticket's price by 160 NOK (US $31). The Gathering argues that this increase could cause “a drastic cut to all aspects of the event"; in effect, to protest the tax, The Gathering’s fans, administrators and participants—over 2000 people in total—marched downtown to square off with politicians.

The Gathering’s administrators and participants argue that The Gathering is a “non-profit, cultural event, thus not eligible for VAT.”

If the politicians do not see eye-to-eye with this argument, The Gathering will be required to pay taxes for 2006 and 2007 in addition to taxes for the upcoming years.

To help The Gathering in its epic battle against the government, Andrew and I built an elite army of snowmen. Here, you can see me putting a helmet on the militia's leader—General Snowflake.

General Snowflake is known for his various military successes and wartime innovations. General Snowflake's military strategies are studied all over the world. Furthermore, General Snowflake takes no prisoners. When asked for comment, General Snowflake only said: "ARNE! We will prevail!!"

I think we can all find some sort of appreciation for a talking pile of snow.

Site updates

Over the next several days, and even weeks, Andrew and I will be updating this site with more pictures, videos and text. So, stay tuned!

Day 2: The Kiss of...

...sleep. The Gathering has a love/hate relationship with the sandman's work. On one carpal-tunneled hand, sleep gets in the way of non-stop fun; on the other equally-constrained-but-not-quite-as-damaged hand, sleep is necessary.

We eventually succumbed to the disease early in the morning of the second day around 0300. We stayed up so late partly because of the jet lag; but, more in part because of the captivating environment that enveloped us.


Our fascination stemmed from several items of interest. First, the shear magnitude of the event had us sitting and soaking up its grandness. Almost 6,000 people, each and every one with their entourage of worldly, technological possessions tends to make one stare. Second, coming from the highly competitive, kill-or-be-ruthlessly-and-quite-graphically-murdered LAN parties in the U.S., the social factor of the event intrigued us.

The event is made up of many more casual gamers and “cool” kids whose other activities include snowboarding, skateboarding, and disturbing society in typical teenage fashion. Additionally, female attendees were quite noticeable at the event (and not because of a contrast to the geeky stereotype). There was actually a larger percentage of girls than would be in the U.S. and they could be commonly found among the rows of computers (though it was sometimes hard to identify the gender of an individual owing to hair length and fashion of certain gamers).


Finally, the last thing that fascinated us and kept us up that morning was the cacophony of sounds that permeated each nook and every cranny of the arena. The BOOM-KISH KISH BOOM-KISH KISH of techno arose from not only the loudspeakers above, but also from the sponsor booths and individual gaming stations. Quite a few gamers brought their 20” subwoofers to bless the surrounding players with their unfortunate taste in trance music. The most awesome sound (and my favorite part of the Gathering) was the hue and cry raised at random approximately every 30 minutes. One particularly emotional gamer would stand up on a chair and yell at the top of his lungs. The players immediately around him would pick up the hue and cry; spreading like wildfire and reminiscent of Viking battle cries, the noise would start at one end the stadium, swell, and then die at the far end. Such is life at the Gathering.


But even that can't delay the inevitable; in the end, sleep catches us all...

The First Day - Lights Out

As soon as the doors opened on March 19th, they rushed in—six-thousand or so people: eager, anxious and ready to give motionless equipment life with constant flows of electrons. Each person, some old, most young, paid the man, the system, 837 NOK ($139.5) to reserve one of the available seats located on the cement floor of the arena. These seats went on sale December 1, 2007; all seats sold out by January 13, 2008.

During the event’s first day, most participants spent time setting up their assigned areas. To liven things up, the participants erected large wooden structures atop the tables, placing theater speakers, disco balls and plastic women within earshot and view of all. After going through a series of makeovers, each section became a different spectacle; instead of existing as Plain Jane places to sit, these areas became colorful, loud and power-hungry thrones—each area inviting others to visit while also daring each to outdo the next.

The participants—mostly gamers, demosceners and geeks of other degrees—came here to play, download and “chat.” Most participants stated that they liked talking to familiar faces (or pseudonyms) while also becoming acquainted with new ones. Additionally, these participants explained that they liked exchanging music, movies and applications over the network—all of these electronic fruits being available after a few clicks of the mouse (most participants used p2p programs).

As far as cyberathletes go, the gamers spent the first night practicing and preparing for the schedule of duels that were slated to ensue. Games like Counterstrike, Warcraft III, and Quake’s III and IV, could be seen on a majority of the monitor screens. Most of the screens were in sync as the players fought in team-based battlegs; however, some gamers, straying from the pack, chose to play 1 vs. 1 game types instead—these individuals preferred to be an army of one.

At 1 o’clock in the morning, participants gathered around the stage for a videogame showcase, involving a new game developed by Funcom, The Age of Conan. After the showcase, the floor was opened up for Q&A. The audience, who took a break from other activities to listen, showed a strong interest in the game.

After the presentation, the participants retired to their sleeping bags which had been laid out in various places: within the rows of stadium seats, underneath business banners, in heated tents outside, and in hallway nooks and crannies. Similarly, Andrew and I retreated to the press office for sleep. As a final note, if you ever attend The Gathering, do not say the word “sleep” in public; it carries the same weight as a curse word.

Andrew's Gift...

If you enjoy these pictures, make sure to get Andrew’s new book: Being Awake…What’s that?

Airport Refugees

Traveling to Europe is quite an adventure. At airports, one must wade through long lines of people, dodging luggage obstacle courses while making it to distant gates before final calls. At the gurgle of a stomach, one must satisfy the appetite with room temperature coffee and minuscule sandwiches smothered in convenience—both of these items toting prices that are not so convenient. Of course, when one gets on the plane and tries to escape into a dreamworld, angry babies begin to disturb the air with their tantrums, ensuring that sleep is prevented with strategically placed cries. Overall, these things and more make up the conceptual heap that most battered survivors call jet lag—a mental and physical state that no passport can get one through.

Late Tuesday evening, Andrew and I escaped the Oslo airport as jet lagged refugees. After doing a couple laps around the airport, showing the local population that we were tourists, Andrew and I took the express train from the Oslo airport to Central Station. There, we waited several hours for a bus to Stockholm with no avail; all of the buses were full. Getting hungry while time was getting away, Andrew and I decided to spend the night in Oslo, moving the Stockholm detour to another day. We ate at a small establishment situated off the main strip—“Smacks.” It was a hole-in-the-wall type place that served steak pizzas and kebabs. The paint of the place was extreme-orange and the menu was repetitive in content--kebab this and that. Neverthless, the prices were not too bad and the food was tasty.

As long as we stick to our budget, and manage our food intake, I think Andrew and I will make it. Moreover, sleep will heal the wounds of jet lag. So far, this trip has definitely been interesting (and we've only been in Norway for less than a day).

The Norway Preamble

This site of textual fancy shall house pictures, videos and words, relating to an HEB International Peace Program-funded expedition undertaken by two University of the Incarnate Word students--Joseph Kirby and Andrew Deegear. Leaving on a jet plane, with the blessings of the Distinguished Chair of International Business, Dr. Pat LeMay Burr, these two scholars, of extraordinary mental capacity, shall lift up their feet from the moderate San Antonio, Texas soil on Monday, March 17, 2008. On Tuesday, March 18, 2008, these two travelers, of becoming-style, will enjoy a snowy afternoon arrival at the Oslo, Norway airport. After transporting to Hamar mentally and physically, these two gentlemen of seductive wit, and ticklish humor, shall announce their presence by charm at one of the world's largest LAN parties--"The Gathering"--held at the Vikingskipet. Using chivalry and other gentlemanly acts of divine origin, these two beings of royal decent, and dreamy intuition, shall partake in roles of journalism as they experience the daily offerings of the Gathering's festivities. Over the course of their stay, these academic artists shall update the site with a residence of moving ideas, changing portraits and other media markings of the event, and Norwegian area. These charming men hope you will frequent this site during the few days that they are abroad.

"Contact! Contact! Who are we? where are we?"
-Henry David Thoreau