Dotted around the country are places called Lanarena. At a Lanarena you'll find loads of high-spec gaming PC's linked together so you can play games with your mates. We decided it was about time that DJ Ess's clan, [COF-HS], met up to have a play and actually meet each other. So we got hold of Lanarena Maidenhead and hired it out from 6pm on Saturday night to 6pm on Sunday night. Talk on the COF-HS forum got more and more excited until Deejaycee dropped a bombshell.

"Just got off the phone to the new organiser at Lanarena (last geezer, Stuart, quit about 2 weeks ago) to verify a couple of things... 

"Maidenhead boss isn't as laid back as Bristol boss and says that no booze will be consumed in the LANarena, meaning that we only have the bar and our own beer won't be allowed...

"Major pisser on the beer rules. I reckon load yer boots up with booze anyway 'cos you never know."

Replies such as "Argh!" and "Shit!" followed, as beer drinking all night is an absolute must at these types of events.

Then we found out that fellow clan member Bo couldn't come - it was just too far for him to travel. This was very sad news as Bo is one of the core members of COF-HS but hey, what can you do?

Present from COF-HS was a very respectable eight people (far more that we normally get at clan matches ) : Grim... (that's DJ Ess), Nase_2K, Zoixie, Blade, Arcane, Jonney, Deejaycee, and Nasher (and I think someone else as well, but I can't remember). Fitchy came with us, too.

We all brought beer anyway and were discussing various ways of getting it into the Lanarena. Plenty of shopping went on from the nearby bar and lots of computer games were played. You can play all sorts of games at Lanarena, and we played Alien Vs Predator (DJ Ess ruled), Black & White (Deejaycee ruled), Colin McRae Rally 2 (DJ Ess ruled), Counter Strike (Fitchy ruled), FIFA 2001 (we all lost to the computer), Ground Control (everyone kicked in DJ Ess), Half Life (Arcane was pretty good at that), Quake III (Jonney ruled), and Toy Story 2 (it sucked).

Then the manager (who also stayed all night) did something very, very good - he got absolutely plastered. Staggering around, he threw his arms about and said "Oh, drink all the beer you like! Take it to your computers. Smoke next to them too!"

Five minutes later around 100 cans of beer, two bottles of vodka and orange, on bottle of JD and coke and one bottle of lime (for DJ Ess' beer) had arrived in the Lanarena and much cheering (and drinking) commenced.

The manager disappeared then came back to tell us "I've been downstairs to switch everything on - you can do some bowling if you like."

Down everyone trooped to the ten pin bowling alley. Deejaycee, who, by then, like all of us, was absolutely hammered, decided to run across the lanes with his trousers round his ankles to much amusement. Wearing our shoes (and leaving black marks everywhere) and dancing to the music on MTV, we drunkenly bowled three balls at once down lanes to see what would happen*. 

Then the top manager dude switched all the arcade games on, and Deejaycee embarrassed himself yet again, this time for not being able to get above 150 on the punching game (some sixteen year old kid got 305).

And then the manager decided to open the bar (at four in the morning). Top bloke.

Back at the computers, Blade fell asleep on his keyboard just before we had to play in a 4vs4 Counter Strike match, so Deejaycee played instead. As soon as we had finished the match he woke up and said, straight away "Have we won?"

Deejaycee and Nase_2K also wimped out and went to sleep (just ho tired have you got to be to sleep on five wheely chairs pushed together? Nase_2K could tell you), as did a couple of other people, but everyone else stayed up and kept playing computer games, sometimes inventing new ones like games of "Catch" in Colin McRae 2.

We all had a fantastic time, much of it thanks to Top Manager Dude (who we won't name in case he gets fired). If you get a chance to go to one, go, even if computers aren't really your thing - it rules.

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