Coffee Wars vi: The Complete Story
Phew! We're tired, or busy, or something. Somehow this year,
in spite of our very bestest and most honorable intentions, there
was a waft of lethargy in the air as CoffeeWars approached. We
kicked around the idea of making more shirts, and actually produced
some draft artwork, but never really mustered the enthusiasm to
get them made (no point in doing it for just 10 shirts or so).
We didn't get our announcement out till more or less the last
minute (my fault), and we fumbled with submitting materials to
the con program (probably my fault also).
But somehow, it all still happened. The right people showed up
in the right place at the right time, and we commenced the war.
There was the usual pre-war cup of coffee, just to take the edge
off the morning, and then we began. Bean after bean, sip after
sip, the judges held their disposable Starbucks cups in their
ever-more-trembling hands (Shrdlu had somehow "liberated" these
cups from whatever place they were found, and rededicated them
to this new superior purpose).
Sadly, we did have to turn some people away. Two of them, and
both at the very end of the contest (we had tried to be as clear
as possible that we needed entries at the start of the contest,
not the end). They both took it well, but it was a sad duty to
deny them entry.
We didn't get a chance to give coffee to either DT or Priest
this year, whereas last year they both had somehow managed to
stop by. Alas, perhaps next time.
Oh, and Rob wasn't there. While this is far from unusual, it's
worth mentioning, just because it gets him riled up.
But the war was fun! The judges were (in no order):
- Etaoin Shrdlu
- Dog
- Lucid
- Lucid's pal Greg
- Dr. Vann Harl
- Gurney Halleck
And judge they did! They downed 3.5 gallons of coffee (with
some small amount being distributed to those entrants who were
able to hang around). They cast over 750 votes. They got a
good buzz on.
Additional (non-judging) support for the contest was provided
by MadHat, Sweetypig, and Foofus.
For the last two years, Dr. Vann Harl had generously donated the
prize for CoffeeWars. This year, Shrdlu decided to make the
donation (way to go, Shrdlu!). In a remarkable coincidence (and
seriously, that's all it was!), this worked out well, since Vann
Harl's entry turned out to be the winner.
And thus, CoffeeWars vi ground to a halt. Get it, "ground?" Yeah.
The awards were presented at the final ceremony. One or two
fascinating updates were issued to the DefCon Info Booth. The
gear was packed up and taken home to the Fortress of Brewing by
Dog and Shrdlu. And the inevitable pleas for results started
coming in. As always, I've been slow, but nice things take time,
and hopefully you're not too disappointed reading this.
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