Tonight, an event that is both joyous and sad. Two years ago I left Sydney, sad about leaving family and friends, but knowing that I'd be back in a few years. In a week's time I leave Montreal, with no plan to return. Some of the people that I saw at these parties I won't see again for a long time. Some I won't see again at all. So, whilst the night went superbly, whilst I very much enjoyed myself and so did many others, I'm also a little sad.
Perhaps you are wondering, 'Why parties (plural)?'. Well, Chuckies and myself both planned going-away parties to happen simultaneously, with a large overlap in the guest lists. By the time that we discovered the clash, many people had already been invited to each. Combining the parties might have been possible, but as we both have small apartments, space was a concern. So, we decided to just go ahead. There was no way that I saw my party continuing until breakfast, whilst Chuckies' was announced to do just that. So, the general concensus from people invited to both appeared to be to start at one (probably mine) then move to the other (probably Chuckies'). In fact, this is exactly what happened: Between midnight and 1:00am, there was a migration from my place to Chuckies' place. Additionally, a somewhat crazy idea about setting up a videoconference between the two parties was actually attempted, and actually worked (webcam at each end, cable modem at my end, ADSL at Chuckies' end). It was, perhaps, the hit of the parties.
The evening's only other representative from down-under (New Zealand rather than Australia, but hey, who's counting?), Josh.
Christina, Ron, Jean (my team-at-Discreet's new imperious leader)
Atilla.
Kurt, a capable designer, and all-around nice guy.
Helena (?), Tanya (?) and Nebojsa.
Peter (?) and Patricia (?), friends of Ron.
Dave, my team-at-Discreet's former imperious leader, with his self-destructing wine bottle.
The webcam, with Josh holding the camera, J in the Hawaiian shirt, Bill (provider of the notebook) in red.
The webcam again. Bill, Lori, Stan, Charles, Peter, Dave, Patricia.
The incomparable Martin Blais. A Linux fan like myself.
Madeline and Eric.
J and Josh
Charles. Also a Linux fan.
The memorable Richard Gratton
Jason and Robert, pool-noodle jousting.
Kurt and Simon. Tanya in the background.
Jean
Lori and Stan
At this point, the party migrates to Chuckies' place. Alex, Chuckies and Juan (another Linux fan) appear to dominate the field of view. Alex and Chuckies. Alex and Juan (twice). Juan, Steven, Chuckies and Alex. Juan, Chuckies and Alex. J, Simon, Richard and, believe it or not, Juan. There were quite a few others at Chuckies' place, it seems that I did not have the presence of mind to photograph them.
... and a postscript. The following morning, I found a message in the 'sand' on the terrace.