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CLAWlore

TheTome.CLAWlore History

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November 26, 2008, at 05:28 PM by confluence - fixed linebreaks
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I joined CLAWs in 1992.  It was an auspicious entry into a new world for\\
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I joined CLAWs in 1992.  It was an auspicious entry into a new world for
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time, was that they threw the most amazing video evenings every few\\
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time, was that they threw the most amazing video evenings every few
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It took me a few hours to finally find the tiny little lift shaft office\\
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It took me a few hours to finally find the tiny little lift shaft office
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corridor of an ancient stairwell.  I soon learned that this was its\\
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corridor of an ancient stairwell.  I soon learned that this was its
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of being inside it.  While it was true that the room was cramped,\\
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of being inside it.  While it was true that the room was cramped,
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unpleasant, it was the best place for CLAWs in those days.  Away from\\
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unpleasant, it was the best place for CLAWs in those days.  Away from
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crap coming from UCT Radio and away from the religious nutters that\\
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crap coming from UCT Radio and away from the religious nutters that
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When I first entered the CLAWroom, I was accosted by a face and a rather\\
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When I first entered the CLAWroom, I was accosted by a face and a rather
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the previous year. He demanded my name (he may have been asking rather\\
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the previous year. He demanded my name (he may have been asking rather
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seem to loom above me, and my fertile imagination may have jumped into\\
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seem to loom above me, and my fertile imagination may have jumped into
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At this point a war of words ensued, as we each tried to out do each\\
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At this point a war of words ensued, as we each tried to out do each
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In the end, I called him "Grotesque snotwad". And he called me\\
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In the end, I called him "Grotesque snotwad". And he called me
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And if I had Dylan "Tarquin 'Ole Ole F'tang Biscuit-barrel' Mendez"\\
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And if I had Dylan "Tarquin 'Ole Ole F'tang Biscuit-barrel' Mendez"
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Now... I told you that story to try and explain the true story behind my\\
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Now... I told you that story to try and explain the true story behind my
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of the kind of person that used to hang around the CLAWroom in those\\
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of the kind of person that used to hang around the CLAWroom in those
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of "slap chips" and cover it with tomato sauce and mayonnaise, and then\\
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of "slap chips" and cover it with tomato sauce and mayonnaise, and then
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Are these the kind of people you would entrust power tools, heavy\\
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Are these the kind of people you would entrust power tools, heavy
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However, with enough bribes, damned lies and sacrifices to dark gods, we\\
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However, with enough bribes, damned lies and sacrifices to dark gods, we
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in the middle of the CLAWroom was a small wall.  On top of this small\\
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in the middle of the CLAWroom was a small wall.  On top of this small
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lift shaft. However, with the shaft cemented up, and the engine gone the\\
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lift shaft. However, with the shaft cemented up, and the engine gone the
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always stubbed your toe on it when you wanted to stretch you feet under\\
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always stubbed your toe on it when you wanted to stretch you feet under
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So it was with maniacal glee that about 5-10 gibbering claw members set\\
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So it was with maniacal glee that about 5-10 gibbering claw members set
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swing a cat in (thanks to Andrew and his successful experiments, I can\\
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swing a cat in (thanks to Andrew and his successful experiments, I can
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lacked in room to move, we more then adequately made up for in\\
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lacked in room to move, we more then adequately made up for in
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admit, to being one of the worst culprits... and to making the swing\\
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admit, to being one of the worst culprits... and to making the swing
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iron beam that the engine used to rest on.  While many of the beginning\\
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iron beam that the engine used to rest on.  While many of the beginning
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who hit upon the idea of striking the iron bar with all my might (read:\\
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who hit upon the idea of striking the iron bar with all my might (read:
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might at the cement wall, but struck the iron bar instead, causing a\\
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might at the cement wall, but struck the iron bar instead, causing a
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with in two more blows, it had completely shrugged off its concrete\\
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with in two more blows, it had completely shrugged off its concrete
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Once the wall was demolished, we cleaned the room, repainted it, and\\
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Once the wall was demolished, we cleaned the room, repainted it, and
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was so nice, it was absconded by the SRC (or Student Affairs... I forget\\
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was so nice, it was absconded by the SRC (or Student Affairs... I forget
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So I leave you with this word of advice for which ever room you will end\\
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So I leave you with this word of advice for which ever room you will end
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that are willing to live in harmony with you, as they will be your\\
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that are willing to live in harmony with you, as they will be your
December 08, 2006, at 12:15 AM by Gnome - fixed links, spelling, CLAWnoun linkage
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Other pages of interest: ListOfClawThings
to:
Other pages of interest: [[CLAWthings]]
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For all its shortcomings, the room was coveted by the Student Affairs departament, as it was right in the middle of their territory. Luckily this was the one year in which we had a CLAW memeber, Steffi Anastasiadis, on the Students Representative Council. We thus had warning and a sympathetic person on the body that (nominally) controlled the allocation of space in the Student's Union building.

In view of the effort CLAWs had put into making the room usable the SRC granted us a temporary room. We also secured a non-binding recomendation from that SRC to future SRC that we should always have a room in the Student's Union.

The temporary room turned out to be fairly amazing. It was right near the plaza, and had high ceilings. It also had a view of the legendary proto-CLAWroom called Gargoyle Rock, and a cupboard large enough to store people in. That was just the ante-chamber. The main room was many times larger. CLAWs is still in this temporary room almost eight years later, having succesfully fended off several attempts to take the room away.

Some time after Dragonfire 1993 we had to move. That day there was a stream of people dressed in black running down the [old] Students Union and pooling in the new room. I have particular and painfull memories of helping to carry the library cabinets down to the new room.

Various art works were left in the old CLAWroom. I suspect that this was a last attempt to mark our territory. I can remember a drawing on the wall of small footprints leading to a squashed rodent, excuted skillfully in tomato sauce.
to:
For all its shortcomings, the room was coveted by the Student Affairs department, as it was right in the middle of their territory. Luckily this was the one year in which we had a CLAW member, Steffi Anastasiadis, on the Students Representative Council. We thus had warning and a sympathetic person on the body that (nominally) controlled the allocation of space in the Student's Union building.

In view of the effort CLAWs had put into making the room usable the SRC granted us a temporary room. We also secured a non-binding recommendation from that SRC to future SRC that we should always have a room in the Student's Union.

The temporary room turned out to be fairly amazing. It was right near the plaza, and had high ceilings. It also had a view of the legendary proto-CLAWroom called Gargoyle Rock, and a cupboard large enough to store people in. That was just the ante-chamber. The main room was many times larger. CLAWs is still in this temporary room almost eight years later, having successfully fended off several attempts to take the room away.

Some time after [[Dragonfire]] 1993 we had to move. That day there was a stream of people dressed in black running down the [old] Students Union and pooling in the new room. I have particular and painful memories of helping to carry the library cabinets down to the new room.

Various art works were left in the old CLAWroom. I suspect that this was a last attempt to mark our territory. I can remember a drawing on the wall of small footprints leading to a squashed rodent, executed skillfully in tomato sauce.
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The problem with SRC chairs is that while they were standard plywood-and-steel school-type chairs, their steel tube parts were bright red.  This made them highly visible and easy for the UCT cleaning staff to find and remove on their occasional visits.  We had just got a new batch in, and while sitting on them late one afternoon Giles Kipps (then CLAWThing) and I were pondering this visibility when we noticed some leftover cans of spraypaint.

We had two shades of green and some red, so the obvious happened - we camouflaged the chairs.  Just in case we labled them 'CLAWS' in bright red so that no confusion would arise.  Unfortunately no confusion did arise: the cleaning staff confiscated them again, with the result that occasionally while sitting an exam one will see chairs marked 'CLAWS' or painted in camouflage!
to:
The problem with SRC chairs is that while they were standard plywood-and-steel school-type chairs, their steel tube parts were bright red.  This made them highly visible and easy for the UCT cleaning staff to find and remove on their occasional visits.  We had just got a new batch in, and while sitting on them late one afternoon Giles Kipps (then CLAWthing) and I were pondering this visibility when we noticed some leftover cans of spray-paint.

We had two shades of green and some red, so the obvious happened - we camouflaged the chairs.  Just in case we labelled them 'CLAWS' in bright red so that no confusion would arise.  Unfortunately no confusion did arise: the cleaning staff confiscated them again, with the result that occasionally while sitting an exam one will see chairs marked 'CLAWS' or painted in camouflage!
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One of the CLAWRoom's perenial problems was a lack of furniture. Students are notorious for not having two brass farthings to rub together, and in the case of CLAWmembers not even that because they spend it all on RPGs and CTCGs...
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One of the CLAWroom's perennial problems was a lack of furniture. Students are notorious for not having two brass farthings to rub together, and in the case of CLAWmembers not even that because they spend it all on RPGs and CTCGs...
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With assistance from Patrck Schreiber's baby blue station wagon and pressganged CLAWmembers we hauled our new stuff to the CLAWroom, where it was used, abused (remember Toby & Alan's science experiment that burned a hole in the table?) and sat upon for years.
to:
With assistance from Patrick Schreiber's baby blue station wagon and press-ganged CLAWmembers we hauled our new stuff to the CLAWroom, where it was used, abused (remember Toby & Alan's science experiment that burned a hole in the table?) and sat upon for years.
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My first memory of the Claws room occured in the winter of '96. It was a dark and stormy day. I had encountered Nenad and Alastair ( I knew them from playing V:tES outside Wizards on Saturday mornings) while kicking my feet outside Springfields on Friday night - I'd been bounced, as usual.  Despite the fact that I need to finish reading ''Lord of the Flies'' for my exam on the Monday morning they managed to convince me to come to the Vampire Day that had been organised for Saturday  where they were going to watch video's in the Richard Luyt and then they needed extra's for a LARP/Party they were holding afterwards.

Well, I think I managed to catch Interveiw with a Vampire (for the god-know-what-th time), skipped out on Nosferatu and had arrived too late for Lost Boys.  I then retired to this rather small pokey room off to the side where everyone was gathering.  It was rather a drab place sporting a table, a few broken chairs and a number of fantasy art posters stuck to the (rather high) roof. Most of the chairs were occupied and being a rather lost 16 year-old, when the only people I knew disappeared to work on their LARP, I proceeded to climb up onto the cupboard stashed next to the door of the antechamber and sit there, trying to read ''Lord of the Flies'' and being consistently distracted by the bizarre conversations going on around me.

The LARP in question was Cedarfalls, to this day I remember Zara's glee as she recieve her character, Crystal Starr, with a squeek of 'Nenad! You know me so well!'.  I also remember being accosed by one of the oddest people I have ever met - and never met again - wearing a green Robin Hood style outfit.  Unfortunately, I had to leave before I learned how the Larp turned out (curfew), but I got plenty more chances with plenty other runnings, two of which I've played in and one of which I've run in Durbs!  Oh, yes, and the first LARP I every played in was Cedarfalls, in which I got the ''delightful'' task of playing, guess who! Yes! Crystal Starr.  The [[ZCC]]. <sigh>
to:
My first memory of the Claws room occurred in the winter of '96. It was a dark and stormy day. I had encountered [[PlosiGuant|Nenad]] and Alastair ( I knew them from playing V:tES outside Wizards on Saturday mornings) while kicking my feet outside [[Springfields]] on Friday night - I'd been bounced, as usual.  Despite the fact that I need to finish reading ''Lord of the Flies'' for my exam on the Monday morning they managed to convince me to come to the Vampire Day that had been organised for Saturday  where they were going to watch video's in the Richard Luyt and then they needed extras for a LARP/Party they were holding afterwards.

Well, I think I managed to catch Interview with a Vampire (for the god-know-what-th time), skipped out on Nosferatu and had arrived too late for Lost Boys.  I then retired to this rather small pokey room off to the side where everyone was gathering.  It was rather a drab place sporting a table, a few broken chairs and a number of fantasy art posters stuck to the (rather high) roof. Most of the chairs were occupied and being a rather lost 16 year-old, when the only people I knew disappeared to work on their LARP, I proceeded to climb up onto the cupboard stashed next to the door of the antechamber and sit there, trying to read ''Lord of the Flies'' and being consistently distracted by the bizarre conversations going on around me.

The LARP in question was Cedarfalls, to this day I remember Zara's glee as she receive her character, Crystal Starr, with a squeak of 'Nenad! You know me so well!'.  I also remember being accosted by one of the oddest people I have ever met - and never met again - wearing a green Robin Hood style outfit.  Unfortunately, I had to leave before I learned how the LARP turned out (curfew), but I got plenty more chances with plenty other runnings, two of which I've played in and one of which I've run in Durbs!  Oh, yes, and the first LARP I every played in was Cedarfalls, in which I got the ''delightful'' task of playing, guess who! Yes! Crystal Starr.  The [[ZCC]]. <sigh>
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that was the clawroom, as it was neatly tucked away in a disused
corridor of an ancient stairwell.  I soon learned that this was it's\\
to:
that was the CLAWroom, as it was neatly tucked away in a disused
corridor of an ancient stairwell.  I soon learned that this was its\\
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When I first entered the Clawroom, I was accosted by a face and a rather\\
to:
When I first entered the CLAWroom, I was accosted by a face and a rather\\
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And if I had Dylan "Tarquin 'Ole Ole F'tang Buscuit-barrel' Mendez"\\
to:
And if I had Dylan "Tarquin 'Ole Ole F'tang Biscuit-barrel' Mendez"\\
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of the kind of person that used to hang around the Clawroom in those\\
days (if that is not enough, I once witnessed a clawmember take a plate
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of the kind of person that used to hang around the CLAWroom in those\\
days (if that is not enough, I once witnessed a CLAWmember take a plate
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procured said implements and set about "fixing" our Clawroom.  You see,
in the middle of the clawroom was a small wall.  On top of this small\\
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procured said implements and set about "fixing" our CLAWroom.  You see,
in the middle of the CLAWroom was a small wall.  On top of this small\\
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way of the dodoes, the wall was just irritating enough so that you
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way of the dodos, the wall was just irritating enough so that you
September 20, 2006, at 11:43 AM by AdriaanWessels - Added Furniture Day '97
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The CLAWroom was on Green Level of the Students Union. It was a rehabilitated lift machinery room - something of a Frankenstein room. It had metal plates that covered the holes that it had needed to operate before its revivification.
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The CLAWroom was on Green Level of the [old] Students Union. It was a rehabilitated lift machinery room - something of a Frankenstein room. It had metal plates that covered the holes that it had needed to operate before its revivification.
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Some time after Dragonfire 1993 we had to move. That day there was a stream of people dressed in black running down the Students Union and pooling in the new room. I have particular and painfull memories of helping to carry the library cabinets down to the new room.
to:
Some time after Dragonfire 1993 we had to move. That day there was a stream of people dressed in black running down the [old] Students Union and pooling in the new room. I have particular and painfull memories of helping to carry the library cabinets down to the new room.
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[Eventually they coveted this room too, but eventually had to change Student Union buildings to dislodge us!]
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Future topics from AdriaanWessels may include: Mutants with Posters '93, Furniture day '97, CLAWputer '97 onwards, Captain Dorego's (will the memories ever fade?)
to:
!! Furniture day '97 by AdriaanWessels

One of the CLAWRoom
's perenial problems was a lack of furniture. Students are notorious for not having two brass farthings to rub together, and in the case of CLAWmembers not even that because they spend it all on RPGs and CTCGs...

As luck would have it this was rather dramatically solved in late 1997 by UCT maintenance department having a spring cleaning session. An advert in the Monday paper was brought to my attention by Gavin Chait, a fellow engineer much involved in SHAWCO.

Investigation during lunch turned into an acquisition spree that grew to include tables, chairs, a desk and two IBM XT computers. Why two? Spare parts of course! The operable IBM XT became the [[CLAWputer]].

With assistance from Patrck Schreiber's baby blue station wagon and pressganged CLAWmembers we hauled our new stuff to the CLAWroom, where it was used, abused (remember Toby & Alan's science experiment that burned a hole in the table?) and sat upon for years.

---

Future topics from AdriaanWessels may include: Mutants with Posters '93
, Captain Dorego's (will the memories ever fade?)
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Page last modified on November 26, 2008, at 05:28 PM