Hi all
Our effort at reprising Syd's legendary thread last year was well received so we have had another go this year.
Whether we got any better is an open question but hopefully you will enjoy regardless
So without further ado, Merry Christmas!!
'Twas the night before Christmas, (Yes really it 'twas.
But surely it can’t be, if only because
it wasn’t that long ago that we were here.
Long or short, I can’t say. But it has been a year.
If you say so. I do, but then better than that
is that Ana does too. Well then, that is that.
So can we move on now? Oh please yes let's do
lest the readers all find something better to do).
So as I was saying ‘fore all that kerfuffle,
'twas the night before Christmas and there was a room full
of presents and stockings and a big Christmas tree,
and plenty of other rooms that we can see.
Just down there, round the corner is one labelled Glitches.
Let's knock on the door and see who, what or which is.
Knock, knock, knock. “Who goes there”? says a voice from inside.
“It's just us”, we exclaim, to which hagatha replied
“come on in dearest friends”. And she opened the door,
where a whole heap of boomers are gracing the floor
doing technical stuff and dispensing advice
about making stuff work on a Windows device.
There’s Tally-Ho, maggsie and petert’s here too.
Mad can’t find messages, what can she do?
Orion is stuck getting Incubus running.
oldbroad’s computer is strangely hiccuping.
lexxy is wondering what might have happened
to some webby place. Has it gone? Yes it has, and
now Bluto is looking for older machines,
in order to play those old games of his dreams.
Regardless of anything, what are the chances
that you’ll have a problem, and they’ll have the answers?
Pretty [blip] good in my humble opinion.
But no time to waste, we have more doors to knock on.
This one for instance, a casual affair.
All those coffee break games are what reside there,
along with their players, of which there are many.
Leeana and Reenie, MooeyG, Taintedfury,
Penny Lane, Sparkle, ChrisMM and nami,
8dognight (that is really a cold one), and then we
have Lex (is his rabbit game really in genre?
We don’t care, it's so cute, not to mention its brother!)
Butterflybabe and aretha and meryl.
Labyrinths and Puppets and a Garden Ethereal.
Plus games that we don’t even remember buying!
(Which of us hasn’t? It's so mortifying).
“Scuse me” says a voice and I move to the side
letting Suzie07 and lakerz inside,
then a crazy town cat aka TLC,
Bristol (with fragments of FROG) and Marcie.
But hark, what is that? It’s a soft cry for help
from the room next to this. Then let's go, lest the yelp
become something more frustrating. Clearly they’re stuck,
and you can’t find the answer relying on luck.
‘If there’s a solution we surely will find it’
is what the sign says ‘buv the door. So let's do it!
We’ll start with the orient problem of dorish,
then winkle out sureshot’s ‘how to’ Nostradamus.
stealastar’s wanting some help with a slider.
Melia can’t find a cold wolfy customer.
The maze in Obduction has dorf all at sea.
CCRider (the 88th) is stumped by Nan-cy.
maggsie’s here also, and JLT too,
plus quite a few others all needing a clue.
Whatever the game or the puzzle involved,
there’s nothing in these walls that cannot be solved.
So, happy that boomers are all in good hands
we head off down the hall to some different lands.
Where the lights dip and dim and the actiony bits
of our RPG, FPS happily sit(s).
Trail_Mystic it is who is guarding the door,
a nod and a wink and we’re onto the floor.
Tomb Raider, Witchfire, Fallout, Amnesia -
nothing is out of bounds here so it seems-a.
Merrick is here, so is gamehound, and Pokey
is back with a seamoth. The Sister of Kaki
remembers the dinosaurs that she once fought.
(fighting a dinosaur always is fraught).
GamingPhreak conquered BG number three.
Sig Segorn praised the charms of Wizardry
number 8. And then Marian came through the door
thinking about playing one Lands of Lore.
The room’s full of boomers. And none with two heads.
(I mention that just cos it's always been said
that the darkside is somewhere a little bit scary,
when really it's somewhere so very contrary.
By which I mean opposite, rather than any
of those synonyms that are different entirely.
I think that they get it, can we please move along?
There are doors that await). So we did move along
down the stairs, then down there, to a door labelled Trading.
Where games you don’t want cos their interest is fading
might be swapped for another more interesting game.
(that they all don’t have boxes these days is a shame).
Fongo from Bradford is selling some stuff.
safc has a brain fog, which isn’t enough
to prevent what will hopefully be a good sale,
or a charity gift which might also prevail.
Right next door to this door is a puzzling affair,
a plethora of posers is what is in there.
Plus bushels of brainteasers, trivial pursuits,
and so many other conundrums to boot -
sage syllacrostic, pub quiz, common phrases,
missing vowels, anagrams, things that amazes.
A cryptical belt. Not to mention the squiggles,
a puzzle whose aim is to trigger the giggles.
We knock and we enter and who do we see?
michelle rose, OrleansBelle, Redz and chrissie.
They’re huddled together making loud contributions
to working out all of the different solutions.
There’s Bermag45, LadyK and Koala,
Manxman and Jarkeld, fildil and Pandora,
who really wants Netflix to help with her laundry.
(Making that happen is really a quandary).
Curly from Ottawa (the one in Ontario),
posting of rhymes is a fav-rit scenario.
The Worrier, Urban from Bucks in UK
will welcome you in and then puzzle you away.
ritchiesbabe’s looking for help with some letters
that might or might not be a town. One that is wetter
than one that is not on the coast. (That’s where I live,
and soggy it is). And let all of us now give
a trophy to Singer for building a wall,
this isn’t the first time; 11 in all.
Sherlock’s a regular from Minnesota
Soot moderates by way of Alabama.
And while we stand watching a noise starts a thrumming.
Surely it can’t be the 12 drummers drumming?
(What on earth, that’s a whole ‘nother poem is it not?
Yes it is, but it's Christmas, so you get what you got).
We follow the noise, past the milkmaids and pipers,
the lords and the ladies. And venomous vipers
that ate all the swans and the hens and the birds.
(I knew that the Dark Side was more than mere words
)
But (thankfully) a much very gentler door
appears. And we knock. And some smells we adore
spring out of wherever they were and assail us.
Donuts and bagles, Dark Kona and Danish.
It’s such a mixed bag. Some might call it eclectic.
Whatever its label, by anyone’s metric
it’s warm, it’s inviting, it welcomes, it’s kind.
Nothing you need or might want can’t you find.
There are prayers, there’s advice, there are recipes too.
What to read? What to watch? Where to go? What to do?
Condolences, birthdays and two pound tomatoes.
It’s really the place that almost any thing goes.
family’s a regular, Judith is too.
MsMercury has a cake she’ll share with you.
Laurette and connie, Sorta Blonde dropped on by.
Fogfighter remembered the 4th of July.
Copper is cruising an insider passage.
Draclvr’s garden is sending a message
to gods that deliver the rain and the weeds.
The former is welcomed, the last no-one needs.
Chief helps make birthdays a really big deal.
Space Quest Fan’s watching time pass on a wheel,
while Starcom extolls the upsides of Grantchester.
And who doesn’t like a discussion ‘bout pizza?
But now we move on to a really big door,
hiding any and all of those things we explore
when we load up our games on our favourite devices,
and dust off our brains and our point-and-click mices.
“Hello, how are you, won’t you both please come in”
said brown eyed the tigre, and once we’re within
there are boomers we recognise from near and far,
decking the halls, fa la la, fa la la.
Simon is here with his black cube in tow.
dianne has a kite and a Carol Reed glow.
And speaking of which, Platypuss will admit
that searching her fridge is a starting habit.
Mikael and flotsam are both of them lawyerly,
and both share a birthday, and films are a hobby
of both of them. (Really? This is getting spooky.
Let's move over there and chat with Upsydaisy)
GreyFuss is playing a waterfall prisoner.
Skeeter93 is from Perth in Australia.
CaptainD stomps as he did the last year.
Fireflower has the developer’s ear.
Kickaha’s looking for games where you play
as a cat. (aren’t dogs better in every way?).
lspace is sharing a knowledge of co-op.
Scarlet thinks purpley peacocks might pop.
Choo-choo! Whose that? It’s none other than revco,
then Winfrey arrives with The Haze and CountZero.
InlandAZ has remembered a cave
quite colossal, from years ago. Give him a wave!
FlyingDutchman42 has flown in,
astride a dog house leaving from Groningen.
JohnBoy is baaging again (just a little).
BeaSong is wondering whether the people
that play pc games might play board games as well.
robedits thinks a mouse and a keyboard are swell.
Uncle Reg keeps the most worthy flag flying
for games that allow for ‘whenever you like’ saving.
Who else? From wherever they are not just here.
Calling all boomers! And so they appear.
Elentgirl, Catventure, Donald and Winx.
Drummerboy, lynthorpe, ergggo and fisicx
Adam Beals, FJT, blackbird, outlast,
whose Nancy crash problem has hopefully passed.
Zoro - a Royally Troublesome type - ,
auntiegram, JIMMYK, oh what a sight.
More numbery boomers come through the doorway,
(Just to butt in, I feel compelled to say
that the scans get all wonky and all go askew
on whether it's twenty two or just two two.
Pardon me, what? If my ears don’t deceive me
your scans are already a tad suss. So sue me!
Or just have another eggnog or gluhwein,
or a beer if down under and everything’s fine!)
So where are we? That’s right, the numbery ones
Let's rewind there and we’ll see what becomes.
mbday630, linda33
Looney4labs, PijinPastrana73.
smitty145 and Susie07
love Black Friday sales and scored Crime in Reflection.
qm2hill wants some SCUMM-ness Titanic
collette_12000 has problems concentric.
And now for some letter ones, plus a few others
Iurii (we hope you’re all right), NDLVR,
RNL, ESS, tpfc,
silverspook, qadventuregames and TomV.
Pugwash and lisav and Jesse Arcana.
Themistoklis asked for some testers most beta.
lostlibrary answered the Call Of The Sea.
Sean Parker, neptendus and TommyLee
of the Sampson (not Simpson) kind, Lanzarote, salex.
LouisOeuvrard and – (Oh my goodness!
Just look at the time, we must finish this poem,
so all of the boomers can make their way home).
Yet before we all go let us all drink a toast
to the people who help make Gameboomers the most
friendliest board anywhere on the planet.
(A big call I know but who would dispute it?)
Here’s to the Mods who keep everything humming.
The other staff too. And then Ana the Admin
extraordinaire. Plus all those who came before.
MaG is the first in a long line of lore.
But most of all, all of you everyday Boomers,
you make this place what it is, just by your presence
so thank you for being a part of this space.
(and no, rhymes don't matter in second last stanzas
)
Now be on your way and we’ll see you next year.
May however you celebrate be of good cheer.
And as you depart may we say with delight,
“Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight”.
acebook
witter
Thankyou 
flotsam, what a Wonderful tribute to all Boomers. 
