Sad Passings

Obviously today, for a lot of people, it will be a day of mourning for the passing of Steve Jobs. Mr Apple. Personally the only Apple product I have is a mk.1 Shuffle I found in the street, and it lives in the car, unused; but I can certainly appreciate his vision and ability to reshape an entire industry. I have him to thank for the fact I'm not sat typing this up at a grey box, and I have a touchscreen phone with practically the entire world inside it by my side. That aside he was anti-conformist and a firm believer in pursuing your own goals rather than compromise, that is hard not to like.

In more local news, the sad but strangely inevitable news that the Leeds Wargames Centre is to close it's doors after barely six months was announced yesterday. It's tough times for any business, new or established, but the suddenness of the decision caught us off guard. We were aware that Craig, the owner, with a baby on the way and demands for a more realistic income and lifestyle, was taking on a real job in IT and hoping to sell the business on as a going concern of some description. That came a cropper however, as his lease negotiations were giving the landlord enough grounds to simply get a new tenant. Cue a sudden closure.

This leaves the Leeds Nightowls effectively homeless, last night was the last official opening date (and I was busy with a date, so only turned up late to find out the news). In the short term as a club, we'll have to clear our stuff out and go on a hiatus, however the Headingley gaming club still meets on Thursday and the Leeds Gaming club is open on a Wednesday (having, it now transpires, wisely not pinned their colours to Craig's mast). Gaming will continue, but for some of the former attendees, I imagine they will return to their spare rooms and garages rather than a club community. This is a shame.

As for Craig, I think he walks away from this older and wiser, but fortunately has a job and escape plan to protect him. The LWC was a valiant effort, but in the end a failed one. There are still talks ongoing for a future club site, and even more brave souls willing to throw themselves to the fore in creating a new commercial venue; I wouldn't do it myself, but all the best to them.

Still RIP, LWC.