Interview
Handle: Der Hansie (member of The Judges)
How did you come up with your alias ?
My real name is "Hans", and way back - when I was cute and little - I was called "Hansje" by most of my family members. I took the German form of my diminutive name - "Hansi" - mostly to annoy the greatest number of people possible. (For some reason the Dutch _still_ dislike Germans.) And because I'm not just _any_ Hansi, but _the_ Hansie, I named myself "Der Hansi". Now, that's nine characters and a real bitch to center on a 40-character screen. So I added the "e", which didn't change the pronunciation (in Dutch), and my handle became "Der Hansie".
We (Coko, White and I) came up with the name "The Judges" when at one time we were criticising various demos. (One of our favourite pastimes.) One of us - I'm not really sure who - had a sudden attack of perspective and asked what right we had condemning all those nice people writing absolute shit demos. We concluded that only a judge could do such a thing. So we _had_ to be judges to continue our quest. We became The Judges, and I'm happy to say that over the years we could pass the verdict "Good" and "Excellent" more and more.
City / Country:
Roosendaal, The Netherlands (About 6 kilometers north of the Dutch- Belgian border, on an almost straight line between Rotterdam and Antwerpen.)
Born year:
1967 (ouch!)
What was your first computer, and when did you get it?
A Texas Instruments TI 99/4a. Must have bought that somewhere in the second half of 1983. Bought a C64 I think in early 1985.
How did you get into the scene and what groups have you been a member of ?
It wasn't really a conscious effort to get into "the scene". We saw a lot of demos coming our way, and started to make some ourselves. We went to some meetings (mainly Venlo), went to a couple of PCW shows. It all happened kind of naturally.
I have been, and always will be, a member of The Judges.
What was the proudest moment in your career ?
Being recognised by Makk and Ant (from Edmonton, North London if memory serves me) on the first PCW show we attended. They saw two guys - one of which was red-headed - and couldn't understand the language they were speaking. Asked us if we were The Judges. I was lost for words.
For what specific reason(s) do you think that you are remembered ?
Obviously the demos. I don't know what people were attracted by in those demos. Maybe they just liked what they saw. Maybe it was the inane gibberish we called scroll texts.
It is probably a good thing that we never made "Now This Is Nonsense". Four independent on-screen scrolls, one Judge each, talking to themselves, to one another, but mostly out of their arses. The plan was to let the scroll texts total 64 kBytes...
What would you like to be remembered for ?
For having put out some good demos, as a person and as a group.
For having been part of the home computer (8-bit) scene, a subculture very few people now understand any more.
What made you stop the scene activity ? (and do you remember when?)
A lot of the demo activity switched to 16-bit (Amiga and Atari) and the local computer scene changed from bad to worse. Demos rarely brought anything new. And we (The Judges) went our separate ways. Coko, White and Red had their studies to attend to. I got a job as a programmer. We got old. Must have been somewhere around 1989.
What was your favorite
GAME(S)
Paradroid. Great logic game.
Uridium. Mindless shooting. Programmed into perfection.
Wizball. One of the few games I was actually good at.
DEMO(S)
Think Twice I
Not because it's White's. But because Coko and I never understood how the f*ck White got it programmed. (I for one still don't.) White explained to us three times how he made the scrolling ESCOS and the vertical FLD scroll work, and after the third time we said we understood, just to get him off our backs. That was about one year after White had discovered how using pre-defined tables could make your life easier.
PROGRAMMER(S) (OR PROGRAMMING TEAM(S))
Andrew Braybrook
CRACKER(S) (OR CRACKING GROUP(S))
Never played too many games, so I never really knew who was cracking what. (Sorry)
OVERALL GROUPS :
The Judges? I really don't remember. It _has_ been a long time, and even then I was considered old...
COMPOSER(S)
Rob Hubbard
Martin Galway
BEST COMPOSED TRACK(S)
Knucklebuster main theme
Comic Bakery main theme
BEST GRAPHICS
Matt
EVENT(S) (E.G. COPYPARTY)
Any computer meeting we (The Judges) went to as a group. If we couldn't find someone to insult and/or annoy, we'd do it to one another.
MEMORY(S)
The first PCW show we attended.
Going to the show and everybody (except me - I had to steer) having to get out of the car to push it. (The starter motor had died even before we got on the ferry.)
Missing the ferry back because I drove onto the M25 the wrong way. (I zigged when I should have zagged. Did three quarters of the M25 in stead of the quarter leading to the Dartford Tunnel.)
That manager of that Sheerness hotel who let us stay that night without having to pay for it.
Talking to a very nice lady (I think from Zzap! magazine) about a lot of things while "Rhaa Lovely" was showing on a monitor right behind her. I'm glad to say she never turned around to see what was going on.
The second PCW show we attended.
Going to a city of 7 million people and meeting two Dutch guys we did not want to see.
Almost being kicked out of the hotel for staying with eleven people in a room, while we had booked it for six. (When the management called we figured they had counted heads, so we made it seven and pleaed ignorance.)
All the time we stayed in the hotel we talked, shouted, screamed and cursed (a lot) in Dutch. Who would understand? The South African employee did, that's who.
Giving Jeff Minter a copy of "Rhaa Lovely II" and seeing him reset the computer in a panic after he found out what Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf were up to. (He said he would look at it later.)
The ferry back:
The old drunk fart who came to sleep next to us while we were playing RISK. (A fast game that one: took only six hours.) The two exceptionally cute fourteen year (an educated guess) old girls who accused us of being (having?) tight cunts for not wanting to buy them some cuddly fluffy toys.
Thinking back on the good old days, is there anything you regret?
Yes. One of the fourteen year old girls said she liked "the one in the blue shirt". I deeply, sincerely, regret not buying her that cuddly fluffy toy, not getting a cabin, and not shagging her. ("Come on *judge*, she told me she was na-na-na-na-nineteen!")
DRINK ?
Coca Cola
What are you doing nowadays ?
Currently I'm a systems analist/systems programmer for a Dutch branch of an internationally active company. (No, it's not the mafia. (They made me say that.)) It's mostly IBM mid-range systems I work on, but now and then I have to work with PCs. (Yes boys and girls, the adversity towards PCs has stayed with me since those days. Computer at home: Acorn Archimedes.)
What are you doing on your spare time?
Not as much as I'd want to. =) Although I live in a "happy young family" street, I'm very much the recluse I was eight years ago. Reading, music, films and computers are main interests. (Still as information-hungry as ever.) Still working on that one big, easy to use, I can store it all, you want it - you got it, data base to store all (my) information carriers. Maybe I'll even finish it once...
Is there anything you'd like to say to the public (read: admires)
Ask Joe Public, and he'll tell you I'm a trainspotter, a nerd, a geek, a dufus. Maybe I was, maybe I still am. But I had a hell of a great time "in them days", and I still think it beats getting drunk every weekend and not being able to tell one year from another.
Do what you like. Like what you do. Live and let live.
Andy Warhol once said that in the end everybody would have 15 minutes of fame in their lives. At the time I accepted the "scene" as my 15 minutes. Feels like I got a second 15 minutes. Thanks.
What is the meaning of life?
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