Hi Ghandy! For those of you who don't know
who Ghandy (or Lars Sobiraj) can be
described as a well known figure in the
scene and currently a member of
Scarab & Vantage. He acts mainly as editor
of for example Jurassic Park, with the
latest issue counting at nr 12 and the
Internet-source located at
www.diskmag.de.

 Two other mags are D.I.S.C. and Showtime
and have also played a role in
Ghandys life.

 Happy reading!

Joru:
 Hi Ghandy, I hope the weather in Germany
is as good as mine in the north of Sweden,
currently minus 12°C with snow on the
ground. To talk about yourself, could you
add some things that you've never
written/told anyone before?

Please don't be shy :)

Ghandy:
Hi Peter!

The weather here in Wermelskirchen is cold,
too. We have only a few degrees minus and
currently no snow, but that can change
daily. And sorry, there is really not much
that I could write which wasn't already
written. In some phases I like to let the
people participate what is going inside me
and that's the moment when I start writing
an article. In other phases writing seems
exhausting to me. Then I have problems
to do anything creative on my own accord.
But generally I tend to share the feelings,
which seem the most important ones to me.
So, there's sadly nothing interesting I
could offer you here...


Joru:
 Some nice, funny, happenings or anecdotes
from demoparties in the past, you
especially remember?

Ghandy:
The misery began on the way back from TP3.
My car at that time was a white Citroen
2CV duck. Nice car, loved to use it. But
those cars from the southern part of Europe
cause huge troubles in combination with
snow and cold degrees. Already during the
party we had fucking problems to get it
running again.
Once we could make it by pushing it start
with the help of many Sceners, one day
later a mechanican had to come, loaded
the battery, exchanged the sparking plugs
and told us that the car would work the
next time for sure without any problems.
But guess what? It did not.
So before we could make ourselfs on the way
home, after the party had finished,
we again had to push it start and then
didn't make it out. The engine ran while
the whole trip home, even when we filled
the duck up in the gas station.
Which wasn't harmless, if I'm right.
We also could have smoked at the
gas station... ;-)

One year later, when I drove to TP4
together with Fishwave, the rear window at
the left side was broken because an
asshole tried to locate something to steal
inside my car. He really seeked for
something being expensive in such a cheap
car. Crazy, isn't it? This year it was
warmer and naturally the rain shivered in.
Fishy and me went to the police and were
back just in time to experience the most
impressive moment in my
scenecareer - the moment when the demo
"Nexus7" was shown at the  bigscreen.
Man, I will never forget this evening.
Never the raytraced scroller ment to
Lord Helmet, that I talked to at this
happening, and especially never ever
the applause and the loud cheers Andromeda
earned when the demo was over. Oh my god,
this was fucking great!

P.S.::That was the last time I tried to get
to The Party with this car.
Ducks should be used in Italy, Greece or
France, and not in scandinavian
countries. ;-)
I had to junk my beloved white car during
the Spring after TP4. And until the
December of 2002, I didn't have any car
inbetween. My relationship was quite
emotional and therefor I didn't want to
be disappointed again. You can call me mad
but that's how I am.
Nowadays I drive a silver VW Golf with an
Amiga & PAiN sticker on its back. But this
thing is a thing. Something that has four
tyres and which brings me safely from
point a to point b.


Joru:
 Scenet.de is splitted, how has this been
evaluated for you?

Ghandy:
It was good it was splitted I can say now.
Zito and me work on it when we have time
and find the right mood. And if we ever
split, then it is my domain and nobody
can take anything away from me.
Nobody can steal it, like in case with
Scenet. Until the present day many people
believe that Scenet would still belong to
me, but that is wrong.
Only the news are shared, and we did copy
many interviews & articles, which were
important for us.
Scenet is nowadays at 100% driven by Dire
and Diskmag.de at 50% driven by me and the
other half by Zito. But anyway, Dire
is actually quite busy
running http://amiga-news.de and does
thousand things for the publishing house,
he's working for.So what!?


Joru:
 Any unseen goals with diskmag.de?

Ghandy:
I'd like to set up a diskmag database
for Amiga and PC diskmags.
Mados has already build it up using php.
Else, I'd like to enlarge the link section
as it still seems too small for me.
Sharing the news with more and more other
good scenerelated sites would
be cool aswell.


Joru:
 To continue around the opening of the
interview, do you ski or snowboard in the
winter - or maybe you only do what many of
us like - drink beer instead?
If so, in Austria maybe?

Ghandy:
During the winter we have a lot snow here
in Wermelskirchen, the town I moved to a
year ago. It is located around 500 meters
higher than Duesseldorf, Cologne or most
other big towns around.
I like to walk in the snow and just enjoy
nature. I've got a young dog called Frodo
and I'm looking forward to do many strolls.
I never tried to ski or snowboard but
probably I will do soon. I'll break most
bones I have, I suggest. I've never been
in Austria for a winter trip.
Once had the plan to visit Adok
in Vienna (Wien), but that's all.


Joru:
 Are you going to continue with the diskmag
Jurassic Pack, or do you believe more in a
multiplatform diskmag? However, in the end,
does it matter since some are reading
mags with winUAE etc?

Ghandy:
Yeah, some are using winUAE but not many.
We had some people that wanted our help
with the configuration and installation
of winUAE but they were only a half
hand full.
Either they still own an Amiga and do read
JP, or they don't investigate the time that
would be needed to check it out on a PC.
No, I write for JP and for PAiN, which is a
decent mag for Windows.
Gone and Zito do so, too.


Joru:
 What are your feelings today when you
think back at the old days when the usage
of modems had its golden days?
Personally I remember hours with late and
expensive phonecalls, how was it
like for you?

Ghandy:
For two years I had a bbs running in
Wuppertal and in the beginning blue boxing
was possible, later the abuse of calling
cards and at the end I had huge phonebills
because none of the possibilites were
left but my addiction was still the same.
I love the internet because everything is
nearly for free now.
But surely it also killed a lot of the
Scenes' atmosphere.
Mailswapping was very, very personal
and nice. It kicked ass.


Joru:
 Is there anything you miss in the demos of
today?
 Maybe you have feelings like myself about
the lack of originality that has been lost
in the jungle of the all-seen-before
3D-effects?
 Is it possible at all to find new paths or
will we move on like how the
fashion industry a of today works with
reoccouring fashion from previous years?

Ghandy:
Which would not be bad. I'd greet for
example a well done sinus scroller inside a
new demo. One main problem in all sort of
demoscenes is, that those guys who are
nowadays produce demos don't know much
about the roots of the Scene and in case
of the PC demoscene, many do not care
either.
 To sum it up, I totally agree on that
point of you.


Joru:
 What is it that gives you the inspiration
to write articles?
 An urge to play a role in the progress of
the scene, or just a feel to give
something, not only for your own pleasure
but also for others?

Ghandy:
If each editor would be honest, he would
have to agree, that one of the most
important reasons why we write is because
of the ego stimulation.
And then it is a pleasure for me to write.
After an issue of JP or PAiN had hit the
streets, I often feel empty because I gave
what I was able to give even if it was
not much. Then my motivation is down to
zero. And some weeks later I begin to ask
myself what I could write about next.
 I have many ideas, don't write them down.
And what is then when the deadline of the
next issue comes nearer and nearer, kept
in my memory, that seems to me to be the
right thing to write about. A natural form
of selection. But it also sometimes happens
that I read an email that gives me a kick,
and I immediately start Textpad, or the
Cygnus Editor to write something about it.
But that does not happen often.


Joru:
 What do you wish for this Christmas except
for good food and nice company?

Ghandy:
A girlfriend would be great.
I often feel alone as my last relationship
was finished at the end of January
this year.
 It is not the sex I'm missing. It is far
more often the affection, the warmth, to
share everything with somebody. Or that I
am the most important person for her and
she for me. You see, there is again the
connection to the ego stimulation.
 Editors are often weak persons...


Joru:
 To sum up, how do you look upon your work,
previous and current when it comes to
negativity?
 Have you had periods of frustration and
bad feelings when you've wanted to just
throw all away and continue with
other things?

Ghandy:
Of course I had and will have.
But I have people that motivate me and
build me up again when I need it badly.
Friends like Unlock or Zito. They're for me
both more than people sharing the same
hobby. But that's the case in the same
way the other way round.


Joru:
 In your eyes, what are the differences
between the Mac/Amiga and PC scene?
 Maybe they will intermix with the
introduction of the more powerful
"new amiga" called AmigaOne?

Ghandy:
I cannot tell you much of the Mac Scene,
but the most important difference else is,
that the PC Scene is totally unclear.
 I could bet that there are still many,
many coders, graphicians, musicians etc.
in the PC demoscene that never have heard
or did read an issue of PAiN, which is
nearly 10 years old. The PC Scene is simply
far too big. If you make advertisments in
news sites such as Ojuice, Diskmag.de etc.
or not, you will never reach them all.

 And else, sorry if I disappoint you, but
I do not believe in a future of the Amiga.
 In my eyes, in commercial aspects, the
Amiga is: Dead, dead and dead!
 Rest in peace old butt,
   we love and respect you so much.


Joru:
 Where do you find yourself in 10 years
and doing what?

Ghandy:
Ooups!? I don't have a clue.
If I never loose my urge to write and
still can find enough sparetime. Then, I'll
probably will be with you - on Amiga
aswell on PC.
 Zito and me began writing science fiction
shortstories together in the german
language. We both hope to be able to
publish a book somewhen in the future.

 When it comes to my private life,
I don't need the typical family that looks
like father, mother and son. Five friends
moved together into a very nice house,
that we've rent. I wish to life with those
friends in the more distant future, too.
Even if it is more easy to be on your own
and not to make any concessions to anybody.
Browallia once was in the small flat in
Duesseldorf where I was living previously.
It was small, dark, but nobody told me that
I was too loud or that it would be
time to clean the kitchen etc.


Joru:
 That was all I had to offer,
thank you Ghandy and I hope you have a
good future waiting for you out there.
 Thanks for taking the time to answer the
questions, but before we head on,
what are your last words and thoughts about
the current situation in the world
with regards to war and cruelty?

Ghandy:
It is my deepest conviction that we all
have an assignment while we are on earth.
 You can try to do things like watching
tv the whole day, that takes your mind
off things. But the sooner or later this
assignment, this job will follow you
and force you to open your eyes and
just to do it.
 I really hope there will be during my
lifetime somebody that feels the assignment
to make things better for us all.
 Somebody like Martin Luther King or Gandhi,
somebody with a thousand times higher
courange than I or most other people that
actually exist, could offer.
 Somebody that is able to convince people
just with arguments and that refuses
cruelty in any form.
Obviously that that could never
be someone like
Bush, Blair, Schwarzenegger and so on.

 On the other side, the mankind always
made their earth in the way the majority
wanted it.
 Why else could one explain why those
outstanding persons were mostly killed by
others, that were blind. Isn't it so that
we often only follow our genes, our nature?
And the nature of the human being is not
to be peaceful, so it seems.

 Are we really so far away from the middle
age or before?? I would say no.
 And I end my arguments here as it would
take hours just to answer this question.
 And I'm not a philosoph,
sociologist or psychologist.
Can they explain why the world is
ooking the way it does with all
their knowledge and experience?
Not really if you ask me.

 And Peter, I also wish you the best!!
You made me extremly curious reading
this and hopefully more issues of
Cows'n Snakefights. The Amiga demoscene
badly needs some active mags!!