November 27, 2003
Have died, will rise from the grave Christ like on Tuesday
Everyone likes Red Meat so why not make some of your very own like this
Oh have some more wallpaper and other eyecandy while I remember. Mmmmm Wastem
November 22, 2003
Wabnazby
Rugby. Who indeed would have thought I'd enjoy a game? Surely only the very wise or very dumb.
However did anyone else spend the last hour of that game shouting "For god's sake, forget trys, set up a drop goal, you can do them! AAARRGH!"
Still. We am win.
Improverts was funny, I was tech. I was boozy till late, oh so late. I awoke and went to a funny making workshop. I was average at best, but I will grease myself in the future for more pliant comedi. (eastern european speling.)
I quit my damn job, and it is a good, smooth feeling, my fowl mood from earlier this week has abated somewhat, much like a sweating calf falling into debasement.
In case you wonder, Wabnazby is the name of my next dog.
I desire haircut.
Leave now. Go back to your jobs and essays, unless you're Ed or a Marquis.
Legion.
November 21, 2003
Stupid, stupid rat creatures.
This is not directed towards anyone specifically, and boy am I totally wicked off having to repeat THAT all the time.
Incidentally I'd like to declare that I'll not be swearing in this post. I'm sure all you eight year old LARP fanatics will be breathing easy now eh? Your rectal meats will be calm and you'll not be forced to imagine your parents copulating to keep the nasty, dangerous words out of your minds
America.
Court.
CNN.com, a resounding supply of news pie.
I can't remember how to make a link. Ed edit this and tidy it up will you?
Stupid people make stupid claims shocker.
Oh,
Tonight, I saw a pretentious poetry evening where a chinese girl sang the word "aaaah" monotone into a microphone and men tapped tin cans with sticks. People wore black polo necks and applauded by clicking their fingers. The beatnik is not dead. We have much work left to do, before those lazy commies are eradicated from all possibility of hassling me. Tomorrow (friday 10.30pm).
I will wear a tux to go and see these people make with the funny...
And possibly bleed to death, alone, unloved, upside down in a pub toilet. Just like your mum.
Foxcroft, your man in Edinburgh.
Fistipus? Discuss. Now.
November 20, 2003
No protesting for me
Yet again, there's a major protest in London, a protest about something I'd cheerfully lend my support to and where am I?
Stuck at home due to the double excuses of lack of money and being a sick, sick puppy, though I am glad I missed the bush against Bush protest.
Still, for those of you lucky enough not to live in London you can lend your support by:
Going to the Sedgefield protest,
writing him a stern note
or you could simply threaten to moon the bastard.
November 19, 2003
"I am only a resounding gong"
Let's try this 'cut' marlarkey then:
Musings on ancient shagging rites
Catholic churches make me sneeze
A Celidh is not a relaxing thing
More meme pointlessness
Well, one of the Fortune clan has finally gone off and got married, in this case my elder brother, Frank, to the lovely Birgit Spoor.
Now the happy event was in Scotland, so I swung over to the North East in order to get a lift to the wilds of Scotland. (Well, Linlithgow. I'll skim over the meeting with my Tita Marushi, one of my many Spanish Aunties, suffice to say that over-enthusiasm and big hugs are family traits. As is being totally barking in a really, really sweet way.
When we finally get there, we meet the brides family, who also have the same remarkable ability as my folks: To talk about nothing for hours. Oh and to be plentiful in number. Maybe the two traits are genetically linked. Probably explains why I'm a quiet, celibate type.
So, there I am in a Catholic church, the first time since I was 13, when I left the faith in search of something that worked for me, doing my best to Usher (which was pretty easy, as most people know how to find a seat and sit down.) I also wondered if my road to finding my own way, belief wise, had anything to do with church incense making me sneeze.
If this Pavlovian effect really does work in churches, I imagine the first organised religous body to join forces with a steak house will do well in these cynical times.
At least it'd be better than the paltry paper wavers they offer as the Body of Christ. I'm sure the Messiah wasn't that weedy.
Anyway, the service was lovely and in both English, Dutch and of course, Latin.
Strangely enough, my Dutch is even worse than my Latin, but I do happen to know enough High Dutch to know what 'Lief' means, and from that deduce this passage from Corinthians was being read, which is really sweet. (also, the Hymn book had it in the back...)
The priest wasn't at all camp, though he did utterly mangle the Christian version of The Lord of The Dance because the football was on and he wanted to finish quickly, which prompted me to double up in an effort to keep a straight face.
Of course, it can't be a wedding without plenty of booze, amusing speeches, and of course dancing.
It is very important that you dance at someones wedding. It's one of the many wedding superstitions out there, but I have no idea where its from.
Anyway, dancing ahoy was had, as the Bride and Groom had hired a Celidh Folk band, to teach the many non-Scottish peole how to dance.
A quick word to the wise: When someone tells you that a Celidh is a nice, relaxing folk dance, at no point should you believe them. This a lie to lure non-Scottish people into a false sense of security, before the fling you around like a whirling dervish.
The where many dances. Including a Ukranian Wedding Dance, which was a lot of fun, though a trifle bizarre, even for me.
Anyway, it was great, and it's nice to see ones sibs not just happy, but ecstatic.
More Pointless Quiz things
You're the off-mark personality quiz!
*****
You provide the soul-searching masses with trite
philosophical ideals about what they can find
congruence in! Yippie Skippie!
Which annoying and pointless quiz are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
In your circle of friends you are the one who likes
to keep an eye out for all the others. Always
there with advice or encouragement, you are
dependable and kind.
If you're not a parent already, you'll make a great
one when the time comes.
Which Pooh character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Grand Design LRP: Hurrah! You want plot until it's
coming out of your nose, and you want your
referees mad and deeply disturbed. But you're
still too fond of painting yourself odd
colours, or pretending to be dead vegetables.
Nice kit, though...
Which LRP system best suits you?
brought to you by Quizilla
November 16, 2003
Media and memes
The press have appeared to have noticed LRP. There's been coverage in The Sundays Times, Loaded and last week some Guardian Journalist phoned me to ask about Pagga and LRP in general.
The latest bit of media mumurings was a local article about the rather excellent Midgard, and can be found here.
Anyway, some dumb Meme results...
You are Spider Jerusalem.
Spider is THE journalist of the future. He smokes,
he does drugs, and he kicks ass. The drugs are
going to eventually kill him but not before he
gets his way. And his way is the demise of the
failed American dream. Although full of hate,
he cares about his city. All he wants to bring
the world is truth. Spider Jerusalem,
conscience of the City. Frightening thought,
but he's the only one we've got.
What Gritty No Nonsense Comic Book Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
You're just the happy go-lucky type. You might have
your pet peeves, but other than that, you're
mainly calm. Blending in with your
surroundings, you're the type of person who
everyone likes. Usually it's you who cracks
jokes at social gatherings - after all,
laughter is the best medicine. Sometimes you
pretend to be stupid, but in all actuality, you
could be the next Einstein.
What Type of Soul Do You Have ?
brought to you by Quizilla
And finally, the Homo-erotic angel test.
Michael. You're most like the ArchAngel of
Defense. You like to hit things, and you like
naked people, preferably cute naked people. A
real down-to-earth angel who likes frogs and is
easily distracted by bright, shiny things.
Which ArchAngel are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla
November 15, 2003
Mugged by winter
Before I start, here are some links that have cheered me up no end in the last couple of hours.
Flip Flop Flyin's Mini-Pops, they're just inherrantly amusing, consider the effort and artistry that has gone into making them. And then check out Rolf Harris. You might also have seen his Ten Ways To Have Fun. It's worth having a poke round the site as all manner of stuff is to be found.
Also been poking round B3ta's Interview Archive where they interview such luminaries as Tony Hart, Jeff Minter and Wilf Lunn asking such questions as 'Do you think you could have Rolf Harris in a fight?'
Oh and Silly Molecules may amuse.
Now onward to a whinge.
Right, is anyone else feeling under the weather at the moment? I blame winter, it's just kind of snuck up and jumped up and down on me while I was unawares. I think it's lack of light coupled with my immune system taking a battering at work, I'm one of only three people in my team who hasn't had an attack of vomitous bowel flu over the last few weeks. *sigh* My boss being off sick hasn't helped, I'm the next most senior team member apparently so I'm nominally in charge, came as a bit of a shock really.
And I miss Sarah something fierce, it was kind of ok when we could chat on ta interweb but we've been out of touch for a while now. *sigh* This is the downside of being in love I suppose, didn't really know it was possible to miss someone this much.
Bah enough with such gooey cuteness time to get angry I think. Who's going to be in London telling Bush where to stick The War Against Terrorism (check the initials)? You want some more reasons to be angry try listening to Maher Arar a Canadian citizen who was deported to Syria without trial by America where he was tortured and imprisoned for a year.
You see the CIA aren't allowed to use torture (except of course torture-lite) so they export people to places like Syria who can torture people on their behalf. Pity all this guy did was sign a lease as a witness for someone who was linked with Al-Quaeda. Shall we put that down to friendly fire eh?
Anyway enough ranting, there's a bunch of stuff happening on the 18-20th of November and not just in London. Have a look at www.stopwar.org.uk and if you're comming along drop us a mail.
Puff Daddy is responsible for all of my problems.
Hi everybody.
This is not directed at anybody specifically.
Im in Torquay. It's a bloody depressing off-season seaside resort, I'm tired and likely working till 3am tonight. Hate.
I'm home for a few days in liverpool as of tomorrow, then off to Edinburgh to see cousin Lizzie et al.
Ahh, Act one beginners call.
I must away.
Your mum owes my dog fuck money.
Foxcroft
November 10, 2003
*plink, plink, plink*
That's the sound of me winding down after a rather energetic saturday dancing the night away at Faery Tales, a rather fine trance night over in Vauxhall. Kenneth was over from Dublin so I dragged Jules over and we all tromped out with Tez and his housemates to do battle.
And oh was a happy shiney time had by all, I suspect this may have had something to do with the mushroom tea they were selling in the chill out room. I must have had a good time as well, because I ache in places I'd forgotten about. Heh must be getting old.
(do you want to know more Y/N?)
Also something struck me during the night about how much I'm missing Sarah at the moment, just I would have loved her to be there and share the joy. Ah well she's back from Oz the 20th and we're planning to go out to Whirl-y-gig that weekend to celebrate Jules birthday so all is not lost.
We ended up at a small party at someone elses house afterwards handily just down the road from Sarah and Jules place. I did my normal party trick of falling asleep curled up in the corner, in my defence it was 6am. I almost had a religious experience later when Jules did the house breakfast after we'd all got some sleep, eggs bacon and sausages, one of the true joys of life.
Very cool to see Kenneth and Terry again, my old muckers from uni, Kenneth's off to China to freeload off his girlfriends software company and enjoy the sights of the hidden city et al... I would be jealous but I have just been to Australia. Really must get my arse over to Dublin in the new year and take Sarah, she's convinced Kenneth (and Chris T come to think of it) are figments of my over-active imagination, it's plausible I suppose, well ok not in Chris T's case.
Also ended up visiting chez Wilkin for the last time as my mum and dad are packing up and moving the Kent at the weekend, to what at least in my head is Stately Wilkin Manor. Boyke Manor, a sixtenth century manor house, complete with thatched barn and a priest hole. I couldn't stop laughing when they showed me the pictures, my family? In a manor house? With our reputation? But no they've finished with the refurbishment they and some my dad's mates have done and are moving in. I can see why the fell in love with the place but it's going to be weird not being able to go home again. But hey I've offered to clean the Barn out as that definately has possibilities, hmmm...
Oh also had to sort out some books I'd been storing in the loft since I move out last year, I think I'd had enough time and space to realise what an aweful taste in books I used to have. I mean David Eddings and Anne McCaffrey, big huge piles of them and even though I loved them dearly as a child the time has come to give them to charity. I had classed them as comfort reading in the last few years, but that's a bit like sucking your thumb really.
I read the Life of Pi on the train over the last few days and that solidified some of my oppinions of the trash fantasy I read on occasion. It's a marvellous book by the way, a genuinely uplifting story that just draws you in and what a cool idea, a boy and a Bengal Tiger in a lifeboat in the middle of the pacific ocean. But it just threw most of the fantasy and sci-fi that I've read into sharp relief, only Iain Banks and China Mielville manage to reach that level of skill with their prose or manage to be as inventive.
It's also made me want to get out more and read modern fiction, I might start with Fight Club, you know something easy and light. Of course I'm open to suggestions, would anyone care to recommend a good book?
Oh geek moment for anyone with time on their hands Paper Starships. Shiney.
November 06, 2003
Masks, Robes and Punk Poets
Well here I am avoiding doing my Grand Design return sheet. I'm back in London after a whirlwind tour of the North East at the weekend, big up to Kelly, Abi, Derrick and Sean in their new house up there for letting me sleep on their sofa. It was a joy to see them all in their new house, freedom at last from living at their parents, huzzah I say.
Also popped over to Wulfboy and Nattidreadi's house to talk of many things and deliver a bunch of comics that have given Wulfboy nightmares. I consider this fair play for two rather traumatic sessions of Kult he's run for me in the past *smiley*.
We talked Legacy and I managed to convince Wulfboy not to set it in Lativaria but rather the UK, like he really wanted to anyway. It's looking up to be a rather good modern supernatural game, taking all the best bits from the Sunderland Vampire game and mixing them up with a whole melange of other cool ideas. Also he asked me to ref the damm thing which I expect will be a mixture of cool and terrifying.
And speaking of terrifying I finally got of my arse and did something creative, grabbed Kelly and some robes, costume and masks of hers to take random pictures in Chopwell woods. It was weird, I don't know what felt more embarassing wandering round like the weirdos we are in full view of the public or the actual act of doing some creative photography. Damm my protestant work ethic and it's insistance that doing art for arts sake is a frivolous waste of time.
I got the photo's back yesterday and I definately need more practice with my trusty 35mm Praktica *sigh*. But some shots are usable for Kelly's portfolio and some digital monkeying around, I may even stick some up on the web along with the Oz pictures I got developed.
(edit 06/11/03)
Almost forgot to mention the rather cool night out with Kelly and Jez at Homecooking up at the Cumberland Arms on the Saturday. Watching Geordies reading punk poetry is actually a lot of fun which along with some nice acoustic guitar (the amp hadn't arrived) and Jez as compere made for a very chilled evening. It was a tad chaotic but the good will in the room more than made up for that. Home Cooking is on the first Saturday of every month at the Cumberland Arms, you might like it.
Oh and here's some linkage for people who've read down this far.
The Lovecraft Tarot stuffed full of cthuloid and tentacled goodness.
And Night Views by Seto, some great panoramic pictures of Japanese cities at night. Mmmm eyecandy.