UK Watercooler 22 Paths of the Sephiroth

Maybe I should tell you about the Tarot reading I had done on New Years Eve. Or is discussing that sort of thing bad luck?

I used to get that, but between dealing with C*l*m, and the kid getting diagnosed w/ASD it all got burned out of my brain. Now I don't give a fuck. If anyone's that horrible, they don't deserve my attention, and don't get it, period. Most of the mail lists I'm on have a few members killfiled at my end, most of the boards I have a few people set to "ignore".

Is it bad luck to talk about tarot readings? Pish posh! It's bad luck to reveal wishes, but Tarot isn't like, written in the stars or anything.

but keeping wishes anonymous has been commanded by The Great Old Ones themselves.

Some popping candy was handed out about half an hour ago, and all the sugar's just entered into my bloodstream! Wow! It's like cheap speed! Brilliant!

I will post my tarot reading details later.

Ain't nowhere near as bad as my reaction to the Cure/Korn clip that will yet surface.

From teh other thread:
vile-thinking misogynist crap like "how can you think this... what kind of MIND would you have to have to think things like this?"

I presume whatever's got your goat is more misogynistic in context?

(Kate, I bet even Ned has people on ILX that annoy him. Fight back, or learn to deal with it like most people have. It makes life a lot easier. Seriously, retreating to this thread to moan isn't going to do anything - challenge whatever you feel needs challenged if you want to do something positive.)

For the zillionth time in a couple of years, I'm unemployed again. Hurrah! Time to DO STUFF!!

(stuff = webmonging, mostly)

One or two...

Maybe I shall go home and READ LOADS OF LOVELY BOOKS. Or at least get a start on the backlog of hardbacks I can't take on the train. I'm reading too many books, and have too many good books in the pipeline, argh.

Fat Boab is appearing on the Korn Unplugged too?

"Clearly, the highlight of the evening — for both Davis and his audience — was the arrival of Robert Smith and the rest of his band, the Cure (guitarist Porl Thompson, bassist Simon Gallup and drummer Jason Cooper), for an acoustic mash-up that blended Korn's "Make Me Bad" with the Cure's "In Between Days."

"You never thought you'd see that sh--, did you?" Davis asked the audience, pointing at Smith. "This is the band that got me through high school. They were the soundtrack of my life then. So to be onstage with these legends ... I just never thought in my wildest dreams this moment would happen."

The collaboration was perfect — the two songs woven into one gloomy masterpiece. "I feel the reason as it's leaving me, no, not again," sang Davis, followed immediately by Smith's wispy response: "Make me bad." Then, it was Smith's turn, as he floated through the first two verses of "In Between Days" and shared the microphone with Davis on the chorus: "Come back, come back/ Don't walk away/ Come back, come back/ Come back today/ Come back, come back/ Why can't you see?/ Come back, come back/ Come back to me."

The song's end was met with a standing ovation, and underneath the shy Smith's long black hair, one could see a smile come across his rosy red lips. Davis, still awestruck, took a deep breath before saying, "That was some crazy sh--."

That phrase makes me want to break things.

Ailsa unemployed....blimey!

I am as tired as a human being could be having done the following conntinuum since 10 this morning : had a meeting with 4 chinese people/driven to cambridge/met with a prof/driven back/went to supermarket/cooked dinner/done homework with kids/discovered that the cats have killed a bird in the hall - cleaned it up/searched high & low for daughters trainers only to discover them festering muddily in her room/cleaned the trainers/had a row with son about his urgent and key need to have a bath/....now collapsed/hiding from kids in front of computer with a bottle of beer. There are cats fighting all over the house. Mrs. Dr. C is having fun at book club. For me it's a bath and early bed. Goodnight.

NEW SONG.

READ LOADS OF LOVELY BOOKS

yes! I am reading The Three Musketeers at the moment! Only half way through the first chapter and D'Artagnan has already had a sword fight where his sword gets broken and he's left holding the handle! yay!

For me....a morning slobbing,....sorry, **working** at home followed by a short trip over to Imperial to see another Prof.

I am steeling myself to go and get two new front tyres for the motor now - not cheap, but best be legal I guess.

I am so fed up with ILM that I can't even be bothered to post on the Joe Meek thread, despite being thee official numero uno Joe Meek fan.

Gooblar, may I suggest birching. xpost

Dr C, isn't there a Joe Meek thing happening in London one of these days? (def. not reading ILM, so don't know if that's what that thread is about)

yes, but you don't care about gas the way i (or you, or most of the people here) care about music.

the spanish trapezist's friend stole one of my two bananas *sob*

I think there's a fair chance that no-one has ever written or uttered that sentence before.

Gooblar, may I suggest birching. xpost

One track mind, you people.

Students HAVE to learn how to turn papers in on time, if you learn one lesson in college, this is the one to learn. I used to be terrible at deadlines (and still am) but had to have their importance beaten into me.

However, sternness and beating is the most effective thing. Reducing grades for tardiness has no effect - they used to reduce grades for each day they were late at my school. However, I soon realised that turning in an A paper a few weeks late, you got an F - the same grade as if you didn't turn it in at all. Not really an incentive.

Then I got threatened with not getting out of the Ninth grade if I didn't turn in the requisite paper. In the end, I wrote it over the summer, then translated it into runic script and turned it in like that. Not my fault my English teacher couldn't understand it. Hah!

Morning folks. Thanks for sympathy, MarkH, but I'm pleased at the moment - it's just temp hell at the moment and I don't get assignments like Emsk's, just answering phones and typing letters and making cups of tea for morons who chat to me, find out what I'm qualified to do, what I used to do, make sympathetic noises about how hard it is to find a job and what a shame I'm working well below what I'm capable of, then go back to sticking post-it notes on letters to summarise the content for me in case, y'know, I find reading a bit tricky.

However, application posted this morning for what seems like the perfect job. Fingers crossed!

http://www.domia.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=74

And what should I eat for dinner beforehand? I had Tai Cult Food yesterday so I'm not sure I should eat it two days in a row, or I may start chanting and doing Kung Fu Monk moves or something.

Plus Fours, Breeches, Shorts!

http://www.mda.org.uk/costume/vbtm_132.gif

the Nick Moran play 'Telstar' is going to be back on in the west end this year I think. Is that what you're thinking of?

I thought there was some sort of Meeky tribute night at the Barbican(?) I saw advertised in the Graun guide a week or two ago.

K8, if you can print out the flyer on the G00blar thread, it should get you a quid off.

Whoa, nice turn of events, Ailsa!

Actually, no, bribery is a valuable skill to learn. Deadlines are always affected by the gravity of cake.

Get in!

Good news on job Ailsa - hope it turns out to be bearable and OK.

Note to tyre fitters of the world - when you give me a quote INCLUDE THE FUCKING VAT! Don't casually mention it at the end, when the tyres are on - maybe I wouldn't have put the top-of-the-range bloody Michelins on if I'd have known the damage. My fault I guess, but....

Note to those with a long memory - I am not breaking a new years resolution on the 'what do you look like' thread. But I still haven't had a good explanation for WHY CIGARETTES ARE IN TEH HOUSE!

Star, 5.00?

(if only to make up for yr NON APPEARANCE LAST WEEK, grrr!)

But I still haven't decided which Hott Scot to vote for!

Kate, don't let the kilts fool you; from where I'm standing half of them are bone fide eight-pinters.

Alas my poor Long Jonney with the knobbly knees
He went out in a kilt and was scuppered by a stiff breeze

I just had the last of the curried neeps and tatties for lunch, num!

http://www.musto.co.uk/images/products/detail/1376311550.jpg

Are a these different reality shows from the ones that have been on the front page of all the papers for a fortnight now?

(sorry Kate, but if people bring racism discussions into your thread, I can't not touch upon the TV show you hate which has brought this to prominence v recently)

This is what winds me up, specifically, about BB - the way it infects everything. There are already threads about this! There is already a thread about Paris Hilton's racism. Go discuss it there!

And leave us to our discussion of tweed breeks.

Hey, it's cool, Kate thinks eating Tai Cult food makes you go all choppy socky.

But you know, draw your own conclusions and all.

If you went and had a cup of tea in a Scientologist place on a regular basis, I'd be disappointed if someone DIDN'T make a crack about Battlefield Earth or space aliens or something.

*they were right of course, about a free cup of tea and a stupid test's worth of time before I caught the express to Heathrow :)

No, Kate wants ailsa to fuck off because she responded to you mentioning other threads. Kate often mentions other threads here, as do most posters. It's only a problem if ailsa's involved, apparently.

perhaps the difference w/la hilton is that she's all over the covers of celebrity mags etc, being presented as a cool individual, fanciable, aspirable to etc, I dunno.

-- I Am Totally Radioactive! (masonicboo...) (webmail), February 2nd, 2007 2:05 PM. (kate) (later) (link)

That reads "fuck off" to me.

These 'Cooler threads are the victim of their own success in a way, that people who stumbled into them don't know well enough what to leave alone.

This is not a democracy. If you don't like that, go start a "try Glasgow more" thread of your own.

I do not like sport. I do not like conversation about sport, of any nature. I especially do not like the way that people use it as shorthand for lack of conversation about other things. If you're really REALLY into football or rugby or cricket, and you're an avid follower, go to the multitude of in-depth threads about those topics.

If there are several other several-hundred post long threads on something else already, probably this is not the place to retread the argument. It's one thing to go "huh, do I ever want to know what that thread is about?" but another to open up the discussion all over again in a different place.

Generally, I don't like competitions or leagues or contests. This is a whole nother thread in and of itself, that we've done before. I'm going to get more cross more quickly about something related to a sport or contest than I am about other things.

I often DO start other threads about topics that take over the Cooler. But at the end of the day, this is MY living room. If you don't like it, go make your own. I tell ANYONE to fuck off if they repeatedly bring up stuff I don't enjoy the discussion of on my thread.

Geesh that other paris hilton being racist video that's been posted on that thread is even WORSE than the other one. Have you seen it?
-- Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (pfunkbo...), February 2nd, 2007. (Kerr) (later)

Hrm. Might have to look at that one again in slo-mo to catch it.

is as much a "take it outside" as any other post.

Anyway this is getting silly.

x1000

The difference is that the former is polite and has no mal-intention or nastiness implied from this end at all. The latter is not polite and will be resorted to if people carry on yapping on, especially with added extra calling me a fascist and/or accusing me of telling people to fuck off when I haven't actually even said it yet, unless pushed.

GRRRRRRR, NOW I'M IN A BIG PISSED OFF MOOD AND I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD ANY CARROT CAKE.

b-but I don't want to talk to Glasgow folks all the time! I like talking about shit with Emsk and Dr C and Andrew and other too. This is not your blog, Kate, it's a public message board.

KERR (not me) brought up Paris Hilton's racism. I realise you have no interest in it yourself, but I thought it would still be OK to address it in passing. I did so with reference to some other public figures who've been doing the same. I took care not to mention the programme by name, and apologised for having to reference it. I've made my views quite clear on the issues regarding the PERSONALITIES ON THE SHOW WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT on the relevant thread too.

But you wouldn't know that, not having read them because an interesting discussion on public perceptions of racism was sullied because of where the outcry stemmed from.

Still, my opinion is worthless, since I like sports which is secret code for I AM A MORON.

xpost, oops.

Since I'm already fucked off and in a shitty mood now, I'm going to go and get a carrot cake as it can't possibly make things any worse.

Someone tell me about the fog in Bleak House, quick!

Good weekends, all around! I'll see some people tonight at gig/poptimism!

xpost :P

there are prolly several potential New River walks as it starts in Islington iirc and goes way up into Hertfordshire.

('goes' not 'flows' appropriate here as its actually v old canal, innit?)

i know this prolly belongs on the rolling London walking thread but I thought I would refrain from mentioning it there til I had some hard facts.

Enjoy Poptimism guys. Hope the gig goes well, g00blar!

It starts in Herts and flows down to Islington to provide fresh water for the err... 17th? Century London. Bits of it are still overground, but most of it is piped in terribly old pipes.

If this is an urban myth, I'm going to be very cross at having believed it. But the one on Leather Lane, I have been given leaflets and things about going to their nights.

x-post BLIMEY, TEH KIT!!! Hurrah and welcome back.

Doesn't look like a myth, given that you were there.

I rather liked the idea of my meals being prepared by vaguely sinister martial arts monks. Because I spent so much of my youth eating very boring plain food prepared by non-martial arts practising but still vaguely sinister monks while my mum went on retreats and things.

(Or is it racist and possibly anti-Christian to say that? I just want to know who I'm offending.)

xp

Because, knowing my background, she knows how susceptible I am to anything involving sinister monks.

In fact, googling for tai cult food only brings up ILX posts by Kaet.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=TAI+buffet&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

...and I've found out why the one on Euston Rd suddenly went so shit all of a sudden (the management was replaced with a meat-eater) but so far nothing on this cult story.

Now I'm really intrigued!

But it also shows how preconceptions affect perceptions.

Which may have put the idea in my head that every time I went in there and heard people talking about Tai Chi or whatever, that it was somehow related to the cult that ran the restaurant - when it could just as easily been because people who are interested in a culture would eat the food associated with it as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_b0S4IQeLI

I want one!

If you go into that situation knowing that lots of the people going into and coming out of that building are Freemasons, especially if they are all dressed alike in black suits and carrying briefcases, that is going to colour your perceptions of the place.

Other people work in the same building as me, and didn't have a clue that it was the Freemasons Hall. Their perceptions of seeing groups of men in black suits are not going to be the same as mine, because I have the preconception that there are bound to be loads of Freemasons in the area.

I've just spent most of the afternoon crawling round underneath desks plugging and unplugging cables, because a couple of offices decided they all wanted to move around and weren't competant to move their PCs. I'm knackered now. Crawling around on my hands and knees does not suit.

The New River ends near Angel, at the big Thames Water building.

St. Francis of a cc.

St. Francis of a cc.

-- New Mark H (mark.hester@so

Excellent 10/10

Blind Carbon Copy, same purpose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z3A5Tgy47M

So incredibly GOOD it almost makes me sick!

there seems to be a lot of clips of folk instruments on youtube, I never thought of looking for any of that before! No Waldzither, but just about everything else has brought up something.

Without fanning the flames I shall just say this.... I have only mentioned banned topics in passing (i.e I'm playing *rugby* this weekend, or I broke a rib playing rugby and it hurts and be nice to meee o people of the watercooler). Now... if I wanted to discuss the selection of the Wales team for the Ireland match or the tactical options for the game I wouldn't mention it here of course.

Whatever you say kate, I shall not make any effort to censor my posts for kate-compatibility. Nor shall I fuck off, unless I want to.

And....I think you're being bloody unfair to Ailsa, who is no worse an offender than anyone else. (she deserves an all-time free pass to post whatever she wants wherever she wants anyway after posting her tale of Dermot O'Leary and the pie-stand)

I saw Anne-Marie Duff in South Kensington this afternoon, so ner.

If you don't like the rules, irrational as they may seem to you, you can go elsewhere. Yes, this is a public messageboard, but this is MY thread. I have created the atmosphere here, love it or hate it. And people getting their knickers in a twist over it - when there are thousands of other threads where you can talk about "banned topics" - ruins that atmosphere far more than anything I've ever done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOP59Oy7k6w

It's not a fucking mystery. There's no "ooh, locate the mindmap of Kate's head" or anything. It's very simple. If I say something like "maybe you could start another thread about this" stop taking it as "I HATE AILSA SHE IS SO STUPID COZ SHE HATES SPORT" and take it was "That's an interesting topic, it deserves its own thread."

This is why there's such a "HUUUUUGE" problem between Ailsa and I - not because I shout at her any more than anyone else on this thread shouts at each other. But because she seems to be the only person who takes it as this huge offensive personal insult if I say that Football or Racism In Big Brother or The ILX Pool Championship either have their own threads already or deserve their own threads.

And now this thread has gone to shit again and being about "Kate and Ailsa: FITE!" instead of being about teapots and new rivers and Thai Freemasons or what the fuck ever is fun to talk about on a Friday afternoon.

http://www.britishnoveltyteapot.com/img/novelty%20teapot%20entry%20best%20a.jpg

I didn't say your rules were unfair or draconian, they are what they are... I'm just clarifying the fact that I understand and respect the ethos of the watercooler, but despite this will inevitably break the rules. As will most people here from time to time, especially when they're talking to each other about stuff that may not interest you. You can either stomp on peoples' heads every single time, which is ugly and pointless, or why not just let it go? Is it really such a big deal? It's still your thread, with you centre-stage, which is what you want, right?

Enough said...have a good weekend.

http://www.studiobaboo.com/teapot.jpg

http://www.premier-pastry.com/wedding_cake_pages/Teapot%20Cake.gif

http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/Teapot-Tempest.jpg

http://www.cittern.theaterofmusic.com/audio/index.html

No, Kate, other people think it's shit too. You shout at me because I'm more explicit about it. The subtlety of other people's slagging you off seems to pass you by, but it's there. I don't know why you don't shout at them - maybe you don't recognise it. But it's there. Probably in every single thread. I, believe it or not, do not have a problem with you yourself. Remember, a while back, I met you. We exchanged phone numbers. I said I'd like to meet you for a pint and a chat and whatever. That still stands - you are intelligent, smart, like some of the same music as me, I admire your determination, we share some friends, whatever, blah blah. What I *do* have a problem is with you setting up this thread as a sort of chat environment then patrolling with a big stick and rapping knuckles whenever its inhabitants stray outwith whatever you ordain to be acceptable. As has been noted, other people (sometimes ones that aren't me!) reference stuff you don't like. People discuss things you don't like. And, on occasion, people sometimes have problems with the way you deal with things that arise from one single problem you seem to have, namely - and I think you need to hear this - THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND YOU. You need to learn how to deal with this.

And if you want a bit of the world to revolve around you, perhaps you might want to find a private bit of it to do just that. I like the ethos of this thread. I said that. I like bantering about the minutaie of life with Emsk and Andrew and Dr C and FP and Markelby and whatever. Also with you! But I do not like people going "FUCK OFF THIS IS ALL ABOUT ME - ME ME ME ME ME!!!! YOU'RE BORING ME, LALALALA". I suspect this thread may well have more people on it if it didn't have that atmosphere because it is a fucking great thread idea in principle.

(ignore the fact that the TITTWIS threads started like that too adn died off because people thought they were too cliquey....oh the ironing, etc)

OK. I am pissed. I may regret saying this. Whatever. I don't regret thinking it.

When will the street repair madness end. They have been tarting up the clerkenwell rd for the best part. Woken this morning by the sound of the cycle lane being turned green.

Hope yer party was good, Emsk. I was busy initiating M into the WONDERS OF DOCTOR WHO with The Keeper of Traken.

It took every bone in my body not to shout out spoilers and "EEEEVVVILL!!!! IT'S THE MASTER!!!"

From now on I will try to have a small glass of merlot and three squares of Green and Black EVERY SINGLE DAY and know that it is helping my health. Yum!

I had to walk my cousin and her friend to Marble Arch, where they were to board the 4am Green Line bus to Luton Airport (they had a 6:35 flight). We got there just in time to see the bus driving past; we ran and waved our arms, but the driver didn't stop. There was another bus in twenty minutes, and they'd still be fine if they were to catch that one, but we were a little troubled by the fact that the bus did not stop at all. Maybe, I proposed, seeing no one standing at the bus stop, he saw no reason to stop.

Anyway, all we can do is wait, so we wait. Strangely, there's no indication at the bus stop that the Green Line will stop there, but I've taken it from this spot before, it's right across the street from where the bus dropped them off coming from Luton, and the schedule says the bus stops at Marble Arch tube (right where we are).

While we wait, we soon notice that standing behind us, under a shop's awning is this . . . person. She/he is standing stock-still, shrouded under blankets, WITH A HALF-CLOSED PARASOL OVER THE HEAD:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i134/dgoobl/ParasolCreature.jpg

Very, very freaky. An actually quite eerie and frightening image. We tried not to look. Anyway.

When we see the 4:17 coming, we get ready to wave like maniacs, to make sure it stops. It comes, we wave our arms, it blows right past us. I run after it, thinking it'll just stop at the next stop down the block. It doesn't. I'm running like a crazy person, followed by my cousin and her friend, as well as two other girls that were waiting for the same bus. It stops at a red light at the corner, and I catch up to it; the driver motions to me to go around the corner. I figure he's gonna stop AROUND THE CORNER. No. He turns the corner and just. keeps. going. I fucking chased this stupid bus for five fucking city blocks until it finally stopped, halfway to Marylebone High Street.

I make him wait (I'm physically standing so the door cannot close even if the driver wanted it too) until the girls catch up. I ask him why the hell he didn't stop at Marble Arch. He says that the Marble Arch stop is on Park Lane, which makes no fscking sense at all. The way the intersection is set up, with that jug-handle, Park Lane is nowhere near Marble Arch tube. And how is anyone reading a schedule that merely says 'Marble Arch Tube' supposed to know that the stop is on Park Lane? (I don't say any of this to the driver. I am bent over and huffing and puffing.)

Anyway, (whew) the girls got on the bus, made their flight, and are safely back in Milan. I trudged home and got into bed at 5am.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/untitled2.jpg

(and maybe partly because it's a grainy night-time photo)

Anyway, I had a nice day yesterday - it was my birthday, and I went off to Leicester to spend the afternoon in the pub with friends. An excellent relaxed afternoon.

*shuffles up to radiator to thaw out*

(I'll let someone else tell the tale of the night, but it was a goodun.)

OTM about FPs bday - happy beingbornday! Did you get cheese? (I have received cheese for birthday for the last three years, I was wondering if it was only me)

I am now sipping water trying not to feel too bad. My brain isn't quite up to speed yet and I've got chapped lips. How I'm gonna do any coding today is quite beyond me. I hope I've got some pr0-p1us about.

No cheese, though.

That is creepy as fuck, Gooblar. Especially the graininess of your photograph makes it look even more horror movie creepy.

Happy birthday, FP!

M is a boy, Johnney B, and we had a lovely time drinking wine and watching old episodes of Dr. Who. Besides, I had to get up early in the morning yesterday and come here. Bah. I feel like I never leave sometimes.

Got more prescription this morning. Not having a good head at the moment, I'm doing everything I can not to slip into depression again but some days it feels like hanging on by your fingernails. :-(

Sorry I didn't go dancing last night, but I just couldn't face it.

Went to the optician on Saturday morning and got one of those odd "compliments" - "My, what lovely big pupils you have!" - from the Dr. Two different ones said it, so maybe I have unusually large ones or something. No idea. For once, I didn't buy ILX glasses. Couldn't find any in a colour I liked. I bought BRIGHT PURPLE architects glasses, and also a pair of sort of 50s mathematicians glasses (you know, the ones that have the big across the top but the lense just kind of hangs down beneath it) in grass green.

Blargh, I can't believe that monthend will not end, but at least I've got Sloan to keep my company.

What were the Mysterious Events at Emsk's party, anyway?

this was an error

I don't think I've regretted staying in much lately. I do tend to regret going out when I'm not in the mood for it.

Ah, I just got a present from my mum. Bright orange dishtowels. Actually, they're bright orange and burnt sienna, more like something Gareth would wear than something Ed would wear. They look nice in my flat.

I've just started my month-end reports, ug. Hopefully I can get them out of the way by the end of the day.

Do you have pics of your new glasses, with or without you wearing them? They sound as cool as one would expect your glasses to be!

Mysterious Events? Nothing was particularly inexplicable - but maybe there was weirdness that I didn't see. Oooh no, there was an inexplicably good massage that I got from an Australian lady with a name that began with C (I never forget a face, it's just the name I can't hang on to).

Is this Aussie who I think it is, Emsk? In which case I'm starting to get a really icky vibe. I'm kinda glad I didn't go.

Weekend was good all round, I didn't make it dancing either partly because after three nights on the lash I did not feel up to it and partly because sky seem to have randomly unlocked every channel known to man on my sky box.

I was seduced into an antiquarian book shop on saturday and spent far to much money on a facsimile copy of an account of a soldier offered as a hostage during the first anglo-afghan war.

Which isn't so bad now I've reduced it to quarterly for last year instead of all monthly. But still forbidding. I wish I had more energy. This working at the weekend thing really sucks it out of you.

I walked past the elephant base pink and purple and orange Tiffany lamp again this morning. It keeps calling to me. Having one Tiffany lamp is OK, but having two is the start of a collection. But I do so want my flat to start looking like that shop.

(i.e. yes, get another tiffany lamp)

This is the first time I've actually had a house of MINE OWN that I can exercise my personal style in. So I am kind of going to town on all the things that I've wanted since I was small - "when I am grown up I am going to live in a PURPLE PAISLEY HOUSE" etc. It could just as easily go horribly wrong and look like Laurence Llewellyn Bowen threw up in my boudoir.

I blame my mum for trying to teach me "Taste" at an early age (what with the trips to the V&A and Liberty and all) and also for not paying attention to art school teachers trying to teach you about "colour theory" but just to look with your eyes about what works nicely together.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/useless.jpg

Fanx again for the party, it was awesome. (I didn't mention the naked twister cos that happens at EVERY party I go to) Do you want me to remind you about that thing I had to remind you about now, or later? Has P decided if he's coming or not? (I think he's also on the case for tickets, so you may want to "liase")

And yes Kate, get another Tiffany lamp. If anyone in the world should have a collection, it's you.

http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/media/images/00101-00200/00167/fig4.jpg

Fig. 4: Dr. Egon Neustadt sits among a small part of his vast collection of Tiffany glass. His treasures include a rare golden Lotus Leaf shade and lamp bases embellished with thick pieces of red and green turtleback glass. Photography by Mathew Brady.

Louis Comfort Tiffany - Lamps and Other Glasswork

Haha one of the reasons that I was semi-literally gutted to leave was that I fully expected an all-nighter after seeing your face light up a few hours in. I am getting better myself, starting to keep things down - I was quite concerned that I might have given everyone at the party a touch of it.

No one should ever be nude! Not even in the bath!

And the girl who rang up my groceries just gave me this... *withering* look of distain. I could see what she was thinking "ugh, middle aged woman in tweed buying Country Life and MOR lite records..." which just made me laff like a drain. So I went home and listened to Boris.

What sort of scum drive's away after an accident? And none of the other cars who witnessed it stopped to see if they were ok. Bastards!

BASTARD! May they rot in hell a thousand times over for this.

Again, I really hope that yer parents are OK.

that really sucks, BLP -- hope all turns out well

I can't believe that no one at all stopped. How major is this road?

The driver of the van's still a twat, mind, if he realised what he'd done.

Does your dad have fully comprehensive insurance (oh, he must if it's coming off their insurance) - most fully comprehensive policies should give him a courtesy car while repairs are being carried out.

I hope they're all right. It's fucking scary being in an accident.

He already didn't like driving too much now and I expect this has made it worse.
He's hopefull the car isn't a write-off, just the wheel is totally bust, and the wing,bumpers etc are all smashed to bits. A lot of costly damage. He says he has to pay an excess of £150(as it's on his own insurance) whatever that means.
That's twice ina year some idiot has driven into this car (both times the other persons fault..the 1st time the driver(from a street away) had only 3rd party insurance and tried to blame my dad, but there was witnesses and they told the insurance company and the guy had to pay in full)

If only they hadn't been so shaken and got the license plate number of the truck. Drivers like that shouldn't be allowed on the road.

Thanks everyone for your good thoughts.

My mum thought when she saw it hitting the car that she was gonna die. Must have been awful. I dread to think what state they were in.
They didn't phone me until they had been to the station. She could barely stop crying when she was telling me about it.

It could have been so much worse I guess. I just hope my dad doesn't get any angina attacks as a result of it/the worry.

any cctv on the junctions? cos if they get the plates for any blue lorries that would have been in the right place at the right time (ok not "right" but y'know) they can figure out which one it was because the lorry will have been damaged/marked too, right? i dunno, would they (don't even know who i'm referring to by they - police? insurance people?) go to that much trouble?

These things happen all the time I suppose and they would have no chance of finding the driver without the license plate no.

As Emsk said, they (police and/or insurance company) can also look at the cameras on the slip roads to see if any damaged blue vans are coming off them.

I'll ask him whereabouts it was.

or undamaged ones going on to them. if your parents remember what shade of blue the lorry was (turquoise? navy?) it can't be *that* hard, but i dunno if they can be arsed to check, whether it's the police (cos no one died) or the insurance co (why would they bother?).

I would've thought the police would have mentioned if there was cameras.

your faith in the british police is 1000x greater than mine!

That's the southbound side, yes? I'll ask Neil to look tomorrow on his way to work if you like. I'm pretty sure there'll be CCTV cameras if it's at a slip road, also that's kind of busy so it's the sort of place they monitor for traffic-level observation purposes. I'd be v surprised if they couldn't get the guy on a camera nearby.

Because if it's a company van, it will presumably have been insured, and the chances are if they can trace it it will save them a pile of cash. They're likely to care more than the police would (ie, at all).

The insurance company will probably be pretty dogged about this. I had my car written off by an uninsured driver, they tracked him down and dragged him through the courts.

(I used to work in insurance)

Why all the negativity? He was on one of the busiest roads in Scotland which is covered in cameras.

(That's THREE people now who are telling you this stuff. Trust us!)

Oh and btw HI KIT! good to see you back.

http://www.angelfire.com/bc3/cakes3/cake_designs/thumbnails/100x100/43c.jpg

But perhaps it's appropriate for FP ;)

http://www.bdsm.com.tw/images/2005/0824/birthdaycake0823_11.jpg

I wont post the pic as you're all at work.

This might though
http://www.freedsbakery.com/uploads/zr/p4/zrp4qZrT3IVxCF3qyU9Vhw/Some-Bunny-Loves-You.jpg

Suggestions:

* Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
* Try different keywords.
* Try more general keywords.
* Try fewer keywords.

I'm sure when he's feeling better he will!

Any updates this morning, Kerr?

I'm feeling... foggy this morning. Probably a meds thing.

At least I don't have chest pains again this morning. Never experienced that before. It wasn't in the right place for heart trouble or appendicitis (just below my left breast, underneath the edge of my ribcage) but was sore for hours. This morning it's gone, but my back is aching from sleeping in an odd position so as to compensate for the chestpains. Argh. I hate getting old.

Watched Castrovalva lst night, though. And made insalata tricolore and I am obsessed with avacadoes now.

Though optician said they might have caused the "neon snakes" floaters of last year, as floaters are not supposed to glow.

What colour are her floaters? If they are kinda transparent or grey then she might want to see an optician. But if they are glowing neon snakelike things, they are almost certainly hallucinations.

I only got them twice, and then they stopped. But they can be a worry if you get them all the time.

Bad argument this morning, tired of it. The kid fucked my headphones - expensive beyer ones. Apparently I'm not supposed to be upset about this, or about being totally ignored when I warned him to be careful w/the last time he nearly broke them. Tired of my S.O's total war method of dealing w/when we disagree about something. Tired of being treated like an idiot.

It's impossible to discuss argument methods *when* you are arguing. But raising it in a more quiet moment - not as criticism, but more as "hey, in order to stop us hurting each other so much, can we talk about this a moment?" can be more effective. So long as you are able to discuss the argument style, without re-raising the actual argument again.

This morning was just extra bad because my headphones got broken, and I got ignored again. The ignoring bit is actually worse than the 'phones.

Problem is, when I used to take the stubborn "if you don't like it, leave" attitude with a partner, the partner would leave. Did all kinds of therapy and anger management and all that, and instead tried to sit down and talk about it - with the same result. That the partner would leave.

So I kind of admire her for sticking to her guns - but I also very much admire you for sticking with her.

Though I know from the other side, how counterproductive this attitude can be in relationships. It only goes to show your strength that you are "putting up with it" for the sake of the relationship.

i think with people that are inflexible, and like things a certain way, and will go to bat for it, i tend to feel like an object in their life, rather than a person. as i'm too flexible/passive anyhow, this isn't good for health either.

Therefore I probably shouldn't participate, for mine own good.

But then that makes me feel silenced, which makes me feel like a voiceless idiot, which isn't good, either.

wonder if its actually energy, that makes me feel on edge, rather than anger per se. current housemate is never angry, but is so hyper, that can make feel anxious too

But when I sit down and think why I am that way... you say that you feel tense when you are around an angry person.

I spent my entire youth around an angry, unpredictable person who was suffering from undiagnosed manic depression - I either had to tip-toe around, and withdraw into myself, or else explode right back and expand to grab as much of mine own space as I possibly could. I spent so much of my life in that state of being constantly woundup, never knowing when things were going to explode, being on edge, unable to relax.

So now that I am starting to get mine own space - I've got mine own flat, completely mine for the first time in my life - the watercooler, formerly my band - whenever I feel someone else trying to impinge on that, I feel really really anxious, and I go straight into the reactions described above.

I'm sick of spending my life walking about on tip-toe - so the end result is that everyone else ends up having to walk on tiptoe around me.

My mum didn't say much. I guess she said all she needed to yesterday "When I saw the lorry coming out then hitting us I thought my time was up, I really did"

Which is bloody scary.

Ug.

The post-lunch crash has me about to fall asleep today.

Which reminds me, is Emsk going to feel better by tonight for her BIG NIGHT TONIGHT!?!?

Also, I have just spilled the jam from an entire jam donut all over my wristrest. Argh! But the good news is, I washed it, and while waiting for it to dry, my colleagues pointed out that our former boss who has recently left, left both her wristrest and mousewristrest on her desk! Both of which I have appropriated. I've never used a mousewristrest before, but it feels nice. I suspect my doctor would approve. (Even though my next appointment is not until NEEXXXT MONTH.)

I am SO not ready for that jelly.

tbh it feels more like a chore than anything else.

OK?

well y'know. i'm just kind of making sure (haha, ref tuomas' meat-thread, i seen him eat sausages and just don't think it's gonna work). i'm not dreading it or anything, he's cool and clever and funny and stuff and we'll have a good time whatever happens, but i'm not excited. anyway i've decided not to do it tonight, maybe later this week or next week.

ew ed :( sorry to hear. i was downing citricidal yesterday. at least i can't really taste anything atm... go to bed!

But, you know, if you don't like his washboard stomach and meat-eating ways, oh well.

he recorded & performed under the name S.P.U.N.K.L.E.

I am starting to feel a bit hot in the head, but I am hoping that is just too much sugar rather than any oncoming lurgy, oh no.

It did help that one of the rounds was Complete the New Order Song Title!

Though it's difficult, how quickly "I could never date someone who did X, ooh, icky icky" quickly becomes "you are saying that all people who do X are evil and should be killed!"

It's too late for tea, isn't it? I won't sleep.

Your mum just mailed me so i shall have a fun time; this evening collating environmental information.

I am glad my mum got a hold of you. Be careful though as she is on a tweed buying spree and you may end up with Orvis tweeds if you are not careful!

(Last night, in my state of agony, I fell back on Mary Poppins, and whatcha know, it is actually a perfect film. I might start a thread to discuss it's perfectness when I get well.)

The last date I went on was actually something of a disaster. I mean, we had fun 'n' all, but I made the mistake of being all nice and friendly and open and stuff, so instead of there being any romantic attraction at all we just turned into mates straight away. We finished the date by going to buy shoes together, ffs. I ask you, shoes!

(Unless of course you went on said date wearing the shoes that you wore for the last rolling walk, in which case there may be other problems.)

My monthend is over! However, I have utterly lost track of what day it is.

I have been reminded of Nemi translations

http://www.goaste.cx/goaste/pictures/nemi/NEMI013.gif

Argh, Kerr, that is rub for your mum. But it will pass. For a few weeks after I was in a big carcrash, I couldn't even sit in the front seat of a car without wincing every time a car came towards us. But it passed. The key to not dwelling on these things in spare moments is to keep busy and occupied with something else that takes up the spare moments.

:P

oh, thanks, this horoscope:

You've made it over the hump, EMMA. You have moved beyond the problems of the recent past and are entering a more peaceful phase. You will soon complete your projects at work, and your domestic life will be the picture of bliss and harmony. Enjoy this period of rest and relaxation, for it will be followed by a period of intense longings, requiring your total attention.

intense longings! that's what i need! although yesterday's horoscope said i was going to suddenly be rich. *that* didn't happen.

Was that Queen Eleanor for whom the crosses were built?

No, wrong Eleanor - this was the 12th Century Angevin one who was married to Louis ...err IX? (I get all the Loues mixed up) and Henry II and mother of Richard the Lionheart and the wicked King John. She died and was burried in France.

She was, according to Nigel Spivey, "Sexy"!

hope for everyone who got party-lurgee - ok today i feel SO MUCH BETTER, basically got a slight sore throat and a bit coughy, and i am HUNGRY for the first time since saturday. i am going to raid the fridge.

Yes, Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was GRATE!!! And a feisty redhead, so all the boys of the 'Cooler should have a crush on her. She lead armies and fought the French and sponsored troubadors and all that.

Argh, no gig? :-( But not if you're still not feeling well. When will I come down with this dreaded lurgy?

My random transitory ache seems to have moved from my chest to my lower left leg. Argh. I am getting old.

But Eleanor of Aquitaine was still RULING COUNTRIES at the age of 71 so I should not complain about aches and pains.

i think i talked myself out of it. (PSSST - pls to stop rising to m*rc*ll* on other thread!)

mmm coffee cardamom. eggs. pepper. i can TASTE again!

I am merely following the longstanding ILX tradition that if there is a person you particularly dislike or is hounding you, you no longer engage with them, but simply post some humourous picture, like a cartoon dinosaur, to signify your disengagement from them.

Then again, on the healthy food front, I've eaten a ridiculous bonanza of vegetables and spices over the past week. Last night I made Thing Soup with greens. What on earth are "greens"? Cabbages? Overgrown spinach? I'm confused by their classicication, but they taste so yummy. Rich and iron-y. They've got that certain tangyness where you can practically taste the iron and the B-vitamins.

For a variation, try sherry vinegar.

Also, the food programme had an interesting programme on rape seed oil and was raving about cold pressed rape seed oils

http://hillfarmoils.com/
http://www.farrington-oils.co.uk/about.html

I'd like to try some. Low food miles alternative to olive oil.

i know; i think i went a bit overboard on the "it-would-be-a-bad-idea-it-would-be-a-bad-idea" thing. altho i haven't seen him for a month so maybe it will return next time i do.

Then again, on the healthy food front, I've eaten a ridiculous bonanza of vegetables and spices over the past week.

and that is why you have no lurgee! are you still up for kontakte tonight? i feel like i NEED to get out of the house. i haven't been outside since saturday, except to take the recycling out. am turning into gollum.

rub lemon juice over the avocado and it won't go brown in the fridge (yes yes i realise you don't really need a "solution" to this "problem"...).

i just got sent this link - http://video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=5504620018394758678 - (it is ben christophers and francoise hardy doing an old ben c song on french tv) and it sent me back in time and backwards into the sofa. it's lush.

x-post I wish I knew about the lemon juice thing! That makes sense, since it works with apples. But avocadoes are just too num to be left unmolested in the fridge long enough to go brown.

I am still up for Kontacte if you want to go! Will you come for a curry first? I hear ::shock horror:: it's gone up to £3.50!

They were recommending this as better as a salad oil than a frying oil. Very different from the highly processed commodity stuff. (Olive still tops for frying but you don't want a strongly flavoured olive for that)

Oh, I heard that - it did sound rather interesting.

I am still up for Kontacte if you want to go! Will you come for a curry first? I hear ::shock horror:: it's gone up to £3.50!

i def want to go. if i feel like i do now later on, i'm there. need some live music and some PEOPLE. also i don't think i've been to club goo yet and i do like the sound of what they do. for curry though, neh, i am still on £5 a day (and have some rebalancing to do since party so more like £3 a day but you can get £4 list if you email the goo people, it sez on their site).

xpost

Kontakte are my myspace friends and they sound interesting. I'm still reeling from the fact that I just *assumed* that they were named after the BBC German language course my dad did in the late seventies/early eighties, but then I know nothing about this Stockhausen dude beyond the fact that he influenced a lot of ppl and his music is perceived as "difficult". I am forever mixing him up with Schoenberg, but that's for a different thread!

i hadn't heard it for a couple of years, at least. i didn't know which song it was going to be but i think i may have to go find the album now...

After going past Hamilton Grammar School a car drove right through the crossroads almost going straight into the passenger side of the car (where my dad was in the front). Luckily the taxi driver was aware and he stopped straight away and the car didn't hit(who also stopped)
After a few expletives by the taxi driver and asking my dad if he was ok we drove on and my dad told him about what happened the other day.
I've told him he must have some great luck to avoid being hurt again and to put more lines on the lottery!

Being dogged and stubborn and not knowing when to walk away from a fite is one of my more negative long-standing personality traits, but it's one that I've been trying to change for ages.

But I suppose I'd even rather have actual disagreement than people who think that an argument should not exist, and rather than just ignoring it, they will spambomb and zing it out of existence.

I am just a broken person. I will never have a relationship again, so all I can do in relationship threads is pin-point where past relationships went wrong. :-(

Jeez, that's a scary thing to happen again so soon.

Easy to remember: you hear the Fleet in the Cheshire Cheese coz it's in Fleet Street. CoY is in High Holborn but is quite a way down past the sushi place and the Old Red Lion. It is v close to Chancery Lane station.

Also explains why I'm fairly competent with regards to grammar, but hopeless with spelling.

It is good to see this, not in a haha U = RONG way, but because it does seem sometimes that you try to grab negative traits of yours and declare them to be fundamental.

I am just a broken person. I will never have a relationship again, so all I can do in relationship threads is pin-point where past relationships went wrong. :-(

Er yeah, like this.

(this sounds completely patronising, doesn't it? Sorry)

Marmite Hexagons: Their Assymetry Revealed

Aims: To determine the extent of the asymmetry of a Marmite hexagon.

Apparatus: Marmite hexagon, ruler.

Method: The ruler was used to measure the length of each side of the Marmite hexagon in turn.

Results:

Side Measured Length (cm) Length (inches)*

1st 3 1.181

2nd 3.4 1.339

3rd 3 1.181

4th 3.5 1.378

5th 3.2 1.260

6th 3.4 1.339

Total perimeter 19.5 7.677

* Note: rounded to 3 decimal places.

Discussion: The results of my survey are quite interesting. The example I tried was indeed quite asymmetric. However, a sample size where n = 1 is not considered significant and so further investigations will be necessary to determine whether or not the Marmite hexagon was asymmetric merely as the result of a faulty production process or if this is the intended shape.

Acknowledgements: I wish to thank Sally M**** and Kirsten B****** for their kind assistance in facilitating this interesting experiment.

Excellent, Emsk. I like magic.

Kerr, are they going to provide a courtesy car while your dad's is in the shop, or do such things not exist in Glasgow?

The assymmetry of the biscuits clearly mirrors their marketing campaign that you either love it or hate it, and different strokes for different hexagons.

HATAZ BE HATIN

(bovril is gross though)

is it really true that they've made bovril vegetablearian? How can this be? Surely it isn't bovril any more, but herbvil.

I think it is all to do with the marmite:butter ratio on your slice of bread or toast. For maximal gastronomic pleasure there should be a marbled effect with alternating streaks of Marmite and butter. Marmite haters were probably presented with a slice of bread with a veritable oil slick of Marmite in their youth and were rightly traumatised.

Take the butter out of the equation (q.v. Twiglets) and confusion reigns…

After a hellish week last week, spending a few days thinking my next small mistake would be my last, our MD appears today after a business trip. He's in a bad mood and nails me with two zingers before 11am.

Then after lunch he calls me in and says a) the promised "development" of more interesting work for me is essentially not going to happen (as a consequence of being acquired by Italo-Austrians), and b) I am getting a pretty big raise (did he really say 25%? gulp - the logic is clear, isn't it?)

This is all partially precipitated by one of my colleagues, who was so upset by our hell week that he found another job offer in one day and wrote our boss that he was considering quitting. And the MD's snippiness today has now *convinced* him that we/he are being persecuted. So it's entirely possible that the upshot of this is that I end up doing his boring work as well as mine.

(Hi everyone. I prefer http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/45/Branston_smallchunk_pickle.jpg)

Do you think I can do an entire day's work in an hour, or will ILX prove too distracting?

Kate did you like those Jesu tracks? or Titan or Vocokesh and whatever I sent you in the last week?

Oh and the new Dinosaur Jr album just leaked, interested?

But I'm sure that the thread(s) that have provided me with such delight have been utterly teeth-gnashing for others. Though, thankfully those gnashing their teeth have kept their displeasure from interfering with our pleasure in the usual ways.

All this would be easier if you would check yr email more often, Ed!

citricidal all round

Kerr, was just thinking: Does your Dad know about this - if he has difficulty getting around (or is over 60, which I'm assuming due to your age that he's probably not far off it, I may be wrong, if so apologies to your Dad, not that he's reading this), then there's no need for all this "taxis everywhere" malarkey. My mum was positively ecstatic at turning 60 so she could get hers.

The front wheel, wing, bumper,lights,door etc are all completely bust and have to be replaced. They said he won't get his car back until about the 19th of February. The wing and door will also need to be resprayed which means the rest of that side of the car needs it too so it's the same colour.

Doesn't matter how much work needs done, it still won't cost him more than £150. Hopefully not having his car back for a few days will allow him to repair his confidence - you said he wouldn't be driving even if he'd got a courtesy car, so I'm guessing he wouldn't be driving this one either?

Also, and I know this is trivial, they won't need to respray the entire side of the car to match it up, unless it's some super-unusual colour that they can't get anymore and they are doing the mended bits in a different colour, in which case they'd have to respray the entire car or one side would be different. (Trivial because I can't see why the garage would be telling you a load of shite when it's not you paying for it is anyone's guess - perhaps it's just ingrained in mechanics/panelbeaters to make up extra jobs that don't need doing just in case anyone's gullible enough to fall for it).

Not if ILX is as boring as it's been lately (then again a lot of the threads I just never read

So how do you know it's boring, eh? I'm very much enjoying ILX just now, but possibly for very different reasons from others.

I am eating salads and being healthy this week. I'm going to the GYM later. Possibly.

Talking about my gran , we got some good news today.
She's 93 and sleeps most of the time(possibly due to her stroke 25 years ago which afterwards she started to fall sleep a lot and has got worse over time), but is mentally all there and chirpy when she is awake. She is housebound though. She can't even go up to my aunts for xmas dinner anymore despite that being just up the road. Travelling in a car makes her feel sick. Plus she cant climb stairs to get to the bathroom. She can barely get about on her zimmer frame.

Anyway, she has been breathless a lot recently and before xmas an appointment was made at Monklands and she taken down to the hospital for an ECG and x-rays. They had said then she has heart failure, but that wasn't necessarily something to be worried about. They also gave her water tablets as they thought it might be water causing the problems.
So she was back down today and they said her heart was strong and there was no failure. And that it indeed was water that was the problem (caused by the curvature of her spine, which is caused by 20 years of sleeping in her chair during the day).
So hopefully these water tablets will help her. She was also relieved when they said she didn't need to come back down again. She actually dreads having to go out. My mum is beginning to think she might even be agoraphobic as she's so used to not going out.

But the news her heart is strong cheered everyone up. Some unexpected good news. I bet everyone's glad now she did go to the appointment.

It's funny, last year I was saying that it's a shame her council doesn't offer the digital hearing aids that some do as obviously her hearing isn't too great. And my gran, told everyone that actually she had been deaf in one ear since she was about 12. No one knew that!
My mum's jaw dropped, my gran had never told anyone. My aunt and uncle didn't know either. Just so typical of my gran to never tell anyone that something was wrong and never complain.
Nowadays she's under strict orders to tell someone if she's unwell after having a small heart attack 5 years ago after having chest pains for a few days(she thought it was heartburn).

Your gran sounds like an amazing person, Kerr!

My father is a bit like that, although in his case it's as much pride as anything - doesn't like going out because he can't drive himself, sometimes walking problems, feels like he doesn't have anything to talk about, etc. Kind of a vicious circle, though - not going out makes him uncomfortable when he does, etc. etc.

brrr ned you would hate it here this morming. SNOW! yeeha! freezing cold!

Insurance job = garage prints money. The garage tries to do as much much as possible while the insurer pressures them to do as little as possible. As long as Kerr's dad doesn't accept a less than perfect repair it remains their problem.

Ailsa's right that they shouldn't need to do the whole side of the car. They should be able to match the colour and wash it out onto the remaining old panels so that you won't be able to see a difference (unless you're a spray painter in which case you can spot the repair a mile off).

What are the council saying about this? My great-aunt got her entire bathroom turned into a wet room after a fall a couple of years ago, in fact IIRC it was done within a couple of weeks.

Tip: Councils always have money to spend this time of year, they're been frugal all year round and are heading for underspending their budgets, which they can't afford to do because they would get cut next year, so they're more than willing to accrue a lot of bills in Feb/early March. Never wondered why so many roads get fixed then, despite it being the worst weather conditions for doing it?

(caveat: there are a couple of seriously skint councils around that are struggling to make it to the next FY so you might be unlucky)

This is true, substitute "traditionally" for "always" in my post.

Snow snow snow snow snow! Hurrah! I am so pleased about the snow.

Today the randon transient ache is in my neck and shoulders. Argh. This is probably the result of too much shoegazing last night.

Kontacte were very very good, enjoyed them muchly, really liked that sort of feathery guitar/VCS3 sound that was drzzled like all over them like syrup.

Air Formation were also good, but they were really just a straight tribute band - The Pale Slowdive or something. Enjoyable, and I do like that kind of music, but they really did bring nothing new to it. But it's highly derivative of a style of music I really love, so I enjoyed it.

Also quite randomly ran into Mr. Amp. Well, perhaps not so randomly as it was a shoegazer club. But it was still good.

I've got to do some calligraphy for work today. The strange things that get dumped on me! Ah well, I enjoy it.

I mean, that band I asked to audition for last month, they said no, but now we are gone from MySpace friends to chatting at gigs friends which is good.

I need to lose the fear of people saying no. It's not that bad, after the initial disappointment.

Last night, after FOURTEEN years of playing guitar, I finally learned how to put on new strings in the *right* way (that is, in a way that doesn't take 2 hours, leave my fingers all sore, and necessitate another 2 hours to take 'em off). Um, I'm a big idiot. I always dread changing my strings 'cause it's such an ordeal--only last night, k urged me to look on the internets for 'string-changing techniques', and I did. And it's so easy! What the hell was I doing? At a certain point, someone told me the wrong way, and I'd stuck with that forever. I feel like such a tool.

Which I think is perfectly fair, if you are listening to the music, rather than looking at the presentation onstage. (This has been one of the constant annoyances, that people in the blogosphere who had only ever heard us, tend to come up with things like "Stereolab" and "Jesus and Mary Chain" and even "Chapterhouse" once (yay!) - but people who have seen us tend to go "ooh, P1p3tt3s" based on what we looked like.)

Anyway, how had you been putting on strings? I freaking hate changing strings, so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong!

The way I'm doing it now.

I don't like that initial brightness sound in strings, it just sounds too clear and chimy. I like the sound of dirty strings.

I figured out the "let the string catch and hold itself against the direction of turning" thing a while ago. But stretching the string gently before tuning it up all the way is a good idea.

Well, it seems they like the songs. Now to see if I get the gig! And then - eep - finding a band to play it with me. Might be easier to convince certain people if it's a one-off, but others have said previously that they are up for doing it. Who knows! I know I can do gigs just with laptop and guitar and me, but I'd rather not.

Eep, this is nerve-wracking. I feel like I'm approaching a horse that has bucked me off before.

Yes, that is a bit much. That reminds me to buy some strings this weekend!

I've had the same set of stings on my bass for as long as I can remember, 3 years at least. Guitars get changed a bit more often, though.

No way do I change the strings once a month. More like every six months. But mostly that's because of my aforementioned ph34r of doing it.

Nice! (That they like the songs.) I'm on record offering my meager guitar or bass skills to any K8 project.

If the paint is metallic or worse pearlescent then paint repair can often involve a whole side repaint or a blend up the body to make the paint look uniform. Pearlescent always does or you'll get a discontinuity where shiny flakes don't line up so you have to paint up to a natural discontinuity.

When buying a car always try to get plain paint. Metallic paint is a scam.

I put a set of 11s on the Jazzmaster at the weekend (why do they ship them with 09s??) and it's rock solid - no rattles, keeps tune after whammying like mad. The action went a bit higher with the extra tension, so that needed sorting, but overall I'm v.happy.

I prob change strings every 3-4 months.

Norm - I sent you an email re : something you said. I ws hoping to be helpful, but rereading it, I may not have been very. If so, sorry. Hope all's well.

There's another variable: The hexagons may be perfect when cut, but the heating/cooking process causes distortion - which is not the same as it being a faulty process. Maybe you should actually be studying the average deviation from the perfect hexagon shape due to the application of heat - after having visited the factory to check that the 'raw' hexagons are, in fact, true symmetrical hexagons.

I think this idea of A Gig has focused me in a way that I wasn't feeling before. I think it was the right idea. I suddenly feel an urge to sort things out and finish things up in a way I wasn't before.

::DOES HAPPY DANCE AROUND OFFICE::

I have the gig. Saturday March 3rd (phew, had to make sure it was a Saturday so it would not get mucked up in monthend) at Night of the Long Swords on Old Street. Supporting THE TELESCOPES!!!!!

I am the happiest girl in the world.

I've got a month to pull it together. That is the focus that I need. I feel scared and excited - but I also feel very inspired.

Whoa!

So start up that new thread with the news!

::bounce::

Cattus Shoegazicuss!

Woot! Yay Kate! This = fun and the best news I've heard since Stansted reopened. ;-)

*Ned will say otherwise.

OK, this is even better! It's actually at the Windmill! Hurrah! I love the Windmill, it's my local and I know that the soundman will be nice and good.

Gooblar, how are you on harmony vocals? I need singerz.

Uh, cosmic injustice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ogWgG0UOY

(apart from "an English band")

I've done solo shows before. Actually, I fucking hate getting onstage by myself, it's horrible. Eep! Maybe I should cancel and tell them half the band are going to India that day.

Unless I record them to the computer and sing along with the laptop... hrmmmm. No, that's totally lame and karaoke. Isn't it?

http://www.the-zodiac.co.uk/bandpics/britpopside2webflyer.gif

But Ride, Boo Radleys and Lush were both!

Yay! FMM says she will play THE SILVER MACHINE on drones and wubbulations for me. Awesomeness.

ACtually, FMM said she was going to start learning singing saw!

You don't need to take the strings off if you are just playing drones. Tune them all to the same pitch or fifths and just jangle along.

Though aren't you planting trees on the last weekend in Feb?

You don't have to play on all the songs, Ed. You can stick to just the really easy droney twinkly ones. And, like, press play on the laptop for the others or something.

Asia and I are meeting my mum at Victoria on Saturday and my mum is going to give me a leaflet on New River walks, after which I will revive the rolling walking thread!

I have had too much sugar. I must stop saying "Awesome!" to everything.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i134/dgoobl/trafficlight.jpg

I'm going to NOTLS on Saturday anyway. Eep, they've updated their website already to say that "Shimura Curves" are playing so I guess it's out of the bag. FMM is a former Curve so that's OK.

I will be needing to get out of the house in the midst of the three day recording binge I have planned.

Do NOT try to read it at work. You will laugh too hard. And then your boss may come over and ask for the joke and you look like a mentalist.

Oh man am I looking forward to my long weekend.

You lot behave yourselves while I'm gone, ya hear? ;-)

*explosion, leaving no trace of JB behind*
*Kate grins maniacally as she hides the detonator*

(only kidding Kate, we love you really!)

Cold, tired, foggy-minded, papers to mark, tutorials to teach.

You?

OMG just saw cutest thing ever: Nick's rabbit just STRETCHED and YAWNED.

Ally n I are doing cookie trading, maybe I get her to slip me some airborne.

No, Baker the ATAK LARBIT stood up on tiptoe and THEN stretched each of its little leggies and did a big yawn. It is teh CUET.

Wimminzar is discussing the dangers of Myspace.

www.myspace.com/fanfarlo

The pub is a short walk from Angel station. I have never been there before. Anyone familiar with it?

I’m very worried that I am going mad, or at least undergoing some kind of personality change that I can’t control and don’t understand. Over the last few weeks I have started to think and behave out of character for some reason. This last week has been very bad. This is the first time that I have ever felt this way, I have no history of mental illness or depression, and I’m beginning to get frightened about where it might lead.

There are a number of facets to this. First I feel that there’s a sort of barrier to me enjoying *anything*. Suddenly I don’t want to play sport anymore. I am desperate to get out of music commitments – I have a gig in Brighton in a couple of weeks and a recording session and I’m just desperate to get out of them – for no good reason really. I just want to stay at home. I constantly have that ‘post-exams’ feeling when, once the adrenalin has gone, you just feel empty and lethargic. I feel I have nothing left to give anymore. I do feel physically exhausted too, and have lost some weight.

I’m also becoming obsessed with ‘settling my affairs’. My mind keeps racing through lists of things that I need to do or to tell people as if I wouldn’t be here tomorrow. I keep thinking ‘this might be the last time I walk down this street or talk to person X’. I am on autopilot at work because I keep telling myself things like ‘I won’t be here when that project finishes’. A couple of nights ago I couldn’t sleep because, for some reason, an argument I had with my sister about 20 years ago kept coming to mind. I haven’t thought about it for for years, and I’m sure that she hasn’t either. But the urge to phone her immediately to apologise was overwhelming. I even had the phone in my hand at 3 am. I keep thinking ‘do they (friends, family) KNOW how much I love them?’ Then I become anxious that I’ll forget to tell them.

I find myself becoming overwhelmed with emotion at the simplest thing. I saw a mum kissing her little daughter at the gates of the school behind my house this morning and I virtually burst into tears in the street. I wanted to tell her ‘please look after her’.

I can’t stress how out of character this is – normally I’m positive, busy and don’t dwell on things that I can’t do anything about. I always just get on with things. If anything I drive myself too hard and try to do too much. Maybe this is some kind of reaction to doing that for too long?

I haven’t really spoken to anyone about it, but I think I’ll have to. I’m wary – I don’t want to alarm those closest to me. The last thing they need is me to be debilitated or useless, or see me as weak and unable to cope. I know that it’s wrong to think like this, but I do. There’s no reason for me to be unhappy or unsettled really – things are going well and I thought I was happier than for years.

Any advice or thoughts would be welcome. I’m worried – I don’t just feel a bit down, I feel like I might run out of control at any moment, and I have never felt like this before. I don’t know what to do. Sorry.

When I suffered from some of the things you described i put off doing this for far too long. When I did finally go it sorted the problem.

Yes, with your GP would be good. But I think it would be helpful, and actually healthy in and of itself, to open up to those closest to you. This *is* you, and it's ok. It's not the emergence of another, strange, Dr. C. You can be your normal self, and still have these really frightening bouts of strangeness. It's worthwhile to accept that these things can happen, and talk about how to get through them in a way that leaves you more secure, less frightened, and more at peace. I think.

(also, I got yer email the other day, for which many, many thanks, my apologies for not replying yet)

I have been the recipient of one of those 3 o'clock in the morning apology telephone calls from a friend of mine, and I am currently helping him through a particularly difficult phase caused by a mixture of anxiety, financial worries and marital discord. I'd rather not discuss personal stuff on the net, but my email address works if you would like to talk privately.

Going to see your doctor is probably a very good idea, although I do think that overworked GPs tend to be a bit to quick off the mark to prescribe antidepressants rather than spend time getting to the heart of the problem - I think if it were me, I might be concerned about being immediately pigeonholed as 'stressed' or 'depressed'. I'm a great believer in talking things through if at all possible, like g00blar says.

Hmm, that's what my doctor gave me and it seems to be working! If only I could get to sleep tho :(

I think a combination of counselling (be it by a professional or just your mates, or both) and meds is the way to go.

Opening up is defintiely the main thing tho - I was so pleased with how amazingly supportive everyone was (inc my boss) when i was depressed.

i dunno, i don't have any better advice than that offered above. don't feel that you shouldn't talk to people about this, including - especially, even - the people you have to be strong for.

you might also start with a help line or crisis/counselling center - they may also just direct you to your GP, but you may be able to talk to someone "qualified" more quickly that way.

OTM. You wouldn't not take painkillers if you broke your leg - it's about managing the problem while it's there. It's not about ignoring it, but giving yourself some breathing space to allow you to deal with it in a more detached manner, without the "pain".

I'm not saying anything else on here, but I have emailed you.

Maybe I would be if all I wanted to do was point at things.