Wintermute

I know someone who has had a different friend die in different ar accidents every month for the last 3 months. At the moment, she won't get into a car. I can't blame her.

I can't do alone for too long. When I'm with people I can relax and not have to think. When I'm alone, I get bored, when I get bored I think, and when I think I get depressed and/or scare myself. On the other hand, if I stay in company too long, I start to get really edgy. So I need a happy medium, really.

Mysterious? Really? most of the bad guys I know are shallow as a puddle. Not all of them, I suppose, but most of them certainly. Tim Redmayne, for example. If he can't eat it, attack it, play rugby with it or sleep with it, he's not interested.

It all depends on the circumstance. If whatever someone is doing, they are doing it to me, sure I'll tell. Why not? THey might not like me? well surely if they're doing something to me like that, they don't anyway. Something like throwing a rubber, as someone mentioned, I'll likely just keep quiet.

What would each of you say makes for a cooler character? Good, or Evil? Both sides have their champions. Sephiroth for a start, is evil, and one of the coolest characters anywhere in anything. Major Motoko Kusanagi is good, and also insanely cool. But which side is coolest? Personally I think Evil, overall, but it's a close call, and depends what your watching.

[quote] There are just some people in the world you have to be mean to though. I have found that out working in retail. Anyone who works with the public would understand, I'm sure. [/quote] God yes. I work in catering, and there have been many times when I've asked myself whether it'd be worth being fired to punch this obstinate little piece of...... Never done it though. Smile. Nod. Get them whatever ludicrous thing they've asked for after being served whatever it was they asked for in the first place THEN changing their minds, in the knowledge that they probably won't eat it anyway. But I override such instints! You have to, if you want to go anywhere other than prison! I am a nice guy when I'm not at work, doing hard work for peanuts, I promise!

Well physically, I'd say my hands, because they are quick, and this is helpful in many ways. Like typing. Or playing bass gutiar. Personality wise.... Not sure. I sort of pride myself on taking stock of a situation before rushing in, and I often end up being the person people cry to. (Which I don't mind at all, I quite like it.)

I get the forgotton feeling in annoying ways. For example - I'm wearing my coat to college. It turns out to be a hot day, after a morning that could go either way. I stuff my coat into my bag. All through the day, I feel I've forgotten something whenever I leave anywhere, because I was wearing a coat to college, and then suddenly. . . no coat! My subconscious refuses to acknowledge bags.

The biggest porn addict I know is also the most devout christian I know. (barring my family members, who are all so much more religious than me) To be honest, playboy, hustler and that kind of thing just don't do it for me. The stuff you get in playboy is the same sort of stuff that is plastered over everything in the world we appear to be living in now. Adverts in shop windows, papers, tv... I guess I'm desensitized to it. And as for Hustler, well, the peopl that appear in that kind of thing are a few steps from bottom. They're broke, they'll do virtually anything for money, they're often quite plain. Is that supposed to be arousing? I'm not saying I don't look at porn, just not that kind. ;)

I do download some things, but alway sthings I can justify to myself. J-pop, for instance. Unreleased tracks. Live unreleased tracks. Primus are a great band for the conscientious, as they have publically stated that they are actually glad that so many people bootleg their shows, as they themselves usually don't record gigs. If someone else has, well then people can enjoy it. (In fact, the website actually hosts unofficial bootlegs) For the most part though, I buy cds. I think people are going the wrong way with CD security. They look for technological ways. I read with interest about how the Ozzy Live at the Budokan album utilised cutting edge technology, by making the cd unplayable by computers. I checked WinMX out of curiosity, and days after its release, all the tracks were there. Someone had just played it on a cd player, and used a digital line to record it on the computer. (That or someone running a Linux system did it - this cutting edge software was Windows targetted) The best way I've seen is the path taken by Tool on the Lateralus album. I don't think it was their intent, but it worked. The packaging and artwork on that album is absolutely exquisite. I've never seen the like.... mmmm.... multi-layered intricate acetate prints....... Everyone wants the artwork almost as much as the cd, so virtually no-one copies it!

[quote] I usually get that feeling right before I have to fight someone better than me in martial arts... then a few seconds later, I find myself sprawled on my back, aches throughout my body, and find the paranoia justified. I must be psychic [/quote] Yeah, I get that with fencing, and often end up battered and bleeding for it. Not always though. The trick is to always treat every opponent as someone slightly worse than you. Someone you can take risks with, but that you mustn't underestimate. But yeah. The most extreme example I've had was a really weird and REALLY strong sense that everything was going horribly wrong, and then about an hour later my best friend told me he was going out with my sister... IT didn't work out SO bad in the end though, compared to how it could have ended!

In context of the romantic guy that MistressRoxie mentioned, I think I'd have to call myself a poor romantic, in that I certainly would like to be able to buy chocolates and roses and such, I can't afford to! Luckily the only time it's really mattered (In that they were someone I really totally cared about) she knew that, and didn't want any. I'm sure she would have appreciated them, but wasn't upset that they weren't coming! In fact she often ended up buying me things... funny the way things work out.

O'Keefe is good, I based my GCSE coursework on some of her architectural studies. Chalk was always the medium for me. Personally though, I love the style of Richard Kane Ferguson. It's very distinctive, you can always spot that it's by him before you see the little R.K.F logo. He's done a lot of work for Wizards Of The Coast and White Wolf. Some of his best stuff is published in the form of RPG book illustrations, and Magic card artwork. Pretty much all of it, in fact. Oh, and some Escher stuff is just painful to look at - in the best possible way.

"Lets go through those numbers again; UK, no handguns, 14 deaths. US, and I think you know how we feel about guns, I'm getting a stiffie, 23000 deaths from handguns. BUT THERE IS NO CONNECTION! And you'd be a fool or a communist to make one. There is no connection between having a a gun and shooting someone with it, and NOT having a gun, and not shooting someone." - Bill Hicks. incidentally, this quote is followed almost immediatly by my sig

tch tch. Fools all. What do youe mean about the glasses? Are you saying that's good or bad? I think they can be good or bad, depending on the person, but they really suit Fuu, and are a good thing. I like Hikaru, but I'm mildly (well... maybe severely) obsessed with Fuu. I have pictures of her stuck on my bass guitar. No, really.

This easter, I sat at home on my own, (parents and sister all went to different parts of the country) ate lots of food and chocolate, and sat on the computer. Listening to and d/ling music, sitting on OB and the various other websites I live on, then rang some friends for a spell. Good, honest, slightly lonely fun!

I have to say I'd be intrigued. I'd have a good look around first, but I would like to live in one. But yes, they need to speed up the building! It often really annoys me that although we live in an age with technology my great-grandparents would not believe, my descendants will be in an age of technology I wouldn't believe. I'll be missing out!

[quote] Simply asking this question means you'll never find the answer and are doomed to a life of confusion. [/quote] nice to see that optimism is flourishing

I'll side with Psyco on Mamoru Oshii. Ghost in the Shell is a little masterpiece of film-making. Beautifully dark, well-paced, and some unmatched visuals and juxtaposition. Throw in the concept, storyline and artwork by the great Masamune Shirow, and you have one of the greatest films around. And wasn't Mamoru Oshii behind Blood : the Last Vampire as well? Now there was a film with a dark stylish edge.

Meh, I'll kill Ferio and there'll be no problem. Umi has the annoying voice. Almost as annoying as Ascot, though he's not going to feature in anyone's list! Fuu takes the prize by miles. Quite aside from looking stunning, she's very smart, capable, a little shy, more mature than the other too, plus of course she has the coolest Mashin. There's a case for Hikaru, I guess, just as long as you don't try to suggest that Umi is better than Fuu. Then, my friend, you'll be burned at the stake for heresy. I have a mob. Be warned.

Sign me up! I remember getting about £10-15 in Lucky Money on Chinese New Year, I prefer the Korean system!

I used to live in Hong Kong, and holidays there were often celebrated in VERY good ways. On Chinese New Year, there were firecracker chains, fireworks, food, Dragons and Lions dancing down the street... My personal favourite was the Moon festival, where everyone went down to the beach with candle lanterns, on a full moon, and sat in the sand surrounded by a ring of candles.... from a distance it was quite staggeringly beautiful.

Then why not start that as a seperate thread, running parallel

If this works, and is feasible, it's a fascinating idea. Quite apart from the fact it would solve many problems such as accomodation shortages, it would look really really cool! The one thing that would worry me, in Japan more than China, is Earthquakes. Japan is on a tectonic hotspot between three plates. Not the ideal place for building mile high buildings.

[quote] If you made hydrogen cars then their would be no more need for oil and then, you take the power right out of saddams hands, this is a decision that would obviously better the world in more ways than one. [/quote] Oil is used for MANY other things than petrol, you know. Say you build a hydrogen car. What roads will it use? These tarmac ones? The ones made from oil? What will the dashboard be made out of? This plastic stuff? That we make from oil? What will the seatbelts be made from? Nylon? The polymer we fashion from the hydrocarbon chains in oil? Life is an incredible thing. Virtually impossible to wipe out. Lets take any example you care to name. Landfill site? Rats, seagulls, bacteria, all thriving! Flood? Quite apart from marine life, alluvial deposits and silt mean that plant life will thrive!Meteor strike, kicking up such a huge dust-cloud the sun is blocked out? Well yes, the dinosaurs died, but the birds, fish, lizards, mammals, eukaryotic organisms, marine life, plants and so on managed just fine. We are not killing the world. We are only killing ourselves. I don't even think we could kill the world, even if we tried. So the sun will rise on Jan 1st 2525, and I would be totally shocked if it didn't shine down on a world thriving, and covered with blossoming, vibrant life. Whether or not Homo Sapiens will be among it, I don't know. Sometimes I doubt it. But who knows? We are the most inventive, fast evolving species around. Although we don't evolve in the Darwinian sense any more, at least, not quickly, due to society caring for the weak (which is a good thing of course) we can evolve ourselves. Put an animal in a colder environment, it will eventually evolve a thicker coat. Put man in a colder environment, it will MAKE itself a thicker coat. Probably by stealing it from an animal, but that's irrelevant. If any one species can survive, it's probably us. (although our chances would be improved if we didn't work AGAINST ourselves so much, by attacking our own kind!)