Gavin

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet]Okay the whole deal with that this woman's son was killed in Iraq months ago and she's decided to camp out at President Bush's ranch in Crawford TX (30 miles or so from Waco-I've been there :animesigh ) until he'll talk to her. (I think she'd have better luck convincing Al Queida that we're [i]not[/i] infidels, but that's just my humble opinion.) The police have threatened to arrest her, the president's motorcade drove right by her. G. W. Bush says that while he sympathizes ( *cough* bull crap *cough*) with her, pulling out of Iraq would bad. How? Honestly I'm surprised that there isn't a thread on this subject already so I'm starting this one now. I think it's rather admirable that this woman is willing to risk imprisonment just to get her point across. Now what do you think?[/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]I recall hearing about this briefly on SkyNews a few days ago, I caught the tail end of the editorial about it. I agree with Chibi, it is rather admirable that she is willing to risk imprisonment to seek an apology from President Bush for the death of her son, though I get the feeling an apology won't be forthcoming from him. Personally I think President Bush should meet with her, even if to speak with her for a few minutes and give her some closure on her son's death, I'm not saying that he should go around to the family of every soldier killed in Iraq though it would be very commendable if he did. But he seems to have plenty of spare time, so why not spare a few minutes to help this grieving mother.[/SIZE] [quote name='Retribution][SIZE=1']As for pulling out of Iraq. Terrible idea in this stage of the game. We came into Iraq, uprooted their government, knocked out their electricity, and in general threw the country into a state of chaos with this war. We need to restore order, by instating a new, stable, centralized government that can handle things for themselves before we pull out. Leaving now would be extremely cowardly. Really, you have to finish what you start.[/SIZE][/quote] [SIZE=1]Alex has said pretty much everything I was going to say, proper order and stability need to be established in Iraq before any thoughts of leaving, if America and it's allies in the war were to pull out now the situation in the country would deteriorate to a echelon much worse than that under Saddam Hussein. Chances are it would become a breeding ground for hardline anti-American terrorists like Al Qaeda , stirring up hatred among the Iraqis for what could be perceived as America?s cowardly withdrawal before the country was properly stabilised. I?m not saying that it would definitely become something like that but when more than a hundred thousand Iraqis have died and you add to that the Abu Ghraib scandal, Guantanamo Bay and the fact of country still being unable to support itself when America and it?s allies left, well I?d say that scenario is an unfortunate but distinct possibility. As Alex said, you have an obligation to finish what you start, in everything in life.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]A rather interesting little test Azure, though I do feel it was slightly limiting on some questions. Anyway my overall results weren't surprising although again some of the answers you could give were limited. [B]Results[/B] Your [I]Moralising Quotient[/I] is: [B]1.17.[/B] Your [I]Interference Factor[/I] is: [B]1.00.[/B] Your [I]Universalising Factor[/I] is: [B]1.00.[/B] As per Azures comments on intercourse with a chicken, I can only agree and add eating a dead pet to that same list of wrongs no matter where you are in the world. That and brother-sister incest, I don't care if they liked it, that is so depraved I can't even assign a high enough level of degeneracy to it. [/SIZE]

[QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium]Secondly - and most importantly - we don't want the site to become cluttered or to become incredibly slow for users. There are still a good many users on slower connections. I don't want to have to force them to turn off signatures (which means that they couldn't even view their own). By having the system we do, we can ensure that people still have great signatures, but everyone can see them without much trouble. I absolutely dislike forums where people have signature banners that sit 500 pixels wide and 600 pixels high. It looks terrible, it looks messy and it takes a long time to load (especially if you have pages with a lot of replies). And then what if they had two or three of those images? And a few animations? That's just crazy. We don't want to allow that here. So that's about it really. 500x100 is plenty of space and it should give you plenty of room to create an image that you like.[/font][/QUOTE] [size=1]I can only agree with everything James has said here, as one of Otaku[B]Boards[/B]' members with a slower connection at about 28.8 Kbps, I can't convey how much I appreciate OBs rules on the size of images in signatures. When browsing other forums on the internet I often find myself cursing in frustration at the size and number of images in member signatures and how long it takes to load up any page with relating to a subject I might be exploring. As James said often signatures look a complete mess with no style to them, rather they seem to be just a collection of huge untidy images and text designed to irritate those with slow internet connections or some grasp of elegance and finesse. I recall back before we implemented the first rule on avatar sizes people used to have avatars with dimensions larger than images in their signatures, I recall Sephiroth used to sport an image of the character at about 100x500. Nowadays I notice many members images in their signatures don't even use the full 500x100 available to them, instead electing to have their signatures smaller, neater and much more elegant looking. [/size]

[QUOTE=Boo][size=1][color=gray]What happens in the Guild Hall... [b]WARNING: Rated M for extremely mature![/b] [URL=http://img281.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gw0899nr.png][IMG]http://img281.imageshack.us/img281/7074/gw0899nr.th.png[/IMG][/URL] Now I think it's time to run.[/size][/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Uhh that is more than a little disturbing Boo, I'm just wondering who's characters are involved in that little scene ? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. [quote name='Corey][size=1']And Europe is worse than any area in the US.[/size][/quote] I'd like to thank Corey for bringing that up, Americans have been getting away like bandits for years in terms of what you guys pay for petrol and diesel. A gallon is actually the equivalent of about [B]five[/B] litres, not three and if I could get away with ?2.05 (about $2.75) for five litres of petrol or diesel I can tell you I'd be a very happy chappy. As it stands in the Republic of Ireland we're paying about ?1.15 ($1.44) per litre and that's in places with some kind of concept of fairness in terms of price when back about a year or so ago the price was about ?0.95 per litre. In the United Kingdom I believe the price is more than ?1.54 (£1.10 or $1.92) per litre, though I may be wrong as it's been a while since I heard the current cost in England. So really everywhere you go people are going to complain about the cost of fuel, if you can I suggest changing to public transport, if you can't it's really just a case of grin and bare it. Because with countries like China and India getting more drivers every year the cost of petrol is just going to keep going up, and we're going to have to get used to it. [/SIZE]

[quote name='doukeshi03][SIZE=1']P.S Gavin, whenever you say 'interesting, most interesting' in front of your post it makes me want to hurt you. [/SIZE][/quote] [quote name='Lore][color=#6699cc']Quoted for truth. :)[/color][/quote] [quote name='Retribution][SIZE=1']Yeah, I hate to jump the bandwagon, but it's quoted for truth. :p[/size][/quote] [SIZE=1]I have but one response... [[i]Puts on Cartman accent[/i]] ... [b]Screw you guys, I'm going home.[/b] On a side note this as in absolutely peachy way to get a 1500th post.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. What can be said has pretty much been said, get feedback from your family and friends on whether or not they think you really to have the talent to go on and become a professional. I recall in Billy Connelly's [B]Erect for 30 Years[/B] video he discusses about how he became a stand-up comedian and one of his pieces of advice, well actually it was in response to a question from Eddie Izzard was that you shouldn't write down your material. Don't ask me why but if a comedian like Big Yin doesn't write it down I'd say he's on to something. If it?s your dream, go for it with everything you?ve got. [quote name='Manic Webb']If you really want to do stand-up comedy, go for it. Do your best, and see if you have the chops for it. Don't be like me. Don't make baby Jesus cry.[/quote] I just had to laugh as I read that, it was so pathetically funny. Manic perhaps you should reconsider that career as a stand-up comedian.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. As I live out in the country I'm not really privy to many Urban Legends, not that I heard of any back when I did live in the town. Although now that I think about it I do recall there used to be a rumour about a man who used to be seen walking around the green of a housing estate we lived in while our current home was being renovated. The rumour or story said that the man used to be seen on nights of the full moon dressed in tattered clothes and searching for children to kidnap. He actually seen more than a few times although when "debunked" it was revealed to be one of brothers of a friend of mine who had started to story as a way to frighten children. Still it was thrilling while it lasted, as often groups of seven or eight adventures nine year olds would venture down to the green at night to try and find this bogeyman.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. In a country like Ireland where there aren't even enough actual Irish children available to be adopted by prospective parents, because more women are content to just get an abortion than have the child and put it up for adoption, I've always been a huge supporter and advocate of the adoption programme. Myself and my siblings are all the biological offspring of our parents, and to my knowledge no member of my outer family is adopted. Back when I was in high school I happened to be chatting to one of the girls next to me in computer class, and when asked why my brother was so unlike me in terms of looks and personality I replied jokingly that he was adopted. The girl went quiet after than and I thought it was rather strange, later I asked one of her friends why she had gone quiet to which I was informed that she herself was adopted, I can't express how ****** I felt after learning that. I hadn't meant it in an insulting or malicious way, because my brother and myself are so different we could easily be mistaken for being unrelated but I still felt terrible for making her feel bad. I apologised to her profusely the next day, but it's always been in my mind any time I see her and I still feel awful about it to this day. My thoughts on adoption are very simple, it's a wonderful idea, if the child's parents feel they can't give the child a loving home with them then giving it up for adoption is the way of insuring the eventually that child will find a set of parents who want to give him/her the love, nurturing and support he/she deserves. I can't convey how much respect I have for mothers or fathers or mothers and fathers who give up their child when they know he/she deserves better, it's so selfless that it deserves admiration beyond words. Though also I think single parents or even couples shouldn't have to give up their children if they don't want to, just because they can't afford financially to keep them, there should be support from the government to help them. I have to admit that given to opportunity I would rather have biological children of my own with my future wife, I want what my mother and father have when the look at my siblings and me and see themselves in us. I know it seems a tad mushy but I'm a hopeless romantic at heart. Though if my wife or I wouldn't have children I would have to think before looking to adopt a child. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Back when we first moved into our current house about eleven years ago I used to absolutely hate having to go around the house late at night, my eyesight has always been bad and when it's dark your eyes try to make sense of things in the darkness, the result was and always has been seeing things than aren't there. Usually it's just opaque and obscure shapes from clothing laying around somewhere, but it used to absolutely scare the shite out of me as a child, and as such I used to have to sleep with a light on until three or four years ago. Referring to "aliens", after seeing Star Trek: First Contact I used to have terrible nightmares about The Borg, any little sound I heard would send me terrified into my parents' room. I used to get fairly bad nightmares by themselves as well, one particular nightmare I can recall is still creepy even to this day more than five years later. We live on a farm so there's always odd noises outside and the galvanised roofs on the shed used to flap and make really eerie sounds at night when it was particularly windy, I say used to because they were ripped off last year in a nasty storm. Hacka's quote really says it all for me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I never got used to calling my parents or grandmothers by their formal titles, my father is referred to as simple Dad, my mother is referred to as Mom or Mam, or if I'm looking for a favour a very sweetly said Mammy. My maternal grandmother who took care of my siblings and me growing up is referred to as Gran or more so by me "Gags", I think "Gags" or "Gaggy" came about when I was very small and couldn't pronounce Grandma. My other grandmother is referred to as Gran as well but we don't see her nearly as much so it's more formal that other my other grandmother. Both my grandfathers are dead and were dead before I was born so I never got the opportunity to give them endearing names. I tend to be far more formal when dealing with my uncles and aunts, referring to my mother's brother who is only seventeen years older than myself as Uncle Colin and it drives him mental, which I find very entertaining. Same goes for all my father's brothers, and all my granduncles and aunts, I just grew up referring to them by their more formal title. As for names from relations for me, I don't recall any off the top of my head it seems to be far simpler to just call me Gavin. Actually my father came up with new names for myself and my brother David, David became Percy and I was redubbed Reginald, we tend to use the names if we're messing around or being more jokingly ostentatious. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I have to admit I'm slightly split on the issue, on the one hand consoles as Retri pointed out have the "comfort" factor over handhelds in that you do often have the sit uncomfortably in order to play them. And as Retri pointed out for the foreseeable future consoles will have the advantage over handhelds in terms of graphics power because simply the can fit more in them that the handhelds, though for the same reason PCs often have the advantage for long periods of time over consoles. I mean seriously who wouldn't love an excellent RPG with beautiful graphics ? In consoles favour though you do have whole mobility bonus going on, you're not stuck sitting in the one place for hours on end because when you walk around you're taking the game with you. The graphics argument is a slightly double-edged sword as many RPG fans aren't really put off by low-spec graphics, it's the gameplay mechanics that matter and once people are hooked by that the graphics become a mute point. With the new battery systems on the GBA SP line, the extra cost of buying batteries has also become a mute issue. There are merits for both systems, but bringing it down to it's fundamentals I'd prefer a case of a dead-*** from sitting down to much and looking at beautiful graphics than I would squinting and rubbing my neck in order to play a very good RPG on a handheld. I'm not going to comment on MMORPGs because I don't have the opportunity to play them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well compared to few other people here I'm very mundane at being pure-bred Irish, though as there are reputedly over 150 million people with Irish blood across the globe being pure-bred isn't very mundane after all. An uncle of mine traced my family lineage back over something like seven hundred years, and it revealed that my family is from what are called Old Irish, which refers to those families which are descended from the original Celts who settled Ireland. I'm proud of my heritage and proud of my race seeing as how the Irish have always triumphed over adversity wherever they've met it.[/SIZE] [quote name='Ozymandius Jones][COLOR=DarkOrange']Mom's side: quarter British, quarter Black Irish. That means that most of the family had dark brown/almost black hair, as opposed to Red Irish, which are the folks with the stereotypical Irish hair. [/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]Black Irish and Red Irish seem to be terms used only in America as I've never heard to used in Ireland to describe anyone, I did a bit of searching on Wiki and got the meaning of Black Irish, which again befuddles me as I've never heard of anyone back before three or four generations ago with Iberian features. Another thing is Red Irish is actually misleading as most people have light, dark or normal brown hair in Ireland as opposed to the famous red hair which is rather uncommon among most people and probably has to do with those descended from Scandinavian stock. Most Irish people refer to themselves by what county or province their from, though this has a bit to do with [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAA][B]GAA[/B][/url] rivalries, I myself would refer to myself as a Tipp [Tipperary] or Munster man. [/SIZE] [quote name='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Irish][SIZE=1']The term "Black Irish" is sometimes used to refer to Irish people possessing dark skin and hair, purportedly due to Iberian ancestry. Numerous popular theories have been devised to explain the provenance and historical background of the Black Irish. Some scholars claim that no distinct population group of Black Irish actually exists, or has ever existed, and that the myth of the Black Irish was coined in America to explain the existence of Irish people whose appearance did not conform to stereotypical images of what Irish people look like.[/SIZE][/quote]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I don't actually recall the last OB Idol contest, I know it was back years ago at this stage, back when I didn't stir out of the Arena for love nor money. I wouldn't mind taking a crack at OB Idol, so long as someone explains it to me anyway, though Shy's new Legionnaires Event is definitely something I'm going to try and be a part of. In terms of Events I'd suggest waiting until one is over and done with before beginning another. Zidargh has a point though when he says nominations are often slightly biased, as we used to see in the "[B][Insert Title] of the Year[/B]" Events.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I would bother to argue how userdan is wrong and how our current set-up is much more user and board friendly than other sites, but he's been banned so there's really no point.[/SIZE] [quote name='Baron Samedi][size=1']It's OK. He's been banned. But I think his custom title says it all...[/size][/quote] [SIZE=1]That's all that can really be said.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. [B]Real Name: [/B] My Christian name is Gavin, and simply enough it game out of a boys baby name book that my parents were looking through before I was born. In the beginning I really hated my name because I was the only person I knew, but eventually I got accustomed to it and grew to like it. My middle name is Gerard, after my father, who was named after his uncle, who was named after another relative up along the lines, a trait which is very common in my family. My Confirmation name, which all Catholics take upon their Confirmation is Patrick, taken for my maternal grandfather and the Irish Patron Saint, simple as that. [b]Nicknames:[/b] Plenty to choose from, Van and Gav are simply taken from my own first name and shortened down. Professor Frink or Frinky was taken because I wear glasses and bore a resemblance to him at one stage, after a nasty haircut. Big Mac was a name that really came out of nowhere, though I suspect it had something to do with the release of the Young Indiana Jones "movies" on video. Gav seems to be the only nickname that people continue to use, though that's down to people being lazy and not bothering to finish off my name. [b]Online Names:[/b] More than a few of these to use from, I'm not even going to try and remember my earliest handles because there's way to many to try and recall. Starting off on OB back in September 2001 I went with the username Majin Gogeta, after a month I signed up again as Shadowed Demise and then in December again as Red XIII. I continued using the Red XIII username until changing it to Outcast, then to Lynx, then on to Kane and then finally stopping with Gavin which I intend to stick with. I didn't get AIM until 2003/2004 as I recall, far longer than most people had it, before than I'd been using MSN and moved on to AIM because more people used it. The only handles I can recall were Mangus Supreme and my current one of Zeitgeist Glee, though again my bad memory is something most people are now accustomed to. Most people wonder why Zeitgeist Glee means and simply it means the Joy [Glee] of the Spirit of a Generation [Zeitgeist]. Thought certain people know more about where the Glee part comes from.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I can't argue with the consensus here, I'm no expert on any genre and just happen to listen to whatever I happen to be listening to. Most of my CDs are Rock/Metal though they'd be more related to the genre of rock than metal, [B]Thin Lizzy[/B] would make up most of my staple songs to listen to, although there's a good helping of [B]Metallica[/B] thrown in. Another big genre I'd be a fan of, but don't have any CDs of would be classical music, I started out as a big fan of it back in primary school and still enjoy listening to the classic music radio station Lyric FM. I confess I'm a much bigger movie fan than I am a music listener. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Off the top of my head the only Co-Op game I play regularly would be [B]Star Wars Rogue Squadron: Rebel Strike[/B], though the Co-Op mode in that is just [B]Rogue Leader[/B] made for two people. Still it's a lot of fun, and gunning down the Death Star with your brother as your wingman is the stuff that brings the film alive. Though the argument over who's Luke and who's Wedge can sometimes turn ugly. If you still have a Sega Megadrive II, then there's an absolute bunch of Co-Op games that are great to play, my own personal favourites being [B]Streets of Rage[/b], the sequel [b]Streets of Rage 2[/B] and [b]Golden Axe[/b], S.o.R. and Golden Axe came as part of the second Triple Pack of games released for the Sega Megadrive II. Again they're all double player games but a hell of a lot of fun to play once you get into them. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Right at this moment, I'm listening to [i]The Boys Are Back in Town [Live][/i] by [B]Thin Lizzy[/B], on the second disk of their Greatest Hits CD. Though on the same CD I regularly listen to [i]Out in the Fields[/i], [i]Wild One[/i], [i]The Rocker[/i] and [i]Renegade[/i]. [I]Whiskey in the Jar[/i] is on the CD but I find the [B]Metallica[/B] cover is a much better edition of the song. [/SIZE]

[quote name='Ilium][COLOR=DarkRed']I think my last name is wierd... It's actualy my middle name, but shut up. Kilpatrick, lmao. It's not even what you'd think. It's Irish, and I've been told that Kil means "wood" and this is why its funny. I'm named after Patrick's Wood. Is anyone else named after some guy's manhood? Am I alone? [/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]I had to laugh reading that, seeing as how before I gave you the name's translation you thought it referred to someone who had killed someone named Patrick. Now thinking it refers to a gentleman's privates however is far funnier, though as an Irish person I'm wondering if I should stop chuckling and take offence as the Partick your name comes from is our Patron Saint. [/SIZE] [QUOTE=celestialcharm]Let me start with my mom's maiden name, which is Harney. I think it's alright. I'm sure kids at school would of found a way to make fun of it though. I'm assuming it's irish, because my mom's island is the Emerald Isle of the caribbean(Montserrat). Also, on a documentary on the isle, it said that the slaves, had the name of their master's but later on they dropped the 'O' that would of been infront of it. Now, our last name, which is my dad's is very weird and strange. I think it might be scandinavian or something. I was made fun of alot as a child for having this, it is 'Boddie.' Not 'Boody' but pronounced like the human Body.' I remember people used to call me 'Charlene's Boddie.' I barely even remember all the ways they made fun of it but they just did. In my Spanish class this year, somebody that I knew from elementary called me that and I must of given him a very bad look.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Well Harney and O'Harney are definitely Irish names, though O'Harney is much less common than Harney as a surname. The name itself comes from County Kerry and means "descended from the father". Many Irish surnames and Christian names have become anglicised as Irish was phased out as the primary language many decades ago.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=Sage]I'm from Scandinavia and I can say that it quite likely isn't a Scandinavian name. See, none of the languages used here (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or Finnish) use the end -ie. I'm no linguistic, but I think it might be more of a Scottish/Irish name, or possibly even plain British. I'm not saying this to offend you in any way, I just think it's fun to guess where different names originate from. :)[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Definitely not Irish or Scots-Gaelic, I'm one-hundred percent sure of that, though I'd also be fairly sure it's not from any other part of Scotland. Boddie, I haven't heard of the name before now, and with the pronunciation it sounds like something that could have come from somewhere outside of Europe. I suggest doing an Internet search to try and find out it's meaning and origins.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=Boba Fett][color=green]Illegal acquisition of other people's intellectual property (downloading music/movies/copyrighted text) without proper payment is wrong any way you look at it. Stricter measures need to be created, and enforced on a broad scale, to protect the people who create the content - because without that protection there will be no incentive to produce new material. This result hurts everyone, honest and otherwise. In the short term, prices for movie tickets, CDs and other pirated media will rise as producers attempt to compensate for their losses, in the same manner as a store raising prices to cover shoplifting. It'll be interesting to see how, if at all, goverments crack down on decentralized networks. Unlike Napster and its clones, you can't just shut down a few servers - every user on the network has to be stopped.[/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Dave basically covered everything I was going to say, downloading copyright content illegally is going to hit everyone who is willing to pursue acquisition legally. I don't download material for two simple reasons, one it's stealing and stealing is wrong, and two because my internet connection isn't fast enough to allow me to do it anywhere near efficiently. Downloading copyright content is the same as walking into a shop and stealing something, most people don't make the connection between the two, or at least not to the scale it is but it is stealing. I know some people will say "[I]Well these guys make huge amounts of money so they can afford to lose a bit to downloads[/I]." It's probably true that they can take a bit of a hit to the pocket, at least many of the bigger artists and companies but smaller groups starting out do require the revenue to be able to get further up the ladder and they're the guys that'll really be hit. As Dave said if it continues it may get to the point where financially it's not worth it to make new content and genres start to decline because of illegal downloads.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I had a rather similar experience to Ailes de Velour when I changed started in a new secondary school in September last year, it got to the point where I was getting anxiety attacks and I couldn't continue. Changing school seems to be one of those decisions or rather lack of options that most people dread having to make. As bad as my first two weeks in that secondary school were, it misses out on the "[B]Worst Days[/B]" title by a long shot. The worst days of my life, days I'd give anything to change came over the course of two, three weeks last June. My family and I were getting ready to go on holiday, in fact it was the night before we were due to head off when the call came through that my granduncle Anton had been taken to hospital. Anton is my maternal grandmother's brother and the closest thing I ever had to a grandfather, he was funny, kind and intensely intelligent and I loved him a lot because we shared many things in common that I didn't have with other members of my family. Anyway the call comes through that he's been taken to hospital and immediately I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, I just know something is terribly wrong. It was Anton's sister Cora who'd been staying with him that had him brought to the hospital, I don't recall the circumstances of how she found him, and she was the one to call my mother and grandmother to tell them. The doctors examined him and right away they knew he had cancer, how bad they couldn't tell yet but they knew it was cancer. I remember feeling so helpless, the one person in the world I truly felt a rapport with was in hospital with cancer and there was nothing I could do for him. After a lot of emotional debating my mother told my father, my siblings and myself that we should go on holiday without them, that they would go to Limerick and take care of Anton. Against my huge objections I went, I guess I knew even then that the cancer was terminal which is why I didn't want to go, but for the sake of peace I agreed. While on holiday the details of his conditions were imparted, he had terminal cancer of the lungs and brain, and the doctors gave him less than a fortnight, less than the time it would take for the holiday to finish. But Anton had always been a stubborn bastard and he told the doctors that he'd live until he'd seen everyone and then he'd go when he was good and ready. The holiday passed with only a few minor incidents, he was still alive and the doctors were amazed, we got to Limerick the day we landed to see him, I didn't care about anything else other than seeing him. He was in a hospice and when I say him, it fully hit me how much he had changed in little over three weeks, his skin was pale with a twinge on yellow, he looked tired and aged by about twenty years. My cousins from Australia had moved their visit forward to be there, and I just remember sitting in the bathroom and begging for a miracle. Unfortunately there was no miracle and he died on the 2nd of July 2004, he'd seen nearly everyone he ever knew throughout his life in that last two weeks, made his peace with everyone and gone over the good times with old friends. He went in his sleep, about four days after we'd arrived back and just when we'd gone home to freshen up and get some new clothing for the weather. He was buried on the 4th of July, in the same family plot as his mother, father and elder brother, I remember feeling at that time that the world had stopped for me, that there was very nothing to keep living for. But now over a year later I can say I'd be lucky to have such an ending as Anton did, so courageous right to the end, defying doctors predictions so he could say goodbye to his family in proper time and holding the brain cancer at bay for over two years before it finally overcame him. He went in three weeks when some people have to live with terminal cancer for months, in pain and misery, he went quick and died in his sleep the way anyone would want to go. Those days were without question to worst in my life, but I'm glad I've made my peace with them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [quote name='Baron Samedi][size=1]Well, [i]I[/i'] noticed it a long time ago. Eagle eyes people, eagle eyes.[/size][/quote] [SIZE=1]As did I, but I personally preferred the Team pages because it told you exactly who are the Moderators and Category Moderators and where they moderate. Still it's at least good to know we have one link that'll tell us who are the current roster of Staff on OB. [/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Imi][COLOR=#F84E20][SIZE=1][URL=http://photobucket.com/albums/v219/AzureImi/?action=view¤t=EyepatchGuy.png]Clicketh.[/URL] He needs a name, too...any ideas?[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Well Eye-Patch Guy certainly won't do, though if he's flamboyant then his name is going to have to reflect that. I'm thinking Julian or Gabriel, maybe Cameron, match his wacko personality with a slightly uncommon yet slightly ostentatious name[/SIZE].

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well I've been swimming for as long as I can remember, I used to do it two or three times a week when I was younger but after we moved out the countryside I couldn't get into town and thus couldn't keep it up. I still go swimming when on holiday or if someone wants to head into the town pool but I wouldn't spontaneously decide that I'd go swimming. How good am I at swimming ? Very, I took lessons every summer from about ten to fourteen and got very proficient in the water, lucky in the fact I grew up with great upper body strength and powerful legs. I find swimming to be very relaxing although with some of the heated pools the humidity gives me a headache afterwards. Anyone else get that, headache after a swim ? [/SIZE]