Profile for X

Field	Value
Displayed name	X
Member number	496
Title	Shaper
Postcount	2333
Homepage
Registered	Monday, January 7 2002 08:00

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The "About us" topic in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Saturday, April 26 2003 01:02 Profile #27 Congrats on becoming a veteran, Sodium Cyanide! As a special millenial treat to all those that have wondered what lurks beneath the cowl of X: »What is your name? Ha, ha, ha! Sister Lucinda, right? >>What is your quest, wasn't it? Sticking my nose in where it's not wanted as my way of withstanding the boredom of existence and a moralising tendency. Avoiding a beating from people bigger and better dressed than me. These two are often related. »What is your favorite color/colour? Black. With lurid green tinges. »What is your job (If you are unemployed, what prevents you from having more free time)? This week, temp. warehouse night administrator. Next week, who knows? It's not very important to me apart from the money and lost sleep. »What are some books you like? Anything obscure, factual, preferably extra-Parliamentary political satire. Swift was good and I liked Norman Cohn's stuff, even if not his hostility to his subject. I read a lot of science fiction (inc. futurology) with disapproval. Getting very tired of the 'Wheel of Time' series now you have to read 700+ pages to progress the plot a week, during which time nothing particularly significant happens. A good earner for the author though, I'm sure. »What are some movies/TV shows you like? Terminator, most schlock post-apocalyptic stuff. Current affairs programmes with some vague hint of analysis. Most porn is too rubbish to be worth the effort, though I enjoyed 'Salo's sophisticated satire on the decay of morals under totalitarian social conditions, etc. »What are some computer/console games you like? E3, the better BoE scenarios, Geneforge, sundries. Doom, once. »What are some bands you like? I still remember the Dead Kennedy's fondly. Even saw their only UK live performance (Lyceum, '80). Old punk stuff, though the older I get, the more I come to despise popular culture. »What are some musical pieces you like? Stravinsky (his anthropology--though fun--was way off), other Modern classics. Sort of took up with the 'Magic Flute' after seeing 'Clockwork Orange' in a squatted cinema somewhere. »Who are some of your favorite members on these boards? Oh, well it doesn't do to play favourites, does it? Good of you not to include a 'least favourite' category! »What do you think various members look like? I don't have to think. They're only too keen to post their own icons. »What do you look like? 6'2" version of Charles Manson in camo gear. The beard's bigger though. I usually contrive to carry some sort of bludgeoning instrument in polite company. »What did you have for lunch last Tuesday? Like every Tuesday: sweet and sour-flavoured noodles, kept down with half a litre of Irn Bru (sort of orange-coloured Mountain Dew from Scotland). Really! »What is your age? As old as my nose and a little older than my teeth. Work it out from my musical tastes above. »What is your species? Inhuman. »What sort of computer do you use? Someone else's. »What plane are you from? The stork bought me. »Are you male, female, or "other." Depends who's asking and how sober I am at the time. »How many holes do you prefer in the ceiling? Depends on whether I've been paying the rent or not. »When did you last brush your teeth? Immediately after eating. Disturbing hygiene kink really, but I cvam't afford dentists after they privatised them over here. »Do you feed lemons to your pet alligator? No, children, especially the annoying ones. »To whom are all your base belong? Is this the 'spot the cosmic tendency' question? »What region of the universe are you posting from? Cyberspace - well, a bit connected to a rather dull corner of England. »What does (§³·ß)Ð/µª=ƒ mean? See my response to 'To whom are all your base belong?' above. And ditto. »What is the appropriate usage of the word "EVOL"? I'll leave that to the experts. Some sort of demonic incantation? »Did I forget anything? Criminal convictions, fetish preference and drug of addiction, perhaps? Seriously, I also like Modern art, though think most most modern artists deserve a beating. I like going round galleries upsetting the patrons and doing my 'emporer's new clothes' bit on the exhibits. Ripping the pee out of the Gug when I last visited NYC was the pinnacle of my career so far. And I like animals too, especially the violent ones. As long as it's not me they bite. [ Saturday, April 26, 2003 01:06: Message edited by: X ] Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Palm Sunday in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Saturday, April 26 2003 00:11 Profile #40 Khoth, 'Zietgeist' = 'spirit of the age'. I was just saying you articulated what most now feel about these key (former?) Christian festivals. Wittily too. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
The meaning of life. in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Friday, April 25 2003 01:07 Profile #52 People might not have had officially designated free time in the past, but they had scores of saints' days each year, including (hangover) St. Mondays, as E P Thompson is most celebrated for pointing out. They definitely had more free time in the real sense of the word, at least until industrial time was introduced. Is lolling around doing nothing meaningful though, or am I too hung up on this 'Protestant work ethic' thingy where only being productive in some way is? Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Happy Easter. in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Friday, April 25 2003 01:03 Profile #56 Did someone mention having chocolate Jesuses (that is the plural?) instead of chocolate eggs at Easter to remind people of its significance? Alternatively, they could get more people into church around that time of year if the Host was chocolate-flavoured. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Palm Sunday in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Friday, April 25 2003 00:57 Profile #33 Khoth = Mr. Zietgeist :D Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Crossfire in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Friday, April 25 2003 00:45 Profile #47 Unless you're living off inherited wealth or something, a luxury lifestyle has to be paid for by working and that means stress, very little time for a life outside work, and--as its likely to be managerial--a distorted relationship with others in work about controlling them rather than relating to them authentically as fellow human beings. Personally, I'm happier earning a lot less for a relatively sane life. Most 'luxuries' strike me as faddish and unnecessary anyway, to do with status / conspicious consumption rituals - e.g. designer clothes that are maybe 10% better but at ten times the price. The affected opulence of celebs like J-Lo, for example, strike me as in very poor taste (last time I checked, only pimps wore fur) and certainly not worth emulating. I'm not saying poor people don't have stressful, humiliating jobs too - and sometimes physically exhausting and dangerous too (McDonalds is a case in point, combining the worst of customer service and kitchen work!). It's just easier to pick and choose ones that aren't if you set your sights lower. You aren't expected to slave away 100% (or even 30%, some jobs I've done...) of the time by colleagues and the supervisors are lucky to find you. And there usually isn't this totally awful, moronic and embarassing thing about company loyalty where--like a totalitarian state--no one dare say that the company, product or sales strategy is actually garbage and things are going to hell because it it as this is judged 'disloyal', with lackey colleagues running to bosses to report such 'thought crime'. A real 'world of make-believe' that! Where I am now, even the supervisors joke about how second rate the company's products and procedures are. Anyway, the bottom line is tht there are good, selfish reasons not to crave luxury (as opposed to quality of life), irrespective of relative wealth issues. On that, I'd say that those that flaunt their wealth in from of those that have none invite contempt and likely also its violent redistribution. So they end up living in compounds ('prestigious gated communities' in estate agent-speak) behind attack dogs and razor wire, either with a very insular and slightly mad (crazy) view of the world or justifiably scared. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Crossfire in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Thursday, April 24 2003 03:59 Profile #38 The 'reefer madness' moral panic (not that they called it that then, more an early-1960s thing) drew on stereotypes first mobilised against cocaine, often used to motivate Black field hands in the interWar period, and wholly legal for ages and ages. In fact, drug prohibition generally is historically recent. I think we can thank the League of Nations, keen to stigmatise Japan that ran the occupation of Korea and later China on opium trading - a British legacy) who'd stepperd outside it. Cannabis was added to the banned list only as an afterthought at the insistence of an Egyptian delegate concerned about "hashishism", a supposed condition that was making his peons feckless (i.e. same stereotypes as with the Mexicans). Will cannabis be legalised? Well, it's effectively been decriminalised for personal use here (UK) because big city police forces have better uses for their time (e.g. avoiding getting shot at) and such a disrespected law rather opened a door to gross corruption (e.g. the Stoke Newington cop shop evidence / dealing room). Rural police forces aren't too happy just dishing out BS 'warnings' though - they'll have to make up arrest quotas nicking drunk drivers--including their own colleagues--at this rate! Should t be legalised? Rather more the nub of any potential debate. My basic position is that if people are legally allowed to harm themselves up to and including suicide in this society, then they have a right to use intoxicants that may or may not be harmful too. (IMHO, cannabis seems pretty harmless compared to already legalised intoxicants, BTW.) Intoxication is a permenant feature of human history and probably human character, so it should be celebrated rather than banned as far as I'm concerned. For dourer souls, I'd suggest harm reduction rather than prohibition seems the most sensible course to me. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
1,000 in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Wednesday, April 23 2003 02:15 Profile #20 All the best with everyone else's journey up to 1K! Unless you're there, in which case all the best anyway! :D Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Hybrids Anonymous or How to Differentiate an Opaki from a Choirboy in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Wednesday, April 23 2003 02:11 Profile #59 I don't know whether to thank you or be shocked, even if the tide of discussion was unfortunately flowing that way. We discussed the hybrid nephars above. It occurs to me that if dragons can change gender for breeding purposes, is it possible their fellw reptilian sliths might also, but usually don't bother as they're a lot more abundant and so don't typically have to make such 'hard choices'? Yes, this is a sort of sidewise ::casts revive topic:: attempt! Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Crossfire in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Wednesday, April 23 2003 01:48 Profile #34 On banning books on cannabis particularly, you'll find those published carry a disclaimer nominally discouraging people from using it, reminding people it's illegal, and generally insisting the text is 'for reserarch purposes only', etc. If they don't run the disclaimer, they can get prosecuted. It's happened, certainly in UK. A lot of effort's gone into finding negatrive health effects of cannabis, typically ineffectually, but there's also been some on positive effects. One of the nurses I used to work with moved on to help with a government trial in Reading a couple of years back and soon capsulised THC will be available on the NHS, I think mainly for palliating MS (yes, the UK govt. does have it's own greenhouse!). It's certainly a lot less unpleasant to use than other MS treatments currently available, sufferers tell me. I've heard it' pretty effective in countering glaucoma too, though that's anecdotal. BTW, another friend of mine grows cannabis sativa under government license here for paper-making purposes. Of course, it has minimal THC content but the location has to be kept secret in case the pot heads don't get it and run off with all his crop in rucksacks one night! Hemp paper is better quality and was traditional in paper-making before wood pulp (even rag paper often consisted of hemp fibre). This sort of thing was introduced from France, where they've been doing it for decades. On censorship, the difficulty distinguishing between words and acts is that some words are 'fighting talk' which seem to automatically incite violence in some quarters. I incline to accepting this as inevitable (potentially any words are going to incite someone crazy enough) rather than trusting governments not to abuse powers of censorship. The Race Relations Act in UK has actually been used to prosecute more people from ethnic minorities than (White) racists. Incidentyally--but it illustrates the same principle of unintended consequences--the now rather mouldering 1936 Public Order Act--originally passed to stop Oswald Moseley's blackshirts (British Union of Fascists) and their paramilitary parades--was used more against anti-fascists protesting such groups, albeit usually not very peacefully. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
1,000 in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Tuesday, April 22 2003 11:02 Profile #0 I'm slightly embarassed to do this, :o but understand it's a tradition to post a new, celebratory topic on reaching 1,000 posts. Especially as a couple way back were accidental double posts. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Hybrids Anonymous or How to Differentiate an Opaki from a Choirboy in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Tuesday, April 22 2003 10:37 Profile #57 I wish I'd never bought the subject up. Can we retitle this thread 'Hybrids Anonymous' or something? Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Palm Sunday in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Tuesday, April 22 2003 10:20 Profile #22 From what I read in the Book, I suspect OtM might approve of Jesus' attitude to money-lenders... I can understand Darkwind getting a little disappointed OtM got the story wrong there. I feel pretty ignorant for not relating Easter to Passover before :o - pretty interesting Xian appropriation that. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Crossfire in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Tuesday, April 22 2003 10:00 Profile #28 Interesting - inasmuch as you don't get some 'Fahrenheit 451' style police reaction to compulsive reading, unlike what pot heads experience. I have this image of book dealers having their assets siezed and satellites specially designated to watch for sinister pulp processing operations out in the woods, special laws being written and moralising international conferences organised to discuss this 'problem', etc.... (Then again, some books are banned--EDIT: not least, about the cultivation and consumption of cannabis--and people still insist on reading them, so maybe this scenario isn't as fantastic as it appears.) [ Tuesday, April 22, 2003 10:02: Message edited by: X ] Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Happy Easter. in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Tuesday, April 22 2003 09:50 Profile #48 ^ :eek: Happy Easter again, BTW. (Not sure the 'wage of sin is death' school of thought re. AIDS in Africa is considered particularly progressive in the 21st century! At least, I think that's where discussion of the 'sin of lust' led us... :confused: ) Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Crossfire in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Monday, April 21 2003 03:45 Profile #18 Any prospect of any of these debates happening, or is this thread just for winding yourselves up to it? :rolleyes: Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Palm Sunday in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Monday, April 21 2003 03:41 Profile #11 I thought it woz called Palm Sunday because all the brothers were giving Jesus hi-5s on the way into Jerusalem. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Happy Easter. in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Monday, April 21 2003 03:37 Profile #25 I'm waiting for Scorp's take on lust next: 'How can you indulgence your vile bodies with such profligacy when there are sex-starved people in the world?' 'Organise an aid mission', I say. :P Sort of amusing the pagan fertilty rite thing--as symbolised by the eggs--features more than the central tenet of the Christian faith, the Resurrection, here. Still that was just a rebirthing vegetative man-god rip-off too, in most anthropologists' opinion. Sorry, I'm being boring, aren't I? Back to the chocolate... Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Crossfire in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Sunday, April 20 2003 04:47 Profile #6 I look forward to witnessing the jam v. jelly debate with vast enthusuasm. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Hybrids Anonymous or How to Differentiate an Opaki from a Choirboy in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Thursday, April 17 2003 21:45 Profile #54 How did hybrid zebra dung get in on all this? Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
The meaning of life. in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Tuesday, April 15 2003 08:12 Profile #40 Dawkins' sociobiological universe is "verifiable", Skorp, but hardly worth structuring the meaning of anyone's life about. At least archaic mythologes had colour and ethical content, unobjective though such worthwhile features of our daily lives are. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
The meaning of life. in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Monday, April 14 2003 04:06 Profile #26 The examples above about the rice farmer and the capitalists probbly well-illustrate the distinction I was trying to make between what people percieve as their goal in life and life's more general meaning. Melaw (above) also suggests--in a rather reductive, Dawkinsesque way, IMHO--that life has a purpose other than that we ascribe to it in daily life. I don't buy the existential thing about 'meaning is just what we say it is'. I can't say I have much time for religion, but at least it beats existentialist absurdity (big 'A'). Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Nether Circle! in Nethergate
X Shaper Member # 496	written Saturday, April 12 2003 16:36 Profile #3 There's the burying ground in the first section, where you teleport between the tombs too. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Hybrids Anonymous or How to Differentiate an Opaki from a Choirboy in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Saturday, April 12 2003 16:33 Profile #36 I saw this rather disturbing thing about a chimp called 'Cedric' or something, billed as a 'humanzee' (not Bush - that's another forum!) in the mid-1960s as some rather unpleassant person said he was a human / chimp hybrid from darkest Africa, etc. :rolleyes: He wasn't, but they did show a lion / tiger hybrid, a liger (imaginative, eh?), which was both infertile (unsurprisingly), but also of enormous size. They said this was hormonal too. I think this might be more relevant than the Vatican choir boys thing above, if we're thinking of of the nephar as hybrids rather than sterile as a result of unfortunate post-natal experiences... Why am I still on about this? :confused: I don't mean to sound like I have a prurient interest i the subject. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
The meaning of life. in General
X Shaper Member # 496	written Saturday, April 12 2003 16:27 Profile #17 Is a purpose in life the same thing as its meaning? Plenty of people can have goals, but do they mean anything viz a viz life in general, that of others beyond themselves? BTW: I thought compulsory celibacy amongst the clergy was a Counter-Reformation thing. Amazed it was actually imposed so early. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00

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