Profile for X
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | X |
| Member number | 496 |
| Title | Shaper |
| Postcount | 2333 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| What's your credit card number? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Monday, October 13 2003 08:05
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They won't give me a credit card. I wonder why not... A friend faked up loads of papers to show he was a self-employed small businessman with requisite income, mainly as he wanted the card for ID, buying stuff online, etc. They still wouldn't give it to him. I always thought credit was a racket anyway. 'Here's money now, it's just you have to pay us that and more back later'. In sum, money for nothing as far as the one giving the 'credit' out is concerned. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| I have an intriguing question for my fellow Spidweb users in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Monday, October 13 2003 07:55
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Yes, Stughalf, I sort of know what you mean about stupid assumptions. I think a lot of homophobia comes from a confused equation between gayness and lack of masculinity. The ancient Greeks never thought this, feeling men that preferred women as sexual partners were somehow feminised and weakened by them (of course, they still needed wives for children or Greek society would have died out--as, indeed, Sparta did--but that was a matter of duty rather than pleasure). This belief was no more or less absurd than the opposite view held by homophobes in this society today. I find at work that people get called 'poof' etc not because of their sexual preference but because they appear weak and ineffectual, i.e. it's about their powerlessness, with what is powerful being identified with the masculine, which is how it gets sort of sexualised. People get crap there because they'll take it. I think these attitudes will change when either (1) gays are seen as too powerful to mess with (and there was that sort of steroid-popping, muscle-building uber-gay thing in the 1980s) or (2) social relations are based on less neaderthal principles, where people value each others ability to co-operate with rather than dominate each other. Difference would then be valued rather than seen as a threatening 'unknown'. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| Am I delirious/stupid/crazy/other? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Sunday, October 12 2003 05:30
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Maybe you do spend more time than is healthy on these boards.  It's RL stuff being taken as SW monikers, not SW monikers being used to name things in RL, OK?  Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| I have an intriguing question for my fellow Spidweb users in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Sunday, October 12 2003 05:23
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I know conservatives use 'sexual preference' to suggest gays can 'prefer otherwise'. That works both ways, which is why I use it. I don't think people's identities are as fixed and rigid as many would like, which should be a recipe for more tolerance, not less. Right back in the 1950s, when homosexuality was illegal here, many gays argued 'I'm just made that way - I can't help it' as if there was something wrong with their sexuality. Instead of accepting this, mainstream society treated them as insane and subjected them to psychosurgery and aversion therapy to 'cure' them. Saying one's sexuality is an 'orientation' does nothing to protect you from prejudice and even invites it, as it implies you wish you were straight but can't be through some accident of biology. As said in my first post, I think the boundaries are too tightly drawn, something this biologising tendency only reinforces. Statistics show huge numbers of men have had same-sex experiences (typically mutual masturbation), but can only admit it anonymously or it will otherwise compromise their heterosexual sense of self. Strangely, this 'silent minority' is often the most bitterly homophobic, as if they should be ashamed of their private conduct rather than their hateful public rants. Similarly, because heterosexuality is the 'default' sexuality in this society, many gay-identified people's first sexual experiences are with those of the other gender. That they later find same-sex relationships more exciting, comfortable or whatever just means these first encounters were 'less pleasurable' rather than 'not pleasurable', 'simply horrid' or whatever, but few will admit this or occassionally later 'kicking over the traces' in case they get 'thrown out of the gay club'. IMHO, curiosity is only natural and human and should be encouraged rather than rigorously policed. And--shock horror!--some people chose partners for who they are, not just for what their bodies are. Sorry this is such a long post. Just felt it needed to be said. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| suicide methodes in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Sunday, October 12 2003 04:40
Profile
I was quite surprised to find that it is not only illegal to assist suicide in UK (though doctors do this all the time), but also to not actively prevent it. Some years ago, I friend of mine said he was deliberately ODing and wanted me round for the subsequent rather unorthodox disposal of his body. I checked with the Samaritans (suicide counsellors) who made this point about illegality to me. Consequently, I had to call an ambulance. Entirely pointlessly, of course. When my friend tried to kill himself again the very next week, he didn't ring me (of course) and so he ended up with a conventional cremation, against his last wishes. I read a study that said 90% of suicide attempts are 'cries for help' - in other words, it's not so much people seeking death but rather unable to see any way to go on, which is why they're gambling someone else will be moved to intervene for them. Consequently, I'm not sure of the wisdom of disclosing 'sure-fire' suicide methods unless you're 100% sure only the 10% in deadly earnest will use them. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| The "About us" topic in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Saturday, October 11 2003 09:36
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No one's going to read this far anyway, but congratulations on becoming a veteran, Fleischhacker. I did have some Medieval-style weaponry but had to ditch it in the river after one of those unfortunate incidents. I kept the baseball bat, steel toecaps, balaclava, etc though... Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| My absence in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Saturday, October 11 2003 09:15
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Where are the goats when we need 'em? Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| I have an intriguing question for my fellow Spidweb users in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Saturday, October 11 2003 09:12
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I'm not so sure. In a society that is obsessed with sexual identity, there's an insistence you're 'one or the other', that you 'make your mind up'. This is as dismissive of bisexuality as a discrete identity category as the psychiatrists that used to dismiss homosexuality as some sort of abberrant expression of heterosexuality, a 'developmental problem' even. And you should be nice to Zephyr, even if he's so strident about not being gay. So what if you aren't, Zephyr - we're not going to stone you or anything! No, he too is disclosing something personal, his bipolar condition, even though there is probably as much prejudice against people with mental health problems as against those of minority sexual orientation - and considerably less legal protection. He should be praised for 'coming out' in this way, and I guess we should make allowances for some of his whackier posts. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| My pity for the people of California.... in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Friday, October 10 2003 05:38
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No, I'm a great believer in democracy. People deserve what they vote for. Seems Bush Jnr. and Arnie will be establishing a brain cell trust so they can share it (the cell) between them when they meet up in a week or so. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| I have an intriguing question for my fellow Spidweb users in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Friday, October 10 2003 05:28
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Congratulations on coming out on these boards, Murder, She Wrote, though you'll have probably seen from some of the Exile threads that people don't really feel the need to hide their sexual preferences here.  Nor should they.Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| My absence in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Thursday, October 9 2003 04:54
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Can't say "crap".  That's so naughty! Oh crap, you've got me saying it now. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| Everything I ever needed to know about life... in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Thursday, October 9 2003 04:51
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Sorry to sound like an old fogey, but I'm a little disturbed people are getting their moral education from a computer game, however amusing. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| Memories... (the sequel) in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Thursday, October 9 2003 04:47
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'Legends of a mere half-decade ago' - the disposibility of the past in the Information Age. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| Geneforge 2 is still looking for beta testers... in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Wednesday, October 8 2003 04:36
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Why not volunteer yourself then?I'm sure Jeff would much appreciate it. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| can you say @$$ on these boards? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Tuesday, October 7 2003 02:52
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I don't know, demon, I swear all the time and it's obligatory at my workplace. I constantly have to restrain myself from casually swearing for emphasis or even as description on these boards. I feel my spontaneity of expression is being impeded - esp. as said kids know all those words anyway, as I did aged 9 or whatever. What fun we had writing them on bus stops, people's gates, etc! I was going to suggest they each post the most taboo word they know and then we pitch the level of free expression as one below that, but somehow it wouldn't work (both because they'd then automatically know the others, worse words and because who'd quantify these things anyway?). Still, 'rules are rules' and I abide by them, however silly, because community is about people sticking to things we mutually consent to even if we find such social conventions personally inhibiting. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| 1yr Anniversary! in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Tuesday, October 7 2003 02:28
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Happy 1st birthday, OM. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| Nephil in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Tuesday, October 7 2003 02:26
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Returning to the original question, WHAT other game is using Nephilim and how are they different from the Exile version? I'm sort of interested. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| can you say @$$ on these boards? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Monday, October 6 2003 08:54
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That wiould be considered 'unParliamentary langauge' here, with the offending MP being sent into a corner wearing a big pointy hat with a 'D' on it until the Speaker says s/he can come back. It'd probably be equally accurate though. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| A Silly Idea that will never take off... but If i get rich I'll fund it in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Monday, October 6 2003 08:47
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I suspect the goat theme is distressing to older contributors. At least those, like me, that lived in rural west Wales for any length of time. Those poor, lonely, batchelor hill farmers don't get out much, you know. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| Questions in desperate need of answering! in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Monday, October 6 2003 08:42
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1. People use PMs to conspire with each other, admit they're stupid, or both in my experience. 2. There are strung homoerotic undertones in 'Lord of the Rings'. Hobbits showing their legs to each other is their version of cruising. 3. Mensa is a nerd's club. Incredible how little such intelligent people have to say to each other. Their company would bore me. 4. No. 5. Once I was a punk, now I see Modernist, discordant music as a less superficial version of the same utopian project. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| How old are you? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Monday, October 6 2003 08:33
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As old as my nose and a little older than my teeth. What's left of them, thanks to the NHS. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| can you say @$$ on these boards? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Sunday, October 5 2003 07:31
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Over here, politicians call each other "honourable member" (of Parliament, not that other sort of member). This is usually taken ironically, especially by non-MPs. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| can you say @$$ on these boards? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Saturday, October 4 2003 13:59
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'Wankers' (meaning those engaged in auto-erotic activity) is also apparently not in the US censors lexicon - can we have that one too? Seriously - people on SW manage to belittle and abuse each other very effectively without using arbitrarily tabooed words. I think more attention needs to be paid to the tone of posts and less to particular words used. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| Nephil in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Saturday, October 4 2003 13:48
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They'll be posting the geneologies next - if we have band width and patience enough! Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
| If anyone cares… in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Saturday, October 4 2003 13:43
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Please use 'Edit'. Don't wilfully triple post. Thank you.  Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |