36 posts tagged “42”
...It's been a LONG few weeks.
The Student Union Real Ale and Cider festivals was all that it promised. Me and will teamed up to show whoever wrote the Pub quiz that setting a round on Dinosaurs followed by one on Ancient Rome and when one team consisted of an archaeologist with an interest in paleontology and an ancient historian was a recipe for disaster for them, and a guaranteed win for our teem. We only got one t-shirt, one bottle of beer and six beer tokens between the 10 of us, but the gloating right were worth it. I then promptly got onto the cider (I still maintain that the American phrase "hard Cider" is a blasphemy, ALL cider is by definition alcoholic) which was a nice whiskey cask conditioned scrumpy on the masochistic side of 8% and the rest of the day became quite hazy.
The next day, unwilling to let my unused low value tokens go to past, i went to the beer festivel again and had a far more sedate time with Bullmastiff Son Of a Bitch, Valley of Glamorgan Vog y Grog, Bragdy Mŵs Piws (purple moose brewery) Ochr Tywyll y MŴs (Dark side of the moose) and a whole other range of Porters, stouts and Milds, especially a nice little mild i think was by Rhymney brewery in Mertha tydfil.
Then came Thursdays trip to London to see the British Museum, then go to the millennium dome to see Tut Ankh Aten, later Tut Ankh Amun, well, we knew HE wasn't there, but a lot of his grave goods were in London on display, and although i have seen them, and in fact seen his mummy in Egypt, it was worth the trip to take another look.
However, to get there in time we had to leave Caerdydd at 0600, which for me meant getting up at 0530. For R it meant leaving work at 0430, drunk, to get there just in time to fall asleep in a doorway, so me and the rest of our friends had to pick him up and guide him to the bus.
This more or less set the tone for the rest of the day as the next generation of the UK's finest archaeologists wandered in a sleep deprived, and as far as at least 50% of these present, hungover state, about the capital ("Hey guys, if we get drunk we'll get to sleep really early and so waking up at five will be okay!"). However the Brit was, as always, excellent, and as our lecturer knew some people there we got to go behind the scenes and handles some roman finds.
Tut was also good. Sure, the boy king himself was absent and the display on Akhenaten, AKA Amenhotep the fourth, was far to brief, mentioning only that he was most likely the father of Tut-ankh-amen, and mentioning briefly his sweeping religions reforms that replaced most of the traditional pantheon with the worship of one god, the Sun Disk, The Aten.
So aside from not mentioning the most interesting new kingdom Pharaoh, if not THE most interesting pharaoh exept in breif terms, the exhibit was good. Oh, and i had the minor inconvenience of having to empty all my pockets as the coin that slipped out through the hole in my coat pocket and is not trapped in the lining set of all the metal detectors. Considering that i carry several pounds of largely useless, occasionally VERY useful shrapnel such as miniature screwdrivers for fixing my glasses, a comb, gaffa-tape, a hip flask, a tin of fisherman's friends lozenges and a dozen bottle openers on my person at all times, as well as scrapes of paper with useful aids to the memory, this took five full minutes and attracted a small crowd. Remarkably the security did not bat an eyelid and were quite happy to let a walking toolkit like me in, despite the fact sleep deprivation was kicking in and i was quite possibly dribbling slightly at the time.
The exhibit was... beautiful.
After a full two hours and an quarter oggaling the exhibit, including giving a small child a basic lesson in how to read Hieroglyphs ( read from the direction the animals face, and remeber that the names of gods come at the start of a cartouche name, so for example Tut-Ankh-amun is written "Amun Tut Ankh") we had to leave as several other groups had lapped us and because as i was wearing my National Geographic top, and the exhibit was sponsored by National Geographic, and because i was telling anyone who would listen about how great Akhenaten compared to the rest of the 18th dynasty several people had mistaken me for staff. Eventually, too tired to even get drunk, we were herded about London aimlessly until we got the bus home were me, R and the third year organizers of the trip ended up stuck next to the bus's emergency loo, one that by the smell had seldom, if ever, been cleaned. Ammonia closet aside, the trip back was utterly hilarious, in that way ANYTHING is when you have had 4 hours sleep in the last 48, some of them in a doorway if you were R.
Fast forward to Saturday; Rugby time!
the weather killed the attendance's at the big open air screen dead- we went twice and the first time about 12 people were there, the second only a few hundred. Considering there more than that on the ground floor of the gatekeeper when we left it to check out the open air screen we went back.
Ireland lost their match, which upset me, but i did take solace in the projector repair man. As the Projector the Gatekeeper mega-pub uses to show big games had broken weeks ago, and considering this was the biggest match for years and they were the closest watering hole of any size to the stadium, and this would be one of the biggest drinking days for years in wales, you would think they would have had the projector fixed before now.
They hadn't.
So when we got there, there was STILL a repair man rising out of the sea of red rugby shirts struggling with a machine that I could from a distance of ten meter, tell was utterly kaput. The burn-marks were a clue. so what did the repair man do facing a potential angry mob if the wales-France match failed to make it from the many small plasma-screens to the giant screen at the appointed time?
He went outside for a moment, came back with ANOTHER projector and, i kid you not, strapped it to the bottom of the first one with car-ties and gaffa-tape. Thus the second half of the Ireland match and the entirely of the vital wales France match could be viewed on the big screen.
As for that match i will say only this; I have never been in a more alive crowd and taken part in more genuine jubilation than on that sweaty and beer-soaked pub floor on that day. It is not something i think i will ever forget, not look back on with anything but genuine happiness.
Wales, this is for you.
Oh and a happy St Patrick's day.
I found a great site with lots of, admitialy pointless and nerdy, but fun quiz bits! Thank you for showing me the way with the booze-quiz people! here are some quiz results (i will me making my own quiz soon, which hithchikers character and which Watership Down Rabbits are you?)
Firstly, boy's toy's. what kind of gun am I?
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| What Firearm Fits You Best? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as a Sniper Rifle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You like sharpshooting. Stealth, accuracy and range are your best friends. So you need sniper rifle (if you don't already have one). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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well, thats fair. The only fire-arms I've ever used were lee-enfild .303 rifles, shotguns and revolvers so those results look good.
| What kind of alcoholic drink are you ? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as a Long Island Iced Tea | ||||||||||||||||||||
| You are a Long Island Iced Tea. Like the drink you have a diverse background. You look tame on the outside, but are a an undercover freak on the inside. Here's the ingredents of you: 1/2 Oz. Rum 1/2 Oz. Gin 1/2 Oz. Vodka 1/2 Oz. Triple Sec 1 Oz. Lemonade Coca Cola 7-Up How to build this mixed drink: Pour all the ingredients over ice and top up with equal amounts of Coke and 7-Up. Garnish with a lemon wedge. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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welll... I am NOT long island iced tea! ok, it's a good quiz, but it dosent acount for the fack that the same results would also suport any mixed or brewed drink that looks halmless but contians a kick. Also they fialed to ask "Are you a viking?". I am Clearly Mead!
and now, the grand fenalie; What action hero am I?
Truth be told, i was aiming for Indiana Jones (I'm an archaeologist after all...) but it turns out by saying i liked rum, loved Hats and liked sworrds and pistols, ithe computer matched me with another hero of the screen, and I was thriled to find out i am infact...
Captain Jack Sparrow!
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| Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as a Captain Jack Sparrow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Roguish,quick-witted, and incredibly lucky, Jack Sparrow is a pirate who sometimes ends up being a hero, against his better judgement. Captain Jack looks out for #1, but he can be counted on (usually) to do the right thing. He has an incredibly persuasive tongue, a mind that borders on genius or insanity, and an incredible talent for getting into trouble and getting out of it. Maybe its brains, maybe its genius, or maybe its just plain luck. Or maybe a mixture of all three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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If you had a CD or album coming out, who would you thank in the liner notes?
Jesus, Rob, Pirates, Ninja, cats, Foxes, Falcons, squirrels, Bears, rabbits, Syd B (shine on...) Jimmy; patron saint of guitars, Zep (for being so damn good), Adams and Adams (so long and thanks for all the Frith) and finally Dad, for drilling rock into my head my playing it whenever he was in the kitchen and all the family (including the cat).
of course, goes without saying all the liner notes and song notes will be in a mysterious code. Has to be done!
1. Shine on you Crazy Diamond is mainstream
2. You own more than two Yes albums
3. They are vinyl
4. You play them regularly
5. Siberian Khatru is a short, simple song
6. Ritual and Echoes are normal song lengh
7. You own "The Snow Goose"
8. You like it. What’s not to like?
9. Keyboard solos make you happy.
10. 1980's keyboard solos make you sad.
11. What is this "1980's" to which you refer?
12. Except the biggest mistake Rush ever made.
13. and Jefferson Airplane for that matter.
14.You can name all the Pink Floyd albums.
15. you can name all the songs on all the Pink Floyd albums
16. Including Piper at the Gates of Dawn when they were still in their Psychedelic
rock phase.
17. you can plot the evolution of, Psychedelic rock jazz fusion and 60's experimentalisms
into Prog
18. someone saysCanterbury
and you instantly think of the Canterbury Sound.
19. You have discussed Fly by Night and 2112 publicly and then realised you
wanted to talk about something more normal, so you discuss Yes and Camel or
King Crimson.
20. You have edited one of these wikipedia pages King
Crimson, Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd
Emerson,
Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull, Aphrodite's Child, Rush,
Gentle
Giant Van Der Graaf Generator Atomship, or
these pages Progressive rock Progressive
rock groups Canterbury
sound
42. Opeth are one of the best bands since the 70's
Hrair. My idea of a Prog-metal band called Sandleford Militia with lyrics based
on Watership Down sounded like a good idea when sober (if Atomship got away
with it...)
.
What are the positive and negative associations that you and those around you have with blogging? Have attitudes changed over time?
Negitive; "my god do you realy want to tell strangers about your life? what a waste of time!"
Positive "thak god that lune aidan with the funny hair is blogging, peace and quiet!"
well, that may be stretching it. Most people i know are nutral or pro blogging, but a few hardcore anti-bloggers insit on making those kinds of comments. hopefully their atitudes will change. if they don't, ill just name and shame them on the Blog and because they refuse to read it they will be none the wiser.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahrairahahahahaha42hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
As an occasional victim of fanfic, I have been aware for some time that Harry Potter fanfic authors have something of a reputation that the typical Watership Down or Hitchhikers fanfic writer does not. I had always presumed this was just because Harry Potter is by far the most popular form of fanfic on the web today and as such would attract its fare share of Mary Sue artists and lemon authors but no more than any other group with the same following (Mary Sue= poorly written author surrogate, lime= fanfic with sexual undertones, lemon= fanfic with overt sexual themes or pornography). I never believed the stories that many simply use Harry Potter fanfic as an excuse to mock the entire fanfic world with ridiculous, grandiose grotesque physical salutes to the lemon story.
Until today.
All I can say is pass the mind bleach. I mean really! Shame on you! You know who you are! If you are going to do something that bizarre and disgusting please don’t bring well-loved children’s characters into it! I strongly recommend you do not read the below section.
You will, because human physiology works like that, but what the hell.
I mean the bit with Hermione using the time turner to go back in time and meet herself for a threesome with Ron will haunt me forever, and that’s the least weird bit. Why couldn’t you leave Padma and Parvati Patil alone! Why did you make them do that in the prefect’s bathroom? And the room And I am NOT happy about Dobby stalking Harry, Hagrid and his “real” love for dragons, the bit with Malfoy and Buckbeak the hippogriff “make up for past differences” or the bit with the giant squid from the lake and the enchanted handcuffs. NO ONE LIKES TENTECLES! SHAME ON YOU! And if Cedric Diggory and Dumbledore WERE raised from the dead they would not both end up in the astronomy tower with midget Professor Filius Flitwick! Snape and McGonagall in the Room of Requirement was uncalled for as was using the Whomping Willow as a bondage tool. And I KNOW broomsticks are a phallic symbol, but was their ANY reason behind that scene with the quidditch team “Riding them like never before”? And the following quotes are just wrong!
Harry to Tom Riddle; “My my what a big basilisk.”
Hermione to Tom Riddle; “Not bad, but check out MY chamber of secrets.”
Dumbledore (whilst a 17 year old jerk due to a de-ageing potion); “Suck on THAT sherbet lemon.”
McGonagall; “Ron! Stop playing with Harry’s wand and go get that bending spell finished. I want this entire classroom really bent by the time I get back.”
And yes, I wrote some of these for a joke, but seriously, there is worse out there.
I just found some fun quizzes at this site. http://www.brainfall.com . Apparently I am a cross between Ariel from the little mermaid and Pocahontas (what Disney Princess are you quiz) Stewie and Peter Griffin (family guy quiz) and Jack from 24. The mere thought of such a blasphemous chimera frightens me. But, inspired by this I have decided that when I finally set up my own website it will have a "what character for Watership Down are you" and "what character from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy are you" quiz and poles on other Webcomics.
Out of all the Vox posts you've written, which is your favorite? Why?
Submitted by Adam.
The first one. No real reason.
Also, whoever you are you just made me spend far too long sifting throug old post when i need to work! curses! Holy Belgium! May Hombil chew your eyebrows off!
nah, only kidding. good question.
One, despite a good show byScotland, France-managed to pull of a very lucky, inconveniently timed and controversial try and win the Six Nations on points. After a blazing_Ireland match. On Paddy’s day.
Despite what may have been suggested I am not resentful.
Two, Utterly unconnected to this, I have documentary proof all French athletes and all South African spotting officials are evil killer weasels in disguise and plan to ruin the world. And they are the reason Wagon-Wheals are smaller that they used to be and why Walnut Whips now only contain one walnut, thus destroying all the was once pure and chocolaty and marshmallow-filled.
Three, this is rather funny. http://www.safenow.org/
Four, before Paddy’s day I had a friend come to Caerdydd to visit and see if he wanted to come to Uni here. With him came a late Birthday present; Tales from Watership Down, the currently out of print sequel I have waited for so long to get my WD crazed paws on. I haven’t started it yet but it looks as promising as a certain trilogy of five.
Five, have a song. But remember, I am a man of wealth and taste. So show a little courtesy, some sympathy and restraint.If you put together a time capsule today, what would you put in it?
Submitted by Lilia.
My DVD collection and a copy of Watership Down and Hithcikers Guide to the Galaxy
