Good evening, chapters and chapsticks. I am leaving Kent tomorrow!
This may be news to some of you. If it is, then you are either new to the blog, or (if reading this on Facebook) have not been paying attention - I am moving to Birmingham for 9 months or so.
It seems less exciting/scary/trepidatory/stressful than it should be. This worries me because I half suspect I don't believe it's happening, and am in fact living in subconscious denial. It should be all those things regardless of whether it seems it or not - hopefully less of the latterest - and I aim to get stuff out of it, as well as giving. I'm hoping this will be my squire year, and after this I will be elevated to the squire/knight hybrid that ms. Aamodt prophesied my future self to be. Or maybe I won't yet, but that's fine too, cos God'll do what God'll do when God'll do it, in a way that's right for Him (and hence right for me).
Kent, I have loved you in all the ways a man can love a county (as well as all the ways a woman, dog, and trestle table can love a county). About half of these ways are illegal in Georgia and/or Utah. Farewell!
From,
a SamfiSh
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Friday, 20 August 2010
Writings of a written persuasion...
...written by me when I writing.
I am once again stucked on a writing project. Well, not quite stuck, but making the oh-so-wonderful progress of a few words a day. This lead me to this.....
Does anyone want to write tennis style with me? I send you what I have so far, you write the next bit, then you send it to me and I write the next bit, etc.
Open request to the one person who half reads this and any restless spirits out there on the interblag.
Speaking of writing, I dreamt a scene this morning while I was still asleep. Not like it was happening in my dream, but I was writing it in my dream. I knew it was morning because I then woke up with it still in my head, managed to run through it in my mind, then fell asleep again. I the forgot it. I remember it was really good and also what it was vaguely about, but that's it. I'm pretty cross.
Speaking of dreams, when I woke up for the final time this morning I was worried that there really were subterranean cave dwellers who had re-written the bible so as to have Jesus as a fellow cave dweller. In my dream I went and visited the cave complex, where they had a small town in a cave underneath this big house, and I remember lots of blue water....
ANYWAY
GOODBYE
From,
a SamfiSh
P.S./Edit - my twitter feed isn't showing all my tweets. Never mind!
I am once again stucked on a writing project. Well, not quite stuck, but making the oh-so-wonderful progress of a few words a day. This lead me to this.....
Does anyone want to write tennis style with me? I send you what I have so far, you write the next bit, then you send it to me and I write the next bit, etc.
Open request to the one person who half reads this and any restless spirits out there on the interblag.
Speaking of writing, I dreamt a scene this morning while I was still asleep. Not like it was happening in my dream, but I was writing it in my dream. I knew it was morning because I then woke up with it still in my head, managed to run through it in my mind, then fell asleep again. I the forgot it. I remember it was really good and also what it was vaguely about, but that's it. I'm pretty cross.
Speaking of dreams, when I woke up for the final time this morning I was worried that there really were subterranean cave dwellers who had re-written the bible so as to have Jesus as a fellow cave dweller. In my dream I went and visited the cave complex, where they had a small town in a cave underneath this big house, and I remember lots of blue water....
ANYWAY
GOODBYE
From,
a SamfiSh
P.S./Edit - my twitter feed isn't showing all my tweets. Never mind!
Saturday, 14 August 2010
3 for luck
I forgot: I am now pretty much definitely moving to Brumingham, home of Brum the car and the Bullring and Bromwich and Birmingham New Street Station, and many other things that begin with B.
I'm moving in 19 days! Hells Bells and buckets of blood that's close...
S-aaaaaahi'mgoingtohavetogrowupoutofneceSSity-mfiSh
I'm moving in 19 days! Hells Bells and buckets of blood that's close...
S-aaaaaahi'mgoingtohavetogrowupoutofneceSSity-mfiSh
Webcomics and thoughts thereupon
Webcomics: I read many.
Overcompensating, Rice Boy, Dresden Codak, Nedroid, Dead Winter, Bad Machinery, Questionable Content, Something Positive, Wondermark, Hark! a Vagrant, Dr. Mcninja, A Softer World, Dinosaur Comics, Cyanide & Happiness, and xkcd.
That seems like a lot, but it only takes up 15 minutes a day, three times a week. Which is less than soap opera or Britain's got Star Idol Factor viewers would spend on their nonsense, and is (mostly) done intelligently and tastefully, and with real talent.
Anyhoo, enough of me getting defensive.
What I wanted to say is this: of the comics I read, some have passed their respective heyday. This is not to say that I don't enjoy them, or that the output of these writers and artists is sub par (in fact many of what these individuals produce is excellent)
The most prominent examples are xkcd, A Softer World, Dr. Mcninja, Something Positive and Questionable content.
These webcomics just used to be better! For example, Dr Mcninja peaked at Punch Dracula. Why? Look at the title. Punch. Dracula. I rest my case? No, but it is very good. read it and find out!
Something Positive peaked when 3 of the characters were trapped by crazed catgirls on a cannibalistic orgy of death and fangirlism at a comicon, and where assisted by Wil Wheton. One of the funniest storylines ever. One of the reasons I'd state this as the peak is that [SPOILERS - text now in white] one of my favourite characters in the strip, a midget called Pepito, is killed and mostly eaten by the catgirls.
I used to find ASW hilarious. From clever wordplay to black humour, the strip, as I read through the back catalogues, never disappointed. Even now when I hit the "Random" button, the older strips make me laugh in a way the new ones never do.
XKCD: the 1337, The Race and Journal storylines. Check them out.
I'd recommend all the comics I've listed - as I said, just because I'd say they'd peaked, this doesn't mean I don't think that they are, in most cases brilliant.
If you're after great art, I'd recommend Rice Boy or Dresden Codak.
If you would be more interested in a quick laugh, that may often be thought provoking, read any of the following: Overcompensating, Nedroid, Wondermark, Hark! a Vagrant, A Softer World, Dinosaur Comics, Cyanide & Happiness, or xkcd.
SP and QC are slice of life comics, following the cast as they go about their lives. The former I'd place well below the latter in terms of writing, art, and content quality.
Dead Winter, Bad Machinery, Doctor Mcninja are serialised webcomics, though this is about as far as the similarities go - though DW and DM have both featured Zombies (the former almost exclusively), as did BM's predecessor, Scary Go Round. WARNING: BM contains children...
SF
Overcompensating, Rice Boy, Dresden Codak, Nedroid, Dead Winter, Bad Machinery, Questionable Content, Something Positive, Wondermark, Hark! a Vagrant, Dr. Mcninja, A Softer World, Dinosaur Comics, Cyanide & Happiness, and xkcd.
That seems like a lot, but it only takes up 15 minutes a day, three times a week. Which is less than soap opera or Britain's got Star Idol Factor viewers would spend on their nonsense, and is (mostly) done intelligently and tastefully, and with real talent.
Anyhoo, enough of me getting defensive.
What I wanted to say is this: of the comics I read, some have passed their respective heyday. This is not to say that I don't enjoy them, or that the output of these writers and artists is sub par (in fact many of what these individuals produce is excellent)
The most prominent examples are xkcd, A Softer World, Dr. Mcninja, Something Positive and Questionable content.
These webcomics just used to be better! For example, Dr Mcninja peaked at Punch Dracula. Why? Look at the title. Punch. Dracula. I rest my case? No, but it is very good. read it and find out!
Something Positive peaked when 3 of the characters were trapped by crazed catgirls on a cannibalistic orgy of death and fangirlism at a comicon, and where assisted by Wil Wheton. One of the funniest storylines ever. One of the reasons I'd state this as the peak is that [SPOILERS - text now in white] one of my favourite characters in the strip, a midget called Pepito, is killed and mostly eaten by the catgirls.
I used to find ASW hilarious. From clever wordplay to black humour, the strip, as I read through the back catalogues, never disappointed. Even now when I hit the "Random" button, the older strips make me laugh in a way the new ones never do.
XKCD: the 1337, The Race and Journal storylines. Check them out.
I'd recommend all the comics I've listed - as I said, just because I'd say they'd peaked, this doesn't mean I don't think that they are, in most cases brilliant.
If you're after great art, I'd recommend Rice Boy or Dresden Codak.
If you would be more interested in a quick laugh, that may often be thought provoking, read any of the following: Overcompensating, Nedroid, Wondermark, Hark! a Vagrant, A Softer World, Dinosaur Comics, Cyanide & Happiness, or xkcd.
SP and QC are slice of life comics, following the cast as they go about their lives. The former I'd place well below the latter in terms of writing, art, and content quality.
Dead Winter, Bad Machinery, Doctor Mcninja are serialised webcomics, though this is about as far as the similarities go - though DW and DM have both featured Zombies (the former almost exclusively), as did BM's predecessor, Scary Go Round. WARNING: BM contains children...
SF
Friday, 13 August 2010
Um, hi.
Yeah, ok, 2 apologies: that last post was pretentiously written. it started ok, then it went on as though i knew what i was talking about; and I haven't blogged in aaaages.
I had a mixed day:
Got up at 8 (bad thing)
Successfully made marbled toast for the second time out of 3 attempts (good thing)
Had to wait for ages for flooring to be delivered (bad thing)
Had to transfer 240kilos worth of flooring up the stairs in front of my house into my front hall (bad thing)
Made home-made chicken soup from scratch (good thing)
Ate said soup (good thing)
Went shopping, came back, knocked on door, knocked on back door, threw stones at brother's window. assumed everyone was out, so went on a short walk. then stood around for ages. then went on another short walk in the rain. came back, brother was in all along. (bad thing, but the walk in the rain was fun)
Made home-made ketchup from scratch (good thing)
This took at least 4 hours (bad thing)
Wahey, I have sufficiently bored you to death!
Samf-iSh
I had a mixed day:
Got up at 8 (bad thing)
Successfully made marbled toast for the second time out of 3 attempts (good thing)
Had to wait for ages for flooring to be delivered (bad thing)
Had to transfer 240kilos worth of flooring up the stairs in front of my house into my front hall (bad thing)
Made home-made chicken soup from scratch (good thing)
Ate said soup (good thing)
Went shopping, came back, knocked on door, knocked on back door, threw stones at brother's window. assumed everyone was out, so went on a short walk. then stood around for ages. then went on another short walk in the rain. came back, brother was in all along. (bad thing, but the walk in the rain was fun)
Made home-made ketchup from scratch (good thing)
This took at least 4 hours (bad thing)
Wahey, I have sufficiently bored you to death!
Samf-iSh
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Effin' n' Jeffin'
I say we remove all censorship from swears, sexual phrases, and racial slurs.This would remove the concept of such things within a couple of generations, as if no words are prohibited, then none are stigmatised.
For instance, the word f--k. It is one of the most versatile words in the English language, for frak's sake - it can be used as a verb, a noun, an adverb and an adjective - yet we either bleep of blank it out when it appears in songs or on television before 9 O'clock (a purely arbitrary time, surely, in this age of on-demand viewing and 'plus' boxes), all because it's a "dirty" word. When censored in such a way, the quality of these media are very noticeably reduced - who hasn't been annoyed when listening to a song containing expletives that has all these gaps in the vocals, upsetting the vocal rhythm? Or been watching a program that, when a character says the frankly weak, "ass," has short periods of total silence - silence that one would normally associate with a fault in broadcast?
Words that describe the anatomy, such as "ass" (corrupted from arse, but the more commonly heard of the two in television), c--k, or t--t, when censored, surely show a childlike embarrassment in regards to such things? A censor would not censor "penis" or "vagina", as these are medical terms - why is the distinction made for slang?
When one removes the stigma and the shame from these words, these words lose their power. I'll explain my meaning: say a man A is angry with man B. A says of B, "You're such a penis". It seems childish, amusing, and without any real power as an insult. Consider, however, A caling B a pr--k, a c--k, or a d--k - this is clearly an insult, as man A is using a "bad word". Therefore, if we remove the stigma from the latter three words - bringing them into true equation with the former- they lose their power as insults.
The area of racial slurs is not such a simple one. If we allow musicians to use them in their work unrestricted, then, yes, as the words enter the day-to-day lexicon, they will eventually be seen as synonyms. On the flip-side, however, if we cease punishment of aggressive use of these terms, then those who would use them to cause harm would be free to do so. I say this, however: this does not matter. I'm not saying that using such a word aggressively is without moral negativity, but this use would only last a generation or two - again, if no stigma is placed on a word, it loses its power. After all, racial slurs can lose their meaning in less than a generation - the word "black" was once considered offensive, the word "coloured" acceptable, and now the reverse is true; who's to say what will and will not be acceptable in 50 years time?
This last point, "who's to say..." can be said of all such words - s--t was a perfectly acceptable word in this country 1000 years ago - why shouldn't any word become stigmatised? Why shouldn't any word have it's stigma removed?
SF
For instance, the word f--k. It is one of the most versatile words in the English language, for frak's sake - it can be used as a verb, a noun, an adverb and an adjective - yet we either bleep of blank it out when it appears in songs or on television before 9 O'clock (a purely arbitrary time, surely, in this age of on-demand viewing and 'plus' boxes), all because it's a "dirty" word. When censored in such a way, the quality of these media are very noticeably reduced - who hasn't been annoyed when listening to a song containing expletives that has all these gaps in the vocals, upsetting the vocal rhythm? Or been watching a program that, when a character says the frankly weak, "ass," has short periods of total silence - silence that one would normally associate with a fault in broadcast?
Words that describe the anatomy, such as "ass" (corrupted from arse, but the more commonly heard of the two in television), c--k, or t--t, when censored, surely show a childlike embarrassment in regards to such things? A censor would not censor "penis" or "vagina", as these are medical terms - why is the distinction made for slang?
When one removes the stigma and the shame from these words, these words lose their power. I'll explain my meaning: say a man A is angry with man B. A says of B, "You're such a penis". It seems childish, amusing, and without any real power as an insult. Consider, however, A caling B a pr--k, a c--k, or a d--k - this is clearly an insult, as man A is using a "bad word". Therefore, if we remove the stigma from the latter three words - bringing them into true equation with the former- they lose their power as insults.
The area of racial slurs is not such a simple one. If we allow musicians to use them in their work unrestricted, then, yes, as the words enter the day-to-day lexicon, they will eventually be seen as synonyms. On the flip-side, however, if we cease punishment of aggressive use of these terms, then those who would use them to cause harm would be free to do so. I say this, however: this does not matter. I'm not saying that using such a word aggressively is without moral negativity, but this use would only last a generation or two - again, if no stigma is placed on a word, it loses its power. After all, racial slurs can lose their meaning in less than a generation - the word "black" was once considered offensive, the word "coloured" acceptable, and now the reverse is true; who's to say what will and will not be acceptable in 50 years time?
This last point, "who's to say..." can be said of all such words - s--t was a perfectly acceptable word in this country 1000 years ago - why shouldn't any word become stigmatised? Why shouldn't any word have it's stigma removed?
SF
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Capitalism makes me :(
I was listening to one of those adverts earlier that made me want to never ever use the service/buy the product (I can't remember what it was for, so I guess my resolution failed) when I realised: They Don't Care TM.
This rather made me sad. No matter my attitude to something, no matter how strongly I feel, no matter how far into the moral right I am, unless the majority of people feel the same way, it doesn't matter
Welp, goodbye
SamfiSh
(The home of They Don't Care TM!)
This rather made me sad. No matter my attitude to something, no matter how strongly I feel, no matter how far into the moral right I am, unless the majority of people feel the same way, it doesn't matter
Welp, goodbye
SamfiSh
(The home of They Don't Care TM!)
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