Walsingham

We used to have summers on the coast of Scotland, in a hut with no electricty or (frequently) running water. The hut was made of asbestos. The bad kind. There were rats everywhere, and the water was ice cold or full of jellyfish. We would end each trip covered in lice. It was around this time that I went mad.

Artist's imprssion of me touring US in a casspir and pimp hat.

Sounds like a damn good idea. I may have to try that. The jelly sounds interesting too.

That's just the hunger talking. My shell-like ears are poor nutritional value. If you have any spare money and like peanut butter, get peanut butter and some lamb stock cubes. The stock and peanut butter can be added in small doses to really flavour up the noodles, and also lentil soup if you make it. And by lentil soup I mean some RED lentils, some water, any odds and ends you have spare, boiled. You should also post a survival diary, like an urban Robinson Crusoe. EDIT: I had been about to say I don't know any cheap recipes that are good for iron, but then I remembered liver. Probably because I'm the only bastard I know who enjoys eating it. Still, if you do, then slice it thick, brush with oil and lemon juice, grill lightly and serve with green peas and roasted potatos. That also reminds me that you shouldn't rule out heart. Lambs hearts are very very cheap and taste really very good. Soft buttery texture once you hack out all the valves and whatnot. Tasty, too. About 80p a pack. I gnerelaly curry them, but let me know what works for you.

I'd put a quid on him being a sociologist.

Certainly does. Vinegar softens cheap meat. And salt makes it easier to eat. I recommend you buy a few loaves of bread, a sack of potatos, about seven tins of tomatoes, a kilo of beef shin, and a kilo of turkey legs. You'll also need some oil. Nut oil is bad for you but tastes good. Then there's the vinegar and salt. A big tub of chilli powder wouldn't go amiss. Nor would some lemons if you can find them cheap. Shouldn't cost more than 20 quid if you can get the meat in those big packs butchers make. Because you're cooking cheap meat you need to cook it well. In the case of the beef this means soaking it in vinegar, salt, lemon juice, and chilli then cooking the hell out of it in oil then water/tinned tomato. It will go soft after about two hours and taste fantastic. in the case of the turkey there's not much you can do to make it taste good, so chop it up small, coat it in chilli and salt, and fry it till it crackles. Serve the beef with roast potatos and beans. Serve the turkey sprinkled over the instant noodles. If you get dried beans or pulses cheap you can mix in the beef and stew it for hours on low heat. Most of these dishes can be reheated so you can eat them two days running. Just add more chilli. Toast the rest of the time

There are echoes, but not parrallels to the prevalence of customs fraud in the UK in the 1900s. Or to prohibition. I genuinely support anti-piracy in principle. I know that it hurts real artists. On the other hand I also believe it hurts the music industry, and there are few carbuncles more deserving of a good shoeing than the music industry. I reckon that in general it is more likely to hurt the big money people than true artists. However, the most logical way for the corporate astards to react is to make cheaper music so they keep their overheads. I dunno. At the end of the day I can afford to buy music properly, so I figure I may as well.

I always try to get the wedding DJ to play Walk This Way by Run DMC and Aerosmith.

Christ on a donkey! That's a big bastard. I still want to chrome-plate a casspir APC, pimp out the interior and drive around the US.

One rubs the radiator along the *censored*, producing a harmonious twanging sound. I know you were being facetious, but people find really remarkable ways of making music... Pretty cool. I wonder if you could get a bunch of people in the water and play a tune?

We can aalmost cope with the thought of us dying. But the End of the World is particularly threatening because it means everyone we know dying. I did community serice helping old people and I think it was the loss of friends that made them saddest.

I didn't know she was really a woman. - Most meats, but not bacon or fish, unless the fish in question is canned tuna which is awesome. Processed meats are also rubbish. Hrm... you need a mix of meat to stop you going insane with boredom. A proper butcher's shop will be your salvation here. It's nearly as important as a good pub. Turkey is cheap, as are some cuts of beef. beef is generally superior, since you can turn it into stews with long cooking. I don't know how you feel about them, but I love pig's feet. - Potatoes as long as they're roast potatoes or chips, boiled and mashed aren't nice. Large bag of spuds, a couple of quid, will last long enough. Shame you don't like them boiled. I assume this rules out using them in soup. - I like bread, breadcrumbs on things is a no no, however. 4 cheap white loaves for bulk with everything. - Peas and carrots, sweetcorn is also acceptable but I'm not a great fan. Peas and string beans are in season. Find local allotments and see if anyone would be willing to part with some. - Iceberg lettuce. Not happening. Too expensive. - Cucumber. Ditto - Beans, Pot Noodles and toast. Do you like ordinary instant noodles, because they are a great way to get carbs cheap? Also, consider making your own 'baked beans'. Provided you can buy the beans as cheap as they should be. Otherwise beans are good. - Cereal aimed at children such as Coco Pops and Ricicles. Really not happening. Although you just reminded me that I hadn't eaten sugar puffs in years and mean to have some. - Apples and oranges. Targets of opportunity. ~~~ Equip yourself accordingly. Now... what herbs and spices do you like? Also you didn't say if you like garlic and onions.

And never was news SO limited.

I just wasted five minutes looking up what the hell 'tu quoque' means. 1. 'Tu quoque' just means 'you too'. You pretentious jackanapes.* 2. Do not try to out posh me, sir. You will wake up watering my flowers, with a west country accent. I have had latin taught to me by terrifying octogenarians** with spiders in their hair, and I still wasn't impressed. 3. You are not attempting to pass a factual statement, but a moral one. You are saying you did X and therefore you should feel bad. 4. 'You too' does not affect the facts. However it surely affects the moral implications of those facts. A burglar who gets burgled is a good deal less likely to get sympathy 5. No doubt you overlooked it this in your excitement * Note: I am being incredibly clever laying myself open to a true tu quoque rebuttal now. ** 80 year olds. Helpful ****ing translation service.

I got really upset when I found out Bill Hicks was dead.

One rubs the radiator along the *censored*, producing a harmonious twanging sound.

I rather like the Scottish system of 'not proven'. It means neither side have been satisfactory. It means the case can be retried with new evidence.

Break! Break! I demand an end to this thread! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8125664.stm People have died.

Bulletbutter makes a great point about what you want to get out of it. I'm dead keen on game purpose, structure and interface and things like that. Real top level stuff. Below that I think you could get project management expertise by doing a mod. Below THAT you could join a modding team, and I know there are modding types on this forum who would welcome the help. Below that you take on the techno-tactical level and learn a craft like 3D modelling or concept art etc. I'm not certain how all this fits into a career plan. I'd guess that for career puirposes you're better off doing techno-tactical stuff. Games companies are big now, and you probably have to work the interior ladder to get into a position to use high level skills.

I had my hearing tested by the Army when I joined, and it's nearly flawless. I agree that recordings don't sound like the real thing. But I really can't hear a difference between mp3 and CD.

Thought: in business do you think you can get away with not wearing a tie if you wear glasses instead? If so that's pretty cool.

I agree that there is a slightly blinkered atttitude prevalent in some political viewpoints, particularly the popular left. It spends vast amounts of time 'facing up to' the negative aspects of their country's history, and adopting conciliatory poses to the victims of their country. I say blinkered because 99% of the time the victims were in the process of behaving identically to some other poor bugger when our side landed on them with both feet. The zulus are a perfect example of this. We behaved atrociously to the zulus, but the zulu empire only existed to be squashed because of a terrifying campaign of slaughter and ethnic cleansing. The xhosa peoples they squashed had in turn behaved atrociously to the bushmen and other aboriginals before them.* I'm not saying that we shouldn't be mindful of 'our' mistakes. But to adopt a wholly apologetic pose is intellectually dishonest, and I would argue of no value. So, back on topic, I think this debate is a manifestation of LoF's desire to draw attention to a situation he is generally keen on. Not just one that reflects on MJ. But as I say I think he needs to wonder why he is so keen. *So far as I'm aware the bushmen were pretty nice, but then it's hard to know what was going on before them. They probably only established dominance by punching the crap out of some wise monkeys.

Aha! A challenge! So tell us what you can eat and we can pauperise it for you.

The hardest thing I found when making tabletop games was focussing on the game player. You need to be very very very clear about what they are going to get out of the experience and THEN see how you can turn your skills and tools to the job.

I've since worked on a couple of creative endeavours, and a Bi kind of makes sense. After all, it's neither a procedure nor an art per se.