Walsingham

Rather pertinent BBC summary of the issue. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7571096.stm I know in advance that brdavs and maybe Hildegaarde are going to take issue with the provenance of this, but I'm going to call trumps because quite simply the BBC is a peer reviewed source from a country with a free press. If you want to take issue with the BBC then quote your sources, because so far you haven't quoted a single one. In fact, thus far I've been bending over backward to admit my potential shortcomings and all I've seen in return is innuendo. Is this a debate or merely points scoring?

Sidenote: Dreaming is simly a phenomena. You can probably attack it any way you want. But personally I'd suggest you do so from a scientific basis. I don't know what your background is, but it may need specialising or beefing up. If you are properly interested, go to your loacl library and find some relevant active authors, track them down, and call 'em up for advice. Never underestimate the power of being REALLY interested in a person's vocation.

I know the rule Worldwide is always never volunteer. But it's been my observation so far that volunteering quickly serves three purposes: 1. You know what you're going to get told to do. 2. If you have to subsequently try and sly out of doing what you vounteered for, people are less likely to suspect you if you volunteered. 3. No-one likes the bastard who tries to get out of everything.

Mostly to sound pretentious I'd like to add that Love is 'just chemicals' in the same way that the sun is 'just chemicals'. Accuracy without truth, I feel.

Maybe - The Ink Spots Perfect timing as I picked up the Telegraph newspaper and read some columnist arguing we should have invaded Russia over Georgia.

Hey, mate. Hope you're still coping with this. If you need any more commiseration, it's right here for the taking.

who's central notion? not mine... at least a few of my games i didn't finish because the "flying C64" incident prevented further play. taks My first computer, a Spectrum, got headbutted to death, preventing me ever finishing Operation Wolf.

Even more off-topic: If it floats, and it goes 'quack' then I'm going to treat it as a duck.

have you listened to the Vast that i recommended yet sir? Don't call me sir. I work for a living. And yes, I did immediately. I was surprised to discover I liked it a lot. Now celebrating a good three hours of work by playing Apollo 440 'Stop the Rock', and will be having a dessert course of Bill Withers funk/soul (Who is He and he to you).

I hadn't thought of that. Cunning. In fact, I got tired of waiting for advice, and started NWN2 as a little goody two shoes. It's really hard to get by as a stuck up bastard who is also a ladies man. Virtually all my NPCs hate me, because I keep flip-flopping to try and cosy up to all the girls.

So, what you're asking is that .

I hadn't noticed it was another Speer.

My mother read The Satanic Verses, and she said it was mediocre. I doubt it would have sold many copies if it hadn't been for the fatwah, issued two years after it was published (which I'm sure had nothing to do with postwar frustration with Iran's clerics).

I've read somewhere...suggesting....sounds to me....prepositions, not facts. Georgia shelled the capital of S. Ossetia with MLRS and Howitzer, that is no surgical strike but an attempt to brake havoc and disarray in the capital while Georgian ground forces take control, in the process many civilians die due to rather unselective bombing. Russia was standing by in case something like this should happen, because violence started a few months earlier only to erupt recently, and sure you'll have a contingency in the form of the 58th Army group. Of course Russians aren't flowers, but main blame, when it comes to the starters of this conflict, lies with the Georgian nationalists backed by the West, mostly US and the interests around the Caspian pipeline. Exactly, which is why I used that phrasing. I'm flagging up the fact that I'm working from unknown/possibly biased sources, without the background knowledge to exercise my full critical ability. I know you've got pedigree, from having debated with you at length before, but I'm curious to know brdavs' backup. I note from Stratfor that the Russians are now embedding journalists with their units, having recognised the strategic error in not doing so before.

Not really appropriate at the moment. I need to be on my mettle for work, and to GM this WHFRP campaign I've got going on. One of the characters is an evil bastard, and I need inspiration.

The hottest curry I ever ate made my gums bleed. The second hottest made me go deaf (eustacian tubes swelled up) for about a fortnight. It's just in my nature to enjoy a bit of self-destruction. I do think/know that there is a science to curries and chilli which makes very good sense. Turmeric and capsaicin are known to combat cancer [ probably by overlaoding the cancer cell's basic self-regulatory mechanisms], as well as fighting bacteria. Ginger is good for the liver. It all wakes up your skin better than any face cream I've ever tried (not that I'm an expert). Plus it's as good away of feeling alive as having a good run. However, if you are going to go for a weapons grade curry then don't plan anything mobile for the next morning. You need to stay near the bog!

Rushdie's passe, since we're ALL now the targets of extremists.

In an effort to cure my cold I went out toa new curry house I hadn't tried and issued my (normally ignored) instruction to make it hot enough to melt candles at five feet, with plent y of ginger, lemon, and cardamom. Unexpectedly they acted on my instructions, and as a consequence I spent an hour last night weeping and sweating by turns, and loving every mouthful. This morning I have various parts of my body conforming to the song titles of Johnny Cash.

You're probably right, Gorgo. I might go into town and pick up some comics later. You reckon this Jeff Smith would be good?

I think you're onto something here. It's been my observation that men are far more likely to hare off in a random direction shouting romantic protestations than women are. But your point makes me wonder if it's just more notceable when they do. I do definitely know many women who operate using a surface layer of romantic flummery, but who are as hard-nosed as Swiss bankers by the fifth date. being as I am, a freelance scientist I don't believe in magic or any of that nonsense. I do believe that due to the labyrinthine and arcane science of attraction it can resemble magic. But the doolally mooning, and fierce courage that love inspires are mechanical processes, which exist in potential because we need as a species to get jiggy.

Transmetropolitan is hard to beat, but can run a little short in each graphic novel. i.e. you don't get a great deal of weight. Preacher was the graphic novel which changed my view of comics forever. As I've siad before, it's like thinking films are for little kids, after twenty years of watching Charlie Chaplin.... then someone shows you Apocalypse Now, redux.

*gives the webserver a shake* Damn thing is coughing up posts from 1934 again.

Up betimes at 0630. Alternated between eating toast, playing NWN2, and trying to hash out two contracts for upcoming work. Alliances may be powerful but they are a pain in the ass. The toast and NWN2 was in the breaks. I think I worked out both contracts, and suddenly realised I was exhausted, before I fell asleep beneath a heap of papers in my library. Woke to find rain lashing the windows. Bath now, before I grab the hottest curry possible. For my lung infection I prescribe fire! And lots of it!

I take your point about deliberate denials, but isn't it the interesting thing that they don't see it as weird?

I'm not really trying to make a case for being a bachelor. I just thought it would make an interesting discussion. I totally accept your point about kids, Hurlshot. And it's something which gives me a great deal of pause for thought since I've always found women in their thirties attractive, and of course having kids is a crunch point for them at that age. But then in the broader sense I've been a teacher, and I'm a mentor in my business and in my unit, and in many ways I've got lots of 'kids' I'm raising. I'm a believer in the idea that what you pass on in memes is as important as genes. And I should stress that while sex is a big part of the adventure in romance, re-reading all the old letters and cards showed me how much mental pollenation was going on. I can credit the women in my life for teaching me about everything from the scientific drama of volcanoes, to zen buddhism, to the artistry in a moth's wing. Never mind all teh things you learn about yourself!