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Dump

I know so far my posts about teaching have been mainly amusing and/or heartwarming stories about kids, but I think right now I need a rant.

I've so far been back to the Primary Referral Unit (PRU) where I started out three times, and I've got to know it and enjoy teaching there, but some of the things you see and hear damn near break your heart, and make me so angry I need to vent.

Like the kids who are probably bright enough to get As in their GCSE science, but at best are only going to get a C-D grade because they can only be put in for the bottom tier exams because of gaps in their subject knowledge caused by being bounced around through the school system.

Or the teacher confiding in a colleague how sick it makes her feel that, to one kid, she reminds him of his mother who abused him. And how worried she is that this boy is going to go through his life hating and mistrusting women but there's nothing she can do about it.

Or the kids who aren't shy to let you know that they know this is the dumping ground for them.

Or (in a different PRU) the kids who tell you that they feel like they're in prison.

Or the way that the aim of these centres is to get kids back into mainstream education... but the fact that they get excluded from mainstream schools, then bounced back to a PRU which feeds them back into ME which kicks them back to the PRU just feels like a cycle of rejection for the kids, and it seems almost inevitable that they'll get institutionalised by the system.

Or the one kid who confessed to me and her teacher that she used to be the kind of girl who never imagined she'd touch drugs, but for the last year and a half she's spent every weekend stoned out of her mind on amphetamines. And she knows every come-down is worse than the last, but she gets so depressed, and she can't see a future for herself, and she needs something to make her feel good sometimes. She's fifteen. She's not the only one in that school who self medicates like that.

Or the kids who, when you ask them if they want to try putting some herbs in the cottage pie you're teaching them to make, automatically assume you mean Marijuana.

They shout, they swear, they bully, they're violent, but they can be capable of such acts of compassion - yesterday one of them offered to let me have the last caramel in a box of chocolates, even though they're her favourites as well, and later on was mentoring a new kid and showing him round, helping him settle in. They're good kids, they've just been ignored and beat-down so much that they act out because they can't find a way out of the terrible situations they find themselves in.

But what makes it worse is that I can't see a way out for them. Best case scenario, we manage to get them through their exams - most of them can't get top grades because they can't be put in for the top tiers. But even if they could, they couldn't afford to go to university. And when even graduates are finding it hard to get jobs these days, the chances they'll find work at the end of it all are slim. The chances of them finding good work are almost nil. The truth is, PRUs are dumping grounds. And no matter how much we teachers kid ourselves, we're treading water here. Yes, we teach them life-skills, like Home Ec. and basic maths and literacy. Maybe that'll be enough for them to get by. But how the hell do you get kids to aim high, have self esteem and ambitions when you know what's waiting for them outside the school gates? How can they plan for the future when they know they haven't got one?

They deserve better than this.

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Updating All Of Your Friends On A Somewhat Mundane Day In The Most Amusing Way Possible Day

I have decided, today is "Do Nice Things for Your Partner Day"

Previously rejected titles include:

Clean All The Things Day

Dirt Inspection Day

Stop Putting off the Housework Alex, You Lazy Slattern, Day

Doom Of Dust Day

Shiny New Microwave Requires Shiny Kitchen Day

Let's Pretend to Our Friends that The Apartment is Always Like This Even Though They've Been Here When It Isn't Day

No Clean Mugs and I Require Tea Day

Conforming to Societally Mandated Gender Roles Day

Sick of Not Being Able to Find Anything Day

Darling if You Ask Me to Wash Your Work Shirts For You Before Going Out It's Best That You Make Sure They're In The Washing Basket And Not in The Giant Heap On the Floor So That When I Do The Laundry They Actually Get Put In The Wash And Not Left There Because I Haven't Got Round To Tidying The Bedroom Yet And I Didn't Spot Them And So Assumed You Meant Work Jumper Which Was In The Basket Only To Find Out Later That There Are Three Dirty Shirts in The Huge Pile So You're Evidently On Your Last One And The Wash Is Already On Day

Forgot The Orange Juice At Tesco Day

Man, I Really Ought To Have Given Isabel That Christmas Present By Now Day

Finding Things In Unexpected Places Day

Enjoying This Day-Naming Too Much Day

Raiders of the Lost Carpet

Cleaning The House Because You Don't Want To Admit You're Scared Of Finishing Your PGCE Application And Submitting Your Novel Manuscript To More Agents Day

Cleaning The House Because You Don't Want To Admit That The Reason For the Latter is Because You're Scared of Setting Up Your New Printer Day...

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Traveller

Ok, so it's been a really long time since I've done any LARP/RPG related posts, so in the light of last night, I bring to you a special table-top edition of this blog!

So me and a few others have just started a system called Traveller. It's very rules light, and has probably the best character gen system I've seen for fluff fun. I can (and will) dissect the awesome for you if people want to hear about it, but not right now. It also has a lot of random event rolls, which can lead to hilarity...

The game Matt's running for us is based in a world not unlike the Firefly 'verse. And it seems we delight in making it more like it by the day. Yesterday we had an Epic Marathon session that took most of the day, and it was awesome.

( What we did on our holidays... )

It's a fantastic game and really well run, though it needs a good GM who doesn't mind wading through a lot of randomised tables. I would highly recommend it.

*No, really accidentally. As in I didn't even twig that what I said could have been taken to mean something else until afterwards...

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PvP

So, the question of PvP in Anticthon has been raised. I'm torn on the subject, and want to write a game that enough people will enjoy, so thought I might throw this open to the floor.

Points against PvP

If your plot's good enough you shouldn't need it.
It often creates OC resentment and feuding between players. - Counterpoint: It's just a game, grow up
Said feuding can spoil the game for others, even if it's just IC - I've had games (mostly tabletop though) where the plot got ignored for the sake of two characters constantly playing stupid pranks on each other. This got very boring very quickly.
It makes it hard to get the plot done when you can't trust the rest of the players
The player party's supposed to be The Heroes- Counterpoint: There were heroes on both sides of the Trojan War too...

Points in Favour of PvP

With PvM, often player success feels inevitable. There's no real challenge. And if it is a real challenge, players will bitch that it was unfair.
Personally I'd rather be killed by someone actually trying to kill me rather than accidental monster-to-the-face.
PvP =/= character death. There are many other fun ways to compete without actually losing a character, and that makes so much game.

Essentially...

My personal opinions are that death in LARP should be meaningful. People get invested in their characters, often spend a lot of time and money creating kit for them. Meaningless and random death is horrible and not something I want to encourage in any larps I run.
PvP grants the opportunity for the best and the worst kind of larp deaths.
On the positive side, I've always held that assassination is the highest form of flattery. I don't like the thought of dying to a random monster-in-the-face, but if there's no PvP, the only threat comes from the chance of dying to RMITF. I remember just how much plot was created by Nefertiri's assassination, and it was fantastic.
On the negative side, I also really hate the kind of cheap deaths that you saw so often at Maelstrom - muggings on the way to the loos, random murder in the dark, shiving people up for loot, etc. It pisses me off when death is that cheap.

I like the idea of FvF play - faction vs. faction, knives turned outwards. Much less bitchy.

My current plan is to:

a) Create non-lethal opportunities for PvP.
b) Create IC consequences for lethal PvP.
c) Make PvP available, but not actively encouraged.
d) Give the players enough plot to keep them occupied so they don't just go on a killing spree.
e) Make most things reversible - albeit with a lot of effort - thus creating game.

This is all subject to change, but I want to open up the discussion.

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Of Brownies and Men

Am I the only person who gets annoyed by the use of "Man Cards" and "Man Points"?

Men do not have a monopoly on being useful and awesome. Nor should being awesome be something out of the ordinary for men but expected for women, or vis versa.

I approve of the idea of "Adult Points" for people doing something Like An Adult (or Like A Boss, as I've also heard).
I also approve of the idea of "Brownie Points" for going above and beyond the call of duty in being shiny and awesome.

The idea of giving and deducting Man Cards for conforming to gender stereotypes can fuck right off.

Anyone with me?

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News Round Up

RIP to Neil Armstrong, the human race's most famous lunar explorer.

Prince Harry proves that Royalty have genitals after all, and don't reproduce by osmosis as was previously thought. He also manages to prove that he is a normal idiot. And I couldn't care less.

American politicians still trail far behind the rest of the world in elementary biology when it comes to the female body. Honestly, I am no longer surprised at the crap these misogynistic bile-mongers spew forth.

In more personal news;

I have spent a stupid amount of time driving across the country lately. I love my new car - Saiorse* - and I love driving, and I love the fact that I can get from Portsmouth to Newcastle on only a tiny bit over a full tank. I also have discovered that I really like tinkering. Even if it's just changing the oil or accidentally over-filling the engine coolant and having to flood it out, then soak up the excess with a rag and a stick. Grease on my fingers, oil on my face, happy completely chasing the pace, as Chris Rea once said.

Still no job on the horizon, but I'm throwing out applications every which way, and thinking about doing a PGCE.

Writing steadily, reading solidly - just devoured the latest Jasper Fforde in three days flat.

Took part in a photo shoot at the weekend; dressed up as a Roman Elf (the underdress of which doubled nicely as a 1960's mini-dress, and we took a few silly shots of Mary Quant Elf too) got covered in make-up wounds by blake17, and had a very fun time.

Still having a pretty hard time of things, and the black dog is re-surfacing on occasion, but I am ever greatful to all family and friends who are propping me up through everything. Hopefully we'll keep the sucker leashed until things start looking up.

It's also my birthday in a few weeks time.

It's been a hell of a year - in more ways than one. And I think I've grown up a lot more than one year would suggest. If my internet access remains constant, I'll probably do a birthday post nearer the time.

Suffice to say I'm feeling old.

Please send messages of youthful vitality, a new laptop with working wireless connection, a digital camera, one meeeeeelion pounds (tax free), or failing that, renditions of Thin Lizzy's The Boys are Back in Town to cheer me up.

*A three person joke, that one.

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Why

Someone asked me the other day Why I wanted to be a writer.

Not in an unkind way, they were just interested.

And I thought about it, and didn't give a very complete answer because it was late and I was very tired.

But, because there are times when I've forgotten, I thought I should put down a few of the reasons here, so I can remind myself why I do this.

I Write...

Because I couldn't work a 9-5 job. Actually scratch that. Because true though it is, it's not about the 9-5. I couldn't work a job which didn't feel like an adventure. That didn't feel like fun most of the time. And though writing is hard graft, it doesn't feel like it when I'm doing it. I write because I get to live in a world of dragons and adventures and magic, with every emotion that ever was writ larger than life and I get to call that a job.

Because I'd like to think I'm good at it. I can turn my hand to a lot of things, but finding the right word in the right situation is something I've always been able to do. Again, I'm not saying I don't have to work at it, but I have a lot of natural talent in this area to build on. I don't want to let that go to waste.

Because I always have. There has never been a time when I have not been making up stories in my head. I couldn't stop if I tried, and I don't want to. I love writing, but more than that, I have to write. And if I can con the world into paying me for doing something that I can't stop doing in the first place, I'll do it.

Because I want to be loved. I want to be appreciated for something that I do. I want to make people happy, to entertain them. To make them like me, or at least the things I can make.

But most importantly of all;

Because books have got me through some of the worst times of my life and brought further joy to some of the best. Good Art - whether it be written or performed or hanging on the wall - can keep people going. Can speak to them in ways that nothing else in the world can. I can read words written by someone long dead and see myself in them, know I am thinking and feeling the same things that they did once. Art is a reminder of our common humanity; in a vast, scary world it is a voice in the darkness saying "You are not alone."

I want to do that. I want to be the person creating the art that gets people through. That makes them laugh, that makes them cry - maybe even that makes them think. I want to leave my mark on the world, and think that in generations to come, someone else might read something I've written and wonder at the fact that they're feeling exactly the same thing. I don't kid myself that what I have to say is unique and special and profound - actually it's the opposite. It's the very fact that it's not unique which makes it important. I want to reach people and say "You are not alone".

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Nerves

So, I've just failed my driving test again.

This would be test #4, by the way.

The first two, I can kind of write off as "I wasn't ready, but my instructors put me in for them anyway, so no surprises there."
The third, I genuinely thought I could pass, but made some stupid mistakes, and spent a lot of time beating myself up for them, which caused more mistakes, which caused me to fail it.

Today's...

Well, the thing is, by now I really need to get my license. I mean, really need it. Not being allowed to drive is a serious pain in the ass. I say "not being allowed" because the thing is, I can drive. I can drive absolutely fine when I'm not being judged on it. But when the pressure is on to pass - which it is, and always will be - my nerves get the better of me, and I start to fuck up. I'm getting a tiny, tiny amount of minors (4 and 5 on my last two tests respectively. Seriously. That's it. Driving instructors have to pass their test with less than 3.) but then something unexpected happens, and I'm too wound up to react properly, and I get a serious and it's all over.

Today, I failed on two really stupid things - 1. I'd pulled in, and was shifting forwards to get better positioning, and my indicator came off, so a car behind me had to slow down to see if I was pulling out again (which, come on, is that really a serious? I wasn't indicating *out* again, I thought it was clear what I was doing, ffs...) and 2. I was trying to manoeuvre around a bus at a stop, and moved over into the right hand side of the road without indicating (it was a wide road, but a single lane of traffic) and some stupid fucking taxi came storming down on the right hand side, and had to break behind me. I know I fucked up, and should have at least indicated that I was moving out, but fucking taxis...

The thing is, number 2 at least, if not both of those faults, wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been so fucking nervous. They both happened within the first ten minutes or so of the test, when I hadn't had a chance to settle into things - not that I really do, but the point still stands.

And I have no idea how to get over the panic, and I'm starting to wonder if this means I'll never be able to pass this bloody test.
I have tried everything I can think of to calm down and relax - treat it like a normal driving lesson, don't panic, slow down, take it steady, breathe, etc - but it's not working. I'm seriously considering taking a fucking sedative before the next one, it's getting that silly.

The worst thing is that my instructor - Keith - who is brilliant, and the first person who actually *gets* me when I'm driving, and knows exactly how to get the best from me - is planning to move. And soon. I don't know how soon, exactly, but soon. So I may not have him for much longer. Which pretty much means starting from scratch again for me if I haven't passed my test by then. And I'm not sure I have the strength to do that again. I've already got the next test booked in, but I need, need, need, some way of controlling my nerves before I take it. Because 5 tests is already too many.

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Obligatroy Froth Post

So, another Easter, another Strom, another Costume, another tent in a field... Let me tell you about it...

The Good

Blackberry and the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful amazing people at sanctuary - who I still need to thank more - for taking a soggy, bedraggled, overworked eidolon and filling it full of tea and food and giving it back-rubs until it was happy fun stabby eidolon again.

Experimental Shamanism was a success!

Rumours of my explosion due to experimental shamanism were greatly exaggerated!

Raoul annoys me, Raoul flees my wrath outside the ghost fence where I can't get him, Raoul trips in mud. Earthquake approves.

Being hailed as the Eye of Coyote by a mildly jealous Blizzard, after being a very naughty girl this DT...

The Night of Martyrs - from an OC perspective, hearing Tiri's name read out gave me chills.

New Sword and Main Gauche from Light Armouries - Soooooo pretty, plus now I'm finally fighting with the weapons I'm best with OC! Pity I did not get to stab enough...

Charging out of the gate on Friday ready to kill everything, in a nice early Non-Bottle

My faithful getting blessed to high heaven - and getting to deliver at least one of those blessings myself. Which ended up being perfectly done, if not quite as I'd planned it...

Rachida's new Look. Hell Yes! :D

Threatening to cut people for continually asking me to repeat the experimental shamanism. Being scary stabbity eidolon is fun, but sadly I seem to have become fluffier than an Earthquake eidolon really should be... This may have gone some way to rectifying the balance.

I looked Fucking awesome :D

Deep theological discussions with Thane, and their eventual result - "You were never really one of mine, but we could have made you great".

Fun with Vild - especially whilst attempting to convert impressionable Kitty to Jaguar.

"Warbird, can you come here a sec?"
"Why? What is it?"
"I don't know, I just got asked to find a competent Eidolon."

A very FOIP little meeting in the dark with a contact I didn't know, from an ally I'd never met face to face, about very secret information... made me feel like James Bond.

Being the Eidolon who Knows Everything - running around on the Sunday night, making sure everyone was kept informed.

Having Flambard and the White Jackets explained to me as this character, and thinking "Really? I don't remember us being like that!"

Finding out That true name, and spreading it like a Flembic Governess...

Watching undead and eidolons being fired from the trebuchet

Being eaten by a bug - best form of dispatch ever! If slightly tickly...

Dread lord Fucknose

Conversations in the Maelstrom - of fallen, wendigo, Ilini and the like

The Bad

Something in particular that nearly happened didn't come off in the end - for the best of reasons - but still a disappointment.

Deity team being overworked and understaffed, meaning all but 2 of my imperatives were Vanilla ones.

Fucking Rat Tribe and their Fucking Ghost fence! Treking from the arse end of the field to the Maelstrom tent back to the arse end of the field only to need discorporating again, because you wanted to pop out on the other side of the wall, and got "appear in the serpent shrine" not "appear in the tavern" because you've got the wrong mission... trust me, it gets old fast.

Itchy wig is itchy. But compensated for by looking awesome. But caught on everything. And got wet. But looked awesome!

Couldn't go on the sortie due to bad ankle - yet again getting left behind when there is murdering to be done :p

Couldn't nail anything on Blind Harvey in the end... curses!

The Ugly

Fucking Cold - backs of hands are dry and chapped to high heaven. As is face. Whilst not as bad as Celestial Gala of the Snowstorm, the cold very definitely prevented a certain amount of roleplay and fun.

Fucking Wet - everything is mud. All mud. All of it.

Fucking Boots - ancient CCF things that I've had since I was 13 (so, that's about 12 years now, and all things considered that's a pretty good run) concertina-ing at the back, and digging into my ankle. About time for new boots, says I.

Fucking sword baldric - in principle, really awesome, and will be really useful, but turned my right shoulder into one solid knot.

In Conclusion

Bit of a mixed bag of an event. Not helped by the weather. Seriously, seriously hoping the next one will be sunny.
Special mention must go to all the people who made the event wonderful in all the places that it was - Blackberry and all at Sanctuary; the White Wolves - especially Thane; All the Earthquake faithful; All the eidolons - native and invader - for being awesome in my direction, and/or listening politely whilst I got all theological; everyone I tried to convert; Both of Bunni's characters for being funbugs; All at the daggers for giving me free drinks because my alter-ego works there... and I'm sure there's many more I've forgotten to mention.

So tired now!

And only 3 more left to go...

Current Mood: bouncy

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Short and Sweet

Just a quickie to jot down what's on my ipod today :)

I was a Teenage Anarchist - Against Me!
Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol
FNT - Semisonic
Because of the Shame - Against Me!
Cowboy Cassanova - Carrie Underwood
Better with the Lights Off - New Boyz
Poison - Alice Cooper
Love Love - Take That
Riptide - Sick Puppies

Any other suggestions of music in the same vein conditionally accepted :D

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Ambitious but Rubbish...ish

I may have done something rather inadvisable last night.... It may have involved not enough Fangria, the combined efforts of myself,

safer666 and

ramuth, and a copy of the Top Gear Challenges DVD.

We have created a monster... The Top Gear Drinking Game.
I'm sure there are already versions of drink-along-with-Top-Gear out there, but this is ours. And I'm very very sorry.

The Rules:
Divide into three persons or teams. Each team is randomly allocated either Clarkson, May or Hammond.
Watch the DvD.
Drink at the appropriate moments, until no-one is safe to even go near a car, let alone drive it.

Everyone must drink when:

The presenters graffiti, mess with, sabotage or "help" with each other's vehicles
One of the presenters addresses the viewer directly.
They reference another BBC program or presenter.
Someone is abandoned.
Whenever you see a golden challenge envelope.
Someone is particularly Un-PC in their humour.
The Stig is introduced.
They play music from the A-Team or someone says "cue the music"
Someone tempts fate by saying "How hard can it be?" or similar.
You hear the theme music.
Something is set on fire.
Law enforcement agencies (police, coastguard etc) appear.

Each team or person must drink when:

Their presenter's car breaks down.
Their presenter's nickname is mentioned.
Their presenter modifies their vehicle mid-challenge.
Their presenter wins the challenge.

The specific presenters also have drink conditions:

Clarkson:

Whenever he uses superlative hyperbole ("I am the most miserable man alive!" etc)
Whenever he wields a hammer or power tool
Whenever he yells "Come On!!!"

May:

Whenever he swears, or mentions male genitalia. If he says "Oh Cock", drink twice.
Whenever anyone mentions or references The War.
Whenever he goes on about anything overly technical and dull.

Hammond:

Whenever he loses his temper.
Whenever someone makes a joke about his height or teeth.
Whenever he's picky about food.

As if this weren't enough... there is also a Hard Mode. In this, in addition to the above rules, everyone drinks when:

Particularly Epic music plays
Your presenter giggles/laughs maniacally
Your presenter is bragging about their vehicle
Any time anyone says the word "horsepower"
Continually drink during tech specs.
Whenever someone cheats.
The phrase "You blithering Idiot" is said.
Your presenter is running on telly.

May

Whenever James is singing
Whenever he gets lost

Hammond

Whenever Hammond Yells incoherently
or says "Brilliant!"

Put it this way, we ran out of Fangria before we ran out of DvDs...

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Anti-Packrat Initiative

Ok, so I'm having a bit of a spring clean, and have various bits and pieces that I'm getting rid of. Perhaps you would like them instead?

As this is mostly a spring-cleaning initiative, I'm only wanting a pittance for most of these (plus postage), so make me an offer!

If of course, people decide to make me very shiny offers of monies, then I am thinking of using said monies to fund either getting Anticthon off the ground, or a filming project I have in mind by the name of Angel P.I. So if anyone specifically says "I will pay you lots of monies for this item, but only if you spend it on making Shiny Project come true," then that is what I will do!

Please post here if you would like to reserve/buy an item - first come first served. You can also message me here, or via fb or email if you have my details.
I only post to the UK, most major forms of payment accepted.

Pics are Here:

List of items Here:

Pair black goth/cyberpunk trousers, approx size 14, BNWT - Reserve price £25

Pair blue tie-dyed dungarees, size 14-16

Per Una black + grey striped jumper/ long top, size 16, BNWT

Black velvet, corset/bustier, small (size 8-10 maybe?). Slightly mucky but should clean up easily.

From Me To You bear pyjamas, ostensibly size 16 but slightly on the small side.

White tribal-patterned top, ¾ sleeves, should fit approx size 14.

Cream Top-Shop cardigan, size 12

Blue Top-Shop cardigan, size 14

Grey H&M cardigan, ¾ sleeves, size M – should fit approx size 12-14

Baby-blue M&S ¾ sleeved top, size 10, but very stretchy.

M&S black leggings, size 16 long, BNWT

This is the first batch - there may be more; I tend to hoard a lot and it depends how much I eventually decide to part with.
If no-one is interested, they'll be going to charity or on ebay, but friends get first refusal.

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Mini- Rant

I'm not going to apologise for being angry, only for being slightly less articulate about it than normal.

Who the Fuck is this woman in the Avengers trailers?
Why the Fuck has she not had A SINGLE LINE YET, let alone a whole movie setting her up, like the rest of the gang?
and
Why the Fuck is there only one of her, while I can count at least 5 blokes (not counting Mr Badass himself, Nick Fury)?

Ok, I admit, I'm a DC girl at heart... but looking at the Marvel Cannon a bit more closely, I am still really struggling to think of any female characters they've done. With the exception of all the X-Women. Who are still called X-Men.*

There's Shulkie (She-Hulk for the uninitiated) - Who is essentially The Hulk with boobs...
And Electra, who I know nothing about save the name...
And the girl from the Fabulous Four or Famous Five or whoever they are; The Invisible Woman**

And is that it?

Apparently not according to this list, but that said, I'll give you a shiny penny if you could name half of the women listed there without looking. And how many of Marvel's women are headliners? I can think of 2. Shulkie and Electra.

Now, I know, the current situation of women in comics is crap, really crap, so maybe it's unfair of me to single out Marvel like this...

So let's look at DC. How many DC Heroines can you name? I'm pretty sure you'll recognise at least some of the following.

Wonder Woman (Plus Donna Troy, Wonder Girl and all the Amazons)
Catwoman
Power Girl
Oracle
Batgirl
All of the Birds of Prey. Not some of them, like the X-Women, or a token one in the Fab Four, ALL OF THEM.
Zatanna
Huntress
Black Canary
Super Girl
About half the Green Lanterns

And that's just the ones who Headline their own series.
And how about their iconic Villains? Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, the Cheetah and all that lot?

I'm calling Marvel out on this one.

But I'm also calling DC out on this one too, because, of all those women I've just listed, I think one of them has had a movie made about her (Catwoman) and it wasn't great. I am really annoyed that at the very least they haven't done a Wonder Woman film yet. She's one of the Big Three, and the other two (Batman and Superman) have had Multiple films.

Come on Comics World and Hollywood - there is a whole other 50% of the world out there who would love to be allowed to Kick Ass on the big screen!

*And, ok, I really like the X-men, though some of the films are a little problematic in their treatment of women. Heck, at least their women *exist*, there are plenty of them and they aren't just girlfriends of the main characters.

** Which says it all really.

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Ma Vie En Livres - The Culmination!

Ok, so about a year ago, I had this crazy idea to write down a list of all the books I read in a year, review them, and blog about them.

So I did!

And that was a year ago...

I didn't keep up with all the reviews, but I did keep a list, and I've just finished doing a round-up of all the books, and a whole load of statistics about my reading habits for 2011.

Check it out! You might even enjoy it a bit. I did actual maths and everything. And proved that literate I may be, but numeracy is not my strong suit.

And I actually think that I enjoyed it enough to want to give it another go, and do another year's worth of reading. Possibly with a review system that's simpler (stars out of 10 or something, or a few pithy sentences) so I'll actually keep up with them.

But hey, it's been a good year in books.

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The Third Entity

So, Skyrim!

Jokingly, Doug and I have started referring to this beast as the third person in our marriage.

And I'm not sure why....

See, ok, it's good. There's nothing wrong with it, it's a decent game.
I love the magic system - I love the look of the magic especially. Elder Scrolls has always been my one game where I really enjoy playing specifically mages*, and Skyrim is no different. I am loving my Breton with lightning in one hand and healery in the other. I cast like I'm in Saturday Night Fever. Hell yes.

But the thing is, apart from the dragons, this is just like any other Elder Scrolls game.
I have found myself impulsively stealing books and collecting Nirnroot and spending hours trying to find the one guy who can sell me a fricking bedroom only for some reason he doesn't have it any more, what the hell game?
And I still can't climb the frelling** mountains, and spend hours looking for the sodding way to the top.
And I spend hours trying to find the sodding dungeon doorway or the way back out, or the way back in after I've lugged all my loot back to the shop and can now finish clearing out the rest of the dungeon...

And through all of this I'm watching How I Met Your Mother *** and vaguely wondering why I care about these characters, or even if I care about them, with the possible exception of Lydia, my Housecarl, who is the most useless creature imagineable and who I hate with a fiery passion. So much that I'm leaving her at home. Housecarl? She's been demoted to housekeeper. This is mainly because I haven't figured out how to give her stuff so's I can make her my packhorse, so I don't have to do quite so many frelling runs back to the shops to unload my loot.

God damn it, this is an annoyingly addictive game, and I don't know why, because it's no frelling different from any of the other Elder Scrolls games, apart from the fact that it is marginally prettier and I like the magic. So WHY CAN'T I STOP PLAYING IT???

Oh, also, Happy Christmas everyone!****

And New Year!

And all that Jazz!

*Oh, and also DA:O - but then I love everything in DA:O
**Yes I said "frelling", get over it.
***Which is Awesome, btw
****and/or whichever winterval festival you care to celebrate!

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chooon!

Another Playlist

I do these periodically - and it's been a while since my last list, so here's what's blaring through my headphones at the moment...

Love Love - Take That

Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs

The Girl In The Dirty Shirt - Oasis

Birdhouse In Your Soul - They Might Be Giants

Independence Day - Melanie C

Tonight's The Kind Of Night - Noah & The Whale

I'm a Train - Albert Hammond

I Can See for Miles - The Who

Pretending - Eric Clapton

Walking With Strangers - The Birthday Massacre

Airship Pirate - Abney Park

She Likes Rock & Roll - AC/DC

Time of My Life - Toploader

Funhouse - P!nk

When I Come Around - Green Day

16th Century Man - Elton John

Smooth - Santana

Ink Devil - Show of Hands

Route 66 - Chuck Berry

Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Bublé

Arrogance Ignorance and Greed - Show of Hands

Longdog - Show of Hands

Coyote - Mark Knopfler

Break Me Shake Me - Savage Garden

Riptide - Sick Puppies

He's a Pirate - Klaus Badelt (Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl)

Entry tags:

Blue Moon

You were born during a Waxing Gibbous moon

This phase occurs right before a full moon.

- what it says about you -

You like to question things and have issues settled before going to work on a problem. You appreciate art, elegant forms, and efficient designs. You seek deeper meanings in things that you see and want your actions to make the world a better place.

What phase was the moon at on your birthday? Find out at Spacefem.com

Entry tags:

(no subject)

In true style of me - I've been meaning to post for days, but haven't been near a computer, and then the minute I am, my brain refuses to come up with anything interesting to say.

I've been busy, busy lately.

The trip to Malham cove did not happen in the end; mostly because I ended up going to a friend's wedding the day before I was due to go there, and had an absolute whale of a time with all the Old Gang from Back in the Day, got slightly sloshed, and decided to lie in instead of getting up early to go to the middle of Yorkshire.

I did however very much enjoy the Right Royal Piss Up (courtesy of

casparrrrgh and Co.) - even if no-one recognised who the fuck I was.

( Prize if you can guess who the fuck I'm supposed to be... )

And the subsequent time spent up in Glasgow, where I had a chat with awesome persons about getting a tattoo...

Then went back home for the aforementioned wedding, and to be berated by my mother, as is becoming disappointingly regular.

This week, I shall be continuing with the driving lessons - at stupidly early hours :p - with the possibility at the end of it that my sister is getting rid of her Micra, and I may be able to buy it off her :D
If it hasn't already got a name, I will be christening it (or re-christening it perhaps) Saiorse - which is probably a 2 person joke, but heck, it'll be my car :D
Just need to pass the bloody test...

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America is Fucked Up

Ok, so a lot of people have been posting about the Mississippi Personhood amendment, which is pretty damn sickening in itself, but I've just come across another utterly horrific piece of legislature under consideration in the states.

That would be the H.R. 358 bill, which, among other things, overrides something called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. Under EMTALA, hospitals must stabilize a pregnant patient who, for example, is facing an emergency obstetric condition or life-threatening pregnancy and either treat her--including an emergency abortion--or if the hospital or staff objects, to transfer her to another facility that will treat her.

Even the staunchest anti-abortion people that I know (or have argued with on the internet) will make exceptions for situations where the mother's life is at stake. And yet this bill is attempting to overturn current legislature which guarantees that.

Quite seriously, if this bill were to become law, it would be completely legal to leave pregnant women in labour to die, rather than perform an abortion that would save their life.

I'll let that sink in.

Now try this one: This bill has PASSED in the house of Representatives.

It has not yet gone before the senate, and Obama has (quite rightly) said that if the bill lands on his desk he will be exercising presidential veto, but the fact that this bill has, not only been proposed, but has gone this far is an enormity beyond words.

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Signal Boost

Any ladies* who are job-hunting in the Oxfnord area might want to check this out...

It's for a Service Manager's post for Oxford Sexual Assault and Rape Crisis Centre, more details via the link.

http://womensgrid.freecharity.org.uk/?p=8230

(*They are only looking for female applicants)