Eostre

So Easter has come and gone. I enjoyed it. I'm sure the chocolate manufacturers did too.

But I realised that I hadn't eaten ANY chocolate over the last 5 days. Which is pretty shocking. But not as shocking as the revelation that Easter isn't actually a Christian festival at all:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm

It's all a bit odd, this syncretic stuff. I think I need to do a course just to work it all out.

Of course, it's all part of the same thing. Everything is One. One and One is One. We Two are One. When Two become One (hang on...?).

La Guerra del' Anello

So, following a strong recommendation from Jurrien, I spent nearly £50 on the War of the Ring boardgame from Hamleys.

I've played nearly all the way through by myself playing both sides, once almost to the end with my mate Ben, and won once against my flatmate (as the Free Peoples). Sadly my victory was marred by accusations of rule-fudging which were not utterly unfounded. I probably wouldn't have taken Dol Guldur.

It's an amazing game. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9609

Buy it now.

Dancing the Fury Boogie

"We'll do junk, funk and punk, and we'll dance the fury boogie". Never were truer words spoken than these lines emblazoned across the arts scene by the tragic heroin(e) addict in Ken Korda's 'Speeding on the Needlebliss'.

I did dance the fury boogie this Easter Weekend, but without any junk or funk. I went to Grooverider's Grace @ Herbal on Old Street. I would highly recommend this night to any fans of hard drum and bass. There's always a good crowd, and it being Sunday those that do make it are usually well up for it. It was a rammed and sweaty pit, but beautiful. Andy C came on at 10:30 after some uninspiring background CD (must do better) and I only stopped dancing at 1:30 to go home and collapse. Who wants a rewind?
http://www.herbaluk.com/

Speeding on the Needlebliss

So much to catch up on:

• Hampton Report
• Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai
• The War of the Ring
• Grace @ Herbal
• Morning stretches
• Shamanic Communication

I'll have to try and take it one @ a time.

(Incidentally, 'Speeding on the Needlebliss' is a short film by avant-garde director Ken Korda. It is a post-modern deconstruction of the junkie sub-culture set in landscapes of urban decay and violence. It speaks to me clearly as I'm sure it does to many other young urbanites.)

Humanity will Prevail

What a weekend!

Event control umpire at the Universe megagame at Anerley town hall on Saturday. All day madness - I didn't really know what was going on but seemed to cope. The players loved it. And I think it went well.

Good evening in the pub in Streatham as well. Talked about the game - Jim asked me to help out with game control and Jurrien persuaded me that I should buy the War of the Ring game.

Then a massive feast on Sunday - I definitely over-ingested.

They built me strong, but not strong enough

Had a great St. Patrick's Day night, after I went home and passed out and then got up again.

This makes my life sound like a Chumbawumba song - I would like to clarify that this is not the case. Emphatically not. Especially no hand-portable loud-speakers. They're so pedestrian.

We went to the excellent Island Queen pub just East of Angel along the canal. Brilliant. Stayed very late indeed. Wore a stupid Guinness hat as well. Remember to get the picture off Mat.

Among the erudite topics discussed in the pub were:
D-Hing (ask Jon)
Pleonasm
Con Aire (don't ask)
Dune
Beer
Danish barmaids
Rare Groove
F*sher
Keeping it real
The hidden coherence of sadness in Pink Floyd's lyrics, as opposed to the superficially depressing but ultimately nonsensical ravings of U2.
Dirty Oul' Town
Beer
Their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns

Average Joe with no mojo

yo bro am back in town at de mo
but the work is slo
and not so hot mo like so so
cuz the cold
interrupt de flo
yo know
am walkin on tip-toe
dere's dis average joe
giving a description blo by blo
no mo
average joe with no mo
average joe no mojo
he go slow like a worn-out ho
I hope dis de end of de show
can't take no mo
no mo slow bro
thinking oh no what de shit yo do wid dat blow, bro?
not de way to do so
not de way to grow, bro
smokin yo blow, bro
no de way to go, bro
de blow make yo go slow, bro
an make de cancer grow
so get with the show, bro
an don't be so slow, bro
or you be left with no mojo
average joe with no mo
no mo than a ho to de blow, bro
put yo self on death row, bro
how's that go for yo, bro?

At the end of all these words

I feel torn between feeling that it was good we ended it all without too much unpleasantness and feeling like there is a lot more to say. Maybe I should say it. Otherwise I'll end up thinking about it. And probably inflicting all the pent up anger on the next poor f*ckers that I make music with.

But putting it all up on the blog doesn't feel right either. Maybe I should write to the band...

at the end of all these words
at the end of all these words
are terrible sentences of death

The End of Reason

Well, as predicted it all went wrong with Abyssmal.

I quit the band on Saturday in the face of 'artistic differences'. I'm pretty unhappy about it, to be honest. I thought that it had been working well, and then I go away for a month and suddenly there's all this animosity. Ah well.

In our hearts
We feel silenced
The inner voice
Subvocated

Old Photo

My team
Originally uploaded by Dark Hunter.

I was well pleased with this. It's a old photo of my team at work, although it's a bit out of date now. I love the way everyone looks really evil, even though it's only a negative, basically.

The white hair is good, too.

Uh-oh

Sadly I can't upload the photos as they're too large.

B*stards.

You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that they're stunning.

Really.

More stuff from the Fighting Cocks

Phil sent me some more pictures yesterday.

I'll put them up through the picture editor when I get a chance.

Ketone of the Ring

Well - my first lapse. I've left my poor blog all by itself for nearly a week.

And that's because I've been so busy. Ahem.

Weekend was full of stuff to think about - we tried out a new drummer on Saturday and he was pretty good. But I really can't see us working with three singers, or in fact with myself and Grimm. So we're going to have to sort it out. But I'm feeling very uneasy about the whole thing. It might be time to move on - but I'm Lloth to give up on all the work we've done.

Wargaming on Saturday - I ran my eleventh century game again, and it seemed to go very well, with 5 players (Brian as the King). My handmade map worked out well and the rules seemed to be tighter than last time. Was pretty happy with this. Ended up playing until about 8 so I didn't' get home til late.

Which was a bit of a mistake, as I'd been out with work on Fri and then a party in Covent Garden with lots of US students until late on Sat. Argh. I've been paying for them all week.

New Hellas

Whilst trying to look up a short history of the Greek settlements in Asia Minor, I found this fascinating website on the Greco-Turkish conflicts either side of the First World War: http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/turkey-greece%20history.htm

It's not a period that gets much treatment - I reckon there is a game in the internal Greek politics which look fascinating. Maybe I should talk to NL about using his Balkan wars military rules for the fighting in Anatolia and Thrace...

Words, words, what can these words mean?

well - here are your answers, Ladies and Gentlemen:

http://www.etymonline.com/

A fascinating gallery of meanings and origins. A little light in some areas - it fails to explain the origin of 'to skank' as in to dance to reggae music. But a brilliant way of expanding your understanding of how languages influence each other and what you really mean when you say "nonce" or "nuts".

SAMPLE
etymology
1398, from Gk. etymologia, from etymon "true sense" (neut. of etymos "true," related to eteos "true") + logos "word." In classical times, of meanings; later, of histories. Latinized by Cicero as veriloquium.

Rogaine Josh

I'm cooking dinner for a friend tonight and I can't decide whether to eschew my usual curry sauce approach for a more traditional meat-heavy meal. I was thinking about doing pork medallions on spinach on heated pitta sprinkled with bacon bits and pepper. With some roast potatoes if I can get some. And some more of those marrowfat peas I had last nice. They were grrreat.

Actually I think my watering mouth has made the decision for me. It's the Pork Promise rather than the Turmeric Turkey.

Perhaps I could even put a fried egg on top as well...

Mmmm

Come one and Eorl

I remembered last night that I've got to run my eleventh century game at the club on Sunday. So I suppose I'd better get on and update it - I haven't done squat to it since about 2003.

I urgently need to sort out the combat system. I might have to resort to Axis and Allies style knockout otherwise.