wiffly_shwoo

I knew it...

2009-11-15T23:17:38Z

Ranty-rant

2009-11-09T19:23:10Z

Bah! Why is Labour MP Keith Vaz whining about the new Call of Duty game?
Soooo, he's an MP, right..?
I was kinda under the impression they were meant to do ...y'know... politics and suchlike.
For example, Betty Williams - MP for Conwy district - never sidles up to me and says "You should really stop reading those trashy Kellerman thrillers, Shwoo. You know they're all action and fast-paced but with little substance. Why don't you read more great classics like your father?" Let's face it, if she did, I'd hurl my shelf of trashy thrillers at her book by book until she went away.*

Also, he's bitching about the violence level of a game which hasn't even been released, so somehow I'm doubting he's actually played the thing.

Oh, and he's venting in the Daily Mail. NVM. I henceforth give up this rant, as that presupposes there's any point in arguing. Argh! Daily Mail! He's an MP and that's the first forum he turns to! Gah!

*And once done with those I'd move on to the Stephen Kings. She'd never have the staying power for those.

Writer's Block: It Sounds Better When You Say It

2009-11-02T01:33:54Z

No matter what language you speak, you've probably come across words or phrases in another language that sound better than their equivalents in your native tongue. What's your favorite word or phrase in a foreign language?

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Latin: invesperascere - to begin to approach evening. English doesn't even have a verb for that, and the only one with a similar meaning Czech is to go towards dusk. And that doesn't sound half as neat as invesperascit.

Photography

2009-11-02T00:18:27Z

I've been doing an evening class in digital photography paid for by my trade union, and as we're coming to the end, they've asked everyone to submit their favourite three pics so they can put up a gallery.
I was a bit stumped, because I'm quite new to Photoshop. Because of the way it's set up, it's easy to do really impressive effects with a single mouse-click. Therefore they're not really impressive, I guess. (Note, our course has been focussing far more on the image-editing side of things, as opposed to the actual taking of photos).
Anyhoo, after much faffing around and chopping and changing, I ended up with the following three...

My first photo is just come random fern where I made the fern sharper and the background more blurry, plus fiddling with the fern colour and contrast. All I did was change things to see what happened, but I liked the end effect.

I had various other photos along the lines of the fern - vaguely OK, nice enough to look at, but nothing hugely exciting or distinctive, and probably similar to the pictures other people in the class would submit. So in the end I sacrificed common sense ~~to Waspor!~~ ahem, for distinctiveness.
So here we have a random photo I took half kitted-up at Maelstrom to check my makeup, but it looked so creepy I kept it. Again, I ran it through all kinds of Photoshop effects until it did something I liked. I blurred out the background as it was random OOC tent interior. Unedited small version can be seen as my avatar (must make a version of my new one...)

And last of all is a photo I hardly did anything to (bar turning it black and white and fine-tuning the brightness a bit). This was taken at the last Gathering. There was some wind on Thursday night, and one of the traders' tents got trashed. All he had out was the tent frame and a corsetted mannequin. I felt an urge to take a photo. I was biting it down and telling myself I was being pretentious and camera-addicted when hammerhydra pointed out that that was an interesting view - I should totally take a photo of it.

wiffly_shwoo @ 2009-09-23T00:40:00

2009-09-22T23:41:02Z

I has new avatar. Fear the creepy dryad makeup.

Photo places

2009-09-04T23:26:52Z

I'm not really into photography beyond pointing my camera at anything which comes too close at LT events, but these things have had me staring in fascination and wishing my My Pictures subfolders were a bit more interesting:

(Shamelessly nicked from ditzy_pole )
This is the most amazing gallery. It's probably best to read the background given on this blog, as the gallery itself is hosted without commentary.
I'm not going to spoiler it, but do read the blog.
I'd love to do something meaningful with photos like this guy, but wouldn't want to mindlessly copy his idea. I'd need a different twist.

The other thing I've discovered in the community abandonedplaces which has some really pretty photos of what it says on the tin. Nothing in my immediate soggy Welsh vicinity will rival all those dilapidated Soviet-built factories and grand houses from the ever-numerous Russian LJ community, but there are a few local bits and pieces I might try and get pictures of.

Question...

2009-09-03T19:15:38Z

I quite enjoy taking photos at LT events, and usually get quite a few, but somehow it never feels quite right whipping out my camera at Maelstrom. Dunno why - it feels more immersive maybe, so a camera feels more jarringly out of character.
So I ask the internet:

View Poll: Do I go out and take photos at Maesltrom?

Feel free to comment.

wiffly_shwoo @ 2009-08-23T17:49:00

2009-08-23T17:09:18Z

I'm currently working on costume for my next LT character. I'm not plannig to die / retire, but backup is useful.
I mail-ordered feathers and beads, and today hammerhydra and I went to the dump to get rid of the old front door and went to investigate the giant indoor car boot sale next door. I found the bead stall kiebeau had told me about (sorry Kie, we had to collapse the back seats to get the door in, so no room for passengers - but I'm definitely up for having a better look round in the future) and got many more spangly costumy things, as well as a replacement copy of a damaged PS1 game, some knitting needles and a beanie guinea pig :)
Also, my AWOL Amazon parcel finally turned up (but only weeks after they delivered it, after I threw a shitfit at them, after they refunded my money, and after I requested Amazon to remove all details of me from their records*). Oh well. At least Ellie will be getting her birthday present at the G.

Life is good.

* I stand by the fact I was not over-reacting, as they never put a note through my door saying where they'd left it, and when I emailed they said they didn't know, and when I got angry they gave me an address, and when I contacted the occupants they did not know anything, and then a few days later the guy downstairs from the address they gave me finally got back from his holiday and managed to catch me in so he could hand over my parcel. The delay was not Amazon's (or their delivery guys') fault, but the not-having-a-clue was.

This morning, Godzilla was on my wash-basin

2009-08-05T23:12:27Z

This weekend I has been...

2009-07-21T00:07:49Z

...learning to do crazy patchwork.
I picked up a random book in my local library about this months ago and then promptly didn't get round to trying the technique out.
Crazy patchwork is not in fact patchwork, but basically glorified appliqué, which is great as patchwork involves all kinds of careful measuring and sewing, and I'm basically lazy. Also, I'm OK with applique - it's dead easy with a sewing machine (not 'dead easy to do *well*' note - but Ithat brings us back to the "lazy" thing). Also with patchwork you need all your fabrics to be of approximately the same density and strength, which doesn't apply to crazy patchwork, as it's all stitched onto backing fabric.
Anyhoo, here is a random square I tried out just to see if it worked. Probably would have been neater if I'd put a bit of effort in and done stuff like pressing and tacking, but I'm lazy and whizzed through it with a sewing machine.

I need to find a costuming use for the technique. As you have backing fabric and patches, the whole thing ends up quite stiff, meaning it's OK for bags for example, but not so good for regular clothes.
Have started making a pen-bag for Athelwyn - complete with more irregular shapes and more garish colours - to see how well it bends (oh, all right - also as an excuse to combine purple PVC and lurid pink lace).

Writer's Block: 5//7//5 (Haiku)

2009-07-15T18:01:38Z

Sum up your day in the form of a haiku.

Submitted By cpnspuff

View 505 Answers

Talked on 'phone to world
Unemployed people are broke
Sick people are sick

Ahahaha! I knew there was a purpose to amusing myself by exchanging haikus with Luke whenever nothing else is happening. Marvel at my 733t skillz!

Wuzziest Pictures Ever

2009-06-12T18:28:06Z

First of all, I must apologise for referencing the Daily Mail, but I found the wuzziest article ever there (well actually I saw the story in a colleague's copy of the Sun, which isn't much better, but nvm).
Everyone go look. Go look now. What are you waiting for?

The full article (with more cute photos) is here.

wiffly_shwoo @ 2009-06-09T20:25:00

2009-06-09T19:42:27Z

I was preparing to write an intelligent and intelligible review of Provocation, but I got distracted at the critical moment by this post of amusing haiku(s?). Now I've been a long-time lurker-never-poster on lrpdrabbles, but this is more up to the level of my maturity and creativity. So, without further ado...

A *relatively* deep one (not that that's saying much), voicing my a vague IC worry from last event

Awakened - not alive?
Not the same as others - but
I don't think I'm dead

An issue my group had last event

Eidolons storm down
Only to find that Sir James
Is quite nice really

Mob charged round the field
No one knows why Justice was
Hiding in a bush

Volcanoes light up
But not the power-station
That is O.O.C.

As a bonus, I was writing these at work and got sidetracked briefly by computerfail:

CAM's frozen again
So I write haikus until
It deigns to unfreeze

For fuck's sake, software
Who built you out of duct-tape,
String and rubber-bands?

I realise this last bit is a total rip-off of the work haikus electrokin wrote ages ago, but as I didn't get round to reponding at the time, consider this a belated reply.

(More to continue depending on how much my work PC freezes up).

Ow ow ow

2009-06-01T22:47:41Z

This is what I get for being good.
Whenever I exercise I feel like I've been kicked in the chest.
Tonight I go to do the washing up and promptly shatter a plate on my foot. A big chunky one. Not a glass one. Therefore I'm not sure why my foot is bleeding in that many places.*
I'm henceforth giving up being good and will go back to eating junk food on the sofa playing console games.

*OK, it's marginally better than last time when I dropped a plate on my foot and must have fractured something as my toe hurt for weeks. the plate, however, was unharmed.

wiffly_shwoo @ 2009-06-01T23:05:00

2009-06-01T22:06:10Z

On the way home hammerhydra, Luke and I decided to have an impromptu ~~burnt offering~~ barbecue in the back yard. The yard is warm enough to be pleasant while shady enough to be comfortable, all the plants are leafy and green, the first of the honeysuckle flowers in just opening, and all the seeds I planted are at least little shoots - if not miniature versions of their parents. We also discovered sweetcorn can be wrapped in foil and cooked very nicely with butter.

On an entirely unrelated note, here is a further instalment of JobCentre job-title-related weirdness:

Banana ripener
Shoe operator
Fly maker
Leaf inspector
Rodent operator
Arm maker
Doctor maker
Pulpit operator
Cathedral operator
Poppy maker
Caterpillar operator
Belly maker
Colorado beetle operator
Body maker
Bush maker

I now have images of a rodent operator, who presumably has thousands of tiny remote-controls, and without which no hamster would run in its wheel, gerbil burrows would remain un-dug and whatever nibbles the soap in my parents' bathroom would not put in an appearance.

More JobCentre Plus Job-Title-Related Weirdness

2009-05-29T23:36:34Z

After this post featuring my new superhero team created entirely off JobCentre Plus job titles, I bring you the next instalment.

These are all the jobs which undoubtedly do exist, but I can't see there'd ever be a call to advertise in the JobCentre

Horseman
Hypnotist
Golfer
Falconer
Illusionist
Inventor
Lighthousekeeper
Keeper of the Signet
Witness
Medallist
Fortune-teller
Secretary of State
Racing Driver
Monk
Evangelist
Trombonist
Railways Detective
Diarist
Water Diviner
Wind Tunnel Manager
Memeber of Parliament
Member of Parliament (European)
Fingerprint Expert
Messenger at Arms
Missionary
Magician
Robot Programmer
Astrological Psychologist (WTF? I have two degrees in psychology and I have no idea what that is...)
Circus Owner
Bellringer
Queen's Messenger
Ruler
Face Painter
Dancing Partner
Philatelist
Phrenologist
Bank-note Engraver

What I Did In The Office (um... took photos...)

2009-05-28T22:32:08Z

The New JobCentre Plus League

2009-05-21T19:07:46Z

Background:
JobCentrePlus has this great big database of all the jobs they advertise. The jobs are stuck into categories with numbers, so for example there is a number for secondary school teachers, one for psychologists, one for actors and so on. One day, I was just learning how to use the system and found a list of all the sub headings. There were loads of them - for example secondary school teachers would have art teachers; dyslexia teachers (secondary-level), geography teachers, history teachers; PE teachers, special needs teachers (secondary) - and so on, at great length, often involving huge lists of synonyms. As I was still a trainee, I had quite a lot of time and was bored, so I ended up looking down the list of potential job titles, just to see what weirdness I could find.

Ripperman
Paraflow Man
Asbestos Rover
The Puddler
Biscuit Oddman (he has a sidekick - Biscuit Stripper)
Sulphonator Man
Possession Man
The Precipitator
Suspender Man
Pulveriser
Toffee Man
Tea Masher
The Invisible Mender
Autolysis Man
Nitrider (presumably a low-budget knock-off of Knight-Rider)
Linseed Cake Man
The Causticizer
Carbonation Man
Chlorate of Soda Man
The Kipperer
Devulcaniser Man
The Garnetter
Tar Dehydrator Man
The Firemaster
Fat Extractor Man
Gelatine Man
The Carrotter
Power Knitter
Whizzerman
Caustic Finisher
And last but not least... ...I kid you not... Spiderman. Maybe it has some meaning in employment. Maybe an agency needed someone to dress up as a superhero. We just don't know...

Writer's Block: Same Name

2009-05-18T19:00:30Z

Have you ever met or known someone who has the same name as you (first and last) but is not a relative?

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Ha ha yes! Shed-loads! There are two in my building alone. I constantly get their emails.
Sometimes there is something to say for naming your kid Pippin Galadriel Moonchild.

What's going on, Lovefilm? I wants Phoenix Wright 3

2009-05-16T17:33:25Z

Hmmm... Marginally less impressed with Lovefilm. Signed up and it turns out that one of the obscure TV shows I searched for as a test (and was so pleased they had) is not actually available. It's "on reserve" which usually means isn't out yet, only this is a show from the 90s which has been on DVD for a good few years. And the stuff that isn't out yet has a release date. This one doesn't. I know it's pretty obscure, but they didn't need to pretend they had it when they didn't...
Also, whenever I search for any game, it's available, but not for *me*. There are many different plans (limited numbers of discs per month; unlimited numbers; one disc at a time; multiple discs at a time) but none of them say games or no games. It won't tell me about my subscription type and says I have email customer service. I can only hope this is because you get two weeks free trial when you first sign up, so maybe we don't have all the features of a full account. Hopefully after two weeks we'll have full access.
The annoying thing is that I was intending just to rent videos. it was only when I saw they had games that I got excited about that. Now it's just annoying me. If they never mentioned games in the first place, I wouldn't be bothered.

Movie Rental Dilema

2009-05-16T10:10:46Z

Our local video store closed down a while back, and short of driving across town to expensive Blockbusters we have to way to renting movies.
We have been checking out those mail-order services where you get dics in the post and then mail them back when you're done. Lovefilm is the one my old housemate had, and worked quite well. (I am also reassured about their coverage, as I put in an obscure old Dr Who as a test run and found that plus loads of others, as well as an even more obscure TV drama I saw in my teens. Ooh, they also has computer games of many formats)
Does anyone have an opinion on them? Or does anyone have any alternative providers to recommend?

Thanks

This may be asking for trouble...

2009-05-13T22:45:14Z

Have signed up for a week at work teaching new people to use our computer system. The fun bit is, it's the Monday after next Maelstrom, so I may end up over 100 miles away from home with a fetching woodgrain effect in Snazz residue...

Possessed PC

2009-05-12T23:33:59Z

My computer is being dodgy. Occasionally it just announces (almost proudly) that my firewall is turned off. Whenever I go into the settings, the damned thing turns itself on again in front of me (without me doing anything).
I have scanned using AVG, Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy and can not find anything more sinister than the occasional tracking cookie.
I can find other people, generally on tech-support type forums, complaining about the same thing, but with no concrete solution.
I wonder if I should just install another firewall (it's the Windows XP built in one causing trouble) and forget about it, as I don't seem to be getting anywhere. Obviously it's a bit worrying as I don't know if there's something on my computer messing with things...

Moot Photos

2009-05-05T22:05:00Z

Moot photos are now up on my Facebook gallery (visible only to friends at the mo).
For those sans Facebook login, the Lions related ones can be viewed on the Lions group I think without needing to log in.
As per usual, if anyone wants anything removed, let me know. If anyone wants anything is higher res, let me know. Everyone's free to do what they like with any of my pics as long as they don't actively impersonate me or make shed-loads of money off me (though if there's a way of making shed-loads of money off my photos, I would like to be informed...)

H P Lovehearts

2009-04-22T20:24:11Z

fatkraken just had the best idea:

H P Lovehearts: