(no subject)
So, I got "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies" in HMV today. It's interesting. Quite readable, although not having read any Austin (I tried reading Emma, gave up because it was going to be studied ad nauseum for my Leaving Cert, then found out that my Leaving Cert class wasn't doing that novel), I don't know if there is that same sense of readability to the original, but having listened to a Toastmaster do an interpretive reading of a chapter from the original, I suspect it was there to begin with.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."
In other news, only managed to skate once this week, but it was along by Clontarf. Speaking of which, skaters. They kinda rock. They are possibly, as a group, some of the healthiest, most down-to-earth people. When I say healthy, it's in a physical (not all of them are ultra-fit (some are), but they're no slouches) and mental capacity. While I am quite proud of the circles I "grew up" in, or my Families (I love that term for certain groups - far more apt than 'community'), most of those Families aren't heralded for their sanity; you have more than your common share of "Crazy Cousin Lynda", and "Nazi-Powerlunching Uncle Paddy" (not the trans family, for once).
I guess it's partly to do with the fact skating forces you to use, be in, and ultimately (if you're to be any good), be comfortable in your body. It forces you to ground right in. The pagan Family can be quite stable, but sometimes they just lose the run of themselves and go a bit batshit.
At any rate, the Pitch&Putt on Monday was good. I was surprised at myself; I haven't played since the Punt was still the Irish national currency, yet still, I managed (after some false starts on the first two holes) to tee off quite nicely. It was just the rest that sucked.
In case you haven't guessed by now, I've wandered off into a slight stream of consciousness, and thinking about the day out, and the night in the pub before (which inspired me to go), these guys have a better hacker attitude than most hackers I know.
These guys tend to go with the attitude of "you're not doing this right, so let me help you", or "Here, I found something really cool, let me show you" - there's a certain freedom of knowledge, and kickstarts towards your own experimentation that I've only seen the hacker community aspire to (I know some people, personally, that would fit this category (although may not identify with hacker) that do that, BUT my experience of hacker and open source communities doesn't really fit that). Even playing darts in the pub that Sunday, people gave me advice because it was one of my first times playing, but they gave it in exactly the same tone as skating advice. Most of all, they seem to do it so that you can actually enjoy what you're doing.
Now, comparing that to some of the Families, of which there are many, there isn't that same feel. There's either a caste-like structure of knowledge - where if you don't know how to do something, you're not going to be told - or they'll give advice more for the sound of their own voice than anything else. Both tend to be a bit, ummm... bitchy. These guys, I haven't noticed anything like that.
Also, they seem cool with the trans thing. I haven't bothered explaining, but given that I don't particularly try to do anything vocally, coupled with my dome of chrome, it's not a huge leap in anyone's head. However, I've not had hassle.
Overall, I like this skating cult - I want to keep skating so I can hang around with these people more.
In other news - I was listening to the Golden Age of the Grotesque by Marilyn Manson. I think I'm going a wee bit crazy. Listening to Doll-dagga Buzz Buzz Ziggity Zag - which is a pretty interesting song, kinda like swing metal. At any rate, listening to it, I thought I'd realised why they accused him of being a Neo-Nazi - in the chorus I heard "All the Third Reich kids are playing". It turns out it was "Thug Rock". So yeah, my mind doesn't always see/hear what everyone else does all of the time, so it shouldn't come as a shock to me, and I wouldn't put it past him to make it ambiguous, but I think I could easily become the biggest submitter to a misheard lyrics site. Still, it's a very fun song - the only problem is that I sometimes want to sing it, but the words burned into my head are the ones I misheard, not the real ones; however inappropriate it would be to sing the real version in work, this one is doubly so.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."
In other news, only managed to skate once this week, but it was along by Clontarf. Speaking of which, skaters. They kinda rock. They are possibly, as a group, some of the healthiest, most down-to-earth people. When I say healthy, it's in a physical (not all of them are ultra-fit (some are), but they're no slouches) and mental capacity. While I am quite proud of the circles I "grew up" in, or my Families (I love that term for certain groups - far more apt than 'community'), most of those Families aren't heralded for their sanity; you have more than your common share of "Crazy Cousin Lynda", and "Nazi-Powerlunching Uncle Paddy" (not the trans family, for once).
I guess it's partly to do with the fact skating forces you to use, be in, and ultimately (if you're to be any good), be comfortable in your body. It forces you to ground right in. The pagan Family can be quite stable, but sometimes they just lose the run of themselves and go a bit batshit.
At any rate, the Pitch&Putt on Monday was good. I was surprised at myself; I haven't played since the Punt was still the Irish national currency, yet still, I managed (after some false starts on the first two holes) to tee off quite nicely. It was just the rest that sucked.
In case you haven't guessed by now, I've wandered off into a slight stream of consciousness, and thinking about the day out, and the night in the pub before (which inspired me to go), these guys have a better hacker attitude than most hackers I know.
These guys tend to go with the attitude of "you're not doing this right, so let me help you", or "Here, I found something really cool, let me show you" - there's a certain freedom of knowledge, and kickstarts towards your own experimentation that I've only seen the hacker community aspire to (I know some people, personally, that would fit this category (although may not identify with hacker) that do that, BUT my experience of hacker and open source communities doesn't really fit that). Even playing darts in the pub that Sunday, people gave me advice because it was one of my first times playing, but they gave it in exactly the same tone as skating advice. Most of all, they seem to do it so that you can actually enjoy what you're doing.
Now, comparing that to some of the Families, of which there are many, there isn't that same feel. There's either a caste-like structure of knowledge - where if you don't know how to do something, you're not going to be told - or they'll give advice more for the sound of their own voice than anything else. Both tend to be a bit, ummm... bitchy. These guys, I haven't noticed anything like that.
Also, they seem cool with the trans thing. I haven't bothered explaining, but given that I don't particularly try to do anything vocally, coupled with my dome of chrome, it's not a huge leap in anyone's head. However, I've not had hassle.
Overall, I like this skating cult - I want to keep skating so I can hang around with these people more.
In other news - I was listening to the Golden Age of the Grotesque by Marilyn Manson. I think I'm going a wee bit crazy. Listening to Doll-dagga Buzz Buzz Ziggity Zag - which is a pretty interesting song, kinda like swing metal. At any rate, listening to it, I thought I'd realised why they accused him of being a Neo-Nazi - in the chorus I heard "All the Third Reich kids are playing". It turns out it was "Thug Rock". So yeah, my mind doesn't always see/hear what everyone else does all of the time, so it shouldn't come as a shock to me, and I wouldn't put it past him to make it ambiguous, but I think I could easily become the biggest submitter to a misheard lyrics site. Still, it's a very fun song - the only problem is that I sometimes want to sing it, but the words burned into my head are the ones I misheard, not the real ones; however inappropriate it would be to sing the real version in work, this one is doubly so.