damerell

Anyone who wants to ask me 5 questions can. I might decline to answer, though. :-)

I had my wisdom teeth out a week and a half ago - so fear my new bigger mouth. At least as soon as it's working properly. I had what are called dry sockets and had to have them packed with vile-tasting goo...

Did I mention that I'm likely to be crap at supplying questions in return? Well, I am. I might do them all in one batch some evening.

1. So where did the fascination with anime start?

Oxford.

Less pedantically, I suppose it was late '95 or early '96, since I was dating Eleanor at the time. Chris Joseph showed us _Bubblegum Crisis_, and I was hooked after about five minutes.

2. Does a shy and exotic creature lurk beneath the autocratic exterior?

Not as far as I know.

3. How *are* you and Weds these days? Long time no wossname.

Pretty good - vaguely broke, but only because we spend all our money on geek toys. We're certainly still pretty firmly stuck together.

4. If you could talk to yourself as a child, would you recommend the
career you have now?

Well, I was pretty keen on computers from about age 13 or so, so I wouldn't take much persuading - but, sure. It pays well and I enjoy it - a lot of people have to pick one or the other.

5. Describe the one best example you have ever encountered of the
futility of modern life.

I don't in general think of modern life as futile, certainly compared to the short lives and subsistence existence endured by the vast majority of humanity - both historically and outside the West.

I suppose the farce of democracy is pretty frustrating - we send one bit to the Government every 5 years, and then they do the same thing anyway.

1. Are you listening?

Not at all.

2. Can you just hold on to this tape for a second?

No, my hands are full.

3. OK, can you just pass me that bag?

Sure. It's heavy, though, with fifty-eight soldier corpses, 50 potions of holy water, 32 K-rations, and a partridge in a pair of pants.

4. Do you think William Godwin is an actual forerunner of modern (20th
century) anarchist movements, or do his writings more accurately reflect
a facet of religious communalism as supposedly typified by the early
Christians? Discuss.

I think that Godwin argued that government is a corrupting force in society, perpetuating dependence and ignorance, but that it will be rendered increasingly unnecessary and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge. Politics will be displaced by an enlarged personal morality as truth conquers error and mind subordinates matter. In this development the rigorous exercise of private judgment, and its candid expression in public discussion, plays a central role, motivating his rejection of a wide range of co- operative and rule-governed practices which he regards as tending to mental enslavement, such as law, private property, marriage and concerts. Epitomising the optimism of events in France at the time he began writing, Godwin looked forward to a period in which the dominance of mind over matter would be so complete that mental perfectibility would take a physical form, allowing us to control illness and ageing and become immortal.

5. What the hell is up with you people?

We can't answer any question without reference to Google.

Why not put things in the dishwasher when it's empty and open, then?

They don't like it in there, it's scary and dark.

Or put the bottles in the recycling bin, rather than leaving them on the
desk?

Empty beer bottles remind me of how tasty the beer was.

Where do you think Nazo-Gema is from?

Charat Planet - ie, Hell. :-)

Why don't you post more to the Gemablog?

I *cough* forgot my password.

Do you want anything from the store?

Sandwich ham.

Today. I dig - well, y'know.