Non-TG

Raven's Blood: Chapter 10

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 10: Revelations

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 9

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 9: Flying

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 8

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 8: Family Secrets

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 7

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 7: A Valkyrie, a Vampire, and an Ogre walk into a bar...

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 6

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 6: Home

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 5

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 5: Testing

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 4

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 4: Changes

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 3

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 3: Revelations

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 2

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 
 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 2: Falling

By
Amethyst

Raven's Blood: Chapter 1

Raven.png
Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

 
 

Raven's Blood
Chapter 1: Leaving the Nest

By
Amethyst

Anyone with a really good ear?...

Sorry everyone, but this song is driving me CRAZY! It came to me this morning as I sat at my keyboard (the music keyboard that is :-)). It just sort of rolled off my hands, but once I started trying to record, it took me another hour to get it to come out right.

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Interesting people in Tudor England.

People have always managed to kill or injure themselves in inventive ways, even if the invention was unintended. The link to the attached article on the BBC website gives a few examples from Tudor England - including someone who shot himself in the head with a longbow; someone who was indirectly killed by a maypole and someone who died after their testicles were crushed during 'Christenmas games,' bet that hurt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13762313

Angharad.

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Les Miserables - 25th anniversary tour

I know this has nothing to do with tg topics, but I wanted to share this any way.

Last Wed night, my parents, my wife, my son and I went to see the new production of Les Miserables, it is currently at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ thru this next week, and then continuing on tour thru the US. I believe the next stop is in Philadelphia.

My son had come to enjoy the music from the 10th anniversary concert, but had never had the opportunity to see the show, he was enthralled, it was great to share this with him.

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A love story number 2

Since some of you liked the other 500 word story I wrote for a local radio competition I suppose I may as well post the second one (the competition allowed 2 entries per person). This isn't a tear jerker but may raise a wry smile.

Love in the slow lane

John self-consciously fingered the red carnation in the buttonhole of his sports jacket. He wasn’t used to it, not sports jackets nor buttonholes nor the flowers that go in them. He searched the tables in the Motorway café. Then he saw her sitting alone reading The Spectator, and walked nervously over.

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UK Street View update - 96% roads covered.

Completely off-topic, but it may be of interest to Anglophiles...

Google have released a giant update to the UK street view coverage (the panoramic photos taken from Opal Astras with funky camera gear on top), taking it from a few major cities and patchy coverage elsewhere, to (they claim) 96% of UK roads.

Here's a few highlights, (inevitably) from Land's End to John O'Groats, plus a few extra locations thrown in for good measure.

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New (dodgy) gender differences research

Men's genes 'may limit lifespan'
Men carry the seeds of their own destruction in the genes present in their sperm, research suggests. Scientists working on mice have highlighted a specific gene that, although carried by both sexes, appears to be active only in males. They believe it allows males to grow bigger bodies - but at the expense of their longevity. The study, by Tokyo University of Agriculture, appears in the journal Human Reproduction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8390055.stm

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Unusual reason to miss work...

For the first time in 15 years, David Dimbleby, presenter of Question Time, has had to miss recording an episode.

Here's the slightly unsual reason why: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8356943.stm

Then again, the programme itself once featured an unusual guest: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/8131264.stm

And on hearing the story, I couldn't help but think of the ultimate (fictional - I hope!) sick note (which also serves as a "Don't try this at home!" physics demonstration): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWeXpNyqOrU

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Fireworks

Here's a bit of shameless self-promotion - my online photo gallery of Kenilworth's fireworks do (held a few hours ago). It's one of the most popular in the region, typically attracting >10,000 people for the half hour display. The approach roads to the castle are closed off to aid in herding people to/from the site.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mittfh/KenilworthFireworks2009#

And for comparison, last year's lot:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mittfh/KenilworthFireworks2008#

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How NOT to drive a forklift...

Could this be used as a perfect example of "Having a bad day"?
This accident happens in a warehouse in Moscow filled with glass bottles of vodka and cognac...The driver apparently escaped with minor injuries to one of his legs, but the accident apparently cost the owners of the warehouse around  £60,000.

http://tr.im/EeHt ( Discovered via the Radio 4 PM Blog entry here: http://tr.im/EgoL )

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November 5th

Exactly 404 years ago, a soldier and explosives expert attempted one of the most audacious terrorist plots ever.

His plan was to destroy the UK's House of Lords during State Opening, during which the building would contain the entire parliament and the King. As we all know, various events conspired to disrupt the plan and arrest Guy before he lit the fuse.

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Arachnophobes beware!

Arachnophobes beware! Apparently there are going to be a lot of our 8 legged friends around this autumn (well, in the UK at least)!

Conservationists say there could be more spiders and daddy longlegs than usual this autumn because of favourable breeding conditions. Researchers at insect charity, Buglife, said last year's wet autumn meant the larvae of daddy longlegs had plenty of decaying plant matter to eat. Experts also said this year's temperate summer had been good for spiders.

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Assumptions and questions

I was watching one of my favourite series again - CSI Las Vegas. At the end Gil Grissom said something very important I think.
'Men assume, they don't ask about the why. ... It took five people to murder one person, but if only one had asked why he did what he was doing, why he felt unwell, he might have been still alive.'

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Taoist Funeral

Last week I participated in a funeral in the Taoist tradition in Hong Kong. While funerals are not most peoples' preferred activity the older you get the more of them you witness.

The Chinese experience is so different I thought I'd share it. Firstly, Taoism is the traditional religion of China with multiple gods and "saints". The terms don't translate exactly, so I'll approximate.

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