Just in case those of you in the US thought your politicians had cornered the market in spouting nonsense in their campaigning against gay marriage, one of ours has apparently decided that it opens the door to bigamy and child marriage...
Discovered while leafing through a copy of Web User, a free website which analyses a chunk of text (ideally 200+ words) and reports back on various technical aspects of your writing:
A recently arrested chap in Thailand gives a whole new meaning to the term "Panty thief". How about a collection of 10,000 pairs of women's underwear?!
He's been convicted of breaking and entering but not theft, as (perhaps unsurprisingly) nobody's reported their undies disappearing...
Back in the early days of The DarkRealms Universe (when we'd only been introduced to a couple of vampires), I sensed that it had the potential to expand and introduce us to Lots of Characters. So, rather than attempting to write a story (which knowing my writing speed you'd probably see sometime never!), I decided to create a Wiki to hold information on the people, places and events connected with Ravencrest.
As ever with Lulu, any excuse to put on an offer... :)
This time, there'll be a different offer each day for the next eight days (it's day four today, they didn't send an email for the previous days). As this set of offers started on 14th, which was also when the previous offer ended, it's likely there'll be a new year sale when this one ends...
If you've followed my occasional ramblings over the past couple of years, you may remember I once embarked on the foolish quest to compose a spreadsheet containing summaries of all the "Bike" episodes, together with some other relevant background information.
PS and I worked together to get the first 1,000 done, then I largely took over until the 1280s whereby my life got busier and I fell behind.
YouTube themselves are helping this interesting dance sequence (titled Miracle on 42nd Street) go viral, and it is getting a lot of attention.
I wonder if any of the males on "Strictly Come Dancing" or "Dancing with the Stars" would be brave enough to follow in the footsteps of Zac Hammer here... :)
Apparently allowing women to drive would increase prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce.
Yes, we're talking Saudi Arabia, and one particularly loopy academic (Kamal Subhi) who's submitted that description as part of a report to the country's legislative assembly, the Shura, in an attempt to get it to drop plans to reconsider the ban on women drivers.
You can read more about this rather strange report over at BBC News. Further evidence it's a mad world out there.
This has to be one of the most bizarre cases I've ever read. Boyfriend didn't want children so used condoms. Girlfriend did so saved the sperm they contained, cryogenically preserved them, then at a later date defrosted the little wrigglers and had twins via IVF. Unsurprisingly, when the ex-boyfriend found out, he wasn't exactly pleased...
This popped up in my Twitter feed today: Juliet Jacques in the New Statesman examines My Transsexual Summer, while also taking an opportunity to comment on media coverage in general of those on the transgender spectrum. The article also links to several other reviews of the series so far.
Those of you who've been here a few years may remember a devilishly difficult Christmas tune acronym quiz I've run over the past few years.
As it's still November, I thought I'd share with you the answer sheet - so allowing you plenty of opportunities to download it, abridge it and save a copy with the answers removed to try out on your friends / family / neighbours / colleagues etc.
Seen on Richard Wiseman's blog. If you have had a sense of humour bypass or hate carefully arranged images with a passion, don't read any further.
For those of you remaining, this might tickle the cyclists among you. The photographer was presumably commissioned to produce a photograph featuring a (fully clothed!) couple posing in front of a bicycle.
Then the photographer got inspired - while the models were probably completely unaware of the rather 'interesting' framing...
I'm currently writing a story consisting of a mash-up of several fairy tales, with the obligatory TG twist. Courtesy of death threats made shortly after birth, the protagonist (currently about 6 years old) is prohibited from leaving the (small) castle where (s)he lives. However, at some point before the teenage years start, she will need to leave the castle so various assassination attempts (all of which will, of course, be unsuccessful) can take place.
Here's an alternative bit of waffle about the GabyCon - this time from my perspective :)
Having attended my first GabyCon last year and enjoyed it so much, I readily signed up to this year's. Despite not having ridden (rode?) a bicycle for the best part of 16 years (since going to uni), I was brave / foolish enough to volunteer to take part in this year's bicycle ride. But more on that later.
Imagine you're visiting a coastal town on holiday. This town has a working harbour, so you decide to have a walk along the quay. Now, what would you expect to find on the quayside? Fish, perhaps? This tourist apparently didn't think so...
I would advise you stay away from the comments though - there's some troll feeding going on (one commenter equating feminism and lesbianism with satanism. Oh dear...)
Spotted in a comment by edinjapan to Chicago Water Torture 2 - a story about a group of cosplayers who portray gender-reversed Justice League members.
"One night, we were all hanging out and I said how funny it would be if we had a whole Justice League with swapped sexes."
(one member of the group: Tallest Silver)
Doesn't time fly? I apparently first signed up to BCTS on 24th July 2009.
Looking back through "Track", my first 66 comments (including several on the first day!) were all in response to a single story (albeit different chapters!).
1 year 48 weeks ago I posted my first blog entries and found some other stories to comment on.
1 year 33 weeks ago saw me inflicting you with my Christmas Tunes Acronym Quiz (did I ever give out the answers link?)
1 year 26 weeks ago saw my first two stories arrive.
The variety of odd and slightly suspect (pseudo-?) scientific research that wiggles its way into the pages of the media never ceases to amaze me.
The following link is courtesy of one of my Facebook contacts, who lives North of the border...
An agony aunt and broadcaster has hit out at romantic novels for the impact they have on women’s sexual health. In a paper entitled: “He seized her in his manly arms and bent his lips to hers”, Susan Quilliam argues that the “rose-tinted” view of relationships in the likes of Mills and Boon publications makes itself felt in the problems which women bring to the consulting room.
Could someone remind me which century we're living in?
"Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall has spent the past year working on an epic opera starring 300 schoolchildren. Now his backers have pulled out, in a bitter row over a character's sexuality."
Checks can be made out & sent to:
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Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
