Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by fellranger » Thu Aug 23, 2012 4:52 pm

Don't replace it with a Zanussi. Unless you want a free firework show after a few months...
There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning....
And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave....
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

Hunter S. Thompson Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by archonix » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:04 pm

Just in time for bonfire night!
Our choicest plans have fallen through, our airiest castles tumbled over, because of lines we neatly drew and later neatly stumbled over.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by c_nordlander » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:01 pm

Oh man... that sucks.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by c_nordlander » Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:51 pm

My computer has a bug...

Literally.

I just spotted this very tiny insect crawling about on my monitor, so I tried to scrape it off with a piece of paper. Upon which I realised that it was actually *inside* the monitor, in front of the backlight. As you can imagine, I was pretty surprised.

It's currently crawling about over the URL.
Pretty little baby
Pretty little monster
Went to the good school
Left with honours
Brand new tycoon
Sitting with a harpoon


-- Mother Mother, "Business Man"

Now offering writing commissions! Fanfiction or original, PM me for more information.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by SirMustapha » Sun Sep 23, 2012 4:54 pm

It must be bugging the hell out of you! *ta-dum, psshh!*
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by fellranger » Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:05 pm

Heh! Living screensaver... See if you can train it to follow the mouse pointer. :)
There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning....
And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave....
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

Hunter S. Thompson Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by kaspired » Wed Sep 26, 2012 4:38 am

You guys gotta see this video... http://youtu.be/XoMN-zg7r3M

A father son team sent a toy train into the stratosphere on a weather balloon. He happens to be a graphics guy so suddenly the toy has expressions and reacts to events and views.
if you panic you freeze, if you freeze you crash.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by Gulliver63 » Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:36 pm

That view is amazing...being a pilot, I was always hooked on that view from high up. Being a father, I'm glad the kiddo got his train back.
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Something like "PFFFFTTTHHHH-- PLOP"

Post by SirMustapha » Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:39 am

So the mayor decides that something can only be art and culture if you pay 50 bucks to watch it, not if it's done on the streets.

Also, the mayor is convinced that the city is inhabited by cars, not people.

There is this plaza at the very centre (historical, not geographical) of the city. It's a place full of history and tradition, and one of the few places in the city where you could really walk without bumping into cars and other crap (well, you'd probably bump into other people, but that's not a problem), and people could show their art, their culture, and do many other things.

The mayor decides this is bad, so he turns the plaza into a big, hellish parking lot. No kidding. You can't even walk on that thing. Occasionally, some big fair would be held there, and people would be very upset because they'd have to find somewhere else to park huge pile of tin.

But that wasn't enough. Said mayor decides that, in order for people to do anything other than walk and park their cars on that plaza, they'd have to "ask permission". So, if you simply want to put your tiny little amplifier on the floor and play some of your Chilean aboriginal music crossed with electronic New Age on your bamboo woodwinds, you have to "ask permission" to some grumpy, malignant fellow who thinks you should be driving your car instead.

All that is a plan to "revitalize" the city centre, which has truly become an utterly rotten, ugly place in the last years. And, of course, what is the best way for the Mayor to fix the city? Hand it over to Coca-Cola, of course.

So now that the Mayor has kicked out the people from the plaza, Coca-Cola is free to install a huge inflatable rubber mascot armadillo to promote the 2014 World Cup. With a Coca-Cola logo on the chest. And, somehow, they decide that it is "public property".

Public property with a Coca-Cola logo. The Mayor thinks this is very good.

If you think this is an isolated case of people being replaced with cars and publicity, you're incorrect. This has become a trend in the current administration. So a group of people and artists decide to make a public, pacific protest in front of the town hall against the privatization of public spaces. Since it was organized via Facebook, the police was quick to deploy a group of policemen to oversee the protest...

... and 19 policemen and 5 police cars to protect the inflatable armadillo.

No, people, they weren't there to keep the law and order: they were there to defend the armadillo.

So, the protest decides to go over to the armadillo and dance around it, in protest. The police allows that.

Then, half a dozen people jump over the steel fence to attack the armadillo. The police only watches that.

Then, said people start taking down the armadillo. And the police started beating the crap out of everyone. Yes, everyone, including reporters and photographers. All hell breaks loose, with rubber bullets and tear gas flying everywhere. The armadillo slowly collapses and performs a magnificent faceplant, and the police happily plays Whack-A-Civilian.

So, your city is relentlessly prostituted by the mayor, the police and a soft-drink company; your space in the city is constantly sold out and turned into advertising; and people are being shot and killed in broad daylight by bandits and robbers because the police is nowhere to be found. What do you have to say about that?

a) You celebrate the fact that people, at last, have done something and showed their disgust at the current administration, and get pissed off at the display of hatred and arrogance by the police;
b) You cynically dismiss the act as a silly stunt, because you know that it will change nothing, the armadillo will be rebuilt and things will remain exactly the same for at least the next 4 years;
c) You congratulate the police for "keeping the order" and fighting the "vandals", and you dutifully vote to reelect the mayor.

If you answered c, congratulations! You are now officially apt to live in Brazil.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by fellranger » Mon Oct 08, 2012 6:02 pm

It seems a fairly bizarre move to me, the trend over here is very much towards "pedestrianisation" (which also has its good and bad points I suppose) but I dare say the administration were too busy thinking about the prospective pile of cash to worry. I have long taken a fairly dim view of local government, they're generally a little more subtle over here (generally...) but the mentality is the same. I hope Coke are paying them enough to cover a 24 hour guard on that armadillo because they may well have scored a major own goal with that one. It sounds like the damn thing is going to be the prime target for everyone they've ever pissed off in the city...
There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning....
And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave....
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

Hunter S. Thompson Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by D.B. » Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:44 am

Dear princess celestia,

Today I learned that when it is snowy, you should not assume that the 0729 train at platform 4 is the usual 0729, and hop on just as the doors are closing.

I will have a great deal of time to think about this lesson as I sit in a country station which could act as a metaphore for limbo in a low budget scifi series.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by c_nordlander » Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:59 am

Ouch.

If it's any consolation, similar things have happened to me more times than I can count...
Pretty little baby
Pretty little monster
Went to the good school
Left with honours
Brand new tycoon
Sitting with a harpoon


-- Mother Mother, "Business Man"

Now offering writing commissions! Fanfiction or original, PM me for more information.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by D.B. » Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:19 pm

There has not been a single day this week that my trains have not been screwed up and left me sitting around for hours. Not. A. Single. Day.

Let's see how tomorrow goes...
"The way to succeed is to get born at the right time and in the right place. If you can do that then you are bound to succeed. You have to be receptive and have some talent as well."
- Sydney Brenner
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by c_nordlander » Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:24 pm

Wow. All you can say, really.
Pretty little baby
Pretty little monster
Went to the good school
Left with honours
Brand new tycoon
Sitting with a harpoon


-- Mother Mother, "Business Man"

Now offering writing commissions! Fanfiction or original, PM me for more information.
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Re: Ackpth! and other onomatopoeias

Post by D.B. » Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:33 am

Oh for the love of god...

It is a bit cold. Do greater anglia trains require a warm tank + heat lamp or something? Are they tropical trains, ill suited to our climate? Can i get the RSPCT to press charges? If not what is going on?
"The way to succeed is to get born at the right time and in the right place. If you can do that then you are bound to succeed. You have to be receptive and have some talent as well."
- Sydney Brenner
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