Xtro

I know where you're coming from - sort of. Recent live event with Felix Baumgartner jumping off the balloon platform - vicarious jumping experience - made me realise I wouldn't have any point of reference for 'fear' to be generated, and that I would probably relish the experience of dropping that far, that fast. Yeah, I know, weird... You could always do a Dark Star, and surf back down...

Ha! You gonna stick a toe in water that's got this in it?

I think what you're describing is Faction - a blend of fact and fiction - so should be perfectly okay

"Curiouser and curiouser" said Alice to the White Rabbit. What sort of rig are you running? At the moment this is Ubuntu 12.04 + Firefox - and that opens the chat session okay. Not one for the chat side - like Twitter - why say 140 characters, when you can go on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on.....

Now I'm even more confused in regard to all of this. First entry I see from Kobi was 30th September. I reply in same forum slot on 2nd October. I wait until 6th October then PM. Get a reply on 8th October stating the project is still on, send a CV. I PM rough CV in regard to writing credits (spanning from 1979 - 2012) and wait for a reply. 16th October I put out another PM asking if this project is still live. Nothing back from that at all. Today, 20th, I get to see this forum thread - and also get to see for the first time the link to the writing in question. You cannot get to it any other way other than via that link - there is nothing on the website to lead you to it. That link states that the text will be used as part of a commercial ebook, with a planned for release date of 25th October. Apart from the fact that I have no idea what so ever as to whether or not Kobi wants me to collaborate on the writing project, I still have little or no idea of what he actually wants in the first place. Even following the link does not tell me approximate word length (the text itself has various 'notes' within it, but it jumps in tense from past-retrospective, past-modern and present sometimes within the length of a paragraph - so I have no idea if this is intentional, or just a disregard of writing convention.) And this is before any mention of collaboration agreements - or commercial contracts have been agreed on. From the website, the work stands at around 3,000 words (including note elements) - but with no idea of what the upper limit is, it isn't feasible for me to start re-working/re-writing totally blind, in the hope I get it right the first time, especially as the deadline is less than 4 days away, and I have had absolutely no communication from Kobi since 8th October. At the moment I'm involved with 3 anthologies from XCite (Bad Boys, Dead Sexy, and the up-coming Boys in Bed) and a major launch from M-I Press (Mansized vol 1 - a 12-short anthology, with 4 spin-off collections) I'm also trying to finalise a deal on a novel (1st of the Harry Rimes series) and also bring up another completed MS to a marketable standard. Given that I finally have some idea of the deadline - and given the lack of any communication (or even any indication that I am actually the person Kobi wants to bring into this) then I am sorry, but I am going to have to walk away from it. If anyone else wants to take it on, then fine.

Dropped several PMs, was waiting for a reply. Saw the pictures, but found no text first time round. Will use the link above and see where it takes me.

Hi Hayden. Also wasn't sure about the sketchy comment - but 'prolly'?? I thought Polari had died out back in the 1960s (when I was knee high to a grasshopper's) http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/paulb/polari/home.htm

Hi Hayden - If in doubt, just shout and someone will answer. Really friendly bunch of people in here. well, except for (ah, hush my mouth!)

"Werewolf? There wolf!" (the late Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein) The modern Batman has been a strange beast - certainly from a graphic novel viewpoint. For me, it was Bantam reprinting Doc Savage & The Shadow (along with The Spider - UK-based weekly 'kids' comic back in 1965) - and later The Shadow from the 1987/1988 sadly much maligned DC revival. For some idea of The Spider - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_%28British_comics%29

Charmed was the TV show which seemed to work best with Angels & Demons swapping roles, I think. Was never a Buffy the Vampire Slapper fan - Twilight, as I understand it, has Vampires that can move around in sunlight - apparently they 'sparkle' (I will sit through most things in the name of Love and my Best Beloved has certainly used that to his advantage on many occasions - one more freaking Shirley Bassey concert and I will not be held responsible for my psychotic reaction ) I think with Buffy it was more a case of the progression of the character herself - Twilight seems to be something of a new genre - there again, I also remember Tanya Huff writing material, and there was the BBC show Being Human which had an exceptionally good pilot, but got stalled for three or four years before they green lighted it. If you like 1930s NOIR, then if you haven't read it already, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a good starting point - Travis McGee novels & the Lew Archer material from Ross MacDonald

The first sewing machine I learned on was my mother's - three-quarter horsepower electric motor, around 2,000 stitches a minute - it was an industrial thug, but she was a seamstress. Hence learning to knit, crochet, hand sew, etc. Used to make tidy money in the RN when it came to repairing dress uniforms and the like. It's second nature to me, like sorting out general household stuff, DIY, etc. Like you say, you do what you have to when you're out in the wilds - and at 7 years old the family moved into the wilds of Suffolk for over 40 years...

A lot also depends on what is labelled 'hero'. Go backwards in time and read Jim Thompson (underrated American NOIR novelist) - one of the first, along with David Geddis, Paul Cain, etc, to bring stories to market which involved 'anti-hero' types. In their day, that meant work like The Grifters, Don't Shoot The Piano Player (etc) - other genres had similar - Vonegut, Sladek, in SF, for example. However, and I should point out here that I am NOT a fan, part of the success of the Twilight material is because there has been a re-defining of Vampire, away from Hollywood/RKO and created it, sadly, without acknowledgement to Mick Farren's work in the 1980s & 1990s. Hero isn't synonymous with Super, or Good for that matter - it is some character whom you care for within your chosen suspension of disbelief.

Breakdown on the Galactic Highway The man on the bar TV Says “Wheatballs!” I look at the alien beside me It looks back at me We both know the danger of breakfast cereals I get us another round of beers And sip the top off mine It slips a ‘finger’ into its glass And chugs down half in one go I figure, with the engine bust up the way it is And spares not due Until the next meteor shower We could both do with a rest From covert blockade running The man on the bar TV Says “Fruity

Various pieces of verse

I suspect there is confusion between Beauty, Attractive, and Hansom. Whereas Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and given the chance some would probably hold anything they could get their hands on) Attractiveness is something other than Beauty. It can be the way someone smiles, or talks, or drinks coffee (or doesn't steal the duvet when it's 3 am in the morning and its -6 degrees and... ahem, sorry...) Hansom is something which has, by majority, been seen/upheld as The Look of the Moment (Jean Paul Gaultier adverts are hansom, but not beautiful or attractive - to me, at least. well, one looks a little too slutty for his own good.) As for pictures - www.haskinsmaleart.com (shameless plug - we're using two of his pieces for covers to our short story anthologies.)

Hey, my mother came from Norton-le-Clay by the moors. She was born in 1920, so we have a pretty good idea as to what it can be like, even in the 1970s. Don't get cold - and don't go to sleep cold either. Sometimes the nights up your way can get cold enough to freeze the nipple rings off a teen queen - and I, for one, don't want to read about you from a clipping of a local newspaper. Maybe, instead of electrical, look at LPG - for one, it's designed to be contained outside - most gas appliances need little (or no) modification, and you can (with respect and a little know-how) treat it like plumbing when it comes to extending the feeds (though remember to use regulators and flow-cutoffs for the safety they provide.) Just don't get cold, okay? Love & Hugz!

Andy, I never laugh at people who help others - especially those in the medical profession. I lost one partner and both my parents to cancer - you have my admiration and respect (even though the is mine! )

Falling is up there, however... I also have a phobia about dental injections. I don't mind the dentist going in without any anesthetic - and if it gets really bad then he'll shoot me up with some stuff - I just don't like having part of my mouth numb. Yeah, I know, I should be locked up with the rest of the psychos, but you had ta ask, didn't'cha! BTW Nothing wrong with snakes - they taste like chicken

From my time studying with the OU back in the early 1990s (no on-line stuff, though you could word process your assignments, provided the ribbon in your dot matrix printer was still good for ink) you should have a pretty good time of it. Not sure if they still do Summer School as a requirement, but if so then you might also find it useful to go for a week - though the Student's Union used to jack their bar prices up something terrible when the OU were on campus (Uni of East Anglia in Norwich - the land of the six fingers and web toes!)

Depends if you mean Gay or just Effeminate - Jodie was gay, but was the first to be put into a more positive light, rather than, say John Inman (as Mr. Wilberforce Claybourne Humphries back in 1972) who was camp, but in a comedy role, rather than an actual gay role itself.

Ditto! ("Ditto? Ditto, you provincial putz!?" Hedly Lamarr - Blazing Saddles)

Syndol was available here in the UK until last February when, for some reason, it was withdrawn without explanation. A lot of people used it properly, for rare use, and had no problems with it. Was sold in chemist shops over the counter, though with some verbal checks in regard to intended use. One of the few things which stopped a lot of my migraines dead with only one tablet, rather than the box I get from my GP.

I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman by Whistling Jack Smith - find it here on YouTube

TV doesn't really do much for me in this respect. However... While the other half had a thing for Desperate Housewives, I could sit through most of it waiting for Mike Delfino (aka actor James Denton) to appear. Okay, while I'm off having a cold shower...

Okay, first off, congratulations on going cold turkey with the cigarettes - did it myself, same way, ten years ago, it's not easy, so hang in there. This is not a symptom of nicotine starvation which I experienced, *however*, everyone reacts differently. If you have such a thing over there (I'm in the UK) then try and find something like Syndol - a migraine tablet which had an anti-histamine and caffeine, which worked as a muscle relaxant. Next, check for Repetitive Strain - ie, are you sitting in an awkward position, have you been too long at the computer keyboard/Xbox/PS2/whatever? From what you say, it could be something like that - ie, muscular - similar to a frozen shoulder in some respects. How long ago did you stop sleeping on the crappy couch - and are you now sleeping on something more comfortable? Bad neck support can give you similar problems to RSI above, so anything you can do to improve your sleeping posture & conditions may well help. This is going to sound stupid, but also try and de-stress as much as you can - stress - tension - pain. It's a nasty little circle. And lastly - as Gene Splicer says - if this has been happening for more than a couple of days, then get down to a walk-in, or ER (or whatever is available where you are) and talk to them. They might be busy, so wait - and again, try and de-stress, even though this is an obviously stressful time for you. Ultimately they are there to help you, and you have a right to use them.