Graeme

Just checking -- I seem to have missed the link between Living in Surreality and Blackheart. The former is a story by Shadowgod, with whom the later has no connection with (as stated by CJ above). Your wish is my command except that I'm not the one writing the story.... Very helpful, but you need to learn to read. He asked for an Aussie surfer, not a surfer with an Aussie accent.... And even Australia wouldn't grant Eric citizenship that quickly. *waits two seconds* Yes, I know we were founded as a penal colony of Britian, but we're not one now! And for the record, I like pineapple on pizza. I don't mind it on hamburgers, though I'll usually leave it off. Back to the story, though, I'm not sure how quickly the feds will get information from Blackheart's computer. It will definitely have a security and encryption system installed (he's not stupid, after all) and I suspect that they won't get anything directly. The best they would be able to do (and it would probably take a while) is to get records from whatever ISP he was using, and slowly piece together who he had been communicating with. If they are lucky, he was using the email service of his ISP and they'll have records, but I don't think it'll be that easy. He's probably using a web-based email service like hotmail, yahoo or gmail. There is the risk that someone else would be able to read them BUT it also leaves no footprint on his computer unless he wants it to (such as downloading the emails onto an encrypted disk and then deleting the internet's copy). In fact, he's probably got an array of email accounts and changes them regularly, keeping only one or two open for new customers to contact him. So, getting information from Blackheart's computer to incriminate Thaddeus is unlikely.

Thanks for the update, Luc. I hope you recover full use of your hand, though.

I saw a satirical piece once that defined porn by the ratio of boring to interesting bits. If you have to get through lots of boring bits before you find the interesting bits, then it's porn On that basis, I don't think anything here is porn.

Just for the record, blue singlets (what I believe you are referring to when you said a wife beater) are the norm amongst the working classes in Australia, not white. Umm... is this the sort of young Australian outback farmer you would prefer? The only problem is that he's already got a boyfriend.... (The picture is David Graham, one of the contestant's in last year's Australian Big Brother, a farmer from Queensland, who came out on the show).

Radio announcer: And in late news in Australia today, there has been a mad rush on both surfing lessons and flights to Hawaii. Authorities are at a loss to explain this strange behaviour.

Should we start a petition to save Blackheart? He might be a scoundrel and villian, but most of the evidence against him is hearsay from Eric and the Piedmont Sheriff. Even his own statements could be discredited -- it is quite possible that Thaddeus told him that the boys were part of a reality TV show (I know -- I've used this theme before, but it works!) and that he would pay Blackheart lots of money to "pretend" to threaten them. At the very least, I'm sure there are lots of members here that would like to ... er... interrogate Blackheart to determine for themselves if he is innocent oops... wrong emoticon This is, after all, the basis of the American legal system -- where one is judged by a group of one's peers. Alas, as an Australian, I can't be one of the ones that... er... interrogates Blackheart....

I just saw an ad: Good Charlotte are coming to Australia later this year. You can always come here to see them

Some of us are professional parents.... Wait: professional means they get paid. Okay, some of us are amateur parents.... Take care. As for the other stuff, my best friend found his boyfriend through a mutual friend. There's no harm in looking around, or having others help you look (as long as they have decent tastes....) Good luck! Graeme

Happy Birthday! Have a great day -- your birthday has already started in Australia, so kick up your heels and enjoy yourself!

Happy Birthday, Pat! I haven't seen you around a lot recently, so I hope you're well and have a great time on your birthday.

Thanks, Nick, for the multinational, multilingual post. I think anyone can understand that, no matter what language they speak Nonsense! GA was here, and successful, a long time before I showed up, and I certainly expect it to continue to be when/if I ever leave. A community like this is a living entity that changes over time as members come in and go out, leaving behind them an enriched place on the internet. Totally agree -- with the one exception of a certain goat who is fast approaching 4000 posts Thanks, Kurt Thanks, old bob! I have to admit that my writing has slowed down a bit over the last couple of months. Some of that is because I'm getting to the end of the story, and so I have to be more careful with what I write. I need to bring everything to a satisfactory conclusion (I tossed up on ending the story with the surprise exploding a nuclear device hidden by a terrorist and hence killing everyone, but I thought that was too glib....). Some of it is because my boys are becoming more active and demanding. I'm still finding time to write, but it's not as consistent as it used to be. Graeme

If that is supposed to be an accurate picture of Blackheart, then all I can ask is why do the criminals have to be so goddamn sexy?!? I think it's criminal.... Oh, and Conner... believe it or not, but I knew that a sextant has only a passing relationship to sex. There IS a relationship, though. Sailors used to use them to steer their ships across the ocean to ports where they could have lots of sex....

I hope that was a bottle of good Australian (or New Zealand) sparkling wine... since we're not allowed to call it champagne anymore. Probably not next week -- I'd have to beat even CJ's rate of over 8 posts a day to catch you in a week Thanks, Kevin! Thanks, LC! There is never any need to catch anyone. Post if you have something to say, or even if you don't The idea of a community like this is that it needs a mix of people and the more who contribute, no matter how much or how little, the richer the community becomes. 400? Ah, of course! All those "This or That?" posts before Joe stopped them counting There's nothing wrong with disagreements, and I've enjoyed the discussions we've had as a consequence of our differences of opinion. Thanks, BeaStKid! And congratulations to you, too

Thanks CJ! The cheque is in the mail... Don't worry Thanks for the congratulations. Now, about CJ's 4000 posts party -- I've got some more ideas to add to the ones already collected. Thanks, Krista! Thanks, Jack! While I have my fair share of useless posts, I like to try to contribute as much as I can. I don't see the point in being a member here and not participating -- otherwise I would've stayed as an anonymous lurker (as I was for a couple of years before I joined). My first reaction was that you were showing your age with those references, them I looked at your age and decided that UK television just shows lots of repeats Thanks, Clumber!

ROFLMAO! Of course, I suppose I should go have a look at the chapter now. Or at least in the near future. Thanks, Shadowgod for the early surprise! (If he gets the blame for everything, he should occasionally also get the credit -- at least that's how I feel). EDIT: Now that I've read the chapter... I've got a problem with one part of the chapter, but it could be a terminology problem between USA and Australian English. I thought I knew what flip-flops were -- what Australian's call thongs (a type of footwear, for all the perverts out there who were thinking something different) -- but they are impossible to run in, and this chapter has Steve and Chris running away while wearing them. Can anyone help? My other concern is one that I know isn't unreasonable -- that none of the people in the traffic the boys threaded their way through thought to ring the police when observing three people wielding weapons chasing two guys on scooters. Unfortunately, I found that realistic, if not reasonable. Thanks, Shadowgod -- it was a good chapter. (Since he announced it, I thought it must be his... )

Happy 21st Birthday! :king: :king: Happy birthday to one of my favourite authors. I have you have a great time and have a long and prosperous future ahead of you.

I've had some shocking flights, mainly due to excessive turbulence, but I've never been in fear for my life. Some landings were particularly bad, too -- either extremely heavy or coming in with the plane on an angle because of strong side winds (Welllington airport in New Zealand is notorious for this), but I've never been that afraid. Nervous, yes, but not fearful.

I didn't think this was a new area. I've always understood that some genes need to be triggered/activated before they take effect. This is the whole basis about all the reports about genetic predilection for certain cancers. The genes don't guarantee that the person will have cancer, but that they have an increased risk of getting cancer. If those genes get triggered, they'll have cancer. I suspect homosexuality will fall into this category -- the genes will be present, but need to be triggered by an environmental event. This explains why identical twins have a significantly increased probability of having the same sexual orientation (because they share the same genes) but it is not 100% (because the genes aren't triggered in both twins).

As the debate is not settled, I'm happy for some people to believe it is primarily environment -- they may prove to be right, though the weight of the evidence to date leans the other way. However, the point above needs to be commented on because it is the primary argument against homosexuality having a genetic basis. The answer is, of course, that evolution CAN favour homosexuality, if it is the byproduct of something that enhances survivability of the species as a whole. Nature is extremely wasteful with individuals -- as long as the species survives and prospers. There is research that suggests a link between male homosexuality and female fertility. In other words, the genes that increase female fertility also increase the percentage of homosexual male offspring. This is a perfectly acceptable trade-off from an evolutionary point of view because it is female fertility that constrains the population, not male sexual activity. A single male can produce fifty offspring a year for example (assuming he's promiscuous), while a female can only produce one (on average). Thus female fertility constrains the population. If female were more fertile, then there would be more offspring -- and if some of the male offspring no longer contribute to the gene pool, then that doesn't matter because there will be an overall increase in population anyway, and males are less important from a breeding point of view. This is, by the way, why most commercial cattle herds have only a few bulls and a very large number of heifers -- and why they want their heifers to be as fertile as possible. Female offspring are worth a lot more than male offspring in the cattle business So, male homosexuality CAN have a genetic basis that is supported and promoted by evolution.

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day.

I read about this back in January: Prince is out but not down from the L.A.Times.

Okay, now I know this is fiction. I've been on enough planes to know that two young men do not drift off to sleep. I personally think it's impossible to do so -- the only times I've managed to sleep on a plane is when I've been absolutely exhausted. I loved the scene with Steve and the jigsaw puzzle I now have lots of nice feelings for him One thing that I thought didn't ring quite true was when the two guys came up to Chris and Steve on the beach. After Steve made his statement, there should have been more of a reaction, rather than an off-hand "bummer" type comment. Otherwise, the boys look like they're going to get themselves into more trouble. I just hope they wait until Steve turns 18 before they do so. Oh, and in case anyone is worried, I've spoken to a friendly pair of bottlenose dolphins, and they're keeping an eye on the boys. I'm sure they won't let anything happen to them

I don't have a problem with that. The only thing that's missing is the date on the tombstone -- which shows they died at the age of 102, when Steve lost control of the charger and ran off a cliff...

I personally prefer the method involving a cucumber, a mouse and a pair of tweezers.

G'day, SRV1984! This is certainly a good place to be. I have your story on my (unfortunately long) list of things to check out. In the meantime, feel free to poke around. Have a look at the Writer's Forum -- there are lots of useful discussion threads there. Graeme