In Nomine Rosa

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:05:46 GMT

I should totally get a WoW icon for whenever I make a WoW post.

Having realised that I know people scattered across both factions and several servers, I've decided to post up all my toons and their servers here to see if I can track down people I don't have on a flist / aren't in a guild with yet.

Kirin Tor, US.
* Zeraida, 62, belf fire mage (who will probably be transferred to Thaurissan at some point)
* Liriel, 60, belf DK
* Jayah, 11, troll priest

To be honest, at the moment I really only play Zera properly, and am currently concentrating on (finally) getting her to 80. The main use I have for Liri is for her to run around mining shit to finance Zera's enchanting/tailoring and Jayah's JC/inscription, and Jayah has been parked in Org for months either making low-level JC stuff for Zera to DE, or making inscription scrolls and glyphs to sell on the AH.

Proudmoore, US.
* Sakwi, 14, space squid frost mage.

Bronzebeard, US.
* Sidro, 11, tauren shaman. Haven't logged into her in, like, forever.

Fizzcrank, US.
* Gimlette, 12, dwarf warrior. Made for the wow_ladies Bad RP Night, and not likely to ever be played again unless there's another Bad RP Night on Alliance-side Fizzcrank.

Sisters of Elune, US.
* Zeraida, 56, belf DK. Made solely to keep in contact with some former guildies from Kirin Tor who transferred servers (hence why she has the same name as my main).

Thaurissan, Oceania.
* Mistraea, 20, belf prot pally.

World's Greatest Shave 2009

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:52:00 GMT

A few people know I was intending to sign up for this, and now I have finally remembered to go and register on the website.

I will be taking the hair colouring option, but the colour is TBD. The way I am determining colour is that everyone who sponsors me will be able to nominate the colour they would like me to dye my hair. The colour that 'raised' the most money will be the colour I will dye my hair on March 14.

My profile/fundraising page can be found here.

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:54:15 GMT

As I am heading home until after Christmas Day and don't actually have Internet down there (unless it's finally been fixed, but I doubt it *sigh*), I wish you all a very Merry Christmas (or whichever holiday you choose to celebrate at this time of year).

An explanation of the Mormon/LDS practice of ‘baptism for the dead’ by a lapsed Mormon

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:56:44 GMT

Firstly, I’ll just start of by saying that I’m not trying to excuse the LDS church from all the genuine crap they’ve done. Their work on passing Prop 8, for example, has me seriously contemplating joining the hundreds of other people formally resigning their Church membership. I’ll never forget, and am not likely to forgive, the shit the local church put my family through when my parents divorced, or the rampant and damaging sexism and homophobia that the church promotes.

However, I believe that if you’re going to castigate a person or group of people, do it for shit they’ve done that actually is damaging, not a harmless practice that you’ve misunderstood and not bothered finding out what it’s actually about (which is my view of the current blow-up of the “OMG, Mormons baptise people after they've died and can’t say no!!!!!!”, hence this post).

To understand baptism for the dead, you need to understand the Mormon view of the afterlife. Mormons believe that after death, everyone goes to a ‘waiting place’ – those who were baptised (by the Mormons), accepted God, and accepted the true church (the LDS church) go to Paradise, everyone else goes to ‘sprit prison.’

At the Second Coming, which will happen after the last spirit left in Heaven has been born onto Earth and had an opportunity to have a life, Earth gets turned into a Paradise for 100 years, after which point almost everyone goes to Heaven. The only people who don’t go to Heaven are the ones who do something truly heinous, like meet God face-to-face and still repudiated him. Heaven itself is split into three tiers, the lowest of which is an even better version of Paradise, and the other two tiers get progressively better. The lowest tier is where all the people who didn’t accept God go, the second tier is for non-baptised-Mormons who accepted God (or an aspect of God) and led good lives (important to note that they don’t have to be Christians), the third tier is for baptised Mormons who led good lives (yes, it IS possible to be a baptised Mormon and not to go the top tier of Heaven). And within the top tier is a separate little segment for those baptised Mormons who were married in a Mormon Temple. It’s actually more complex than that, but that’s a good enough explanation for my purpose in this post.

Within this tiered Heaven, you are able to visit lower tiers, but not higher tiers. God and Jesus live in the special little segment of the top tier. God visits the rest of the top tier; Jesus visits the top and middle tiers. Angels live in the top tier and visit both of the lower ones. Everyone, even Mormons, goes to Heaven separately and aren’t with their families UNLESS they have had a Mormon baptism and undergone a separate blessing to ‘seal’ them to their families. If they have been sealed to their family and get into the top tier of Heaven, then they will automatically be together with every other member of their family who is in the top tier of Heaven. But you can’t be sealed unless you’ve been baptised.

Mormons also believe that while spirits are in the afterlife waiting for the Second Coming, spirits from Paradise can cross into the spirit prison to be missionaries, and proselytise to those spirits who either didn’t get the opportunity or chose not to accept God and the ‘true church’ while they were alive. However, those spirits who accept the teachings and want to convert in the afterlife still have the problem of not having been baptised. Enter ‘baptisms for the dead.’

A baptism for the dead is a baptism by proxy – a Mormon gets baptised again on behalf of a dead person who fulfils particular criteria (their full name is known, they’ve been dead for at least a certain period of time – 10 years, IIRC, but it may be a little shorter or longer than that – and I think there’s a couple of other bits of info needed). Then someone (who may or may not be the proxy who was baptised) gets sealed on behalf of the dead person. Baptisms for the dead are only performed in temples.

Back in the afterlife, the spirit who has been baptised and sealed by proxy then has the choice to accept that baptism or not. If they choose to accept the proselytising of the missionary spirits and accept their baptism by proxy, then they have become a baptised Mormon, can go to Paradise, and when everyone goes to Heaven they can live in the top tier of Heaven with every other member of their family who has been baptised and sealed.

Take note here how the Mormons do not believe (or even say) that the dead people they are baptising by proxy have actually been converted. The Mormons believe that they are giving the dead person one final chance to convert, but it is up to them if they choose to accept it or not, and like any convert they will only be a Mormon from that point onwards.

Think it’s as crazy as you like. Continue to object to it, if that’s what you wish. But don’t object to it based on misunderstandings of it, understand it and then make the call as to if you object to it.

To the tune of Bob the Builder

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:36:11 GMT

Barak the President!
Can we do it?
Barak the President!
YES, WE CAN!

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:21:52 GMT

OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT! THANK-YOU AMERICANS!

More to the point...THANK YOU FOR NOT MAKING THE CRAZY FUNDIE JOEL'S ARMY CRACKPOT ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM PRESIDENT!

Vampire: the Requiem Cast List

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:45:13 GMT

What started out as a silly idea at miss_madb's then snowballed over lunch...so I present (courtesy of miss_madb, punk_rock_nerd, Pete, Sean, Jarrod, Simon A, Dave and I...and anyone I've forgotten), the Vampire: the Requiem cast list.

This is based on how we see the characters as being portrayed. Any suggestions/amendments, feel free to comment, although when making a suggestion please do not nominate an actor/actress already listed.

Aaron Wilmott: Christian Bale

Alex: Matthew Lillard (Hackers era)

Aloysius Culpepper: Kiefer Sutherland (Young Guns era)

Ambia Pentalpha: Angelina Jolie (with red hair)

Antonio Fellini: Antonio Banderas

Arthur Chrandle: Anthony Stewart Head

Ash Quinn: Katee Sackhoff (with red hair)

Britannia: Kate Winslet (with red hair)

Caleb Somerset: Val Kilmer

Cerise Solana: Rose Byrne

Clive Horton: John Leguizamo

Cody Johnston: Nathan Jones

Darwin Finch: Jason Statham

Davion: Keanu Reeves

Discord: Ewan McGregor

Donnie: Mike Meyers

Ebon Dante: David Boreanaz

Ella Black: Lindsay Lohan

Erich Gruber: Anthony Hopkins

Fenris Black: Leonardo diCaprio (Man in the Iron Mask era - see portrayal of King Louis)

Frankie/Ezekiel Perkins: Julian Clary

Harmony: Evanna Lynch (looking a couple of years older)

Ijon Hall: John Cleese

Isobel Harker: Helena Bonham-Carter

Inquisitrix: Taylor Hanson

Jakob Fury!: Justin Timberlake

James Morrow: Shia LeBouf

Jay McKenna: Glen Quinn

Jennifer Mackie: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Jonas MacLaren: Billy Connelly (younger era)

Julius Hall: Michael Chiklis

Kage Hall: Chow Yun Fat

Karly Finch: Alyson Hannigan (with blonde hair)

Katherine Strauss / Katalina zas Fershun: Cate Blanchett (with dark hair)

Khovros: Jaye Davidson

Konstantine von Ostrau: Jeremy Irons

Le Vigneron: Vincent Cassel

Lucian: Jack Nicholson

Lucinde de Bethune: Bryce Dallas Howard

Price Coombes: Judd Nelson (Breakfast Club / St. Elmo's Fire era)

Madame Auntie: Eddie Izzard

Makoto: Alan Cumming

n1sr0c: Macaulay Culkin

Robert Bishop: Robert Downey Jr.

Ronnie Sawyer: Britney Spears (in her early days)

Salvatore Vitruvio: Christian Slater

Simon the Wicked: Cillian Murphy

Tabitha Lancaster: Gwyneth Paltrow

Ultionus: Ricky Gervais

Valeron Mayne: Gael Garcia Bernal

Walsingham: Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood era) or Geoffrey Rush

Xander: Vinnie Jones

New Year's Spirits character list

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 07:16:37 GMT

Amy Blake, F, 33, Banshee. Former counsellor and skydiver before joining Orpheus after coming out of a coma caused by a skydiving accident.
-- motokomaharet, session F

Will Carpenter, M, 20, Haunter. Former footballer and university student who joined Orpheus after coming out of a coma caused by a car accident, which has left him only able to walk with the assitance of a cane.
-- ib_stormcaller, session F

John Carruthers, M, 29, Wisp. Former stage magician and magic shop owner who was diagnosed with cancer and sold both shop and home to pay medical bills. Joined Orpheus after hearing complete medical coverage would be in the contract.
-- derigueur, session F

Crystal Chattick, F, 20, Marrow. One of the longest-serving Orpheus agents who's been employed by the company since she was in late high school.
-- wilderdash, session F

Pippa Cooper, F, 24. Administration officer with Orpheus, and currently filling in as Jack Tilton's PA.
-- arienmir, session F
-- Allison Browne, session B

Ben Cotton, M, 25, Poltergeist. Former gang enforcer who joined Orpheus to get out of gangs before his rivals killed him.
-- psuedonym777, session F

Anne del Greco, F, 57. Physician who co-founded Orpheus, and is Chairman of the Board of Directors.
-- tefkin, session F

Kate Dennison, F, 40, Banshee. University teaching assistant in philosophy and religion who still works part-time at the university as well as working for Orpheus.
-- mauvedragon, session F

Dominique Felding, F, 23, Poltergeist. Former illicit drug manufacturer before joining Orpheus after the company bailed her out when she came out of hospital after a drug bust gone wrong.
-- leminkainen, session F
-- Kim Clarke, session B

Tyler Ford, M, 43. Head of Security for Orpheus.
-- enkorvaks, session F

Tom Hayes, M, 36, Haunter. Former architect who lost his kids after his wife died and he was diagnosed with a cerebral tumour. Joined Orpheus for the life insurance policy.
-- David Astley, session F

Grace Ishida, F, 22. Artist and social worker who's here as Crystal Chattick's guest.
-- koulaklementou, session F

Jerome LaRoque, M, 47. Building manager of Orpheus' headquarters building.
-- zen_cat, session F

Theo Mackali, M, 17, Phantasm. High school student who joined Orpheus after suiciding, and is now one of the ghosts employed by Orpheus.
-- irishmark, session F

Sylvia Margoules, F, 35. Member of Orpheus' Security team.
-- teknohippi, session F

Chet Mason, M, 67, Skinrider. Former Army Captain and Vietnam veteran who walks with a cane, and joined Orpheus to get out of the Veteran's Administration home he was living in.
-- halloranelder, session F

Julian Meyers, M, 49, Wisp. Former salesman before joining Orpheus. Died while employed by Orpheus, and is now one of the ghosts employed by the company.
-- Garry Nicholls, session F

Robert Milton, M, 26. Finance officer in Orpheus' Accounting deparment.
-- mareth_redorb, session F

Estefani Rodriguez, F, 37, Skinrider. Former cop who died in the line of duty, and is now one of the ghosts employed by Orpheus.
-- ingysledge, session F

Kenichi Sato, M, 42, Skinrider. Former Yakuza boss who died in a shootout with police, and is now one of the ghosts employed by Orpheus.
-- James Cameron, session F

Jack Tilton, M, 40. Chief Executive Officer of Orpheus.
-- travisjhall, session F

Eddie Verhoeven, M, 28, Marrow. Former male model who joined Orpheus after one too many drug-induced flatlines left him seeing ghosts.
-- gadge, session F

A conversation from today

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:31:50 GMT

Me: Don't pull my hairtie out.
Matt: Awww...you want the ponytail in?
Me: Yes. My hair is tied up for a reason.
Matt: Oh, and what would that be?
Me: *lowering voice* Because it was bad.

Singles' Night character list

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 09:43:52 GMT

Feel free to book characters for either the playtest or the Unicon session. Now that the characters are more fleshed out, I can also offer costuming suggestions for people who wish to costume.

Characters range in age from 18 (Greta) to early thirties (Jonathan and Scott).

Female Characters -- all characters now taken for the Unicon session
Deirdre Vanyai - Well-travelled, likes to tell stories.
-- motokomaharet (Unicon)
Erin Mitchell - Photojournalist, inquisitive and chatty.
-- wilderdash (Unicon)
Greta Chandler - Young and naive.
-- goldengrove (Unicon)
Lisa Riley - Slightly shy, first night out for awhile.
-- nicked_metal (Unicon)
Madeleine Usher - Goth girl.
-- emilyjane (Unicon)
Samantha Darcy - Former young socialite who doesn't get out much anymore.
-- teknohippi (Unicon)
Tamara Alexandrova - ~~The lady is a tramp.~~ Sex-kitten type, club-goer.
-- kunoichi_chan (Unicon)

Male Characters -- all characters now taken for the Unicon session
Dominic Corrone - Self-confident and slightly odd.
-- punk_rock_nerd (playtest)
-- halloranelder (Unicon)
Edward Frankland - Nice guy jock lacking in the social skills department.
-- James Cameron (Unicon)
Jerome Remmington - Merchant banker, intense and determined.
-- enkorvaks (Unicon)
Jonathan Perry - Reporter, ambitious and curious.
-- ib_stormcaller (Unicon)
Luke Thatcher - Computer/sci-fi geek.
-- mareth_redorb (Unicon)
Scott Jansen - Manipulative and smooth.
-- Eric Henry (Unicon)
Tristan Fleming - Chivalrous, 'in love with love.'
-- psuedonym777 (Unicon)

Earthdawn Quotes

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 11:50:23 GMT

Last Session

Craig: My twanger broke.

Craig: Hey now, hey now, my boyfriend's Drakk.

Phil: Great. A French windling.
pheline: Who's also gay and wants you.

pheline's windling: Gosh. You're awfully bad-tempered for a troll.

pheline: I just lost my ability to talk with wind.

Phil: I vote we go to the bar.
Kim: Bar.
Me: Bar.
Craig: Bar.
pheline: Yes, we're sheep. Let's go to the baaa.

pheline: You're got to let it rest for 24 hours afterwards, otherwise it'll just fall off.

bigfirie: Poor Matty. His girlfriend beat him up.
pheline: In public!

Today's Session
bigfirie: 'Cause tearing caravans apart is what Tiggers do best.

Phil's warrior (to Craig's troubadour): You really need to work on your people skills.
pheline's windling (to my troll): So do you. Grumpy troll.

Phil (cutting off a description): Ah, we're fucked.
bigfirie: Would you shut up?!

bigfirie: ...elven lords and ladies in their terrible anguished finery...
Me: They're Goths!

pheline's windling (to a Blood Elf about the Blood Wood): Wouldn't want anything to happen to this lovely place. It's very pretty.

pheline: You know, those thorns would make certain things very awkward. Like making young Blood Elves.
bigfirie: That would depend on if you like that kind of thing. This has got to be the capital of S&M in the world.

Phil (to Deanna): Farts don't have lumps in them?

Phil (about a band of Theran slavers): I think we should attack them now.
Matt: They outnumber us more than two to one!
Phil: Yeah, but I'm hoping none of them are Adepts.

Craig: Twanger!
pheline: Jeez, you're going to play with your twanger again? This is not the time or place!

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 02:29:11 GMT