Britain


The Times November 21, 2005


Fairies stop developers' bulldozers in their tracks
By Will Pavia and Chris Windle
VILLAGERS who protested that a new housing estate would “harm the fairies” living in their midst have forced a property company to scrap its building plans and start again.


Marcus Salter, head of Genesis Properties, estimates that the small colony of fairies believed to live beneath a rock in St Fillans, Perthshire, has cost him £15,000. His first notice of the residential sensibilities of the netherworld came as his diggers moved on to a site on the outskirts of the village, which crowns the easterly shore of Loch Earn.


He said: “A neighbour came over shouting, ‘Don’t move that rock. You’ll kill the fairies’.” The rock protruded from the centre of a gently shelving field, edged by the steep slopes of Dundurn mountain, where in the sixth century the Celtic missionary St Fillan set up camp and attempted to convert the Picts from the pagan darkness of superstition.


“Then we got a series of phone calls, saying we were disturbing the fairies. I thought they were joking. It didn’t go down very well,” Mr Salter said.


In fact, even as his firm attempted to work around the rock, they received complaints that the fairies would be “upset”. Mr Salter still believed he was dealing with a vocal minority, but the gears of Perthshire’s planning process were about to be clogged by something that looked suspiciously like fairy dust.


“I went to a meeting of the community council and the concerns cropped up there,” he said. The council was considering lodging a complaint with the planning authority, likely to be the kiss of death for a housing development in a national park. Jeannie Fox, council chairman, said: “I do believe in fairies but I can’t be sure that they live under that rock. I had been told that the rock had historic importance, that kings were crowned upon it.” Her main objection to moving the rock was based on the fact that it had stood on the hillside for so long: a sort of MacFeng Shui that many in the village subscribe to.


“There are a lot of superstitions going about up here and people do believe that things like standing stones and large rocks should never be moved,” she said.


Half a mile into Loch Earn is Neish Island. From there the Neish clan set forth to plunder the surrounding country, retreating each time to their island. Early in the 17th century, the MacNabs retaliated from the next valley, carrying a boat over the mountains, storming the island and slaughtering most of the Neishes.


This summer Betty Neish McInnes, the last of that line in St Fillans, went to her grave — but not before she had imparted the ancient Pict significance of the rock to many of her neighbours.


“A lot of people think the rock had some Pictish meaning,” Mrs Fox said. “It would be extremely unlucky to move it.”


Mr Salter did not just want to move the rock. He wanted to dig it up, cart it to the roadside and brand it with the name of his new neighbourhood.


The Planning Inspectorate has no specific guidelines on fairies but a spokesman said: “Planning guidance states that local customs and beliefs must be taken into account when a developer applies for planning permission.” Mr Salter said: “We had to redesign the entire thing from scratch.”


The new estate will now centre on a small park, in the middle of which stands a curious rock. Work begins next month, if the fairies allow.

Why you should not inquire how I am today:

I hit my head last night and it is making me incredibly cranky.
I had a great night last night and it's making me incredibly happy.
I had an incredibly shitty morning and that's making me feel quite horrible.
I had an excellent drawing class this morning and that's making me go w00t.

Means I fought with Darling, we made up, I hurt myself (by accident), I went to sleep cuddling with him, I woke up and tore myself away from him to go to uni and then did excellent drawing.

I don't exactly know if I'm having a shitty day or an excellent one.
O.o

To be continued after the day is done.

*continues the chain of diary-entry-thievery and introduces the Diary Entry that was stolen from [Linn Scarlett] who stole it from [Kyrinn]!*

16 THINGS THAT IT TOOK ME OVER 50 YEARS TO LEARN by Dave Barry
1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved and never will achieve its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
5. You should not confuse your career with your life.
6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
7. Never lick a steak knife.
8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal bout your birthday. That time is age eleven.
12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
13. A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a nice person.
14. Your friends love you anyway.
15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.
16. Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

http://www.kepa.fi/kumppani/arkisto/2004_3/3628

The things you come across while googling for engines and motors... O_o;

http://members.cox.net/cdfellows/engines.htm

Elftown Guards Suk Ass!
Another one? >.<;;;

Torture Methods Through The Ages
In progress, bombard me with ideas, pwease.

[Analeyin]
X_x
Another [Jay Ladlehaus], i.e. a person that I could be. I could have written that bio, word for word.
X_x

How ridiculous!
My phone dictionary didn't know the word "blimey" but offered the word "climey" in stead... DoubleUTeeEf is climey?!?!

[iippo]'s last visitors:
[windowframe]
[Mirime]

[windowframe]'s last visitors:
[iippo]
[Mirime]

[Mirime]'s last visitors
[windowframe]
[iippo]

Heh.

Life could be weirder I suppose... but it's not:
I have yet again fallen out with Darling, I'm very tired of things (placement that took the whole last week of my life, fighting, having a roommate again) and now I'm furthermore stressing myself out because I promised a friend I'd go to her Ann Summers party in her house which is far and in a strange place.

I am Ann Summer's stressed out stomach ache in sexy underwear.

and I'm broke. Going to an Ann Summers party while broke. I really got my life in hand. >.O

Have you sent your letter to Santa this year? I have.

Rakas Joulupukki
Olen jo toista vuotta ulkomailla opiskelemassa ja siihen liittyy omat kiireensa niin etta joulu tuppaa melkein livahtamaan huomaamatta, esim. ei tule syotya jouluruokia ja joululaulujen sanatkin muistaa vain puoliksi... Mutta tana vuonna tulen jouluksi kotiin Suomeen. Se on erikoinen ristiriita, kun joudun jattamaan ystavani tanne (muiden muassa sulhaseni), niin etta on vaikea sanoa tulenko olemaan iloinen etta saan viettaa joulun kotona vai surullinen koska kaipaan heita...
Toivon vain etta kaikki sujuu hyvin tana jouluna, ei riitoja eika ongelmia.
Ai niin, uudet ladattavat patterit olisi myos kiva, nama vanhat eivat kesta ladattuina tuntiakaan. :)

I made :D

And the Moomin goes to...

Practice with a tablet, based on FAR Gallery 62

I made these heads. Wow. They're 3D. Wow.

I am so lame. >.<


(I'll probs do something with them in PS - or not)

To the tune of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas"


We wish you a lucious meatloaf,
We wish you a lucious meatloaf,
We wish you a Tasty Meatloaf,
With Lots of Graaaaavy.


We wish you lots of Turkey,
We wish you lots of Turkey,
We wish you lots of Turkey,
With Tassssty Stufffing.


We Wish you Banana Puddings,
We Wish you Banana Puddings,
We Wish you Banana Puddings,
And lots of good Cheer!


We Wish you stacks of Fruitcake,
We Wish you stacks of Fruitcake,
We Wish you stacks of Fruitcake,
And mugs of hot cider.


We wish you Love and Laughter,
We wish you Family Fun,
We Wish you Mistletoe,
And a warm Heartfilled Glow.


© 2005 Marion Z. Skydancer and Dragon's Chyld Studio

[liiga]
[Mom]
[someelf]
[Jacco]
[thuthuca]
Bumsoft
[Dory]
[The Red Baron]
Celorfiwyn
knightangel

I love it when I can recognice so many of my visitors... :)

I need a couple of animation characters to re-do in ASCII.

Mickey Mouse
Donald Duck
Felix the Cat
Simpson
Bugs Bunny
Moomin

Feed me suggestions.

Some of the questions of this week's gallup-channel:

Do you wear a reflector/luminous badge?
What is the strongest experience you've had on a vacation abroad?
What is the strongest experience you've had on a vacation in your homecountry?
What experience would you like to experience on a vacation?
What would be the ideal place to have this experience if you didn't have consider costs?

[AdeloriaAshcroft] - Why?!?! WHYYYYY?!?!?!?!? Why has such a... such, have my name as their username!?

As I have decided to hang in the computer room today until 2 am, I will fill silvie's silly little questionnaires (art can wait).

What would you do if...

-A dirty old guy at the airport slaps your butt?:
Assuming it wouldn't be my dirty old guy, I'd slap him in the face. And by the next time I'll be in an airport I'll probably have practiced enough of my Psycho-screams (I used to be able to scream like that and I want to do it again), so I'd most likely apply one of those as well, to attract as much attention as possible, so for the rest of the wait for the plane he will be known as the indecent bastard who put the tall gorgeous damsel in distress. :D

-Somebody was about to steal your car?:
Let's pretend my car is my sisters car... Then, ehm... What would I do... Stare and go "dude, wtf". Or Psycho-scream again. :D

-You wake up with a billion spiders crawling all over you and your bed?:
I'd make sure Isabel was no where in sight, then get the vacuum and hover them all up and not tel Isabel, she'd freak. I assume they're not tarantulas or something dangerously poisonous like that since those sortsa spiders don't exist.

-You farted while giving a persuasive speech in class?:
I would continue speaking without noticing and knowing that anyone paying attention was incredibly childish and didn't have a sense of reality. Sides, all art students are filthy pigs anyway, so no one would care.

-The person you just kissed tells you they have oral herpes?:
Person I just kissed: my boyfriend. And I would kill him while asking who the fuck had he licked to get oral herpes.

-You have three wishes?:
1. To always have the exactly right amount of money in my pocket, when ever I need money.
2. To be able to learn languages with mere will-power for the rest of my life.
3.

-The government allowed you to choose one thing to be made illegal and one thing to be legalized?:
Change the law in the age-limit of voting in Finland to be moved from exact 18 to the year you will turn 18 (so if you are born in November and the election is in March, you can still vote although you're technically 17, because you are just as mature as the arses in your class who were born in January). And I'd illegalize smoking, just because I hate it that much.

-Britney Spears was at your front door asking for jumper cables?:
I wouldn't answer the door when someone I don't know is knocking, unless they try to come in with their own keys, which makes them university-staff. So if she had just gotten a proper job with Cov Uni Accommodation Office, I'd open and tell her to go buy them jumper cables with uni money and stop bothering me while I'm happily naked in the comfort of my own home.

-You had a time machine?:
I would arrange it to be a tourist atraction and make huge loads of money and make my life a tenfolds easier. And I'd get a great degree because I'd come back from the future years later and help myself out with my work. Yeah. :)

-FOX gave you a half hour show to do whatever you wanted?: What, just one? Or a weekly half-an-hour slot? I'd broadcast arty animation and generally make it really arty and cool, like me. :P



Would you rather...

-Would you rather find the cure for cancer or the cure for aids?:
Cancer because of what Silvie said. Although I'd probably keep it on hold to see if anyone I like would get either and then I'd find the cure to which ever one they'd have.

-Would you rather have the power to fly, or the power to teleport?:
Flying would probably be a bit cold and I don't think it'd be that splendid anyway and because Nightcrawler is way cooler than Superman: the power to teleport.

-Would you rather have the power to see the future, or the power to record your dreams?:
O_o Hmm, would I want either of those? No, I'd pass.

Would you rather be really skinny, or really fat?:
Skinny, because things fit skinny people not fat people (things like clothes and small doors etc).

-Would you rather be lost in a forest, or stuck in a box?: Forest obviously.

-Would you rather be in a drama movie, or a comedy?:
I'm gonna guess comedy because it's harder to achieve and more fun to make.

-Would you rather be in a hip hop video or a rock video?: Rock because i'm not a ho.

-Would you rather have your birthday on Christmas Day, or on February 29th?:
Feb, because then at least you'd get two sets of presents and no one would come to spend my birthday with me on Christmas Day anyways.

-Would you rather live in the sewer, or in Afghanistan?:
What a shitty question. But I have never been one of the mole-people but more like a caveman anyway... Afghanistan.

-Would you rather be in a mental institution or in a penitentiary?:
Penitentiary.

-Would you rather snow board or hang glide:
Eww. Out of the two un-good options: snowboard. But I wouldn't tie the board to my feet (=suicide), I'd go down the hill with that thing that kids go down the hill with (sledge? Slay... Something that starts with 'sle').

-Would you rather be a ninja or a pirate?:
Pirate. Ninjas die. Pirates also die but they have better weather and nicer music ("Choose your weapon for the duel!" "I choose... the banjo!" "I accept!" "You do?" XD)