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Questions and Answers - Part 3

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Bubblegum Death

20:08 / 15.03.06

Is it true that the more you shave, the faster and thicker your hair grows back? If so; why?

20:10 / 15.03.06

It's because you are under an enchantment.

Best stay home when the moon is fat as well.

Bubblegum Death

20:15 / 15.03.06

I didn't start shaving until I was, like, 20. I am not a hairy person, but I was asking because the little patch of hair on my chest is starting to spread on to my left pectoral muscle. And only my left, for some reason.

21:07 / 15.03.06

I don't think it is true. I think that the hair grows back with a blunt edge so it looks thicker, and it's darker because it hasn't been exposed to light. Or something.

Actually, I'm just making this up and have no factual evidence for you other than the hairs on my legs which I now no longer shave and instead EPILATE* for precisely the aformentioned reasons.

*This should in fact now be a swearword, because that's what it makes you do.

21:14 / 15.03.06

In my humble experience, facial shaving doesn't have the effect if the whole shaving experience is undertaken with time, effort and care. Foam, a sharpened blade and hot water will mean that the hair should grow back more or less normally.

Which means, in my case, having spend a bit of my student time shaving with a fairly blunt razor and no foam, that I now have Clint Eastwood-like facial hair that rebels against the razor unless it's the New Gilette Twenty-Blade Camomile-Scented Titanium Handle razor, or whatever ridiculousness they're peddling these days.

Seriously, though, take time or have five-o'clock-stubble that you can light a match on, it's the choice to make.

22:22 / 15.03.06

Some earlier shaving threads that may be of interest. And again. And yet more depilatory amusement. Even more from earlier in this very thread too. And there are many more, if you can be arsed.

Bubblegum Death

22:30 / 15.03.06

Thanks everyone. I never knew Barbelith loved to shave so much.

10:56 / 16.03.06

How do you switch your mobile from a contract to pay as you go (in the UK)?

If you call them up and tell them will they do it for you (and can you keep the same number)? Or do you have to cancel your contract, then take your phone somewhere to be unlocked and then buy a new sim card?

12:11 / 16.03.06

You should be able to opt into pay-as-you-go once your contract is up (I know someone who has done on l'orange)

12:24 / 16.03.06

My contract is up but how does it physically work? Do they just press a few buttons at their end and you're away? What's all this unlocking business that shops advertise in their windows?

14:19 / 16.03.06

The unlocking is if you want to change to another provider - the phone companies put a 'lock' on so you can only use their network, but you can get it unlocked, and thereby use it on another.

And yes, I think pay-as-you-go would just be a matter of switching over - if you stay with the same provider they shouldn't have to do anything physically to your phone. I think!

16:40 / 16.03.06

Is there a neat, concise term or phrase for the phenomenon of a person unconsciously taking his opinions/habits/practices as baseline normal and viewing other people's opinions/habits/practices as "too" or "not enough" in relation to that?

17:44 / 16.03.06

Subjectivity?

18:29 / 18.03.06

why do england rugby fans sing "swing low, sweet chariot" at games?

Coming into the last match of the 1988 season, against Ireland at Twickenham, they had lost 15 of their previous 23 matches in the Five Nations Championship. The Twickenham crowd had only seen one solitary England try in the previous two years and at half time against Ireland they were 0-3 down. During the second half the floodgates opened and England scored a remarkable six tries in a thumping 35-3 win. Three of the tries came in quick succession from Chris Oti, a black player making his Twickenham debut. A small section of the crowd started to sing a rugby club favourite – the gospel hymn Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – in honour of their new hero. At the next home game, against Australia, a young centre named Will Carling made his debut as England captain in another rousing victory. The England team was about to embark upon a period of great success and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot became synonymous with Twickenham and the England team.

oh, okay.
but why?
why was it a rugby club favourite, and why did it seem appropriate to sing it for chris oti?

19:57 / 18.03.06

It's also very easy to sing when tanked up and mooning everyone in the town centre. Always a plus for rugger songs.

22:44 / 18.03.06

Q: can anyone recommend reliable web hosting in UK? I'm not looking for anything fancy or a huge amount of space. But I'd like something robust, and reasonably fast. So no pal with a server in his basement please!

unheimlich manoeuvre

17:51 / 19.03.06

why was it a rugby club favourite, and why did it seem appropriate to sing it for chris oti?

...it was first sung by a group of bibulous mates from the Benedictine school Douai (whose 1st-XV song it has long been) who were bunched in front of the lower east stand at Twickenham's Irish match of 1988, at the very corner England's Nigerian-born wing Chris Oti ran in three tries.

The Guardian

17:57 / 19.03.06

Neukoln, I'm using 34sp, and for what I do (small applications to amuse my friends, so nothing ambitious) they've been good -it's reliable and I've found the support to be fast and useful, as far as I've had to use it.

21:05 / 19.03.06

Neukoln, I'm using 34sp...

Jack V, that's perfect - just the type of recommendation I am after. I used Easyspace a couple of years back but they proved to be utter crap (no tech support and no comms when the service was disrupted). So decided this time to ask other folk who they use.

20:59 / 20.03.06

I have a question. What has The Fool been up to as of lately? Haven't seen him posting in a while now. Is he all right? Too busy? Or just got bored with the rest of us?

Or am I just missing his contributions?

10:37 / 22.03.06

Where can I buy an industrial doughnut maker?

10:50 / 22.03.06

Donuts? Shazam

17:30 / 23.03.06

i'm not sure my last question has been answered to my satisfaction...
thanks for all the help, guys, but what i really want to know is, well... did they sing it because he was black? as far as i am aware the song is an american spiritual, as sung by americans.
what makes it seem appropriate for english rugby fans to sing it, and what makes it seem appropriate to sing said song for a nigerian-born englishman?

i have new questions too.

1
can anyone point me in the direction of some really good poetry? i'm specifically interested in that which is intended to be heard not read, and would appreciate anything from rappers to old skool wordsmiths.
my main want is some lyrics that play with the sound of the words as much as possible; rhymes that are only rhymes if you say them right, words that span two lines, constructions that have perfect internal rhyming structures, that sort of thing.

2
can anyone point me in the direction of a really good family picture of the kennedys? (that's carl, susan and the kids, not j and r) one from before the split would be best, especially if it leaves room for fireworking a melodramatic tear down the middle.

3
does anyone have any great resources for line drawings? i'm trying to train my hand to draw more people(women, particularly) and require some one good to steal some 'moves' from.
i've been scanning all my old comics, but i'd appreciate some tips on who to watch. frank quitely, duncan fegredo or graffiti style for preference.

4
why do i feel so good the day after a sauna and a swim? what's going on in my body? how else can i achieve similarly interesting effects?

18:22 / 23.03.06

does anyone have any great resources for line drawings?

I don't think this is exactly what you're looking for, but I'm a big fan of http://www.drawn.ca/. It's basically a blog that spotlights a few different illustrators every day, including links to the artists' websites.

08:22 / 24.03.06

quick update for doughnut lovers. I emailed the bakery Emily posted above (thanks ET!) and a lovely bloke called me back to say they didn't have any doughnut stalls. Gutted. So, any other ideas?

Essentially, I want one of the stalls you see at school fetes etc which make doughnuts. Any leads greatly appreciated.

10:21 / 24.03.06

toksik:
what makes it seem appropriate for english rugby fans to sing it, and what makes it seem appropriate to sing said song for a nigerian-born englishman?

The song was a traditional rugby song before it was sung by England fans; Oti scoring three tries = great moment; group of fans start singing their old school rugby song to celebrate; crowd takes them up on it as everybody knows the song as, at one point at least, sung at most primary schools in the UK; new tradition is born.

I know what point you're trying to make, but think it's a red herring that Oti is black. Majority of people would have viewed it as a hymn rather than a spiritual anyway. Adoption of song by the fans at the Oti moment is undoubtedly due purely to the power of the song.

With regards poetry that should be heard rather than read: a good anthology would be Heaney and Hughes' The Rattle Bag, a wide-ranging selection of 'poetry', from medieval lyrics to Shakespeare to folk songs to modern translations. I think in the intro, the editors stress how they have chosen poetry that is designed in the first place to appeal to the ear. It's a pretty frabjous book actually.

10:29 / 24.03.06

Also, while I think about it, there's a strong rugby tradition of singing powerful religious, which is pretty cool I always think. I should imagine more people have sung Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer at Twickenham than at church.

10:45 / 24.03.06

...Or Bread of Heaven at Cardiff Arms Park or Millenium Stadium. This tune is often sung at football grounds but with the less spiritually uplifting "Get Your Tits Out for the Lads" or "You're Not Singing Anymore".

10:57 / 24.03.06

Toksik, Benjamin Zephaniah does good things with the spoken word and I think you'd like him.

11:58 / 24.03.06

toksik - Hunt down the Poemfone: A New Word Order CD and possibly the Jack Kerouac CD box set. TBH, neither selection perfectly meets the criteria you set out, but I think there's enough there (esp. on Poemfone) to fill your soul with aural yummies.

There also exists a Beat Poets box set, but I haven't heard it and so can't give a personal recommendation. Prolly worth a look, tho.

All Acting Regiment

14:19 / 24.03.06

Whatever happened to that girl who used to write a "teenager's diary" for the guardian? That is, the actual teenage one, not the older person writing in persona? I seem to remember a lot of rather unhappy entries and then silence.

19:34 / 24.03.06

I realise this properly belongs in the appropriate thread in the Armoury forum, which I don’t have access to at the moment, but will post it here for the meantime. As I understand it there’s been a delay in my application’s vetting due to the recent trouble with uninvited undesirables seeking access. There’s always some out there that have to ruin it for the rest of us…

But (quite seriously) my question is: What’s the difference between a mace, a flail and a Morningstar? I’m sure I’ve learned and forgotten this more than once, but a recent description of a mace as a chained weapon confused me, so a definitive answer would be much appreciated.

21:00 / 24.03.06

I'm sure I've posted this once already in the Armoury, but:

(Mace) Deathly tethered thing on a stick:

(Flail) Deathly tethered thing on a chain:

(Morningstarr) Undeathly, untethered Alpaca:

21:09 / 24.03.06

Legba - was it Sarah Paton that you were thinking of?

21:15 / 24.03.06

Cheers Lula,

But it doesn’t quite get to the point, or indeed the points, on the big spiky balls of death in question. Do I have to wait until the Armoury throws open it’s doors to all and sundry before discovering how such deathly tethered instruments are differentiated in their vulgar names?

BTW, on advocating weapons-testing-violence towards Alpacas (Alpacii?) or indeed animals in general: is this the sort of dubious approach we can expect from those fora hidden from the prying eyes of us proles?

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