Messages

Roger is welcome to participate as is anyone else, so I feel it's a bit disingenous to say I'm 'perfectly fine with leaving Roger out.' I spoke to Roger regarding Uncle BadTouch in late August, and it wasn't a dealbreaker at the time. I spoke again two months later in October when he told me he wouldn't be participating, and it was clear to me that this wasn't contingent on my changing my project, and that is wasn't related to LS.

Re; the group, as I said, I handelled it badly at the time, immediately pulling out the four people who announced they wouldn't intend to be participating any more in that LS thread. I had a little freakout, stressing about the group collapsing into drama, and made a poor snap judgment. There's two people in the group now that I'm aware of who have let me know they definately will not be taking part, but rather than making the same mistake repeatedly for the sake of consistency, it seems like less drama and upset to ask those individuals to take themselves out of the group when they're ready.

I do not suspect that any of the troubles I've had over the course of the project are the result of a conspiracy of any form, and haven't suggested as much to anyone.

I'll definitely be contacting Shii, thank you. [Edit: If possible]

Also, Nigel I know you're not telling me that your participation is contingent on my leaving Uncle BadTouch out. But others were, so the comments specific to that, were meant for the people to whom they applied, not as an insult to you personally.

Looks like it's not an apology for the shit you said (but don't remember) about other people controlling your work/sabotaging your project, just an apology for freaking out and kicking us out of your group.

Which I presume is where you also said those things, and which I don't have access to, so I can't prove it.

Nice.

There are people on this forum who have posting access. If you have a pressing need to find what it was you remember me saying I'm sure one of them will be happy to point it out for you.

I am quite sure that would be daunting to wade through a year's worth of Facebook postings, and unreasonable and rude to ask someone else to do it for me. If that was the group it was posted in, and not one of the other four or five active Discordian groups.

I don't have any doubts about my memory, but I thought it might help you with your disingenuity problem.

Speaking of which, I take it from this

Dingo's recent actions positively REEK of Captain Utopia. Especially the part where he thinks he's being reasonable in spite of it being totally obvious to everyone else how utterly fucked up his words and actions are.

Dingo, there's no reason for me to ban you from PD (personal feelings aside) but I will have to absolutely insist that the Chasing Eris project and any future projects you might look to publish are not in any way connected to PD.com. I don't even want this site, any of the content in this site, or any of the usernames on this site mentioned at all, not even in passing.

Post seen.

Also, bump.

Talk to ECH re: this. I have contacted him regarding concerns, and he has said he will get back to me.

...that you have no intention of respecting my request to be left unmentioned in your project. I would appreciate a straightforward reply, please: are you planning to respect my request, or not?

I made an unambiguous statement less than an hour ago that I did not intend to mention people who do not wish to be mentioned. You have said that you do not wish to be mentioned. Therefore it is not my intention to mention you.

Dingo's recent actions positively REEK of Captain Utopia. Especially the part where he thinks he's being reasonable in spite of it being totally obvious to everyone else how utterly fucked up his words and actions are.

Dingo, there's no reason for me to ban you from PD (personal feelings aside) but I will have to absolutely insist that the Chasing Eris project and any future projects you might look to publish are not in any way connected to PD.com. I don't even want this site, any of the content in this site, or any of the usernames on this site mentioned at all, not even in passing.

Post seen.

Also, bump.

Talk to ECH re: this. I have contacted him regarding concerns, and he has said he will get back to me.

Roger is welcome to participate as is anyone else, so I feel it's a bit disingenous to say I'm 'perfectly fine with leaving Roger out.' I spoke to Roger regarding Uncle BadTouch in late August, and it wasn't a dealbreaker at the time. I spoke again two months later in October when he told me he wouldn't be participating, and it was clear to me that this wasn't contingent on my changing my project, and that is wasn't related to LS.

Re; the group, as I said, I handelled it badly at the time, immediately pulling out the four people who announced they wouldn't intend to be participating any more in that LS thread. I had a little freakout, stressing about the group collapsing into drama, and made a poor snap judgment. There's two people in the group now that I'm aware of who have let me know they definately will not be taking part, but rather than making the same mistake repeatedly for the sake of consistency, it seems like less drama and upset to ask those individuals to take themselves out of the group when they're ready.

I do not suspect that any of the troubles I've had over the course of the project are the result of a conspiracy of any form, and haven't suggested as much to anyone.

I'll definitely be contacting Shii, thank you. [Edit: If possible]

Also, Nigel I know you're not telling me that your participation is contingent on my leaving Uncle BadTouch out. But others were, so the comments specific to that, were meant for the people to whom they applied, not as an insult to you personally.

Looks like it's not an apology for the shit you said (but don't remember) about other people controlling your work/sabotaging your project, just an apology for freaking out and kicking us out of your group.

Which I presume is where you also said those things, and which I don't have access to, so I can't prove it.

Nice.

There are people on this forum who have posting access. If you have a pressing need to find what it was you remember me saying I'm sure one of them will be happy to point it out for you.

I do not intend to mention people who have indicated they would prefer not to be mentioned. 

No, I didn't put a great deal of of effort into finding AKK. I had a go, gave up, forgot about him. I did not realise saying so would be so controversial. 

Nigel, you will find the apology in your inbox. I sent a PM after I took four people out of the Chasing Eris group I used for arranging meets. 
At first I thought I had been too hasty but I later felt that I had made the correct choice.
However I agreed that I should have given you time to finish your conversation. I apologised and offered to give you a chance to return to finish the conversation. That was sent in the form of a PM message. I certainly did not post anything of the kind you and Roger describe (I don't think he was ever in the group) in there, and I certainly don't think it resembled an outburst.

I don't mean for it to be the case that nobody here has the right to criticise my project without me swooping in to stop you but for obvious reasons I do find it upsetting for things to be said that are simply inaccurate. I will attempt to back off now unless anyone has direct questions or anything too painfully inaccurate for me to be comfortable ignoring (other then that I've already adressed).

I don't have any recollection of saying or believing any of those things at all. Since your whole accusation boils down to you claiming you saw me say something that I have absolutely no recollection ever saying there's not much I do do to demonstrate otherwise but to say publically here and now that I don't take that position on anything, and don't believe you will find me saying it anywhere

The one thing I do remember saying something like was that I would feel like I was relinquishing creative control if I let others impose conditions on interviews. That's true and remains true but I don't think it amounts to an accusation.

I'm wanting to work with a publisher, and I'm writing an interesting non-fiction book, not aZ gratuitous tell all scandal piece, so I can assure everyone that I'm not on some revenge kick to write mean and nasty things about everyone I disagree with.

I did attempt to find AKK at one point but was unsuccessful.

Edit: Accidentally a word.

Does it matter? Yes. I have made a choice that many people have found upsetting and I don't want that choice to be misunderstood. If I thought someone had missed an interview with me because they believed someone else was 'more important' or whatever I may be upset, so I don't want other people to think that's my position. So obviously I do want people to understand my reasoning, and don't really want to be regarded in a bad light based on inaccurate information. I'm sure I've said enough things to be hoisted by my own petard, not someone else's.

I was told so many times that I was 'accusing people of taking over my project' that I looked through the Chasing Eris conversation to make sure I wasn't lying in defending myself. I don't think you do recall correctly. I did say something to the effect that I felt I would lose control of my project if I didn't have the ability to choose which interviews I would or would not include. But I do not remember telling Nigel that she was trying to control my project, I do not believe I said that, and I cannot find any quote of myself saying that. I don't take that position now either.

Was it Wilde who said the only thing worse than being talked about was not being talked about? It's notable that Wilde didn't have the Internet.

OK, while I don't feel it's actually essential that I place my delicate parts in EVERY shark tank that comes up, here and elsewhere, I do want to clear up some things.

1. I reread that comment and it did come off as dismissive, so I apologise for the way I phrased it. 
The comment regarding LMNO and Roger's work was just to say that at the time, I wasn't easily finding content that fit the type of collection I was putting together. I never thought that either was a bad writer, and if I did I wouldn't have made sure to use their work. If you want to accuse me of something on this count, accuse me of shitty search skills, because I've since come across plenty that would fit. And in retrospect it was also shitty wording. In the end I used two pieces of Roger's I really liked, and one from LMNO. In fact I explained that comment in PM to Roger, and said I thought he was a talented writer and I was just having trouble coming across those less explicitly Discordian pieces at the time. If that's not how I worded it that's how I'm wording it now and it applies to Roger and LMNO.
I believe I've made it pretty clear now that I admire the writing of Roger and LMNO, and I hope that I don't have to answer too many more questions or take too many more insults (such as being called a numb cunt) from here on regarding a comment that was badly worded and is now 2 years old.

2. I have a copy of Uncle BadTouch's book that I ordered to gain his account of meeting Greg Hill, though by the time it arrived I had come to the conclusion that it was probably fabricated. In that book is a piece by Jon Swabey, that Jon is aware of, and while is not pleased, acknowledged that the piece was copyleft. There is also a piece by Vex that he gives permission to use on this very forum I believe. 
Nobody else, including Roger or Nigel, has their work in the book AFAICT. There is a front page listing thanks, but I don't remember who's listed (book is in Aus) but again I'm pretty sure Roger and Nigel weren't listed. I know there are others on this forum who have copies and it might be worth asking. But there was definitely nothing that I recognised as belonging to anyone else.

3. The bizarre conspiracy that I was at some point converted to being a 'member of the Uncle BadTouch family' and have been since working somehow for the interests of said Uncle BadTouch family is interesting as far as say, a plot twist in a Discordian themed soap opera, but really has no bearing in reality. My communications with Uncle BadTouch have been limited to a couple of emails. Maybe more than a couple if you suspect, as I do, a couple of other people contacting me were alt accounts of Reverend Uncle BadTouch. Maybe we've exchanged comments more than once on 23ae- I know he criticised a post I made there once, but I don't really keep tabs on 23ae.
But the point is I am no more part of the Uncle BadTouch Family than I am part of the Manson Family, or Sly and Family Stone. Our contact was limited to emails.

4. My position on why I insisted on keeping Uncle BadTouch has been, and continues to be misrepresented. 
I never said that Uncle BadTouch or anyone else was too important to lose. What I did say, repeatedly, was that I felt I needed to be able to choose who I did and did not speak to for myself. I think that's reasonable.
I didn't tell anyone they were trying to control my project. I did say that if I didn't get to choose who I spoke to I would feel that I didn't have full control of my project. That's not to say that I thought anyone intended to take control.


I don't have any malice or anger at anyone here. I have been a little flippant in my reply because I find some of the accusations seem a little over the top to be taken seriously. 

There are some other comments here that I take issue with but they are personal interpretation, not inaccuracy so I will simply take the line that I can disagree without making a noise about it.

If anything I'm saying here is obviously inaccurate based on my previous comments, I encourage you to confront me with those previous comments. That will allow me to either explain any misunderstanding or apologise unconditionally if I have said anything I do not stand by.

As always I welcome questions.

Also, in my view this not only was but continues to be a cool project. I am in Poland now, with further interviews in Germany and Netherlands before the unenviable task of transcribing about a fucktonne (technical name) of interviews. The project is easily found on Facebook if you want to see what I've been up to.

There's a tread on this you may like "hijacking their brains with QR codes" or something.

I have been told recently from others though that Scribd has been limiting free downloads to a certain number before requiring payment, though I don't know what that's about.

Looks fantastic.

Both easy to read, and easy to want to read. Enjoyed.

I would have liked to hear some more verbal sparring between the man and the judge. You seemed to be in a hurry to reach the action but the scene was already strong and could have gone on for longer without losing traction.

The other thing that everyone (myself included) does is mix tense, whih you've done too, going from past to present in the courtroom.

But the little that's there is punchy and fun, and make you want to continue.

Story first, polish second.

Yep.
Faust requested (gentle) criticism, which I know is really challenging to get so I make an effort to give it when requested. But I definately agree that as far as perfecting prose, that's all final stuff.

Both easy to read, and easy to want to read. Enjoyed.

I would have liked to hear some more verbal sparring between the man and the judge. You seemed to be in a hurry to reach the action but the scene was already strong and could have gone on for longer without losing traction.

The other thing that everyone (myself included) does is mix tense, whih you've done too, going from past to present in the courtroom.

But the little that's there is punchy and fun, and make you want to continue.

Meeting with the boy's teachers was as expected. He is failing spectacularly due mostly to not trying. If he doesn't get the right answer immediately he just gives up.
Would rather rush and get stuff, like tests, over with instead of actually making sure the answers are right. He got a 46% on an open book, 10 question test that he had a whole hour to do for freakin' sakes!

So now on the search for free educational games that are of a way he might actually learn without realizing it. Are there any math/reading/science/social studies games that are fighting based? Or racing?

I wish I knew how to teach stuff.

This is especially a boy thing. It's typical in classrooms for the boy mentality to be achievement focussed. So getting the test DONE is the aim, not necessarily RIGHT.

My training was High School Japanese, so not so very relevant but what I could do with kids was to break down the work into little 'miniachievements'. When I get back to you I need you to have done THIS paragraph, which needs to included THIS, THIS and THIS.

One thing that may help depending on what his problems are, is to practice reading the question; in math especially (and again, in boys especially) a typical problem is browsing the question and writing the first thing that pops into their head. 'How many apples does James have is he takes 100 and Mary takes half and gives 5 back.' Pleanty of kids will just browse and say 'oh mary took half (50) and gave back 5 (45). Never mind that the question is asking about JAMES. Reading and comprehending the question witohut rushing into an answer is one thing that may be worth looking at.

Of course, none of these are universal rules, it all depends on him and what works, and sometimes you try a lot of thingsa before finding something that does.

"Your friend probably got it from a bad source, the internet is awful for that nowadays. Have you heard of source amnesia?"

Wow yes. I've been reviewing interviews recently; actually re-experiencing conversations months later is so weird and I keep going 'wow, that's who I heard that from?'

He was way more generous about the Vietnam war than anyone else had the right to expect:

We were the ones who won the war and the Americans were the ones who were defeated, but let's be precise about this. What constitutes victory? The Vietnamese people never wanted war; they wanted peace. Did the Americans want war? No, they wanted peace, too. So, the victory was a victory for those people in Vietnam and in the USA who wanted peace. Who, then, were the ones defeated? Those who were after aggression at any price. And that's why we're still friends with the people of France and why we've never felt any enmity for the people of America....

That is such a wonderful quote.