< runran > testing for post office chat
 
< erroneus_nick > spider...why? there's no one here, not even a fly
 
< erroneus_nick > you wait for people who come here to talk to themselves?
 
< erroneus_nick > that's almost as strange as the fact that they do...
 
< erroneus_nick > so long, see you....by and bye....
 
< Rogue > Hello any body there?
 
< runran > testing chat
 
< runran > works fine
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< runran > does it scroll
 
< Mazzy > looks around at the piles and piles of unfranked letters
and then settles downto make herself comfortable on a full mail sack,
content to be unfashionably early, and even hoping to sneak a quick doze.
 
< Mazzy > drops off for a while, then wakes up and on finding the room
still empty filches some cheese and biscuits from the buffet.
 
< runran > heya mazzy
 
< runran > testing for urls
 
< Mazzy > says, "ah ha....you caught me out!"
 
< Mazzy > was stealing cheese from the party spread.
 
< Mazzy > says, "How the devil are you?"
 
< Mazzy > tries to avoid spraying runran with stilton fragments
and cracker crumbs.
 
< runran > can't seem to cut and paste urls into this frigging place
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > says, "well that'll teach you to be all grand and have
a whole room named after yourself"
 
< runran > i'm good, thanks
 
< runran > ha
 
< Mazzy > says, "Want me to take a turn and help with typing them
all out by hand?"
 
< runran > simon named the room ;-)
 
< Mazzy > says, "Well, it was a nice touch...not so sure about the pink
flowery wallpaper on the ceiling though. I really feel that was a mistake."
 
< runran > where are you
 
< Mazzy > laughs. "Standing as close to the food as possible and trying to
find something to drink around here...but...in offline terms, I'm in the
western regions of the UK these days."
 
< Mazzy > says, "or..alternatively you could say that I'm perched on
the end of my bed with a laptop. Everything is relative when it comes
to location."
 
< runran > is the food and drink close to your bed?
 
< runran > maybe sometime we'll be abl;e to cook on our laptops
 
< Mazzy > says, "confusing, isn't it.....it doesn't do to get virtual
and offline locations mixed up...it tends to make for uncomfortable
crumbs in the bedding."
 
< Mazzy > says, "mine often gets hot enough to simmer on these days."
 
< Mazzy > says, "so you can't cut and paste at all?"
 
< runran > i'm in my office with a window looking out over the back yard ...
i cleaned the window yesterday and hung some shower curtains instead of drapes
 
< runran > well, you could give it a try, but i can't seem to cut and paste
 
< Mazzy > does try, but runran appears to be correct.
 
< runran > plastic hawaiian shower curtains with dancing grils in grass
skirts and wooden canoes, etc ... wanted to alter my view
 
< runran > :-]
 
< Mazzy > asks, "really? how extraordinary....so...does the lack of glue
tonight scupper your plans?"
 
< runran > nope
 
< Mazzy > meant with regard to the shower curtains and dancing grills etc
 
< runran > glue? you'll have to explain
 
< Mazzy > says, "the small cut and paste problem..."
 
< runran > oh, no ... i have no plans
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( explain, explain? when did logic ever help anyone
understand the world )
 
< runran > though fireworks would have been interesting
 
< Mazzy > says, "what, no plots?"
 
< Mazzy > says, "especially with all those sacks of mysterious dead letters
and cards lying around."
 
< Mazzy > says, "this place could go up with quite a sparkle if you lit the
blue touchpaper.
 
< runran > ah, yes, my new job in the dead letter office will certainly
lead to something
 
< Mazzy > smiles. "Do you have any idea who might show up tonight?"
 
< Mazzy > wonders if she was supposed to RSVP...just showed up instead,
unfashionably early.
 
< runran > the message went out in the trace newsletter and i've posted
an announcement in several places, i suspect over three hours that
a few people will show up
 
< Mazzy > nods and settles in for the long-haul.
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( that's a lot of food for us to eat on our own )
 
< runran > it's quite like us to chatting in an emptyish room ...
but i have been thinking about loki lately and wonder what happened to him?
 
< Mazzy > has a go at making card houses out of imaginary postcards.
 
< runran > you'd have to print them on cardstock ...
paper would simply not wrok
 
< Mazzy > says, "that's odd..Loki was the person I was thinking of earlier
as I had a little snooze on that mail bag over there"
 
< Mazzy > has discovered that webpages don't make good card houses either,
runran is right.
 
< Mazzy > seems to recall that he had a potential book deal in the offing
and then cybercide went down and then...well...zilch
 
< runran > i sure hope i don't get it into my mind to edit the
chatlog for typos ;-)
 
< runran > hele, welcome
 
< runran > my fingers are just warming up
 
< Helen > hello
 
< runran > i owe you an 'n'
 
< Helen > mmm
 
< runran > mazzy and i were just talking about loki
 
< runran > wondering what happened to him?
 
< Helen > yes I was wondering that recently - has anyone checked
his websites?
 
< runran > last i checked they were 404
 
< Helen > there's a lot like that...
 
< Helen > Where do you write now Mazzy (online I mean)?
 
< Helen > or not...
 
< runran > i just googled loki and found an old trace chatlog
 
< Helen > "new media" is in decline
 
< Mazzy > stops surfing around looking for old websites and leaps up
and welcomes Helen.
 
< Mazzy > says, "hello, hello, hello..."
 
< Helen > Nice to see you again Mazzy
 
< Helen > hoping things are well with you...
 
< Mazzy > says to Helen, "unfurling.net"
 
< Helen > i look in occasionally...
 
< runran > new media in decline? hmmmmm ... i think maybe new media
writing is possibly in decline ... but new media more generally
is very much alive
 
< Mazzy > smiles at Helen. "Yes, it's strange and pleasant to be back,
even if it's sad that this is the last gasp for the Post Office."
 
< runran > ah, but hopefully my new job in the dead letter office
will give rise to something
 
< Mazzy > says, "oh yes....are you going to tell us more...or just
keep us in the proverbial suspenders?"
 
< runran > i used to like snapping people's suspenders
 
< Mazzy > covers her ears...and then changes her mind and
covers her eyes instead.
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( it's tricky this sensory perception lark online )
 
< Helen > If the Australians have shut down their New Media Board
I don't think new media generally can be said to be strong! It isn't
just writing - it's all becoming part of the mainstream.
 
< runran > maz, are you still writing collaboratively on the webboard
you set up with everdeen?
 
< Mazzy > isn't really engaged in any collaborative writing at the
moment, a certain amount of collaborative editing though.
 
< runran > new media is a term for something rather fluid, i think,
and encompasses many prctices in the digital arts
 
< runran > i am still very much involved, with steve gibson at uvic,
in audiovisual using computation
 
< Helen > I don't think the term ever really succceeded and now it's dying -
but the practices that it encopmasses aren't - but they are becoming more
wdiespread so that there isn't a small global community but a more
sophisticated unserstanding - in art - but not writing yet
 
< Mazzy > says, "right, I've checked out some of those at your site,
Randy...found some of it quite hypnotic, enjoyed."
 
< Helen > typical that you Randy are working with someone more local
rather than us across the world. Me, I'm not working with anyone,
am not writing
 
< Mazzy > says, "not at all, Helen?"
 
< Helen > only as part of work
 
< Helen > facilitating lots of writing still... in creative ways,
but not myself writing no, not since last MAy
 
< runran > i feel that mant traditional writers experimented with 
'new media' and found it too tech oriented ... poets, on the other
hand were quite successful
 
< Mazzy > nods to Helen.
 
< Helen > nods to Randy
 
< runran > it's been an interesting circular experience ... my online work
led to meeting someone very close to home ... it was an accident
 
< Mazzy > On the subject of Loki....there is something at cybercide.co.uk
that has what looks to me like the thumbprint of Loki upon it.
 
< Helen > I've been owrking fulltime which I find doesn't give me time
to write... am hoping to reduce my hours by the end of 2005
 
< Helen > cybercide was his site...
 
< Mazzy > wishes Helen luck with that change, can recommend it.
 
< Helen > yea Randy -circular...
 
< Helen > are you still doing your course Maz?
 
< Mazzy > was involved in a collaborative project with Elizabeth James,
whom she first met online but subsequently saw offline on a regular
basis for a while.
 
< Mazzy > says, "similarly, I met Annie Milner/McGann first at trAce and
now see her because she did the MA course that I've just completed
the year before me...yes, Helen, finished now"
 
< Helen > I think I am at that point where old associations are
breaking but have no new ones yet
 
< runran > yes, it does look like loki at cybercide, but it seems
to be only one page
 
< Helen > what are you doing now then MAz?
 
< Helen > if too nosy please ignore
 
< Mazzy > says, "no...it's fine....although I'm not revealing
my bank account details for the log"
 
< Helen > ;;)
 
< Mazzy > says, "I'm doing some editing for the MA course anthology"
 
< Mazzy > says, "I think archive.org might have some old cybercide but...
it's impolite to search archives during a party...maybe..."
 
< Helen > I'm still hoping to teach new media on our MA - depends
whether anyone is interested in taking up the option
 
< Mazzy > says, "do you think you'll get any takers?"
 
< runran > i think we should start a rogue digital writing school
 
< Helen > ... I do feel the tech side of things has gone over my head too,
though. A lot of people are working in Flash now
 
< Helen > how "rogue"?
 
< Helen > Mazzy - probably not enough to run just yet -
maybe before I retire!!
 
< runran > hiya sue
 
< Mazzy > waves.
 
< sue > Hi all - sorry - I have a v dodgy connection here
 
< sue > took me 5 mins to get in
 
< Helen > just a mo - have got some bread out of bread machine and muct go
pinch crust before anyone else does brb
 
< runran > well, we are a dodgy lot ;-]
 
< Mazzy > attempts to hide runrans highwayman's hat and cloak and dagger.
 
< runran > that's dodgey ... isn't it
 
< sue > nice to see you mazzy
 
< Mazzy > says, "thanks! I thought you'd be busy having lots of offline
drinkies too around now."
 
< runran > i'm going for crackers, brb
 
< Mazzy > is going crackers.
 
< sue > oops that was odd
 
< Mazzy > says, "hmmm , what was?"
 
< sue > drinkies? that requires a social life!
 
< Mazzy > says, "well, don't people get to celebrate the end of an era,
the start of a new?"
 
< sue > i pressed the lightbulb on the right hand side of the screen an
fell into somewhere else
 
< runran > am crackers ... but found an apple instead
 
< sue > so you didnt see me go
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( surely even in Nottingham they do that? )
 
< Mazzy > shakes her head.
 
< sue > mazzy, we have a do on Tuesday
 
< Mazzy > say, "but I'm not all that observant."
 
< runran > i've been afraid to touch the lightbulb ... where does it lead?
 
< Mazzy > is glad to hear it.
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< sue > i am giving a seminar to the staff and then they will present me
with something and make a speech
 
< Mazzy > says, "probably to the tracebot spider's den"
 
< Mazzy > nods to Sue.
 
< sue > randy i dont know where i went!
 
< sue > then we have a drinks do in the evening fro all trAce people
 
< Mazzy > says, "life's like that sometimes, you go somewhere and
even when you get back you don't exactly know where you've been.
sometimes you never do get back."
 
< runran > an empty chatroom, it seems
 
< sue > shame you are not both in nottm so you can come
 
< Mazzy > says, "sorry about that."
 
< runran > i'd be late even if i started paddling now
 
< Mazzy > is based in Somerset now.
 
< sue > randy are you going to perform some kind of post office ceremony?
 
< Helen > somerset sounds nice
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( A Ceremonial shuffle and cutting of the imaginary cards? )
 
< Helen > (got half the crust)
 
< runran > well, it seems you can't cut and paste in thei chatspace ...
so i can't stick stamps all over the room
 
< Mazzy > cheers Helens hunter gathering skills.
 
< Mazzy > offers some peppered organic cheese and the tail end or the
stilton to go with it
 
< sue > are you going to make a speech then?
 
< Helen > nods thanx to maz
 
< Mazzy > says, "Randy, actually...stamp wallpaper would be preferable
to those silly roses"
 
< runran > maybe i'll give a speech after i finish about half this
bottle of wine
 
< sue > i have to go at 8
 
< Mazzy > smiles and passes around the Somerset scrumpy
to go with the cheese.
 
< sue > why did you make it a 3 hr chat?!!
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< runran > what's scrumpy?
 
< Mazzy > says, "Zyderrrrr"
 
< Mazzy > says, "or cider"
 
< Mazzy > says, "Well three hours is probably little more than
an hour per year that there haven't been regular chats, yes?"
 
< Mazzy > makes up statistics willy nilly.
 
< runran > i suspect people will drop in over the 3 hr period and will
make a nice log
 
< Mazzy > says, "is that like a Yule log?"
 
< runran > mez is hoping to arrive, but its early yet for her
 
< Mazzy > nods to runran.
 
< sue > great!
 
< runran > there were lots of times in the old trace chats when people
hung out for 3 hrs
 
< sue > true
 
< runran > jsut before you got here, sue, we were talking about loki
 
< Helen > never was at those - wow
 
< sue > oh yes, wonder what happened to him?
 
< runran > mazzy found a page that seems like him, but it's
only a greeting, really
 
< sue > did you email him mazzy?
 
< Mazzy > laughs at the idea of mistaking webpages for people.
 
< Mazzy > has only just gone looking.
 
< Mazzy > says, "okay...so according to archive.org....the page that's at
cybercide.co.uk now has appeared since Feb of this year"
 
< runran > i just sent an email to loki@cybercide and it didn't bounce
 
< sue > is there anyone else you have been remembering?
 
< Mazzy > says, "and in the tags for robots there's a comment about
'return in two weeks' but.....webmaster's 'underconstruction signs'
are a bit like the UK cones hotline idea...not really to be relied
on with regard to the world changing.
 
< sue > how is everdeen?
 
< Mazzy > remembers all sorts of people and is in touch with
Ev from time to time, indeed.
 
< sue > that's good to hear
 
< Mazzy > says to Sue, "I'm also in contact with Annie McGann."
 
< sue > ah yes, same area. she is doing lots of interesting things
 
< runran > ah, annie ... i forgot to email her about the chat
 
< Helen > I miss those emails where you used to tell me an error
on a page Maz - we don't hear from anyone hardl;y now
 
< sue > my sister tells me she is running poetry events in bristol
 
< Mazzy > laughs at Helen, "who'd have thought that you'd
lust after bug reports'"
 
< Mazzy > does pretty much the same now with fiction
writer's punctuation.
 
< runran > maz, are you editing fiction?
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( you appear to be writing a novel...do you want
me to help you stuff it up, or can you manage that by yourself?)
 
< runran > ha
 
< Mazzy > nods to Randy.
 
< runran > helen, pass the bread
 
< Helen > I dunno, one can get too nodtalgic. Time to move on!
 
< Helen > nice fresh wholemeal?
 
< Mazzy > tries to steal a bit of Helen's crust.
 
< Helen > not much butter left though - used it up making christmas
cakes for our last staff meeting tomorrow (sorry Randy! Will make
one next time I see you!)
 
< sue > oo that sounds tasty
 
< runran > i dunno, everytime i try to move on, i get caught in a loop
 
< Helen > slaps mazzy's hand away - you're NOT HAVING IT
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Helen > nod to randy
 
< Mazzy > says, "okay, I get the message Helen. What do you mean Randy?"
 
< runran > and loops are not bad things
 
< Mazzy > is pretty loopy.
 
< Helen > a loop is fine if it's working for you - say an upward spiral -
but if you're spiralling in the other direction, it's no good hanging on!
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( how would you ever knit anything if you couldn't do
multiple iterations of loops? )
 
< runran > i mean, i think about doing something entirely different,
and then someone emails that they want to adapt one of prose poems
to music .. or i think digital imagery is getting tiresome and i end
up working on hundreds of them in a collab ... that sort of thing
 
< Helen > I'm into looking and listening - what's everyone else doing....
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( those don't exactly *go anywhere but they will eventually
make something )
 
< Helen > you're obviously in the right kind of "loop" randy
 
< Helen > our loop's been trying to spit us out for a while
 
< Mazzy > smiles at runran. "well, and so it goes...if it has some sort of
creative energy behind it then do it..."
 
< Helen > nod at mazzy
 
< Mazzy > looks concerned at Helen.
 
< Helen > sometimes the loop comes to an end and you have to step out
 
< sue > Helen, it's simply weather
 
< Helen > it's life is what it is!
 
< runran > or step into the centre and watch it go round and round
 
< Helen > My life does that in 8-10 year cycles - does anyone else find that?
 
< Mazzy > says, "yeah, Sue...but sometimes the weather makes
all the trees fall down."
 
< runran > or step back and watch them converge
 
< runran > presently, we are caught in a metaphiric loop
 
< sue > then, mazzy, people take the wood to build things, and new trees grow
 
< Mazzy > says to Helen, "I think my life goes in unicycles"
 
< Helen > :)
 
< runran > i've never been able to ride one of those things
 
< Mazzy > smiles at Sue and nods thoughtfully, "perhaps...perhaps."
 
< Helen > what's a metaphiric loop
 
< runran > its a typo
 
< runran > metaphoric
 
< Helen > i'm collecting new types of fibres to make myself new loops
 
< runran > trees, unicycles, loops
 
< Mazzy > think the meta-Phyrric loop
 
< runran > ha
 
< Helen > always liked knitting with people...
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( the one you win but then it unravels )
 
< Mazzy > says, "apparently social knitting is terribly trendy now"
 
< Mazzy > says, "there's a local knitting night in a cafe on Mondays,
I've never been but I gather it's packed.
 
< sue > nice idea
 
< runran > good heavens
 
< sue > i used to study textiles
 
< Helen > there's a "flash mob" knitting website somewhere -
forgot where I saw it...
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "yeah, it's a decadent country,
Britain....public knitting"
 
< sue > had a knitting machine - that is what got me into computers really
 
< Mazzy > smiles at Sue.
 
< runran > i'm thinking of getting a sewing machine and learning how to
make t-shitrs
 
< Helen > cheers
 
< sue > but of course men were the first knitters
 
< sue > tshirts are hard to sew becase they stretch
 
< sue > doesnt joanne have a sewing machine?
 
< Helen > I have bought lots of machines that spread glue and cut out shapes
and things
so I can make things out of paper...
 
< Mazzy > smiles to herself at the hi-tech topics of conversation.
 
< runran > the idea is to take a bunch of t-shirts, cut them up and sew them as
patchworh t-shirts
 
< sue > do you do handicrafts mazzy?
 
< Mazzy > says to Helen, "oddly enough we were trying to figure out how to cut
and paste in this room earlier on"
 
< runran > we've got a couple of prototypes and they're lovely
 
< Mazzy > has a bit of a knitting habit, yeah. Since I've been a student again
this year I have been frugally making cushion covers too.
 
< Helen > cushionm covers out of knitted jumpers are trendy...
 
< Mazzy > just stuffs old jumpers into her cushion covers.
 
< sue > i used to make patchwork pillow cases to sell once
 
< Helen > have just mae a set of wine glass charms for my BIL christmas present -
that's wire and beads and GLUE
 
< runran > we make skirts from pillowcases ... the kids love them
 
< Helen > can';t imagine that - will have to see a picture
 
< Helen > so what's this got to do with post offices...
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > says to Helen, "shame on you, demanding coherence"
 
< runran > yes, well, maybe i should be moderating ... but i've always been fond
of the more off-topic topis
 
< sue > laughs
 
< Mazzy > pushes runran forward onto the rather rickety podium and mutters,
"speech, speech....Sue said she had to go soon....is there going
to be a speech and a toast"
 
< sue > at my staff seminar on tuesday i am going to deconstruct a chat log
 
< Mazzy > rummages around under the table and tries to find a toaster.
 
< runran > helen, pass the toast
 
< Helen > i wonder what they're going to say about you Sue - no-one's
mentioned it to any of us!
 
< Mazzy > tries to locate some more cheese that isn't actually running
off the plate of its own accord.
 
< runran > who's 'they', staff or admin
 
< Mazzy > says, "maybe it could be like a speech at the funeral where no one
really knew the departed...feed them all sorts of totally wrong lines
and then sit and snigger at the portrait painted?"
 
< runran > oh dear, that's an idea for a website of bogus memorials
 
< Mazzy > thinks that someone should be deliberately mis-briefing them.
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "is it?"
 
< Helen > well if they'd asked me ;)
 
< Mazzy > grins at Helen.
 
< sue > you forget that many of them know me v well - have been there since 1985
 
< Helen > I think we should ceremonially remove Sue's Borg headset
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "ahh....well, I really quite enjoy reading
50 word biogs...I've got into that lately"
 
< runran > ah, a bit of surgery
 
< Mazzy > says to Sue, "hmmm...not so easy to re-write you then, as I thought"
 
< sue > ironically, i have decided that the borg s one of the things that
has gone wrong with trAce
 
< sue > we/people expected too much assimilation
 
< Mazzy > says, "but maybe that borg-ectomy would do the trick.
In what way, Sue?"
 
< sue > i think it got quite unhealthy, dont you all agree?
 
< Helen > it was always a joke...
 
< Mazzy > thinks Sue means...in more serious ways.
 
< sue > yes, a great joke, but serious too - as mazzy says
 
< runran > unhealthy? expectations, maybe
 
< Mazzy > says, "in terms of compliance and people being...'on message', yes?"
 
< sue > compliance? interstingly thats not what i meant
 
< sue > i meant people expecting too much
 
< Helen > yeah, that's why I'm looking and listening now - makes
a change from preaching
 
< sue > expecting to have all their issues addressed and healed
 
< sue > aint possible
 
< Helen > mmm
 
< runran > healed?
 
< sue > yes
 
< sue > anyway I need to go!
 
< sue > but i may try to get back later
 
< Mazzy > says, "well, good luck on Tuesday"
 
< sue > i look forward to reading the log
 
< Mazzy > says, "and also next year."
 
< sue > thanks mazzy, it will be quite emotional i'm sure
 
< Mazzy > nods.
 
< sue > good luck to you though i dont think we will lose touch
 
< sue > sue waves and hopes to reytun in a bit
 
< runran > bye sue
 
< sue > congrats to randy on the post office!
 
< Mazzy > wonders if reytun is a Japanese dish.
 
< runran > got a lovely card yesterday
 
< runran > sushi, maybe
 
< Mazzy > asks runran, "is it up yet?"
 
< runran > yup
 
< Mazzy > waves to Sue.
 
< Mazzy > rushes to look at the new postcard.
 
< runran > horray, mez is here
 
< Mazzy > waves to mez!
 
< ][mez][ > helloha:)
 
< ][mez][ > not here for long unfortunately...have 2 b at work by 8
 
< ][mez][ > how goes it all?
 
< runran > timing is everything, sue just left
 
< ][mez][ > heh
 
< ][mez][ > of course;)
 
< Mazzy > eeks at an 8am start.
 
< ][mez][ > so whos doing wot these days?
 
< runran > i'm working on an audiovisual project for performance ...
digital animations and midi keyboards
 
< ][mez][ > excellent
 
< ][mez][ > sounds intriguing
 
< ][mez][ > ...+ helen? mazz?
 
< runran > are you teaching, wez?
 
< Mazzy > is mostly editing prose, offline, currently.
 
< runran > turn the w over
 
< ][mez][ > wez? is there a mez imposter in here *shapes up to it if so*
 
< Mazzy > says sympathetically to runran, "it's the down-under thing"
 
< runran > ha
 
< ][mez][ > ehehe
 
< runran > dies laughing
 
< ][mez][ > no, not teaching atm. doing a graphic designer job which
is doing my head in, unfortunately
 
< runran > ah, guest01597
 
< ][mez][ > elloha guest
 
< Mazzy > waves to the numeric guestie.
 
< ][mez][ > tests the irc emulation
 
< ][mez][ > ahh
 
< ][mez][ > lurverly
 
< runran > kewl
 
< ][mez][ > slowly d.IPS her head in the act.ion[and electron] lines_land
 
< ][mez][ > eek!
 
< Helen > Hello!
 
< ][mez][ > gives it back with lashings of apologetic flavouring
 
< Helen > long time no speak
 
< ][mez][ > hellen!
 
< ][mez][ > *mwah*
 
< ][mez][ > indeedy:)
 
< Helen > < hugs >
 
< runran > prods guest
 
< ][mez][ > prods runran in his ranrun
 
< Helen > < hugs mazzy and randy too >
 
< ][mez][ > :)
 
< simo > hi all
 
< runran > simon, greetings
 
< ][mez][ > ahh its simon:)
 
< simo > keyboard weird?ness
 
< ][mez][ > the old trAce crew, eh?;)
 
< simo > indeed old tr?Ace indeed
 
< runran > simo is fine, though reads a bit like a sumo wrestler
 
< ][mez][ > [well i wasn't official 1 of the crew, but i'll
thro myself in just 2 feel needed;)]
 
< Mazzy > waves to Simon.
 
< ][mez][ > sim[ulation]o
 
< ][mez][ > :)
 
< simo > you were certainly ?one of the old crew?
 
< Mazzy > has finally fought her way to look at the last
imaginary postcard and smiles.
 
< ][mez][ > man i'm overdosing on the smileys, sorry.
 
< simo > hi Maz
 
< ][mez][ > was i?
 
< ][mez][ > *blinks*
 
< runran > the old crew was all about community, i figures,
and we all fit that glove
 
< ][mez][ > ok:)
 
< ][mez][ > sure, of course.
 
< Helen > :)
 
< ][mez][ > pokes her semantic gland in awakefulness
 
< runran > i've chosen to open a beer instead of the bottle of wine ...
better burps
 
< ][mez][ > so wots happening with trAce these days? ever since the
webboard i've been largely out of touch?
 
< ][mez][ > heh
 
< Mazzy > sits and mutters 'did ye get healed?' to herself for no
intelligible reason.
 
< runran > mazzy is BAD
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > pleads guilty.
 
< ][mez][ > ob.serves her hair fly back in the gale-force burps
 
< runran > oh dear, sorry about that
 
< Mazzy > asks for a considerable number of other felonies to be
taken in, hemmed and then neatly edged with cross stitch.
 
< ][mez][ > wish i cpould have a beer, or a wine, but work calls
this mo[a|r]ning
 
< simo > it's evening for ?me but I'm on the t?ea
 
< Mazzy > says to mez, "i thought you lived in a laid back nation?"
 
< runran > what a respectable sort you are simon, we shall have to
see to that
 
< Mazzy > wonders what's with the early sober starts.
 
< ][mez][ > sounds like a job for ZOOPER FELON! *donning her undies on the
outside, all cross-stitched of course*
 
< Mazzy > is impressed (easily)
 
< Mazzy > wonders if the embossing really suits her.
 
< ][mez][ > mazz > > not anymore. haven't u heard? they changed our nations
name 2 "Little Americ" after the last election.
 
< runran > runs to bathroom for towel, dons it as a cape
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( is it a bird, is it a plane..no, it's SUPER MEZ )
 
< ][mez][ > eheh
 
< Helen > mez - i thought that was OUR nation
 
< Mazzy > boggles at Mez's interpretation, "hey...wait a minute.
THAT'S US YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT...WE'RE THE ONES WITH THE
"SPECIAL RELATIONSHOP" (sic)
 
< ][mez][ > me 2 helen
 
< Mazzy > laughs at Helen.
 
< runran > ha
 
< ][mez][ > heh mazz
 
< Mazzy > says, "okay, brevity won the sprint on that one"
 
< ][mez][ > man i hate cold toast.
 
< ][mez][ > ahah
 
< Mazzy > wonders what happens when you microwave cold toast.
 
< runran > i'll let you know in a minute
 
< ][mez][ > it probably inmplodes and take the world with it?
 
< ][mez][ > *yikes*
 
< ][mez][ > -n
 
< ][mez][ > crushes her typos in her mighty cross-stitch gloves
 
< Mazzy > says to mez, "maybe you could float it in cubes in
your coffee and call it croutons?"
 
< Mazzy > says, "warm it up that way."
 
< Helen > am going to go do domestic things... may be back later, not sure...
 
< Mazzy > points out to runran that he now has to begin a new project called
1001 things to do with cold toast
 
< Helen > byee
 
< Mazzy > waves to Helen and wishes her luck and hopes she gets a good share
of the rest o the (warm) bread
 
< ][mez][ > cya helen, nice 2 catch up [albeit briefly]
 
< runran > you have to come back helen, so i can tell you what happens
when i nuke the cold toast
 
< Helen > ok - or i'll read the log if it survives
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "don't you have to make some and let it
go cold first? or have you already done that bit?"
 
< Mazzy > isn't really keeping up with the conversation you can tell.
 
< ][mez][ > heh
 
< runran > i have two hours left
 
< simo > wh?ats on the toast it ?could be important?
 
< ][mez][ > 2 hrs?
 
< ][mez][ > of conversing?b4 it all dwindles to a slow halt?
 
< runran > damn, simon, you would complicate matters
 
< ][mez][ > wot r u upta these days simo?
 
< simo > gotta be scientif?ic about this stuf?f
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( bloody programmers wanting to put limits on all the parameters )
 
< ][mez][ > heh
 
< runran > ha
 
< ][mez][ > [gets out her toast calibrator]
 
< ][mez][ > ;)
 
< Mazzy > grins at Simo(n)
 
< runran > waits for simon to explain what he's up to
 
< ][mez][ > [as do we all]
 
< Mazzy > says, "yes..what are your future plans?"
 
< simo > I'm working ?on a presentatio?n and cooking dinne?r
 
< simo > no microwave tho?
 
< Mazzy > smiles.
 
< runran > toast just popped
 
< ][mez][ > eheh
 
< ][mez][ > wots for dinner?
 
< simo > literally?
 
< simo > roast? things
 
< ][mez][ > yum.
 
< simo > english st?yle
 
< ][mez][ > ooooh
 
< Mazzy > thinks runran needs to check with simon the optimum length
of time to let it go cold before attempting to reheat.
 
< simo > yummy
 
< ][mez][ > tho my recently vegetarian ethic mite object to the meat:)
 
< simo > tric?ky, toast therm?odynamics is compli?cated
 
< ][mez][ > whack it in the frisdge?
 
< ][mez][ > -s
 
< Mazzy > tries to find mez some left over cheese for the cold toast.
 
< ][mez][ > yay!
 
< ][mez][ > is a total cheesaholic
 
< runran > reports that toast is in the freezer
 
< Mazzy > says to mez, "don't worry if it streams off the plate...
it's just runny that way...here's a spoon."
 
< Mazzy > watches the peppered cheeze oooooze alarmingly in mez's direction.
 
< simo > fondue?
 
< Mazzy > sets the toast chilling timer.
 
< Mazzy > says to simo(n), "ideal"
 
< Mazzy > says, "it'll be something to do with those cubes of cold toast"
 
< runran > does everyone have a fondue set collecting dust?
 
< ][mez][ > peppered cheese doesn't scare me, but cheese with choc
or fruit does *shudder*
 
< Mazzy > . o o ( if there's anything left of them after runrann has nuked em )
 
< simo > nah ?I missed the 70's?
 
< runran > ha
 
< Mazzy > says, "alas I am probably a little too old and too young
 
< ][mez][ > u can get em at any 2nd hand store here, rr.
 
< Mazzy > missed them the first time around and then again the second
 
< ][mez][ > i was born in the 70's:)
 
< Mazzy > says whistfully, "but they were a staple of the conveyor belt
prizes on The Generation Game"
 
< simo > well I was ali?ve in the 70's but ?my parents would ne?ver
let me play wit?h fondue
 
< runran > heya marg
 
< Mazzy > waves enthusiastically to Margaret.
 
< simo > cuddly t?oy!
 
< Mazzy > jumps up and down a little, "hello, hello, hello"
 
< Mazzy > says, "exactly, Simon...the fondue set, the cuddly toy,
the curling tongs..."
 
< ][mez][ > marg!!
 
< Margaret > Hi, Have I entered a private discussion
 
< Margaret > Thought the time was 10pm
 
< ][mez][ > nope
 
< ][mez][ > nothing private about us
 
< Mazzy > says to Margaret, "how are you! I spotted my copy of Black Anis
on the shelf the other day and thought about you."
 
< runran > you guys have no idea how thrilled i am to see the names
in the left frame ... it's just sooooooo cuddly feeling
 
< ][mez][ > paints herself with public gloss
 
< ][mez][ > :)
 
< Mazzy > grins as fluffily as possilbe (it's not remotely convincing)
 
< ][mez][ > i miss trAce, actually.
 
< Margaret > Great! Wonderful to be with you all
 
< runran > 7 - 10, though we have a very important experiment
happening and so may go longer
 
< simo > it's a bi?t of a flashback
 
< runran > runs off to check cold toast
 
< ][mez][ > is the toast frosty yet?
 
< Mazzy > explains to Margaret (unhelpfully), "Randy is experimenting with toast"
 
< Margaret > I was thinking about you too, Mazzy. Wondering how
the MA course was going
 
< Mazzy > says, "it's a little difficult to....well...who knows why"
 
< Mazzy > says to Margaret, "thanks, done and dusted now."
 
< runran > tepid
 
< ][mez][ > hmm
 
< Mazzy > keeps meaning to send Margaret the low down on her balcony
garden this year but it hasn't happened yet.
 
< ][mez][ > sends a contained ice-age in rr direction
 
< Margaret > experiment?
 
< runran > hehe
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( who knows, by 2009 I might have downloaded and
cropped the pictures )
 
< ][mez][ > ack
 
< Mazzy > says to Margaret, "Randy is experimenting to see whether
you can heat cold toast in the microwave."
 
< ][mez][ > i have to go to work now?:(
 
< runran > thanks maz
 
< Mazzy > says, "at great personal danger...who knows what will happen...
but first he has to cook hot toast and chill it"
 
< ][mez][ > can some1 email me the toast results?;)
 
< Mazzy > waves frantically to mez.
 
< runran > mez, it was great to have you aboard
 
< ][mez][ > netwurker@hotkey.net.au
 
< Mazzy > laughs. "They'll probably lie!"
 
< runran > i'll email results of experiment
 
< ][mez][ > thx all, and wonder.full 2 c u all kiking along
 
< runran > after i scan them
 
< ][mez][ > eheh
 
< Mazzy > says, "bye"
 
< ][mez][ > take care all.
 
< simo > post the results on a? card Randy
 
< simo > see y?a
 
< Margaret > DEpends how much moisture hit has gained since
it came out of the toaster
 
< runran > it's in the freezer, marg
 
< Mazzy > says, "actually, that would be rather fitting....a postcard on
the toast experiment from the postmaster"
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( makes no actual sense, but then why should it? )
 
< Margaret > I.e. how stweamy his kitchen is
 
< runran > always more to do, i'm overwhelmed
 
< Mazzy > says to Margaret, "ah now...you're being as scientific as Simon...
wanting to know the ambient humidity"
 
< runran > this ne media stuff is sure time consuming
 
< Mazzy > nods to runran.
 
< Margaret > The freezer should have added enough ice
 
< runran > brb
 
< simo > toast is old? media surely
 
< Mazzy > waits expectently and thinks that....surely freezing it
is not the same as *letting it go cold* it might affect
the experimental results.
 
< runran > it's in the microwave
 
< Margaret > You're right, Mazzy, it will
 
< Mazzy > ponders simo's comment, "but if we take into account the
postulate 8-10 year loopy cycle effect hypothesised by Sue & Helen
earlier I think you'll find that what goes around comes around
and toast may be trendy and new any day now.
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( or perhaps that was yesterday that it was
new and today it's old again? )
 
< Mazzy > exclaims to runran, "toasty ringtones...that's what you
need to get into"
 
< simo > I'll toast t?hat Maz
 
< Mazzy > says, "a ringtone that sounds like a toaster popping up
 
< runran > good lord ... there's an image of elvis on the nuked toast!!!!
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > wonders if she should have got runran to sign a royalty deal
before giving him the start of a multimillion pound industry.
 
< runran > too late, it's already on ebay
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( whistling kettle ringtones, pinging microwave rintones )
 
< Margaret > Randy, I'll make a confession mow. I never understood the
Imaginary Post office scheme, or ratheer I didn't understand how the stamps
and cards got together as I didn't have a virtual tonge
 
< Mazzy > curses.
 
< Mazzy > smiles at Margaret and listens for runran's explanation.
 
< simo > elvis? speaks in mysterio?us ways
 
< runran > you chose a stamp and email text using the
[apparantly not so handy] form
 
< Mazzy > has been reliably informed that the best Elvis impersonators
are Chinese, but doesn't want to be sued for inciting ratial hatred
against Elivis impersonators from other ethnic groups.
 
< runran > somehow that doesn't surprise me
 
< Mazzy > tries very hard not to think about cyber licking.
 
< runran > i have a friend who travelled the world photgraphing gypsies
and she has a shot with a velvet elvis in a gypsy wagon
 
< Mazzy > sincerely hopes that runran will clean up all the typos in the log
(not to mention throwing away the more spurious bits)
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( a 'velvet elvis' is very mellifluous )
 
< runran > i will be judicious, but will keep the entire log for
blackmailing purposes
 
< Mazzy > says, "alas, I'm sure you will...I thought no better of you"
 
< Margaret > Have you another project that you would like public participation
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( and what's with the dead letter office )
 
< runran > letters you meant to send or were mismailed to you, that sort of thing
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( he wants people to send him jam by email? )
 
< Margaret > He could come to a sticky end
 
< runran > i refuse to put jam on my scanner ... that's so old media
 
< Mazzy > nods cautiously at runran.
 
< runran > hey, i know about cutting edge stuff
 
< Mazzy > groans, "Margaret, that's *dreadful"
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "no, you know about *cutting toast*..oh, I forgot...
it's the same thing now
 
< Margaret > Do you know if Everdeen is taking part in this
 
< Mazzy > can't keep up with all the trends.
 
< runran > simon, how's the presentaion coming, or have you spilt tea on it?
 
< Mazzy > says, "I don't know if Ev will be able to drop in, Margaret"
 
< simo > it's ok ?but I need to go for ?dinner
 
< simo > soz to only ?pop by
 
< runran > got your xmas card, thanks
 
< simo > s'ok
 
< simo > see yo?u all around guys
 
< Mazzy > waves to simo
 
< runran > thanks for dropping in smon
 
< Margaret > Bye, Simon
 
< simo > good luck with all? future projects? everyone
 
< simo > bye
 
< runran > that's it for the official trace presence in our chat
 
< Mazzy > says snidely to the remaining guests, "that's a nastly looking bit
of punctuation simo had there.....probably too many roast dinners"
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( he'd broken out in question marks all over )
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( or a late season break in PunctuNation )
 
< runran > when i visited, simon made mexican food ... he is not to be
trusted in the kitchen
 
< runran > and i go on record with that
 
< Mazzy > smiles.
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "you just have."
 
< runran > i find it interesting that a newsletter can be sent out to hundreds
of people and we are left with 3 people in this chatroom
 
< Mazzy > says, "and then there were three and the spider makes four"
 
< Margaret > Mexican Food. Does anyone know how to use pickled lemons.
They were reduced from £3.39 to 39p at Sainsbury's yesterday
 
< runran > snap
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "oh, don't be worrying about that.....always the way"
 
< runran > pickled lemons?????
 
< Mazzy > says to Margaret, "such a bargain"
 
< Margaret > Says on the jar, a valuable ingredient in Mexican dishes
 
< runran > that's so the lemons don't rot in the heat
 
< Mazzy > "well there's always....
 
< runran > listens
 
< Mazzy > "the simple expedient of searching on teh web or 'pickled lemons'
 
< Margaret > Randy, is trace going to continue/
 
< Margaret > Or are you closing down because you will lose trace space
 
< runran > it's up in the air, marg
 
< Mazzy > says sarcastically, "or you could always toast them in the toaster,
freeze them in the freezer, reheat them in the microwave
and then email them to Randy"
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "well....the officials have gone...and you're editing
the log, so...you can tell us what you like now"
 
< Margaret > Of course, Mazzy, now why didn't I think of that for myself
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( because Margaret has a lot more sense? )
 
< runran > my guess is that the submit form will no longer work, at some point,
so am archiving the post office
 
< runran > i can't imagine it disappearing without a trace
 
< Mazzy > says, "it seems kinder in a way to have an orderly decommissioning"
 
< Margaret > By the way how are your successes doing?. Was your course valuable?
 
< Mazzy > is glad to have done the course Margaret, thanks.
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "but...if you put nothing in then...
there's no kudos there to be had...that's the silly thing"
 
< Mazzy > says, "it's like grabbing for a song bird and squeezing it really
tight by the neck so it doesn't fly away and you lose it and its singing....
you just have a bird corpse in your hand"

< runran > yes, mazzy, that's a good analogy
 
< Mazzy > says, "we could do train metaphors and....seafaring ones and..."
 
< Margaret > It's Leoicester's second university but for these upgraded
techs it has a good reputation
 
< Mazzy > says, "oh lots of things...but lets stick with toast
and pickled lemons"
 
< Margaret > and pecks of picled peppers
 
< Margaret > Not over rated ones in movies though
 
< Mazzy > nods.
 
< Margaret > and will get there by canal boat. Sue's new flat overlooks
our upgraded canal
 
< runran > we could start a website called 'without a trace'
 
< Mazzy > smiles at Margaret, "I live close to the Kennet & Avon...
I enjoy walking along the canal and the river"
 
< runran > the url is up for grabs ;-}
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > wonders if it would have a toast theme?
 
< Margaret > Is it. Can you run a check on that?
 
< runran > oh dear, it's a garment repair site ... reweavers ;-}
 
< Margaret > In what country?
 
< runran > .net is gone too
 
< runran > .org is up for grabs
 
< Margaret > Okay. I'm willing.
 
< runran > it's so arrgravting not being able to post urls in this chatspace
 
< runran > withoutatrace.org is an interesting idea
 
< Margaret > It sort of goes with imaginary post offices
 
< runran > i will register the domain name and ....
 
< Margaret > give us time to think
 
< runran > where's mazzy got off to
 
< runran > i just know she's up to something
 
< Mazzy > sorry I got lost in my mail box
 
< Margaret > Alan would love the idea, losing one's website every week
 
< Mazzy > "people threatening to come and see me in person...too scary
 
< runran > he's busy today, just emailed me
 
< Margaret > And I was just about to do that, Mazzy.
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > says to Margaret, "well, maybe after christmas
it would be a less terrifying thought"
 
< Margaret > I nearly emailed you and suggested meeting up for
coffee when I was driving down to Cornwall
 
< Mazzy > says to Margaret, "when are go travelling?"
 
< Mazzy > "errr are you
 
< Mazzy > tries to translate her speech into English
 
< Margaret > I've been, but may go again soon. My sister ha inope3rable cancer
 
< Mazzy > nod sympathetically.
 
< Mazzy > says, "Sorry to hear that....but if you are going through then yes,
I would like to meet if I can"
 
< Margaret > (Note- how to put adampner on a social chat) Don't worry.
She is being very cheerful about it. Comes of having faith
 
< Mazzy > nods to Margaret.
 
< Margaret > Wish I had
 
< Mazzy > considers, "well, it probably has certain advantages"
 
< Margaret > But am not clever enough to fool God
 
< Mazzy > smiles and wonders if Randy has registered the domain name yet.
 
< Margaret > Mazzy, has anything brilliant happened in your life recently
 
< Mazzy > doesn't think she'd go that far.
 
< Margaret > I reaally would love your balcony photos, preferably
embellished woth your own bookmcovers
 
< runran > i'm not that fast maz, but if you think i should
 
< Mazzy > wouldn't presume to suggest to suppose.
 
< Mazzy > will try to document her balcony garden one day.
 
< Margaret > Do you accept contributins to cost via ppaypal
 
< Margaret > for the domain name, I mean
 
< runran > well, i will register the name, it's cheap enough,
and then we can disucss a host
 
< runran > hehe
 
< runran > or isthat, discuss a toast
 
< Mazzy > or roast a discussion
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( or disgust a toad )
 
< runran > oh dear, that's going to be a very difficult experiment
 
< Margaret > so long as we don't get too pickled with those toasts
 
< Mazzy > says, "speaking of which...how goes it?"
 
< runran > burps
 
< Mazzy > reminds runran, "about the toast experiment"
 
< Mazzy > tries to hide the rest of the beer so that we actually
get some results.
 
< runran > elvis is already in paint shop pro
 
< Margaret > BRB whilew I look to see if theres any wine left from family party.
 
< runran > one thing's a real surprise, though ... no one's been
chucked from this chat applet
 
< Mazzy > only seems to have leftover cake and cheese.
 
< Mazzy > says, "that's unusual is it? well we lost a guest earlier but...
who knows.."
 
< Margaret > Back now. Can't believe it. There was some
 
< Mazzy > cheers.
 
< Mazzy > says, "Cheers"
 
< Mazzy > hoists a glass of orange juice by way of a toast.
 
< runran > wipping crumbs off the scanner
 
< Mazzy > says, "so....to be a little on-topic...in between toast
scanning and exploding..."
 
< Margaret > I lift a toast to "withoutatrace"
 
< runran > lifting beer can
 
< Mazzy > says, "Randy, what's it been like....running the Imaginary
Post Office for all these years?"
 
< Mazzy > drinks to almost anything these days.
 
< runran > like the maytag repair man ... do you know of him?
 
< Margaret > No
 
< Mazzy > says, "tell us more"
 
< runran > ah ....
 
< runran > maytag is a brand of washer/dryer ...
 
< runran > they have an advert with a repair man always sleeping
 
< Margaret > Canadian, I presume
 
< runran > it's been a longstanding gag
 
< Peter > Wondering if I'm late for the party
 
< runran > yo peter
 
< Peter > You
 
< Mazzy > smiles and waves.
 
< Margaret > Hi Peter. Is it Peter Howardf?
 
< Peter > No, Peter Garner
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( griffen? )
 
< runran > you have although missed a rather important experiment with toast
 
< Mazzy > "ah ha! wrong both times
 
< runran > from nevadachat
 
< Peter > Anyone else show up from Nevada?
 
< Mazzy > waves and welcomes Peter anyway, suddenly realising why the
name is vaguely familiar.
 
< runran > not yet, but paula said she was going to drop by, and shisa
 
< Margaret > But are in at the beginning of a new project.
 
< Peter > Ah, great. New project?
 
< Margaret > The greatest yet if only we could think what it was about
 
< Peter > Not sure how long I can stay... Just got back from a gig in T.O.
 
< elvis > i'm toasted
 
< Mazzy > catches sight of the cheese running nimbly in the direction
of the toast and tries to head it off.
 
< Mazzy > gasps.
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( can it be true? )
 
< elvis > what did you expect
 
< Peter > Hey, what time is it in the UK now?
 
< Mazzy > blinks.
 
< Margaret > Well wouldn't you retaliate if someone tried to take your head off
 
< Mazzy > says, "around 9.20 pm Peter"
 
< Mazzy > supposes so.
 
< Peter > thanks Mazzy
 
< elvis > and 1:20 on the west coast of canada ... but don't tell anyone
i'm here ... it's been so nice and quiet
 
< Peter > ;-)
 
< Mazzy > says to Peter, "we had mez here from Australia earlier,
just before heading off to work at 8am on Monday morning
 
< elvis > brb
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( Elvis has left the building )
 
< Peter > Quite the international crowd
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( tries to find a crumb of comfort...in the toaster )
 
< Mazzy > screws up her syntax good and proper but blames the cheese not the cider.
 
< Margaret > How does Elvis send images here
 
< elvis > apparantly i can't paste urls, but give me a few secs
 
< Mazzy > suspects that Elvis is an imposter.
 
< sue > hi again
 
< Margaret > Hi Sue
 
< Peter > Hi sue
 
< Mazzy > waves and introduces Sue to our very own Elivis impersonator.
 
< sue > hi peter, margaret and elvis - long time no see elvis
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< sue > smiles
 
< Margaret > Sue how is the flat?
 
< sue > v nice but noisy when the clubs are open
 
< Margaret > Until 2am?
 
< Peter > Well, I just popped in to say hi. Please give my regards
and thanks to Randy when he gets back
 
< sue > not yhat lately fortunately
 
< Mazzy > nudges Elivis and wonders if he should step back into the limelight
and get a job keeping Sue awake into the early hours of the morning.
 
< sue > peter is randy not here?
 
< Peter > Well, I suspect he might be in disguise...
 
< Mazzy > lifts up Elvis's wig and points out some slightly longer locks.
 
< Peter > And blow a kiss to shisa and paula IF they show up...
 
< elvis > i'm back
 
< sue > now i am completely confused
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( who isn't )
 
< elvis > oh dear, there was an experiment while you were gone sue,
having to do with toast and elvis ...
 
< sue > i can imagine
 
< elvis > it started with mez and simon
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( don't try to explain...it's never going to sound sane )
 
< sue > sounds like you have all beeen recapturing the old trAce
 
< Mazzy > says, "what...us?"
 
< Mazzy > tries to look innocent.
 
< elvis > no way
 
< sue > pokes around for crumbs of webboard
 
< Mazzy > says earnestly, "no animals were harmed in the making of this
Elvis-toast...only, perhaps..a few pickled lemons"
 
< sue > smiles
 
< Margaret > I have been reading a series might interest you, Sue.
"OTherworld" by Tad WIlliams
 
< sue > tell me more
 
< Margaret > Now that does get confusing at times
 
< Margaret > Basicall set in future Moos
 
< Mazzy > scratches carelessly at an old scabbed over sore and wonders if it
will ever heal.
 
< sue > really?
 
< sue > so what did i miss?
 
< elvis > are future moos more like the holodeck, or still textual?
 
< Margaret > Didn't have proper closure on vol 1 roughly 1000 wors with about
fifty main characters. Does a brilliant job of synopses in vols 2 & 3
 
< Mazzy > flicks a few toasted crumbs onto the floor.
 
< sue > blimey sounds rather epic!
 
< sue > smiles at mazzy
 
< Margaret > In this lot impossible to tell from RL and at this juncture none
of the by now about 150 main characters can get back into RL
 
< sue > i think i might give that one a miss margaret
 
< Margaret > One suspects that is because VR is RL and vice vwersa
 
< sue > yes that makes sense
 
< Mazzy > isn't very good with books that have cast lists that
look like a phone book
 
< elvis > not a problem we'll have with this chat log ;-)
 
< sue > who was here while i was away? simon, mez?
 
< sue > peter
 
< Mazzy > nods to Sue.
 
< Margaret > Well there aren't cast lists. Might make it easier to follow.
I reckon I have now read 3000 pages and am beginning to wonder
how many more vols there are
 
< elvis > i always wonder what everyone's up to during long silences
 
< sue > i just froze up again
 
< Margaret > What time did this marathon start and were you here
at the beginning Mazzy
 
< elvis > staring, thinking
 
< Mazzy > spent all her long silences paging Elvis.
 
< Mazzy > trying to get an autograph to auction on ebay
 
< Margaret > Are you that famous already, Mazzy
 
< sue > hello paula!
 
< Margaret > Hi Paula
 
< Paula > hello everybody
 
< Mazzy > cautions Sue against entering the microwave after her time
in the freezer.
 
< elvis > paula, welcome
 
< Mazzy > waves to Paula.
 
< Paula > thanks, elvis.
 
< Paula > hiciao, Mazzy
 
< Margaret > BLa?me the double returns on my temperature that
I used aas an excuse to stay in and get to this chat
 
< elvis > sue, you'll remember paula from her article on
the wandering library ... she lives in italy
 
< sue > are you ill margaret?
 
< sue > yes I do remember her - nice to have you here Paula!
 
< Margaret > Not as Ill as I con other people I am, Mazzy
 
< Mazzy > hopes that something curative can be made out of pickled lemons.
 
< elvis > and spent some time on trace webboard during the time of the
atlantean refugees
 
< Paula > nice to be here. I thought I was early; isn't it 9:30 there?
 
< sue > it's 9.30 in the uk - the chat ends at 10 uk time
 
< elvis > or not, as the case may be
 
< Margaret > Hey, another one who thought it started at 10pm
 
< sue > but no doubt randy can keep going!
 
< elvis > ha
 
< Margaret > Snap Paula
 
< elvis > ouch
 
< Paula > Randy sent me an e-mail and h wrote: 10:00. Here it's 10:40
 
< elvis > robert!!!
 
< Robert > Hi Elvis, robert here
 
< Margaret > Hi Robert, are you an Atlantean too?
 
< sue > is this the dutch robert?
 
< Robert > Atlantean??
 
< Robert > Yes dutch robert
 
< sue > hi again dutch robert
 
< Margaret > Hi Dutch Robert
 
< Paula > no, there was no Robert when Atalntic sank
 
< Mazzy > waves.
 
< Paula > hello, Robert
 
< elvis > robert is from holland, an old and dear friend, he was at
incubation this past summer
 
< Margaret > typing Mazzy! I guess you meant in the waves
 
< Robert > dear friend? or nemisis?
 
< elvis > your choice ;-)
 
< Robert > Okay enough frivolity what's going on?
 
< Paula > is Randy coming?
 
< elvis > robert writes for the european space agency [do i have that right ? ]
 
< Margaret > A new project for a start, Robert
 
< elvis > oh dear, paula ... i am he ... brbr ... changing nick
 
< Robert > yes esa, specialised in satellite telecommunications yuch
 
< runran > fits better
 
< Paula > you, elvis are Randy?
 
< Paula > runran, yes , that I recognize
 
< Mazzy > explains to Paula that the Elvis impersonator thing is a
new career plan of Randy's.
 
< sue > Randy has anyone congratulated you on the imaginary post office yet?
i think we should - its quite an achievement
 
< Margaret > Tha?t feels more comfotable Randy. I was getting quite nervy
of that beheaded Elvis
 
< Paula > ciao shister
 
< Mazzy > waves to Shisa.
 
< sue > Hi Shisa
 
< runran > welll paula, we've been in this chatspace for almost 3 hrs ...
have alerady completed a new media project with nuked toast and elvis ...
we're selling it on ebay ... you'll have to read the chat log
 
< Paula > are you going to start a singing carreer, runran?
 
< runran > greeting shisa
 
< Margaret > Hello Shisa
 
< Shisa > Sorry to come at the tail end -- champagne is on tap and a
violin player in the corner I see . :)
 
< Margaret > With lupine lupins, Shisa
 
< runran > hehe
 
< Paula > jeez, Shi, I had missed the champagne ( noticed the violin,though)
 
< Mazzy > had almost forgotten the loopy lupins.
 
< runran > are you lost yet robert
 
< Mazzy > had thought that was just a mouse after the cheese.
 
< Shisa > Paula -- it is Italian Prozac, prosecco
 
< Shisa > will miss the post office
 
< Robert > why did it have to end?
 
< runran > it will still be there, but as an archive
 
< Paula > well, it's as good as champagne, and you know it
 
< runran > the dead letter office, on the other hand ...
 
< Shisa > we can have fun in the archive then...
 
< Margaret > archived where, eventually?
 
< Mazzy > makes a sort of snorty "Pah...archives" noise and then buttons her lip.
 
< runran > hopefully it will stay on the trace server, right sue?
 
< sue > of course, it will be part of the archive if you would like that
 
< Margaret > All wait with bated breath
 
< sue > mazzy, do you have an opinion on archives?
 
< Paula > Sue, my congratulations for your appointment
 
< sue > Thanks Paula, nice of you
 
< Mazzy > says carefully, "only that....if you store things in the attic then...
you never use them...but you can keep them there until one day you have to admit
they're no longer used and then throw them out"
 
< Margaret > Qite right, Paula. Leicester is a vastly superior place to Nottingham
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( and isn't an archive a bit like an attic? )
 
< Shisa > sorry, collection time here-- this post card has to fly off to dreamland,
ciao and thanks Randy
 
< Paula > I meant to write and send my congratulations, but it has not
been an easy on UNbusy period
 
< sue > i hope that won't happen with trAce - were' working hard to make it actually
more accessible via the archive - that is the point of it
 
< runran > shisa, you just got here?
 
< sue > also the british library is archiving it too
 
< Paula > Shis, do you have to go?
 
< Margaret > Brilliant, Sue
 
< Robert > ?everybody's archiving, big business for librarians
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( yeah but then so are overdue fines )
 
< Robert > randy?
 
< sue > its weird really, that we are all starting to panic about how we can capture
something which was always so uncapteurable before
 
< Margaret > I must admit I am buying books now as it is cheaper than paying the fined
 
< Mazzy > smiles at Margaret.
 
< sue > good for you margaret!
 
< Mazzy > watched a librarian today photographing the layout of a library
(to archive it?) before it gets rearranged
 
< runran > can librarians archive projects like trace?
 
< Robert > interesting project
 
< runran > the site can be housed, but making it searchable is important, i think
 
< Robert > like trace, no it'll just disappear in cyberspace someday
 
< runran > ah
 
< sue > robert, it wont, er are setting it in concrete
 
< Robert > you have to pay sbdy to store it on a server
 
< Margaret > Well you can now just google it
 
< sue > that is all sorted out already
 
< runran > the brit library will be around for awhile
 
< Paula > buit will the archives, too, disappear in cyberspace?
 
< runran > i'd really like it if everyoine could describe where they are
sitting, and what they see
 
< Robert > sorted out? that's good news, tell us more
 
< Paula > you mean now?
 
< Margaret > fingers crossed on that, Randy. If I were an Inuit terrorist that
might be my prime targer
 
< runran > yes, now
 
< Paula > I am sitting at my desk in my study.
 
< Robert > I see my Imac, listening to Ned 3 in my study
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( it sort of misess the point...the natural history isn't a natural
habitat or even a zoo..it's...a lot of stuffed dead things )
 
< Paula > Can see only all the books and the Hi-Fi
 
< sue > robert we have Nesta funding to archive it and also
the British Library is archiving it on an ongoing basis as
a national treasure :)
 
< Robert > oh excellent, congrats
 
< runran > bare apple trees in my backyard, through a plastic
hawaiian shower curtain
 
< sue > i am in my lounge. it's quiet. the door onto the
balcony is open and it is getting chilly
 
< Robert > classy adams
 
< runran > two empty beer cans
 
< Robert > just 2?
 
< Paula > is there still light there, Randy?
 
< runran > yes, but cloudy and dim
 
< Robert > holland is cold and dark
 
< runran > i am listening to an old friend, his band's cd,
a group together for 3o years, called tacoy ryde
 
< Paula > hey, we Europeans are always ahead:-)
 
< runran > do you have a lamp on, paula
 
< Robert > tacoy ride was that dennis'
 
< Robert > europe rocks
 
< runran > yup
 
< Paula > yes, on my right, a silver lamp
 
< Paula > and music playing in the background
 
< runran > am i the only person with the sun stillshining
 
< Robert > time zones adams time zones
 
< Margaret > I am sitting in my study on a dining room chair in front of my
main computer. This is the one room of the house, Christmas has not taken over,
except I put the drinks trolley in here last night as there was no room in the
conservarory because in a moment of weakness I had agrreed to overwinter my
daughterr-in-laws plants. Oh yes, and out of the window I can see the bunches
of grape lights strung round my porch that I suspect wee left over after 
 
< Margaret > Florence equivalent of the society of victuallers had
sent them round to their members 
 
< runran > a spinning earth
 
< runran > beautiful marg
 
< runran > i'm smoking, not supposed to in the house, naughty me
 
< Robert > what's a grape light marg?
 
< Mazzy > laughs and remembers Randy arriving at Gatwick and having to rush
outside for a crafty cigarette
 
< Paula > you smoking? shame on you, Randy! LOL, smiling because I thought
I was the only smoker
 
< Robert > i'm smoking shag
 
< runran > experiment report: toast is very tough
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< Mazzy > asks, "but is it warm?"
 
< runran > i'll sit on it
 
< Margaret > Bunkes of bulbs tied together to imitate bunches of grapes.
Tatty, I know, but I have a childs love of tat
 
< Mazzy > frowns, puzzled.
 
< runran > that didn't work
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( the man is now trying to incubate toast )
 
< Robert > thanks marg
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( these metaphors have become unduly mixed )
 
< Paula > I like that too, Margaret
 
< sue > i wont even ask what you are doing randy!
 
< runran > incubate the toast ... now that's almost worth a grant application
 
< Mazzy > shakes her head, sorrowfully.
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( this is what it comes down to in the end, smoking sea birds,
pickling livers and sitting on toast )
 
< runran > maz, are you sit sitting on the edge of your ved
 
< runran > b
 
< sue > folks i have to go again
 
< Mazzy > is doing some approximation of 'reclining'
 
< Mazzy > waves to Sue.
 
< runran > bye sue, thanks for stopping in
 
< sue > it has been great to meet up with you once more -
randy thanks for organising this!
 
< Paula > bye, Sue. I'll have to go soon, have to go to school tomorrow
 
< sue > happy new year to everyone - and hopes for peace in 2005
 
< Paula > nice to see you here
 
< sue > you too!
 
< runran > yes, peace, please
 
< sue > waves to all
 
< Paula > waves back
 
< Mazzy > tries to sweep away the line of crumbs..."oh..."
 
< Mazzy > says, "that's what they were"
 
< Margaret > Does that mean "the End" Randy?
 
< runran > yeah, well
 
< Robert > sorry i was away, 'have i got nws for you' is on
 
< Margaret > In that case won't outstay my welcome
 
< Mazzy > is still trying to figure out how you 'preserve'
something by encasing it in concrete and dumpint it in the british library
 
< Margaret > So bye everyone
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( give me 30 pennorth of pickled lemons any day )
 
< runran > bye marg
 
< Mazzy > "bye Margaret, take care
 
< Robert > bye marg
 
< Paula > bye Margaret
 
< Robert > concrete lasts forever
 
< Mazzy > sighs.
 
< Robert > i'm joking maz
 
< runran > i bought a 50lb concrete gargolye ... it's on the bookshelf staring at me
 
< Mazzy > says to Robert, "navel fluff probably does too in a cosmological sense but..."
 
< Robert > whut duz that mean
 
< Paula > that's a concrete thing, Randy
 
< Mazzy > says, "well, the best jokes are true....I think it means I'm old bitter
(like the lemons) and twisted but...
 
< runran > it has such a lovely impish expression
 
< Robert > my jokes are only bent not twisted
 
< Mazzy > says, "also that....that....just because something endures...
why would anyone else want to seek it out and look at it"
 
< Mazzy > sticks her tongue out at Randy's gargoyle
 
< runran > gargolye smiles back
 
< Robert > you never know why someone would findit interesting...posterity
 
< Paula > gargoyle make me think of Les Miserables
 
< Paula > the cartoon
 
< runran > on the corners of the buildings
 
< runran > the cartoon?
 
< Paula > LOL, sorry was answering mu friend's question. The movie
 
< Paula > my
 
< Mazzy > offers up a gargoyle of her own... http:/www.unfurling.net/temp/bath/snow4.jpg
 
< Mazzy > says, "oops there's a / missing but you get the gist
 
< runran > email it maz, can't grab it in here
 
< Paula > can't either
 
< Robert > makes 3
 
< runran > this is a goofy chat interface
 
< Paula > well, folks, bedtime ( my husband says). Nice to talk to you all. Bye
 
< runran > cheers paula
 
< Robert > have i got news for you is quite entertaining
 
< runran > thanks for being a part of the post office
 
< Robert > you going randy/
 
< runran > nope
 
< Robert > oh
 
< runran > i like chats when they get down to this stage
 
< Robert > the ridic stage
 
< runran > i've always enjoyed watching a chat wind down
 
< Robert > mazzy you staying longer, otherwise im stuck with thias guy
 
< Mazzy > "well...bye all that are off...
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< runran > hehe
 
< Robert > yuk yuk
 
< runran > mazzy meet robert
 
< Mazzy > "yeah, I can stick around a few...or push off if you've got catching up to do
 
< Robert > hi mazzy
 
< Mazzy > "we have met in Notts, yes?
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( or did I imagine that? )
 
< Robert > NO DO NOT GO DO NOT GO!!!!
 
< runran > experiment report: toast is in garbage
 
< Mazzy > laughs and hands Robert the smelly cheese to use in place of
cross and garlic.
 
< Robert > what is this strange obession with toast??
 
< runran > how did you know he's going to romania
 
< Robert > i'm not going to romania
 
< runran > aren't you
 
< Robert > egypt then crimea
 
< Mazzy > with that cheese on your hands you may have to
 
< runran > ah crimea
 
< Robert > sevastopol, yalta, dobre vecher
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( no sensible European authorities would allow anyone with cheese
that runny to remain in the country )
 
< Mazzy > makes a feeble attempt to pronounce Gouda correctly and then has to wipe
her screen.
 
< Robert > okay I'm talking to cheese an toast obsessed foreigners. wunderbahr
 
< runran > i've been to gouda
 
< runran > robert and i met there once
 
< Mazzy > laughs. "It's a nasty job but someone's got to archive it."
 
< Robert > Gouda is easy. the g is like ch in scots, think loch.
 
< Mazzy > thinks that Cheddar is somewhere nearby.
 
< Mazzy > nods.
 
< Robert > randy. goudea, you still have contact with the pot dealer guy?
 
< runran > i'm putting the water on to boil for coffee
 
< Mazzy > "Yes please"
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( although maybe I should sleep )
 
< Robert > i'm on my 2nd bottle of wine
 
< runran > his nick was Up ... and he was a respectable buisnessman, hadn't
robbed a bank for 15 tears
 
< Mazzy > is supposed to read a document on the National Procurement Strategy
prior to an interview on Tuesday morning.
 
< runran > egads, amz
 
< Mazzy > "yeah....why would there be a national strategy on prostitution..
it makes no sense?
 
< Robert > RE Nat proc strat. we buy you sell, or the other way around
 
< runran > im amzd maz
 
< Mazzy > isn't likely to get offered the job with this sort of grasp on reality
 
< Robert > rinran anotherr tamgent ...prosti??
 
< runran > all out of tamgents
 
< Mazzy > actually, I keep seeing odd job descs for what I assume are rehab projects
that say things like 'Must have extensive experience of drink and drugs' and I do
often wonder if they get some odd applications and CVs
 
< runran > i imagine!!!!!!
 
< Robert > oh yeah dress it up, say you speak swahli or something
 
< Mazzy > but in all seriousness...can we declare the microwave toast a failure?
 
< runran > no way
 
< Mazzy > says, "good idea Robert....I know nothing about local govt finance but
you have to employ me I belong to a cheese on toast loving ethnic minority
 
< runran > i have archived the toast
 
< Robert > very small demographic
 
< Mazzy > laughs and laughs and laughs
 
< Mazzy > "archived in concrete?"
 
< Robert > whut CONCRETE again?*&^%$
 
< runran > hehe
 
< Mazzy > incidentally, did we three meet in Nottingham or...does Randy have
lots and lots of Dutch friends called Robert just to confuse me?
 
< runran > you met
 
< Robert > just the one if he's lucky
 
< Mazzy > good to know that I didn't imagine it all, it was a fun
conversation that night
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( maybe low on toast and concrete but there must have been
some cheese involved )
 
< Robert > maz send me photo rogue@euronet.nl
 
< Mazzy > laughs, "of anything in particular?"
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( you really should be more careful handing your
email to strange women )
 
< Robert > you can't be stranger than me
 
< runran > hmmmm
 
< runran > ;-)
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( wanna bet? you haven't seen my gargoyle yet )
 
< Mazzy > "okay, gargoyle duly winging his open-mouthed way to the both of you
 
< Robert > so far randy your contrib has been he he, hmmm and :)
 
< Mazzy > laughs (no more intellectually )
 
< Mazzy > blames the beer (or the tough toast )
 
< runran > maz, if there were to be a book about/by trace, would you allow some
of your webboard texts be used as examples of collaborative online writing
 
< Mazzy > "ooooh BIG question right at the end when were' all gargoyles
and toasted cheese
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( mean man )
 
< Robert > nice gargoyles maz
 
< Mazzy > "ummm...context is all
 
< runran > yes, well
 
< Mazzy > blushes fetchingly
 
< Mazzy > fetches only cheese though.
 
< runran > its a fair question
 
< Mazzy > says, "oh anyone can ask a question, anyone can dodge one...
let me read the question again"
 
< runran > context is important, i agree, but some texts could stand
alone very nicely
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( and underline some bits and get a pink highligher on it and
check the punctuation )
 
< runran > no underlining
 
< Mazzy > "when you say.....'your texts'..is that....'your' plural or singular
 
< Mazzy > checks this because...if it's 'your' singular....that would imply
she'd been collaborating with herself
 
< runran > collaborative texts would require permissions from all contributors
 
< runran > i'd think
 
< Mazzy > how would you kow who to ask
 
< Mazzy > how would I know?
 
< Mazzy > smiles, "in some cases"
 
< runran > in some cases, yes
 
< Mazzy > that's the strangest thing....to have written and sometimes
to genuinely not know who with exactly
 
< Mazzy > or not remember if it was 'mine' even
 
< Mazzy > because...the thing is Randy...I can't *see those texts I can't alter them
 
< Mazzy > they are....in concrete somewhere...'preserved'
 
< runran > yeah, that's another question
 
< Mazzy > so how can I even speak of permission to use writing
I no longer have access to
 
< Robert > now i understand the concrete
 
< Mazzy > all I have is some copyright...not even the words themselves
 
< Mazzy > laughs.
 
< runran > ha
 
< Mazzy > "I wasn't really thinking of 'my own ' or joint writings to be honest
 
< Mazzy > it's a general point.
 
< runran > thanks for this maz
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( ? )
 
< runran > well, its good to hear your opinion
 
< Mazzy > says, "what...the gargoyle...or the grouchy curmudgeoning"
 
< Mazzy > "oh...that....well....at the end of the meal...you usually
do get to hear my opinion
 
< runran > gargolye has toast
 
< runran > is leaving room
 
< Mazzy > can always deny it afterwards.
 
< runran > concrete can run
 
< Mazzy > says to Robert, "should we hide somewhere and scare the
living daylights out of him with gargolye masks carved out of
gouda cheese on his return?"
 
< runran > always with the schemeing
 
< Robert > i can supply the chees, i live in the land of cheese!!
 
< Mazzy > says, "anyway...ummm.....it really does depend on context..."
 
< runran > alan, what a pleasant surprise
 
< Mazzy > waves to Alan.
 
< Alan > Hi, just got your message -
 
< Alan > Hi everyone -
 
< Robert > hi alan, who the heck are you?
 
< runran > we are the dregs of the chat
 
< Mazzy > beams. "How extraordinary to see you (or at least read you) again.
 
< Alan > I don't think I've been on this version. We're in Brooklyn -
I was napping.
 
< runran > robert, alan was at incubation, alan sondheim
 
< Mazzy > is guessing Alan Sondheim?
 
< Alan > Yes
 
< runran > its a lousy chat interface, alan
 
< Robert > ah name is familiar
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( but the world is full of Alans..it might be one of those
masquerading as a gargoyle )
 
< runran > robertt lives in holland, alan, he was at incubation
 
< Mazzy > says to Robert, "you're thinking of his brother Stephen"
 
< Alan > We were supposed to do a web viewing of the launch of the
Delta 4 rocket, which Azure's father worked on, but the launch was scrubbed.
 
< runran > really
 
< Robert > delta 4 rocket??
 
< Alan > Just hit 'refresh' and the screen went blank!
 
< Alan > Yes, it's the replacement I think for the Titan for large payloads
 
< Alan > It's the third day it's been postponed.
 
< Robert > yes gotcha
 
< Alan > jumps
 
< Alan > That worked...
 
< runran > mez was here and it worked for her too
 
< Alan > Wish I could have talked with her.
 
< Alan > Is this the last trace chat? What's happening?
 
< runran > this is not a trace chat, really
 
< Alan > the last secret chat at the trace site?
 
< Robert > ?
 
< runran > though i had an idea than one would not be organized, so this
is the other one ;-)
 
< Alan > is the site remaining?
 
< runran > as far as i know
 
< runran > yes
 
< Alan > Stranger and stranger... Where are you, Randy?
 
< runran > on vancouver island, in my office
 
< Alan > Nanaimo?
 
< runran > yes
 
< Alan > Ah, someday I'll get back to my brother in Victoria
 
< Mazzy > says, "he's consorting with a gargoyle Alan....Randy that is,
not your brother"
 
< runran > i have meant to phone him for donkeys years, but never
get around to it
 
< Alan > There are gargoyles here...
 
< Mazzy > looks around suspiciously.
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( where ? )
 
< Alan > hides in the corner with the gargoyles
 
< runran > there's toast crumbs in the hall
 
< Alan > two days later this will seem like an old MOO discussion!
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( okay...so...now I can't see either Alan or the gargoyles
so they must be as true as each other )
 
< runran > they lead to the basement
 
< Alan > where there's twisty passages leading to
tiny rooms full of orcs...
 
< Mazzy > says to Alan, "perhaps, but there's been more toast
in this discussion"
 
< Alan > a toast for all of you, then!
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( far more toast...maybe....too much toast )
 
< Mazzy > will drink to that.
 
< Alan > does anyone know what's happened to Margaret by the way?
 
< Mazzy > "you missed her"
 
< gargoyle > i am on the computer in the basment
 
< Alan > "is she doing well?"
 
< Alan > you're controlling the rooms
 
< Mazzy > "seemed very chipper
 
< Alan > is hit by a flying Orc
 
< gargoyle > not my fault
 
< Mazzy > attempts to clear up the mess and toast it
 
< Alan > is the mess
 
< runran > alan, what are you doing this evening
 
< Alan > anyway it's great to see everyone! I hope Incubation
continues in some form or another - I'm just writing tonight I think
 
< Mazzy > tutts. "and what are you up to generally these days
when not watching aborted rocket launches?"
 
< Alan > writing, video, burning dvds and cdroms - and you?
 
< runran > robert, are you still with us, is the screen blurring
 
< Robert > I'm still here just reading up on delta 4
 
< runran > homework?
 
< Robert > professional curiosity
 
< runran > it was so nice to meet you in person, alan
 
< Robert > not as good as the proton/breeze/M
 
< runran > at incubation, after all these years
 
< Mazzy > is doing some fiction editing at the mo
 
< Mazzy > "had you two never met before this year?
 
< Robert > alan, that was supposed to be provocative
 
< Alan > Yes, absolutely - but I wish there had been a wider window at that.
There are too few opportunities for discussion - and I'm not sure what's
happening with the electronic poetry confs that Loss was organizing -
they seem to be put off permanently
 
< Robert > which two?
 
< Mazzy > "Randy & ALan
 
< runran > i won't be doing much confereing anyway
 
< Mazzy > has Robert & Randy down as taking regular cheese-seeking jaunts
around Europe in her fractured imagination
 
< Alan > There are only four of us... it's not Delta 4 science...
 
< runran > ha
 
< Alan > I'd like to re: conf - the exchanges are usually pretty good.
 
< Alan > I've been talking at colleges sometimes instead or presenting elsewhere.
but it's mainly laptop performance or video.
 
< runran > i'm going to one in victoria in feb, its close
 
< runran > tas an aside, there are still two unused stamps in the postoffice
 
< Alan > when does the site close down?
 
< Mazzy > says to runran, "you'll need one for the postcard of the Elvis toast"
 
< Robert > it's midnight I have to go people
 
< Alan > Lost has been running pretty regularly recently again
 
< runran > possible for the homepage, maz
 
< Alan > take care, Robert -
 
< Mazzy > waves to Robert.
 
< runran > goodnight robert
 
< Alan > goodnight
 
< Robert > waves back
 
< Alan > trAce melts, not with a bang but a whimper...
 
< Alan > but then, melts = smelt...
 
< Mazzy > "cheese goes much the same way if you warm it up
 
< runran > not a whimper, i think, time will tell
 
< Alan > I've pretty much given up on fish and cheese
 
< Mazzy > nods.
 
< Alan > How many have been on this afternoon?
 
< runran > about 10, i think
 
< runran > ............................................
 
< Alan > Not bad... wish I could have been on earlier.
I didn't get your message until now - you can log this?
 
< Mazzy > . o O ( particularly the out-takes )
 
< Alan > take-outs of fish and cheese...
 
< Alan > "I know I am but what are you?"
 
< Alan > "speaking of which..."
 
< Alan > "It's easy for you to say that."
 
< runran > no way, i disagree
 
< Alan > --some of my favorite lines. Try them in any conversation.
 
< Mazzy > smiles and watches Alan converse.
 
< runran > really!
 
< Alan > Maria Damon and I used the first and third in answering questions
at a Toronto conf. It was confusing for the audience.
 
< Alan > It was also hard to stop laughing...
 
< runran > are you okay now
 
< Alan > as best I can be, yes
 
< runran > i'm going to dash off soon
 
< Mazzy > "no way, I disagree
 
< runran > hehe
 
< Alan > I should go as well. If you do this again, perhaps give a
longer headsup - would like to attend...
 
< Mazzy > "but...um....I probably need to do some sleeping
 
< runran > okay, thanks alan
 
< Mazzy > "on account of my more advanced time zone
 
< Alan > that I'm worse or that you're still laughing or that...
 
< Alan > at this point just about any part of the world is more advanced than
the US
 
< Mazzy > "but ....
 
< Alan > we should spell US as THEM, hmmm
 
< Mazzy > smiles sadly.
 
< Alan > The Huge Empire Monolith...
 
< Mazzy > "it's lovely to have seen all these names from the past and....
good luck to both of you.
 
< runran > and you maz
 
< Mazzy > curtseys as neatly as she can, rusty from lack of practise.
 
< Alan > to you as well - perhaps you should do this again and ask a
lot of people in?
 
< Mazzy > waves and trundles off into the setting cheese while runran
explains that he did.
 
< Alan > curtsies back, hir long skirts flowing in the wind..
 
< runran > thsnks alan
 
< Alan > take care, Randy - hope this happens again -
 
< runran > cheers
 
< runran > and all that
 
< Alan > yes, bye...