General Discussion Thread

[Róisín]

I believe Edinburgh is on basalt, it's an old volcano.

[Gwenno]

Gwenno: Pretty fire festival, yes. You'd like the one we have every year at the Mylor English Ale, I think. Firedancers and fire marionettes, a huge torchlight procession, Morris dancers, giants, mummers and guisers, the whole thing. It's great fun. The guy who usually does the fire marionettes is himself a fine dancer, and he moves them so they look really spectacular in the dark night. They're around person-sized, a jointed metal frame wrapped in slow-burning stuff, moved with rods so they dance.

 Mylor is a little country town with very few lights, and we hold the procession around the completely unlit football field, so the flames look amazing. Then we have the 'gurt 'normous bonfire' in the middle of the oval, because one must have a bonfire, it's the end of fire-danger season so we can have one, and the first Autumn rain has generally fallen by then.

SectoBoss: I suppose manure can smell somewhat strong, but generally it doesn't bother me much. Except for one vegetable farmer, who regularly dresses his fields with pig manure - that's rather vile.

I love Edinburgh, and for a city it doesn't stink too badly, though some of the old closes can smell a bit strange in damp weather. The Rock is weird and beautiful. I'm told by some locals that Edinburgh has the highest background radiation level of any inhabited city, because of the Rock - don't know how true that is!

That does sound quite wonderful ^_^ I just googled it in fact and there's even a video of the morris dancing and fire stuff (even living in the UK I've never seen *actual* morris dancers. We have slightly different stuff in Wales so that's probably largely why) Heheh, there's something pretty magical about fire festivals and the darkness just beyond isn't there

While Birmingham may be a toilet, a fair few of the big UK cities are actually quite nice. Manchester, for example, is doing very well for itself these days. And for all people bemoan the existence of London, it's still fun to visit.
^{Can you tell I'm from Manchester yet?}

Okay, Manchester has a lovely christmas market, the comicon is pretty great and I could spend an entire day wondering though chinatown. It is't *that* bad I guess, as far as cities go.

If The Rock is made of granite (resisting the urge to make Dwayne Johnson jokes here) it'll give off radioactive radon gas, which is why Edinburgh is radioactive. Areas built on granite usually have higher background radiation levels because of this, I think.

I believe Edinburgh is on basalt, it's an old volcano.

Regarding Edinburgh radiation I'm quite sure that that's a myth, or a mixup. The castle rock is mostly dolerite and sedimentary stuff (some old red sandstone maybe?) but really not that radioactive as far as I'm aware. We had to study the area a few times at uni and I've never come across anything suggesting radiation? Aberdeen however is a relatively radioactive city (and quite nice too actually in the older parts). Many of the buildings are built using local granite, and that's what's causing the high levels there, but I'm quite sure that it isn't dreadfully radioactive.


EDIT!!!!!
Some info on Edinburgh geology because geology
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/geology/EdinWestLothian.pdf

[Róisín]

Yeah, I know dolerite is a kind of basalt, and that the original volcano had broken through sedimentary rock. I think the actual Rock is what's left of the old volcanic plug? I wonder why the idea is so pervasive in Edinburgh, since I've heard it quite often from people who live there? Maybe just because of the general weirdness of the place!

[Yuuago]

Wow, Gwenno, that fire festival sure looks cool! *_*


The whole city vs rural discussion... Hmm for me, what I like best is small towns that are close enough to the city that one can get to them easily (an hour away, perhaps). It means that things are quiet, but that there's also tons to do if you want it. But maybe I'm just biased because I spent some of the happiest times of my life in a place like that. ;V

[SectoBoss]

I wonder why the idea is so pervasive in Edinburgh, since I've heard it quite often from people who live there? Maybe just because of the general weirdness of the place!

Ha, I wouldn't be completely surprised. Never been there myself but I've heard the odd story now and then...

[Róisín]

Yuuago: you would probably like the small town where I live. About a thousand people (many on farms). I live on the outskirts of town. We have a library, a kindergarten and a primary school (high school is in the next town, about eight miles away); a hall for events like concerts (and to house things like the History Room and the Country Womens' Association, and be used for town meetings and the like). There's a stock-and-station agent, a feed and grain and farm equipment store, a bank, post office, general store, police station, garage, small hospital, couple of pubs, couple of antique shops, and a good butcher.

We have an annual Agricultural Show, with a show hall which gets used for the farmers market the rest of the year, and a good sportsground (with sculptures). Also a community garden, a Natural Resource Centre which does a lot of environmental and recycling stuff, and a writer's group. There's so much stuff because the town used to be a lot bigger before the railway was closed. It's a longish walk or short drive to the forest, and there are cattle and sheep close enough to see from my front gate, and a mob of wallabies that sometimes visit my garden.

We're about an hour and a half from Adelaide, the nearest city, so we can get down there when we need to. It's bigger than I like, but my husband is a city man, so we compromise!

[Auleliel]

Wow, Gwenno, that fire festival sure looks cool! *_*


The whole city vs rural discussion... Hmm for me, what I like best is small towns that are close enough to the city that one can get to them easily (an hour away, perhaps). It means that things are quiet, but that there's also tons to do if you want it. But maybe I'm just biased because I spent some of the happiest times of my life in a place like that. ;V

That is why I like living where I live. I am in a suburban area with easy train access (an hour or less by commuter train) to smaller cities nearby as well as to Tokyo. Another hour on the train brings me to mountains and forests and beaches. Everything I need for daily life is in my neighborhood, and if I want more nature or more city I don't have to go too far.

[Fenris]

For the cities vs rural, I guess my definition of big city (or city) is quite different. Reykjavik is big for me, as is cities in the 10-20k population range. My hamlet has a population of 12, while the peninsula as a whole has 300 (98 in the rural areas, ~200 in the village). I do like vacationing in cities, but I couldn't imagine living there permanently. The municipality I live in has 40k people (25k in a city a ways off, 7k in another city and the rest spread around villages and rural areas), so I do have some access to shops, bars and the like. Bus stop is just 5 km away, with fairly frequent buses (including one every other hour that goes to Oslo, although it takes 2.5 hours not counting the walk to the bus stop). One also learns to be a lot more independent when growing up in a rural area, I think, and maybe to be more tolerant. I mean, when the pool of people your age is 3, you learn to pretty much hang out with people you might not like that much. Maybe not tolerant in the political sense, but certainly on a personal one. Not to mention there's a lot one can do in a rural area you couldn't in a city, like hunting, loud music & parties and the like. I don't think I'd learn how to work with wood, butcher an animal, dissect a fish, forage food, track an animal, operate a multitude of tools from chainsaws to tractors to steel-saws, etc. Growing up in a rural area is basically getting a basic skillset in all kinds of things.

Mind, there are some downsides, like how it takes ambulance or cops an hour or two to get here if there's an emergency, and while you do know most everyone around, its fairly rare to meet someone new (at least we got tourism season when 1000+ cabinfolk and campers come here, although I tend to dislike that lot. Mostly snobs.). Cities meanwhile seem to have plenty of people, but you don't really do much small-talk or get to know that many. Meeting someone out here, you at least greet and maybe talk a bit. You also don't have much privacy, what with the 'jungle express'. I know way more about the locals' health, romantic and other situations than one really need to know, and vice versa.

[Haiz]

I know pretty much none of my neighbours hahahah. but I tend to crash into people I know on the streets of trondheim quite frequently, despite it being one of the bigger cities in norway, me not setting foot in it particularly often nowadays, and me not having a very wide-spread social circle. so there's that.

aannddd I have my first actual driving lesson with an actual teacher tomorrow O: O: O:

ALSO. i was rummaging through some papers in a drawer just now, and came across a memory

Spoiler: ridiculous high school story • show

once upon a time, in high school, I had THE COOLEST LOCKER. I had decorated it with dinosaur stickers, and a mockingjay I had cut out from a popcorn box at the midnight premiere of the hunger games. I know, right. Best decorated locker at school. (incidentally, the only decorated locker at my school)

but then. One day. My mockingjay was gone. I was really upset about this. I wrote a notice to please return my popcorn box mockingjay if found. The next day, the notice AND one of my beautiful dinosaur stickers were gone! So, of course, I set up another notice. Not long after, that too was gone, and yet another sticker. Thinking the third time’s the charm, I wrote a little angrier note.

the next thing I found on my locker was this:



the mystery was never solved.

[Laufey]

Oh! Oh! If we're talking about unsolved mysteries, I have one too! A few years ago there was a chance of applying for a manned Mars flight, with the negative side that you wouldn't be able to return; the crew was going to settle on the planet. I received an e-mail from the Mars program that thanked me for applying and that next I would have to pay an application fee and then they'd take it into consideration... but here's the thing, I hadn't applied for it myself. Someone else had tried to sign me up for a one-way trip to Mars.

I've been asking around but no one's admitting to this one, so I guess I either have friends with a really deadpan sense of humour or very creative enemies... ?

[urbicande]

Oh! Oh! If we're talking about unsolved mysteries, I have one too! A few years ago there was a chance of applying for a manned Mars flight, with the negative side that you wouldn't be able to return; the crew was going to settle on the planet. I received an e-mail from the Mars program that thanked me for applying and that next I would have to pay an application fee and then they'd take it into consideration... but here's the thing, I hadn't applied for it myself. Someone else had tried to sign me up for a one-way trip to Mars.

I've been asking around but no one's admitting to this one, so I guess I either have friends with a really deadpan sense of humour or very creative enemies... ?

I'd find it very difficult to leave my family, but Mars would be effing coooooooooooool!

[DancingRanger]

So I remember people talking about becoming Facebook friends a while ago. I've noticed a few of you all popping up on my 'Do you know' list, and I kinda want to send a request but I'm really weird and won't without permission. So I was wondering if anyone wants to be a friend on Facebook with me.

[Laufey]

So I remember people talking about becoming Facebook friends a while ago. I've noticed a few of you all popping up on my 'Do you know' list, and I kinda want to send a request but I'm really weird and won't without permission. So I was wondering if anyone wants to be a friend on Facebook with me.

If you find me there feel free to friend me, I don't mind at all and I friend back. My user image is an embroidered black and white puffin btw.

[Curry]

Oh noooo that gorgeous long haiiir  (says someone who has always wanted to grow long hair but gets terminal frizzies if it gets much down past the shoulders).

But I bet the bob is cute!  Will you share a pic sometime?

I cut it off to regrow it Properly with lots of love and care and much fewer split ends :0 They'd started splitting to above my shoulders and I decided it was a FANTASTIC time to get a fresh start ehehe.

Curry: I bet you can carry off a bob well though! Are you going to colour it or leave it natural?

 I haven't cut mine in 22 years (well, I didn't actually cut it then, it got shaved in the course of having a head injury treated). Before that I had never cut it ever, and it was long enough to sit on, but very fine, and wavy. I used to braid it around my head. Now it's long enough again to braid (armpit length), but because it's wavy it grows REALLY slowly.

I'm going to leave it natural for now and the only coloring I'd do is a slightly redder shade of my own hair since jobs are hard to find with highlighter hair :'3c
Also, yes there ARE pictures (well, one) :0
Usually I cut my hair this short every 2 years but I kind of... let it grow for 4. Oops. All the hairstylists were like "oh gosh are you sure" and I was like. yes I've done this before please chill


bUT YES UNSOLVED MYSTERIES... Once a pad of really beautiful paper just showed up in my room under my bed one day. I loved it so much?? And nobody knows where it came from? I asked my parents and all my friends and nobody knew what it was or where it came from but it sure made me happy :I

So I remember people talking about becoming Facebook friends a while ago. I've noticed a few of you all popping up on my 'Do you know' list, and I kinda want to send a request but I'm really weird and won't without permission. So I was wondering if anyone wants to be a friend on Facebook with me.

I'm ok with people adding me! I don't use it as Facebook but just a convenient messaging system, though, so. Don't expect Curry life updates _{also no erica is not my real name and i chose it to be a meme and also anonymous alright}

[DancingRanger]

If you find me there feel free to friend me, I don't mind at all and I friend back. My user image is an embroidered black and white puffin btw.

Awesome! (You're one that has been popping up for a while and I'm always like 'It's Laufey!' Then I get all embarrassed.)