Ask Me Anything: British Lizard Edition

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I

Iaculus

Since everyone else seemed to be doing it, I figured I might as well chip in.

Shoot.

(not literally, please).
 

Cajungal

Staff member
What's your favorite thing about your home?

What's your favorite drink?

What movie can you watch over and over?

What book can you read over and over?
 
Has the portrayal of someone from England by someone who is obviously not from England ever driven you to fits, and if so, who was the actor/actress in question?
 
I

Iaculus

What's your favorite thing about your home?
Our garden. We have a big one, which often has deer pass through it to nibble on the flowerbed. Needless to say, my parents are rather less sanguine about that last bit.

What's your favorite drink?
Lemonade - the old-fashioned stuff, not Sprite and stuff. Best when fizzy, though.

What movie can you watch over and over?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy's good, and Independence Day is tonnes of silly fun. That's just off the top of my head, though. I'm pretty good at re-watching most things, though my mum's the all-time champion. You know that line from Good Omens about Heaven being an eternity of watching The Sound of Music? She'd enjoy that.

What book can you read over and over?
Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Oh hell yes.

---------- Post added at 08:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 PM ----------

Let's say you decide to change your name since you're tired of the bad Icarus jokes.


What do you change it to?
Possibly Tomb Crawler. I know it's juvenile, but it was my ID on the old Black Library forums, and that makes it pleasantly nostalgic. Those were my very first forums, see.

I wouldn't change it, though. I got here first, damn it!

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Has the portrayal of someone from England by someone who is obviously not from England ever driven you to fits, and if so, who was the actor/actress in question?
Funnily enough, it hasn't. I usually just find it rather amusing. See Kevin Costner's line from Prince of Thieves upon arriving on the south coast of England without much in the way of transport: "By nightfall, we shall be dining at my father's castle in Nottingham!" Nice geographical facility there, Kev.

For the record, here's Nottingham:



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Do you like tea?
I can handle it, but I prefer coffee, mostly because it's easier to get it decaffeinated. Caffeine does strange and terrible things to my internals, even the small amount present in tea.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Ever used any of these expressions in an actual conversation:
"I say"
"Pip pip"
"Tallyho!"
"Toodle-pip"
"By George"

And yes, I'm being a wanker :p
 
Is the idea of Royalty outdated and absurd?

Do you like tikka masala?

Do Brits really have bad teeth or is that just a lame stereotype?
 
I

Iaculus

Ever used any of these expressions in an actual conversation:
"I say"
"Pip pip"
"Tallyho!"
"Toodle-pip"
"By George"

And yes, I'm being a wanker :p
No, although "Good grief" is surprisingly common, and my grandfather's favourite exclamation is "Gracious!". There's some residual gentility there.
 
I

Iaculus

Is the idea of Royalty outdated and absurd?
Yes, but that's not enough reason to remove them. It'd create a whole lot of paperwork and legal awkwardness for minimal returns, as well as further increasing the power and authority of the Prime Minister, who is largely limited by having a theoretical higher presence even if that presence doesn't actually do much.

In fact, I'd say that the British governmental system largely works because a whole pile of outdated and absurd concepts fused into a surprisingly flexible and durable whole. Strict, rigid constitutions aren't always the answer.

Do you like tikka masala?
Not bad, and used to be a favourite. Prefer rogan josh these days (chicken, naturally) ever since Sainsbury's siphoned all the taste from their masala recipe.

Do Brits really have bad teeth or is that just a lame stereotype?
Don't hae the relevant facts and figures on hand, but seems to be a stereotype based on what I've seen so far. Certainly, the American teeth I've encountered aren't any better on average.
 

fade

Staff member
Ever used any of these expressions in an actual conversation:
"I say"
"Pip pip"
"Tallyho!"
"Toodle-pip"
"By George"

And yes, I'm being a wanker :p
No, although "Good grief" is surprisingly common, and my grandfather's favourite exclamation is "Gracious!". There's some residual gentility there.[/QUOTE]

Good grief is common over here among 10 year old balding boys with zig-zag sweaters and pet beagles.
 
I

Iaculus

Do you have a favourite Giles character?
Never read it.

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Who's your favourite Doctor Who?
Tough call. Only seen the new ones, so I'd say Tennant. Not that Ecclestone was bad, mind, even if he did share a name with a deeply slimy exec at our local hospital.

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Are you getting tired of answering questions pertaining to national stereotypes?
I'd say 'yes', but I suspect it might end up as a huge case of 'be careful what you wish for'.

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What's your favorite band to listen to when you feel good?
Band? Not sure. I like cheesy '80s stuff like Eye of the Tiger and Holding Out for a Hero, as well as gleefully OTT metal like Nightwish, and some of the more energetic film scores.

John Williams's Superman theme is great when you're in a good mood.
 
I

Iaculus

What's your opinion of this recent vampire craze/hype?
An irritant, but a distant one. Certainly haven't seen much of value that was gained from it, and it got my sister hooked on Twilight, which is seldom a good thing.

Vampires are very difficult monsters to do right, and the lowest common denominator ensures that few try. You have to remember that at their core, they're just human-shaped parasites, and work outwards from that. The Dresden Files did a good job of that, I'd say.
 
K

Kitty Sinatra

If you ever choose to read some King, go for his old, shorter stuff. They're his best works, I find. Sort of ironically, I'd recommend the old stuff that he wrote under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. The Long Walk, Running Man and a third about a kid taking his school hostage stand out in my mind as very enjoyable reads.

I'd also recommend the Shining, Christine, Firestarter, and The Dead Zone

What most of these books really have going for them is Stephen King's skill at writing interesting characters and putting them in interesting situations. It's not the horror, the plot or the climax that really make these books excellent. Stephen King was (if he still isn't) an excellent writer, and if he had turned his talents to writing "Literature" instead of doing genre-work he'd be a shoe-in for the Nobel Prize.
 

fade

Staff member
He is terrible with endings a lot of times. The Stand was an excellent idea, and played out fairly well until
the Hand of God materializes and saves the day
.

'Salem's Lot was a decent entry into the vampire genre because the vampires were animalistic consumers instead of suave demons or lovers.
 
I

Iaculus

If you could switch roles with anyone in the entire world for one day, who would it be?
You would literally be him/her but also have all your own thoughts and memories and free will.
Tough call. Maybe Barack Obama or someone similarly influential. It would be interesting to see the world from that perspective.

I don't have an issue with vampires being seductive - predators need lures, after all, and it just opens up a whole new wriggling basket of horror tropes. Just do't forget that their entire distinguishing feature is that they feed off other people, and you're fine. It's when a work of fiction starts presenting vampires as a valuable asset to society that I start raising an eyebrow - I mean... that's kind of not the point.

Even if vampires are inherently mentally and physically superior, they're still parasites, and that just brings in a whole new level of creepy. Superhuman predators are not a good thing for the rest of us, people.
 
I

Iaculus

If you could switch roles with anyone in the entire world for one day, who would it be?
You would literally be him/her but also have all your own thoughts and memories and free will.
Tough call. Maybe Barack Obama or someone similarly influential. It would be interesting to see the world from that perspective.[/quote]

Good answer. I agree it would be very interesting and perhaps even enlightening.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, just don't let it be Gordon Brown, for the same reason I'm not going to volunteer to get kicked repeatedly in the face for twenty-four hours. I mean, seriously, did that guy burn away his entire lifetime's supply of luck at the casino or something?
 
I

Iaculus

From what I've seen of Mr. Brown, he's earned all his bad karma.
Oh, make no mistake, he's responsible for a lot of bad stuff - the economy, for a start - but ever since he got elected, the guy's been pretty much the universe's chew toy, to the extent where I can't help but wonder if karma's starting to get a bit... overzealous.
 
From what I've seen of Mr. Brown, he's earned all his bad karma.
Oh, make no mistake, he's responsible for a lot of bad stuff - the economy, for a start - but ever since he got elected, the guy's been pretty much the universe's chew toy, to the extent where I can't help but wonder if karma's starting to get a bit... overzealous.[/QUOTE]

When a politico fucks up negotiations and gets some SAS troopers and the hostages killed in an ill-conceived op designed to show how in charge he is, then denies responsibility for it, I say he deserves every bad thing that will ever happen to him.
 
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