Vale James O'rance

Today was the memorial for James O'Rance, a good friend who died suddenly and young from complications of a life long struggle with Diabetes.



James was a man of great nobility, he judged people by their actions and their heart, but loved his friends for who they were warts and all. If a measure of a man is those who choose to come to his wake then today was evidence of what we all know - that James was loved by many and touched us all.

Never have I seen so many people attend a funeral, so many openly weep without fear of judgement and more than that so many people console each other through a difficult time. It speaks volumes of not only the kind of man he was, but the kind of people he attracted.

James lived life to the full, he was himself at all times and to the full. He loved, he laughed, he was thoughtful and silly and wonderful. He will never be forgotten.

James would want us to remember him the way we shared his friendship, fondly, deeply and with laughter. The stories we shared today would have made him proud but not the sombre mood. A more celebratory memorial will be organised in the near future.

Artistic souvenirs and fantastic framing

Some time when I was younger I picked up an excellent habit of buying locally produced artworks and prints whenever I travelled. An unframed piece of artwork is easily protected with a plastic slip or manila folder and is light and easy to transport. This makes art a fantastic and unique souvenir and at this point in my life my collection has become quite large.

Unfortunately this has always left me with the problem of what to do about framing. Framing is frequently expensive and difficult to organise. Some items I had framed myself with varying results. Recently however I have discovered a fantastic local framer and so I shall be framing the rest of my collection over time. Good work deserves recognition so here's a hat tip to Song at Paddy Art Corner.

Web: Paddyartcorner.com
Phone: 0414 881 283
Email: Linxrsong@gmail.com
Address: Paddy's Market Stall 20-22, Haymarket Sydney
Map and directions: Google Places

These two pieces I bought in Kyoto and are full colour and gold/silver leaf woodblock reproductions (not prints but actual block presses) of two ukiyo-e pieces that I love. To be able to frame and hang both pieces in excellent condition for $80 is amazing.



Here you can see the quality of the framing, the staples are hefty and well balanced and the frame is sealed well with hefty quality framing tape. Both were chosen for custom size and matting with no additional cost.



Onna yu (Bathhouse Women), Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815) framed in wood with custom matting for $35 ~A4 size

Ukiyo-e were commonly drawn of salacious activities in the pleasure quarter. Here we see a number of yuna, who were employed by the bathhouses to scrub the backs of patrons but were frequently engaged in "happy ending" affairs similar to certain types of massage parlour today.




Genji Monogatari: Yadorigi (The Tale of Genji: Ivy [Chapter 49]), Masao Ebina (1913 - 1980) framed in wood with custom matting for $45 ~A3 size

Genji Monogatari is the ubiquitous court novel of mediaeval Japan, akin to the Arthurian legends and as much adapted. Ebina completed an illustration for each chapter of the saga, the full set can be seen online. This reproduction is beautiful including all the textures and embossing of the original.

Capturing a little piece of computing history

As you should know I play WarCraft with my friends, and I love unique things, so when Blizzard announced they were going to sell off their old server blades for charity I simply had to get in on the action. The servers were all deprecated during the pre Cataclysm cluster upgrades but were in use between 2004/2005 and 2010 making the nerdy dreams of many a gamer come true.

Chops and Nat my two dearest boys both play, Nat religiously so I set out on a mission to secure them their own pieces of Azeroth.

From Feathermoon Server Blade

Nat is a long time somewhat obsessive Feathermoon player, I couldn't pass up the chance to present him with a physical piece of his own online life. This great portrait piece also shows the scale of the blade servers perfectly, while making Nat look a little bit rock'n'roll ;o)



I managed to keep the purchase of this Proudmoore blade super secret, leaving my partner Scott completely confused until he opened the box, I call that gift success. The size makes mounting a bit of a puzzle, we're pondering turning it into a coffee table. Either way I'm so happy to know that those I love have their own little piece of internet history secured and in their possession.

If this is Night City where's my heads up display?

When I was a younger thing obsessed with roleplaying all I ever wanted to do was live life in a dark techno future as a bright young corper in a Cyberpunk world...

I don't like to disappoint myself.

So ironic as it is I bought Nat an eReader for his birthday, spending my megacorp Asia bucks on digital devices so that we could read Cyberpunk novels.

We kicked off his birthday weekend with A Scanner Darkly, Strange Days and The Matrix. We've continued this week with Sneakers and the Bridge series by Gibson.

Hey... at least we thought of wireless in the real cyberpunk future.

My first tattoos

So tonight I got my first tattoos, a big deal in an alt girl's life!

So to answer the first and obvious question: Yes it hurt a bit, but no more than any number of other stupid things I've done to myself in the name of BDSM. My blood pressure dropped a bit and I had a few moments of heavy breathing and cold sweats but then the adrenaline kicked in and I perked up again. Sadly while the endorphins are there they don't rush like piercings, not the sort of thing you'd do for fun tiems.

The next question: Why wait till I'm 30, I have any number of piercings and am hardly afraid of looking weird. Well... Firstly tattoos are permanent, piercings are not and I had to be sure I knew what I wanted. I gave myself a policy that I had to want something for 2 years before I got it. When I decided on these a few years back, and stuck with it a barrage of people offered to buy me my tattoos for my birthday and failed 4 years in a row. Chops however is far more reliable than most ... and so here we are!

On the topic of you being an idiot and tattoos being permanent here's a PSA from Red Vs Blue:



Because I know you want to see it: here they are!



So what are they and why?

On the left hand wrist is the Lauburu or "Basque Cross" it's a symbol of the culture of my matriarchal family. Not a Christian cross it represents the 4 parts of man "spirit, life, consciousness, and form" and in the direction given is a symbol of prosperity and good luck. I wore one for most of my adult life around my neck and wanted it on myself permanently.

On the right hand wrist is the Mitsudomoe or 3 pointed Tomoe it's a symbol of my favourite culture Japan and represents the 3 parts of Shinto "Man, Earth, and Sky". It is commonly used in Japanese heraldic kamon.

To me this represents where I come from and where I choose to be, reflecting two cultures views of man and conveniently they're stylistically similar!

One last question: I had them done at Mischief Moon in Darlinghurst, recommended by a number of friends who'd had work done there. I had mine done by Gareth and was very happy with his treatment of the artwork and the advice he gave including discussing longevity, health and so on. A++ would buy again.

Drinking with Dinosaurs

When you're a nerd like me museums are like the best thing ever. There's dinosaurs and robots and buttons you can push, it's heaven.



In a stroke of genius the Australian Museum has started Jurassic Lounge, a combined nightclub and performance space during the winter months. Ciders, documentaries about robots, burlesque and Dinosaurs... Jurassic lounge has it all.



I've never seen the museum so packed, it's a marvellous idea and unsurprisingly filled with nerds and social media folk that I know pottering around in small groups laughing and drinking.



One of the great sections they have is one of those "show and tell" areas that were always a hit when I was a kid. They have lizards and insects and stuffed animals to play with and plenty of museum staff to talk to you about it. I am a little surprised they let people near live animals after drinking though :P



Of course there's all the fun of the normal exhibits and the joy of the heritage building and beautiful surrounds. A++ would buy again.



Of course featured heavily in these pictures is my friend Nat who deserves a mention. You know those people you meet in your life that you just click with? This happened when I met Dustan, Curley and Vicki... Instant bonds that are strong and deep. The fact that I'm a narcissist and Nat and I share a personality, a hair style (and way too many allergies and skin conditions) my overbearing nature and his submissive squeefulness makes it the perfect nerd friendship.



<3 you little one, here's to many years of friendship.

My desk, my home

So one of the great things about working at the Big G is being able to set up my work space exactly how I like it.



To give a run down here's my accessory setup:

Monitors: 2 x Dell UltraSharp U2311H 23-inch
Keyboard: Logitech G510
Mouse: Logitech M400
Webcam: Logitech  HD Webcam Pro C910
Phone headset: Plantronics GN2100 Telecom
PC Headset: Plantronics .Audio 645

Please note many of these accessories are mine and do not necessarily indicate any kind of procument or brand deal by my organisation. 


At the moment however we're having a "decorate your cubicle" competition. My team has chosen the them "work at home" and so my desk is currently all done up as if it were in my apartment. Those of you who know me well should find this amusing: