Liresius' Fandom Journal

His newsletters always make me smile ... he's such a GUY! And for those of you who don't know what White Day is ... go here

( bison bones were the bling of the day )

The place that I grew up (The Gap, in Brisbane) has been devastated by a terrifying 5 hour storm. My brother is currently without power, but has a gas stove so they can boil water, although apparently the roof of the water reservoir has collapsed in on the water so it may not be safe to drink. He should be okay in his imitation Tuscany house though, despite the carpets being soaked. Others were not so lucky with roofs being ripped off or being smashed by fallen gum trees.

Brisbane declared natural disaster zone in storm's wake

Heh! I just heard on PM that the Qld. government gave 500 tins of pineapple (probably Golden Circle brand, since that was THE brand of my youth) to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip for a present, on the occasion of their marriage (in 1947). Wow, kinda seems a bit gauche, but maybe in another 60 years time with things going the way they are - Earth population and environment-wise - 500 tins of pineapple might be worth a Queen's (or it will probably be a King's by then) ransom.
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Yay! Pirates and Buccaneers had TEH BIG GAY LOVE!! Ha! I did know this but it's still good to listen to learned researchers pontificate on the subject here where you can d/ the audio or "listen now"

Australia's ABC blurb: "Pet parrots, excessive drinking, skull and cross-bone flags -- these are all things we associate with pirates but, did you know that in the 18th century when you became a pirate, you had to sign up to special pirate rules, or that there's a tradition of homosexuality within the ranks of pirating?

Well, Bartholomew Roberts raided 400 boats in his short career as a pirate in the Atlantic from 1719-1722 but, unlike the classic image we have of pirates, he didn't drink, gamble or carouse with women. Richard Sanders is a pirate historian and he's written about this disciplinarian pirate in his book If A Pirate I Must Be: The True Story of Bartholomew Roberts, King of the Caribbean.

The Book Show's Sarah L'Estrange spoke to Richard Sanders about the allure of pirating for the common man."

ETA: Without romanticizing pirates, I do take the message that the demise of the Golden Age of Pirates appears to have removed the last impediment to the slave trade.

Also in other news the first in the world to be convicted of downloading pirated movies using BitTorrent file-sharing technology :-(

ETA: I'm off to Mie tomorrow (a prefecture a bit south-west of me) to pick up the vase I bought from my dear potter friend two years ago. We've been so busy and haven't been able to catch up until now.