Everyones opinions matter…

Opinions are formed from perception,
perception forms life,
and through not thinking freely,
not evaluating the truth of things,
perception can be manipulated…

Manipulate perception, and you can manipulate opinions,
manipulate opinions and you can manipulate lifes.
Don’t let yourselfs be manipulated.

Seek the Truth always.

Value knowledge above all else but Life.

In his light do we thrive?
In his glory do we exist?
Does his power let us survive?
His word, shall we not resist?

Is history not written by the victors?
Is his book naught but good news?
Is the world just following blindly?
Does blind faith draw them to the pews?

Is belief easier than thinking?
Will faith really show us the way?
Is questioning the book blasphemous?
Do I as a human, have a right to my say?

Investigate all lifes truths.
Question all that you have been taught.
For belief and faith are one thing.
Truths true value is only evident when sought.

Copyright ©2006 Syridian
Sunday, June 25, 2006

has an interesting quote from the Koran in his LJ, and one which I absolutly must comment on. The below is a bit rant-ish, but it’s not really directed at anyone in particular, just the whole idea.

It always surprizes me how much faith people put in the writings of days long past. Words alone cannot convey the full meaning, yet millions of people are willing to take religous documentation at face value, devoting their lives to a faith that is presumed, constructed and evolved from vague histories and teachings written by people who feel a need to have control over a populace.

Words such as those written above can be taken to have so many meanings… “O Prophet! Make War…” Does not necessarily mean to take up arms and force the unbelievers… It could simply be saying to concinve them of their errors, by not being kind with words, but by harshly telling them the error of their ways…

But Alas… Wizards first rule: People are stupid… Harsh but true. ;)

The Husband Store!

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where
a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE !

There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch . . . . you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband . ..

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 – These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads:

Floor 2 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

“Wow,” she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:

Floor 4 – These men have jobs, love the ! Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework.

“Oh, mercy me!” she exclaims, “I can hardly stand it!” Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:

Floor 5 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the
sign reads:

Floor 6 – You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

might be interested in taking this test as well..

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

I have been known to write a bit of poetry now and then… With not knowing what I’m planning to do with Syridian.com, I though I would repost some poetry from one of my other websites, Sonnet-Boom

This poem was Inspired by the Wandering Scribe, a young woman who found herself homeless, and living in her car on the edge of a forrest in the States for over a month.

Well, the weekend is over… They never seem to last long… even the long ones seem so short. This one however was a least a little productive, even though I currently feel like I could sleep the whole day away. So what did I get up to?

After helping move some stuff on Friday, I headed over to ’s “End of lease” party, which was loads of fun… Swimming… Alcamahole… Deep meaningful discussions about religion, it had it all. While I did leave early, I still had a great night.

Saturday morning I slept in far too long, as I was meant to leave for Woolongong at about 8:30am… but ended up leaving closer to 10am. I had a goal in mine for this day, and Adam the Renegade is a great task master. I had to things to get done, one was a set of Elbows, the other was a cheap calico robe. Both were achieved, as well as alot of socialising and chatting. Zenobia looked after us like she always does, with food and even sitting and chatting with all the banging going on in the Armouring Shed. I now have a nice set of elbows, and the basis of a monks robe. Adam and Zenobia are fantastic people, and I love them both to bits, always helpful, and giving.

Yesterday I spent the day sorting out stuff at home… Washing, cleaning, moving stuff around so that it doesn’t look like I’m living out of boxes. I went and visited my folks in the afternoon, and spend the early evening (Before it got dark) removing the tradie shelving from the back of my van.

Loving the Van btw… So much room… so easy to just chuck stuff in there. Looking forward to getting the time and money to fit it out like I would like to. Put my new DVD/MP3 Car stereo in there last Thursday evening, it’s great to have music in there now. :)

Oh! Note to all those trying to reach me on my Mobile… The mobile died last week, and the replacement they gave me is playing up, so over the next few days I shall be incommunicardo… Try email if you want me.

Seems that there may already be a buyer interested in my little green box (car, for those that haven’t seen it). The Little Green Box has done me a world of service for the last 2 and a bit years, getting me all over the place, to events and visiting friends and family.

It’ll be sad to see it go, but I really could do with the cash, what with the Housemate from hell hassling about stuff that has been explained time and time again, and the new van going to set me back a bit when the payments are due. Things might end up being a little tight for the next few months. Hope I don’t miss out on any events because I can’t afford to get there.

Border Wars is looking dicey though. :(

My garbing skills are severely lacking… However I’m reasonably ok with other things…

If you are interested in making Viking Garb for me in exchange for chores, web stuff, computer maintenence, or anything else that you aren’t great at but I can do reasonably well, then please contact me.

Some of you may have noted that the look of my LJ is changing slightly. I’m tinkering with the Theme to personalise it a little more. Whilst I am a fan of watching movies, the original theme was a little TOO movie oriented, however I liked the colour scheme.

Well… It’s official, in 2 hours time I will be the proud new owner of a nice shiny newer vehicle… And a tonne of debt to go with it. ;) Still, I’m quite excited about the prospect of having yet another project to spend some time on. I have plans for my new van… And hopefully those plans won’t be too expensive. At least now I won’t have to worry about carrying stuff to festival. :)

It’s just occured to me that the SCA is just TOO much of everything that I would like to do… My interests vary widely and well, I think I get spread far too thin. How can I choose between Book Heraldry, Archery, Pewter casting, Silver Jewellery making, Combat Archery, Tent making, Garb making, Heavy Fighting (Which I really need to get done before festival), Coining, as well as all the research I need to do? Not to mention all the mundane requirements in my life… Ahhh what a mess. Oh, and don’t forget the webpage…

Priorities! I heard you all exclaim! But… How do I choose what’s more improtant to me? Festival is 2 weeks away… And there’s a hell of alot of stuff that I need to get prepared… Concentrating on one thing would be sensible, but then all the others suffer… Certain aspects could be farmed out I guess, but then that defeats the purpose of being interested in them in the first place.

Ahhh… Good thing I am really easy going, and while being mildly concerned (enough to ask here for advice obviously), I’m also happy to just muddle along as time permits. :)

Had an eye-opening experience last night… Just have to work out whether it’s leading anywhere, and who’s leading who…

Being a Viking who just got his AoA last month, and was apointed to the Royal Guard early this month, I thought it was about time I had something resembling a sword (You know… to fight off avenging Ex-Kings Guards as they try to retake the Throne). So on the Sunday after 12th Night, I bought myself a “Practical Viking” from Tariq at Renaissance Fence. Practical, because I could not afford the fantastic Live edged Viking sword he had (it was 4 times the price), and also, Practical means it’s for using right? ;)

The basic sword was very impersonal, and I would prefer a sword that looks like it has been made for me, and one that is decorated with personal badges and the like, so this weekend I set about modifying it slightly. So far all I have managed to do is add a recessed pewter badge to the wood of the scabbard. The rest of the plans include a traditional Viking style mounting for it, and either etching or chiseled artwork on the hilt, the pommel and even the blade. I shall be contacting Tariq to find out if the blade is pure polished steel before attempting anything, but I’m looking forward to continueing work on this sword.

Incidently, does anyone know proper SCAdian tradition for wearing swords to court? Is it allowed? Is it allowed but courtesy say best not to?

You know those Oops moments? The one where you go out window shopping for a new-er car. One that would suite better for the way your life has turned out, and then you end up coming home going “Oh my… I just applied for a loan more than double of what I wanted to spend (though still well within budget).” I had one of those yesterday afternoon… So if all goes well, on Tuesday afternoon I shall be driving my new-er 2000 model, Mitsubishi Express, dual-fuel van.

So, if anyone is interested in a 1993 Model Ford Festiva, which runs like a dream, but looks like a shit-box, for around $1500, just contact me. ;) Yes, Shameless plug… but shit happens. ;)

Spent the evening at the Agaricus Birthday Feast last night. It was a nice quiet little feast, good people, great food. Was a shame that not a huge number of people turned up for it, but then I guess With how busy things have been this month, people were either taking the oportunity to relax, or were out busy with mundanities.

I’ll have to repete it cause it was just great… The food was wonderful! And with there being a less than catered for attendance, there was loads of it. Thanks to the cooks, it was a wonderful meal, and well worth the at the door price. ;)

I have always accepted that their are risks with Ebay, and as such rairly spend more than I am willing to loose.

Recently I thought I had lost a gamble with a nice cheap price on some 4Gb Microdrives (Tiny Harddisks for the Non-geeky). Until this morning when an envelope turned up, and I thought, WOW, don’t tell me they have ACTUALLY turned up… Well, I was half right..

The package was a plain yellow envelope, sent from the states, one corner of it was worn through, though I didn’t notice this until after ripping the envelope open. Inside was ONE (Not two like I had ordered) 4Gb Microdrive.

The Drive looked a little sad… It was lonely, missing it’s mate who has obviously decided to hope out somewhere for a holiday, leaving a lone drive to make the rest of the trip. Ahhh… random hopyoutyness, I’ll never know were that other drive got to.

And thats not to mention the fact that these extremely delicate small harddrives were packages into a plain paper envelope, to travel through 2 countries automated mailing systems… Come on people… how STUPID can you get… The Drive that I do have, has a huge dent in the back of it, it’s useless basically. Stupid stupid people… What a waste…

Well, there’s $90 I will never see again.

One of the people I am currently living with is turning into a “Housemate from Hell”. Though I can’t say I wasn’t warned I guess…

This Housemate frequently chooses to lecture people about their own living standards, and morality, yet is one of the type of people who can not see that they themselves do not live by that which is lectured.

Case in point: A friend asked said Housemate to do something specific. Said Housemate chose to ignore said request, and proceeded to do something selfish. Needless to say, trust was broken, a test was failed, and said housemate just continues on without reguard. If however the situation was reversed, said Housemate would be balistic, abuse would be publicised, anger would be displayed…

Sensibility tells me to walk away now, yet these things are just small issues that while they annoy me, are not worth getting upset over. So here I vent… to you… my unsuspecting, adoring public… ;) Please excusing the vaguraties of this post, it is intended.

Ever day I am thinking about SCA projects I would like to do… Some little, some big… The biggest of my projects is a reasonable sized Viking Pavilion for Festival.

The problem: I want to luxuriate in comfort and space. I want to have an abode that screams comfort, entertainment and practicality. I would also like it to be period, and preferably Viking.

At the moment, I’m likely to just end up with a basic Viking A-Frame tent, probably reasonably small. Which may end up becoming a storage tent for future festivals.

I am toying with the idea of making my tent out of lightweight Calico, and then oiling said calico to make it weatherproof. I’m a great fan of Oilskin, and having experimented basically with easy and cheap ways of doing it, I may experiment some more with my intended material.

An off white Viking A-Frame tent with hardwood A-Frame might be a fun little experiment, but it also won’t be cheap… But well, if it works out, then it could be useful. :)