Prancing about with Spiritus Sanctus in College:
Red Wine: Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon, Colchagua Valley, Apalta vineyrd in Chile, ... plus an extra gift of electric power razor! :o)

The Goldsmith’s Challenge:

Some years ago, in August 1994 to be precise, I made a vow to myself while on an AFS exchange student program in Latvia. The vow was supposed to be a self imposed impetus to make me learn the language. It went something like this: “I will not cut my hair short until I have become as proficient in my third language as my English is now!”

Needless to say my hair grew extensively through the years and everybody in my family made some kind of a comment. My mother aside, Sólbjörg my dashy sister has been the most vocal of the lot, ... never missing an opportunity to ask me how is your third language coming along? The commentary ranges from suggesting to have a more conservative look all the way to my uncle from the Westfjords threatening to cut my hair with sheep scissors! Only one has recently commented about liking “man with long hair!” but then she was hitting on me pretty directly. Fellow students and faculty have also suggested me to get hip! Most of my friends have not been void of opinion either. Jen, who is a pro-hairdresser, even plotted to get me drunk enough so I would pass out in a chair to her convenience, and then take liberty of my rocksy-topsy. My nutty metabolism ensured that it never came to that! :evilbaron-smirking

Then finally during a break in Gold- & Silversmith Art History lesson, the most vocal goldsmith student, Arna, made me an offer that was tempting enough for my eyeballs to crane themseves into the skull. The offer was that if I would cut my hair short (defined as above shoulder level) before my 30th birthday, then I would get one bottle of red wine of my own choosing! When she saw from my focus point that I actually was contemplating the offer she added ... and another one if you shave your beard off too! Grinning while finishing the last sentence!

Now what can a guy say to that?

So few hours before my 30 years annaversery off popping out into this world I went to Gísli, (the only guy who may lay hands on my hair), and stated that you got your wish fulfilled, cut me short!
“You mean short or short-short?” was the reply. Few cuts later trotting off as prince Valiant to buy the last tidbits I needed for my going away to Australia dinner party. Then home bound to take a shower, shave my beard off, and prepare to recieve the guests.

Typically I had forgotten to buy a good razor and only found in my inventory a biteless cheese cutter that I used with extra force to get the protein spaghetti of my face, gaaaawdd!
Supremus Biggus, I’ve been contemplating. Why can’t I just get a local astrogen shot on the beardy part and be rid of grooming for good?

My schoolmate Claudia, who makes a pasta sauce to die for, helped me out with the dinner preparations and was the first to see the change and with her priceless Sachsen accent “You’ve cut your hair, ... and your beard is off too!” When my siss showed up she congratulated me with my proficiency in my third language! I just crossed my fingers.

The dinner party turned out alright, the only real setback was to cheek-kiss everybody with my invisible stingy beard buts cutling.

First day of Collage after Easter brake.
Decided to improve the texture of my cheeks. This time I was prepared for I had bought a single-use razor. Being used to the cheese cutter I typically forgot time and tools and hacked away the beard buts scraping away some skin with reminiscent effect of horror films. Had to wait half an hour before I got the bleeding under control. At least I got rid of some pestering facial bumps while at it!

Took the bus to Collage and walked up the stairs towards the huge computer-torium. Was’nt even close to the top stair when I heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere in the distant part of the hall “Ohmygod-oh my god - ohmygod ... etc, etc, etc!”. The only time I’ve ever seen Suzanne Multy-Media student with a drop jaw.

So I walked straight to the Goldsmith Art History class, our first lecture after Easter break. Showed up fashionably late, because of a bloody reason. Now it was Arna’s turn to keep her end of the bargain.

What I never expected was to get that kind of positivly firm reaction from everybody!

It’s so strange about red wine. I allready have enough of unopened red wine bottles. The oldest of the lot is a bottle I bought to celebrate my 20th birthday. (For those not in the know, I never officially celebrated my 20th birthday). The plan was to celebrate my 20th birthday when I would feel old, like the time I would turn thirty. Didn’t feel old when I turned thirty so I decided to celebrate my 20th birthday when I turn forty. For my 30th birthday I also have bought a bottle of red wine, that I guesstimate will be opened when I turn fifty. ... hey I’m ranting! ... upps, ... my cellular is vibrating. ... just got some SMS-es in a row. Claudia has a birthday gift for me, ... and a proxy message from the goldsmiths that they have something for me up in their workshop facility down at TechCollage! Yeahaaa!

Ammæli
Yesterday it was Hitler’s birthday, ... tomorrow it will be Lenin’s, But today it’s my birthday hahahhahahha ... and her highness the Queenie!


As they say in the quieerie world, ... when you turn 30 your life is over! Shit, ... shit it’s 21 minutes until! gaaaawd!

FOUND IT! ... Changeling

Five years ago I wrote the following commentary at Shadowrun Writer’s forum under the Internet nick Mosi_M on the Sci-Fi novel Changeling in the Shadowrun universe. I have edited the text abit but the original can be found here.


In defence of CHANGELING by Christopher Kubasik:
Changeling was the first novel I read in English, (that I can remember), and it was absolutely an eyeopener for me. Changeling is the book that made the Shadowrun world believable.

The structure (bones) of Shadowrun is the rule system. Changeling revealed the meat, ... that in Shadowrun there is a socio-, racist, and economical twists that made you sense the universe, as a believable setting. For instance generalizations in Shadowrun do not apply. Example; there is an omnipresent basis in SR that people are not absolutely good or evil, but a little bit of a blend. Just this factor alone gives automatic depth to SR material written by authors who have this sense, authors like Christopher Kubasik.

Changeling was the fifth novel in the Shadowrun series and it came out at the right time where some gamers regarded Shadowrun like a Megalomanic Cyberpunk with a magical twist, ... and therefor not that much different!


WARNING SPOILERS:
What was appealing about Changeling was that the protogonist has next to nil world importance and therefore is an utter and complete “low life”, with no real impact on the evolution on the general SR-World. A human teenager that goblinized into a “troll” and does his best to get his intellect mind back after the horrendous transformation. Fast Eddie, the dude with malfunctioning experimental cyberwere. Ghouls longing for legal recognition as human beings, remember the picket line “Ghouls are people too!”

Okay, in retrospect Changeling was on the verge of being mushy and the tech-babble was a bit overdone, (one of my friends lost interest in novels based on roleplaying games after reading that scientific word bombast!) But still Changeling is a novel that has the ability to sell Shadowrun. For it tells a story of an unwanted nobody stuck in the grinding machine of the system that dosn’t accommodate the likes of his, in a post apocalyptic future where technology and mystic have merged as a real presence, mirroring a real socio- economic chaos that should have gotten the attention of every anthropologically thinking Sci-Fi addict.

Evidently as more Shadowrun novels were published it became less of telling stories and more of publishers hinting how the Shadowrun universe would evolve. In short the novels had a central theme of “it affects millions”. Therefore they came to be foreseeable and monolithic. The Dirk Montgomery character was the only believable character in such novels and 2XS was brilliant, (but then again 2XS was published before Changeling). Later when Universal Brotherhood popped up from time to time during roleplaying sessions players and their characters became extremely paranoid about the world.

Also I must say that Christopher Kubasik’s Ærthdawn books were way to mushy, ...so he should have written more books for Shadowrun.

After Nigel Findley, the author of 2XS, passed on, the novels became in general not such an interesting reading on it’s own regard. In fact most of the following novels seemed to degrade the authenticity of the SR-Universe! It was only relevant to read them to have a sense of how the Shadowrun universe was evolving, ...that’s it.

2XS was the most thrilling; Changeling gave the Shadowrun essence!

SR Novel nr: 5: Changeling; Chris(topher) Kubasik. ISBN: 0-451-45163-5. FP: June, 1992.

Searching the Internet for a commentary I wrote some years ago about a Sci-Fi novel that I intended to post on my questionable site, I came across this ... don’t ask!

P.s. I didn’t find the article :o/

Shit, ... I’ve been bloody blog-infected

Well, here is the first blog, ... the person entirely responsable for exposing the common internet user to my somewhat twisted mind, (by some peoples standard), is Svava Hakon’sdaughter, ... thanks alot! :oþ
kv. :evilbaron