Join The Car Crash Set (And Other Beginnings)

[tcpip]

"Crappy new year", as they say. Yesterday caseopaya had a small accident on our newish car. Near a fairly busy intersection the passenger's tyre blew and she lost control, clipping the back corner of a delivery truck parked in a 'no standing zone', and then into a second car. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but the car looks like it's a write-off. The various insurance agencies will engage in what they do, and hopefully we won't be off the road for too long; indeed, we have our eyes set on the same model vehicle, except what Nissan has called "Prague Nightshade". They mean "dark purple" of course, so we'll end up with a Goth Nissan. Possibly not in the best taste, but I do keep thinking of The Normal's Warm Leatherette in reference to all these events, which was clearly on the mind of some drivers on New Year's Eve, even if they are too young and stupid to know the song itself.

In other events the year has alread taken up its own course. I've booked tickets to see Sir Tim Berners-Lee, I'm organising the Linux Users of Victoria Annual Penguin Picnic, which will be followed later in the day by the Annual General Meeting of the Victorian Secular Lobby. Tonight played through another epic session of Horror on the Orient Express which including fighting Vampires and people drowning in their own facial skin; have also completed chapter three of the write-up for said tale. Also, I've made a real start on the Mimesis roleplaying system. The Isocracy Network now also has a printable leaflet, along with a new enthusiastic organiser in Italy.

Comments

[fluffyblanket.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the printable leaflet , although mine begins in midsentence .
: )

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's supposed to. It's designed to become a three-column folded leaflet.

For a straight version see the following: http://isocracy.org/plan

[fluffyblanket.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the latter. I've printed a copy. Kropotkin and Rosa Luxemburg are two of my favourite Anarchists.

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

Damn. I hope the year looks up from here.

[fluffyblanket.livejournal.com]

It's probably just me , being stupid as usual. What do you think of this -
http://equitist.org/Equitist/Equitist-entry.htm

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It's a little on the wordy side, but the core principles seem to be:

a) democraticisation of the economy
b) social welfare through public industry
c) global perspective

Obviously, I don't disagree with any of these. But the author is a little heavy on the adjectives and light on the verbs.

The constitutional framing is, of course, the sort of the thing that idealists can spend a lot of time and energy on, when perhaps they could look at some of the "great constitutions" in history for comparison first. Also, I do worry a little about the mind that becomes obsessive on affixes in words to the point that they must be highlighted and italicised.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It was hardly the best start... :(

Still caseopaya has been right on the case, organsing the insurance, contacting dealers etc. So soon we'll have wheels again.

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry to hear about your car.
I probably should get comprehensive insurance :/

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Probably a good idea. Insurance is always a combination of risk vs cost, but when you're dealing with other cars on the road, the risk quantity increases significantly with great variation.

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, scary! Car accidents are never fun, even if nobody is hurt. I hope your insurance gets sorted out soon.

people drowning in their own facial skin

OK, ew.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Horror on the Orient Express has some very nice touches to it. Apart from being an awesome tour of Europe in its own right there's a gradual build-up of events as the veil of (potential) disbelief falls away.

One of the other epic moment of the night's play was a main character fighting a vampire with the leg of a magical statue on the top of the Orient Express as it hurtled through Bulgaria in the middle of the night...

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

A tyre blow-out these days is incredibly unusual and unlucky. Tyres are vastly better than they used to be and seldom fail dramatically like that, unless it is due to a major fault. (... such as the big recalls of faulty Chinese valve stems a few years back.)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You're quite right of course about the improvements in technology; most people are incredibly unaware of the changes that have occurred in materials, fluid mechanics, etc. Still, as you point out, there are the occasional weak spots.

[maxcelcat]

"Prague Nightshade"? Sounds like a rare and deadly poison!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

If it was a bottle of absinthe, I'd buy it by the dozen.

[claudine-c.livejournal.com]

Oh no! At least there were no injuries.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The lack of injuries is the absolute best part, to be sure.

[khrysha.livejournal.com]

So glad no one is hurt.

Happy 2013! Huzzah!

[khrysha.livejournal.com]

PS: Me likely purple car...

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It's pretty damn gorgeous. Alas, not to the contemporary style, it would go well with edges and points...

[zenicurean.livejournal.com]

Eugene Hütz icon!

[sebastianne.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear Erica is ok! Hopefully the rest of the year brings better things for you both! :)