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Last week, when I was doing the Deborama's WWW, I was looking around the blogosphere for some extra links about Ask Elvis, so as to jazz it up a bit. That was how I found Favourite Things, which in turn led me to the Blog of SimonG, which in turn led me to The Dressing Up Game. All three of them share a hostname, so I guess they can all be the WWW at once. I like these concepts and this site because they and it are very silly. The basic idea, as I understand it, is that the registered users of the site (zillions, including, now, me) post their favourite Thing in some category of their choosing, and the other users accept the challenge to try out their favourite thing and post their opinion/review/rating of this Thing on the forum. (Although I am really too old to like stuff like this, I do anyway.) Here is a brief excerpt from the FAQ for Favourite Things, just to get a flavour. Well, I think it must have some... hang on, aren't I supposed to be asking the questions? Oh, so you are. carry on. Thank you. Er... where was I? No idea.
Oh yes. Isn't the plural of forum forums? Shut up.
Okay. Can I become a Thinger? I don't know. It takes a special kind of person.
Oh, please. Ack, alright then. Just register, and then get Thinging.
What kind of stupid word is Thinging anyway? The best kind.
Why has your index page got a picture of Julie Andrews on it? I'm sure you can
work that out for yourself.
Seriously, isn't the plural of forum forums? I said shut up.
It appears that the categories of the Favourite Things are just made up at the same time, as no two are the same as far as I can tell. But Ask Elvis was a Thing; here is the entry:
Category: comedy elvis radio thing
Title:'ask elvis'
Submitter: henry the thirst
Submit date: 19 Jan 2004 03:12
Status: Normal
Last update: 13 Apr 2007 16:26
Submitter comments: shame i can't post an address, but i CAN post an address.tune in and work from the bottom up for chronological effect or just do what you want. the king of rock 'n' roll won't mind. go to... http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/wright/elvis.shtml
The picture above is from the Dressing Up Game, or DUG. The idea of this is that a persona to dress up as is posted and the contestants have an hour or so to find a costume in the stuff around the house, dress up, take their photo and upload it. Pictured is the winner of Elizabeth II.
I used to own this game, back when it had a much more reasonable price. And I used to play it, with my kids, if I couldn't get anyone else to play (usually.)
For those not familiar with all the arcana of the Illuminati, the fact that this the 23rd WWW of Deborama, and it is May the 23rd absolutely impels me to refer to the Illuminati today in this post. Now I need to find a way to put the game on my Wish List . . .
Cruel 2 B Kind is a new form of game that is spontaneous, active, public and thoroughly different. I suppose it's not for everyone, but I would definitely enjoy it. All one needs to play is a Benevolent Assassin's guide (available online), a text enabled mobile phone, and a game to be hooked into. You can play in teams as small as two, or even solo to begin with, but part of the creative aspect of the game is in the fact that the victims join the vanquishing team and keep on playing. Sign me up!
Tilefish is a UK-based highly specialised shopping site - for Scrabble enthusiasts. Countdown fans also patronise (great Countdown word, that) the site.
'Wordplay' is a hot new documentary about what most would consider a terribly uncool subject: crosswords. The work focuses on a man whose name is not so well-known to UK crossword fans, who feel utterly superior to American cruciverbailists but maybe should not; Will Shortz, the long-time crossword editor of the New York Times, deserves respect on both sides of the Atlantic.
Much of the superiority complex of the British solvers and setters is due to the fact that the quintissential British crossword is the cryptic, with "concise", "quick" or "easy" crosswords appearing in the more lowbrow publications and cheap puzzle magazines. In America, on the other hand, a very challenging "straight definition" style, with more closely packed crosses and very arcane words, is the standard fare of intellectuals, while cryptics can be found but are considered an eccentric variation. (Except for readers of the Nation magazine, which has featured a very excellent American-style cryptic since the 1800's.)
I am wearing my long-unused amateur cryptanalyst hat and trying to solve this. I have all but three pairs solved, and the connection between the pairs. I have left to go - the remaining six individuals and their connections, the overall connection between the two lists (apart from the obvious one) and of course, and I expect if anything will stop me it will be this, the hidden quotation. Still, I have only been working on it for two days, so that's pretty good.
Update, 22:30 - I have cracked it and sent my solution to GCHQ. Wonder what the prize is?
It all started with browsing my now seriously depleted bookshelves (but it's OK, the 4000 are boxed up in the cupboard under the stairs). I noticed the large hardcover Foucault's Pendulum that I bought a few months ago online, to replace a much-loved first edition that I lent to some "friend" who "forgot" to return it (I wish I could remember who it was so I could insult them online.) I have been meaning to re-read that book anyway, so I carried it into the bedroom and dropped it on the bed. As I was doing this, I wondered if my daughter Aimee had read it, and I thought that I would recommend it to her by saying it is the thinking person's "Illuminati", because I remembered that she had read the Illuminati trilogy and liked it. This made me think of the Illuminati game, which I used to play - oh, wa-a-a-ay back in the mid-1980s - with Aimee and Carey, when they were little, and Doug, my partner at the time. So I went to the trusty old internet and looked up Illuminati the game and bingo! It's there. (What DID we ever do before the internet?)
Here is the Illuminati Home Page. I am going to buy one, even though I will never find anyone to play it with. Wait, maybe I'm not - I just saw the price. The one I bought from Uncle Hugo's SF Bookstore was about $8.00. What a difference 20 years makes.
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