Tufi Piyufi

So I've been staff for... cripes, almost three years now?... And I've seen more than my fair share of spam in that time. I've been BBC staff for about two and a half years, and I had a fair stretch of time in Artwork the Whole too. As such, I've seen just about every way possible that people can spam. I wouldn't go so far as to say I've seen 'em all: one has never seen it all, and can never hope to. All the same, I've seen a lot of that sort of thing, and I may as well go on about some of 'em. Generic Posts These are possibly the most frustrating to deal with, as not only are they so easy to do(and thus pop up very, very frequently), but to the poster's eyes, they can appear as perfectly legitimate posts, and are thus reposted (often in almost identical form) after deletion, even though this is not something you are to do. Deletion occurs for a reason: we don't just ride into topics and lop off posts at random for the thrill of it. The thing is, they're also some of the easiest for the poster to correct: all you have to do is take a look at the MOC, pick out something you like, and talk about that. Though, this does somewhat lead into my next point: 'Nice design' does not count as a specific comment Oh, if I had a buck for every time I've seen this. It's akin to saying 'nice MOC', it's that generic. At the very least, 'nice legs' or 'like the weapon' narrows it down a bit(though it is still very, very borderline, and I'd highly recommend that you add more to such a post), but 'nice design' really says nothing at all. So, if that's all I see, bye bye post. 'Reporting...'/'That's spam!' You don't need to tell the whole board you're reporting a topic/post. You really don't. Likewise, you don't need to post just to tell somebody that they're spamming. All we ask is that you just report the post/topic quietly. We'll take care of it from there. That's what we're here for, after all. 'She's hot! *insert drooling*' Not technically spam, but it fits quite snugly into the category of 'things I've seen too much of.' After all, I was a host for Contest #30 and I was still in Artwork(I think, my memory might be a bit blurred since I still spend a fair bit of time in there anyways) when the explosion of 'borderline' art hit. Now I'm going to say something about it. Yes, there are numerous young males on this forum that are around 'that age.' That is still no excuse to let the forum descend into an inferno of hormones. We still expect a certain amount of maturity and decency from our members: topics for a female MOC or art piece that turn into little more than a discussion of her 'attractiveness' fall below these standards. Sometimes, this starts with the opening post itself. I've closed several topics for this very reason. In some cases, I- and other staff members of the forum in question- have posted warnings beforehand, but we still wind up having to close them anyways. We shouldn't have to. We really shouldn't. A MOC/art piece being female shouldn't be an unspoken invitation to scrutinize her 'attractiveness.' It's not a necessary component in reviewing female MOCs/art pieces. I could go into BBC or Artwork and do the same with every male MOC/art piece, but would I? No. Besides, you wouldn't stand a chance with her anyways- you best just move on from that. And there we go. Some notes on what not to do. For your reading and reference.

I've just been that busy. Status: Over over over Current Location: Home, hurrah Day Three: They love us! They really really love us! There were lots more of them than us, and they laughed this time! Not like the previous night, where they didn't really laugh that much. No, they laughed, and they laughed often. It actually felt like a comedy. As it should. But then I missed that infernal tea cue. All I had to do was bring out tea, and I was late. I recovered, though. I'd feel worse if other people hadn't missed their cues and skipped huge chunks of dialogue. Since they did, I've come to accept my delay. Day Four: So in that long stretch of time between school and play, four of us head off to the local mall to pick up some manner of gift for the rest of the cast. A box of Purdy's is considered, but then we (read: one of us) get cheap and just buy two boxes of Pot of Gold instead. The same one of us insists that we'll need a third box in order to have enough for everyone, but the rest of us insist that two is plenty. It was, by the way. Not like anyone really ate them. We return. Costumes are donned. Hair is messed with. Play is performed. Card for teacher-director-boss is signed. Close call is had with said card and the secrecy surrounding it. I help maintain secrecy of card. Play is finished. Curtain call. We get out there and remind the audience that we've got Grade Twelves in the cast that, yes, have just had their last performance in a high school play. The gift for teacher-director-boss is given, complete with card. We all head back into the 'greenroom' (really just the class sharing a gap in the wall with our 'theatre' of a classroom). That is when it gets touching and sad and people cry and oh my gods we're gonna miss you you Grade Twelves you. And the chocolates are so not eaten. I knew I shoulda stolen a box after all. Then I get to go home, but not before picking up a cherry milkshake. Cripes they're good. Day Five: Things sink in. We realize we can actually go home at a reasonable hour today. Cast party is planned. Not much happens. I keep my majorly gelled-and-bunned hair, partly out of happiness with how it turned out and partly out of laziness, since I'd just have to wash out the gunk anyways. That's about it. So that's where I've been for this past week. In case you were curious.

Short version: Entirely too much Elvis Costello. Full version betrays my inability to mock your playlist. Full version: What can I say? The only CDs around here I've been able to find since I got the thing have mostly been his. There's still more I need to track down, but cripes... mom's definitely had too much influence in my musical tastes. One might say I was kinda raised on punk and such things. Better than Neil Diamond, though. I suppose I'm rather grateful for that. Elvis Costello: (What's So Funny) 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding Oliver's Army Pump it Up Radio, Radio Spooky Girlfriend Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution) When I Was Cruel No. 2 (listening right now, right now) Tart Alibi High Fidelity The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby All You Need is Love Hello, Goodbye Hey Jude Get Back The Ballad of John and Yoko Let it Be ABBA (the peanut gallery can be der shushen on this one, thankie very much) S.O.S. Waterloo Gimme! Gimme! Gimm! (A Man After Midnight) Voulez Vous (oh here it comes on now) Queen: I'm Going Slightly Mad The Show Must Go On Other People: Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me I Don't Like Mondays Holiday Aaaand that's about it. As per sa demande administrative. A group-by-group breakdown, too. To emphasize both of the short version's messages.

I know of such sites, yeah: it's the ability to order from them that I don't have. But, as mentioned in a reply-comment in the Batmobile post, that's what Lego clubs are for: to squeeze in to the orders of those who can. And nothing better than a good pun now and then. Whee.

That'd be best... I'm worried he hasn't been keeping up with his meds, since I haven't had the time to make sure of that... Better give him a few more shots to be sure. And yes, that is a pretty cute dog. You be good to that dog, alright? It's not its fault it has to put up with you.

Yeah, this is a settling thing to come home to. 14+ hours at school, then I see 'Tufi's blog' and 'guinea pig' in the same sentence, and... well. This day refuses to end. It doesn't matter one bit that everything seems intact minus some temporal shifting. No. Never. I'm still not gonna be sleeping very well tonight. One eye open. Bucket of water on the door. Double-sided duct tape on the blog. Thanks a lot, guys.

So maybe I'm at a loss for titles right now. And also at a loss for sig... I'm right on the edge of the ol' '100-post sig change', and once again... no clue. Well, actually, some clue. The current leader's a quote from good ol' Socials, but then I'm also contemplating yet more Elvis Costello lyrics... But then again, how many times have I borrowed some lines from him? Okie, yeah. Socials quote it is, in all its glorious lack of context. Now to wait for the crossover to 6800. Woo. To counter the big batwing annoyance from one post ago... spiky ball. Yes, I went ahead and plunked down the ridiculous amount of money CAD for that guy just for the spiky ball parts. I admit it. I'm sure I'll find uses for the other stuff... but cripes, I needed that spiky ball. Oh yes. All this time, I've wanted some manner of spiky-ball-on-chain weapon, and now I have it. It'll pop up at some point in pictures, I'm sure. The design itself is nothing too spectacular: just a couple chain pieces with the spiky ball attached to one chain. The beauty is in the simplicity, however, and it truly is a lovely little weapon... I just went on for a relatively full paragraph about a weapon made of Lego. Figures.

Status: Performance #1 Current Location: Beginning of Act III Cripes, these loafers are killing my heels. I think they're actually cutting into the flesh. Well, I don't think they actually are, since I don't see any blood, but still, it's that general sensation. And I gotta keep these babies on for at least another hour. Oh joy. But man, I feel like... a man. Servant. Manservant. Straight outta the 20's. Hair and everything. Oh yeah. First two acts went well. Long unnecessary speeches were 'forgotten'. Hurrah. Still went for about an hour and a half. People laughed: very good. All fifteen or so of them laughed. Not a very full house, I gotta say. Oh well. No complaints. Music cues were brilliant. Tons of cheesiness thus added to 'serious, dramatic' scenes. A chair fell by accident during big spat scene. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Yanno, maybe this won't turn out so bad after all.

Status: Three-and-half hours to go before showtime Current Location: Safely out of notice of a gathering of 'volunteers' to move stuff around, so there, you three Oh cripes is it a long day. Very, very long day. Helped none by the fact it's absolutely beautiful outside, might I add. Though I have had the chance to get out there. You know, to eat lunch and get some ice cream and go down Memory Lane and all that. But now that is over. Now there is only waiting. At least an hour until the possibility of hair/makeup/etc. There have been talks of 'slicking me back' hairwise, seeing as how I'm supposed to be a guy and all. Well, at least I don't have to deal with the massive hair-fiddling that the female roles have to go through. Woo! And now I just watched a guy tie a tie when he did not know how to tie a tie before. I am inspired. Awed, even. Six-and-a-half hours total to go. This is gonna be such a long week. You know, spending too much time at school and all.

Ah, birthday parties... for young, hyper boys. Personal experience with brother and all suggests they should just be called 'a few hours of chaos', skip this 'birthday party' cover name, and thus be completely honest about the whole thing, but hey. The point is, fun was had, and y'all survived the day in your respective one pieces. Best anyone could hope for in such a situation. Way to go. And another shout for 'bad Windows bad'... You know, because. Twelve-or-so years of because over here. If I got to elaborating, I'd wind up more-or-less stealing your blog.

Hn... so this is what happens when I don't actually say what play we're doing. Experiment: successful. ... Actually, no experiment, just a lack of ever mentioning the name. Odd how I never got around to that. We did Midsummer Night's Dream last year... this year, however, we have moved far, far away from the Shakespeare. Oh no. No more Shakespeare for us, please. An Ideal Husband, by Oscar Wilde and all that. Which just so happens to clock in at around three hours in length. Believe me. We ran it last night. Let's see... if it starts at 7:00 PM... and I don't leave the school until it's over... and this goes on for three days... o_o

Status: Dress rehearsal Current location: Beginning of Act II Note to self: drink water before standing in one spot in dress shirt and vest for ten minutes. Not a fun feeling, being ready to collapse on stage. This thing's a lot funnier than Midsummer Night's Dream, which was definitely written by a man who defined a comedy as 'everyone lives to see the end and then they all couple up'. However, there is definitely a tradeoff... this thing's a whole lot longer. Takes us so long just to get through the first two acts... Gah. But the other two seem shorter. That's the current theory, anyways. Here's hoping it's right. We'll be here until dinnertime, at least... but then again, rumour has it pizza of some manner will be ordered. Yay! And thus, some boredom was smote. Just another page to go until I get to go back on, yay... yay yay yay...

Better $15 for two pieces than over $100 for two other pieces, though, you must admit. That Batmobile will drive me insane, I swear...

Ah but those wings are the small ones. Tufi wants the big rubbery ones like the ones in the Viking sets. I think Tufi wants to make a big puffin. Then you could make little puffins with the ones from the Bat-Vehicles. Then even smaller puffins from the Batcave, but that costs a lot. Bingo. Although I wouldn't mind some of the smaller wings, and have ideas for 'em... it's those big ones I really want. They just look that much eviller... Some of it has to do with the fact I just really like that new wing piece... It's just that swell. It really is. Got the red/yellow-orange and brown/browner ones, but oh, seeing all those other colours they come in... And why do they have to be in all the expensive (or at least, not cheap and easily stock-up-on-able) sets? Could it get any more vexing?

No, this is why we have Lego clubs. To squeeze into other people's Bricklink orders. I'm kinda half surprised and half not-surprised y'all haven't heard about this set... Surprised in that I've seen pictures of it for weeks now, but not-surprised in that... well... I'll be danged if I've seen it for sale anywhere, and it's not like it's been advertised like all the other sets(funnily enough, I haven't really seen any ads for any Batman sets), now, has it? But now you know, and now you can agonize with me.

Thank y'all kindly. *bow* A few hours in and just wisps of ideas... It's prolly that infernal play that's doing this to me. Yeah. Dowdies and dandies and backlit screens for all. It'll be a miracle if I can post anything without saying 'yes, Sir Robert' or anything like that this week. But then it will be over!

I dunno... it looks like it's been doing too much headbanging and now it's just sloshing around a soupy mix of cranial innards, if you ask me. It's like a visual representation of a CD/record that's skipping. None too healthy. And curse you and your early getting-out-ness. Curse it indeed. But I'll be there in a few weeks, free time and energy and all, don't you worry... and then, we'll see what happens from there... Oh, who am I kidding, it'll be evil, of course.

Well, that's what this is... So I still need to figure out what in blue blazes I'll be doing with this thing. Can't keep on posting 'hey I've got a blog isn't that nifty' entries forever, you know. Seems vaguely 'not gonna work'ish, and I've found that that feeling is usually fairly accurate. The few times I haven't trusted that feeling... it's not been too great, I'll tell you now. And then there's the 'I'll know it when I see it' gut instinct. Gotta love that one. Yeah. I'll go with that one, too. So bear with me for the time being, will you?