Josephine

Not a creature of any kind, my friend. Look it up. Also research Adam Ant, poplular 80s pop-nutjob. (EDIT: My chronology's off, he was late 70s)

Think of all the people who saw the ride that day and now associate trials with that loud-mouthed twat. I think I would have encouraged him ever so subtly to piss off back where he came from.

Probably, you might engage your brain and be the better man, though. I know I would/have.

You're

Punctuation is dead. Joe x

I'm really torn between TOOL and A Perfect Circle. I think if I could only listen to one again, though, it'd have to be TOOL. Yeah I'll stick with that, no-one else does what they do. They're powerfully good live, and there's so much depth to it. Joe x

They're sold as frames. I think you only need to call forks that on bikes to differentiate from the main frame, no such confusion exists with a uni. Joe x

Aaaaaaaaaaaargh! Definitely is spelt with an 'i'. My inner pedant is howling in pain... Joe x

I swear a reasonable amount when I'm just talking, as I guess quite a lot of (most?) people do. Between friends and what-have-you I've got absolutely no problem with it (with the C-word excepted, that just sounds foul), but some people do get offended by it, and that's reason enough to curb it a little. You're not going to prove a social point by offending someone in the street. When I see swearing in arguments and stuff it annoys me because people cloud over their points with over-emotive language (swearing in particular), so whenever you want to be taken seriously you probably shouldn't curse like a mofo. Yes, they are just words, but words convey meaning (duh) so you're probably better off cutting down on swearing however little you do, you'll just sound a little more intelligent. Joe x Quick extra 2p: If you didn't know a swear word was a swear word, you could claim that it was no more offensive than any normal word, but the fact that it is a swear word makes it offensive.

Do you have a bike license and CBT and stuff already? How about protective clothing and helmet and stuff. Also very important is the question of your age. Unless you're over 21 you need to learn on a bike that is no larger than 125cc capacity. Then you've got to pass your bike test, and after that you're still limited to 33bhp for two years, so something like an R6 would have to be limited. Joe x

That's not how it works, really. You can think of it as two separate systems; one above the gyro and one below. So the top system pushes the top half of the gyro down, which just presses the bottom half down (I guess it'd have a roller bearing like a headset does in between the two halves). See cheap diagram, the top half just pushes the bottom, so no fluid moves between the two halves of the brake. Joe x

The anglicism of it is Tsar, I think, pronounced almost identically to Zar, 'cept you kind of click your tongue so the T comes out, like 'tsunami'. Joe x

Can you love without passion? Eroticism and sexuality are a huge part of 'love' (an extremely vague term, eg "I love chocolate." may be just as true as "I love this girl.") You can't have real erotic love without sex; it just doesn't work. Which is one of the reasons I think the no-sex-before-marriage concept is a farce. Joe x

I wouldn't; absolute no-brainer. Sex is what makes your best friend your lover, I wouldn't throw that away for any amount of money. Can't buy happiness and all that Joe x

Haha yeah, don't get me wrong I'm a bass player too. I'd much rather hear a nice, tight groove than a solo though... This really has got merit as a solo piece though, I reckon, the orchestration kicks ass. Joe x

Bass solos are gay, very very gay. But this is nice, it's also fun, which helps Joe x

There's no dirty hippy option Joe x

No-one's mentioned Unearth! Absolutely fantastic metal, it's artfully heavy and feels really punchy unlike some other stuff like Children and what-have-you. The Great Dividers is a fantastic album, can't really say much about the new one as I've not heard it but it's supposed the be excellent. Joe x

I think that'll go down as my 'Overreaction of the Week™" Joe x

Steve-A off here and I climb quite regularly (few times a week at least), we climb mainly at Vertical Limit in Worcester, which is fairly small but it's not terrible, we go to Creation fairly regularly, too. The lead wall there kicks ass (led my first 6a the other day ). We both started at about the same time about 8 months ago and neither of us has ever had any formal lesson, we just got matey with the locals and got taught how to use ropes and stuff that way, Steve (being the man with the money) recently got a rope and some quickdraws and he's been leading loads of stuff and I'm breaking into that now as well, it's awesome fun now I've got over my fear of falling from above the protection (in fairly spectacular style). We both started out bouldering and it really helps you when you come to the ropes because you're used to moves that are physically a lot tougher, so ropes becomes more of a mindgame. Whoever asked about finger strength being important, you can bet your ass it is, plenty of routes just won't happen unless you can crank on the smaller stuff and it makes the whole experience a little more comfortable if you've got the grip. Joe x

Haha, I bumped up one of the other versions of this topic not so long ago, though this was the one I was looking for, it's all changed where I'm concerned, got me a Cort Artisan A4 playing through a Trace 715 combo Joe x

The Dangerous Book for Boys. Seems like quite an entertaining read, may have to steal it at some point. Joe x

I'm glad you said it. I'm no angel with my language, but perfectly reasonable arguments can be become derisible if it's full of effing and blinding. Joe x

That'd piss me off even more than numeracy and literacy hour (thank mini cheddars I dodged those). I think anything so formal as a mandatory course would just be nannying people, and it'd not go down too well. I am, however, all for people taking some responsibility for themselves and becoming a little less reliant on people to do simple little jobs (puncture repair is an excellent example ). Vehicle maintenance has to be the biggest one, the level of ignorance is shocking. Personally I don't know a lot and I certainly couldn't do any car-type jobs as fast or effectively as a trained mechanic but I can look after myself or work it out for the simpler stuff. The basic lack is of common sense; I think that's what we're on about, people just lack the knowledge to look after themselves, and I don't think it's fair to blame it on the state, people should really take responsibility for themselves. Joe x

10,000 Days by Tool. Best record I ever bought (after Lateralus, Aenima and Undertow ) Guarantee you'll not regret this, pure mastery from start to finish. Joe x