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The Corroboree

sobriquet

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Posts posted by sobriquet

  2. Posted

    Just a quick post this time on what people would define as being a virgin for both males and females?

    What makes a male a virgin for example? The fact that his penis has never been in a vagina?

    In fact, unless he was born via Caesarean section, then every male born naturally, would be a non-virgin from birth if that was the definition. The definition is pretty hard to pin down really.

    Any definitive answers?

  3. Posted

    Unfortunately I can't make it to this one.

    Pssst... to the people attending, I think it would be nice to all chip in and get gomaos a PC of some sort (not a pressure cooker but the silicon type). Surely there's someone out there who can get something together cheaply. Would be a great gesture to a very important forum member who despite his thoughts otherwise is truly appreciated for the interest and fun posts he comes up with always.

    Happy birthday gomaos!

  4. Posted

    I see forums not as some open market square for everyone to shout at each other in, but as someone's house that I've been fortunate enough to walk into/ be invited to. I don't go into that person's house and piss in the corner and abuse their partner...I'd pretty much expect to be booted out or silenced in some other manner if I did. Anybody who has ever run an Internet forum of any kind should know that moderation is sometimes needed. No problems with the decision here T.

    Belf.

    The house analogy is close but incorrect in my opinion.

    I think the open nature of these publicly visible forums is more akin to a club. More people with very different backgrounds and directions enter a club with a general understanding of why they are there for some common purpose. But these people will occasionally get drunk, fight, vomit on the floor, flick their ash on the carpets, and they might even be careless when they are using the toilet and not bother to use the brush to get rid of the skid marks.

    BUT in general everything goes well, and just like in a club setting there are bouncers and cleaners to sort out the mishaps.

  6. Posted

    Lol well I've just started working for a "Flower Farm" and they make most of their money for the year from Valentines day. If it wasn't for this day I most probably wouldn't have a job that I enjoy at the moment..

    Everyone has to make an earning somehow.

    I must say that I'm ambivalent about florists and their products. Yes the business involves plants, but it strikes me as a vanity of sorts. Cutting the flowers remembering that they are the reproductive organs of the plant for display, only for them to wither with no permanence; not forgetting the money that could have gone towards actually useful things is quite abhorrent to me personally.

    A complete waste of resources really in so many ways.

    Again just my feeling on this.

  7. Posted · Edited by ~username

    Sounds good to me!

    I reckon should be right for every uncertainty, except maybe number three?

    LC is a bit tricky, especially if it's your first time. The problem is it can contam but remain invisible in the liquid (so you think everything is ok).

    Try anyway I say.

    She should use at least two of the circles, chances are much better that way and once you get started you don't need to ever worry about such things again :wink:

    Excellent.

    The reason there is no photos of this and probably won't be is that she has a crappy camera which requires flash to get a good photo and she believes this constant flashing and light exposure while admiring the grow was a contributor to the failure to fully colonise of a previous grow of a related species.

    These have apparently all been put into a styrofoam esky and then in a black garbage bag (fresh) and placed in an out of the way place that is at room temperature.

    In terms of liquid culture she used some plastic screw top jars and actually unscrewed the top to innoculate through a very small gap.

    She has bought 2 more of the larger 750 mL containers and has now drilled two holes in top and put clear silicone putty on the top and bottom of the holes and plans to do a no open sterile injection with 'airport' style devacuuming with 0.5 mL injection from the spore syringe soon. She plans on doing 500 mL in each one apparently.

  8. Posted · Edited by ~username

    Some of the other ‘gifts’ that can be given are toilet blocks...

    I hear that that's one of George Michaels' favorites :wink:

    Actually did you see the thread Torsten posted about toilet blocks last night?

    You don't know how useful they are until you really need one. I remember one memorable time when I was travelling to a job interview in a suit and a combination of factors including nerves had lead to a quickened bowel transit time. I remember being about 5 minutes away from the destination and having about 15 minutes to burn. I felt the strange urge to fart and decided to let it go and just as soon as I'd done it I felt the unmistakable warm sensation of an acidic liquid fart. I panicked thinking I'd just ruined my suit pants (that I'd borrowed from a friend). I recalled a public toilet block I'd passed on the other side of Parlaiment house in East Melbourne and drove back there. It was getting on 5:30 pm in winter and it was getting dark. I quickly got out of my car and rushed for the toilet with some Hungry Jack's serviettes I kept in the car back then (when I still ate fast food) in my suit pocket.

    As I found a cubicle that looked atrocious in terms of being as yet uncleaned at the end of a working day I proceeded to see what the damage was and the fart had not made it to my underwear for which I was thankful. As I finished I heard some definite activity and rustling in the cubicle next to mine. I heard some wet type sounds and thought it was some teenagers who had no money for a car or hotel room getting it on.

    I left the toilet block and only then noticed that there was a large number of males in their 30's and beyond walking around the elm trees around the toilet block, some carrying newspapers for some odd reason and a disproportionate number having caps on their heads; baseball and some beret or artistic type. As I turned to my car door I saw a mediterranean (maybe Greek) looking brutish man with a cap, heavily bearded looking directly into my eyes. At first I mistook him for a wino or bum, but then in an instant of clarity understood everything once I sat in the car driving off. I was late to the interview and was unsuccessful anyhow.

    Surreal and only what I'd ever heard of, but I was much younger and naive back then.

  9. Posted

    WARNING: The post below may be a rumour and contains non-validated information so take it for what it's worth.

    I heard that recently a package arrived from overseas containing a spore print of P. tampanensis to someone I know of. They say they prepared some rye grass containers (without gypsum that they didn't find out about till it was too late) by soaking rye grass for 12 hours with a touch of washing detergent to act as a surfactant and increase wettability of the seed. It was pressure cooked for 90 minutes. At the same time some liquid culture Karo medium was prepared and sterilised. In addition to these some potato dextrose agar was cooked up and sterilised. This was a go for broke attempt apparently.

    No risks were taken with sterility and everything was done with new materials guaranteed to be sterile. A glove box was used with plenty of antiseptic sprays beforehand.

    The idea is to use the liquid culture to innoculate more containers in several weeks. She says she will attempt to case and fruit most of the containers attempting to get spore prints as a priority on this first grow. She innoculated 5 jars and three agar plates + liquid culture (125 mL distilled water with 5 mL of Karo) with a 10 mL spore syringe. She only used 5 mL of solution keeping the remainder in case the rye grass seed turns out to be fungicide treated and another batch of substrate needs to be made. She thinks she will use WBS (Coles budgie mix) if the grass seeds are unsuccessful. The uncertainties are:

    1. ?? Fungicide on rye grass seeds (Yates brand lawn mix)

    2. PD agar being sufficient in nutrients for P. tampanensis

    3. Liquid culture taking.

    4. Amount of spore material in 5 mL being sufficient to have successfully innoculated the substrates. The print had 3 small 1 - 1.5 cm prints of moderate purplish look and one full 1 cm print was used leaving two on the print for culturing later if needed. If this attempt turns out completely botched then she will probably sell the remaining print with the 2 larger prints still on it.

    What says everyone about this? Any ideas to share with her?

  10. Posted

    I just want to comment on some members waxing lyrical about the good ol' days. It's a common syndrome in almost every sphere of life, and dwelling on past ("better") times is a waste of time.

    The past never returns. Everything moves on. When forums are small and have fewer members then yes it can be a very chummy and peaceful place. But look at the number of registered members ---- close to 2000 now. 12 months ago I'd bet it was half that number; if you check the 'validating members' in the memberlist you'll see about 20 members having put in applications to join in the last week.

    More people equals more chaos, more ideas, and in general a better overall store of information and experience to draw from.

    In the end the purpose of these forums is to promote ethnobotany within an environment that puts many of the discussed plants within easy reach of people because the admin happens to also administer the finest ethnobotanical materials online shop in Australia. It brings people closer to the action and that can only be a good thing.

    Craving the past is pointless. If anything things will become more chaotic as time goes on and the deluge of members grows and grows. I don't know how many of the 2000 members are active at any one time, but the overall figure is going to point to a higher number of active members in general.

    Finally I want to say that even though the moderation queue is a reasonable idea, that people should be given a warning before being put on it.

    Coming from the point of view of an advocate of free-speech and libertarianism, I think it would be unfair to suddenly be silenced without the right to reply to any criticisms. I don't know if Green_Osiris was warned prior to being placed on the list but it would seem unfair if it was just a snap decision without warning. At least with a warning there is the chance for dialogue. Gagging is a serious course of action and I think needs to be treated with care.

    Just my thoughts for what they are worth.

  13. Posted · Edited by ~username

    Here's the wrench logo of the band Tool (which I believe they dropped)...

    Tool-logo-early.jpg

    Clever isn't it? Obviously took a genius to design that one :wink:

  15. Posted

    Shake away.

    A tad too late to shake I'm afraid here :wink:

    post-300-1170871420_thumb.jpg

    Which begs the question of why these suddenly stop like that. It's very similar to one of my experiences where I didn't shake. Moisture problem?

    oh and here's the glovebox finished and tested!

    post-300-1170872435_thumb.jpg :)

    Very nice.

  16. Posted · Edited by ~username

    I agree that that information can be a real help to people with medical conditions like kidney problems, diabetes, and bowel conditions like Crohn's disease which cause diarrhoea etc.

  17. Posted

    I've given the situation a few weeks to sort itself out, but it isn't. Some members still feel it is more fun to cause discord than to build a community. So, anyone who repeatedly makes aggravating posts, breaks the rules, or simply tries to push to see how far they can piss the mods off, will now be on moderation queue. That means their posts will be marked as only visible to a moderator who will then have to approve them before they become visible [look for the grey squares next to the forum/thread or ask me]. It's a pain in the ass for mods and frustrating for the poster, but if you don't like this concept, then simply make sure you don't get on that list - or if that is against your character then leave the forums.

    I have no idea what happens in forums without moderator. If the moderation queue is forwarded to admin then that's fine. if not then you will be restricted from those forums entirely. I am not going to try to reconfigure things or waste time on you

    Problem members may also be barred from editing their profiles and may have other privis removed if they abuse them.

    Moderators please report any posts that you decide not to approve so that I can decide on either deleting members or unrestricting them. Please use your own personal judgement whether a post contributes to the forums [and the tone] or is of little value. Members who have been placed on mod review are there for a reason and you don't need to have 100% proof that the post was against the rules to delete it. If you feel it is bringing down the tone of the forum and annoying the community then delete it. Don't be fooled by relevant tidbits dressed up in vitriole and sarcasm. Assess each post on it's merit. Don't be shy about deleting as if a post is not approved the poster can always rewrite it.

    If anyone feels like this is as bad as high school, then yeah, I agree. But just like in high schoool it is a few rotten apples that spoil it for the rest.

    This is actually a very reasonable approach to take.

    There are many usenet groups which are totally moderated for example, in that every post is monitored just due to the sheer volume of problem posting and spam that would occur without it. In such groups the posts are of a uniformly high standard where people go to the trouble of spellcheckers etc. to insure that their post has the best chance possible of making it through. Obviously it leaves no room for idle banter and is very formal.

    I just have one question about this if you feel that it deserves an answer: once a person is muted through moderation, then what will be the criteria to remove the moderation queue on that person's posts?

    I know that all such things pose tricky issues, but ultimately it does come down to the fact that it's a privately owned forum and an admin should and does have the right to administer it in absolutely whichever way they see fit. It's my personal view however that some allowances must be made for differences of opinion, lest we be branded closed minded.

  18. Posted

    Ok all.. Finally, i've birthed 3 out of the 4 cakes.

    The other cake was sliced up and broken into some chunks to cover a 1 litre capacity black plastic tray.

    I used a 50/50 peat/vermiculite mix, and also tried a small amount of moist rice flour over the top level (which is purely experimental), with a little bit of dry verm on top. It looks like a mould but its only rice flour btw :P

    Substrate was sterilized in the microwave for 5 minutes and then let to cool.

    My only doubt is that the vermiculite was a different brand than my usual and it is much finer than i'd have liked.

    So this is going to turn out to be my new experiment.. :P

    At the moment i've got some plastic wrap over the tub (My other humidity dome is in use for a few more days with some seedlings), but it will go in there soon.

    KlUe

    [edit] typos

    Awesome stuff! This thread deserves to be an archival one. Best I've seen here for beginners.

    One thing I've seen with the PF cake birthing is the adding of a bit of 'casing' moistened vermiculite to the top of the cakes to keep it moist. Don't know how much more it helps but there's a reason for everything as they say.

  19. Posted

    What a bastard! Can someone go and punch him up for me?

    Sure thing, i know some hard crim types. What plants you exchange me for it?

     

    This is hitting new lows. An incitement to violence replied to with an incriminating reply to arrange it.

    I thought this thread was kind of stupid to begin with.

    I mean can anyone exempt a thread from the rules of the forum and society by saying it's a vent?

  20. Posted

    I have to agree with the bullshit nature of "St. Valentine's Day". I'd just ignore it and I mean what's going to happen long term if you fail to acknowledge the commercial sector's desire to sell all sorts of crap to you?

    Divorce? Separation?

    If that's how effing superficial a relationship or partner is then it's pretty dire.

    Instead of dancing to the commercial calendar's tune of trying to artificially prompt you to buy something, agree to do something on a day that is more special to you both. It doesn't have to be about buying stuff either. Make something for each other instead perhaps.

    Stop being a puppet to the puppeteers.

  21. Posted

    I can't recall specific examples, but I remember when travelling through Azerbaijan some years ago that certain individuals who were considered 'blessed' in certain ways had cures for specific conditions. This power of healing was often transmitted by the person on their deathbed by passing his hand to the next person who would get the power. A man I came into contact with would be able to cure certain skin conditions (I thought psoriasis) by eating a certain plant for a day and then collecting his urine which he would dilute out and give to patients who would come to him for it.

    My only guess is that he was eating a plant rich in 'psoralen' which was being concentrated in his urine and thereby consumed by the people seeking the cure. What gave me this clue is that he said he would stay indoors for 2 days after making the potion for his patients telling me that he probably became very light sensitive himself.

    He said that other healers would eat certain mushrooms for other types of spiritual healing and demonic possession and give their urine to the victims of possesion. I didn't cotton on to what sort of mushrooms they might have been until I read up on Amanita muscaria many years later, which I found out was also concentrated in urine and a drinker could enjoy the mental effects without having any physical discomfort like the primary ingester would.

  23. Posted

    Hi all,

    Well it looks like my second attempt with WBS has resulted in no growth at all after 10 days leading me to believe that the brand I chose may have fungicide in it. The jars were innoculated with agar wedges with mycelium after allowing the jars to cool overnight.

    The brand was TRILL FINCH seed.

    If anyone has used Wild Bird Seed (WBS) successfully could you post the brands which worked and likely don't have fungicide. It's very disappointing to still have no grow even when I've used all the right techniques. Perhaps this can save anyone else wasted effort.

    My next grow when I can obtain a new spore print will have to be a small one using something reliable.

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