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Just wrapped up a wonderful week with @Twist of Fate (Taker25700). We visited the Great Lakes area together. Among usual tourist activities, we found some time to relax and play RS. I'll spare the mushy details, but did want to share some reflections on the power of online communities, and the bonds they create. I've been part of online communities my whole life. In the years that most of you were making content for Sal's, I was pouring my heart and soul into another forum site called RolePlayGateway.com. The community members there have continued to mean a lot to me, and a few have gotten married, become roommates, or otherwise continued creating together on or off the original website. After that period waned, I found it refreshing to come to Sal's and watch somewhat from the periphery. Sal's Realm of RuneScape brought Taker and I together the way it has brought RuneScape enjoyers (and lapsed players) together for years. As some folks may be aware, Taker was a fixture long before I joined. I joined the Friend's Chat sometime 2008-2010, and the forums in 2011-2012. I wrote unique blog content here, which I did not remember until recently! Sal's Realm was the only clan and community I ever identified with in RuneScape, and it remains that way to this day. RuneScape and Sal's have been around for so long, some of us have known each other for 10-15 years, if not more. Taker and I have been talking this year, and we were both aware of each other's existence in 2008-2011ish, but nothing too concrete. My memories of that time can be summarized as such: 1. Taker used to go by Takertree. In fact, lots of you used to have "tree" at the end of your name. Explain yourselves. 2. We talked about music - he was really into Angels & Airwaves. He also mentioned playing in bands! 3. He introduced me to the song "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade, a deeply sad song lol Say, did you know that Sal's Realm is home to some talented mofos? Early in January 2023, Taker was promoting the single "Unrelated Popcorn Fire" from his latest project in the Sal's Realm Discord. The music is catchy, polished, and infinitely listenable. I interviewed him about the project here: 10 Questions with the winter without. Not only was I blown away that someone from Sal's was putting out music, but it was actually good. (PS, Taker isn't the only talented Salmon promoting tunes in the Discord. Check out Army of One's The Bridge EP here: https://army-of-one.bandcamp.com/album/the-bridge-ep) One of my goals for 2023 was to commit to rediscovering my creative side through music and writing. I ended up hitting up Taker and basically asking him questions about his creative process and music journey uninterrupted for a period of several weeks. Somehow, someway, Taker was receptive to this deluge of interest, and.... here we are. :) It's been a good year for all polled Tasogaryns in the chat: I've started performing at open mics around the SF Bay Area, I'm blogging again, my novels are getting new drafts, I'm sketching, I'm writing music, I'm even getting back into mixed media art and poetry. I can attribute that in part to finding a creative partner and friend to share that process with. I'm still getting my writing chops back after a period I like to call "my orphan speedrun." Still, I hope to be writing a lot more here about RuneScape and online communities in general. You can find my personal blog at oddsoul.blog, my newsletter at chanimaya.substack.com, and on Medium at https://oddsoul.medium.com/. PSS, Taker and I have started streaming RS3 content on Twitch. You can find him at twitch.tv/taker25700, and I stream over at twitch.tv/darlene. We'll be streaming a run for Necromancy soon. It's my birthday pretty soon, and I'm getting too old to be a gamer. Still, it's nice to play RuneScape with a community of folks who are also setting goals within the game and exploring what there is to offer. Don't know what exactly the future holds, but so far I'm happy to be sharing it with someone special. Tas

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Teenager-Keiron-Belmont-court-decimating-man-s/story-19033955-detail/story.html#axzz2U318VHkX It looks like the guy was not punished for trading away all of the gold, however, it is amusing

This is my last year of education and I need to decide what I ought to be doing after I leave. So, I could get a job or pursue further education in a college/university. There is the one course I'm interesting in, at a college an hours drive away from where I live. It's a course on Forestry & Arboriculture and it lasts four days a week, for a year. The only problem is that none of the careers associated with the course interest me. I'm particularly interested in identification and the preservation of trees. The two year extended course is more practical and involves practical use of chainsaws and climbing equipment. Any advice?

That is all.

Language warning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT8lJEgEuTk ~Helm~ P.S. I got all the achievements on Learn to Fly 2, a flash game which is the sequel to "Learn to Fly". During the game, you use a penguin and a penguin dummy to variously fly really fast and destroy various obstacles, such as a snowman, a small mountain, a small iceberg, and "the wall", the biggest iceberg in the world.

Yesterday I was bored. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to do, more that anything I had to do didn't seem to be particularly interesting, so I was browsing reddit, Sal's forums, and playing minecraft. My minecraft house is a pretty ugly fortification type thing, which I'm not sure I'm happy with but I don't want to keep building. Anyway, part of this was that I decided to further my education I'd research something on wikipedia. So I typed in 'cow'. All manner of interesting things popped up: firstly, that their true name is cattle and that other livestock are not cattle, secondly, some of the many different breeds, including the Nazi-bred 'Heck Cattle', and attempt to resurrect the Aurochs that have been extinct since 1627 (it's an agile cattle that made 'challenging' hunting), and the modern day attempt to do that a lot better nowadays with the Netherland's Taurus project. Other interesting facts included cow urine's role in Indian medicine, why Jersey cows are brown, and that there's some african cattle with incredibly wide and cool horns. Also that the wind cave buffalo herd is the only one not susceptible to some particular disease, and a whole bunch of other stuff about cows through the ages that interested and intrigued me: did you know, for example, that a large part of the Jersey isle's economy is the trade of Jersey Cow semen as well as milk? One thing that particularly interested me was the article on Oxen: they're trained, crucially, to respond to vocal commands, are strong, patient, surefooted beasts, the yoke used by them meant that they were more effective than draft horses until the horse collar was made (it used their strength better). What particularly struck me was this picture: Now apparently, riding an ox isn't that hard and never used to be that unusual. Oxen are slower and less tall than horses, but crucially they're more sure-footed and decidedly less flighty: they stick around and get the job done. People often asks for horses in minecraft, and sometimes controllable pigs, and I suggested donkeys: but here's a much better, more quirky, and more consolidatory idea: why don't we ride oxen? This could be part of a large update involving minecraft's least appreciated beast, the cow. Now, in minecraft cows are a bit weird: they produce milk, and they produce beef, and they produce leather, and you can breed them, but they aren't that popular. What if we put them into herds where we had female cattle that could produce milk and children, and male cattle that could produce beef, and that could be ridden? (Both produce leather when they die) You'd need to tame them with a bit of grain, you'd need to saddle them, and you'd need to make a set of reins, but once you've done that, you'd be set! What do you think, readers? ~Helm Lardar~

Today, I threw a spoon at someone after a meal. He got very annoyed. I'm 17, and so was the guy I threw it at. He was bored. After the meal, he started throwing small amounts of water at me across the table. It was annoying, it was childish, but I did my best to try not to be bothered. It was right across the table: we were at school and there were 10 of us on the table, so he was annoying the guy next to me and attracting the humour of a few others. He doesn't normally act this irritatingly, but it's a recent habit he's started to enjoy: chucking water at me. In retaliation, I picked up a spoon and on the third time looked him in the eye and motioned as if to throw it as he started motioning that he'd chuck water at me again. Just a small amount of water, 4 or 5 millimetres in a glass. I did so after the 4th time. 5th time. He stopped throwing water. I assumed he'd go the message. He found a large wet ball of napkin. He threw that at my chest, knowing I was already frustrated and keen to throw something back at him. As warned, I threw a spoon towards him. I'd been thinking about this action for a few minutes. Is it safe? Well, yes, my 'friend' has quick reactions and is capable of defending himself. I'm not that innacurate (it's a spoon, with nice weighting and a twirling motion in flight that keeps it going towards the centre and no left or right), so I shouldn't hit anyone else. His eyes will be safe, because I'll go for his chest: spoons don't really have sharp edges except the palm end so he's got a good chance of not being injured. Is he prepared? Well, he knows I'm tempted to throw the thing and he can see I'm getting more and more irritated gradually as he throws things. Does he deserve it? Yes, he's acting like a child and I'm not exactly putting full force in the spoon so it's a pretty mild thing. Will it hit him? Probably, I imagine he'll put his arms up. The throws a wet napkin and hits my chest, I throw a spoon at him. It's going at a medium speed and he ducks surprisingly low: it sails over him (would have hit him in the neck, I reckon, if he'd stayed still) and it goes through between the shelves of a serving trolley. Only a few people notice it was me, and no adults: a few people think I threw a knife initially, which surprises me because they actually have fairly good eyesight and should know I've been holding a spoon for the last 10 minutes. Everybody laughs: I don't think anyone expected me to do anything so violent and sudden as throw a spoon but the guy I'm throwing it at should have been prepared. He was, in fact, looking at me as I threw it and his duck shows me he was never in any real danger. But he gets really annoyed. "You're an idiot! I could have gone blind! If that had hit me in the eye! Why didn't you throw an apple? It could have hit one of the staff!" Really? You're being childish and annoying enough to deserve it. You've got good reactions, you ducked. If you hadn't ducked you'd have put your arms up. It went slightly higher than I expected, but the staff weren't in any danger: they were too far to the right and my spoon did not show any signs of deviation from those aspects. If it had hit your eye, it was travelling at a medium velocity unlikely to hurt you as you flinched and twisted your head around: you were looking at me when I threw it. I didn't throw an apple because there was no way I could reach one: you were not in any danger and it served as a reminder of how your actions merited justice in the form of an airborne peice of metal, part chrome part steel, moving at a medium pace through the air with little risk of even mild harm. What do you guys think? Was it okay? Was it bizarre? Was it a suitable form of justice? All of the above is true and is an account of exactly how I saw my actions that day. Why does it matter that I threw the spoon? Why doesn't it matter that he threw water and a napkin the size and weight of an apple at my chest? ~Helm Lardar~ P.S. The Calendar looks nice. What about an events feature, where people can post events they're hosting and official events are also on there? That could be, along with a lore section, another thing that Sal's could do with to make it unique.

It's been too long since I last blogged and so much has happened. It's all just a jumble of events I can't remember specific dates but I suppose I ought to start with the fact that I've cancelled my Runescape membership since I don't play enough for it to be worthwhile. Over the summer holiday's I've completed a weeks worth of work experience at the local university library. Since then I've done over three weeks work experience at a bookshop in the high street which has been a hundred times more enjoyable then working in a library. :D I actually enjoy going to work and visit most days. Amazingly, Samsara who was visiting England was staying less then a mile away from where I was working. I've also overcome my fear of roller coasters, visited a new continent, watched the complete series of Arrested Development and started a new year of online education.

Tomorrow I'll be taking a plane to Orlando, Florida. I'll be there for a week and I plan to visit the nearby theme parks and space centres. I've never travelled outside of Europe before so I'm certainly apprehensive, I'm certainly going to miss England :)

After a long time waiting, I have been given the Official Admission Letter for Mechanical Engineering MEng Honours Degree. Will be registering on the 19th May 2011. Hopefully I would be still in touch with you guys in Sals. Rocketing off, Rex

A friend of mine past away. Aged only 18. Knew him since kindergarten. :rolleyes: <_< :wub: :( :( :D :P His death was sudden. I remember when I heard the news I simply could not believe it. He was too young but as it slowly occurred to me I have realized that he indeed lived his life wonderfully. He was well-loved and he had done so many things on earth and I’m sure he’ll do much more in heaven. I will forever be grateful to have known him. I will forever be grateful for spending 18 years of my life with a friend like him. All the memories I have shared with him will forever be cherished and remembered. He will forever live in my heart… In our hearts.

Don't ask me about your company's CEO name! and the relationship between Osama and Obama. Its irrelevant to Mechanical Engineering! FUDGE! Rocketing off, Rex

If I were to tell you my redecorated bedroom would be in Lego brick colours; you would probably imagine a room with bright primary colours. If that's what you were thinking, guess what?. You're wrong. I looked at my city street and noticed the calm green tone of the Green Grocer, the rich red of the Fire Brigade and the warm beige of the Grand Emporium. It immediately became clear to me that these three colours would make a great combination for my bedroom. It made sense to start decorating as soon as I could. I could finally paint that horrible stained 'white' wall's that I had that had been undecorated since the house was built. So anyway, It took a bit longer and caused a bit more disruption then I thought but it was well worth doing. Green Grocer - The wall was painted in Dulux Woodland Pearl 2 Fire Brigade - Bed + Pillow covers. Grand Emporium - Wooden desk and laminate flooring

Is it safe to eat smoked bacon without grilling? I love the commitment some of these posters provide to giving great answers to questions at Stack Exchange. It all started when my dad used smoked bacon to make a sandwich as a substitute for parma ham. I was skeptical at first but proceeded to try it myself and it's not as bad as I imagined. It certainly doesn't taste quite as greasy as grilled bacon.

I'm redecorating and cleaning my room, it's going to take a while until I can use my main PC again but it will be worth it Paint colour magically changes here :s I can't believe I missed out this behemoth of a topic. It makes a great read :o

He loves to chase the camera, Today we've been training him to sit. He also loves to chew rocks

We don't have a name for him yet, we'll be calling him Bowser for now :) I might have to take some time of to train him.

In two weeks time we'll have a little puppy golden retriever. I hate dogs :lol: I haven't blogged in a while :lol:

Here is a view of the miniland from the house. The reason I have so many sticks placed is to stop cats from ruining the grass whilst it grows, on the bottom half is the part I half already worked on and will also be part of the miniland. The grass is already growing well.

Have you even seen Legoland? There is always a part of the park that has miniland, just loads of the main country's shrunk down to Lego size. I've been planing to make my own miniland, in my back garden. In an area that's about, 70cm2 Okay, So i did all of this yesterday. We bought some grass seeds, sprinkled them on a tray of compost and covered them up so the cats don't ruin them. I then made basic landscaping of the land to add hills. The grass should take 2-3 weeks to grow. We also have tiny heathers that will be planted at the back to cover up the fence. I couldn't get a bonsai tree because they are just too expensive, difficicult to maintain and only grow with their own type of food in their own soil.

I haven't been reading my Nintendo Magazines lately, I have two Ngamer magazines and and another two Official Nintendo Magazine, Now the problem is I've just got my 3rd Ngamer magazine, meaning i will have to read super fast. Its all because there where two released in one month, see the knock on effect? I've now unsubscribed from Ngamer to make things easier. Hopefully i can buy a domain name. www.a.com seems free but i think you need more letters then that.

Chessington World Of Adventures! Its an Theme park, I visited with my friend for at least 8 hours but it was fun. The Bubble Works its oddly attracting. I've been on it 3 time, Although it stinks of urine cleansers and sound terrible its just so fun! I just love strobe lighting!

I actually arrived yesterday, but tough. :D

I only just got the Runescape Novel, Betrayal at Falador. On the back it actually says: "The best thing ever (that doesn't give xp)." ~ Zezima And the first page had a Runescape Advertisement to sign up, as it would. The Map that is given also shows the Runescape ditch to be "The Defensive Ditch" The Black Knights fortress is actually called "Kinshra Fortress" And loads more.

Tomorrow i will be a school Mario Kart Wii Race, £1 Entry, All money is given to the British Heart Foundation so it should be good fun. I'm very anxious as i have never taken on a competition like this. I've been practicing all afternoon and forgot about taking the time to make the Lumbridge Achievement Diary, Oh well. ^_^ Runescape Highwayman Mask sold finally, And i died in desert when Plundering, losing my main good looking outfit.