Vint Falken

Shockwave Plasma
Originally uploaded by VintFalken

I've never looked so good. :-)

Thank you so very much Vint.

I posted the 2000th comment on her blog, and this was my present.


“It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.”

Epictetus

When enough is enough

I've known Dani Ferguson ever since I landed on her head, on her first day in SL. Teleports will do that ya know
..
It was a long time ago, at least it feel that way. Sometimes you meet someone and you get a gut feeling, for some reason I felt it for her. I gave her some $L and said the place for new peopel is "The Shelter" and she turned up, met Erbo and the rest is history as they say.

She has done some great stuff, built a business, had an SL marridge ( or two ). We don't chat much, my friends list is very small, with about 12-15 people on it. When I was thinking to delete SP and start again, I would have added her first to my new friends list. We probably still would hardly ever talk, but again it's nice to have her there.

Oddly enough in SL people can really show their true face. Sound strange? Your anonymous, you can delete your account and then come back as someone else, you can be a never ending cycle of being a total bastard.

On the otherhand your kindness, drive and generosity also can come through, and you can do what you can do to make things better.

Dani is one of the second, but it seems has met too many of the first, she is thinking of leaving , if so I would miss her.


“True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like leaves, found everywhere.” -anon

Blog postings

Back again,
I had one of those times when things just went to hell for a bit. So what does a blogger do to be self destructive? Starts to delete bits of the blog, and info sources.

That's where the links sidebar went. I'll put it back soon.

I was about to give it up, and just press "Delete" on SL, and everything involved, and just walk away. But I have to much time and effort in Shockwave Plasma to do that.

I have noticed a lot of my older friends have dropped off the "League of Bloggers", but it's just as well there are always more :-)


“It matters if you just don’t give up.” - Steven Hawking

Another update

I think I have said a few times the stress of lots of things has been getting to me. It seems most of the friends/family I am close to are either ill, sick or very sick, physically or mentally. I know it can't do much about it for anyone.

There are some I'm trying to help, and will keep doing so, until they tell not to. I just have to figure out how to do it best.

But the angst is burning into me.

I love all of them, and would feel diminished without them.

I'm not really a social person, never have been, but I am learning how to be better at it.

Living in one's own head has it's benefits, but you can only go so far before you get wondering where else you can go.

Sleep has been a problem as well, insomnia either getting to sleep, or going back to sleep after a few hours. Strange dreams as well, Freudian, not my usual Jungian stuff. It's not stuff I would share with just anyone, it's rather personal.

I have been examining my mental states all my life, and my subconscious has been doing something odd...it's like it's detaching or moving from my friends as if it's getting ready for something. So that's a worry for me as well.

I work on the NLP theory, were we are made of small self contained mental processess, sometimes in harmony, mostly in conflict.

It's strange, I can really feel activity in different parts of my head, and that when I wonder whats going on. Then these strange ideas or obsessions start.

Occasionally some brilliant idea comes out if it. But it's not that common :-)

Thinking is getting harder, my imagination and creativity seems to have suffered, it's been like thinking through mush...it started after I went head first into a car a few years ago.

Time to do a few more mental exercises...I have been going to the gym, at least that is getting me somewhere. Weight is coming off, and feeling a much fitter.

I've much more to work on, so much to do. Time to clear out the mush.

I'm not dead

Just an update.

Personally its been a bit stressful recently, quite a few things going on, I seem to have lost about 2-3 in off my waist. A bit of mental fatigue as well. Work, family, friends, study, etc all seem to be a part of it.

I have been writing to my sister, and telling her...well everything...who, what, where, how many times and where the bodies are buried, I'm finding it's quite cathartic.

I have been doing a lots of reflection and thinking.

During this time I have emailed people I knew in the past, and had both positive and negative replies, but on the whole, it's good to be in contact with old friends.

A lot of people I have met in SL have been a positive influence on me without them realizing it, and I wish to say thanks. I makes my days more bearable knowing your there.

Also the LL new, (but not new) policies are totally pissing me off. Has the Moral Majority (an oxymoron if I ever heard it) take over Linden Labs, or have they put the squeeze on the place. Maybe someone has got religion...(ok..we interrupt this rant)

Your world, Your Imagination is the slogan, but are some peoples imaginations just to wild? I guess so.

So what could be happening really?

Legal issues would be the obvious thing. But finer minds than I have been discussing it in the many fine SL basedforums.

Action seems to be centred here at United Protest , but let your voice be heard.


What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then and there happen to like, and immorality is what they dislike. ~Alfred North Whitehead

Break time

I've decided to take a break from SL to concentrate on my studies. Please feel free to contact me anytime.

I've had another set of syncronistic events..here we go again.

There are more men ennobled by study than by nature. cicero

Headstone

I put this on Jaceks Blog, but thought to share it with you here as well.

I’ve asked for this to be on my headstone, should I need it soon. Actually might go on the Footstone.

Here lies buried Shockwave Plasma
Two minds are gone to be phantasma
Her polygons did stir your eyes
With boots going up past her thighs
His Noodlyness did raise her high
As a model for the stripper factory, he did her espy.

“The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead.” Albert Einstien

Late Introduction

Natalia has one of the best blogs I have seen. It's updated everyday, and has great locations, and great pictures. I have found her tutorials to be clearly written, and very helpful.

It should be mandatory ready for new people.

Great work Natalia.

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. -Henry Ford

Not a Meme number 13

Thanks to Vint for this one.
What have I done in SL and never told anyone.

I got my first rental in a beach hut on the edge of the sand. I was only about 6 weeks old. When it was night time and there was not many people around the Sim, I would strip off and fly around naked.

That was until I discovered "force sun". Oh...dear. Then I stopped.

RL secret, I'm 5 foot 7 or about 155cm tall, not 6 foot 3.

New SL books

A new SL book is coming out The Unofficial Tourists' Guide to Second Life

Tim guest has Second Lifes coming out soon.

Aimee Weber has a book coming out on advanced building.

Hamlet Linden is working on his own book to come out soon.

Now all we need is the Phinn Boffin/Vint Falkin coffee table picture book.

A room without books is like a body without a soul - Cicero

IBM article on Linux

Linux Sl client for beginners

"Linux was made by foreign terrorists to take money from true US companies
like Microsoft." - Some AOL'er.

Not a Meme Challenge Number 9

Coles Not a Meme Challenge What has SL brought to your RL?

I would say, More friends.

But I will go further and say this is what it was brought to other peoples RL, a decent article in The Times about disabled people and their experience in SL. This is a two page spread in the Body and Soul section of The Times, so will be read by a large number of people.

It also has quotes from Torley and Bacarra Rhodes.


For me, the wheelchair symbolizes disability in a way a cane does not.
Annette Funicello

The Green Hand of Phillip

Have a look at the Handmark Logo

And remember these Zip Drives ?

Could that be a Eye in the Hand logo as well ?

Yes, I am a bit bored...







Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it's not going to get the business. Warren Buffett

Not-a-meme Challenge Number 8

Dolmere has started the Not a Meme Challenge
and having been asked to contribute to Number 8.

Here it is:-

Now that you have been outed as an SLer.

What would you show your Grandmother in SL?

( As she has read about all that sex stuff, and now thinks ( or has proof ) your a dangerous pervert)


I would take her to Svarga and show her all the right-ups about it in the press.

New world Notes and the New York Times for example.


So, what would you show "your " Grandmother ?

Dolomeres Not-a-Meme

Dolomeres Not-a-Meme challenge


I only have one useful hint.
Ever bought a lot of stuff and then wonder what it was called a few days later?

I did, and what were those clothes called again??
Bummer, it's lost in my inventory, never to be seen again.

So I just now right click on myself and write myself a note.


































Sometimes I even understand my notes a few weeks later.


Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. - Dalai Lama

A confession

I have a confession to make...I've become a Stripper..hard to believe I know.

I'm taking it all off, all of it, I'm not even wearing my gloves or my boots, and you know I almost always have them on.

Why am I doing this, you ask, simple, it's for the money. I'm not going to pretend that I like it, but it's something that needs to be done.

But I think I am doing rather well, I have the hip and and the hand motions down well.

Sometimes I take it off bit by bit, one piece at a time, other times I just just grab handfuls and just wrench it off.

Some have asked to see me with no clothes on as well, I won't name anyone. So here's a picture for you.




Stripping this horrible 1970's woodchip wallpaper from the walls of my flat is taking ages.

Antarctica, the cursed, is the continent that is the Pastafarian equivalent to Christianity’s Hell. The beer volcano froze over millennia ago, the strippers wear big bulky parkas and snow pants, and the place is covered in ice and snow. - Rev. St. Tobias Leonard

Hello to Vint Falken

Second Life Sex profile
Originally uploaded by VintFalken.

It's good to see some new talent and humor.

I'm surprised no one thought of this one before. :-)

Vint does some great shots, and her tutorials are well worth reading.

( To any non-sl ppl, its a joke )


When authorities warn you of the sinfulness of sex, there is an important lesson to be learned. Do not have sex with the authorities. - Matt Groening

University of Southern Queensland

slusq
Originally uploaded by shockwaveplasma.

The slow but sure creep of education in to SL is happening.

This in not my Uni, but it was one of my options.

Part of a Queensland Govt grant to a Phd student, it's an OK build, not great or flashy. I don't recall a Unicorn on the Uni shield.

Nice horn :-)

Update 25-2007:- Decka has left a comment, that updates my factual errors (ooops, sorry Decka.) I visited again last night, and realized it does sort of remind me of going to the beach, and is quite relaxing. I only had very short chat to Decka, as it was very late here.

I think I read on sloz.com that it was the official USQ island, and that is why I was expecting something different.

( As usual any errors are my own, and I take responsibility for them )

To live in Australia permanently is rather like going to a party and dancing all night with one's mother.
Barry Humphries

Shockwaves handy tips for Geeks

Tip 1

Today I have been tiding up my flat, it's very small, really really small. If you are like me and you have cables left right and centre, you need a place to put them away, but then to be able to find them when you need them.

I also have a bunch of those neckstraps that you seem to get at every convention or meeting.

So now I have my ethernet cables hanging from itsafeonline neckstrap, power cables from netintelligence.

Naturally the only cable I want now is the one I can't find :-(


Tip 2

Keep one of those really cheap LED lights on the floor, at the back of your PC so you can see what you are plugging in to.

Tip 3

Always make private backups of your RADIUS logs and your Squid proxy server logs.
Both are time stamped, RADIUS records the IP address of your customers/users and Squid records what websites they have looked at.
This information is invaluable for when you belive you should have a "pay-rise", or your users decide to be ...... "difficult".


If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done. ~Scott Adams

Truth, Lies , Deception and Second Life

From The BBC site last year

A survey found 43% of online networkers from the US felt "as strongly" about their web community as they did about their real-world friends.

---

It also revealed net-users had made an average of 4.6 virtual pals this year.

---

The survey, from the US-based Center for the Digital Future, of 2,000 individuals forms part of a six-year study into attitudes to the web.

When I first started n the Internet, It was really just Usenet eg, Newsgroups. I never used my real name, and most people where the same. It was "Hello Space Ghost" or "Hello Pooka". I never felt the need to meet anyone I met online.

But just to contradict myself, most of the people I knew in the few years I was in NZ, I met via BBS or flatmates friends who coincidentally were also on the same BBS.

Second Life is sort of like the new Internet, but it's not the place to be yourself, it's the place to be what you want to be.

For many of the older residents, what happened in SL stayed in SL, and RL was separate. But it seems to be that the newer residents are just being themselves.

Some people just lie totally, and this can be really heartbreaking.

What do you do when old and new meet? Is one person being more honest than the other? Being of the old school, I've given this a lot of thought.

My personal belief is that any sort of cyber-based emotional involvement, without having a way to check who the other person behind the keyboard is, would be a major mistake.

But then I'm a boring person and like to play safe.

I've met some great people, and I count some of them as my friends, but I'm not planning on going to any SL meet ups. My SL has spilled over to RL a bit, and I'm a bit concerned that they might want to know more than I'm preparded to give.

I would really hate to think that I have been deceiving anyone, but it's only in SL that I could be a 6 foot tall, blond, pirate, buxom Barbie. ( and it's a fun thing to be, and remindes me of a cousin )

So I talk very vagely about myself, but I never lie to anyone, because if I care enough to communicate with you, I care enough not to want to hurt you.



Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of friends- Euripedes

Move the Grid to Europe!!

Seems it's time to move the Grid to Europe.

Although I have to wonder why LL is opening an office in Bristol. Why not London, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City or St Albans.

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/09/europe-takes-lead-in-second-life-users/

Europe takes lead in Second Life users
Fri Feb 9, 2007 10:02am PST

By Adam Reuters

SECOND LIFE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Europeans make up the largest block of Second Life residents with more than 54 percent of active users in January ahead of North America’s 34.5 percent, according to new Linden Lab data.


Baldwin thought Europe was a bore, and Chamberlain thought it was only a greater Birmingham. - Winston Churchill

No more open skies

I'm sure many people know what can happen when you cross a sim boundary at speed. If you don't, then the word fragmentation, neatly explains it. Coals pictures and blog post will give you an idea.

Cubey Terra one of the Grids major aircraft makers, has grounded his fleet of self guided planes, and blimps from Qarl have been gone for quite a while.

Now that landowners have the ability to block almost anything coming on their parcels, air travel is somewhat more, lets say, adventurous.

I admit I got a little tired of my plane ( and sometimes my clothes ), disappearing in midflight, and have not flown it for some time.

The Lindens are aware of the problem, and will I hope find a solution.

EDIT:- To spread around some credit, Apotheus Silverman scripted some of the planes. The Terrachute as well, that saved me from the embarrassment of going splat a few times


Pilots will not wear spurs in the cockpit - 1920s RAF Cadet Flying manual

Spam

Could whoever is on IP 82.82.237.159 in Germany run a virus check please? I don't need the Viagra.

Thank you very much

[ Normal blogging will be resumed shortly :-) ]

EDIT:-
I have just noticed that I get the one spam email a day twice, a minute apart. It's been every day for the last 11 days.

Two days ago I got the book Scamorama by Eve Edelson, it's about those emails from Nigeria that promise you money in exchange for your bank details. The day I started reading I got two of them, the first for nearly a year.

Rule #1: Spammers lie.
Rule #2: If a spammer seems to be telling the truth, see Rule #1.

commitments

Due to RL commitments, I will only be in-world a maximum of 45mins. I will be spending this time doing classes, building and scripting.

Probably about 20.00 GMT





The circle is now complete - Darth Vader

Balloon Griefing

balloongreifer1
Originally uploaded by shockwaveplasma.

I went for a short Balloon ride with Barbara here, she was not very talkative, I did find that a bit odd, but though she might be IMing.

A few minutes ater I took this shot, she derezzed the balloon.

So I thought to have a bit of fun, and attached my Terrachute, and I opened as it should, just as I was about to hit the ground the bitch flamed me, and I was not impressed.

Serves me right for letting my FP HUD down.



I welcome the griefers, they're easier to sexually harass - Soleil Mirabeau:

Australia Day

Happy Australia Day to everyone! It's also my first Rezday.


Australians don't have a preconceived notion of what things have to be... we can go on a fantastic journey - Yahoo Serious

Pastafarian Poetry

The creator who holds us dear
did not look as what we hear.
he was not a man, or human at all
he was made of spaghetti and two meat balls.
he made us all
originally short
and it wasn’t even his last resort
Pirates are his people,
holy are they
who end every sentence with “Arrgh” as they pray.
Some might not believe,
but it is a fact,
our God was pasta
no, this isn’t an act
So lets all give
a hip hip horray
the FSM is here to stay

Taken without any authority from http://www.venganza.org/

Let us all eat bling together - Tateru Nino

Closed due to overpopulation?

I logged in last night for about an hour or so. It would have been nice to go somewhere, every teleport came back "parcel is full".

I also (tried to ) direct some new people from Germany to the German speaking welcome area. It was also full. Seems that SL is BIG news over there.

Twittermania has got me as well at www.twitter.com

I'm also contemplating an SL web comic. "Adventures of Pirate Plasma" or something like that.



We have been God-like in our planned breeding of our domesticated plants and animals, but we have been rabbit-like in our unplanned breeding of ourselves. - Joseph Toynbee

No eyes tonite

I just logged in tonight to see who was on, and then had a look at myself, something was wrong, but I couldn't spot it right away.

I had no eyes...creepy, and I couldn't put any on, even more creepy.


You never know how you look through other peoples eyes

Third Life

A very long time ago, I read a book called Lucid Dreams by Celia Green , at the time I thought what and amazing concept. Your body is asleep, your mind is awake but still in a dream. At that time was was really interested in the workings of the mind, and I was also a bit of a New Age nut.

( I know someone who is going to say " Not another Hippy" )

But like the contents of many books, it rattled around inside my head for a while, and didn't really leave.

In about 1988 I bought Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge

Later I bought Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen Laberge and Howard Reingold, and it still sits on my bedside table. Finally a tape with hypnotic suggestions, and they are on my MP3 Player.

Synchronicity is back, as I write iTunes has found a MP3 of an hour long interview Stephen did on a radio program.

So what is it all about?

So imagine you are in a dream, and something really odd happens like the purple 6 legged giraffe that is driving the flying bus runs a blue light, then you realize traffic lights are not blue! Then the train of thought says you would only see that if you were dreaming.

BANG! realization happens that you are dreaming. Usually the dream starts to become more colourful and dynamic. In all these years I've had one LD, and it's really annoying, as I have spoken to friends who have never heard about it, and then they have one that night. ( I hate my subconscious )

So what is it good for I hear you say!

In the books SlB gives examples of people who were learning Ice Skating, Judo and skiing and where able to use LD to rapidly improve their skills.
One lady recounts she was able to debug her programs much faster.

Not forgetting you really can have sex with whoever you dream of.

Ok so now you want to learn how to improve your Judo.

A simple collection of the main methods are at Wikipedia

But a few extra things that will help is to actually remember your dreams in the first place.
A book and a pen beside the bed to write them down is very helpful. I just bought a pen with an led in it, so I can write with out turning on the lights. That has helped a lot.

Vitamin B12, also helps dream recall, and often makes them more vivid. If your an Australian who likes Vegemite, double your dose, it's full of B12. Everyone else, you will have to use Marmite. If you don't like the taste, it doubles as a 100PF sunscreen.

The Lucidity Institute sell the NovaDreamer a device that blinks light in your eyes, when you are dreaming, it's very expensive

I just found this DIY Facemark

and this one as well.

Do not lose hold of your dreams or asprirations. For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live. - Henry David Thoreau

SL Userguide and Gor forever linked ?

Yesterday I ordered my copy of the SL official guide from Amazon.co.uk.

In the "Other buyers of this book bought " section, the number two book was Tarnsmen of Gor, it just happens to be book one of the Gor series.

So I wonder why none of the other Gor books, then appear.

"I will now water you," said Borin, the cactus's Gorean master.

The cactus did not resist being watered. Perhaps it was realizing that such watering was its master's to control. Too, perhaps it knew that this master was far superior to those of Earth, who would not water it if it did not wish to be watered. - Houseplants of Gor

Wwwhhhooo are you ? Who? who? Tell me who are you!

Tateru has been interviewed a few times, ( probably more than a few now,... Oh to be a celebrity ) in which at the end they usually ask for her RL identity.

She always declines. Quite rightly too.

It looks like even Geoffery Chaucer has this problem.

IVthe thinge: My biggest compleynt: Whan wil ffolk stop saying ich nam nat real? Whan wil thei stop asking for my “real name”? What part of G-E-O-F-F-R-E-Y C-H-A-U-C-E-R do thei nat vndirstonden? An editor from WIRED magazine did contact me to aske if that fyne publicacioun mighte printe a part of my poost concerninge internette abbreviacions. Thys was gentil and did plese and honor me gretli, and ich consentid. And yet thei wantid to yive credit to “Geoffrey Chaucer (aka your real name)” and thei wanted to knowe what ich do in “in real lyf.” Whan ich toolde hem that my trewe cristen name was Geoffrey Chaucer (Galfridus in latina) and that ich am a justice of the pees in Kente and a member of parliament, thei seyd thei coud nat print it. For thei seyde thei coud nat printe writinge “without attribution to a real person.” What am ich, liver y-chopped? Reality ys harder to com by than a duchy thes dayes, mesemeth.


A miracle is nothing more or less than this. Anyone who has come into a knowledge of his true identity, of his oneness with the all-pervading wisdom and power, this makes it possible for laws higher than the ordinary mind knows of to be revealed to him. - Ralph Waldo Trine

Pirate Outfit

pirateoutfit
Originally uploaded by shockwaveplasma.

Shirt, Skirt, Thigh high boots..... Perfect for Piracy

Now I just need some weapons!

( Ummm and a Ship, and a Crew )


Pirate: I'm gonna teach you the meaning of pain.
Elizabeth: You like pain? Try wearing a corset.
-Curse of the Black Pearl

watermelindonland

watermelon1
Originally uploaded by shockwaveplasma.

After some fruitless searching in the Linden Village for Torleys build, I finally found the Surl from her blog.

I did ask if there was some place the Lindens have for themselves, and I guess this is it.

I thought this chair was an enticing place to sit.

Just after I sat in it, I had this weird fantasy that this looks like a Venus fly trap. I closes on you and then sucks out your colours, and spits you out just leaving the black and white bits.

The colours drained from you keep the build alive.
( I must have read to much bad fantasy as a child )



Watermelon -- it's a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash your face. -
Enrico Caruso

Roll on

I have added a few bloggers whos sites I read sometimes....ohh..ok I mostly stole them from Erbo. :-)

I'm not in world as much as I used to, as I need to spend time studying for certifications to get better jobs. ( bummer ).



Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead.
- Chinese Proverb

Real life goals for 2007

Learn To type
Exercise more
Learn to Juggle
Learn to use a Whip ( Hey, it's an Australian thing )
More Money ( e.g Better Job)
Finish the IT certs I should have.
Finish the House DIY
Get a Windows Mobile PDA
Learn PhotoShop
Find a Krav-Maga class
Keep with the French Language class

If one does not know to which port is sailing, no wind is favorable. -Seneca

Pirates in the News

It looks like the Secondlife Herald, has been doing some recruiting for the Pirates of Sl, we now have 280 members, yesterday it was 270.

I don't have any decent Pics, as last time I was there the water was so clear, you would think there wasn't any.


Most importantly, I am getting my Pirate wardrobe together, and I might buy a ship, and assemble an all female crew. But what to call the ship?
The Blondbeard?...No Piratespulse...possible The Lash...probably not

Any suggestions will be accepted, as will suggestions for a flag. Skulls yes, but I might make the flag Purple, and have crossed garter belts rather than crossbones.

EDIT:- Pirate Ship names suggestions, please don't suggest Boobyprize ( it's just too obvious )

Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates- Mark Twain

Anshe Chung in the News

So the BIG News Item of the moment, is the husband of Anshe Chung trying to suppress the video
of the falling penii at her CNET interview.

In my humble view, claiming a copyright violation has taken place is just rubbish. In that regard all photos taken in SL would be copyrighted. It seems the crushing of "fair use" is taking another step forward.

This could be a extremely clever move to get more publicity for Anshe Chung Studios. If you have any idea of how the Internet works, then you know that the more you try to suppress something, the more known it becomes, and the more people want to know what it is.


Don't believe your own publicity. You can't, you'll start thinking that you're better than you are.-
Leif Garrett

The Shockwave Travel Writer -- Fini

Well Rome was great, I will admit that it really didn't wasn't to go at first, as most Italians I have met were...well...slightly undesirable ( ok, bastards of both sexes) . Then I turned it around, and thought of Italians coming to Australia. We can be total bastards as well, I have met some here who make we want to say "Sorry, I meant I'm Austrian".

Observations and musings.

Positives :-

1 euro for a 75 minute Subway/bus/tram ride.
( I can't see this taking off in the UK, and half the time I didn't pay anyway)

Rome is cleaner than London.
People are thinner and better dressed
Clothes are mostly made in Italy and cheaper and better quality, than the Made in China
stuff we get in the UK
It's warmer
Apartments all have balconies
More Police
Lots of Roman Stuff
Pizza places everywhere.

Minus :-

High density living
More beggars -
More street crime ( But I didn't encounter any )
Street hawkers
Traffic Jams


The last few days in Rome where great, we didn't get to go to Pompeii, so we went to Ostia, the old port town.
It's really what I have wanted to see for a long time, it's the complete layout of a Roman town, and it mostly excavated. The mosaics are still in place, and you can still walk on them ( I didn't really want to )

New Years started with the people upstairs having a party, and then throwing up in to the courtyard. Charming. Rockets and fireworks started as soon as it was dark, and kept going until 2am.

Spent the last day walking around and looking at the bridges and some of the temples we missed before, buying a few more clothes, material, and souvenirs.

I still remember my first sight of St Stephens Tower ( Big Ben ) from across the Thames, The first time I saw Stonehenge, and now I have to add the first time I saw The Colosseum

"All bastards are bastards, but some bastards is bastards."-- (Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent)