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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Literature member interviews

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Point Given , Jun 6, 2013.

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  1. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    No, I don't think I'd agree there. Moreover, he actively contrived to punish his former colleagues and followed Jefferson's banana republic model of starving his opponents from public office by refusing to appoint them to positions even when they were the most qualified for the job. A more blatant partisan you could not find!

    Highly recommend you read the study "The Twilight of Federalism" -- it's very informative on the tragedy that befell those patriots after 1814. Nobody ever thinks to pay attention to them during their last years. It's as if they just disappeared after Hartford. Not true -- just a convenient ignorance.


    Misa ab iPhono meo est.
     
  2. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    Alright, it's time for my next victim... er, subject, Trip! [face_party] (And if one of the many mods could change the thread title, that'd be much appreciated ;) )

    1. Tell us about your username, why you chose it, what it means, etc. And what is the best way to address you?

    2. For as long as I've been here you had that same metallic-looking Stormtrooper helmet for an icon. Why the change? Or is an icon just an icon for you?
     
  3. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Edited to Trip.

    BTW, I am old enough to remember his switch to Trip. :D

    --Adm. Nick
     
  4. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    Was it originally 000?
     
  5. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2003
    Trip! Yay! Oldtimer!
     
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  6. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    Trip didn't choose to be 000--they just hadn't invented the alphabet yet.
     
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  7. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    Nope. :)
     
  8. Trip

    Trip Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Oh boy story time!

    So okay, way back in 2003 seventeen-year-old me felt compelled to sign up to TFN for... reasons that escape me because I did not actually start posting until the following year. Tragically I sucked at coming up with internet names at the time (a shortcoming that still plagues me to this day) and so the only thing I could think of was Gladius, because... I had just read a book about ancient Rome or something? I dunno. Well it turned out that "Gladius" was already taken and I have always hated the numbers-after-a-word thing so, I went with Gladiuus instead. Because... if two u's are good enough for C'baoth then they are good enough for me I guess?

    Anyway! So a year later I actually started posting and it quickly became clear to me that "Gladiuus" was basically an awful name. I mean, look at it: it is just ugly, both visually and audibly. Plus my brain kept wanting to pronounce it glad-ee-oo-uss due to the superfluous "u", which sounds even stupider, in my head. But, like I said I suck at picking names so I could not think of a better one, plus it takes me like a year and a day to actually get around to doing anything. Including fixing easily fixable things that annoy me. So, I stuck with Gladiuus for the time being.

    And then a year and a thousand or so posts later and I found what would be my new username with the help of none other than #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Karen Traviss. Yes, that Karen Traviss. See, I was a gigantic fan of her first Republic Commando novel, Hard Contact, and so when the followup Triple Zero was announced I was like super stoked. Not only because it would see the return of Delta Squad but also because it had a badass title that referenced Coruscant which is my favorite planet and led me to be like, whoah there we go! Awesome new username idea. And thus Gladiuus became 000. (Since this was back in the IGN era and it was basically impossible to change your username, I created a new account and started using that one instead.)

    So yeah. 000. Once again it became apparent pretty quickly that this plan was maybe not the best plan. For one having it be all numbers did something weird to the old board system, which made it hard to search for or private message me. Or something like that. For two... I mean it is three zeros. It's just... ugly, and it breaks up the flow of any text around it, and how do you even say it in your head? Oh oh oh? Zero zero zero? (Like I said, I suck at picking names!) So I very quickly started telling people to call me Trip, because, you know, Triple Zero. Which worked ok except anyone who didn't know me still called me 000 and plus like I said, it is a visually unappealing username. So, I finally decided to switch to just Trip, which is a nice and short and memorable and allows for all sorts of twee punning and stuff. Plus even better, Trip had been registered by someone who never used it back in 2003, so I got my 2003 sign-up date back when I switched to it.

    So yeah that is the story of why I am called Trip, the end.

    (Also you can address me as Your Grace.)

    Oh yeah this guy!

    [​IMG]

    Yeah I had him for a long time. Um, yeah I am actually a big believer in icon consistency because I tend to identify users by their icon as much as their username. So. But I decided to change finally because... well I had kinda gone away for awhile and when I came back last year, I dunno, everyone else had changed theirs anyway what with the new boards and all so I figured ehh why not, time for a new brand identity. Plus I was kind of over everyone thinking I was a guy so I figured maybe having a more overtly feminine icon would like cue at least new people in that I am a girl. As AdmiralNick22 demonstrated though this strategy has so far had only limited success. :p
     
  9. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    Trip 3. What was your reaction to the announcement of Disney's purchase of Star Wars, and what are your hopes for the ST?

    4. Where are you originally from? Are you currently living there, or did you move elsewhere?
     
  10. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Trip

    Bah, I apologize for using "his". Old habit. :oops:

    I do know that you are female, I was more referring to the old 000, which is where the hence the triple zero = "Trip" thing. [:D]

    --Adm. Nick
     
  11. Trip

    Trip Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2003
    hahah no worries Nick :p

    Oh man. Um, hahah yeah I was kind of totally discombobulated. Like... I remember I was driving at the time and I heard it on NPR and I was like... what? Like I couldn't believe what I was hearing. And then I think I called my sister, and we just kinda sat mostly speechlessly on the phone together for awhile? But yeah, I was just totally shocked. And kind of bemused because I was like, wow, the emotion I am feeling right now is like roughly equivalent to what I felt when, I dunno, Mubarak got ousted or the Pope resigned or something. It is possible that this stupid franchise occupies entirely too prominent a position in my psyche!

    As for what I'm hoping for the ST, well... I guess I hope it doesn't totally suck? I mean, initially I was briefly like, hey maybe this will be a good thing overall! But then reality set in and the more I hear the more I am pretty sure it's going to be completely awful so, I guess right now all I am hoping for is that the powers that be don't do some stupid in-universe alternate timeline crap to explain away the EU.

    Well my dad was in the army so, I'm kinda from all over. Kansas, North Carolina, California, Oklahoma, New York, Germany... all that was before tenth grade though, and since then I've lived in Virginia. So, I kinda consider it my home state now. And yep, I'm still living in the town I went to high school in.
     
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  12. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    Trip 5. What do you do for a living? Is it your ideal profession, or would you rather be doing something else?

    6. What are your favorite TV shows/movies?
     
  13. Trip

    Trip Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2003
    I do mosquito control for my local government. Which means basically I drive around all day looking for standing water where mosquitos are breeding so I can kill them. Well, their larvae anyway. Which is a pretty chill job really, since I get to wander around outside and see turtles and snakes and stuff but the pay is kinda eh and I've been doing it for three years now which is about a year too long. But, it's a pretty ideal job to be in while I take care of some life stuff I got going on right now so I'll probably be there for another year or so. And then I think I'm going to try and go back to school. What for? Hahah yeah umm I will get back to you on that.

    Battlestar Galactica is my absolute favorite TV show ever. (Yes, even including the ending. It had some major issues don't get me wrong but it was not as abominable as everyone makes it out to be and it was, for me, fairly satisfying.)

    Umm, what else. Rome. The first four seasons of Doctor Who (the ones when Russell Davies was showrunner). Um... yeah tbh I do not watch a lot of TV, those are the only three that spring to mind as favorites anyway.

    Movies... oh jeez, I suck at off-the-cuff favorites lists. Um, 28 Days Later, Centurion, Bourne Identity... ummm I really like Avengers and Thor I guess, somewhat embarassingly? (lol I am literally just listing movies that I have seen in the past several months)

    I dunno, I don't tend to re-watch movies that often so it's hard for me to remember which ones I really liked.
     
  14. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    Trip 7. What draws you to Star Wars, or, how did you become a fan?

    8. How would you rank the 6 Star Wars films?
     
  15. Trip

    Trip Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2003
    hmm i think i will do these two tomorrow so i can put some time into them.
     
  16. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    I hope this is another thread Trip never finishes.
     
  17. Ulicus

    Ulicus Lapsed Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2005
    Dead to me.
     
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  18. s65horsey

    s65horsey Otter-loving Former EUC Mod star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2006
    Anyone whose job it is to kill mosquitoes is seriously my hero.
     
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  19. Trip

    Trip Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Havac :(

    Well those are two somewhat different questions, aren't they? Like, the why and the how?

    I mean, how is easy: my parents showed me the movies when I was like... four or five, maybe? Six? Early enough that I don't recollect much about watching them anyway. It's just always kinda... been there, and I was always into it. Like, I distinctly recall being into it before Star Wars toys were even a thing again, so all I had to play with were a couple of the twelve-inch figures from the eighties that I stole from my uncle. (Although me and my sister mostly used them as guest stars when we played barbies because there wasn't really a whole lot else to do with them.) And then I remember when I was in first grade they came out with Star Wars micro-machines and I was like, so stoked. (Which was kind of pathetic because I was basically forced to play with like, half-inch tall characters, but hey that was all there was at the time.) And then finally they started making action figures again! And then I discovered the EU at my grandparents' house, where my sister and I would sleep in the loft-- they had one of those beach houses that's up on stilts and has, like, a single room elevated up above the rest of the house with windows all around-- and up there was a bookshelf with my grandpa's Star Wars novel collection. I think I recall the most recent being... X-wing: Rogue Squadron? So I would've been, like, ten or so I guess. So my sister and I would spend hours up there reading through all the novels every morning. And then it just kinda kept going from there.

    What draws me to Star Wars, though? Like what kept me interested and what keeps me coming back and stuff? That's a... good question, and one that I've asked myself many, many times. And the conclusion I always come up with is... basically I have no idea. I really don't. Is it because it's familiar maybe? I mean, I literally don't remember a time when Star Wars wasn't a part of my life to some extent... but then again there's so many other things from my childhood that I was completely obsessed with for ages and then I just like dropped and totally forgot about and have no real desire to re-engage with on any significant level? So yeah, I dunno... maybe it's the sheer size of the mythos? Like my engagement with it has changed dramatically over the years, almost mirroring to some extent where I was in my life at the time... so like, when I was going through a phase in my late teens where I turned to über-rationalism and materialism to explain the world I decided I hated the Jedi and thought the Force was stupid except when used in a very narrow, utilitarian sense and I was all into like, the tech and stuff. My interests now, of course, have swung radically in the complete opposite direction.

    So maybe what draws me to Star Wars is it's, like, a mirror for my life, kinda? Like... my go-to alternate reality? I mean it has occurred to me that Star Wars fills a role in my life that, like, the Bible seems to occupy in the lives of religious Christians... you know, like the main source for stories to hamfistedly analogize your life to. I dunno, I'm just throwing stuff out there... this is something I've done a lot of musing on but never really been able to pin down. All I know is that Star Wars feels like, um... "home" I guess in a way no other bit of entertainment does, and although I've stepped away from it periodically over the years it always, inevitably draws me back. And often I wind up loving it even more than I did when last I left. So yeah.

    I dunno yo. ****'s weird.

    ANH - pretty much a perfect movie really.

    ESB - I did used to rank this one first (along with like everybody else) but honestly I kinda think it has some pacing issues, especially in the middle. Plus the plot's kinda... thin? I dunno, I still love it I just have come to think that it is maybe a bit overrated especially in comparison to ANH.

    RotJ - Really this one gets third place only by virtue of the prequels being so awful, because it's kind of a mess. I mean-- almost everything involving Luke is pretty great, but that doesn't make up for the other two thirds of the movie that are mostly a mess. Just... not a good movie really.

    TPM - So I hated this a lot when it first came out (it actually was a major contributor to my first and lengthiest break with Star Wars!) whereas the two other prequels I did not immediately hate... but in retrospect, I actually think this one is the best of the prequels... or maybe the "least bad" is a better way of putting it. I mean: it's ultimately a pretty pointless movie, with a story that seems suited more for, like, a backstory novel or something, but at least it has Liam Neeson. And Maul! I love Maul. And also the best duel in the prequels.

    RotS - yeah so this movie sucks even worse than before each time I watch it but ummm I guess it does have that one part when Anakin is carrying Obi-Wan on his back and they are in the turbolift shaft and Obi-Wan wakes up and there is a hilarious shot of the two of them looking alarmed at the camera that I had as my wallpaper for awhile back in the day. Oh yeah and also "Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our speciality"! (Which is actually kind of a total non sequitur since the Dooks handed the two of them their ass last film but Ewan McGregor is so adorable with his delivery it doesn't even matter.) So, it is not a total loss.

    AotC - oh god are they riding on a giant tick what is even occurring right now
     
  20. Bib Fartuna

    Bib Fartuna Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2012
    Haha! :)
     
  21. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    Trip I'm sneakier/less organized than Point Given with my questions. :p And lol that's the best summary of AOTC I've seen in a while. XD

    9. What are your feelings regarding the show The Clone Wars?

    10. Who are your top 10 or so favorite SW characters?
     
  22. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    I do it because I love.

    Your grandpa has a Star Wars novel collection? Badass.
     
  23. Bib Fartuna

    Bib Fartuna Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2012
    If he is like this grandpa, then he truly is...

    [​IMG]
     
  24. Trip

    Trip Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2003
    well, had, I think I eventually stole like half of them. :D

    On the one hand it's just awful and I don't consider it canon and it actually kind of angers me that they thought a nihilistic proxy war fought by droids and clone soldiers would be the perfect setting for a cartoon aimed at small children.

    But, on the other hand I don't follow it very closely so it's pretty fun checking in every six months or so and being utterly baffled by what is occurring. Like... most recently I find out Darth Maul is not only alive but king of the Mandalorians or something? lol ok

    (Oh yeah and also I guess if it weren't for this show the capslock the clone wars livejournal would never have existed and that would be a sad, sad thing.)

    hmm... no particular order, here... Luke, Mara, Leia, Han, Jaina, Jacen, Soontir, Jag, Vader/Anakin, Obi-Wan

    (of course there are like probably a hundred characters that I love for various reasons, both superficial and not, from throughout the franchise... these ten are the ones I probably come back to most often though. at least lately.)
     
  25. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    I was just gonna say--"my grandpa's Star Wars novel collection" is maybe the greatest thing I've ever read.
     
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