3 Years ago

New Changeling ebook cover

New Venice ebook cover by malacar.

Untitled

 

 

 

The Innamorati

[gallery] and Dr. Ether
Makeup/Wardrobe Styling: Kitty Napalm

Changeling: the Lost - Venice Unmasked - Origins

 

The origins of my Changeling chronicle run deep. Back with an old gaming group we had played a long chronicle of Vampire: the Dark Ages during which the characters had a few visits to the city of Venice. The setting for the game was around the events of the Fourth Crusade, the shocking event where Venice, seeking retribution, diverted the forces of the Crusade from Jerusalem to the city of Byzantium, settling an old score for the Doge.

Of course my interest in Venice grew when I had the chance to go there for a holiday with my wife, when we were just only going out at the time. I had always wanted to visit the city, for its history, art, culture, food and magic of the Carnival. We went during that celebration and went to a masked ball at a grand palazzo, ate loads of food and indulged in the decadent city. It would also be during this time that we would get engaged and the following year return to Venice for our wedding. As a result Venice has invaded my mind. It is a city steeped with history and legend, and is a unusual and unique location.

So why Changelings in Venice? Well I guess because Venice is an easy setting to grab hold of for games like Mage and Vampire. Venice has been the centre of religious, political and scientific intrigue. So not using those games has been a challenge. Changelings seem to fit the concept of Carnival better. They have a need to reclaim life, yet hide amongst the revellers. Venice is also known as the 'Fairy City' and has it's own legends of the Fae visiting the city, and so it has been more exciting looking at Venice through this lens rather than the brooding gothic of Vampires, or the occult war of Mages.

Challenge Day 5 #venice

[gallery]

Venice Video 5

Venice Video 4

New LJ layout

Just saying that I have finally got around to mucking about with my LJ and updated the theme.

Oh and a few pictures while I can.


The arsenale




My sister Zoe with a huge strawberry in Venice


CHURCH OF SANTA MADDALENA and it's All Seeing Eye

A plate of Meat in Vernoa that I ate

Dan and Stacey... bringers of cool wedding gifts!!!

Sam's new hair

My New face!!

On the day of my viva

SO yes lots of photos to upload and share... and video. Just need some time to do it.

Wedding Photos

So today I took a day off as I still ache in my back from Venice etc. All those bridges and our bags. Sigh. But the good thing today was that a man from DHL brought to us a parcel. Our wedding photos cd and the wedding certifcates.


So for your viewing pleasure









































































 

Venice, Wedding, the complete works!

So Sunday 22^nd evening

Venice - Day 1

So the first morning of our stay in Venice has gone by. Since I last wrote we had some fun. First of all did I say I hate the French?? They have no manners and always seem to be trying to barge into queues. They fucked me off at the airport, then waiting for the shuttle bus to Venice, and then getting the vaperetto. Oh and these old French ladies should all be put down for being miserable. Snooty hags.

 

Once we got off at the Rialto we had the fun of taking our cases to the hotel, over many bridges. I had a good work out. Once we arrived things seemed fine at the hotel, that was until we got to our room. The door was chipped all over and the bath room was grotty. Considering it was no cheaper than the hotel we had last year we complained (i.e. glittersavvy insisted, we called her mum to find out the best solution, called expedia). The manager promised us an upgrade, but we didn't have much hope in it. So we spent the evening in the shit room. This room was right next to one of the side streets, and so until in the night we had Italian louts wailing. This was due to the fact that the square the hotel is in is one of the busiest at night. So at 3 we found it went deadly silent and we got some more sleep. However, I seem to be able to sleep though nuclear detonations and so was able to sleep before then. This being the reason why I am awake now and glittersavvy is not. :(

 

Come morning we had breakfast and we told that they would move out bags to the next floor room 1. We should come back at 1pm to see it. So for the time being we buggered off into the city to buy new masks for Tuesday and to see what over things there were.

 

Window shopping this time is a very different beast. For starters we are near the shopping districts. Plus we have seen everything before meaning we can take things at a more leisurely pace, absorbing the party spirit of the carnival and marvel at the architecture. Of course this means we have found ourselves becoming more annoyed at the idiot tourists, the ones throwing stupid confetti left right and centre, wearing retarded costumes, and children spraying silly string. This may sound like we're having a shit time but in fact it means we appreciate the city more, how stunning it looks, and of course we are in no rush and so can savour the food, the coffee and the excellent costumes and masks. We picked up two new masks (you will see the pictures in all good time) and retired to the hotel where we found to our delight that our new room was remarkably better. Giant mirror, no tatty décor, a good bathroom, and a excellent bed.

 

That's all for now. We hope to have better thing to say this evening and when it gets closer to the wedding with the end of carnival approaching and the tourists leaving.

 

Ciao

Airports

So France sucks immensely!! Currently myself and glittersavvy are sat in the departure lounge typing this entry. Sorry to disappoint but really we'd like to be surfing the net right now, but no. We can't get a connection so here we are, bored out of our minds, going rather insane (playing word association game, mallets mallet style) writing this entry on Word.

 

We have few good things to say about the airport. Their choice of food is over priced and poor. Why, why, why does everything fucking sandwich have to have mayo, butter, a dressing or a combination of all of those. If I wanted to get fat I would eat a fat person!! Fuck the French cusine. It's shit! Oh but Air France are rather cool. We had French pastries and tea and coffee on the flight over. Hurrah!!

 

Also while sat here we have had the joy of watching a small child demolish a stand of magazines. She tried in vain to re-organize the magazines. glittersavvy will explain more. It was quite an amusement to sit here and watch the madness.

 

That's about it right now. No cool photos. No interesting things nave been seen. Just the French, and their quiche. No fucking pies though. Bastards as Sharpe would say.

H2O(s)

Oh and today it snowed if you didn't know.

So I have been at my new job now for two weeks. Over these few weeks I have been sorting out various things. We have had one leak in the radiator system fixed and now I have identified another that has to be fixed. It's not as bad as the last one but still quite annoying.

The last two weeks I have been reading lots to get my head around transition metal chemistry and Ligand Field Molecular Mechanics and now just getting into the basics of Multi-Objective Optimization Algorithms. I also have 2 programs to learn and I will be learning how to code in SVL and Java/C++, which will be good because then I will be generally more employable in the future.

Last weekend my sister, Zoe, and her boyfriend Rob (the poor git who drove us up and down from Manchester when we moved) came over so we had a good walk around Leamington Spa. It took them some time to find some where to park (parking in the wrong car park that was filled with posh super cars) but they finally joined us for the indulgence of coffee and sweet pastry goods.

This last week was rahter much the same but we have slowly been unpacking things and the flat is almost in a good shape, though missing a few oddments that would make it better and finish off the study. On Friday we met up with Ben, Joe's little brother, and his mate Steve. It was good to meet up with another who knows of the fun of Manchester and makes Leamington seem more fun. We went for drinks and unfortunately ended up in the local Weatherspoon. The bad part was not the comical collection of student drunks, or the weird older people drunk and sounding like they had just come off the farm. No the bad part was the smell of a sewer that swept through the pub as apparently the loos had been flooded. By the Gods!!

Saturday was more random with myself and Sam making our way into the metropolis of Birmingham. I think the fresh air in Leamington had made us feel so good that the foul, cold air, and that same air that was being recycled by the shop heating systems, just made both us feel absolutely grim. After some time shopping and getting annoyed with other idiot shoppers in the Bull Ring, we headed off into the suburbs to go to Anna's place. Anna is one of the two fellow postdocs in my group. At her house she was holding a get together of the research group. This was quite different from my old group in Manchester. The highlights of the night is that both Rob, my supervisor, and his wife, Pam, can talk the ear off you, as can their daughter Lauren who is just doing her mocks for her GCSEs (strangely feels so distance now those times). As a fmaily they are very loud together. Rob recited a wonderful piss taking poem of Australia (he's Tasmanian). They all watch a lot of sci fi and fantasy (Pam loves Supernatural and SG: Atlantis, Rob has read The Book of the New Sun). Rob is also a pilot and I believe has flown old WW2 aircraft.

The rest of the research group are typically geeky science types, but not too geeky or weird. Another of the group is Sara, who is Italian, comes from aplace very close to Venice and wants to come out with myself and Sam to clubs in London that play music that goes 'thud thud thud!'. I think we can organize that.

Getting back from Anna's was not quite as fun. We got to the train station in Birmingham and had to wait an hour in the freezing cold for the last train back to Leamington. Sunday was as result quite a lazy day.

Today I awoke to a layer of the white stuff covering the town. I headed into work, enjoyed a nice free lunch, and then at 4 thought I'd better get home before things get a little risky. Fortunately Ben was driving by and so I got a lift back rather than having to brave the bus filled with students.

So huzzah. Two weeks have gone by and things are going ok down this way. I am finally getting the deposit and the rent back from the old flat and that means I buy things. Next up another few days (17 in fact) and myself and Sam will be off to sunny (but cold) Venice for the end of Carnivale and our wedding.

Oh and once I'm back I'll be starting up my new rp group. First stop will the thrills, spills and moans of zombie as I get new players to have ago at the splatterpunk fun of Unhallowed Metropolis.

Venice!!

Ok so I may as well direct you to glittersavvy's journal for the full round up of the week and the photos that we took.

So I'll just add my views about it all.

Well first off Venice may well be cold in January but it is not some wet cold, it is dry and bracing, even invigorating. We certainly got a lot of exercise walking about, our eyes always drawn upwards to take in the decaying apartments and the looming churches. It can only be described as some glorious decaying world of decadence, a city lost in time and space invaded by foreigners. But it also one of the most exciting and relaxing cities I have been too, a true gothic blend of beauty and decay.

Getting around was OK though often we got lost as we turned down another similar looking narrow street, balconies over looking and washing hanging out to dry. The vapourettos, the water bus, was amusing and an easy way of traveling from one end of the city to the other.

Fittingly Venice also has a number of museums and galleries  that have treasures from all around the world and hark back to the Venetian tradition of sailing.

The ball it self was amazing. The costumes were stunning, the music adding to the decadence of the evening, the food was luxurious, and we even had an opera singer while we were eating. Not that even with all this great food the Italians serve small portions allowing you to enjoy the meal, not gorge yourself. This of course was mirrored when we went for tea at the Florian.

The one other signature of Venice are all the hidden pieces of art and shrines that lurk on buildings, some not really noticeable until night has set in and the streets have emptied of the daytrippers.

In the end it was a perfect holiday, with a quick excursion out to Verona to take in some more of Italy. It was a nice way of enjoying my 25 birthday in full after the puerile fun of the meal at Negresco on the 25th.


It now seems Venice will be something of a annual trip, and it will be nice to be in the position to go twice a year during Carnival (and the sales) and also during the summer when we can enjoy the beaches of the Lido.

Well now I'm back, and work beckons. It's doesn't seem to bad going back now that I have the proof of my first paper and also the second one has been sent off. I have a third to start and I can now happily begin on my thesis write up. It seems that this trip to Venice has acted as a milestone for a number of things.

So go enjoy the pictures here

And the rest of the details here

Venice

Here I am, 4pm at work waiting for a final meeting before I go home and finish getting ready for Venice. It's only just sinking in that for almost a whole week I will be in one of the most amazing cities in Europe and going to a masquerade ball as part of the carnival.

I've tried on my outfit, and it all looks good, sort of Sharpe-meets-goth-meets-Dune. I've yet to see glittersavvy in her costume.

Well for those of you that I haven't seen recently I hope you take care and I'll see you in a weeks time, with pretty pictures to boot.

Oh and the 4'oclock ep by Emilie Autumn is great, there is a dance floor remix of Swallow on it.

Birthday Fun

So I'm now 25, and really it doesn't shock me, just makes me realise how much time has been taken up by Uni and higher education. Imagine what else I couldof done in the time.

I have to thank all my friends who turned out at Negresco for what was an awesome, amusing, puerile and absinthe fueled birthday. And of course a big thankyou to

glittersavvy

for making sure I wasn't too drunk, and of course her excellent presents (a lego Joker toy).

Saturday afternoon we went to see Sweeney Todd, which was brilliant and funny throughout. If your not a fan of musicals I can still say that this one is not like most. Also it has loads of touching moments through out the film, especially the amusing 'seaside' section.

Now with xmas, new year and my birthday out of the way the trip to Venice draws near so as of next Saturday I will not be about until a weeks time.

Now, go have a Hapsburg on me ya bastards!!!