First, apologies to anyone outside the UK who has not heard of this, but the BBC has a new series starting on the 20th September called Merlin. http://www.bbc.co.uk/merlin/

For some reason the BBC seems to have decided to take one of our better known myths and cast it with possibly the oddest looking people as its protagonists. Arthur and Merlin in particular are just weird looking. They did the same with Robin Hood recently. Now, I'm not the prettiest person on the planet, I'll be first to admit, but TV/Fantasy could make a bit of an effort to show our population in a good light. I don't know, maybe I'm a little odd for thinking like this, but Merlin is supposed to be the most badass mage ever. Having a soft spot for mages, I just get bugged. First goddamn Del Boy as Rincewind and now Merlin is a jug-eared bulb-head. Thanks, BBC, as if the nerdy, mildly ostracized fantasy audience didn't have enough negative stereotypes to contend with.

And, of course, they seem intent on screwing the entire Merlin/Arthur stories entirely. Merlin and Arthur growing up at the same time? Should have just bought Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle rights and made those into a series.

At least Uther is played by Giles.

-SP

So I hear FA got a big new bouncing server and everything and can handle a lot more than what we're currently throwing at it. Which is great. On the other hand, it does mean we seem to get a lot of superfluous stuff.

I see a lot of people complain about the 'removed' notifications that float around. And I can understand that, at least let it be an option in a profile or something.

Here's a personal niggle, though. I have a lot of people on watch, and quite often I have a lot of new submissions, and frequently I leave those submissions up in the list so I can view them at a later date. The problem is that in order to view new submissions I have to click submissions, then newest, to see the latest.

Perhaps this is just me being difficult by not removing new submissions more frequently, and no one else really finds this to be a mild annoyance, but it didn't used to be a problem. I'd hit submissions and it'd have the latest right at the top. No longer the case and I can't see why the change was necessary. It means I now have two requests sending to the server where it used to be one.

Perhaps I've missed an option somewhere to switch it to most recent first all the time, but I've looked about and just not seen it.

Today I was let out for good behavior. While enjoying my brief freedom I ended up going to KFC for lunch. Ordered a Toasted Twisted Salsa... thing. Breaded spicey chicken in a tortilla wrap with salsa, lettuce and some dressing or other. Generally an enjoyable thing to eat. Unfortunately it only came in a meal, so I got fries and a drink with it, too. Didn't really want them but oh well.

On my way back I had the drink in the little bag. This drink decided it was too good for a stifling paper cup and forced its way out to the freedom offered by the paper bag. I only noticed with the bag started disintegrating. More fool me for not carrying the drink separate.

So I get home with this soggy mess and decided it can't be all bad. And so I ate it. It was pretty good, the drink (7up) had managed to only get slightly absorbed into the wrap, most other things were fine. The fries were a lost cause and while the wrap was a bit weird being a little sweet and quite damp, I persevered and ate the thing. I bought it, after all. I wouldn't recommend it in future, though.

If you were looking for philosophy on this one, or even something interesting, sorry to disappoint. But I guess you can take the message away that even when things are apparently fucked up beyond recognition, there's usually something salvageable in the whole sugary mess.

To me, curiosity is intrinsic. As such I have to wonder whether there has always been a 'submission deleted by owner' placemark thing in submissions and favourites lists. I ask because I've been noticing quite a few of late, and it bugs the crap out of me not knowing what the hell they were.

It's like someone is keeping things from me. Why have the placeholder there? It's taunting me, letting me know that someone published something, and then took it away before I could view it. Offering me candy then telling me I can't have anyway.

This absence of creativity makes me ponder what those pieces had been, their potential for all things artistic. They draw me, and I sit there, forlorn that I will never gaze upon their wonder. Like a cavity in a tooth you can't stop probing with your tongue, it's a compulsion. Do they still exist in some potential alternate-reality?

What are they?...
...what are they?

So it appears FA is back up. Either that or my meds got switched again and this is all some bizarre hallucination. In which case I fully expect impossibly endowed bunny-girls to burst through the door any time now...

... or purple carrot shaped things with more eyes than teeth and more backs than really necessary. Whichever works.

So anyway, I made good use of FA's downtime by doing...nothing. Oh, I intended to finish my current piece, I just kinda got distracted by something. I'm not really sure what but not much progress has been made. I will probably put something of a WIP shot up in the not too distant future and see if anyone can spot which picture it is.

I hope everyone's well and that the flying spaghetti monster bestows upon me the ability to finish the piece.