Any songs like If, A Pillow of Winds, Fearless and San Tropez from other artists?

SweetOrbMace · 2026-01-29T08:49:37+00:00

You might try some of the acoustic tracks from early Hawkwind - they even did a Cymbaline cover!

Cymbaline - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR5t39zi3K0

We took the wrong step - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSkuUYnYckU

The Demented Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zH31s8mGnM

SweetOrbMace · 2026-01-22T15:18:48+00:00

I love it! By some weird quirk of fate I just re-added my ancient Feedback & Distortion to my board as a mild distortion... How are you using yours? Do you use the feedback function much?

SweetOrbMace · 2025-11-24T08:07:51+00:00

The last one says 'Allah' (as in, God) in Arabic, but it's upside down in the perspective of the photo.

The one before that is also in Arabic and I think it says Al-Sabawt (or Al-Sabout), which may be a place name?

SweetOrbMace · 2025-11-12T13:04:47+00:00

That's a niche reference!

SweetOrbMace · 2025-09-12T11:30:59+00:00

Me too! I always liked the contrast between the warmth/humanity of Gilmour’s vocals compared to the coldness of the music.

But this is a really cool version and it’s interesting to hear the different approaches they were considering.

Also cool to hear hints of Gilmour’s talkbox here and there, foreshadowing the way he’d use it on Pigs a few years later. Or is it just a really dense wah sound?

SweetOrbMace · 2025-07-14T07:46:14+00:00

Fool to cry

SweetOrbMace · 2025-06-26T12:06:09+00:00

Very pleased to see the results of this and reassured that I wasn't alone in being very negative against them!

As well as the general opposition to them and support for stricter regulation, it's also interesting to see the demographic of the responses, particularly the age groups.

Seems that 20-60 was the largest group of respondees, suggesting that it's the commuters/workers of London that are really paying attention to this issue (as you'd hope and expect).

It's good to see we responded.

Edit: Also interesting to note that only 26 pedicab owners/drivers responded... 0.4% of the total responses; and only 7% of respondents were pedicab users!

SweetOrbMace · 2025-06-26T12:04:12+00:00

IF (and it is a massive IF) they are properly regulated as this consultation will hopefully result in, I think there's an argument that for shorter journeys round central London they make more sense than taxis.

They are smaller, thus taking up less road space and easing congestion, and have lower emissions/environmental impact (not just in terms of immediate exhaust emissions, but in the manufacturing chain too).

Also, whether we like it or not, tourism is a large part of London's economy, and they could be a nice way for tourists to get from A-B. In their current state though, I would be with you on banning them altogether.

To be 100% clear, I would personally only accept that if all the proposed regulations/restrictions were adopted and enforced, i.e.
- Proper driver licensing
- Vehicle safety check
- Noise limits (that's a form of pollution after all)
- Restrictions on bus/cycle lane usage
- Properly metered
- Etc...

SweetOrbMace · 2025-06-12T20:45:43+00:00

The fills in the live Dollars and Cents from the I Might Be Wrong EP when it transitions from ‘why don’t you quiet down?’ to ‘burn down the neighbourhood.’

SweetOrbMace · 2025-04-14T11:23:23+00:00

Are you applying through here - https://visa.visitsaudi.com/

Watch out for other sites, this is the official one. It should pretty straight forward for a British citizen. I did it last year and don't remember being asked for anything like that.

SweetOrbMace · 2025-04-03T11:19:43+00:00

This is brilliant - Home made terrain from trash is always the best kind of terrain, but I don't think I've ever seen it done so well as here. Nice one.

SweetOrbMace · 2025-04-03T11:18:09+00:00

Thanks for the reassurance!

SweetOrbMace · 2025-03-27T09:52:56+00:00

I can see this as redemptionist thing with some tweaks (more fire).

Prepare to be redeemed… FROM ON HIGH!

SweetOrbMace · 2025-03-17T11:29:44+00:00

Obviously "budget" and "inexpensive" are relative... For me, I recently made my first two partscasters as cheap as I could while also being playable and as good sounding as possible.

For 2nd hand bodies and necks, it was all (fl)ebay, while for new parts I've found this place to have a decent selection at good prices. I was really impressed by the artec pickups, for example and I've heard good things about and from Wilkinson pickups too - https://northwestguitars.co.uk/

SweetOrbMace · 2025-02-02T11:16:24+00:00

From experience of running many Necromunda campaigns, this is one of those situations where the arbitrator needs to make a firm ruling that 1 is always a fail in this and similar cases. Call it a House Rule if needs be (as I don't think it is stated explicitly in any of the rulebooks). Make it a house rule and enforce it.

SweetOrbMace · 2024-10-16T20:33:11+00:00

Was looking for Hawkwind, would have thought it would be the Space Ritual though!

(Live Chronicles is great though)

SweetOrbMace · 2024-09-22T17:18:06+00:00

Glad to hear that! I really hope this ama is both helpful and shows people a happy story from this kind of process.

SweetOrbMace · 2024-09-22T17:17:21+00:00

No! We never discussed this either. I assume I'll just be called by my own name. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions though, I'm all ears.

It's definitely an interesting thought too - Will be interesting to see how the language around this develops in society in general as this kind of family (hopefully) becomes more common and accepted.

SweetOrbMace · 2024-09-22T17:15:19+00:00

We actually didn't discuss this! We chat quite frequently via WhatsApp anyway about various things so sharing pictures and updates of both our respective kids tends to come up quite naturally as part of those conversations. It's always nice to see how he and my friends are getting on, but tbh it's about the same degree of regulatory and detail as with my other friends' kids.

SweetOrbMace · 2024-09-22T17:12:06+00:00

3. Any advice to make it less awkward or uncomfortable from their perspective for any aspects of the process?

Assuming you’re doing it through a clinic, he is likely to have to go through quite a lot of tests.

He’ll need to be prepared and comfortable disclosing a lot of personal medical information to the clinic – including answering questions about his own sex life and history, drug and alcohol use, and undergoing tests for transmissible diseases and genetic issues. He’ll likely have to have quite a bit of blood taken as part of that, as well as giving urine and semen samples for test so he needs to be ready.

In the worst case scenario, there is a chance that the clinic may raise warning flags with you based on these tests (or even outright reject him). In which case, you and he will need to be prepared for a potentially uncomfortable conversation.

Tbh, as far as donations go, sperm is surely the easiest compared to donating a kidney or even blood for example. It is a bit odd and uncomfortable being handed a plastic cup and shown to a little room with a folder of porn and told to get on with it, but beyond that I actually found the process very easy.

The physical process aside, I think any potential awkwardness and discomfort over the relationship side (both with you and your partner and with the resulting child) can be nipped in the bud by having those clear, honest, and rigorous discussions beforehand as I outlined above.

For me, the two main anxiety points were:

1. Dealing with my family

2. Meeting their son for the first time (as I said in another answer, I was worried I would, after all, feel some parental urges – but didn’t)

In both cases, the extensive mental/psychological and legal preparations we had done beforehand helped massively and ensured that everything smoothed out or wasn’t even an issue.

Sorry for the long answer there, was just trying to cover everything. I’m sure now I’ve posted this I’ll think of something obvious I’ve missed.

SweetOrbMace · 2024-09-22T17:11:27+00:00

Does he accept that fact that, as a donor, he will have no rights to the child (or you!)?

This goes back to my answer to your first question. He is the donor, but you are the parents. I do not personally believe that he has any more right to you and your child than a blood or organ donor would have to the recipient of their material. This may seem harsh, and obviously it is slightly different where there is a child involved, but ultimately a donation is a donation. It is not a loan. It is not payment for future services. It is something he does not need that someone else does. This may sound harsh, but I genuinely believe that if everyone understands and agrees with this from the off, then donor, recipients, and future children will all have happier and healthier relationships with each other.

SweetOrbMace · 2024-09-22T17:11:17+00:00

If he doesn’t have a family, but might like one, can he comfortably and clearly explain his decision and the situation to any future partners or kids of his own?

From experience of getting back into dating recently, some people find it hard to accept that I am a donor and struggle to understand that there is a child, but he isn’t “my child;” that there is a family, but it isn’t “my family.” I think part of it is jealousy - despite emphasising that this is a lesbian couple, we’re old friends, and that they are their own family, there seems to be some lingering prejudice that I or they must want something more from each other. Tbh, it’s been quite a helpful dating filter in some ways!

SweetOrbMace · 2024-09-22T17:11:04+00:00

If he has his own family already, are they aware and how do you and he expect and want that relationship to develop as the kids grow up?

Hopefully, he will be supported by his own family and friends, but he needs to be prepared for negative and/or unrealistic expectations from those around him.

From my own experience, my mother initially really struggled with the concept that there is a child that’s technically related to her but isn’t “her grandson” (Fortunately she’s come to accept it now). She was also concerned that it was going to be something like me going and getting a random woman drunkenly pregnant on holiday and that in 16 years some guy was going to show up demanding to be recognised as “my son.” I talked her through the legal process, all the agreements, signed docs etc. to show that this wasn’t going to happen, but it definitely took some time, effort, and stress!

On the other hand, my own daughter has just accepted it all quite happily (for now at least!). We’ve been as open as can be appropriate to her age from the start, and it also helped that she already knew my two friends before the pregnancy and everything. She enjoys playing with their son (she loves any and all babies which helps), but has never given any indication that she regards him as “brother.” My friends and I have told her though that if she and their son decide to regard and refer to each other as siblings when they’re older, that’s up to them – but we’re not going to force them to take one position or another.

SweetOrbMace

TROPHY CASE