Member Spotlight #9: Ask Mage anything

[The Man]

This is a new thing we're doing where we give a specific member a thread for a week in which they can share whatever information they want about themselves, then answer whatever questions the public asks them. It's sort of an expansion on the "Let's get to know each other" thread by, well, giving one member the spotlight. More information on the concept can be found here.

This week's participant is Mage, who has elected to share the following information:

Right, in case you've completely ignored my avatar and profile thingy (<), I'm Mage, I'm a 31-year old mom of one currently residing in Birmingham. I have a dog (Jack) and two cats (Dave and Shub-Niggurath).

I work as a professional gardener once in a while and I'm a gardening geek on the side too. In my free time I imagine I'd lounge around in the finest silks, stuffing my face with chocolate and being leisurely. I don't know if this is tr00f or not since I generally don't have much free time. If I did have more free time I'd be drawing, painting and producing more crap made from copper wire, which is one of my new things. I was a jeweller once upon a time so once in a while I like to make stuff, my on/off high value project is a ring I'm making for myself which will be set with diamonds and a cabochon amethyst, or possibly some cabochon amber (most likely the amethyst though).

I'm a firm believer in reduce, reuse and recycle, so I like to repurpose things too (egg boxes used as seed trays and suchlike). I'm upcycling some old clothes and fabrics I like into a patchwork quilt - this is the never-ending project that is starting to piss me off now.

Entertainment wise, I like mostly rock music, some from the eighties and nineties, some rock and roll (love Johnny Cash), occasionally a pop song or two and the obligatory indie stuff. I'm not afraid to admit to being a Savage Garden fan in my y00f.
I don't watch much TV, so it's taken me several months to get through Breaking Bad, I like GoT but preferred the books (usually do 'cos my imagination is far better than a set designer's wet dream). Reading is something I always make time for, whether it's a good fiction book or my gardening magazines.

Right, any topic goes so come at me bros.

Feel free to ask whatever you'd like. This thread will be up for approximately a week before we move onto our next participant.

[Chloe Frazer]

So um n00dz?

Tenchi Muyo or Tenchi Universe?

[The Man]

Melon Lord wrote:

So um n00dz?

The most important question in any AMA.

[Omega]

What gets you in the mood?




























































...to garden?

[Tennyo]

What do you suggest for a lawn that has dead patches that refuse to grow because the previous owners didn't rake the leaves at all in the fall and when the snow melted this past spring there was a thick coating that killed the grass?

[Keveh Kins]

How were you introduced to FF7? What was it that appealed to you about it?

Based purely on the movements of her cinderblock hands whilst tending to them, is Aerith a good gardener or utterly shite and likely just stumbled upon the world's most resilient flowers by chance?

Do you grow your own veggies?

Favourite novel/book of any sort?

[Ami]

What's the secret to your appeal?

If you and Cab met, would the universe explode?

What's the Dutchman REALLY like?

Was climbing that mountain really hard as it looks?

Can you tell us a funny story about you we may not necessarily know?

[Doom Bunneh]

Favourite game outside of the FF franchise?

Flowers, shrubs, or trees? (Assuming you can only choose one to type to work with)

[Ghost X]

What is your favourite garden variety weed? (inb4 cannabis.)

What is your most disliked non-weed plant?

[LicoriceAllsorts]

What vehicle (land, sea or air) would you most like to learn to operate, and where in the world would you go in it?

How would you bring about world peace? (Because I think you can do it....)

Top three pieces of advice you're going to offer your son - along with half a bannock of bread and your blessing - when he sets out to make his way in the world?

[Dawnbreaker]

What was your favorite Savage Garden song?


(just occurred to me that the words 'savage garden' sounds very appropriate for you!) lol

[Addy Carver]

Well fuck, there's some great questions. I've never multi-quoted before so the order is on the piss. If I've missed any answers just gimme a poke (oo-er).

LicoriceAllsorts wrote:

What vehicle (land, sea or air) would you most like to learn to operate, and where in the world would you go in it?

How would you bring about world peace? (Because I think you can do it....)

Top three pieces of advice you're going to offer your son - along with half a bannock of bread and your blessing - when he sets out to make his way in the world?

That's a good one. Hmm. Something I've never handled before would probably be a Seacat (giant hoverboats, now out of service for some reason). The engineering behind them is both simple yet incredibly complex. It's possible to drive one overland too, as long as the terrain doesn't resemble the north face of the Eiger. I'd probably go everywhere that I could - now I'm wondering if it's possible to go the 'ring of fire' route in one.
Insofar as something I've already used, I'd love to get my bike licence - my eighteen-year old self is disgusted with me for never getting around to it, I've wanted a bike licence since I was twelve. I can ride one but I don't have a licence.

World peace is easy - take all the world leaders and put them in customer service jobs (you know you'd like to see Putin working in McDonalds), or something like auxiliary care to learn humility. Then never let them near power again, they clearly can't handle it. I'd do away with entitlement like lordships and inheritance and whatnot so everyone genuinely stands as equals (so for example if you want your parents' inheritance, you can use it to start a business or fund your education, otherwise the state uses it to improve society). I'd ban GMOs and fracking because they're not sustainable responses. Since I'd be Ultimate World Boss Mage, I'd insist every country follows a model of small-scale food production, encouraging people to become producers rather than simply consumers. Where that isn't possible I'd look at ways to reforest arid areas to improve the earth, or else implement hydroponic systems using water harvesting systems.
Basically, there wouldn't be an able person in the world who didn't have value or purpose.

As for my son, I would tell him not to hold on to negative emotions, be careful with money and always question everything. I'd add that I'm never further than a phone call away if he needs me, and I'd hope at that point he'd know that's a 24-7 service.

Melon Lord wrote:

So um n00dz?

Tenchi Muyo or Tenchi Universe?

My n00dz are already well-known to the internet, are you implying you want more?

Tenchi Muyo, I loved the OVAs more than anything, which is why I still watch them on Youtube (I'm giving my son an education!).

Frog wrote:

What gets you in the mood?...to garden?

Well earlier today I bought some dinky seedling pots and several packets of perennial seeds which I'm gonna get started for autumn, I am sowing those bad boys later. Just seeing something and knowing instantly what I could do to improve it is enough of a spark, once I start to think about options I get out a pad and start scribbling.

Tennyo wrote:

What do you suggest for a lawn that has dead patches that refuse to grow because the previous owners didn't rake the leaves at all in the fall and when the snow melted this past spring there was a thick coating that killed the grass?

Take a soil rake (ones like this are my preferred ones because you can use them to smooth soil with the flat side too), give the bare patch of ground a good rubbing with the spiked side so you've turned up the soil without actually digging in. Then take a mug and mix it with half grass seed, half sand (silver sand or horticultural sand is ideal), add a light misting of water and mix the two so the sand sticks to the seed. Take a small handful of the mix and sprinkle it all over your ruffled soil, then use the rake to tamp it down (hold it near the top of the handle and pat the floor with the face of the tines), then sprinkle some more mix onto the flattened soil. On the plus side, the leaves left on the grass will have started to decompose and leaf mould is highly nutritious. Ideally, reseeding is best done after scarifying a lawn, in which case you'd use the same mix but in greater quantities and chuck it down over the whole lawn. Mixing sand into the seed will deter birds from eating it. Don't use ryegrass because it makes an awful lawn, go for a blend with fescues (shade or bowling green blends are ideal but pricier).

Keveh Kins wrote:

How were you introduced to FF7? What was it that appealed to you about it?

Based purely on the movements of her cinderblock hands whilst tending to them, is Aerith a good gardener or utterly shite and likely just stumbled upon the world's most resilient flowers by chance?

Do you grow your own veggies?

Favourite novel/book of any sort?

The first time I saw FFVII was when my brother was playing it a few weeks after it was released. He'd borrowed it from his mate and wouldn't let me or our younger brother play it. My younger brother pestered mom and dad for it and got his way a few months later. I liked the look of it because Secret of Mana is one of my all-time favourite games and it looked like a more sophisticated version (OFC it was). Once I started playing, I was absorbed - during the escape from Midgar my brother was yelling at me because I was exploring the ShinRa building instead of escaping.

Aeris probably has that enviable knack with plants - I imagine the church probably made a nifty growing space with the large windows and hole in the roof though. Some plants really will grow anywhere, just look at buddlejas!

I certainly do, right now I have potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cabbages, alpine strawberries and a few herbs on the go. I'm going to start some more herbs and salad veg for indoor growing over winter too.

Favourite book is a difficult one, I've read some wonderful books. When I was about eight or nine my mom gave me a book called 'Mister God, This is Anna'. I think it was because Anna was a bit more unusual as names go then, so whenever we went on holiday I could never find a souvenir with my name on. I recommend it because it's a beautiful story. The Grapes of Wrath is another story that's stuck with me, I read it after Of Mice and Men and both stories represent the desperation of that era so well but in very different ways.

Amizon wrote:

What's the secret to your appeal?

If you and Cab met, would the universe explode?

What's the Dutchman REALLY like?

Was climbing that mountain really hard as it looks?

Can you tell us a funny story about you we may not necessarily know?

IDK TBH, I'm probably the one person in the world who's managed to get away with being a complete prick for years without getting called out on it.

We'll find out in a few weeks. I bloody hope not, we've got Snowdon to climb yet!

He's tall. He's tentacled. He makes a decent cup of coffee. He's a shit navigator, don't ever let him loose with a map!
He's one of my best friends now, if he finds adorable fox pictures he sends them to me. He also makes the Cookie Monster hand gesture frequently.

I didn't think it was too bad, but it hurt for a few days afterwards! IDK, Scafell Pike was a lot colder (it rained at the summit and it was icy cold), and getting warm afterwards took ages, even in the Mercedes with the shonked-out heating (it was permanently on). I think Ben Nevis was more gratifying as it was so much higher than Scafell.

Yes, but I have made an oath never to speak of it again.
I was desperate for a pee on the way back down the Ben, so I waited til the coast was clear, sat down next to a rock and went whilst the Dutchman was keeping stag. He was too busy admiring the view (of the valley, not me taking a piss), and some other hikers appeared. I managed to get my trousers hoiked up before indecency happened, but I'd made an epic pee stream across the path and it was fairly obvious what I'd been doing. Yop just looked at the woman-made stream and started laughing. I was rather mortified. Still am.

Blargon wrote:

Favourite game outside of the FF franchise?

Flowers, shrubs, or trees? (Assuming you can only choose one to type to work with)

Ooh, LoZ: Ocarina of Time or SoulBlade. That is a difficult question, you could chuck in every PS game I played more than once!

I see your question and answer peonies, since they can be all three.

Ghost X wrote:

What is your favourite garden variety weed? (inb4 cannabis.)

What is your most disliked non-weed plant?

Favourite weed? Tough call there, I wouldn't answer cannabis either. I like Capsella bursa-pastoris (Shepherd's purse) because it has such tiny delicate flowers, and the seed pods are heart-shaped. I also like a lot of wildflowers that cross into weed territory like toadflax and foxglove.

Most disliked non-weed is a tricky one too. I love petunias but hate how they make my hands so sticky when dead-heading them, I love gorse from a distance but I've fallen into a bush before and that really, really hurts, tulips are stunning but digging the bulbs out is a stinky pain in the arse, but the one that beats them all is actually a fungus. It grows in lawns and looks like a dog has diarrhoea'd. If you inadvertently go over it with a mower, it stinks to high heaven. It's a type of truffle. :/

[Cabaret]

Will you kill me if I ask you a gazillion questions?

[Addy Carver]

Dawnbreaker wrote:

What was your favorite Savage Garden song?

(just occurred to me that the words 'savage garden' sounds very appropriate for you!) lol

I'll have to keep an eye on this thread - that last reply took me an hour!

It was a toss-up between I Want You ('98 version) and two from the first album, either Violet or Break Me, Shake Me. Couldn't really choose between them, now I don't really care.

I've just booted it up on Youtube out of curiosity. I could take or leave it now, hahaha.

EDIT: @ Cab: Nope, fire away.

[The Pyro]

Mage, why are you so awesome?

If I decided to make you a wand, what sorta wood or vine would you prefer?

I think we should hang out, should we hang out?