May 13, 2002
Monday May 13, 2002 • Howard Tayler

I wasn't expecting to be able to update things much, but here I am, updating things. Man, what a cool, global thing this interwhatsit is.

In case you missed Saturday's entry, the new home of the Official Alternative Schlock Mercenary Forum is over in theNightStar Zoo. I've linked to the forum from various places here at schlockmercenary.com, and will continue to for as long as the kind Nightstar folks continue to host it. The old, heavily-trafficked KeenSpot Forum will be back eventually, at which point you Schlockers will have TWO places to get your forum fix.

And now, for some horrid amateur photography.

On the left you see the Nativity Towers of El Temple de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Yesterday I took the tour, climbing up the stairs about three-quarters of the way to the top of the third tower from the left. For those of you wanting some information about the Sagrada Familia structure, it's the unfinished (but ongoing) work of architect Antoni Gaudi, who died in 1926, there's a very factual sort of link right here, and some assorted links about Gaudi that Yahoo! deems worthy. There's also an Official Site. At any rate, I went there, and discovered that my vertigo is, in fact, alive and well.

The building is gorgeous. The architecture is amazing, and is very unlike the gothic cathedrals elsewhere in Europe. You really have to see it to appreciate it, but if you'd like me to try and sum it up in five words, try "Tim Burton goes to church."

That humming noise is Antoni Gaudi spinning in his grave. Sorry, dude.

That arch between the pairs of Nativity Towers supports a catwalk, across which I was compelled to walk. Halfway across, I snapped this picture of myself. You can see the four Passion Towers behind me. The look on my face is a very natural grimace born of the conflicting desires to a) get this picture right so I've got proof I was really here, and b) get back to ground level as quickly as possible without resorting to gravitic acceleration and the resultant deceleration trauma.

Had desire b) been a bit less insistent, I would have thought to take more than one shot, and perhaps gotten one in which I did not crop the lovely structures behind me, and in which I looked less like someone whose bowels were being stirred with compunction.

Still, I like the photo. The blinding glare on my head is a nice touch.

That's all for now. There's an outside chance I'll post another entry before the end of this conference, but now that the thing's in full swing, I doubt I'll have the time.