INTERVIEW WITH A MASTER VAMP
18:19 Feb 16 2011
Times Read: 932
We all know folk who make us quake in our boots. Folk who put the fear of Transformers upon us. These folk are rarely as bad as we make them out to be, quite often they are pussycats when you get to know them properly. Someone who I have yet to meet but have admired for his acerbic wit, is one of those formidable folk. More scarey than a stern headteacher, more fierce than a horrible rabies affliction, and more mysterious than a leprechaun, is Master Vamp Daire, the Master of The House of Caomhnoir-an-Eolas.
I simply had to interview him, I wanted to know if he had built a castle in the sky or merely lived in one, if his notebook scribbles had drawn the attention of Sigmund Freud yet, and if he was as batty as Batman...
Knocking at his door, I shuddered and made the sign of the cross, I really could be landing myself in hot water here I thought...as I was called in to his library, I struggled to see Daire behind the cloud of green haze...that scared the crap out of me and I stammered my first question...
Who is Daire?
Daire is Daire. I often get asked what my real name is as a lot of people think that Daire is just a screen name. However my real, given name is Daire, why hide behind a screen name?
Straight to the point, no messing was Daire. (Phew, I thought at least he didn't bite my head off...with my heart in my mouth, I ventured my next question), I decided I should ask about the House he ran. Tell me about Caomhnoir-an-Eolas, what makes your house the one to aspire to?
He snorted and said:
Well in the beginning I was heavily involved in running every aspect of the House and I think that came across as we held the number 1. position for months. However I ended up losing two of my assistant house masters when Cancer promoted them both to become fellow Admin. I think that was a real blow to the house, although I don't place blame on anyone, it is just a matter of fact.
Since then we have hovered around 2nd and 3rd place and finally coming to rest here in 4th. I didn't want to make a point of booting out members for the sake of ratings as I felt it was better to maintain the house as it was in the beginning and work upwards from there. With that being said I would like to mention that the house is at the moment undergoing extreme over-hauling and I would hope this will increase member activity.
Ok, I said. I have heard about your rating policy and I have to say it takes a brave soul to apply that strategy to every profile. What about all the noobs who threaten e-violence when you rate them what they rightly deserve for their unadulterated crappy creations, do their badass attitudes ever scare you?
(Well, I knew a stupid question had just left my lips with that... of course he was never scared of e-thugs. Oh well, I bravely waited for my answer...)
This is what he told me:
The only thing that scares me about the noobs we are seeing these days is the depths of their stupidity. If there is one downside to the internet it is that it has given the dangerously stupid a place to voice their opinions.
As for them complaining about the ratings they receive, I usually just remind them that any rating they offer me in retaliation is going to have very little effect on me Vs. my rating on them coupled with the weight of my 6 years on VR.
Now, I couldn't quibble with that, here was a man who stood up for what he believed in, he would never kiss the Blarney Stone. I admired his forthrightness and felt braver every second I lasted with my head intact...In fact, I now could see what an all-round nice guy Daire really was. Now, we are all dying to know if Daire has a gentle side, I said, tell me whats the thing that gets you all gooey, does Daire have a soppy side to him?
I have a soft spot for heroic archetypes and self-sacrifice. That and dogs, I like dogs.
That was pretty cool (but damnably evasive. I had really wanted to know if he liked romantic films, or strolling in the grounds of his castle. Oh well, I guess some things are best left to the imagination...) I knew he wasn't as mean as we all thought he was. Growing a set of balls all of a sudden, I decided to ask him if he had any embarassing whelp moments he could share with us?
When I was a whelp on Vr there wasn't much you could do to make a fool of yourself. This was in the days before journals, before the Vr box and long before blasting. The only moment of "oops" I can recall is on my first day as admin I cleared a large section of the VR forums having completely forgotten that forum posts make up a fragment of peoples levelling scores. Oh well, live and learn.
Hah! It was great to know that the admins were in fact human! I had wondered...I laughed and wound up my interview with this last question: if you ruled the universe for a day, what would you do?
Daire thought and laughed a little, then told me this:
I would make the difficult decisions modern politics doesn't allow fat, bloated, bank fed politicians to make. In fact it would probably be very similar to my experience on VR. I would have a set agenda in my head and stick to it rigidly and would no doubt make a lot of noisy enemies. But at the end of the day I think the world would be a better place as a result of my hard line approach.
Brilliant! We needed more straight-talking folk in this world, no nonsense types like Daire. I have to say that this interview had been the most difficult to pull together, but I had learned something very important from it. Daire had a great sense of humour, he wasn't in the least horrible, he could be pretty vague when questions were asked, but more importantly, the famous Daire-ierre was as awesome as folk who knew him claimed it to be.
Thanks Daire!
REVELATIONS
13:49 Feb 07 2011
Times Read: 1,048
Revelation brings together the worlds of The Dark Network, and hell in an ongoing confrontation between the forces of good and evil
I, Pagan, turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw the golden Admins, and among the Admins was the Dark Prince, dressed like a goth. His head was shaven and his eyes were like blazing fire. In his right hand he held the ToS, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
This person identified himself to Pagan with these words: “I am He who maintains the Dark Network, and was goth, and behold, I am updating forevermore. And I have the keys of Hades and of self-delete. You need not be afraid Pagan. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
The Dark Prince one day broke through the clouds and come back to VR to give gifts to His children. He gave them the awesome webcam feature for all the little vampires and otherkin to enjoy. These vampires and otherkin were given free will to act according to the ToS on these webcams and many found the new feature to be brilliant. Some of the vampires, lycans and demons were naked before their Prince in all their glory and some much less glorious than others, some partook of the wine during these webcam sessions and the Dark Prince enjoyed what he had created.
Some of the Admins came down from VR Towers and taught cooking via webcam, others played wonderful old-school music and still others painted their faces to amuse themselves...even the Dark Prince partook of the wine while on webcam and all his followers declared the VR mug to be a most exhalted chalice.
Some of the vampires, lycans and demons grew bored with all the new features and so began Admin-bashing for sport. The Admins were accused of crimes against morons, favouritism, and other wicked deeds. Seeing that the vampires and otherkin were not happy, the Admins prepared speeches to show them the truth, but still the people were not happy. They cried out that spammers and page-refreshers had invaded the kingdom of The Dark Network but refused to believe that the all-seeing Admins in fact knew what was going on.
The cry from the ordinary people was "...drama and pffft..." and they went about their business, raising status by incessant spamming of the sandbox. She Who is Good came down from VR Towers to explain the value of hard work and some thought. No longer were the vampires and otherkin able to mindlessly drone one-word posts and use up their bandwidth. All agreed that the new ruling was fair. All in all, the Dark Network was a happy place to be. The love of goth prevailed and everyone looked ahead to the marvel of Siring.
Good angels walked amongst the forces of evil lurking in the Dark Network. These angels were few and far between but they existed soley to help those that needed it. Other angels however, walked on the side of evil and fought with the good angels about status, favour whores, and covens. Some of the evil angels were cast out by The Dark prince, banished forever to lowly places. The cry was "corruption" but the soothsayers had told the vampires and otherkin that there was no need to fear that the admins were bent.
The Dark Prince often reminded the morons and evil angels of that terrible place called self-delete, the Sodom and Gomorrah of Vampirefreaks, and boring old Myspace and Facebook which would be their eternal resting place should they abuse the Dark Network he had created.
...and so it came to pass that The Dark Network continued to grow. The vampires, lycans and demons played happily in the Dark Network and the Dark Prince enjoyed seeing his creation expand bigger than the mighty Facebook...
I, Pagan, say verily unto you, this Revelation is the truth. The prophecy that I give to you is that the Dark Network will continue to bless you with awesome happenings and visions if you truly believe that goth is good.
So be it. Here endeth the revelations.
Goth is good.
Amen ...
INTERVIEW WITH A PAGAN LADY
06:14 Feb 03 2011
Times Read: 1,190
We all have our unsung heros. People who keep us strong when we feel down and they seldom feel the need to shout out that they are special so its down to us to remind them why they are our heros. Quite often, these special people have problems of their own to deal with but thats never forefront in their minds, instead they go about their days helping others and rarely do they stop for breath. Someone we all know on VR has organised the Holiday Card Exchange, VR's First Annual Secret Vampire, and of course still has the time to chat with her friends and tell a joke or two...
When I really needed a friend just the other day, LadyDarkRayne stepped in and I have to admit that the incredible sense of love I felt after sharing my burdens with her enveloped me like a warm blankie on a cold night. She had helped me then more than she would ever know. I simply had to interview her to find out if she really was an angel, if she had any witchy secrets, and if she could tell me a joke that would make me blush...
I knocked on her door and was ushered into her kitchen where she was making lavender pillows for all her sleepless friends. Who is LadyDarkRayne?
Well my friend, before everything else I am a Mother. I have a very strong mothering instinct about me. I am a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a girlfriend and more simply I am a Witch. I put band aids on my children's cuts, whether the big kids or the little ones. It's not uncommon to find my house filled with people of all ages and something cooking on the stove or baking in the oven. You will find a cat or two or three, curled up some where in the house, so I warn you look before you sit.
That made me smile. I knew she was being modest so I reminded her how much she had helped me. I wanted to know when she had begun on the Pagan path. What does being Pagan mean to you?
Well, it all started on a weekend trip to Putnum NY to attend a SADD ( Students Against Drunk Driving) Convention that my high school was attending, where we would all be locked in for 72 Hours. On the long bus ride a girl who I didn't know all that well was reading a book,by Raymond Buckland, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft. It intrigued me, and I asked her if I could look through it when she was done. We chatted and I asked a million questions that weekend, and Missy was more then happy to answer them. From that weekend on, I read every thing I could get my hands on, from Aromatherapy to Wicca. And she taught me the basics and from that weekend on, I have continued to learn and grow spiritually.
What does being Pagan mean to me you ask. Well being Pagan is knowing my surroundings, being able to work with what Mother Nature has given us. Having the ability to see the energy in all living things and knowing how to harness that energy. It's getting my hands into the ground and planting the seeds that will grow into herbs and fruits and vegetables that feed my family and help me in my spell work. It is not shoving my beliefs down upon everyone, as each person has their own right to their own paths. But if someone asks, I will happily share the knowledge that I have absorbed so far. I will never stop learning, so there for I will never know everything and any one that says that know everything, is mistaken. It is keeping an open mind but still having my feet firmly planted in my own beliefs.
Now that was interesting, I thought. I wondered how she managed to cope with bringing up her son when she suffered from Chronic Pain in the form of Fibromyalga and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Surely there were days when the pain took over?
This is what she said: It has never been easy, but at some point you have to realize that this disease can easily take me down if I let it. And I was not going to let it beat me. What helps me the most are the friends that I have in my support team that remind me, that I am a strong person and that no matter what is thrown in my path I will not let it beat me. If I can't get over the obstacle , then I find a way around it. On the days that it has beaten me down and I feel that it has won, I remind my self that i have a son that needs me. And that I am proud of everything he has accomplished and that he is fantastic soccer player, and that even though it hurts to move I would still go and attend his games and cheer him on. I have never let him know just how much I hurt sometimes. But he is my son and he can feel the pain.And he would come over and just hug me tight and tell me he loves me. That my friends is the best form of pain relief.
As for how I handle the pain, I have several methods. I have several friends that are Reiki Masters, and they send to me often. I self medicate when the pain is unbearable. And I try to occupy myself with doing things I enjoy like making graphics and such, to distract my mind from the pain my body feels.And then there are the times when the only thing I can do is turn on the heating pad on my bed and curl up and sleep until I feel better. But as my Gram always told me, "There is no better way to get through my own pain then by helping someone else." So I lend my shoulder and my ear to my friends and try to assist in resolving what ever issues they might be having.
Truly, LadyDarkRayne was a wonderfully strong person and I hoped that her friends remembered to be there for her on the bad days just as much as she was there for them. I knew that she also had difficulty sleeping so I wanted to know if she had any tips for the insomniacs amongst us?
Yes insomnia has its hold on me 75% of the time. What I recommend to my friends is a warm bath of lavender and vanilla oil. Keep a sachet of dried Lavender under your pillow and a set of ear plugs. Yes ear plugs, many find that funny but it works. Many that suffer from insomnia, can link their insomnia back to their mind not shutting off. So you need to relax your body so it will then relax your mind. The reason I say ear plus is because once you have your body relaxed, and you put in the ear plugs all you will hear is your own breathing and heartbeat and that rhythm is very soothing. I mean they make those teddy bears with the heart beats for baby's who have a hard time falling a sleep. So listening to your own heart beat has the same effect.
That was a great answer and I vowed to try it out the next time the sandman bothered me. Now, I had to ask about the Holiday Card Exchange and the Secret Vampire. By all accounts, it was a great success and was just another way she brought folk together with her wonderful caring nature. What gave you the idea to start that up?
Well I can't take the credit for the Card Exchange, as LadyKrystalynDarkstar started it last year and I just offered to get it started this year. By making the list an sending it out to all that wanted to partake in it. Now the Secret Vampire was a suggestion someone had made while I was getting every one's names and address for the Card Exchange. There was only 4 weeks before Christmas, so I quickly found out who wanted to be apart of it and put every ones name in a box and picked names for people. I admit I really enjoyed that. And I will be doing that again this year.
That was real cool but then, I already knew that our Rachy was a woman of many talents and one that always made me snort coffee all over my keyboard was her telling of jokes. I wanted to know what her favourite joke was and forget about keeping it clean too I said, ladies will be forgiven if they were as sweet as she was. This is what had me in kinks...
Hmm, my favorite joke, well here have a cup of fresh Chocolate Mint tea while I give this some thought. By far I think this one is one of my favorite jokes.
A beautiful young New York woman was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the ocean.
But just before she could throw herself from the docks, a handsome young man stopped her "You have so much to live for," said the man.
"Look, I'm a sailor, and we're off to Europe tomorrow, and I can stow you away on my ship. I'll take care of you, bring you food every day, and keep you happy."
With nothing to lose, combined with the fact that she had always wanted to go to Europe , the woman accepted.
That night the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a lifeboat. From then on, every night he would bring her three sandwiches and make love to her until dawn.
Three weeks later she was discovered by the captain during a routine inspection.
"What are you doing here?" asked the captain.
"I have an arrangement with one of the sailors," she replied. "He brings food and I get a free trip to Europe ."
"I see," the captain says.
"Plus," she adds, "He's screwing me."
"He certainly is," replied the captain. "This is the Staten Island Ferry."
Dang, I did snort in a most unbecoming manner just then but I loved it all the same. Still chuckling, I asked her if she could do anything in the whole wide world, what would it be?
*grins* Well, I have been asked this question several times over the years, and my answer has always been the same. I would buy and old farm house out in the country some where. It would be a huge house, 10-12 bedrooms, a enormous kitchen with a huge window looking out to see the stable. a great room with a huge fireplace and lots of cozy places to sit. There would be a huge wrap around porch with flower baskets hanging all the way around it. There would be a several gardens on the property. One for veggies, one for fruits and a huge herb garden. There would be paths outlined with Daisies and Tulips and Daffodil's. There would be fruit trees of apples and pears and cherries.
There would be a huge barn filled with horses that had been rescued or donated, chickens for fresh eggs,some pigs and cattle for meat. There would be a indoor arena for giving lessons and outdoor arena for training Down beyond the barns and pastures would be a dozen cabins. This would be a working farm open to victims of Domestic Violence and their children and teenagers who were not wanted by anyone else. It would give them a chance to start over. And learn how to be dependant on their own while learning how to care for animals and grown their own food. More or less it would be a half way house. There are two things that I am passionate about and that is stopping the abuse and rescuing and helping either people or animals. So to be able to give back to a community would be passing on what has been done for me. Because in the end it is all about paying it forward, because one good deed leads to another.
...and that made me wish my hardest that I could do that one thing for her because if anyone deserved a break it was Rachy, my hero. The interview had come to an end but I wanted to say one last thing before I left, and I could tell she was embarrassed to be put on the spot like that so I simply said: Thank you for being my rock when I needed one most, you really are special Rachy.
Dammit...my emotions got the better of me then so we hugged and I felt that incredible love all over again. What can I say except, I hope you all stop by to tell her how much she means to you too.
Love ya Rachy!
COMMENTS
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Daire
18:22 Feb 16 2011
What a self-centred ass. ;)
PAGAN
18:25 Feb 16 2011
you or me? hahaha :P
Thanks Daire for doing the interview :)
King`Tarquin
18:25 Feb 16 2011
Yes, and he snorts too! :P
Vampyrica
19:33 Feb 16 2011
he dosent scare me
atyourwindow
19:37 Feb 16 2011
couldn't find anyone interesting to interview huh? lol J/k
VenusFire
20:55 Feb 16 2011
Pagan...I love reading your interviews. Keep them coming. You need to compile them all in a "VR Tell-All book someday. :)
xxEmaeraldxx
21:08 Feb 16 2011
Well, he be Irish you know, you know.. :)
TheSYSTEM
22:12 Feb 16 2011
He has one of the more interesting profiles of VR. His comic taste is cool. :P
Oceanne
14:16 Feb 18 2011
It wouldnt be the same here if he werent here..
Great interview,great interviewEE,great interviewER!
I really enjoy these,please keep them coming!
Theban
09:39 Mar 16 2011
The guy has helped me in the past and appears to be cool.
Nightgame
14:13 Apr 11 2011
shhh Don't tell anyone but he's got some great writing in his journal too