My brother has been telling me for years how cool the festival is: all the plays, shows, musicals, comedians… that one can see during this August macro festival. It seems this year there are 2088 different shows to choose from! That is over TWO THOUSAND different shows! You should check out this fact and other cool ones at edfringe.com.

But I can’t go, and it sounds like so much fun! And I’m missing out on it!

I have found the 2nd best thing, though. It does not beat being there in person, but alas! it is so near it! The answer is:

The independent fringe reviewer website

You see, every morning I can ease myself into the fringe by checking out their blog. This way I know what’s been going on.

I follow it with a look at the photoblog so I can visualize Edinburgh’s fringe flair better.

If there are no new interviews that day, I then plunge into the dozen reviews which have appeared in the last 24 hours at hairline. I laugh at their reviews of good comedians, I envy that the reviewers got to see this or that play and I pat my pocket happily at not having spent money in that other particularly bad show. I muse a bit over which two shows would I go see if I could be in Edinburgh right then and settle for one drama and one comedy.

I always choose a third show from the Free Fringe reviews, for there is no way I would be able to afford three plays per day and they have some free shows which are really intriguing (check out the Zoo show!).

I then take a peek at their Stalkers section which I have been leaving for the end, as a “fringe dessert”. Will the hairline people have spotted any famous people today??

Finally, just as I’m about to turn in for the day, I check out the Hairline quote of the day, for it guarantees to send me to bed with a smile on my lips.

As my subconscious takes over for the night, my mind fills up with all these images from the fringe, which I might not have seen in person, but they sure feel real.

Sweet dreams hairline editors and reviewers and keep up the good work, for I’ll be checking you out tomorrow again…

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Day 51 - Eureka!

I have finally figured out the one flaw in the design here people and it’s not in the No!No! itself. The system has only one place where it falls short and that is the little sanding disc you are given.

Now, before I go into why it’s so bad, I’ll just save you some time and tell you what to get to replace it. Go get a pedicure or foot sanding thing. You know. Those things in pedicure kits that look like an emery board for an elephant. Yeah! They take callouses off of your heels. Here’s why the No!No!’s is no good. First, it’s on a piece of foam with two flaps cut into it so you can hang on while you sand. Mine just fell apart. Also, the sand paper on it (I don’t know what else to call it) is like 1000 grit. It’s so fine, it feels like nothing is happening — and actually, so little is happening that I have had to continue shaving to get rid of the burnt up hairs that weren’t being sanded off!

So! GET THE NO!NO!, but throw that little, stupid sanding disc in the garbage! Useless. I believe they call it a “Buffer”. Toss it out and get something that heel sanding thing. Now I don’t have to shave anymore!.. YAY!!!

LATER!

TheAymster

To be continued…

Related post(s)

• NoNo post - day 42 - Definite Results (0)
• NoNo post - day 24 - Some progress (3)
• NoNo post - day 18 - What’s up with that? (0)
• NoNo posts - days 5 to 12 (0)
• NoNo posts - days 1 to 3 (0)

Day 42 - Definite Results

After 6 weeks of using the No!No! I can honestly tell you that the hair is growing in finer than before. If I do shave it takes the hair a day to come back, where before I got a five o’clock shadow! Wish I could tell you the hair is totally gone, but like anything, it takes time. Some areas are doing better than others. I’m pretty thankful for the progress so far and I’m sure it will continue. In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted. I’ll keep enjoying the smell of burning hairs and the infrequency of shaving for the time being.

LATER!

TheAymster

To be continued…

Related post(s)

• NoNo post - day 51 - Eureka! (2)
• NoNo post - day 24 - Some progress (3)
• NoNo post - day 18 - What’s up with that? (0)
• NoNo posts - days 5 to 12 (0)
• NoNo posts - days 1 to 3 (0)

BUT, olivetalks is not dead, it was just in a coma! A coma caused by overwork, a few days holidays and… did I mention too much work? So no posts have appeared in over a month and some of our regulars have started wondering whether to call the police to search for us (thanks Anna, iworms, Aymster!) but we are back! Yes, my dear “virtual” friends. We are back and we will make it up to you for not deserting us in these weeks of complete silence.

In the next weeks we have already lined up:

• Two posts on nono (thanks to TheAymster, of course)
• An interview with TheAymster on nono
• A post on Rio which was written 3 weeks ago and has been gathering Internet dust since then
• A post on Edinburgh’s Fringe festival
• and many more!
  

For today, I will leave you with the news that we are back and a small treat: check out olivetalks new page Koen Suidgeest’s blogs, from where you can access this producer/director’s blogs on films and documentaries (as in blogs where he shares his everyday experiences while preparing films!).

Excited at olivetalks revival? We are

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• NoNo post - day 24 - Some progress (3)
• NoNo post - day 18 - What’s up with that? (0)

Between knowledge being vast and brains limited, humans have found the ultimate external hard disk. When encountering an unknown word, subject or task, post-humans will not reveal their ignorance, they will just google¹ for the answer. It’s a first step from pure 100% biological humans to cyborgs with direct connection to computer networks.

As with normal issued-at-birth brains which gather during life beliefs and wacky ideas of substandard quality, the augmented brain also requires monitoring to ensure the output satisfies quality control tests².

By 2020, some post-humans will have taken the next step and have their Eees or Palmtops implanted to ensure even faster access to the global knowledge repositories…

…will you be one of them?

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Day 24 - Some progress

It’s been over 3 weeks of using the no!no! and I think there’s some progress being made. I have noticed my bikini area seems to be responding the best along with my armpits and my legs running up at the end - Which is rather sad. What’s the first thing a guy notices? Your LEGS!!! But, having said that, shaving is much, much easier and the results much smoother.

My leg hair is quite coarse, so I believe that it is coming back finer. This is following in line with what the no!no! promises, so it is living up to it’s reputation. Anything worth having is worth working for girls! Go for the gusto… And fry you wiry little suckers!!!

Later!

TheAymster

To be continued…

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• NoNo post - day 51 - Eureka! (2)
• NoNo post - day 42 - Definite Results (0)
• NoNo post - day 18 - What’s up with that? (0)
• NoNo posts - days 5 to 12 (0)
• NoNo posts - days 1 to 3 (0)

I can’t wait to see if I bought the wrong machine or not. I mean, I rather I didn’t, for I paid loads of money for the Rio machine, but if NoNo is better, hey, I’ll be the first one to want to know. As you know, I do not work for Rio, I just want those black hairs gone!! Even if it means throwing my Rio machine and getting a different Hair Remover machine, it it proves to work better!

Day 18 - What’s up with that? (originally published June 24, 2008)

I think I’m doing something right on my arms and bikini area and something wrong on my legs. I can definitely notice a slowing down of the growth in my pits and bikini, but my legs have me stupefied! I’d love to be able to not worry about the hair on my legs anymore, but it looks like that is the most stubborn stuff there is! What’s it made of? TEFLON???

Well, I’ll keep trying. The good news is that I think I’m making progress. I’ll just have to be more thorough with my bottom half.

Later!

TheAymster

To be continued…

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• NoNo post - day 51 - Eureka! (2)
• NoNo post - day 42 - Definite Results (0)
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• NoNo posts - days 1 to 3 (0)

Nono - day 4 (originally published on June 8, 2008)

Day 4 - Challenges and rewards

I am the mistress pit hair slayer!!! I am able to get into all the crevises and burn it away.

However, my legs are another story. No matter how many times I go over a spot I just can’ seem to get close enough. I am convinced that it has to do with the way the hair is lying. If I can give myself the shivers and the hairs stand up, then I will have more success. I could also use some Electric Shave to make them stand on end. We shall see, we shall see… In the meantime I keep on going.No reduction yet. I’ll keep trying. It’s only been 4 days people! These are mutant hairs!!! Throw me a frickin’ bone!

Later!

Nono - day 7 (originally published on June 12, 2008)

Day 7 - I am a mutant

Well, perhaps that’s a bit strong, but I am certain that I have not had enough time with this machine. My leg hair is coarse and strong. I tried it on my arm on the second day and that hair is just now growing back. So, I’m not giving up. I’m not even a little concerned about long term results. I refuse to believe that this purchase has been in vain. I see it’s working. I smell the burnt hair.

If anything, I am determined to see this through.

Later!

Nono - day 12 (originally published on June 17, 2008)

Day 12 - Hankering for hairless

I’ve been seeing the no!no! on HSN for the past couple of days. It’s interesting watching them use the product. Lots of people called with questions. Something I learned that I didn’t know… When the cartridge is done, the light actually goes from green to red. Which is good. I was wondering if I’d worn one out yet or not.

I’ve also gotten a lot better at burning the hairs. I was way too quick before. Once I slowed down, I found that I could roll the no!no! backwards and go over the same spot without being burned. This came in really handy as you do have to continuously go over some places to burn the hairs… This is NOT, repeat, NOT the no!no!’s fault. It has to do with the angle of the hairs. So, I’ll need to be a little more thorough in some spots.

TheAymster

To be continued..

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• NoNo post - day 51 - Eureka! (2)
• NoNo post - day 42 - Definite Results (0)
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• NoNo posts - days 1 to 3 (0)

So today, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present, the first of the The NoNo posts, by TheAymster.

Nono - day 1 (originally published on June 5, 2008)

My First Day…

I just got my new, beautiful, blue No!No! in the mail. I was so excited I watched the DVD immediately. According to the DVD it’s very easy to use and the only places you shouldn’t use it are the head, breasts and genetalia. It also helps to be careful how you use it and clean it out periodically for better performance. Pretty nice and informative… But who cares!!! Let’s BURN SOME HAIR! Mwaa-ha-ha-haaa!

I can tell you that putting the thing together was a snap. Too easy to talk about. Snap in a blade and you’re ready to go! They tell you to try it on flat surfaces first. I can see why. If you’ve got trim legs, angles are tough.

The smell of burning hair is very apparent, but if it gets my hair down to a minimum or gone completely, I’m all for it. I’ve done worse things in the name of beauty. When you get one leg completely done, which takes about as much time as an electric razor, you have to buff it with the buffer. If you had long hair at the beginning then you have to use the longer hair cartridge, then buff, then use the stubble cartridge and then buff again. Sounds like a lot, but it’s no big deal.

I couldn’t help myself, I did every area on my body I no longer wanted to shave. I mastered the NO!NO! so fast it wasn’t even funny. I’m loving it… Long term results I’ll have to let you know.

Later!

TheAymster

Nono - day 2 (originally published on June 6, 2008)

The Second Day…

Well, I’ve been burning the hair away again today. Not much change from having to shave so far. They promise a reduction in hair growth, so it’ll take a little time I’m sure for the results to be noticable. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. In the meantime, it’s great fun.

I’ve taken my sweet time when using the machine today. I started with my pits today, which may have been a mistake considering that it’s only my second time using. A couple of times I did notice a bit of burning. It’s really hard getting all the valleys.

I did just my legs and pits today. Working well. Don’t expect totally smooth legs. I’m more interested in the disruption of the hair folicle. I want readers to understand that this product is not designed to make your legs silky smooth from the get go. It’s meant to burn off the hair and create a disruption in the growth cycle that will hopefully one day put an end to the growth of the hair.

I do love a good challenge and can’t resist the burning of the hair. Sizzle you suckers!

TheAymster

Nono - day 3 (originally published on June 7, 2008)

Oh yes, Day 3!

You’re probably thinking… She’s gotten results already? But all I can say is that it has gotten easier to use this machine. The curved areas aren’t so bad. I still love hearing them sizzle… Those hairs have given me so much heartache in past years they’re finally getting what’s coming to them!!!

I did my bikini area today which I skipped yesterday and I may go do my legs later yet today. Still some time left to burn them up.

Later!

TheAymster

To be continued…

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• NoNo post - day 51 - Eureka! (2)
• NoNo post - day 42 - Definite Results (0)
• NoNo post - day 24 - Some progress (3)
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• NoNo posts - days 5 to 12 (0)

with my posts on the Rio machine posts, I have been sharing with you my impressions on the machine as I battled against those unwanted ever-growing hairs. The intention as you all know, is to help you decide whether buying the Rio machine is worth it or not, as the machine costs a fair amount.

When I was first thinking about buying it myself or not, I went to quite a few web sites where users had commented on the Rio Salon Laser Scanning Hair Remover (ok, from now, I will use the Amazon acronym Rio LAHS, the name is ridiculously long!). I was not very convinced with the user comments I found, as they all posted just a week after buying the product and never again afterwards, and the instructions of the Rio LAHS clearly say that it takes quite a few months to see its results (not because the machine is slow, but because the process is slow. It takes the same amount of time if you go to a professional salon! or so they say…). And this is how the idea of the olivetalks posts on Rio came up. The second thing that was initially stopping me from purchasing this machine was not knowing if the Rio LAHS was better or not from other similar products like no!no! or TRIA. At the end, I just went for the one I “had the feeling” I had read less comments against and… was easier for me to get (as in it was the only one advertised in the on line shopping magazine I had received a few weeks earlier).

So where am I getting at with this long introduction? Well, wouldn’t you agree that even better than reading about someone’s experiences over a period of a year on the Rio LAHS to see if it is good or not, it would be reading about someone’s experiences on the Rio machine AND the other Hair Remover machines? This way you would be able to compare them better and choose the one that convinces you most! Am I not right?

Well, today I am glad to announce the beginning of… No!No! Hair Remover posts in olivetalks!

No, I did not buy myself a No!No! machine, as my pocket is still recovering from buying the Rio one. And no, the No!No! producers did not send me a free “sample” to try and comment on (did they not get the hint from one my comments in the Rio post day 9?). But in olivetalks we are going to offer you the second best thing: guest posts on No!No!

One of our readers has been kind enough to agree to move her No!No! posts to olivetalks and this way provide other people in the same situation as us more information on the different hair removal machines out there. Isn’t she nice?

And additionally to her posts, we will be having entries on the differences between the Rio machine and No!No!, interviews,…

So watch out, readers, because the No!No! posts from TheAymster are coming to olivetalks! And to you TheAymster, welcome!

All the best,

LadyRostand

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Caffeine makes me cranky. Irritable, argumentative and very quick to attack people’s opinions. So cranky you could define the crankiness by my behaviour. Usually the first attack comes on Saturday. See I’m trying to quit drinking the stuff so on week-ends I don’t drink any. The body notices the lack of stimulants and reacts by crankiness. Yes, I know that technically this is a withdrawal effect and not really influence of the caffeine. But that’s like saying that … I can’t find a proper simile right now but I think it’s quite clear what I mean. If I manage to go through the whole week-end without any caffeine then on Monday I go to work so cranky (it being Monday probably doesn’t help) that I usually give up my “giving up caffeine” decision and the cycle starts again. Recently I decided this doesn’t work so now I’m ingesting caffeine through the whole week, avoiding the worst of these mood swings. The problem is that it takes a whole week to get rid of all the effects of the caffeine on the body. Psychological addiction stays much longer, probably for-ever.

So here I am, looking for another method of stopping caffeine intake, probably slower than the “cold turkey” method since I’d rather avoid being cranky for a whole week.

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That’s rather shocking to me. I know that as a sysadmin you have access to passwords and privileged accounts but you’re given them for a very specific purpose not just for your amusement. It’s like your GP telling everybody about your sickness.

Since it looks like avoiding the bad sysadmins is going to be difficult, you have to defend yourself. The only sure defense in this case is not to use the computer at work for anything you’d prefer to remain private. You just can’t be sure otherwise. In many organizations IT staff who left may still have access to the company’s network. This increases your exposure even more. Like for example in this organization.

By the way, the research is already over a year old but it looks like it just got picked up by MSNBC and the blogosphere.

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Version 1.0 of Wine has been published today as well. Wine is a compatibility layer for running Windows programs directly in many Unixes, including Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X and Solaris.

Firefox team had announced the release date in advance and for some time the website from where you can download the new version of the web browser has been unavailable. Wine website was also down temporarily.

At this moment both websites seem to be up again but one wonders if this was the case of a bigger success than expected…

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The boxing match

Ladies and gentlemen! cried the presenter from the middle of the ring. Welcome to the fight of the decade! The one you have all (hairy people) been waiting for!

On the right corner… shouted the presenter while a bright light shone on the right arm, I mean, corner …coming all the way from the right forearm, in an otherwise hairless and white skin area, The Blacky Hair!!!!

yaaay! screamed the audience. Hold on to your roots! Hold on to your roots! chanted the crowd, while The Blacky Hair stood proudly, with its 1 cm length and obvious strength, extremely conspicuous among the otherwise thin, weak and scarce hairs in the creamy coloured forearm.

The Blacky Hair, our champion from the last few years will be facing a new challenger tonight! He will be fighting the machine that has been threatening the survival of many other non-sleeping hairs… Ladies and gentlemen!!!! this morning… I bring you… all the way from Rio, showing up now on the left corner of the ring… The Laser Hair Remover!!!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! went the excited crowd.

And among the cheering and deafening sounds coming from the audience, The Blacky Hair looked and growled at The Laser Hair Remover, which was noticing the pressure to perform well (aware of its doubtful track so far against other nasty hairs) but nevertheless still feeling confident in its resistance, if not speed, and suddenly it was heard Let the fight begin!

Ting! Round 1, the bell announced…

The Laser Hair Remover after a sneaky scissory move that reduced The Blacky Hair to a 5th of its height, jumped over it and pinned it down for 30 seconds straight! The Blacky Hair, though, having heard about its opponent’s moves, successfully managed to avoid he blunt of the attack and just receive a sided Laser “heat”. The Laser Hair Remover knowing that a second attack in the same area to try to improve its aim would be considered a foul move, backed off, hoping that the first punch will prove to have been enough to burn its opponent to its roots…

Round 2 coming soon…

PS. After this 1st round, The Laser Remover went to practice a bit more, attacking “old acquaintances” in the Bikini Line, practicing its aim and working on improving its success rate.

<< previous entry -“Rio Laser Hair Remover” does it work? -

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Just a few minutes before sitting down to write the post on today’s experience with the Rio Machine, I talked briefly with my mother via msn. I have copied and pasted here the part regarding Rio because it pretty much summarized my feelings at the moment. I have kept the conversation in Spanish which is how it took place, and I have translated freely into English underneath.

(22:07:27) mother: ya vi que estan muy interesado con tu depilacion

I saw they are very interested in your depilation

(22:07:32) LadyRostand: a que si????

Aren’t they???

(22:07:47) mother: si, asi que ponle mas enfasis positivo

Yes, so write with a more positive attitude

(22:07:51) LadyRostand: pero no voy a mentir!

But I am not going to lie!

(22:07:57) LadyRostand: el problema es que yo que me he aburrido ya…

The problem is I am already bored (of the whole process)

(22:08:28) mother: ya, pero yo estoy segura de que funciona, el problema eres tu que quieres resultados inmediatos

I know, buy I am sure it works, the problem is you, because you want immediate results

Constancy is not one my strengths, true, specially if there are no obvious advantages to it. When I bought the Rio Laser machine, I wanted to be able to stop having to shave (duh, you may think). And preferably within a couple of sessions. True as well. Sure, I read that it requires patience and multiple sessions… but as always, I thought: sure! no problem! But after a couple of weeks it’s like, ok, I’m bored, and the hairs continue to grow unperturbed by my attacks… With today’s session, I have lasered my bikini line 9 times in almost 5 months. So, about twice per month. The results? The demise of some isolated hairs.

So, yes, my mother is right: I want results fast and without too much effort from my part. And yes, if it weren’t for you: The Aymster, Anna, Monique, Sebastian… I would have stopped using the Rio Laser months ago already. So thank you! When the results take time, it is always so much easier to do anything if there are people encouraging you…

So, with summer a month away, it is time to do some emergency planning from the experience gained. The Rio Laser Hair Remover Machine is NOT going to make me bikini-line hairless by the 1st of July. Specially if I keep finding it more and more difficult to get myself to use the machine because of it’s tediousness. Ok. But, what it CAN do, is remove those hairs that appear near the bikini line, by themselves and, of course, because they are extra black, they tend to stay perpendicular to the leg and have the ability to make themselves extra conspicuous. Now, I have seen it work against isolated hairs. I can perfectly point half a dozen places in my body where there was a hair that would every second week appear and say “hi there, I am back” (with a nasty tiny grin, I must add) and now are hairless (HA! I could have shouted to those now gone hairs, but didn’t for fear of sounding too crazy).

So we have a plan for the bikini like, ladies and gentlemen. I will still have to shave most of the bikini-line this summer, but oh, those nasty isolated hairs (like the sneaky single black one that appears under my bellybutton) are going down!

<< previous entry -“Rio Laser Hair Remover” does it work? - continue reading >>

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