Meet Mr Inquisitor [Redux]
Created | Updated Jul 1, 2004
Meet Mr Inquisitor [Redux]
This week's Meet Mr Inquisitor Redux is pretty much a bumper edition, with loup.dargent in the hotseat. So as not to fill up anymore space in the Post, here it goes!
So then Loup, given that I can't speak French, apart from a few choice phrases such as deux bieres s'il vout plait1 can you enlighten me, and our dedicated fanbase, as to what the name means in English??
The proper spelling should be Loup d'Argent really, but the site where I used that name for the first time didn't let me log in that way. So I became loup.dargent instead...
The most common translation would be 'silver wolf' and it's the one I go for most of the times.
Interestingly enough (well, for me it is anyway) there was another Researcher called Dargent on Hootoo before my arrival... Saint Dargent, I believe his name was. Definitely not related (which would be surprising as Dargent is not my family name).
If I may go on a bit more regarding my name, there have been rumours that if someone typed loup.dargent five times I would be online straight away.
It was a bit exaggerated though... Typing it three times was more than enough.
Anyway, to go back to your question, Loup is also another word for mask. Which is appropriate in a way as a username is a kind of mask we hide behind really...
You might need more than a mask to hide behind after this... When France beat England 2-1 in a travesty of set-pieces you were first on the scene in my Journal, distributing champagne smileys. So therefore I must ask who do you think will win Euro 2004, France, England, Holland or someone else? Oh, and do frog's legs taste like chicken?
That was a genuine mistake, honest. I really forgot that I was on the wrong website... And, definitely the wrong Journal it seems.
I almost missed those two goals by the way... I was ready to go to the kitchen to make myself a snack or something as, after all, it was practically the end of the match and err there was no way that the French would win, would they?!...
Oh, I can see that you don't really want to hear more about that match...
Who do I think will win Euro 2004? Apart from the people who have put some money on the winning team, I will say France of course. But I won't mind if England wins instead as my kids support the English team...2
From what I remember, frogs' legs do taste like chicken, yes... But they're much much smaller though.
I dunno how you can tell, what with the garlic... Or is that escargot? Anyway, before this develops into a debate on the relative merits of French cuisine I'd better ask another question. Do you think that aliens, of the extraterrestrial kind exist?
Actually, I don't really like snails... I'd rather have fast food instead.
I do think that there is some kind of life 'out there', yes...
I don't believe that all the UFOs (the ones which haven't been explained that is) are from outer space though.
Theories on the origins of UFOs are many and some definitely make good reading, but I'm not going to elaborate right now as I intend to write something about them one of these days and don't really want to let the cat (alien or not) out of the bag just yet.
Watch this space... Well, my space anyway.
The truth is indeed out there... Or in here. Who knows. Anyway, there's been a lot of calls (mainly from Daily Mail readers) that National Service would straighten out the youth of today. Having scouted around your PS, I think you'd beg to differ, wouldn't you?
Hmmm... I guess that you're referring to my 'slight disagreement with the French military authorities' that I cited as the reason why I left France in 1980?
I sure paid the price for that slight disagreement and, had the situation not changed regarding the Military Service in France, I'm certain I would still be paying it... 'They' [the French Military] sure don't forget and definitely even less forgive.
Considering that France is supposed to be a democracy (or so I was told when I was at school), the rules and regulations regarding those who, like me, didn't choose the easy way when it came to oppose the National Service were shockingly worse than the ones in Spain and Portugal at the time and even before then (even under Franco incredibly enough).
But, erm, to go back to the claim that the National Service would straighten out the youth of today, I will definitely beg to differ, yep...
That didn't work in the recent past so why would it work now?!... Apart from brainwashing the teenagers into following orders without asking questions and teaching them more than forty-two ways of skiving, that won't change their behaviour outside the casern one iota, I'm afraid (it might even, in some cases, make it worse actually).
It does reduce the unemployment figures though (that could be the only reason a government could be tempted to bring the National Service back) but, as France found out the hard way, it also does cost a lot of money to run...
Oh and, had I done my Military Service like the good boy I was supposed to be, I would still have been pretty useless in case of conflict... Unless waiting on the officers (which would have been my duty during 11 of my 12 months there) is considered as a vital skill, of course.
Ah, so the French military don't forgive... There goes my plan to steal the corpse of Napoleon on my European tour in summer. Anyway, while we're on the subject of your exile (which I must say is the most interesting topic I've had for a while), do you ever miss La Belle France, like a Norwegian parrot pines for the fjords?
They would have preferred if I had hurt/mutilated myself like many others did at the time to avoid doing the Military Service... At least that would have been playing by their rules.
Instead, by choosing to leave to another country where they could not touch me, I was openly defying them... Something they really don't like somehow.
I did miss France at the beginning, yes...
But, it was also because I was misled to believe that I would never be able to go back, and the prospect of 'disappearing' for two years in a military jail if I did go back was kind of stopping me trying somehow.
Things eventually changed though... Not only can I go to France whenever I want (financial situation permitting, of course) at last, but also my life is now here in England with my kids having been born and living here.
Excellent stuff. This is now traditionally where I throw in a fight question™, so this week will of course be no exception. This week's matchup is one blatantly stolen from the Grudge-Match.com archives. Would the Terminator (played by Arnie in The Terminator, T2 – Judgement Day and T3 – Blatant Cash-in.) beat the Predator (Played by man in rubber suit in Predator 1 and Predator 2) in a straight fight??
Wow, that's a tad challenging for the little grey cells that...
Fortunately, I do have the T3 DVD and, after having watched it once more (for research purposes only, of course), I can safely say that the Terminator would definitely kick the Predator and its posterior back to where it came from.
After all, the Predator's handy heat seeking device (or whatever it's called) would be useless there as the Terminator is not human and can lower his/its artificial body temperature if necessary.
And, of course, if by any chance the Predator had managed to beat him, the Terminator would be back, and back, and back, and back again until he wins...
Good logic. Right, this is our penultimate question, as I'm rapidly running out of space. If you could make any changes to H2G2, what would they be?
Hmmm... The ones I'm thinking about would only be possible if I had some kind of influence on the BBC policies I'm afraid... So that might not happen just yet, unfortunately.
I would definitely change the rules on putting non-h2g2 pictures in our spaces and pages and the ones about foreign postings (I could rant for ever regarding the latter).
Some music listening facilities in our spaces would not be a bad idea either methinks...
One can dream I suppose...
Before I leave and have a well deserved cigarette at last, I would like to say a big 'thank you' to you Mr Inquisitor for having me (my agent should get in touch with you soon regarding my fee, by the way), Pete for not interrupting us, and HPB for not having been mentioned once in this interview.
Good Hootooing to all the readers 'out there'...
Erm Loup, penultimate means next to last, so before you say your goodbyes again, would you like to answer the final question? What's the most important thing you've learned through being a member of h2g2?
*loup.dargent quickly climbs back the stairs while trying to get as many puffs as possible from his cigarette... Once he has eventually managed to return to the Inquisition Room, he sits - out of breath and coughing badly - on the chair with his best innocent expression on his face...*
Oh... Err... Cough, cough... I was wondering what an ultimate pen had to do with anything somehow... Cough... Especially as there was no sword to be seen anywhere either... Erm... Cough... Cough.
There are so many things I've learned since I've joined Hootoo that it is almost impossible to really single one of them out...
Controlling my temper (or, at least, some of it) might be the most important in a way as, even so I'm still learning to control it completely, that has saved me from getting too much involved in some potential flame wars quite a few times... I still could do better in that area though.
It's certainly not always easy, and the fact that people can say things on here they would not dare saying in public in Real Life definitely doesn't help... But, considering the number of convos which have made my blood boil at times and the relatively very small amount of them I have posted to, I'm not doing too badly somehow.
H2G2 is very much like any community in Real Life, and we can spot a lot of similarities when it comes to its members actively trying to get Hootoo being run the way they think is best.
It's actually a very Good Thing in principle... After all, it shows they care about the site. But, when the strategy used to achieve their goal includes putting down and mocking those who don't fit their idea of who should be a member, then we have a very dangerous situation in our hands...
Not only it's a sure thing for more flame wars all over the site, but also, it gives the nagging feeling that Hootoo is not really such an open-minded community after all... You know, a bit like in Real Life, where usually decent members of the community can sometimes be too quick to join the local 'Not In Our Backyard' brigade.
So, to go back to your question, I have also learned (sometimes the hard way) that h2g2 Researchers are humans after all...
Can I say my 'good byes' and 'thanks' now?!... Yes?
Great... I've got quite a few more names added to my list actually... So here we go:
I would also like to tha...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oops, we seem to have run right out of time this week. Anyway, if you want to be interviewed, email Shazz.
I've been Mr Inquisitor, ta ta!
Psycorp603
with loup.dargent
