Having been raised by Irish parents in what was basically an Irish home, I grew up with most of the prejudices and beliefs that come with a Catholic background. It was only during my school years and late teen-angst that I realized how hypocritical most of it can be and shook off the religious chains, instead embracing alcohol, sexual freedom and night clubs J, but having been there, some of it still lingers on. So when I joined one of the few servers based in Ireland to find a clan called [IRA] spamming "feel our wrath" over and over I was kinda disgusted. The fact that someone could take such a serious and IMHO twisted organization and use it as the subject of a joke on Irish soil is beyond lame. All I could do was stare at the screen as they ran around in the SAS model popping off rails and reciting lines from wall art in the province…

Whoever you people are: GET A LIFE

I discovered the first let down of having this column today. Everyone aims for you on public servers J (Even your friends eh Obby! J)

It was during one of my many early morning chats with DBs that he pointed out my habit of being very up front about myself. My somewhat mis-aligned sexuality (or mis-guided as Flex often puts it) amongst other things is common knowledge on the channel and although some of the comments it can provoke are just about bearable I`m happy not to have to hide these things. And as I said to DBs, I`ll always have Internet anonymity to protect myself. At least, so I thought.

Today I had a particularly scary experience at one of the clubs I work at. Scary only at first cos the guy turned out to be well meaning and not at all sleazy, but regardless, I was petrified at first. I`d just finished my 3 hour requirement set, and wanted to go to the staff room to cool off for a bit and get something to drink, so I motioned to the DJ and Light-Jock to call a couple of door staff across. Apparently there had been trouble some where else in the club cos none of them were around, but I was shattered and decided to risk leaving on my own. Although this isn`t usually a problem, it`s not unusual for the female dancers to get hassle from over enthusiastic male punters. So I go to get down and this guy puts his hand out to help me. I took it as harmless, he looked fairly old and defiantly not the anorak type, and so I let him help me down from the podium. Mike, the next dancer in line sees me leaving so feeling safe I turn to go. When this guy comes out with "Hello Carla."

I literally froze. My stage name has never come remotely close to my real name. How the f**k did he know my name? "My name`s Steve, I saw your picture on BarrysWorld." My jaw dropped. Had it not been for the blatant way I`d frozen on the spot, I`d have told him I didn`t know who he was on about. But having gone sheet white and started shaking, (more from tiredness and dehydration than from the shock) it was kinda obvious I was who he thought I was. Thankfully he realized how much he`d shocked me and backed off a few inches, saying sorry for having been so quick off the mark. The door staff finally turned up which helped me get my senses together and as we talked he turned out to be a real laugh. It did, however, make me wonder how safe my anonymity really is...

Either way, a quick shout out to Stevie Williams. Soz for being so startled but thanks for saying hi.

I had a couple of mails from people asking why "155 and Rising?" A quick explanation. As you now know from above, I work as a dancer (and choreographer) on contract to various nightclubs across the country. This is my excuse for being nocturnal (and lying in bed all day J) and making column updates at ridiculous times in the morning. It is also the source of my Quake name. An ex-boyfriend and close confidant (and also landlord but we won`t go into that J) and I did a stint a few years back at one of the clubs in Bristol where he went to Uni. One of the first sets we were ever scheduled for was the Prodigy set, including amongst others the 155&Rising mix of "Everybody`s in the Place." As it turned out the routine we devised for the set, (and in particular that track) was popular enough for the club to keep us on the rota for the Prodge set and each night have the DJ clear the stage for our 20 minute `extravaganza.` (lol, whatever J) Ever since then, the pair of us have taken 155 as our adopted Quake names so that close friends from the club who also played online could find us. Chris eventually dropped the name when Clan matches became confusing and switched to 4C/D:BurN, leaving me to become [UNR]155&Rising…

Another quick shout, this time to Athena from #quake.uk for being generally sorted and keeping LinX in line. (We love you really honi J)

Thought for the morning:

Does anyone else experience the "no-fire" bug when on the BarrysWorld ISP. A curious little glitch in either Quake 2 itself or the ISP/Server set up that basically means that when you press the button to do sommit, it doesn`t, without showing red lines for packet loss on netgraph. Usually it will make itself obvious in railgun only Ra2, tho it`s known in Free for All and most other mods. If you`ve noticed this, particularly when on the ISP, give DBs a shout at his BW addy so he can quiz you a bit and figure out if it`s the mods or sommit else. Ta