User:Axver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Axver, known to some as André or Dr. Dré (b. January 1987),[1] is a Wikipedian who thinks it is mildly humorous or at least somewhat amusing on a personal level to write his user page as if it were a proper Wikipedia article.
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[edit] Brief history
Not much is known of Axver's personal history as he is not in the public spotlight. He grew up in Raumati Beach, New Zealand, and spent much of his youth "playing trains" at Raumati Marine Gardens because he was cool like that.[1] This may seem peculiar as he lost family members in both of New Zealand's worst railway disasters. Two great-uncles were killed in the Tangiwai disaster[2] and his grandfather was the only survivor from the second carriage. Four more relatives were killed in the Hyde railway disaster.[3] However, enough decades separate Axver from the accidents that they are a source of interest rather than revulsion.
In 1997, Axver moved to the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and lived there for nine years before spending a year in Brisbane. He knew them better by the name "Hell" due to the heat and lack of culture that typify both. In early 2007, he relocated to the lovely city of Melbourne, home to an awesome tram network.[4] His passionate support of the All Blacks, Black Caps, Wellington Hurricanes, and other New Zealand sporting teams is well-known to family and friends.[5]
[edit] Interests
Axver grew up a keen railfan, especially of the New Zealand national rail network.[1] Appalled by the poor coverage of New Zealand's railways, Axver has taken it upon himself to greatly expand Wikipedia's coverage. His ultimate goal is to write articles on every single railway line and locomotive class to have existed in New Zealand that does not yet have an article. He firmly believes in the importance of this as a historical record, as the railways were critical to the initial development of New Zealand and remain an important part of the nation's infrastructure.[6]
Axver also enjoys model railways and when time, money, and space permit, he aims to build one, probably in HO scale but possibly in NZ120 instead to save space. His current ambition is to build a layout based on a New Zealand prototype, based in Wainuiomata or the Wairarapa and including fictitious branches to enhance the operation potential.[7]
Axver is quite fond of music, especially the rock band U2, progressive rock bands such as Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, and Pure Reason Revolution, death metal bands like Opeth and Orphaned Land, and Dunedin Sound groups including The Chills, Straitjacket Fits, and Able Tasmans. He possesses an encyclopaedic memory of U2's setlists and has sought to enhance Wikipedia's depth of information about individual U2 songs.[8] Seriously, he knows way too much about setlists. It's almost scary.
Axver has coined the term "generork" (geek - nerd - dork) to refer to himself. He is easily fascinated by just about anything academic, especially historical, political, and theological topics. He enjoys debating, devours any book he can find, and loves British comedy, especially Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, and Blackadder. He believes that the scene in the Fawlty Towers episode Gourmet Night where Basil Fawlty bashes his car with a tree branch is the best comedic scene ever made for television or film.[9]
[edit] Articles
Axver's Wikipedia contributions mainly relate to coverage of New Zealand's railway heritage and its geography. A full list of his work can be found at his articles page, which was created to reduce the clutter on his userpage. He also established the Manual of Style for the NZR WikiProject and he always welcomes constructive comments and feedback to enhance it.[6]
[edit] Deletion
Contrary to popular belief, Axver does not merely create an absurd number of articles on very generorky railway topics and thoroughly tiny, overlooked, insignificant towns. He also got an article about the fictitious village "Greendale, Kapiti" deleted. However, while Axver hopes to make many more articles on places and railway-related topics that have been overlooked, he does not hope to find any more articles to nominate for deletion. He tends to be an inclusionist and is often hesitant in casting a vote for deletion.[10]
[edit] Axver's To-Do List
Axver seeks to accomplish a lot on Wikipedia and to help guide his work and establish a clear direction, he has created a to-do list of articles he wishes to write, or in a few cases, significantly expand. It is located on a subpage and Axver is more than happy to collaborate with anyone to create these articles to a high standard.[6]
[edit] Finally, a complaint
Axver has only one real complaint about Wikipedia, and it is that the name is not "Wikipædia"![10]
[edit] References
Axver is a believer in thorough referencing and uses the Chicago 14A footnote system with alterations to suit his native New Zealand English. He has a strong preference for this referencing method; plus, it allows consistency with his academic work. Furthermore, as he is inserting footnotes, not writing a bibliography, he sees no requirement to go against the style's guide and insert author names with the last name first. Names are only reversed in bibliographies, and even then only for the first author listed.
Axver would also like to make readers aware that with a few obvious exceptions - i.e. the working hyperlinks - the below references exist solely in an alternate reality.[11]
- ^ a b c Zinzan Weck, The Early Axver: Pure Kiwi Bullshit (Wellington: Fallacious Publishers, 1986), 17.
- ^ Ministry for Culture and Heritage, "Tangiwai Memorial", accessed 14 November 2007. See Douglas and John Cockburn on list.
- ^ New Zealand Disasters: Hyde Railway Accident, Otago, South Island, Friday 04 June 1943, accessed 14 November 2007. See John Frater and Desmond, Irene, and John White.
- ^ Gary Tungsten, Axver's Travels: Adventures of Little Importance (Alexandra: Central Otago Imaginary Printing Agency, 1893), 203.
- ^ Vivian Redwood, Non-notable Kiwi Sporting Fans: A Chronology by Year of Birth, vol. IV of III (Doubtful Sound: World's Least Existent Press, 2084), 2112.
- ^ a b c Andrew Edwards, "A Random Wikipedian's Rationale", Journal of Insignificant Topics 11(2) [February 2007]: 4.
- ^ Chris Townsville, Kiwi Model Railways Yet to be Built, revised edition (Kyzyl: Bet You Haven't Heard of Here Publishing Company, 1999 [50 BC]), xvi.
- ^ Mike Mulebread, They Love Music: Random Fans I've Met in Elevators, Supermarket Carparks, and Drought-stricken Parks (Mount Isa: Waterless Press, 2007), 467.
- ^ Catherine Purple, "Axver's Interests: An Outline of Mundanity", Review of People in the Southern Hemisphere 1(0.5) [December 1953]: 340-1.
- ^ a b Edwards, "A Random Wikipedian's Rationale", 5.
- ^ Vladimir Thompson, "A Response to 'A Random Wikipedian's Rationale' by Andrew Edwards: The Missing Facts", Journal of Insignificant Topics 10(12) [December 2006]: 4226.
