yeah - i never really understood all the fuss about the word 'twat' - where i grew up it wasn't really seen as that offensive - i think most knew that it referred to female parts, but it was generally used to describe someone as a fool, so i definitely think it's regional. once you move to another country or area you soon start to realise that one man's jumper is another man's small girl's skirt. i remember reading armistaud maupin and getting to the line, '...she grabbed an inch of fanny fat.' yeah, that made me think twice.

obviously i think you should try to avoid words that you think might offend (and equally, you should try to ignore words that offend you). at the end of the day, it's just a word and you have to remember that nothing is set in stone - the meaning of words change over time and people often forget the original intent - like the words, 'queer' or 'handicapped'.

to be honest, being told that a word is off limits, just makes me want to use it more. **** knows i might have gone crazy if i couldn't call bush a silly c**t from time to time and i certainly don't have a problem with my wife calling me the same. it's all a matter of context / intent and knowing who you're talking to / with.

as for the question of whether people underate the skills needed to do 3d, i definitely think that that's not only true of 3d, but art in general.

i think people usually underate the skills needed to do anything that they can't do. if they figure you can draw, they tell you to take art in school and whip out a portrait of them on command and expect you to make them cards at xmas. yet if you ask them to do your taxes or fix your sink, whatever it is they're good at, suddenly you're the one being cheeky.

joopson is right - 85% of people (myself included) can't tell their arse from their elbow. i used to work in the metropolitan museum and the amount of times i would get people arguing with me that the monet in front of them is either a photograph / photocopy is not even funny. i once saw a fat guy jump on and start to ride cowboy style a 4000 year old egyptian tiger statue and when we pulled him off, he said: 'what's the problem? it's made of stone'!!

i know a lot of my friends who paint and make art seem to think that doing maya is something completely different - that the skills involved are not the same. i know some of my other friends think i'm crazy for doing maya instead of painting. hey - i could spend all day trying to convince them otherwise... or i could get a beer.

i mean, it's not rocket science, is it?