User:Axver
- Not to be confused with Dr. Dre.
Axver, known to some as André, Ax, or Dr Dré (b. January 1987),[1][2] 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.
Brief history
Although Axver is a historian, not much is known of his own 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[3] and his grandfather was one of only two survivors from the second carriage. Four more relatives were killed in the Hyde railway disaster.[4] Enough decades separate Axver from the accidents, however, that they are a source of interest rather than revulsion.
In 1997, Axver moved to the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and lived there for over eight 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 and a quality live music scene. He remained there until mid-2017, when work commitments took him to the less salubrious city of Wollongong, on the wrong side of the Barassi Line. He relocated in early 2022 back to the correct side of the Barassi Line—but went a little too far and now resides in Perth.[5] His passionate support of the All Blacks, Black Caps, Wellington Hurricanes, and other New Zealand sporting teams is well-known to family and friends, though he is something of a traitor and considers Australian rules football to be his favourite sport and barracks for Essendon.[6]
Axver was for a period very active on Wikipedia, especially in 2006 and 2007. He is now somewhat inactive, although he visits the site regularly and occasionally chips in a correction. He is quite willing to help out where needed, but does not aim to resume regular editing as he is far too busy writing actual history. His readership may have declined since his Wikipedia heyday but at least he is now paid to do it. He has published a book on the Provinces of New Zealand, which you should definitely buy, a couple more books on higher education reforms (at the University of Melbourne and nationally across Australia), and most recently one on New Zealand passenger rail. He would love other editors to use these books to bring various articles up to scratch, especially on New Zealand's provinces and railways, as it would probably breach Wikipedia policy if he did it himself. He is now writing an enviro-economic history of railways in Australasia and a history of territorial separation movements in colonial Australasia.
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 online, teenage Axver took it upon himself to expand Wikipedia's coverage. His ultimate goal was to write articles on every single railway line and locomotive class to have existed in New Zealand, and he got pretty close, greatly appreciating it when others started adding articles as well. He viewed this as an important contribution to the historical record, as railways have been pivotal in almost all aspects of New Zealand's history and remain an important part of the nation's infrastructure.[7]
Axver also enjoys model railways and when time, money, skill, 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 Central Otago or the Wairarapa and including fictitious branches to enhance the operational potential.[8]
Axver is quite fond of music, especially live music, though he tends to support his mates in bands rather than performing much himself. His favourite bands include Alcest, Agalloch, Anathema, Caspian, The Chills, Crowded House, Medicine, Midas Fall, Pinback, Porcupine Tree, Pure Reason Revolution, Ride, Russian Circles, U2, The Verve, and far too many others. He is especially fond of shoegaze, having organised live events to showcase Australian shoegaze bands, and of the Dunedin Sound. A misguided teenage fanaticism has left him with an encyclopaedic memory of U2's setlists, so at one time he contributed to Wikipedia's articles on individual U2 songs.[9] U2 authority K. Rhodes has stated that "seriously, he knows way too much about setlists. It's almost scary."[10] K. Rhodes has also been known for her defamatory attacks upon Axver; she has assaulted him mercilessly with a banhammer on multiple occasions and published claims that his favourite bands are New Kids On The Block and Linkin Park.[11]
In general, Axver is easily fascinated by historical, political, and transport topics, and much else besides. He should not be left alone in a secondhand bookshop lest he emerge with too many novels and works of history. Although he tends to favour Australian and British comedy, his friends are sick of how often he quotes from The Simpsons, especially the "aurora borealis" scene. At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the Internet? Localised entirely within a Wikipedia user page?[12]
Articles
Axver's Wikipedia contributions mainly relate to New Zealand's railway heritage and its geography. A full list of the articles he has created can be found at his articles page, which serves 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.[7]
Deletion
Contrary to popular belief, Axver does not merely create an absurd number of articles on narrow railway topics and thoroughly tiny, overlooked, insignificant towns. He also got an article about the fictitious village "Greendale, Kapiti" deleted. 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.[13]
Axver's To-Do List
A younger Axver sought to accomplish a lot on Wikipedia and to help guide his work and establish a clear direction, he created a to-do list of articles he intended to write, or in a few cases, existing articles that he wanted to expand. It is located on a subpage. The list is, however, rather out of date; some have already been created, and as Axver is unsure if he will return to active editing, he suspects the rest will have to be created by other Wikipedians too.[7]
Finally, a complaint
Axver has only one real complaint about Wikipedia, and it is that the name is not "Wikipædia"![13]
References
Axver is a believer in thorough referencing and uses the Chicago footnote system, 17th edition, with alterations to suit his native New Zealand English. He has a strong preference for this referencing method, which is both aesthetically pleasing and about as flexible and practical as a style guide comes.
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.[14]
- ^ a b c Zinzan Weck, The Early Axver: Pure Kiwi Bullshit (Wellington: Fallacious Publishers, 1986), 17.
- ^ Rewi McLean, "A Man of Many Names", Journal of Pseudonyms 13(37): 69.
- ^ 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.
- ^ K. Rhodes, Confessions of a Forum Moderator: Wankers I've Encountered in the U2 Fandom (Useless Loop: SuperPublications, 2008), 212.
- ^ K. Rhodes, They've Got It (The Right Stuff): I Squee Over Boy Bands (Goat Island: Sodding Mountain Goat Press, 2004) 31415.
- ^ 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.