Inside of a Dog, It's Too Dark to Read

Do all you pros and semi-pros (semi-prose?) know about this?

2009-07-10T16:55:53Z

What is this?

To celebrate our graduation from beta testing, AnthologyBuilder invites authors of all skill levels to choose their favorite cover art from our database and write a story to match it. Contest Entries must be unpublished, between 1,000 and 50,000 words in length, and submitted on or before September 20, 2009.

Because our site hosts a wide variety of science fiction and fantasy artwork, we expect that most submissions will fall into those genres. Nevertheless, submissions in all genres are welcome.

Rules

Entries must be the original, unpublished work of the author and must be between 1,000 and 50,000 words in length. Stories set in derivative worlds (e.g. Star Trek, Middle Earth, or other fictional worlds not created by the author) are not admissible for this contest.
Entries must be submitted on or before September 20, 2009. An upload form for contest entries will be available by August 1.
No entry fee is required.
Stories will be judged in two categories: General Submissions (open to all authors) and Rising Stars (open to authors who are 18 years old or younger at the time of submission.) Rising Star authors may choose to submit in both categories.
Entries will be judged based on overall quality and on how well they match the artwork that inspired them. All decisions of our judging panel are final.
There will be ten finalists in each category. From them, one winner per category will be chosen.
Authors may submit only one manuscript, with the exception of authors 18 years old or younger, who may submit two stories: one for each category.
This contest is open to everyone except AnthologyBuilder staff members, contest judges, and their immediate families. Authors do not need prior publication credits to enter. International contestants are welcome, but please be aware that prize money will be issued in U.S. currency.
Our apologies, but we are unable to accept contest submissions in languages other than English.

Prizes

Finalists will receive a $30 gift certificate for AnthologyBuilder and a detailed critique of their story by Nancy Fulda, assistant editor at Jim Baen's Universe.
The winner in the General Submissions category will receive $200 and publication on AnthologyBuilder.*
The winner in the Rising Star category will receive $100 and publication on AnthologyBuilder.*

* Winners will be asked to leave their story exclusively on AnthologyBuilder for a period of three months, after which the author may remove or publish it elsewhere according to our standard contract.

I've already found suricattus and jaylake's work available in their library.

Thank you to howardtayler for pointing out this very nifty tool in Blógünder Schlock (right here, to be specific).

Bring Tom Smith's music into Second Life!

2009-07-10T01:34:54Z

View all Ann Arbor events on Eventful

You must read this article

2009-07-06T05:28:33Z

'The Death of Macho' by Reihan Salam of the New America Foundation

In fact, it echoes some of the discussion in pkmorrison's LJ back when Benazair Bhutto was murdered. I find it both fascinating and a relief that a male journalist could and did write this article - in the same sense that Alan Alda, George Perez and James Cameron (as a sample) fascinate me. One can easily expect and anticipate this pattern of thought from women (or hopes to!), but to find men willing to break away and out of the social expectations and mindset provided for their gender seems to be a little more of a stretch, and deserves appreciation. The fact that he's a self-declared conservative makes this even more interesting.

There's still a sense of fun and humour out there.

2009-07-03T22:58:20Z

Air New Zealand's TV advert and the in-flight safety video.

Look, they even have their boss slinging bags in nuthin' but paint.

Fantastically detailled body art by Carmel McCormick

Myfi must see this

2009-07-02T18:23:56Z

Colbert and Goldblum 'confirm' Jeff Goldblum's death

(Yes, it's a video AND a joke.)

A whole new take on the elevator experience

2009-07-01T05:01:42Z

http://motionographer.com/theater/marco-brambilla-civilization/ (video, 5 minutes or so)

The fun part is, of course, if your screen is big enough to play Spot the Sources. I've spotted Ahnold (I think), Princess Leia, the Death Star, the Flash Gordon Hawkmen, a piece of Harkonnen architecture, possibly Venus from Baron Munchausen, Handmaidens from A Handmaid's Tale (tch, such an indecisive movie, a shame), Sally Rand from The Right Stuff, evil Kryptonians, possibly Steve Martin from the end of Pennies from Heaven and Air Force One.

A quick rememberance

2009-06-30T21:44:48Z

Happy Tunguska Event Day

An artist and her blog

2009-06-30T14:50:05Z

This was pointed out for her steampunk work, but she's a brilliant illustrator for any genre: Aly Fell, Port Out, Starboard Home

'Hottest temperatures ever recorded in South Florida'

2009-06-22T20:44:59Z

From here:

A heat advisory is in effect until 7 PM tonight and we could be near the all-time record highs. That means we will be near the hottest temperatures that have ever been recorded in South Florida. The highest ever recorded in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale was 100 degrees back on July 21, 1942 and August 4, 1944 respectively. West Palm Beach's highest recorded temperature was 101 degrees on July 21, 1942 as well. Yesterday records were broke all across South Florida and Ft. Lauderdale shattered their old record by 4 degrees with a high of 98, hottest June temperature ever recorded.

Factor in the humidity with these record setting temps and it will feel like it is in the 105-110+ degree range....

The benefits of specialised acquaintances

2009-06-22T14:37:22Z

Or: Knowing all these librarians has a different wonderful set of unique advantages from knowing all these writers, to wit: http://www.rarebookroom.org/

More archival stuff for the Girl Genius Wikia

2009-06-18T06:12:58Z

Phil Foglio's interview with Kurt Wilcken is unfortunately interrupted by an HTML glitch about halfway down. This is the balance of that interview:

The Heterodyne Boys, the legendary heroes from the backstory of GIRL GENIUS, have popped up in your works before; I remember references to them in your STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER miniseries. Were they inspired by any specific literary works?

Phil: The Heterodyne Boys started out as a joke. I was visiting some friends in Kalamazoo and in a used book shop I saw some old 'Boy's Adventure' type stuff, like the original 'Tom Swift' and the 'Radio Boys'. I was reading some of the titles out loud, because they were so delightfully stupid, (Tom Swift and His House on Wheels! [today we call them 'trailers'.]) and when I ran out of real ones, I made up 'The Heterodyne Boys and their Anthracite Burning Earth Orbiter'. One of the characteristics I cherish in my friends is their childlike gullibility, and several excited minutes were spent trying to actually find this book. That night, we played Charades (This party was Rockin') and it was my contribution to the book titles list. Everyone liked it so much that I drew up some pictures of them, basing them on two more friends of mine. They got a radical overhaul when we built Girl Genius, the only part remaining is their names, and the titles of their adventures.

Who are some of your favorite writers?

Phil: I'm very fond of the classical fantasists. Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell. I like mysteries by Dashell Hammet, Raymond Chandler, William Marshall and Robert van Gulik . Nowadays I'm fond of Terry Pratchett, J.K. Rowling, Greg Bear, John Barnes and George MacDonald Frasier. As far as comics go, I like Neil Gaiman, Aaron Williams, Stan Sakai and Pete Abrams.

What artists do you most admire?

Phil: Alphonse Mucha, Charles Dana Gibson, Hayao Miyazaki, Sergio Aragones, J.C. Leyndecker.

What are your favorite books, whether novels or comics?

Phil: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, and for comics, the series 'Roxanna and the Time Bird' by Letendre and Loisel.

Do you do a lot of research for visual references in GIRL GENIUS, or does it all come out of your own fevered imagination?

Phil: A little of both, as I have tons of reference material for machines, and castles and towns, and folk costumes and eastern European landscapes, which I pour through every now and then, and then I take those elements and draw what I think these things SHOULD be like.

My wife, Lute, and I have collaborated on a few of my own stories. (And on occasion, people just seeing her name on our byline have also mistaken her for my brother). How did you and Kaja meet?

Phil: Very traditionally. We had mutual friends who knew I was looking for a girlfriend, and thought Kaja would fit the bill. These clever girls were the bridesmaids at our wedding.

How do you work together writing GIRL GENIUS?

Phil: Pretty well. We start out talking about the story, trying to figure out who is who and what should happen, taking notes the whole time. Then I do a rough layout of the issue, showing what happens on each page. Then we discuss that some more. When we're happy with it, I rough out the issue, getting a rough idea about page layout and dialog pacing. When we're happy with that, I pencil it. It gets scanned into the computer and those files are sent to the colorist. Meanwhile Kaja adds the dialog. I look it over and we discuss whether we need any changes. She also lays out the cover and interiors, and does all the graphic design. When the colors come back Kaja assembles it all for the printer, and off it goes.

In addition to your comics, you've done a lot of game illustration. In fact, Agatha Heterodyne, the heroine of GIRL GENIUS, originally appeared in GURPS: IOU, an anime-inspired RPG from Steve Jackson. What other games have you worked on?

Phil: Yeah, we'd been working on Girl Genius for a couple of years when the GURPS IOU job came along, so we thought it would be a hoot to stick her in. I've worked on a slew of games. The biggest of course was Magic: the Gathering. Both Kaja and I did a lot of art for that. I put out the XXXenophile Trading Card Game, which lost a pot of money, and with James Ernest, a Girl Genius Game called The Works, which is doing well. I've done a lot of work for Cheapass Games', James' company, and we had two big games from new publishers come out this last year, 'Sucession' and 'Emperion'. I've also been busy doing stuff for Steve Jackson Games. Besides IOU, I did the art for Strange Synergy, Greedquest, I just finished up a card game called S.P.A.N.C.(Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls) and along with the Girl Genius GURPS, he's also interested in reviving a version of the XXXenophile Card Game.

What can you tell us about the upcoming GURPS: Girl Genius suppliment?

Phil: It'll have a lot of backround information we haven't revealed in the book itself.

Okay, time for a Total Geek Question: GIRL GENIUS: THE MOTION PICTURE: Who would you cast?

Phil: Hayao Miyazaki. We would so like this to be animated. If we had to go live action, I'd hold out for Tim Burton to direct. As for actors? Sorry, I don't really follow actors, though a few years from now, when he's been aged a bit by politics, I could see Schwartzenegger playing Klaus Wulfenbach.

Thank you for time. As I said before, I've enjoyed and admired your work for many years, and I appreciate the chance to talk with you.

Phil: Sure. Thanks for the interest.
* * * * *
If you would like to talk to Phil, check out his fabulous Airship Bookswebsite. It you would like to talk to me, you can e-mail me or just fire up the ol' Electric Velocipede and head over to our Nifty Pop Thought Forum. I live for feedback.

I confess.

2009-06-17T01:17:46Z

I succumbed to 'micro-blogging'.

http://www.plurk.com/SFFCorgi

What a day.

2009-06-16T02:09:01Z

annechen67 has been visiting for a few days (which has been GREAT), but hasn't done as much as she'd like due to how hot it's been inside the house. My Truly Nolen heroes, Alfredo and Jorge, were able to get the broken A/C out of the house and put the new one that Debbie (who has been taking care of me very well) bought me in place. It's BELOW 80F IN THE HOUSE NOW!!

Meanwhile, just because good things happened, when we took the dogs to the beach to get them out of Truly Nolen's way (they spray for bugs), I managed to lose my car keys - yes, all of them - into Biscayne Bay.

:headdesk:

At least Myfi gave me Thai food to savor for later when she visited. And Gator Hammock Swamp Mustard. And we got Something Significant done.

Behind every great man is a woman doing the actual work

2009-06-09T18:12:32Z

At least, we're finding that more often than before. Turns out Delia Derbyshire is the person REALLY responsible for the much-beloved and iconic Doctor Who theme music.

Watch a performance of an arrangement she might have really got a kick out of - Doctor Who on Zeusaphone!

'PHIL FOGLIO'S COMIC GIRL GENIUS'

2009-06-08T08:24:05Z

In November of 2002, Jennifer M. Contino interviewed Phil Foglio about Girl Genius for Comicon.con, just as Girl Genius #9 (the comic) came out. The article used to be easily accessible, and could be found by Googling for it, but for reasons I have not discovered, the site reorganised and the article was reproduced into a forum thread, not viewable without registration. As I find this rather silly as well as unfair to those trying to archive both the interview and what it discusses as completely as possible, I reproduce the text here with source URL and full credit to the prolific Ms Contino.

PHIL FOGLIO'S COMIC GIRL GENIUS

Phil Foglio is no stranger to the independent comics scene. His XXXenophile series is a cult classic. Recently he's gone from the XXX to all-ages fun with the series he co-created with his wife Kaja, Girl Genius. Girl Genius is a "gaslamp fantasy" set in a pseudo Victorian place where the Industrial Revolution wasn't just a small revolution but a full scale war. Society has rebuilt itself but the world is a very strange place. Trying to find her place in this world is young Agatha Clay. Her ties to the past and future of this alternative universe are just beginning to be discovered. Issue nine comes out soon and answers some of the questions Agatha's had since her earliest days. THE PULSE caught up with Phil Foglio to talk girls, geniuses, and everything else.

THE PULSE: What is Girl Genius?

PHIL FOGLIO: Girl Genius takes place in an alternate universe where the Industrial Revolution has escalated into an all-out war. Europe has been devastated by battles between mad scientists (who are called 'Sparks' to their faces and 'Madboys' behind their backs), and monstrosities both biological and mechanical have laid waste to the countryside. Sparks are resented and feared. Young people displaying signs of the Spark are frequently killed, often even by their own families.

Twenty years ago, the Heterodyne Boys--legendary Hero-type Sparks who specialized in defeating evil-- disappeared while on a quest to stop The Other, a mysterious entity bent on the mass extermination of any and all Sparks whatsoever, as well as anybody standing too close to them. The world, already in a state of turmoil, plummeted into a dark age marked by vicious fighting between the remaining Sparks.

It was to this desperate scene that Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, a powerful Spark in his own right, and a former traveling companion of the Heterodyne Boys, arrived after a prolonged absence. Determined to end the fighting, he conquered Europe with a terrifying array of machines and creatures. The remaining Sparks pulled back and except for the occasional outburst by someone (briefly) challenging the Pax Transylvania, Europe is at peace for the first time in decades.

...Here enters Agatha Clay, a frustrated student at Transylvania Polygnostic University. Agatha is very intelligent, but has trouble concentrating and can't seem to build anything that works. However, we soon discover that there is far more to Agatha than anyone expects...

And that sets the stage.

The first story arc of Girl Genius is about Agatha discovering who she is and why she's in danger because of it.

THE PULSE: What inspired this series?

FOGLIO: Mad scientists and the people who love them. Girl Genius co-creator Kaja Foglio, my wife, was poring through a bunch of my old sketchbooks and pointed to all the old Victorian-type machinery I had drawn and said "Let's do something that will let you draw all this cool stuff." This sounded good to me. Over the next six years we worked on the story and developed characters. As a result, we have a rough but coherent storyline that should keep us going for the next ten years.

We also wanted to do something with a strong female lead character who wasn't a detective, a ninja or an assassin.

THE PULSE: Who are the main characters?

FOGLIO: Agatha Heterodyne. She's just found out that she has the Spark, and that she's the long-lost daughter of one of the Heterodyne Boys. As a result, everybody wants to either control her or kill her. While that's going on, she has to come to grips with her abilities and obligations. Think of her as a female blend of King Arthur with Harry Potter.

Krosp, Emperor of Cats. A construct built to rule cats. The idea was to use them as spies, saboteurs and messengers. The problem is that while Krosp is intelligent, cats are still cats and will do everything he commands them to do until they fall asleep, or get hungry, or blink. He regards Agatha as his first intelligent subject, and acts as her advisor. Krosp is a tactical genius, but his thinking is that of a cat--he is completely ruthless. Imagine Napoleon Bonaparte as a cat.

Adam & Lilith Clay. The Clays are a pair of Frankenstein-type monsters created by the Heterodyne Boys. Several years after the Clays retired from adventuring (Adam is now a machinist and blacksmith, and Lilith teaches piano), Barry Heterodyne left Agatha in their care while he left for a short trip. That was eleven years ago. The Clays have raised Agatha as best they can, and love her as if she were their own. Think of them as the parents from Spy Kids.

Baron Klaus Wulfenbach. One of the more powerful Sparks ever, Klaus took over Europe because nobody else could. He helped the Heterodyne Boys because he respected their philosophy of "Peace through reasoned discourse, with the occasional smack upside the head". Klaus disappeared during the attacks of the Other, and when he returned, he saw that everything that the Heterodyne Boys had done had been overturned. This did not help his bad mood, and he proceeded to systematically crush troublesome Sparks who broke the peace. At the moment, his empire stretches across most of Europe. Klaus would vastly prefer to go adventuring as he did in his youth, but being the ruler makes this impossible. The last thing he needs is a new Heterodyne heir running around loose and uncontrolled. Imagine Doc Savage as kindergarten teacher.

Gilgamesh Wulfenbach. Klaus' son, only recently revealed to the world. Gil has the earmarks of being a powerful Spark in his own right, but has seen his future and does not like it. He is being groomed to take over the empire and is smart enough not to want it, even though he realizes that the empire is infinitely preferable to the chaos that preceded it. Gil is basically a good person, but is realizing that he might have to act evil if he wants to get anything done. Gil was the first person to suspect that Agatha was a Spark, and likes the idea of marrying a girl smart enough to understand what he's talking about. So he's very taken with Agatha. He's...I don't know... Tim Burton does Hamlet.

Jägermonsters. The Jägermonsters are a troop of Jeckyl & Hyde-type monsters brewed up by one of Agatha's evil ancestors. They are reckless, bloodthirsty cossacks, feared throughout the known world. The Heterodyne Boys tamed them a bit, and used them with great reluctance. After the Boys disappeared, they signed on with Klaus Wulfenbach and have served him enthusiastically ever since. They are, however, still loyal to the House of Heterodyne. Think of them as a Mongol Horde staffed entirely by clones of the Katzenjammer Kids.

Zeetha. Destined to be Agatha's best friend, Zeetha is the princess of a lost kingdom. By "lost", we mean that she can't find it. In the three years she has traveled through Europe and Asia, no one has even heard of her country, and she is beginning to suspect that she is insane. Agatha, however, remembers Zeetha's country from old stories her uncle told. Zeetha decides that her best bet of getting home is to stick with Agatha and help her find her missing uncle. Zeetha is an expert swordsmaster and martial artist, and begins to train Agatha in fighting as well as giving her lessons in ruling. We see her as a combination of Willie Garvin and Yoda, except she's totally hot.

Bangladesh DuPree. DuPree is a pirate queen and airship captain, who returned to her lair one day to find her entire crew wiped out and her fortress in flames. She has sworn eternal vengeance upon whomever did it, but until she finds the culprit, she has to eat. Thus, she signed on with Klaus. Klaus is well aware that she is a homicidal maniac, but he's usually able to keep her under control, and let's be honest--sometimes having a homicidal maniac on the payroll is really useful. Especially if people know it. I see her as totally insane.

THE PULSE: If someone is just jumping on right now with issue # 9, what does he/she need to know to understand the gist of what's going on?

FOGLIO: A new Spark appeared in the town of Beetleburg. Klaus Wulfenbach has captured the man (Moloch Von Zinzer) he believes to be that Spark, as well as Agatha, who he believes to be Moloch's lover. Agatha has just discovered that she herself is the Spark. Gilgamesh Wulfenbach also knows and is planning on revealing her to his father. Also discovered in Beetleburg is a device known as a Hive Engine, a terrible weapon built by The Other in the last war. An sleeper agent of the Other has activated the Hive Engine on board the Baron's dirigible. Things are not good.

THE PULSE: What is the world of Girl Genius like?

FOGLIO: We refer to the genre as gaslamp fantasy--a Victorian-inspired landscape with steam-powered robots, fantastic airships, clanks, constructs, and other bizarre creatures. Most people outside the main urban centers still live in a pre-industrial world made strange by the addition of cannibalized parts of discarded machines, and the danger of real monsters lurking in the wilderness that surrounds the small towns. Travel, although simple for those with airships or giant walking battle clanks, is a serious undertaking for the majority of ordinary people who must still use foot or animal transport on bad or non-existent roads. Life is uncertain.

THE PULSE: What's happening in issue 9?

FOGLIO: Slaver wasps are loose on Castle Wulfenbach. Agatha discovers that she is the Heterodyne heir, her step-parents are killed and she has to escape from Baron Wulfenbach. People are thrown out of airships, there's a bunch of running and screaming--oh, and Gil proposes.

THE PULSE: Why should people check this series out?

FOGLIO: It's fun and it's different. It's got an intelligent female protagonist and a great supporting cast of oddball characters. We deal with themes like the nature of evil and the effect that storytelling has on the story, and yet we try to put in a lot of laughs.

We have an interesting world and a well thought-out storyline. We've had a great deal of positive feedback and I can't tell you how many people tell us that it's a great book for both adults and kids. Young girls, especially, really seem to like it. Kaja thinks it's because they of all people completely understand the "loser to princess" fantasy, which is the core of the first storyline .

THE PULSE: What's coming up from the comic next?

FOGLIO: An entire change of scene for Agatha. She manages to escape from Castle Wulfenbach-- she runs away and joins the circus. We get to meet a whole new set of characters, and Agatha finds out more about herself and the outside world.

THE PULSE: What other Girl Genius products are out there?

FOGLIO: Beyond comic issues #1-8 and the softcover and hardcover collections, we have Girl Genius: The Works strategy card game (108 full-color cards with subtle spoilers), Girl Genius Goggles & Lab Specs, cloisonné pins ("Krosp, Napoleon of Cats" is a new favorite), and Convention Badge Containment Units--okay, badge holders. (Can you tell that many of our products exist because we want to play with them ourselves?) We also sell extra comic book covers from the website for a pittance, so readers don't have to mangle their comic books to get at the Girl Genius decoder wheel or other cut-out features included in every issue.

There are also Girl Genius T-shirts, mugs, mousepads and additional weirdness on our Cafe Press website, which we link to from our homepage.

THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?

FOGLIO: As far as Girl Genius goes? Girl Genius issue #8 and #9, a second trade paperback containing color issues #4-9, the Secret Blueprints for the next story arc, and untold surprises that we are not yet at liberty to reveal...

Once I get issue #9 off to the colorist, I have promised myself a new XXXenophile.

Anyone interested in checking out Girl Genius can feel free to browse our website.

We also invite everyone to read Girl Genius issue #1 and the bonus story from the first Collection, online for free:

http://www.studiofoglio.com/girlgenius/issue1/cover.html
http://www.studiofoglio.com/girlgenius/gg.ss1/p01.html

Our Cafe Press site, which has an excellent assortment of hard-to-explain Christmas gifts is at here.

Oh, this is ever so interesting.

2009-06-06T17:56:16Z

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604163620.htm

Kinda explains Orson Scott 'I'm promoting armed revolt due to my pique' Card, doesn't it.

Baronin Wulfenbach

2009-05-29T20:14:35Z

One of the greatest moments in Katherina's life was the first time the young master of Wulfenbach, Georg, asked her to dance. She knew then and there, unscientific as it seemed, to where that simple dance in the town tanzplätz would lead — and she was right. Perhaps the innovations she had made on the Meier farm had caught his attention initially; he and his family used their strong Spark wisely to keep the Wulfenbach lands safe and productive, and even the neighbouring towns benefitted from their scientific improvements and defences. Her own contribution of dog-influenced guard sheep to help the younger children watch the flocks up in the hills, and a bizarre but productive herd of clank cows - freestanding uteri, really, allowing one cow to produce two to four calves almost simultaneously without the usual dangers and weaknesses of multiple births.

The way to a Spark's heart is through his laboratory. She knew Georg felt the same way about her when he invited her over to see his latest invention. His huge smile as she praised the state of his tools and the orderliness of his workbench was all out of proportion to normal pride in one's work. The town gossips should have been ashamed of themselves when the happy couple's hasty banns and wedding produced Johann a full eleven months later instead of the suspected six or seven. The toddler was shown how to activate the auto-rocker on the cradle Georg built for his baby brother when Mechel was born, and both older brothers were put in juvenile durance vile when the year-old Klaus was found powering a gardening clank. A childishly-improvised pulley system used his frustrated infantile flailing as Klaus tried to reach his favourite toy, just out of reach, to input energy to the clank's controls.

Katherina kept a firm hand on all her men. She knew well enough what Sparky inspiration felt like, and as much as she encouraged their creative work, she had the sense to temper it into a more effective tool, rather than let it run wild into dangerous or unproductive territory. Georg himself laughingly reeled her in now and then, as a half-goat half-badger chimera would not really have helped clear the brush and the vermin on the upper slopes that effectively. She could see how strongly the Spark burned in all three of her sons — it made her catch her breath now and then, wondering how such gifted boys could be her sons. But the moments passed quickly as yet another mundane issue would arise, and the baronial family would turn out as a team to resolve their peoples' problems. No blocked or tainted water supply, or unstable piece or terrain, or unproductive field could stand against their efficiency.

Things didn't change when Papa Wulfenbach died; Katherina's new title of 'Baronin' only meant she was the one the women turned to first, instead of Mama, who dwindled away sadly and quickly. Katherina's own parents, proud both of their daughter and themselves, refused to take advantage of her position and maintained their farm quite steadily with the help of her younger siblings and their growing families. Katherina's family only grew in size, not number. She regretted never having had a daughter but three children were plenty to take care of, and Georg reluctantly agreed. She knew exactly how to ensure this without hurting herself, and moved on. Mechel seems to take after her the most; the oldest and youngest were most often in their father's workshop, but Mechel made her a flower for a nameday present when he was fourteen. Klaus surprised them both when, just a week later, he led them to a concealed clearing which was covered with Mechel's flowers all changing colour as the sun shifted overhead, and singing whenever the breeze picked up and stirred their leaves.

One of the worst moments in Katherina's life... no, the worst moment, was the day she worked in the kitchen alongside their cook, making normal, unSparky food chemistry happen when she heard the explosion. Snapping commands at the staff as she bolted for the main door of the house, she prayed with all her heart that the sound wasn't from the direction she believed, or that the boys were somewhere else, or... anything. Anything. Georg had been in a town council meeting; his clank chariot skidded to a halt on the road below as Katherina reached the steps up to the ruins of their sons' shared laboratory building. Ruins indeed - the doorframe stood, but hardly anything else of the structure. It made finding her sons much quicker... or rather, what was left of them.

The power source for a clank the three had worked on together had failed catastrophically as all three young men - Johann had turned 21 just three months ago - frantically attempted to contain the reaction. There had been no escape for any of the three of them. Katherina's heart turned to ash as she found barely-identifiable human scraps, far too many to allow her the least amount of hope, everywhere she turned. If she had registered anything other than the horror around her, she might have heard the horrified and nauseated reactions of the servants who followed her, or her husband's scream of despair. She stepped further into the rubble, numb, and listlessly moved aside a metal panel in her path. It took a moment, but recognition finally sank in - under the panel lay hair, hair the colour of her sons'. Slowly she crouched down, her trembling hand seeking to brush the dust-covered dark strands... but there was something substantial to the touch. Her mind cleared suddenly; she reached down with both hands and lifted - and produced, with some effort, an intact head and neck and.... She settled the remnant down carefully and scrabbled through the rubble to find that there was a mostly-intact spine still attached as well.

Her son. She could still save her son! Her brain lit up with a thousand possibilities, procedures mentally running rampant in all directions as she stood, transformed, and gave orders: 'Collect all the body parts you can find and put them in my cold room as fast as possible! Georg, you need to initialise that external heart machine we made to save Ivan's life that time after the harvesting accident! Ana, start boiling the sutures and needles, I'll need to use everything we have on hand! GEORG! We can still save Klaus!'

Thinking back over that terrible, terrible day, she could only attribute her strength and stamina to her Spark. Although Georg had helped her in the past, neither of them were professional resurrectionists. Wulfenbach didn't have one in residence, being both too small and too well-maintained by its barons to be profitable for one to keep shop. She carried Klaus's head back to her lab herself, washed him carefully, scrubbed up and started piecing him back together. Georg fell into rhythm with her, using the circulating machine to first run iced purified water through his son's tattered circulatory system, then blood-substitute as his wife progressed in her work. Her senior assistant worked at a table on the other side, triaging the remains they had, cleaning and debriding and evaluating for use. Katherina sent a messenger to the town church and demanded the use of the body of the teenager who had foolishly dived into the river last week and cracked his head open. A crisis of protest was averted when the boy's mother was brought to the surgery - one look from the Baronin, fully into her madness and covered with ichor, quelled any questions. 'God will give him a new skin in Heaven. He won't need it down here anymore.'

Georg worked across from her, rebuilding bones with rods, mesh and wire, while Katherina reattached nerves, blood vessels, and wrapped muscles around them all. The servants eventually found the older boys' heads as the accident scene was carefully cleared, but they could only be saved for respectful burial. Their limbs and organs would save their youngest brother, however. Their mother would not tolerate any other conclusion. The couple worked from the shoulders down - ribcage, then arms, then a rebuilt pelvis and fill the space between carefully; then reattach the legs into the wired-up hip sockets and connect all the muscles and ligaments. Thirty hours or so after she started, Katherina stripped the skin off the village boy and started wrapping her own son.

Another six hours, more or less, and one Wulfenbach son lay on the surgical table, draped in support wires, tubes and a sheet. Katherina tied her last knot, held out her hands for her assistant to strip off her gloves... then did the only reasonable thing one might do as a traumatised mother who had been working frantically for a day and a half without ceasing. She wobbled in place, and collapsed into her exhausted husband's arms.

A fortnight later, after the Baronin and Baron had a chance to rest, bury their oldest sons and awaken their youngest when a summer thunderstorm passed over, Klaus sat in his bed in his room, his mother sitting on the edge examining his hands. 'You do good work, Mama,' he murmured.

'I had, all bragging on myself aside, the best materials to work with. I only wish...' she shook her head to banish her all-too-ready tears and held up a hand to forestall Klaus's equally-ready apologies.

'Papa assured me that you made sure, erm... that my children will still be Wulfenbachs. Thank you.' He was still a teenager - he blushed patchily at the comment.

'When have I not been careful with details, darling boy? I changed your diapers often enough, I knew where everything should go.'

Katherina laughed as her son turned a deeper red. A classic mother's prerogative. She let go of his hand she still held, stood and kissed him on the forehead. 'You were an excellent son the first time we made you, and now you are the very best son anyone could hope for since we got to work you over again. Bed rest for another week at least, and then you should be able to go about flirting with the girls at the inn again. But...' she paused at the doorway.

'Ja, Mama?'

'Please don't ever get killed again.'

Yeahhhh, 'bout 60 years late (or at least 40) and doing it for the money anyway.

2009-05-28T20:46:59Z

Real life Batman faces super test (undated)

ISTANBUL - The mayor of Batman, a city recently under scrutiny due to unsolved murders and increasing rates of female suicides, will sue the director of the movie "Batman" movie.

Not a superhero with supernatural abilities, or a person wealthy enough to buy high-tech toys to fight evil, but a simple human being named Hüseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of the southeastern city of Batman, declared war against his city’s namesake superhero, Batman.

“The royalty of the name ‘Batman’ belongs to us … There is only one Batman in the world. The American producers used the name of our city without informing us,” Kalkan told to the Doğan news agency. Batman is a centuries old city, taking root in the Neolithic age but becoming significant when oil was found in the region at the end of 1940s. Almost a decade before that, Batman was created as a comic hero. Kalkan is going to sue Christopher Nolan, the director of the latest Batman movie “The Dark Night,” not DC Comics, the creator of the superhero.

Mayor Kalkan, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News and the Economic Review, said last year foreign media picked up on Batman and the city’s increasing suicide rates among women. He said a columnist asked why Batman’s mayor did not sue the movie Batman for royalties while struggling with economic problems. “We found this criticism right and started to look for legal possibilities of a case like that,” he said.

Meanwhile, local newspaper Batman Çağdaş alleged yesterday that Batman residents living abroad cannot use Batman as a title for their business, leading the municipality to think about the royalty rights of that name.

However, mayor Kalkan rejected any allegations about the issue and said they do not have any information that Batman residents living abroad have problems about using Batman as a name.

But Batman Çağdaş newspaper reported that Şafii Dağ, a former Batman resident, currently living in the Germany city of Wesel, is one of those citizens who cannot use Batman as a title for his business, according to the newspaper. “I named my two restaurants Batman. But six months ago, a team of employees from the production company of the movie Batman made me change the title. Telling them that Batman was the name of my hometown did not change anything,” Dağ said.

Meanwhile, the name of a local region cannot be registered as a brand name, said lawyer Vehbi Kahveci, head of the Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights Commission of the Istanbul Bar. Also having overseas clients, Kahveci said “Batman” and his image is registered all around the world. The Batman Municipality missed the period in which they could object to the registration decision for Batman’s name as a superhero, according to Kahveci.

I apologise

2009-05-27T22:30:51Z

To everybody I've let down or am still letting down.

There are reasons (or excuses), but they're not very good ones.

Some background on the Sikh problem in Vienna

2009-05-25T17:33:22Z

Some of you might have seen the news about a Sikh guru being killed at a Sikh religious center in Vienna over the weekend - the background is interesting, and reflect back a whole century to a concern, just as valid today, of a loss of Sikh identity and a persistent influence of Hindu-based behaviour, despite the ideals of the newer faith. Just about 100 years ago, the Singh Sabha movement formed within Sikhism, a call to return to the practice of their ideals, 'the old ways of Khalsa and restored the pride and dignity of common urban and rural Sikhs.'

Casteism is still the most insidious eroder of Sikh practice. The Vienna group, or dera, was of a movement named Sach Khand (a term for the pinnacle of spiritual achievement) which is comprised of Sikhs with low-caste origins (Dalits). Obviously, that emphasis alone violates passively or actively ideal Sikh ethics. The attackers, accusing the two leaders of disrespecting the Guru Granth Sahib, who/which is the highest authority in Sikhism - and is a book, not a human. (Compare if you will the evangelical Protestant regard of the King James Bible as a rough parallel, although the Guru Granth Sahib has fewer translation debates involved.) The Sri Guru Granth Sahib was made the final authority for the Sikhs to move them away from cults of personality and the schisms that frequently devolve from same.

Although Guru Ravi Dass, who is revered as the founder or inspiration for the Sach Khand movement, seems to have preached according to the highest standards, according to one article, the modern movement veers from Sikh practice by 'worshipping living gurus such as Sant Rama Nand, which is considered blasphemous by most Sikhs.'

The attackers were of farming caste and a Punjab ethnic group, Jatt Sikhs, which group has traditionall been a strong component of the Indian military (befitting their Sikh majority). Without going into a whole research-paper's worth, the inference is that the Jatt, coming from the geographical heart and origin of Sikhism, are more fundamental and conservative than groups on the fringe, and felt they were acting righteously and in correction of a great disrespect. The fact that riots have broken out in the Punjab over their attack and the death of Sant Rama Nand might indicate that they did not choose the wisest course of action to apply this correction.

There are some suspicions in the Sikh community that this was a provoked act to cause fractures within Sikhism and weaken it; Sikhism's radical ideals (universal mutual respect regardless of caste and gender) present some threat to majority status-quo. On a smaller scale, police have determined there was a clear plan on the part of the attackers and are investigating how much further and deeper this may reach.

(I can't find any good information on the Sach Khand Ballan sect because none of their branches have managed to complete a website yet - there's one with profiles on their various leaders, some other information and no index page. Argh.)

Is this making anyone else uneasy?

2009-05-23T16:02:11Z

From the AP article:

...The former vice president's voice appears to carry even more weight than it did in the waning days of the Bush administration.
Some people want him to be quiet and disappear. Others are cheering the public relations tour that Cheney began halfway through President Barack Obama's first 100 days, defending the Bush administration's harsh interrogation tactics and other anti-terrorism policies....

...In first television interview after leaving office, just 54 days after Obama was sworn in, Cheney said that it's not fair to blame the economic woes on the Bush administration. Cheney said it was a global financial problem that he feared the new administration could use to justify a massive expansion in the government and meddling in the private sector....

Sure, they're taking aim at their feet sometimes with the, erm... teabagging *cough, look at ceiling*. But you get enough of the tinfoil-hat thinkers in one spot, and some of the less extreme still get dragged along in the wake.

I'm worried about a persistent erosion effect, similar to the humiliation they exposed us to during the Clinton Presidency. Then all they'll need to to is buy a couple more Floridas and Ohios....

Why are they doing this? Why do they hate Americans so much, while protesting their (jingoistic) patriotism and protectiveness for the country as a whole?

This is a great video

2009-05-05T17:59:18Z

It has a light touch without mocking the subject: A Sikh Nihang who wears a turban... that has to be seen to be believed.

Yayyyy!

2009-05-04T15:29:15Z

lunalovegoddess has come to play with us in Second Life! (She looks adorable, mostly like 2nd Romana, although she had to mention it first - I knew she looked familiar.)

[song cue] Tra la! It's May!

2009-05-01T16:51:00Z

GUENEVERE:
Tra la! It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray.
Tra la! It's here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It's May! It's May!
That gorgeous holiday
When ev'ry maiden prays that her lad
Will be a cad!
It's mad! It's gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes,
Ev'ryone breaks.
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!

Whence this fragrance wafting through the air?
What sweet feelings does its scent transmute?
Whence this perfume floating ev'rywhere?
Don't you know it's that dear forbidden fruit!
Tra la la la la! That dear forbidden fruit!
Tra la la la la!

GUENEVERE & CHORUS:
Tra la la la la [etc.]

GUENEVERE:
Tra la! It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That darling month when ev'ryone throws
Self-control away.
It's time to do
A wretched thing or two,
And try to make each precious day
One you'll always rue!
It's May! It's May!
The month of "yes you may,"
The time for ev'ry frivolous whim,
Proper or "im."
It's wild! It's gay!
A blot in ev'ry way.
The birds and bees with all of their vast
Amorous past
Gaze at the human race aghast,
The lusty month of May.

CHORUS:
Tra la! It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray.
Tra la! It's here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear.
It's May! It's May!
The month of great dismay.

GUENEVERE:
When all the world is brimming with fun,
Wholesome or "un."

GUENEVERE & CHORUS:
It's mad! It's gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes,
Ev'ryone breaks.
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!

I had a job interview last Friday, I'm NOT overdrawn and Myfanwy is supposed to be treating me to Thai food this afternoon.

Happy Calan Haf!

An article from the Washinton Post on bento and Japanese food philosophy

2009-04-18T07:22:41Z

Order of the Day

For Lunch, a Bento Box Holds The Promise of Harmonic Nutrition

By Andrea Sachs

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 6, 2007; Page F01

Sure, to pack your next alfresco lunch you could turn to paper or plastic -- and risk the likely leaks and messes when the apple mushes into the sandwich and the chips smash all to pieces.

Or you could picnic in a more stylish, more efficient, more artful way. Before the humidity hits in earnest, banishing all thoughts of daytime picnicking, take a cue from the Japanese and assemble a bento box. The Asian lunchboxes are designed like curio cases -- imagine a more graceful TV dinner tray or a grown-up baby setting -- with subdivided or even stacked sections that hold various mini-dishes.

Based on traditional Japanese cuisine, the concept of goshiki (five colors) calls for the cook to include at least one dish from each color group, thereby creating a meal that meets various nutritional needs and is pleasing to behold.

Red or orange
Carrots, kabocha squash, red bell peppers, umeboshi (pickled apricots), kidney beans, dried cranberries, akajiso (also known as red shiso), kidney beans, adzuki beans, tomatoes, salmon, pork, beef, oranges, tangerines, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, apples, salsa

White
Rice, enoki mushrooms, daikon, tofu and soy products, caulifl ower, feta cheese, white beans, potatoes, bamboo shoots, turnips, renkon lotus root, white fish, chicken, onions, white sesame seeds, bean sprouts, pears, leeks, garbanzo beans, hummus, jicama

Black (also purple or brown)
Black olives, mushrooms (shiitake, maitake, portabello), sea vegetables of kombu, hijiki, wakame or nori, black sesame seeds, eggplant, gobo (burdock root), red cabbage, grapes, prunes, raisins, black cherries, grape leaves, figs, plums, blackberries, blueberries, purple cabbage, tapenade

Yellow
Pineapple, yellow beans, eggs, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, grapefruit, nectarines, peaches, lemons, yuba, squash, plantains, banana

Green
Broccoli, spinach, green beans, green bell pepper, cucumbers, asparagus, aojiso (also known as green shiso), fava beans, cabbage, sprouts, broccoli rabe, edamame, scallions, nira (chives), kiwi, celery, kale, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, pesto

The Second Rule
Try to employ goho, or five cooking methods. Choose from grilling, frying, simmering, steaming, pickling and boiling.

SOURCE: Yukari Pratt

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Yes, even adults appreciate giving food some boundaries, especially when fresh apricots and salmon dripping in lime-soy sauce are next-door neighbors.

"A paper sack is so anticlimactic," says Yukari Pratt, a food writer recently based in Tokyo. "In a bento box, everything is protected. Each thing has its own place."

Yet bento boxes are more than just a clever way to segregate the sauced items from the dry, the hot from the cold. They are exemplars of the Japanese concept of mingei, the marriage of form and function. And for those determined to eat a rainbow of foods, squeeze in their five-a-day or control their portions, the boxes can double as important nutritional tools.

"When you look at the bento box, nine times out of 10 you know that you are getting a balanced, nutritional meal," says Pratt, 40, who prepared her own bento boxes for lunch when she worked at the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo a few years ago. "But it is also aesthetic."

The items displayed in a bento box follow a formula, albeit a creative one. The arrangement usually includes a heap of rice accompanied by a selection of vegetables, meat, fish or eggs. Each prepared food inhabits its own compartment, though sometimes the rice might cohabit with others. (The main dishes and rice go in the larger sections; side dishes are placed in the smaller spaces.)

To ensure a healthful balance as well as an artist's palette, the boxes should contain at least one dish in each of five color groups: red or orange, yellow, green, white, and black, dark purple or brown. The concept of goshiki, or five colors, is based on traditional principles of Japanese cuisine, some of which are rooted in Buddhism.

Indeed, planning your bento can be like a fun party game, or a kindergarten class: For reddish items, opt for carrots, kabocha (Japanese squash) or pickled apricots; for yellow, consider sweet potato, takuan (pickled daikon radish) and scrambled eggs. Green is easy: broccoli, spinach, green peppers, asparagus. Ditto for white: tofu, rice, daikon radish. Choices for black include Japanese eggplant, sesame seeds or seaweeds such as hijiki or kombu.

"It's also a great way to use up your leftovers," suggests Pratt, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City who now lives in Minnesota.

The second rule of bento boxing: Employ a range of cooking techniques, another means of pleasing the taste buds and the calorie counters. Foods should be grilled, fried, simmered, steamed, pickled and/or boiled. For example, a box could include grilled mackerel, fried rice, a boiled egg, a pickled plum and a fresh tangerine for dessert.

"You don't want everything to be fried," Pratt says. "It's not like Chicken McNuggets."

None of this needs to be burdensome. Typical recipes for bento box items -- such as our Kabocha Squash With Miso or Hijiki Sea Vegetable With Carrot -- call for a handful of ingredients and quick preparation. The sections of the boxes could even be filled with the help of a market that sells high-quality prepared foods.

These days, bento (the word roughly translates as a picnic or box lunch) is so pervasive in Japan that you can't ride a train or plane, walk into a workplace cafeteria or pop into a 7-Eleven without seeing the familiar takeout containers. Yet they aren't a modern invention. Bento appeared in its most primitive incarnation in Japan centuries ago, when the country's populace was involved mainly in farming, fishing and fighting -- occupations that require a commute. During those times, workers would pack their rice lunches in bamboo, oak or magnolia leaves and eat their meals on-site during a midday break. Eventually the boxes became sturdier, made of wooden materials, wicker or woven willow.

The containers evolved into objects of art and beauty during the decorative Edo period (1603-1868), when quotidian wares once hidden in the cupboard were elevated to coveted showpieces. The boxes seemingly were designed by both painters and poets, with floating fans, delicate blossoms and ethereal landscapes embellishing the lacquer exteriors. Around that time, new shapes also appeared, such as the hangetsu box, or half-moon, and the multi-tiered Shokado, modeled after the paint boxes used by Shokado Shojo, an Edo-era monk and artist.

The focus of the bento meal also shifted from sustenance to celebration. The boxes were prepared for Buddhist festivals; outdoor sojourns, such as cherry blossom viewing; and theater outings. During Kabuki and bunraku (puppet theater) performances, for example, the production would take a break so theatergoers could dine on their makunouchi bentos. The practice still exists today, says Pratt, who during a recent kabuki show in Ginza was surprised to see patrons quietly pull their boxes from under their seats, lay napkins on their laps and eat an intermission meal -- without ever standing up. (Those who don't plan ahead can buy one outside from the bento vendor.)

Bento boxes even have specific names that refer to where they are sold or made: eki-ben, for train station bento; sora-ben, or sky bento, for in-flight dining; conveni-bento, sold in mini-marts; aisai, those lovingly prepared by a man's wife. The flavors and food selections also vary according to region (Kyoto is known for tofu, northern Japan for beef) and season (autumnal mushrooms and chestnuts, spring bamboo shoots and ferns).

"They go from the ridiculous to the sublime there," says Mary Arnold, who owns the Asian antiques store East & Beyond Ltd. in McLean and spent four years living on an Army base 26 miles south of Tokyo. "A lot of us who enjoyed the Japanese culture would go someplace and buy a bento box. It was always a special event."

Meanwhile, those not able to fly 17 hours for lunch can get their bento fix closer to home. Assemble one yourself for a weekday lunch break, or indulge at a number of Washington area restaurants that sell bento boxes for dining in, such as Teaism, Cafe MoZu and, most recently, Zengo, which prepares lunch bentos of sushi, rice and a choice of salmon teriyaki, tandoori chicken or dragon skirt steak.

"The category is huge," says Linda Neumann, co-owner of Teaism, which sold 115,000 bento meals last year. "People like the idea that their food doesn't touch and that it helps them control portions, eat slower and appreciate food."

To be sure, it's hard not to enjoy a colorful, healthful meal served in a culinary jewelry box.

As he dined on a veggie bento box recently at the Teaism in Dupont Circle, Shannjit Singh, 27, remembered the ones he ate as a kid in Los Angeles and on travels to Japan. "I was fascinated by the sections of the bento box and that they had all of these different flavors but didn't mix together," Singh said. "It was magical."

No plastic container or paper sack has ever elicited such glee.

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