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Fire Storm> <<the things I didn't mention were hygiene related gifts>>: You've been feeling... not so fresh?
<<You can only have so much Asian lesbian teen pics before you get bored... or so I hear. I am not there yet>>: Or maybe it's just that a break every now and then makes the Asian lesbian teen pics refreshen their appeal.
<<the unenlightened may never become enlightened>>: I'm not saying the unenlightened would become enlightened, just that an enlightened will eventually come along, according to probability.
<<There's the catch, eh?>>: The twenty second one, in fact.
<<Scary... but I fear you're right>>: Of course I am.
<<But what if it is a rather interesting/bloody suicide? Is it then acceptable to stop traffic so everyone can see?>>: If it's interesting enough, it should be well documented so the public can hear about it at their leisure.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Monday, December 29, 2003 12:05:07 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

dearest firestorm>>
1) i already make up and laugh at canadian jokes because... IM CANADIAN and canadians love to laugh at themselves (cos i mean.. theres so much good material there....)
2) canada has as many guns per capita as america.
and 3) you may have missed it but... i dont exactly *have* family in canada to "go back and visit".

and in any case, even if, for some bizzare reason, i was to freak out and "run scared" from my birth country back south across the border, all i would need to do is switch the dial to rush limbaugh - or worse sean hannity - or id read some idiotic anne coulter - and id quickly come to my senses.
lain
Sunday, December 28, 2003 11:02:14 PM
IP: 4.7.35.8

Green Baron: <How about both, if you're in the land of Christ's birth>
Funny but true. "Merry Christmas!" *BOOM!*

Todd: <Cool, maybe, but still unusual for someone my age (not that I'm complaining).>
Relive your youth!

DPH: <Chair>
Weird. LM and I nearly weigh 400lbs together (most of it's me!) and we usually sit on my chair for hours together and no problems. If the back fell out, then whoever is in the chair leans back a lot (or rocks the chair, balances it on 2 legs, whatever) and that screws up the weight distribution, and well, that can cause failure.

Dezi: 
But the important question: Did she get a sugar rush?
<Hey, I got some too. The kitchen variety>
Same. But these things are frelling SW33T!
<Brandon swears that my mom is trying to kill me by giving them to me, 'cause, you know, I have this unlucky tendency to hurt myself on accident. Just ask my toe.>
I'm the same way. There are many times I fear I will have to wake LM up to take me to the ER.
<Murder, as long as its called culling the herd.>
"But officer! I was just helping out Captain Darwin!"

Gside: <Namely breaking CR decency standards>
I wish. Na, the things I didn't mention were hygiene related gifts.
<They have to do something different if they want to sell.>
Agreed. You can only have so much Asian lesbian teen pics before you get bored... or so I hear. I am not there yet.
<But it only takes a few goes through some unenlightened until you get around to an enlightened.>
Well, the unenlightened may never become enlightened if someone is always doing their work for them. I was unenlightened and made scripts at work to help make work easier and my co-workers are still unenlightened and some have even become MORE unenlightened!
<But money aids in the acheivement of so many purposes>
There's the catch, eh? Be happy, do what you want, but you need money to do that, and to get money, you have to do what you don't want and makes you not have time for what you want
<Right, I guess that just means we'll have to write up tutorials on all the however many tags we don't use.>
"This is a ASP tag, which you won't use since we are on a Unix machine."
<With any luck it'd be a recreation of royal France, just after the local Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat pie".>
Scary... but I fear you're right.
<Suicide, as long as you don't block traffic.>
Interesting... But what if it is a rather interesting/bloody suicide? Is it then acceptable to stop traffic so everyone can see?

lain: <ARGH!!!! STUPID FARKING AMERICANS!!!!!>
Be careful who you insult! You are becoming one of us. One of us. One of us.
You have been brought so far from Canada that you're nearly in Mexico, you have been given the gift of guns
Soon you will learn that Canada can very easily be the brunt of jokes, and you will be making those jokes, telling the jokes, even LAUGHING at the jokes.
Then, one day, you will visit family in Canada and you will think "My god! Was I like this once?" And you will leave scared, never to return.
For this is the American way!
Fire Storm
Sunday, December 28, 2003 05:28:51 PM
IP: 65.114.91.3

dezi>> <<Blame Canada!! (click my name for more)>> thats the... the.... ARGH!!!! STUPID FARKING AMERICANS!!!!! its not bad enough that you have to go ruining the ENTIRE canadian beef industry ONCE as a dirty little revenge tactic for us not joining your dumb-ass fraudulent war against iraq is it??? nooooooo, cant have THAT. when it comes around to bite YOUR beef industry in the arse, you have to go blaming it on us too. nice. very nice. :P:P

anon>> <<Thanks for the info. Can't wait for the finished product>> yeah, it should be cool :)

for christmas, i got:
socks
a nice scarf
a really awesome handmade book from gjs sister about the progression of our relationship.. which is DISGUSTINGLY cute :D
chocolate
red pajamas with a cute little fuzzy white cat on the front from my aunt and gran in england
more chocolate (with peanut butter in it)
pirates of the caribbean on dvd (mmmmm jack sparrow *drool*)
some snazzy art markers
and a duotone cz85 combat model 9mm handgun with molded rubber grips and 4 high-capacity pre-ban magazines. it is sexy. cmon, guess who gave me that... ;)

lain - [<< --like that, only with black slide and different grips]
Sunday, December 28, 2003 03:07:53 PM
IP: 4.7.35.8

DPH:>Thanks for the info. Can't wait for the finished product.
Anonymous
Chipley , Florida, U.S.A
Sunday, December 28, 2003 04:32:14 AM
IP: 209.215.12.171

Leo:<This is nothing more than a curiosity. You have "Dottie Dog", did you ever have a "Zipper Cat?" :D > No, just a dog. Dot is a black and white dog with lots of spots. Her brother was named Spot. We weren't supposed to name them, because my mom figured it would be more ammo in the argument to keep them. The names were supposed to be descriptive. Most of them stuck. I add the -Dog to better indicate that I am talking about my dog, and not some weird aunt Dorothy or something. :) BTW what is a Zipper Cat?

Gside:<Are you sure you're not my mother? > Yes. More than reasonably sure. The ironic thing is that I just spent the whole week making fun of my own mom who is tons more clumsy than I am. :)
Dezi
Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:55:55 AM
IP: 68.58.158.101

Today, I made it into the Whole Pie Eater's Club at Pete and Elda's. On an extra cheese, too.

Fire Storm> <<Aside from a few things I won't mention (various reasons)>>: Namely breaking CR decency standards.
<<but that does not stop the inventive from trying>>: They have to do something different if they want to sell.
<<Only possibly enlightened>>: But it only takes a few goes through some unenlightened until you get around to an enlightened.
<<But you can't rely on money alone. You need a purpose in life>>: But money aids in the acheivement of so many purposes.
<<That would make sense, and you know very well that is not allowed>>: Right, I guess that just means we'll have to write up tutorials on all the however many tags we don't use.
<<Can you just see Picard trying to stop a giant orbital pie gun from creaming a city?>>: With any luck it'd be a recreation of royal France, just after the local Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat pie".
<<Which is more acceptable: Murder or Suicide?>>: Suicide, as long as you don't block traffic.

Green Baron> <<I'll trade you Ben for portraits of Alexander Hamilton, Abe Lincoln, and George Washington>>: Would you trade me a Ben for a Woodrow Wilson?

Dezi> <<it's really fun to just randomly yell Pirates!>>: Only if you follow it with an Arrr.
<>: Are you sure you're not my mother?
<<It was like finding money in your clothes>>: Or SnoopyCool's Christmas present of 70+ chapters in one day.
<<pointless, but my dad and I share a birthday, and I read in the news of a lady who had three sons, each about two years apart, all on her birthday>>: Yes, it is pointless, but still fun.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:29:40 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Dezi:> This is nothing more than a curiosity. You have "Dottie Dog", did you ever have a "Zipper Cat?" :D
Leo
Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:16:43 AM
IP: 68.96.8.12

Blame Canada!! (click my name for more ;) ). Really, it's kinda funny, and So. Korea was banning _our_ meat.
(Nothing on the Canadians, really, I just saw the story on CNN)

Yes folks, I have returned. Christmas went ok for me, but Dottie-dog and I are tired. Zzzzzzz.
Presents? Brandon made me a really cool piece of Snoopy art (Todd: Snoopy rocks, and don't you forget it! ;) Shoot, man, we can barter. I got a bottle of hair conditioner here I could part with :D )
He later got me a new keyboard and a new mouse and an Inuyasha boxed set. (Eat that, Warpie!)
Got some Korean Snoopys, some American Snoopys, Snoopy Jammy-pants, Snoopy salt shakers....Oh yeah, and Pirates! (of the Caribbean, but it's really fun to just randomly yell Pirates! Try it.)
So now, with my new board, my fingers are happy. My toe hurts though. I stubbed it last nite, really really bad, I either hurt that tendon that connects it to the foot or maybe broke it a little. I'm putting money on the tendon. Toes aren't supposed to bend that way.
Mom got me a Chicago Blackhawks jersey. Been wanting one for years. I also got to spend tons of quality time with my little sisters. My 6 yr. old sis got a Barbie slug bug powerwheel!! I always wanted one of those! So we took it outside and I lived vicariously until she got tired and reminded me I was going to help her with her kindergarden homework. A very important design element on that car, though: It is too wide to fit through doorways the normal way, it must be turned on its side to get through. Result: No driving the car in the house. End of arguement.

Dottie spent the week being chased around by the one year old sister. Her eyes would get all big and she would zero in on Dottie and zoooom! She's a quick crawler. They would do laps around the kitchen table. At one point, Nicole ambushed Dot by crawling over my lap and flailing her arms around until she caught fur. Dottie was remarkably patient. She also reports that she got an extendable leash, a no-pull harness (which she is puzzled about and refuses to wear) and a new bandana and some jerky treats.

In other news: One of my pet rats, Surf, the evil one, died. He hurt his foot, or maybe got some kind of leg tumor, but if he just plain hurt it, it got infected. Either way, it got really swollen and he quit eating. He was buried next to Homer, who got pneumonia and died from choking on seeds while eating. :( Just Demus and Zen now.

Good news: It's official! My dad got his mid-tour leave! As of Jan. 16 he'll be stateside for 2 weeks. Sucky part is that is right at the end of the first week back at school for me, so I'll only get to see him on a weekend. :(
He's back in March/April, baring any stupidity, so that's ok. :)

FireStorm:<a delightful breakfast of Pixie Stix and Mountain Dew > I saw a girl snort a pixie stick on a dare in high school. She started to cough and yelled it was killing her. I also saw a girl snort salt at McDonald's. It reacted with her snot and she started yelling It burns! It burns! and scared small children.
<KNIVES! > Hey, I got some too. The kitchen variety. Brandon swears that my mom is trying to kill me by giving them to me, 'cause, you know, I have this unlucky tendency to hurt myself on accident. Just ask my toe.
<Murder or Suicide?> Murder, as long as its called culling the herd.

Green Baron:<showing me the Cr from a week ago> That happened to me on one of my fav Inuyasha sites. It took me awhile to figure it out too. I just thought the guy just wasn't updating the site (its a manga translation site). I was starting to get really bummed and was surfing google and came to that site and it suddenly worked! Lots of Inuyashas! (like a month and a half) It was like finding money in your clothes!

Attilla:<the first day of Kwanzaa> Care to share some of its history?
<I'd get mad and introduce you to some Korean chefs I know ;) > Dottie-dog says Oh please *rolls eyes* She's been chased around for the better part of a week by a half-Korean baby bent on making a meal of Dottie's tail and no Dottie stew yet. ....Although Dottie _did_ steal a cookie from Nicole and tried to take her bottle....

Gside:< But then, the chance of a pair of people sharing a birthday in any significant sized group is larger than you'd expect > Ok, pointless, but my dad and I share a birthday, and I read in the news of a lady who had three sons, each about two years apart, all on her birthday.

DPH:<to ensure I don't oversleep for classes. > Get one of those alarm clocks that has a hammer and two bells. The old kind. I don't think dead people can sleep through those. ...But if you shut it off and roll over, you're screwed....
<bound to be a few superbeings around.> Dottie-Dog is currently claiming superbeing status. It's good for her ego.

Ok that's about it. Oh yeah, my grandma treated me to a little story from her childhood. It was 1947 (about) and she was about 10 years old and there were these little people walking around her house, trying to get in. Since she was little and WWII was still in her head, she thought they were Nazis. Now she thinks they were aliens (since that was Roswell time and all) and I'm not really sure if she was joking or for real.... :/
Ok bye bye.
Dezi - [(beef! It's what's for dinner!)]
Saturday, December 27, 2003 11:53:01 PM
IP: 68.58.158.101

Anon - <This might sound like a stupid question. But what ever became of the "Christmas present" that was offered to the TGS readers a few weeks ago?> 1st, it's not a stupid question. 2nd, it's being . . umm . . worked on.

Green Baron - < The US has banned beef from countries with just one case, so I won't criticize other countries for that. Canada has the same policy, too. Is that extreme? Maybe. The US may want to reconsider it's decision, and I imagine other countries should, too. > I have to agree. Just banning beef from a country the minute you hear about mad cow in that country sounds just stupid. I don't mind banning the beef from one country for one case of mad cow, if I know it's because the country doesn't have adequate safeguards in place. But, on the other hand, if a country doesn't have adequate safeguards in place, then why in heck are we importing beef from there? To me, that's the really simple question.

Fire Storm - <but nearly every chair will stand up to <300 lbs, as long as they aren't abused.> b.s. When is sitting in a chair considered abuse? <Ones with arms that are attached to the backs are definitely stronger.> Back fell out before the legs did. What my friend definitely weighs less than 300 lb and more than 250 lb, but chairs just don't last. I'll advise him to go to Office Depot and ask to look at chairs that are extra strong, specifically looking for a warranty that is at least . . 90 days to see if the chair can last.
DPH
AR, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 10:11:07 PM
IP: 204.94.193.76

FIRE STORM - [Ok, now that has to be one of the coolest presents this year!]

Cool, maybe, but still unusual for someone my age (not that I'm complaining).
Todd Jensen
St. Louis, MO
Saturday, December 27, 2003 08:14:07 PM
IP: 63.186.0.244

Krista: Missing your girlfriend can be a sadness, my condolensces.. Call her. If you take this post acceptance of your apology as a polite hint to curb your posting, or perhaps you could go to a chat room and talk all you like there.

http://s8.org/chat/gargs/

Copy and paste into your browser, or hit my name for a link below.

However, keep posting here looking for me to forgive you for over-posting and I will be forced to be mean and ban you. Them's the breaks, kiddo. I shall take silence from your corner as understanding and as a thank you. :)

Mara
Saturday, December 27, 2003 05:38:33 PM
IP: 205.188.209.40

Please, Mara, answer me. Do you forgive me?
Krista
Saturday, December 27, 2003 05:30:11 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Oops. Sorry. Shuting up now.
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 04:36:19 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Sorry, Mara. I guess I just wanted to feel like Marleena was here. She is my BFF and she just moved. I haven't heard from her, and it was she that told me of this site. I guess maybe...maybe I was trying to get her attention if she was on. I'm sorry. I am an idiot. Yeah, I just discovered the images thingy. It's really cool. Could you ever forgive me for being such a dimwitt?
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 04:35:39 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Sorry, Anonymous. I guess I just wanted to feel like Marleena was here. She is my BFF and she just moved. I haven't heard from her, and it was she that told me of this site. I guess maybe...maybe I was trying to get her attention if she was on. I'm sorry. I am an idiot. Yeah, I just discovered the images thingy. It's really cool. Could you ever forgive me for being such a dimwitt?
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 04:34:17 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Wow. I just looked at all the images on this website. They are so cool!
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 04:28:22 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

This might sound like a stupid question. But what ever became of the "Christmas present" that was offered to the TGS readers a few weeks ago?
Anonymous
Chipley , Florida, U.S.A
Saturday, December 27, 2003 04:17:23 PM
IP: 209.215.12.219

Anonymous, Marleena and Krista:

Happy Holidays and I'm glad you have a Brooklyn fetish, I like him too. However, flooding the comment room from the same IP address is frowned upon here. We've had a nasty run of multiple personalities masquerading as separate "real" entities and as such whenever different people posting from different cities, within minutes of each other, with the same IP addy... well it makes me queasy in the heart. You don't want to make Co-Admin Mara come down from On High with heart-sickness? No, little newbies, you love your Goddess more than that, you little sweeties.

Stop sharing the same comp under pretense to spam this lovely comment room. I'll give you a cookie. Or I'll ban you.

Also, you do not need to spam this room to see the images, there is a nifty link at the top right of the page where you can go and find all sorts of lovely sorts of TGS images.

Don't make me have to spank you in front of the oldbies... they laugh and point.
Mara "Shinigami" Cordova - [baranotenshi@hotmail.com]
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:59:34 PM
IP: 205.188.209.40

...
Anonymous
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:54:03 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

?
Anonymous
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:53:34 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Okay, I got it. Deliath is Angela's clone.
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:51:49 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Who's this?
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:50:38 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Chill, Marleena.
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:48:21 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

NO! NO! Brooklyn is mine!
Marleena - [mcluster87@hotmail.com]
Odessa, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:46:34 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Yo. I just discovered this site, and I think it's the greatest thing I've found on the computer yet! I love it! Is anyone else writting their own stories of the gargoyles? Just curious.
Krista - [ksitton@charter.net]
Denton, TX, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:43:33 PM
IP: 68.185.206.251

Found this on Kungfool:
Thanks to it's fans, ALF is making a TV comeback. If we work hard, Gargoyles may not be far behind.
Fire Storm
Saturday, December 27, 2003 02:28:11 PM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Gifts for my dogs:
rawhides and squeak toys

Gifts for my cats:
a stuffed mouse with a bell tail and bunch of stuff that rolls with bells inside

something you hang on the door nob with little danglers attached so they can swing their paws.

Stocking goodies:
Mechanicle pencils
Nordstrom truffles
Rocher hazelnut candies
A relaxing sounds headset. each button indicates a sound like rain, brook, ocean, rainforrest.
4 tooters ( plastic test tubes full of booze)
3 mini bottles of Amaretto
a bunch of lotto scratch cards (I won over $13)

Gifts:
strawberry bubble bath set
Pj's
socks and bras
a new pegasus for the collection
new Xanth books
an organizer
A CD
money
a box of Godiva caramels
a box of little chocolate bottls full of liquore
Hellsing
Pirates of the Carribean
A watch and necklace set

and a Wacom graphire is on it's way.

Spacebabie - [spacebabie@hotmail.com]
Saturday, December 27, 2003 11:53:42 AM
IP: 4.72.73.157

Gside> Thanks for the information. I can get on for now, but itmay start locking up again, so I can deal with it then.

DPH> The US has banned beef from countries with just one case, so I won't criticize other countries for that. Canada has the same policy, too. Is that extreme? Maybe. The US may want to reconsider it's decision, and I imagine other countries should, too.

Gov Locke of Washington has announced he wille at a spare rib despite the mad cow scare, so if he starts acting crazy and endorses Dennis Kucinich, we'll know that it's a bigger problem than we thought.

Fire Storm> <<Which is more acceptable: Murder or Suicide?>> How about both, if you're in the land of Christ's birth :)

<<Look at how people avoided Chinese people due to SARS earlier this year>> Even Berkely did that.

Patrick> I'll trade you Ben for portraits of Alexander Hamilton, Abe Lincoln, and George Washington :)
Green Baron - [greenbaron@hotmail.com]
Camp Humphreys, Korea
Saturday, December 27, 2003 11:07:33 AM
IP: 220.73.165.75

Weird things at work:
1. I saw someone having a delightful breakfast of Pixie Stix and Mountain Dew
2. They are replacing the carpet here, which means they are grinding down the floors. We spend a week removing the computers from this area, and they all have to be back by Monday. They are still grinding and they are no where near close to putting in the carpet. There isn't a chance in hell this will be done by Monday. I kinda wish I was here on Monday to see the chaos.

Christmas loot:
I got good stuff! Aside from a few things I won't mention (various reasons), I got:
Money, a BREAD MAKER (W00T! I missed having one), and several people gave me the gift that keeps on giving: KNIVES! (These are sw33t ones that I kinda swiped from LM's father, and he got me MORE of them! Gotta love the Amish!)

Gside: <But they're still clown pies. Are you sure you trust them?>
I have little reason to care or worry. If I get turned, I will then have a legal excuse to kill.
If not, hey, I have pie!

They are, but that does not stop the inventive from trying
<Ah, yes, the dangers of providing a place where the possibly technologically enlightened can get angered>
Only possibly enlightened. Or those that can download toolz from those who ARE enlightened
<Exactly. It makes it a little bit better.>
But you can't rely on money alone. You need a purpose in life!
<So have you converted it to an icebox? and how fast do you go through ice?>
No, the fridge still works... for now. It's just tiny. And if I DID need ice, I would have fun and find a local liquid nitrogen supplier.
<Heck have one of the three of us write up an intro to html talking about the 7 or 8 tags we use in the stories.>
That would make sense, and you know very well that is not allowed.

Bud-Clare: <And Gruyere, and parmesan, and colby, and monterey jack, and swiss, and...>
MUNSTER! The ULTIMATE snacking cheese!
(Although, I won't say no to a nice Asiago bagel.)
<Given the context, I think I'm okay with that.>
*sigh* Suit yourself. But one day you may look back and wish that you knew.
Or not.
<Whiner. Even Star Trek drew the line at pie guns.>
Can you just see Picard trying to stop a giant orbital pie gun from creaming a city?
<Hey! Some of us are female, remember? Sheesh...>
Don't worry. We'll get you the right tools so you can join in the fun!
<Try not to have too much fun while I'm gone this time.>
She's gone! Let's start the next cool discussion!
Which is more acceptable: Murder or Suicide?

DPH: <I'm really perplexed about how that finding one case of Mad Cow disease leads to banning all beef exports from a country.>
Panic. Fear. Lack of education on the topic.
Look at how people avoided Chinese people due to SARS earlier this year
<Does anyone what kind of chair would be sturdy for a person who buys over . . 250 pounds?>
Well, most chairs will stand up to that weight... it's all about how much they are abused (leaning back, etc.) Besides... hollow legs are sturdier than solid legs (at least metal, anyway) Go to Office Depot and check out the chairs. Most of the ones that cost more than $50 are pretty good, but stay away from the ones that have wood under the fabric (nearly impossible to tell, though) Ergonomic chairs are usually crap, though. Ones with arms that are attached to the backs are definitely stronger. I know there are sites that make stuff for the extremely overweight (500+ lbs), but nearly every chair will stand up to <300 lbs, as long as they aren't abused.

Todd: <a couple of wind-up toys of Snoopy and Woodstock>
Ok, now that has to be one of the coolest presents this year!
Fire Storm
Saturday, December 27, 2003 10:48:17 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Hmm. Does anyone what kind of chair would be sturdy for a person who buys over . . 250 pounds? Said person is complaining about chairs breaking because the chair can't handle the weight. Said person is commenting that hollow metal legs . . aren't good enough. Any ideas on what kind of chair that said person needs to buy?
dph's hologram
AR, USA
Saturday, December 27, 2003 03:19:44 AM
IP: 204.94.193.11

Patrick:<<Half-size working replica of the leg lamp from "A Christmas Story.">>
LOL!! Did it come in a crate marked "Fra-GI-le?"
It probabably came from "LegLamps.com" (Click my name)

I got the DVD for my father.

Leo - [<- LegLamps.com :)]
Saturday, December 27, 2003 12:36:34 AM
IP: 68.96.8.12

Christmas was all right, didn't get any really fun toys (bandannas, peg puzzles, a snake screwdriver, and a gift card to Borders so far). My father did better with a Bilbo/Gandalf at Bag End's door set of bookends (with another collection of the trilogy (#4 I think)), some books of Tolkien analysis (philosophy and languages), and LoTR Trivial Pursuit (too many questions about the movies). Though I got to hear and see Wannamaker's organ in Philly.

DPH> <<if you're in a group of 30 (is that the right number?) or more people, the odds are incredibly large that two people share the same birthday>>: The real way to do it is not to figure out the probability of some people sharing birthdays, but the probabiliry of nobody sharing a birthday and subtract it from 1. The math goes that you take the first guy, then factor in the second guy not sharing his birthday(364/365), then the third guy not sharing the first two, and so on(363/365). So it'd be 364!/(364-29)!/(365^29), or 0.271, just in a bit more than seven out of every ten groupings of 30 people you're in, two people will share a birthday. Of course, the chance of you being one of the two aren't so good.
<<the knowledge acquired will enable you do do better at gambling>>: Exactly, you'll figure out you shouldn't.

Green Baron> <>: First of all, shift-reload will force a requery to the server instead of maybe reading from your cache. Ortherwise, in Tools/Internet Options check what settings you have for cehcking for newer versions of stored pages (make sure it's not Never). Of course, that's assuming you'll be able to read this.

Patrick> <<Wallet-size portrait of Ben Franklin>>: A.K.A. Cold hard cash. I've been meaning to get rid of mine and my two Grants for a while now.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Friday, December 26, 2003 11:17:20 PM
IP: 68.37.159.199

My haul for Christmas 2003:

"Indiana Jones" trilogy on DVD
Cordless phone with hands-free headset
Automatic paper shredder with basket
Dress shirt, sweater, and three new ties
Borders gift card
Wallet-size portrait of Ben Franklin

And finally, the most bizzare gift...

Half-size working replica of the leg lamp from "A Christmas Story."
Patrick
Friday, December 26, 2003 11:06:58 PM
IP: 68.73.165.58

Kathy> I got a Nativity scene, and various candies from my mother including maple sugar.

From Karen and her family I got various gifts, including a picture of Karen's graduation, a few DVDs, a book on Corner Brook, and a mug.

On Chistmas Day I watched Buffy, but the day before I sange Carols throughout parts of the post and went to Midnight Mass, so a good time in general. Plus I had a lot fo days off, unlike in Kosovo.
Green Baron - [greenbaron@hotail.com]
Camp Humphreys, Korea
Friday, December 26, 2003 10:27:45 PM
IP: 218.145.25.48

Testing...my comp is locked in to showing me the Cr from a week ago. I cleared all my cookies, but no good came of it. I sthere anyway to stop this probem. I even hit relaod continuously, but my IE is locked to a fixed point in the CR from a month ago. Maybe thsi message will update.
Green Baron - [greenbaron@hotmail.com]
Friday, December 26, 2003 10:04:56 PM
IP: 218.145.25.48

I got a 2004 journal, some pencils, and a couple of wind-up toys of Snoopy and Woodstock (I'm not making the last bit up, either, and believe me, I was as surprised to get them as you are to read about them).
Todd Jensen
St. Louis, MO
Friday, December 26, 2003 07:13:39 PM
IP: 63.186.0.96

Happy Boxing Day!

So is nobody going to spill about their holiday swag?

I got a shiny yellow contractors wheel barrow!

kathy
Friday, December 26, 2003 02:14:37 PM
IP: 66.82.197.68

Today is also the first day of Kwanzaa, and I celebrate, but only because I have soem black fur and cats were worshipped by an African culture 4,000 years ago, even if its founder does have a shady past.

and please someone be offended. I woudl loe for Gabriel to comment onmy insnsensitivity as we need some fun again, sinc I have captured the Green Baron and running out of things to use in probing him, though I have been having with him, a bucket of water, and some electrodes.

Dottie> Chomping on me, now? Good thing I'm a Fifth Magnitude ghost (Ravenloft reference) or I'd get mad and introduce you to some Korean chefs I know ;)

Ed> The Mirror is another one to take care of. I'd much rather read the Sun than the Mirror :) Of course, the Sun is funny as they make fun of Chirac and don't care about being fined. Now, how are you on sending Ken Livingstone to the Tower of London, permanently?

Vinny> The Martians are planning to counter-attack with strange gases coming from Uranus :)

Happy Bithday Mooncat!! ::Attila, Bucky Katt, and Bub Bun enetr the CR room in disco outfits as they start strip- dancing for Mooncat::

Three male strippers all for you :)
ghost of Reverend Attila
Friday, December 26, 2003 09:23:43 AM
IP: 220.73.165.75

Happy Boxing Day, everyone - a day which has nothing whatsoever (again I say) to do with boxing, but with boxes.

*a large box falls out of the sky upon Todd; only his feet stick out from beneath it, a la the Wicked Witch of the East *

That's not funny, people.
Todd Jensen
St. Louis, MO
Friday, December 26, 2003 07:13:09 AM
IP: 63.186.0.245

I would say "Merry Christmas", but technically it's not Christmas and this holiday doesn't make me merry.

Gside - <But then, the chance of a pair of people sharing a birthday in any significant sized group is larger than you'd expect> I've always had trouble buying that statement. Supposedly, if you're in a group of 30 (is that the right number?) or more people, the odds are incredibly large that two people share the same birthday. I can buy that with a group of maybe 182 or more people, not with a group of 30.

Jaden - <At least you didn't find out that you should have taken a stats class instead of algebra.> Stats class is fun, IMHO. Just think, when you leave the class, the knowledge acquired will enable you do do better at gambling.

I'm really perplexed about how that finding one case of Mad Cow disease leads to banning all beef exports from a country.
DPH
AR, USA
Friday, December 26, 2003 02:40:23 AM
IP: 204.94.193.57

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the holiday.

lain He could always send out invitations for a party.

Gside- At least you didn't find out that you should have taken a stats class instead of algebra.

Back to Christmas party.
Later.
Jaden - [jaden1444@aol.com]
Thursday, December 25, 2003 11:22:43 PM
IP: 172.193.84.40

Merry Christmas, everybody!
Patrick
Thursday, December 25, 2003 09:03:33 PM
IP: 68.73.165.58

Mery Chrismas to all!!
Leo
Thursday, December 25, 2003 08:49:24 PM
IP: 68.96.8.12

Merry Christmas, everyone!
Todd Jensen
St. Louis, MO
Thursday, December 25, 2003 07:01:48 PM
IP: 63.186.0.74

One wishes a happy Christmas all the Commonwealth and Britian and one's Allies in America. :)

silverbolt
EnglandThursday, December 25, 2003 05:44:26 PM
IP: 213.122.102.56

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!
kathy
Thursday, December 25, 2003 05:25:57 PM
IP: 66.82.197.68

Merry Christmas. Candy time!
Niamhgold
Thursday, December 25, 2003 04:07:20 PM
IP: 69.161.59.115

Merry Christmas to all!
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Thursday, December 25, 2003 03:35:48 PM
IP: 216.234.99.233

Merry Christmas east coast, and merry Christmas everyone else when it gets around to you (or already has).
Spent the day making potatoes au gratin, cooking turkey, shipping presents, and trimming the tree (finally). Tomorrow it's off to Philly for the night.

Bud Clare> <<Hey! Some of us are female, remember?>>: They make some wonderful temporary prosthetics nowadays, in two styles, even: strap on and double ended.

Warpmind! Welcome back.
<<a dark-haired man>>: You've got hair again?
<<The statement at the...>>: Now that is a true brace of Anas platyrhynchos.

Happy Birthday Mooncat.

Silvadel> <<Mine is fairly close to christmas being Jan 26th>>: That is rather creepy, being my own birthday. But then, the chance of a pair of people sharing a birthday in any significant sized group is larger than you'd expect (364/365*363/365*362/365...).

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 11:59:48 PM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Yes Happy Birthday Mooncat -- what a horrible time to have a birthday... Mine is fairly close to christmas being Jan 26th but it is just far enough away to have it be 2 separate occasions...

For you it must have always been happy birthday merry christmas... one fewer sets of presents for you...
silvadel
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 05:53:20 PM
IP: 24.225.134.30

I don't know If I'll be on tomorow. Merry Christmas!

Spacebabie - [LadyAndromeda@smstars.zzn.com]
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 04:48:46 PM
IP: 4.72.75.204

Happy Birthday to Mooncat!

And speaking of Mooncat, I think I'll repost *her* link to that "Flame Warriors" site. :p
Leo - [<-"Flame Warriors"]
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 03:20:54 PM
IP: 68.96.8.12

Bud-Clare:<Talking to you is punishment enough for any crime. Although I'm still appalled that someone who thinks that a pie gun is clever is claiming to have imagination, so I'm going to punish you in the most appropriate way I can. *starts cramming that horrible-tasting, absurd, "lacative"-laced pie down Vinnie's throat* There. The Gods of Imagination are well-pleased that the upstart has received his comeuppance. All is right with the world once again. (Except, of course, for the things which are still quite wrong, but which can be overlooked for the purposes of this pointless generalization.)> *Quietly ignores Bud-Clare and goes back to work reshaping the cream covered surface of Mars into a Green Baron Memorial*
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 12:18:42 PM
IP: 216.234.99.231

The statement at the bottom of this post is true.
*A faint creaking spreads through the CR, as an old, poorly-tended door slowly opens, and a dark-haired man with a reddish goatee strides forth, smiling enimgatically, scanning the room.*
I... live... again.

So, folks, what with my loooooooooong absence and all, wherein I've been working at an advertising agency, acquired a driver's license and many, many things that have happened over the past year and so... I'm back.
Hopefully, I'll stick around here for a while, too.

But for now, all I'll say is Merry Christmas!

And then I'm outta here for Christmas Dinner and such.

The statement at the top of this post is false.
Warpmind de InzanE - [warpmindNOSPAM@tiscali.no]
Middle, Nowhere, Norway
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 09:09:05 AM
IP: 193.217.195.141

I'm going out of town again. Try not to have too much fun while I'm gone this time.
___________________
Vinnie> <<Oh, I never bore people that is only for the unimaginative.>>
That's what we like to call "denial." You might consider looking it up.

<<So punish yourself!>>
Talking to you is punishment enough for any crime. Although I'm still appalled that someone who thinks that a pie gun is clever is claiming to have imagination, so I'm going to punish you in the most appropriate way I can. *starts cramming that horrible-tasting, absurd, "lacative"-laced pie down Vinnie's throat* There. The Gods of Imagination are well-pleased that the upstart has received his comeuppance. All is right with the world once again. (Except, of course, for the things which are still quite wrong, but which can be overlooked for the purposes of this pointless generalization.)
__________________
Fire Storm> <<If you have to ask, you will never know.>>
Given the context, I think I'm okay with that.

<<Maybe he is referring to Star Trek's stance on paradox's: Whatever fits the story>>
Nah, that's what he was complaining about. Whiner. Even Star Trek drew the line at pie guns.

<<Only when the soap is dropped.>>
Hey! Some of us are female, remember? Sheesh...
__________________
Gside> <<Cheddar mostly, maybe some edam next, and of course intermittant bouts of mozerella.>>
And Gruyere, and parmesan, and colby, and monterey jack, and swiss, and... *melts into a puddle of drooling goo at the thought*
Bud-Clare
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 05:41:12 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

Lain> <<some people to help me update the secure site would be nice>>: You've gotta let me know what needs to be done before I can do it. Though I'd say it's a bad idea to have people just to make changes other people want done. You should get some of the people already involved to learn how to do it (or use a wysiwyg editor).
<<you should really stop wasting your breath, you know>>: Everyone has the right to be irritated by what they want.

DPH> <<Only having 3 people on staff who know HTML is sufficient?>>: Not really, but having people whose only job is to know html isn't an effective answer. Heck have one of the three of us write up an intro to html talking about the 7 or 8 tags we use in the stories.

Vinnie> <<But time itself can't be altered>>: Entirely up to the author.
<<More importantly if you want to write a timetravel story that appeals to the masses you need the story to be believable>>: Tell that to Terry Pratchett (a quote: "'Thirty thousand years ago they were made a million years ago. Time here is,' the kangaroo shrugged, 'noththe same. It was... glued together differently, right?'"). All you really need is internal consistancy. And besides, to be truly believeable, you need to mention relativity and the speed of light, something I don't believe H. G. Wells ever did.

Bud Clare> <<Maybe I _want_ to destroy the universe... Nah, I'd rather eat cheese>>: As would I. Cheddar mostly, maybe some edam next, and of course intermittant bouts of mozerella.

Fire Storm> <<Yeah, but they had a warehouse full of pies, so...>>: But they're still clown pies. Are you sure you trust them?
<<Reminds me of this one vid I saw that involved celery>>: I thought carrots were more popular.
<<It only takes 1 pissed off fan>>: Ah, yes, the dangers of providing a place where the possibly technologically enlightened can get angered.
<<Money is nice, but that's just a bonus>>: Exactly. It makes it a little bit better.
<<Like my fridge>>: So have you converted it to an icebox? and how fast do you go through ice?

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 01:34:23 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Bud Clare - <But senility comes to everyone, sooner or later.> And I try not to post when I am exceptionally sleep deprived.

Ok, I have a deadline I'm working under. I have to get my house cleaned up by New Year's Eve or I'm out. Thankfully, I have left to do is clean two rooms: my living room and my kitchen.

I decided to take the exceptionally brave step of asking my dad to come over tomorrow night to help me make Quesadillas. My sister-in-law has told me that using my food processor to grind meat from a chicken . . leaves a flavor. I asked my dad over to help me debone the chicken after I get the legs cooked. Thankfully, I printed out my recipe so he won't have to stop to ask me what's next.

Oh yea, the mother of my dad's wife passed away early this morning. Thankfully, I am told it was peacefull. No, I'm not that affected.

As usual, Christmas doesn't have that much meaning to me.

A while back, my dad . . discovered I had taken medication for depression. I told him the reason I stopped was because I couldn't get any more free without a copy of his tax returns because I'm a dependent of him for tax purposes. He said he would give a copy of the returns so I can continue getting medication. I told him that medication has two interesting side effects: increased drowsiness and weight loss. I don't mind the 2nd effect :-) , but the 1st effect can present problems at times because I'll have to somebody watching over me to ensure I don't oversleep for classes.
DPH
AR, USA
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 12:01:42 AM
IP: 204.94.193.73

SargeAbernathy: <Is this anyone, anyone would know? He was a huge fanatic>
Maybe you had a run in with Patrick Toman/Madame Destine

Gside: 
Yeah, but they had a warehouse full of pies, so...
<Isn't she starting to show her age now?>
Yeah, I would say so.
<It can most definitely be better, depending on the editing and the vegetables>
Reminds me of this one vid I saw that involved celery
<How large are they really? I mean they have us, but are we really that large comparatively?>
It only takes 1 pissed off fan
<Depends on if we can also make them give us all their money>
Money is nice, but that's just a bonus. The whole point is reveling in the fact that you are making them insane

See?
<Just keep reminding yourself it's paying for your wedding>
Yeah...
<Then after the wedding you can actually start buying toys again.>
Like my fridge!

Bud-Clare: <Please don't use l33t, it chafes me so.>
$0ri! !'ll B c4r3|=u1
<You would certainly expect so, wouldn't you? But apparently not.>
Well, it all depends on the paradox, I guess.
<Regardless...what the &$*@ does Star Trek have to do with anything?>
*sigh* If you have to ask, you will never know.
Maybe he is referring to Star Trek's stance on paradox's: Whatever fits the story

Vinnie: <It's not my fault Martians like to attack from behind>
Only when the soap is dropped
Fire Storm
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 11:06:58 PM
IP: 68.73.59.147

Hello all,

LotR Review> I know I'm later with the review than most. I was still cutting through the book. Sorry, but I have a hard time loving the book. Many of Ed's criticisms of the movie I felt towards the book. The plot seemed shackled to irrelevant info and minutae that didn't help move the story forward or make it any deeper. I will call a spade and spade in that the movie was definate a thrill ride. My favorite part was the Eagles fighting the Nazgul. I've written stories of raptors fighting dragons and it looked incredibly similar. Lots of fun.

One thing the movie did make me ponder was the relationship between the author and Frodo and Sam. In the early part of the story it was clear Tolkien identifies with Frodo. But as the story progresses and Frodo was put into contention it seemed like Sam became Tolkien's cypher. Maybe that's why Sam goes way above the call of best friend. I noticed both in the movie and the book how Frodo gradually loses his drive while Sam by contrast seems indefatiguable and ever optimistic. Just a thought.

I won't work to change anyone's opinons. I liked it. I'll probably buy the extended edition box set. Definately a fun ride.
Taleweaver
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 10:58:19 PM
IP: 207.69.139.136

Bud-Clare - <All of those? You might have to merge several people to form a superbeing.> There's bound to be a few superbeings around. ;) But having one or more of those qualities makes a person a potential applicant for tgs.
dph
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 06:46:05 PM
IP: 204.94.193.15

Bud-Clare:<There's a reason why you can't get a date.> It's not my fault Martians like to attack from behind, but since i noticed this trend I put most of my defenses behind me.<You bored a lot of people to death. You must be punished.> Oh, I never bore people that is only for the unimaginative. So punish yourself!
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 01:45:50 PM
IP: 216.234.99.44

DPH> <>
You don't need to apologise. I was just confused...because those colors are nothing alike. But senility comes to everyone, sooner or later. ;)

<<Ideally, we're looking for somebody who knows HTML, is a good writer, writes stories well enough to be qualified as an editor, happens to be an excellent artist, and is willing to help out the process of writing outlines for stories.>>
*L* All of those? You might have to merge several people to form a superbeing.
___________________
lain> <<you should really stop wasting your breath, you know.>>
Yes. It's gone from being annoying to being grimly amusing, though.
__________________
Gside> <<No, not really, but what's wrong about complaining about an impossible situation?>>
I'm just saying.

<<That's quite a high upper limit.>>
Hey, you're right. Maybe I _want_ to destroy the universe... Nah, I'd rather eat cheese. But I could. If I wanted to.
_________________
Vinnie> <<Hey, everyone has their pet peeves one of mine happens to be timetravel.>>
I care. Really.

<<However it is a pity that Martians always attack from behind. If they used a frontal assualt Mars could have successfully attacked Mr. Carter Mark X. The forward shielding comes down for a brief amount of time so the cream pie can pass through. If a Martian were quick enough they could have gotten through, especially if they were cloaked, but no one tried a frontal attack so it's a moot point.>>
There's a reason why you can't get a date.

<<So I covered a few people with pies, so what? I didn't kill them.>>
You bored a lot of people to death. You must be punished.
_________________
Thomas> <>
It's nice to know that you think I'm that easy to piss off.

<<And calling a woman "he" is really rude.>>
We've already moved on, thank you. And I'm not a damsel in distress, so knock it off.
Bud-Clare
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 08:58:53 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

Vinnie> I don't know how to break this to you, but right now, you're just pissing Bud-Clare off. I don't think you're going to accomplish anything right now, so calm down for a bit and look at how you're responding.

We allhave thinsg we feel strongly about. Mine regards archaelogical artifacts and preserving them, even at the cost of others. It would be wrong of me to attack people over it, and you may wish to think about that as well.

And calling a woman "he" is really rude.

Green Baron - [greenbaron@hotmail.com]
Cam Humphries, Korea
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 08:44:54 AM
IP: 218.145.25.80

Bud-Clare:<You think that logic and physics ought to apply to my timetravel but not to your ridiculous pie gun.> Hey, everyone has their pet peeves one of mine happens to be timetravel.<What planet are you living on? Seriously?> Earth obviouly you don't!<Regardless...what the &$*@ does Star Trek have to do with anything?> I took the idea for Temporal Shields from Star Trek.< And it's "loss", not "lose".> It's just a typo, nothing to get upset about. However it is a pity that Martians always attack from behind. If they used a frontal assualt Mars could have successfully attacked Mr. Carter Mark X. The forward shielding comes down for a brief amount of time so the cream pie can pass through. If a Martian were quick enough they could have gotten through, especially if they were cloaked, but no one tried a frontal attack so it's a moot point.

Gside:<That's quite a high upper limit.> But time itself can't be altered.<But still the rules of time travel in any fictional universe can be anything the author sets them to, as you did blanketly in your current favor. Any articles on time travel would only reflect the author's preference, unless it's about the twin paradox.> More importantly if you want to write a timetravel story that appeals to the masses you need the story to be believable.

DPH:<If you want to harm somebody's character, you should get permission first. Most people don't mind giving permission to harm their character as long as they get to harm yours in return. I didn't want my character harmed so I decided upfront to stick to a defensive strategy and only directly attack after my character was attacked.> So I covered a few people with pies, so what? I didn't kill them.<You should give up the cause. Green Baron let himself be captured.> You're right about that part besides I just finished burying Olympus Mons in cream pies. That means all the Monuments and cities of Mars are now buried in cream. So I send Mr. Carter Mark X away from the planet and begin sculpting the cream in Green Baron's image, sort of a final tribute to him.
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 04:08:26 AM
IP: 216.234.99.226

Bud Clare - <Please tell me you're color blind.> I was sleepy when I typed that up, and colors seemed to blur. My apologies.

Vinnie - <Excuse me! I have been sitting in Mr. Cartter Mark X waiting for you guys to come up with a decent plan of attack, but I guess it's to much to expect decent one from someone with so little imagination.> 1st. So little imagination, huh? Obviously, you never bothered to read the BFTS RP archive - click my link. 2nd. I was very carefull with my actions because I knew the rules of rp. If you want to harm somebody's character, you should get permission first. Most people don't mind giving permission to harm their character as long as they get to harm yours in return. I didn't want my character harmed so I decided upfront to stick to a defensive strategy and only directly attack after my character was attacked. <And I said that I could break him out if he wanted me to, but since he hasn't asked.....> You should give up the cause. Green Baron let himself be captured.

Gside - Ok, let me get this clear. Only having 3 people on staff who know HTML is sufficient? <I'm allegedly in charge of automating it> You are. Automating the website does not solve the problem of getting stories converted into HTML. A couple of more hands would be nice, plus there's this thing called updating the existing information.

Lain - <well, some people to help me update the secure site would be nice> Last time I checked, I was helping you with that process. Yes, we do need more people to help out with that, plus that always brings in extra sets of eyes to look over stories and extra mouths to offer comments on stories. Ideally, we're looking for somebody who knows HTML, is a good writer, writes stories well enough to be qualified as an editor, happens to be an excellent artist, and is willing to help out the process of writing outlines for stories.

Graymonk - <The sword can defeat a full gargoyle
clan, the minions, a pack of vampyres, magic ravens, Lucius, Arthur's knights, and Isfet simultaneously?> As I understand it, it would be extremely difficult to find a situation that the sword couldn't handle.

DPH
AR, USA
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 02:07:58 AM
IP: 204.94.193.21

gside>> <<What for? You've already got a prototype backend format redesign, I'm allegedly in charge of automating it, and I doubt we need more people to convert .rtf files to .htm.>> well, some people to help me update the secure site would be nice :P:P *beats head on desk*

graymonk>> <<IS THE SWORD REALLY THAT TOUGH?>> yes.
<<So when do we get to meet this formidible force?>> later... ;) (though in all honesty, probably MUCH later)

ed>> <<Oh, come on. If Chase was Jack, the writers would let him get away with that kind of daftness and you�d be cheering him on>> yeah, but thats because jack is all tortured and sexy ;)
<> small gun, too - low capacity. probably not much weight difference between a loaded and unloaded one, which means jack didnt know and really would have killed chase... which is MUCH more fun.

bud-clare>> <<And it's "loss", not "lose">> you should really stop wasting your breath, you know.
lain
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 01:02:58 AM
IP: 4.7.35.8

Vinnie> <<the most he could do with timetravel is destroy the universe>>: That's quite a high upper limit.
<<As I said... if his timetravel device is anything like the Phoenix Gate... For more information on timetravel articles follow this link>>: But still the rules of time travel in any fictional universe can be anything the author sets them to, as you did blanketly in your current favor. Any articles on time travel would only reflect the author's preference, unless it's about the twin paradox.

Bud Clare> <<Are you in a position to complain?>>: No, not really, but what's wrong about complaining about an impossible situation?

Lain> <<plus we need people proficient in html coding/editing and whatnot>>: What for? You've already got a prototype backend format redesign, I'm allegedly in charge of automating it, and I doubt we need more people to convert .rtf files to .htm.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 12:28:08 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Vinnie> <>
I'm not putting words in your mouth. I wouldn't get anywhere near your mouth if I were paid. You think that logic and physics ought to apply to my timetravel but not to your ridiculous pie gun. Therefore, it was a reasonable conclusion that you believe that rules only apply to everyone else.

<<But I was talking to someone else at the time not you.>>
NO, you WEREN'T. Hence my point. You didn't put DPH's name ANYWHERE in the post, even though the responses were meant for him. It was sloppy and annoying.

<<Obviously you don't watch any Star Trek, your lose.>>
What planet are you living on? Seriously?

You claimed that I had "delayed in activating my timetravel device", which, were you profficient with the english language, you would know was not the case. Go back and read it again if you don't believe me.

Regardless...what the &$*@ does Star Trek have to do with anything?

And it's "loss", not "lose".
Bud-Clare
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 12:10:44 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

Hee! Ed I enjoyed reading your LOTR review.

Granted my blood sugar was kind of low but my after movie comments went something like: "Huh, you can have too many battle scenes in a movie about war. It was very prettily shot though." (bone to my husband who liked the movie). I think the biggest bit of suspense was wondering when Sam was finally going to kiss Frodo. (Okay, I'm twelve, but honestly, I think they overplayed the dedicated servent thing just a tad.)"

Supposedly, the directors cut while making the movie even longer will improve it vastly.

I did like the preview for the next installment of Harry Potter. And surprisingly, the Butterfly Effect looks downright interesting despite starring Ashton Kutcher who must have the busiest agent in Hollywood right now.

It's late, I'm tired. Don't forget it's not too late to buy your favorite person a Gathering of the Gargoyles membership!

http://www.gatheringofthegargoyles.com
kathy
Monday, December 22, 2003 11:02:50 PM
IP: 66.82.197.68

Graymonk: Thanks for the wonderful reviews, I really enjoyed reading them. I agree with your assessments of the �Pendragon� series by the way. I enjoyed Season One but it never seemed to quite work. One of the things that I recently noticed is that the flashbacks were often not so much dramatised as retold; so you�d get narration discussing the fate of Gawain and company, but you wouldn�t really get so much of a flavour of it. Then, the series swung to quest episodes but I don�t think any of these early episodes really quite clicked for me. In Season Two, �Pendragon� was absorbed into �Gargoyles� and the latter came off much better. But Season Three was terrific � the elements of suspense and espionage, the big twists, the addition of Mary and development of Merlin. It was also packed with great individual episodes. And Season Four, of course, was just a huge amount of fun from my point of view, working with Todd, Nicodemus and Mandi.

Todd: (London Clan) Well, it ought to be said that one of the things I�d have liked to try was bringing many of the London clan into the series by virtue of relating them to Camelot � either as squires, or consultants, or knights or suchlike.
(Bad Guys) Actually, I thought some of those more obvious loose ends were left over for other series, such (but not exclusively) �Bad Guys�. Of course, there�s always a bit of cross-series teasing. I assume this was the intention of the Nicholas II nightmare in �Pendragon� Season Three.

Rev. Attila: I suspect �The Mirror� is the more terrible threat.

TheTrok: Thanks for the information, it was quite fascinating. Since I�m not on the staff any more, I can�t comment on your offer, but I think it would be great to have someone with experience of another region. I particularly feel for your sense of slight annoyance at the misrepresentation of Spain (I felt much the same about some of the more bizarre misconceptions about the UK in �Pendragon� before I came on board).

Zetsuei: Well, you trace the symbols on the screen from left to right until you reach the end of the line. Each symbol represents a sound, and collections of symbols separated by a space tend to indicate things we call �words�. Hope this helps. :P

Lain: Oh, come on. If Chase was Jack, the writers would let him get away with that kind of daftness and you�d be cheering him on. I do think the �24� writers are becoming a bit lax with their explanations of how the heroes don�t die. I don�t mind them doing it, but time was, it took a carefully placed flak jacket to explain away a survival. Now it�s a case of �oh, that bullet missed any major arteries�. Still, I�m happy it turned out as it did. I thought the bullet-less gun was neat though, since it showed Ramon being smart.

Greg: So Tolkienites do dislike the films, after all! My shameless admission? I enjoyed �A Beautiful Mind�. Well, no, that�s not quite true. I enjoyed Jennifer Connelly�s part, because she�s gorgeous.

***RETURN OF THE KING REVIEW***

C�mon, you didn�t think I�d let this one pass without a last rant, did you? ;) I went into this with low expectations, and it was just as well, but I do still find the choices made extremely frustrating. This series of films could have been so damn good.

I thought it was good fun, although as I ought to have guessed, the bits that seemed the most straight-forward to adapt were the worst handled. Shelob was unimpressive and the peek-a-boo game was eye-rolling. Worse, it was all prefaced by a badly thought out section with Gollum driving a wedge between Frodo and Sam. Inventing new stuff to add in is a director�s prerogative, but he could at least have the courtesy to think this stuff through to its logical conclusion rather than have it as a doorstop for dramatic tension for a few minutes before we get Sam changing his mind. (And Sam is inexplicably now capable of fending off orcs and spiders with ease, even when half-starved). I really don�t understand why you�d adapt something to make it LONGER and more convoluted. I�m not saying that he should have stuck to the book for the sake of sticking to the book; I think he should have stuck to the book because it made a better film.

The Lord of the Nazgul seemed to be usurped in screentime by a daft-looking orc with one eye and a bad complexion � not sure what that was about, since he vanished after his fifty-third one-line appearance. The Jurassic Park reject steed got beheaded in one go, and the Lord of the Nazgul went for a classic flawed plan: having an impressive-looking but seriously inappropriate weapon, which left him open to defeat. If that�s the best Sauron�s got, he ought to have gone into door-to-door sales. Doors stay still when you try to bash them. It didn�t really help that any scene that threatened to build up a head of steam was instantly cut away from so that by the time you got back to �oh, look, the Lord of the Nazgul is strangling Eowyn� you had been completely removed from the excitement, such as it was. And because none of the characters were developed past a rough sketch, it was difficult to much care about whether they lived or died.

The film also gave us Denethor�s bungee jump of fire (bungee cord not included), the murder of elephants (or oliphaunts � which apparently are evil), and Cate Blanchett being even more irritating than usual. I changed my mind about her. I thought it was bad directing and bad casting, but it�s also terrible acting. I know she *can* act, but she clearly has no idea what on earth to do with herself here, and nor do the scriptwriters. They�d have been better off all round having Arwen at Lorien in place of the Galadriel character, since they also had to stretch to make Arwen remotely important. Two birds, one stone. And I was cringing at the score. I didn�t like the music to the first two films, but this was torturous. Every time a scene came on the screen that looked like it had potential, it was wrecked by some godawful decision on the part of the composer, robbing dramatic scenes of their intensity, making climactic moments seem trite with the repetitive main theme, and making touching moments seem old hat by using that dreadful �Shire� theme. By the time we got to Frodo in the tower I was wincing. What were they thinking? Were they thinking? Perhaps it was created with the intent of torturing prisoners of war, but let�s face it, it�s probably outlawed under the Geneva Convention.

There were some good parts. Frodo and Sam�s dash from the mountain was the best sequence in the whole series of films, probably, since it actually had pace and drama and ended with a rather well-performed and presented scene with the two of them. I�d rather have had the only sound be the erupting volcano, but you can�t have everything. I was glad to see Smeagol and Deagol. Most of the battle was impressive, although it never seemed to reach any particular climax. It particularly amused me how civilised the marauding orcs were, forming a neat circle around the painfully stupid diversion group. Battle Tip #1: allowing your enemies to surround you so they can kill you quicker is not a good stalling tactic!

The plot seemed lax and meandering, with no particular point of climax sticking out in my mind until the Ring. (And the idea to make the Ring�s destruction time with Frodo�s choice to live or die, as if reacting to the Ringbearer? Lame.) It didn�t help that they decided to set the whole battle in daylight, which didn�t seem appropriate. That said, I think it�s great how well-lit all these �darkest places of the earth� are. I wish I could get that kind of light into my room at uni. But what a chance to be creative. These films are released in cinemas, so if you don�t put any light on screen, you don�t get any light in the cinema. What more effective a tool is there for ramping up drama than denying the audience the chance to see? In a surround sound cinema, the Shelob and Paths of the Dead scenes could have been as creepy as hell.

Okay, I�m actually struggling to come up with specific things I enjoyed, but the film was generally enjoyable for the spectacle. At several points I felt like I was in a theme park ride of sorts, and as theme park rides go, it�s a rather good one. But that only puts it a notch above �The Phantom Menace� and two notches above �Independence Day� and �Attack of the Clones�. Pardon me, sir, but I wanted more.

Oh well, I guess before there was a splendid book and a brilliant radio adaptation, and now there�s a splendid book, a brilliant radio adaptation and a trilogy of average films. Can�t complain too much.

***END REVIEW***
Ed
London, England
Monday, December 22, 2003 09:41:18 PM
IP: 213.187.39.59

GRAYMONK - Thanks for your review of "Carbonek Part Three" and your overall review of "Pendragon". I'm a bit sorry that it's over now myself, but at least we ended it on a bang.

You make a good point (and one that I'd noticed long ago) about the Gryphon Knights. They were always something of a headache for us. The basic problem was this: Isfet's feud with the Gryphon Knights had almost no connections whatsoever with the regulars in "Pendragon". The person who came up with the idea (who later on himself admitted that he hadn't thought it through all that carefully) had come up with it as a matter of a purely private feud between Isfet and the Gryphon Knights that only took part in "Pendragon" in the sense that Isfet needed to get to Carbonek to find the Gryphon Knights and needed Arthur to lead her there, but once she got to Carbonek she'd be quietly slipping in, dealing with the Gryphon Knights, then slipping out again without interacting with Arthur and his companions.

Then we realized that this would be too much of a distraction if Isfet's feud didn't involve the regulars, but at the same time, the nature of it (an ancient feud that went back to the Dragon War, millennia before the regulars were born) made it difficult to involve them in any way other than the "plot-device to step in and save the day" with all the actual drama and character development going to Isfet and the Gryphon Knights, a concept better suited to, say, "Batman: TAS" than to a "Gargoyles" spinoff. Add onto that that we already had antagonists who were much closer to Arthur involved in the finale (such as Morgana and Duval) whose connections with Arthur needed some resolving, and there was no way that we could satisfactorily handle Isfet's feud without it upstaging the real story. But we only came to that realization after the arc had been introduced in Season Three with "The Reluctant Thief", and so we were stuck with it. All that I can say is that we've learned from it that story arcs work best when they're really connected to the major characters.

Since I'm leaving the staff, I don't know whether or how TGS will handle a proper resolution to Isfet and her feud with the Gryphon Knights. I'd recommend that it be done in either "Timedancer" (a story set in the near future) or a Brooklyn-focused episode of "Gargoyles", since Brooklyn strikes me as the far more appropriate person to oppose Isfet (he has the connections to her; Arthur and his friends don't).

Incidentally, now that the series is over, I can reveal this: a lot of you have probably guessed it by now, but Balinos the Mad is really the TGS version of Sir Balin from the Arthurian cycle, the knight who struck the Dolorous Blow and maimed the Fisher King. We deliberately disguised him in an Atlantean setting, partly to hide the fact that he was our version of Sir Balin and thus keep our readers from figuring out what had *really* happened to Avallach, partly because Avallach's "death" was taking place long before Arthur's time period anyway. (Though the bit in "The Godslayer Part Two" where we mentioned that he wound up killing and being killed by his own brother probably gave that away.)
Todd Jensen
St. Louis, MO
Monday, December 22, 2003 06:47:42 PM
IP: 63.186.0.220

graymonk>> whew! what a review!
<<Personally, I always figured TGS didn't take indpendent applications but preferred to gain new members through the membership drives>> well, this is partly true. for a long time, i think most of tgs' staff came through recruitment drives, with people coming on board in big batches. individual recruitment was rare, but still happened occasionally. now, well, we all know that tgs is getting a little... uh... "thinly stretched" and weve changed our recruitment policy a bit to reflect that. we will still be having drives, but will accept recruitment however we can get it - be that through private application outside of "drives"... or by actively seeking individuals we feel could fulfill certain roles (gside being an example of this). the latter is more rare however, mostly because i dont really feel comfortable harassing people ;)
<<What sort of information should you provide in an application? I remember the DARK AGES membership drive asked for samples of an applicant's writing>> yeah, attached samples, or links to writing would be good. the writing does not necessarily need to be gargoyles-related, however if it is not, you would need to somehow demonstrate your understanding of the tgs universe by, say, posting in the CR about the stories or something like that.
<<What sort of positions are open at TGS?>> most positions are open at TGS. we have a more urgent need for writers than editors, and a more urgent need for editors than for artists. there is an awful lot of oranizational, nitpicky grunt-work that needs to be done as well - plus we need people proficient in html coding/editing and whatnot... and a bunch of other jobs i cant think of right now. basically, if youve got the skillz and know what youre talking about, we could probably use you SOMEwhere ;)
<<With PENDRAGON gone I'm mostly interested in joining the edits staff (you mentioned it has been undermanned)>> apply away!
lain - [tgs_info@yahoo.com]
Monday, December 22, 2003 01:47:02 PM
IP: 4.7.35.8

Bud-Clare:<A) If you refer to me as "he" ever again, you will die most painfully.> Sorry, I was using the term in the generic sense.<B) It'll be a cold day in hell before _you_ are in a position to lecture me on the subject of time travel.> Well obviously you are doomed to dstroy the universe with your time travel device. I on the other hand don't intend to be killed by the likes of you. Timetravel is to dangerous to mess with!<C) It's funny how you think that physics only apply to everyone else.> I never said that, so stop putting words in my mouth!<D) Kindly address the correct person in the future, as most of what you just directed at me should actually have been addressed to DPH.> But I was talking to someone else at the time not you.<I'm sorry? Is English not your first language?> Obviously you don't watch any Star Trek, your lose.

Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Monday, December 22, 2003 01:46:14 PM
IP: 216.234.99.28

Just to mix things up let's go with Iago today.

******WARNING! SPOILERS FOR "CARBBONEK PART 3" AND PENDRAGON IN GENRAL!*******

THE GOOD: -As several people have mentioned the opening with the various guest stars feeling the pressence of Carbonek was really cool. It gave the story an even greater epic feel.

-KEVIN! Kevin got a cameo! Yay for Kevin!

-Avallach's high opinion of Merlin. I know I came down hard on old Emrys earlier in the season, but its nice to know someone outside of the knights thinks highly of him

-Avallach's reasons for staying out of the first UW. They were fairly sound and reasonable. Oberon had enough to deal with without assassination attempts on his injured father.

-Lucuis's middle name is Tiberius?

*laugh break*

-Merlin admitting his crimes against Morgana. He really has grown over the course of this season. At the end of season 3 he seemed fairly remorseless. Now, he's not only tried to make peace with Morgana, but he stands before one of the two members of his family who think he's a good person and tells him he's wrong.

-Which is immediately followed by a fairly acceptable counter argument. I'm glad Avallach didn't try to make excuses of Merlin, but rather pointed out that he'd atoned and payed for his crimes. I will confess I never gave much thought to Morgana's sisters but the fact that they never tried to take vengeance on Merlin certainly strenghtened Avallach's case.

-Seeing Uther's death. I always wondered what happened to him.

-Merlin's uncertainty about his visions. This caught my eye. We've always been told about Merlin's visions but with the exception of "Ripper" we've only seen them in flashbacks and a DARK AGES story. I wonder where they come from. Could it be the same source as Leanord Camford's?

-Morgana took down Macbeth? Wow. That's fairly impressive.

-Leba's confrontation with Sarah. In my notes for this review I remarked that this was a promising new character who could act as teh voice of the vampyre community. Guess that's not going to happen but it was still a nice scene. And if Leba had been friends with that male vampyre Molly ran over she's got one more reason to hate the Banshee's guts.

-The Cuchulain/Sybil fight. It was nice to see Cuchulain back in action again. I guess Rory's got more control over it now. The fight itself was rolicking good fun. The Wizard of Oz reference in the prelude, Gae Bolga shattering a spell, snakes against an Irish hero. Oh, it was a grand time

-Briana vs. Isfet. I'll talk about the missing Gryphon knights in THE BAD but given their connections to Jane Nelson I rather enjoyed seeing these two square off.

-The Duval/Singleton fight and the Powell/Griff fight. These made for some intruiging comparissons between the two rogue Illuminati. Singleton is a master manipulator but his battle tactics suck. I mean a sword? Why would he a bring a sword? Powell's chivalry obsession excuses him, there's a precedent in "The Watching Eye". But a Machiavellian schemer like Singleton should know better. If he brought another gun Duval might be dead right, or at least hurt enough for Singleton to get away.

Powell on ther ohter hand couldn't hide his ambition if he tried, but he's a damn clever fighter. Challenging Griff to a duel was a brilliant move. Knowing Griff's fondness for chivalric behavior he can rest assured the gargoyle will accept. This takes Griff out the fight, leaving the rest of the Illuminati troops with one less garg to deal with. it also forces Griff to fight on Powell's terms, in a form of battle where his gargoyle abilities will be of little use to him. And the outcome made for an interesting conclusion to Griff's arc. He's indebted to the honour of a man who is little more than a glorified mobster. That's really got to knaw on him.

-The picture of Arthur fighting Morgana as a dragon. It was breath taking. Highest compliments to the artist!

-Arthur Pendragon vs. a dragon. Another interesting parallel to Arthur's past, in this case the stone dragon in "Pendragon." Very clever Todd.

-Arthur using the Grail auto defense system glimpsed in "Choices part 1." Quite unexpected, and damned inventive use of a hoary old cliche of a mmystic object's inpenetrable magic forcefield.

-Duval's final scene with Singleton. Ironically we've seen Duval at his most heroic in this story. He put himself and his position on the line to help Merlin and Arthur. Yet he ends off the series employing the same dirty tactics Powell or Singleton might use.

THE BAD: - Avallach's reason for not drinking from the Grail. He felt his time had passed? I'm sorry but this feels like an incredible cop out. If he felt it was time for him to die why did he linger on for nearly two millenia? Why not commit suicide? I have a hard time believing that a man who more or less abandoned his wife, children and grandchildren is qualified to protect the Holy Grail.

-The gryphon knights MIA. This was the most disappointing aspect of "Carbonek." After the build up in "Godslayer" I expected Isfet to play a major role in the finale. Instead she only appeared to be there to give Briana someone to fight. The gryphon knights came off as little more than a plot device to shoe horn Isfet into the story. We learned nothing about them or why Isfet was so angry at them.

-Why doesn't Lucius believe in a higher power anymore? The scene where Dulci convinced several Minions to quit was well-written but it didn't do anything that might shake Lucius's beliefs. If anything I would have expected the defection of his human followers to strengthen his belief that humans are incapable of making ratiional choices.

-Why didn't Mary drink from the Grail too?
THE MISC: - IS THE SWORD REALLY THAT TOUGH? <<"I knew that we should have used the Sword," muttered an Illuminatus in the background. "We wouldn't be experiencing this trouble if we had.">> The sword can defeat a full gargoyle clan, the minions, a pack of vampyres, magic ravens, Lucius, Arthur's knights, and Isfet simultaneously?(sp?) That's a fairly lofty claim. So when do we get to meet this formidible force?

-DULCI AND LEBA: <<"I still don't think that you needed to be that cautious in handling that dullahan," Dulcinea was saying to Rory. He had been telling her about some adventure that he had had in Ireland a couple of months earlier; Aidan was listening eagerly on the other side. "If I'd been there, I'd have just rushed in.">> I guess for all their differences Dulci and Leba aren't all that different. Poor Rory, no matter where he goes he seems to play straight man to a rash adventurer.

-LUCIUS'S FINAL SCENE: Wait, there were innocent people in that building Lucius blew up? Yikes.

THE WRAP UP: An excellent capper to the best season of PENDRAGON ever. Lucius's change of heart seemed to come out of no where and the build up in "Godslayer" appears to have been for nothign, but other than thatit was terrific, The Kevin appearance bumps it up from a 9 to a 9.5 magic dragon statues out of 10.

A WORD ABOUT PENDRAGON SEASON 4: I'm sorry to see PENDRAGON go, but if it does have to end I'm glad it went out on this season. For years PENDRAGON has been my favorite TGS series partly because of the writing but mostly because of the potential. PENDRAGON has always had the potential to be a great series. It had characters whose histories were virtual goldmines of character development and ethical questions. It had the backdrop of the matter of Britian to draw upon. A promising cast of villains who just needed a little work to match the Rogues galleries of GARGOYLES and TIMEDANCER. A group of interesting supporting characters. But in the past all these elements failed to come together in a way that allowed the series to be all it could be. Season 1 showed a lot of potential but was marred by a tension between the early flashback heavy episodes and the latter quest episodes.

Season 2 Provided Arthur with a stable supporting cast and introduced some new faces to his rogues gallery but the merger with GARGOYLES seemed to overwhelm PENDRAGON. The Lion's share of Season 2 epiodes were about Clan Manhattan. The neo-knights were introduced but aside from Rory's relationship with Molly and Prometheus very little time was spent developing them. The PENDRAGON stories themselves were very high in quality but the editing seemed diorganised. How Lucius or Montrose came into contact with the Unseellie and why they would serve people who wanted to enslave them was never clearly spelled out. This was the season PENDRAGON became my faovrite series but it still felt a little half-formed.

Things started to come together in Season 3. Mary Sefton was introduced, bringing a refreshing new perspective to Arthur's advemtures. Morgana (unseen since Season 1)returned with a chilling plot to destory the legend of King Arthur. Duval was revealed. The Elaine/Arthur/Jeniffer triangle was dealt with. Rory and Briana got episodes of their own, while Dulci was introduced to a potential romantic interest and Leba found a new mission in trying to help the vampyres. However, this only underscored the problem of PENDRAGON's main cast. The knights, who I considered major characters, seemed to be neglected, despite the progress I mentioned above, in favor of Arthur, Merlin, Mary and perhaps most puzzling of all the London Clan. Now I'm all for having an interest in supporting characters, goodness knows I'm a Kevin fan. However an entire two parter seemed to focus mainly on the London clan with Arthur and the knights mainly in the background. Griff, whom one would assume would play a major part in any two parter featuring the clan, had only a minor involvement. Between that two parter and "My Angel Briana" Griff's mate seemed to get more attention than him. I'm not complaining about the quality of these stories, they were among the best eps of S3. But they point out the fact that no one seemed sure who PENDRAGON was supposed to be about.

Then came Season 4. I know Ed and Todd worked hard on this season and it was worth it. The main cast of the series was clearly defined and tied together by the theme of trying to adjust to a new world. At the same time the neo-knights became more important as they formed the core of Arthur's new global network. S4 seemed to combine the flashbacks and quest format of Season 1, the myth and magic heavy feel of Season 2, and the prominent supporting cast of Season 3. It also added issues of personal responsibility and morality to the mix. It was a very good year to be bad. Morgana, Duval, the Illuminati, Herne, Montrose and Sybil were all upgraded, revamped or enhanced in some way to make them interesting a nd challenging characters. Even Lucius took on a more ominous tone at the end of "Carbonek part 3." Plotlines, like Lenord Camford's visons, that seemed to languish in the background in past seasons came back and were adressed. PENDRAGON has found it legs. It now has its own voice. It has a coherent set of themes about ethics, forgiveness, responsibility, and trying to find a place for yourself in the world. Its potential has finally been acheived.

PENDRAGON Season 4: 12 kick ass writing teams named Todd and Ed out of 10

*******END SPOILERS FOR PENDRAGON*******

Ed - <<It occurs to me that while TGS has frequently recruitment drives, the case for people volunteering is very seldom made.>> Personally, I always figured TGS didn't take indpendent applications but preferred to gain new members through the membership drives. <<Go apply! :)>> What sort of information should you provide in an application? I remember the DARK AGES membership drive asked for samples of an applicant's writing. What sort of positions are open at TGS? With PENDRAGON gone I'm mostly interested in joining the edits staff (you mentioned it has been undermanned). I figure I might have some useful experience from writing my reviews, The frequent spellings in my hurridly written posts notwithstanding.

Phew! It's 12:30 already? I've been writing this post for a grand total of ... let's see here, carry the two ... five hours! Yipes, I'd better get washed up, we're going to see LOTR:ROTK in just a little bit.
Graymonk
Monday, December 22, 2003 11:32:11 AM
IP: 156.34.238.251

Fire Storm> <<and besides being bored as h311, I don't feel like doing jack $h!7.>>
Please don't use l33t, it chafes me so.

<<Aren't paradoxs fun?>>
You would certainly expect so, wouldn't you? But apparently not.
_____________________
Gside> <<Isn't she starting to show her age now?>>
Are you in a position to complain?

<<It might've helped if you gave him the method you used.>>
I doubt it.
____________________
DPH> <<Sorry about that, the colors looked the same.>>
Please tell me you're color blind.
_________________
Vinnie> <<Hey, I can't help it if you have no imagination.>>
...I have no imagination?

<<but I guess it's to much to expect decent one from someone with so little imagination.>>
Pie?

<<As I said, the most he could do with timetravel is destroy the universe.>>
A) If you refer to me as "he" ever again, you will die most painfully. B) It'll be a cold day in hell before _you_ are in a position to lecture me on the subject of time travel.
C) It's funny how you think that physics only apply to everyone else.
D) Kindly address the correct person in the future, as most of what you just directed at me should actually have been addressed to DPH.

<<Besides your delay at implementing you timetravel device>>
I'm sorry? Is English not your first language?
Bud-Clare
Monday, December 22, 2003 04:53:31 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

Bud-Clare: Besides your delay at implementing you timetravel device has provided me with enough time to add a Temporal Shield to Mr. Carter Mark X's already formidable shielding. So now I am protected against Temporal Inversion, even if by some miracle you succeed in alter the past and destroying the universe I'll survive inside my shields. After the timequakes have destroyed you and your allies I'll emerge and declare victory.
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Monday, December 22, 2003 03:01:22 AM
IP: 216.234.99.211

Bud-Clare:<Sorry, that was neither clever nor entertaining. *fires up the Chainsaw of Natural Selection*> Hey, I can't help it if you have no imagination.<Vinnie, I'm going to make this pretty clear: If you can dish out punishment, you have to able to take to it. If you can't take the punishment, don't dish it out. It is not fun for the other side if you can't be damaged.> Excuse me! I have been sitting in Mr. Cartter Mark X waiting for you guys to come up with a decent plan of attack, but I guess it's to much to expect decent one from someone with so little imagination.<Green Baron willingly surrendered. if you didn't notice by looking at IP addresses, Attila and Green Baron are the same people. Since Green Baron and I have surrendered, it's you vs everybody else.> And I said that I could break him out if he wanted me to, but since he hasn't asked.....

Gside:<It might've helped if you gave him the method you used. Did you seduce his father? Slip his mother the pill? Seduce his mother?> As I said, the most he could do with timetravel is destroy the universe. At the very least he would create an alternate reality (and if his timetravel device is anything like the Phoenix Gate, he would only end up returning to our reality). Or he could always get himself trapped in a timeloop, that's always a major danger when you mess with time. But I like the reason that he simply forgot what he was doing because he could no longer remember why. For more information on timetravel articles follow this link. http://www.baen.com/bar/

Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Monday, December 22, 2003 02:24:21 AM
IP: 216.234.99.211

Fire Storm> <>: I thought you got rid of the clowns.
<<maybe we can even get you Cher!>>: Isn't she starting to show her age now?
<<A porn medley? Sounds like vegetable medley only with porn and not as good>>: It can most definitely be better, depending on the editing and the vegetables.
<<Just because you warned me doesn't excuse the fact that it was said>>: No, I guess not. But I had to share my own pain from whence it sprang forth in my brain.
<>: Thank you for that anyway.
<>: How large are they really? I mean they have us, but are we really that large comparatively?
<<Isn't making people go insane just about the funnest past time imaginable?>>: Depends on if we can also make them give us all their money.
<<You get used to smells>>: I mean I live in Jersey, and it smells fine to me.

Bud Clare> <<If he's even halfway clever, he'll be able to find an entertaining way out of this>>: It might've helped if you gave him the method you used. Did you seduce his father? Slip his mother the pill? Seduce his mother?

Fire Storm> <>: Just keep reminding yourself it's paying for your wedding. Then after the wedding you can actually start buying toys again.

Graymonk> <<my Dad like to go to 8am mass>>: I am very glad my father is a saturday evening person.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Monday, December 22, 2003 12:27:57 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

I have the Green Baron. He is my prisoner and I am subjecting him to anal probes and making him do calisthebics. Wy am I doing this? Because I'm evil and to punish him for never buying me cavair when I was alive.

Mwa hahahaha!!!!
ghost of Reverend Attila
Sunday, December 21, 2003 10:32:08 PM
IP: 220.73.165.75

Heya. I need some help. I just came back from Ohio (where I go to college) for christmas vacation. My flight left Columbus airport at 7:10 and arrived in Cincinnati at 8:10. From there I would take a flight at 9:10 to Burlington, Vermont and drive on home.

While I was waiting in the C Concourse wing of Cincinnati Airport I saw this guy and I didn't have the courage to speak to him, but the mere fact that I found a Gargoyle fanatic amazed me.

He was a guy in his 40's or around there. He wore an awesome Brooklyn shirt that looked airbrushed to me. He had a red cap (i think it was red) with the word "Brooklyn" on it. He also wore a jacket with a Brooklyn patch on it, as well as a round patch with a shilouette of a wolf head, and some other patches. Although he was wearing a long sleeved jacket I saw that his arm had tatoos on it, as well as the back of his neck. He wore glasses.

Is this anyone, anyone would know? He was a huge fanatic.

Sarge
SargeAbernathy - [vander_md@denison.edu]
Barre, VT, USA
Sunday, December 21, 2003 10:22:51 PM
IP: 205.188.209.40

GRAYMONK - Thanks for your review of Part Two. I'm looking forward to your review of Part Three (hopefully tomorrow).

I don't know if there'll be any guest appearances by Arthur and Co. in "Bad Guys" (especially since I'm leaving TGS), but I doubt it. While I'm not on the "Bad Guys" staff, I understand that its tone is going to be extremely different from "Pendragon", much darker, grittier, less idealistic. (Not too surprising, given the nature of its protagonists in contrast to those of "Pendragon"; Arthur and his friends are knights - essentially - aiming for a better world of their own volition, while the Redemption Squad are unwilling henchmen for the Director.) But I don't have the final say on this one, so it's possible that there will be some crossover. We'll just have to see.

Although I find myself wondering what would happen should Mary Sefton and Robyn Canmore meet. Other than their both being strong female characters, they don't have much in common (they're certainly on opposite sides of the gargoyle issue - well, I don't know how Robyn feels about them now and whether she's changed her mind about them since "Hunter's Moon"). I certainly can't imagine Mary blowing up a police station.

(Oddly enough, somebody did write an independent Gargoyles fanfic once in which Arthur had to team up with Robyn Canmore - but was reluctant in doing so because of her gender.)
Todd Jensen
St. Louis, MO
Sunday, December 21, 2003 06:57:39 PM
IP: 63.186.1.15

Ok so I screwed up, I'm writing this on Sunday not Saturday like I said.

*****WARNING SPOILERS FOR "CARBONEK PART 2"*****

"Carbonek part 2"

THE GOOD: -Everyone's reaction to Tanaburs's terms. The outcome of the sacrafice was already known to us readers and I was fairly certian it was just another test so I wasn't concerned too much about what would happen. I was more interested in what everyone thought of the sacrifice. For the most part the conversations that ensued were quite enjoyable. Some ideas I'd never even considered were brought up, like Merlin letting himself die to stop Art & Mary or the possibility that Tanaburs was an imposter.

-Nigel's sympathy for Morgana. I would have expected Nigel to go ahead with the wedding out of fear of public embarrasment. Going ahead with it because he felt sorry for her was an interesting twist. I can certianly see why the seemingly lonely Nigel would want to help Morgana, and for the first time, why Morgana would have fallen in love with him in the first place. Misery loves company and all that.

-The clarification of Mary's family's connection to Demona. While it still left a lot of loose ends to be adressed (by TIMEDANCER or BAD GUYS I'm assuming) it was good to get the relationship cleared up, especially since this is the last season. With this and Duval's true identity I'm starting to drool at the thought of a PENDRAGON/BAD GUYS crossover some day.

-Arthur's theory that he had to kill Mary as pennance for May Day. It was a delightfully nasty idea, and might even have convinced me that the sacrifice was for real if we hadn't met Merlin and Mary's kids.

-Griff's speech. It was powerful. It was emotional. It had been coming for years. And I never sawit coming until Griff said "The more things change the more they stay the same." Michael's concerns about showing Jennifer the estate. The Worry Wart cartoons. The police questioning Colin when Arthur was framed. The clan's assistance in fighting the Unsilee. Aper's skepticism about Arthur's true identity. Hell, the conversation over tea in "M.I.A." All these scenes and more have been subtlely leading to Griff's confrontation with the clan, and yet it was such a background element of the series I never gave much thouhgt to the growing tension between Arthur's quests and the clan's concerns. Plus it made a nice summation of the series thus far.

-The scene where Arthur decides not to kill Mary. I knew it was coming but it was staged nicely. Camelot began when Arthur pulled Excalibur from a stone. Now it begins again when Arthur puts Excalibur into the stone. Clever parallel, Todd.

-The true identity of the Fisher King, bowled me over completely. I was expecting Blanchlefleur and her husband form "Fata Morgana."

THE BAD: - Macbeth seemed to pop up out of no where. A little build up might have been appreciated. While it did evoke Macbeth's sudden appearance in "The Darkest Hour part 2" it still felt a little too convienient(sp?)

-Lucius involovement still felt tacked on. I didn't see anything in that sequence that couldn't have been acheived if the Minion ambush had been excised completely.

THE WRAP UP: Some wonderful character development and a fantastic speech from Griff. 9.5 inexplicably alive dead fairy guys out of 10

And seeing how I had to get up at 7:30 this morning (my Dad like to go to 8am mass, Boy I love being home ;)) after staying up far too late last night I think I'm going to take a nap. I promise I'll post my part 3 review and comments about PENDRAGON ending tomorrow. I'll be more punctual next time, scout's honour.

*Graymonk curls up in a corner of the cr , falls asleep and starts whispering "dyb dyb dob" in his sleep*

*****WATCH OUT! "CARBONEK PART 2" SPOILERS ABOVE!******
Graymonk
Sunday, December 21, 2003 04:35:50 PM
IP: 156.34.238.251

Dottie dog - <Hey, DPH what was that about being able to give it but not take it (injury)?> It works for both sides.

Vinnie - <Who says that I am not chomp proof? I have phase-shifting technology that renders it near impossible for me to be harmed by Martians, and if they try to attack me they will just pass right through me like I was a ghost or something. No one kicks or chomps me!> Vinnie, I'm going to make this pretty clear: If you can dish out punishment, you have to able to take to it. If you can't take the punishment, don't dish it out. It is not fun for the other side if you can't be damaged. <You can have Ted Turner, however I can get you out with my phase-shifting technology and no one will ever be able to stop you from just walking out through the walls.> Green Baron willingly surrendered. if you didn't notice by looking at IP addresses, Attila and Green Baron are the same people. Since Green Baron and I have surrendered, it's you vs everybody else.

<Bud-Clare and Dezi are two seperate people. > Sorry about that, the colors looked the same.
dph
AR, USA
Sunday, December 21, 2003 03:43:16 PM
IP: 204.94.193.30

Vinnie> <<Interesting, but do you relise that when you alter one point in time you also alter yourself as well. If you alter yourself then you wont remember you attempts to alter time, ergo it you never did anything to the timestream and everything restores itself to normal. Either that or you end up destroying the universe, I doubt your allies will enjoy that and most likely try to stop you for me.>>

Sorry, that was neither clever nor entertaining. *fires up the Chainsaw of Natural Selection*
Bud-Clare
Sunday, December 21, 2003 03:06:44 PM
IP: 66.67.201.63

Dottie-dog:<I'm so confused with what just happened, I can't even wag my tail. Um. Did Atilla just switch sides? Is he brainwashed? *Prepares to chomp Atilla for being weak*> I forgot to mention this. I think Green Baron's capture is a Trojan horse that will deliver a major blow to the enemy.

Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Sunday, December 21, 2003 02:20:19 PM
IP: 216.234.99.75

Fire Storm:<Hey mutations can be a good thing! You think I was BORN like this? Heck, when I was born I only had 2 legs, 2 arms, 1 mouth, no tail, and my blood didn't burn through deck plating! Who's to say what the mutations will do? Yeah, some will die, but the strong will live. Long live Darwinism!> Yes, but I told you this mutagen is a fat mutagen, it'll make you fat and lazy. Definitely not a good thing for the Martian people.<You get used to smells.> Well if you don't mind smelling like a sewer I guess that I will just have to find another way to torment Mars. Fortunately Martian teeth are still rotting!

Bud-Clare:<*uses a time travel device to go back in time and prevents Vinnie from ever being born, as punishment for his lame-ass pie attacks*> *swipes plans for time travel device.* Interesting, but do you relise that when you alter one point in time you also alter yourself as well. If you alter yourself then you wont remember you attempts to alter time, ergo it you never did anything to the timestream and everything restores itself to normal. Either that or you end up destroying the universe, I doubt your allies will enjoy that and most likely try to stop you for me.

Dottie-dog:<And hey Atilla, your a ghost, can you take a minute to not only chomp Vinnie but kick his ass? It'll be fun!> Oh don't worry I have something special planned for an attack by Atilla.

Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Sunday, December 21, 2003 02:14:45 PM
IP: 216.234.99.75

*RP (I guess)*
Vinnie:< if they try to attack me they will just pass right through me like I was a ghost or something. No one kicks or chomps me! > Hey, DPH what was that about being able to give it but not take it (injury)? And hey Atilla, your a ghost, can you take a minute to not only chomp Vinnie but kick his ass? It'll be fun!

Green Baron:I'm so confused with what just happened, I can't even wag my tail. Um. Did Atilla just switch sides? Is he brainwashed? *Prepares to chomp Atilla for being weak*
* END RP*

DPH: <And Dezi, I would prefer to rot to the core thatn to ran home and complain to somebody (my dad) that I despise most of the time. > Dezi says thats nice. Really. She also has no clue what you're talking about. Besides, its no fun to complain to people you despise. Usually the despised person picks up on being despised, and aren't very sympathetic to your complaints.

Green Baron:<One year of Dezi. I didn't realize how long it has been. > Well, _I_ think the world is now a better place. But then, she feeds me cheeseburgers!

OK, now I must take my leave of you. Dezi and I are going back to Illinois for a week. (If you can imagine how dumb the humans are in Indiana, the dogs are worse!) We will keep our eyes open for the Usurper or his clones. We will also try to check in as often as possible ('cause I just know you'll miss us!) Hasta luego! (and Merry Christmas!)
Dottie-dog
Sunday, December 21, 2003 12:01:00 PM
IP: 68.58.158.101

I am working the bad evil shift for the next couple of days and besides being bored as h311, I don't feel like doing jack $h!7.

Bud-Clare: <uses a time travel device to go back in time and prevents Vinnie from ever being born>
Aren't paradoxs fun?

Fire Storm the Bored as h3!!
Sunday, December 21, 2003 10:49:18 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

*uses a time travel device to go back in time and prevents Vinnie from ever being born, as punishment for his lame-ass pie attacks*

(I'm experimenting with Darwinian rping. If he's even halfway clever, he'll be able to find an entertaining way out of this. If not, then good riddance.)
Bud-Clare
Sunday, December 21, 2003 10:32:31 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

Gside: <Excellent plan. I think I'll start with the strawberry cream>
I want some coconut cream
<But if I relax and loosen my muscles it won't hurt as much?>
Maybe. Dunno. Let's see!
<After the fact, but I still don't think it's a very conforting thought that if anything else had gone wrong, there would have been much pain.>
Yeah, but there is always pain. Especially when doing things that are quite stupid.
<How about Claudia Black? Or maybe Miranda Otto?>
We'll see. Heck, maybe we can even get you Cher!
<Probably, though I have heard of a similar thing happening to a stand up comic on his own time: watching a porn medly, then at the climax it switched to gay porn.>
A porn medley? Sounds like vegetable medley only with porn and not as good

Just because you warned me doesn't excuse the fact that it was said.
<No, I don't think even they would gaffaw at it>
Yeah, I know. I was just trying to be nice. Oh well.
<Yup, being paranoid, Wyvernweb has apparently blocked standard telnet and ftp access>
It is rather annoying. But, I guess security is a good thing. I wonder just how many people have tried to hack Wyvern Web...