JamesSavik

The Four Cats of the Apocalypse are on the lose! Catastrophe Cataclysm Catty-whumpus Catatonic Unlike the four horsemen, these guys might pass you by for some milk, tuna, yarn or a nice spot to nap.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Magic users & tats There are many precidents for this in anthropology and fantasy literature. In Viking mythology, Preists of the major Gods could "strike runes" on people. These runes could give them strength, protection from evil, courage, resistance to evil magic and a number of other attributes. Necromancers that work with certian types on undead often have wards tatooed on their person to protect them from their creations. The tats are preferred because amulets or spells wear off but super-intelligent upper level undead have long memories of magic users that exert control over them. In Greek and Roman mythologies, the gods are said to leave their mark on people. Whether or not this is a tatoo per see is a mystery but it is said that anyone- man or god will know the mark when they see it. In Judeo-Christian mythology, there is the mark of Cain placed on Cain by God after Cain killed his brother. In this case the mark is a curse. Cain can not die and must wander the earth until the end of time without family or home. Also from Judeo-Christian myth is the mark of the beast- in the end times a world gov't inspired by Satan takes over and imposes a mark, number or symbol on everyones person so that they can conduct commerce. Just a few more thoughts on the subject.

1. go to Australia, via England 2. stay there [Australia that is] 3. buy a phat telescope 4. watch the show in the southern skies.

If a wizard had a birthmark (that identified him as a wizard)... what would it be? Perhaps a symbol of his order/school of magic? In one campaign setting where magic was tightly controlled by the crown, the only officially sanctioned school of magic were the red diamonds. Anyone with magical ability was sent to the Red Diamond's School by the Crown who paid for four years of training. Then the wizard would enter a period of training with a mentor (established wizard) for two years. Red Diamonds magic tended to be elemental. In the past there were a number of schools of magic- the Black Hand (necromancers), Quarter Moon (summoners), etc. In the War of the Eight Great Houses a coalition of magic users from the Black Hand and Quarter Moon attempted to take over through proxies within the Eight Great Houses of Nobles. They were discovered and killed but only after a great deal of death, destruction and suffering. The Red Diamonds refused to have anything to do with the War and are the ones who exposed the conspiracy. Their order emphasizes the responsible use of power and makes the Ethics of Magic central to their training. Theirs is the only surviving school of magic and the only one blessed by the crown. The war has been over for ~120 years and the Red Diamonds are about to embark on a secret project. It is their intention to attempt to recover the knowledge that was lost when the other great schools of magic were destroyed and their members killed or scattered. If an American Goth Wizard had a tattoo... what would it be? Goth's are too busy with angst to be wizards. They are too inward looking to see and too certain to understand.

This is just like the sodomy laws in the states... as is the reasoning behind keeping them. Singapore is a favorite port of call for sailors all over the world because of their brothels [for a few dollars more, you can get anything you want including the donkey] and their markets where you can buy Chinese made counterfeit Western designer goods at a fraction of the cost of the real thing. What a bastion of morals!

You are correct: the president gets too much credit when things go well and too much blame when something screws up. Katrina was a mess because the locals screwed to pooch and didn't evac fast enough. Bush this and Bush that didn't leave those people in New Orleans. Mayor Nagen did. As far as congress goes, everyone there is trying to bring home as much pork as possible. It's like a take-out barbecue joint and the public gets to pick up the check.

She just gives me a headache.

I suggest movie theme nights- Sci-fi night, mystery night, horror night and action-adventure night. It depends on how many times you get together- maybe once a month. How many movies you want to watch, when do you start. If you start early, you can go LATE and watch up to 4 movies. Start around 9 and watch two. Ask everyone to bring something: 2 liter soft drinks, tequila, chips, dips. Maybe club funds can buy a pizza. Often you'll find that you have a couple of guys who can cook whose honor will be personally offended unless they cook something awesome. Now- for movie choices, you want something good that maybe not everyone has seen. If you've got an independent movie store, they often have big collections with older movies. Don't be afraid of older movies- there is a lot of good stuff that 20-somethings haven't seen. Now for movie choices there are two ways to go: cult classics or do some research and find some good stuff. I suggest staying away from movies with numbers. Scream, Halloween, Nighmare on Elm Street... unless you do them all and there are too many of them. Sci-Fi- there are tons of choices: the Riddick Trilogy might be a perfect fit. Vin Diesel's Pitch Black, the Chronicles of Riddick and a third animated film are quite good. The Star Wars old or new trilogy might also be just right. Mystery- Discover Hitchcock! Watch Noth by Northwest and the Birds! w00t! Horror- Look up an old film named Lifeforce- one of the spookiest movies ever. Moontrap- B movie but gross, scary and funny. Action-Adventure- Arnold anyone? How bout Steven Seagall? The Mummy?

It appears that Dewey is back with a roar. 4 X

They're not. Big Daddy Phelps is originally from Meridian Mississippi. He left in the 50s because he was too liberal for local tastes.

When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, there were a number of voices who asked why do we rebuild the South East every 30 years when we know that hurricanes and tornadoes will come along and wipe it out again. The answer is that no part of the US, or the world for that matter, is immune from natural disaster. In fact California may be higher risk than anywhere else considering the threats from earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, drought, flood, fire and riots. We are all better off when we take care of each other.

I actually tried to write my story and discovered that it takes a lot more effort, emotional energy and skill than you might think. I got clean & sober in late 2004 and as part of my recovery, I wrote Broken in '05-06 which covers my life between rug-rat and spring-break of 7th grade. The problems of writing something so personal are self evident. It has made me very self conscious in the past. My next two chapters are ready-- my problem is that it is way too embarrassing to post. Rather like going to work in my most ragged boxer shorts. It was the 70s. The whole decade was a party. I just worry that people won't see me quite the same afterwards. Or- maybe I'm concerned about how I'll see myself. In anyevent, it can get pretty compcated writing about yourself.

A butt-nuget was arrested early Friday morning and charged with 20+ counts of shooting into occupied dwellings and scores of counts of malicious property damage. His driver turned him in after he was arrested for possession of crack. Go figure. Whatever happened to criminal masterminds or accomplices that would rather fry than give you up??? The police have to be embarrassed- arresting these guys isn't even good sport. They are more pathetic than dangerous.

Jan- Employers, public and private, are desperate to get out from under the costs of large benefits packages. Early out packages are their way of reducing their contingent costs by reducing the number of years and amount that you've paid into the system. This is not an isolated trend for civil service employees. It's happening all over- or at least in states that can afford to offer it. I believe that you can expect to see more early-out offers with better and better terms as you close in on 30 years. In most retirement systems, there is a magic number (like 25 or 30). At that time the emplyer has to fully fund the retirement account. If employers can get an employee to early-out years before the magic number is reached, they can save 10s of thousands of dollars. With 10s of thousands of civil servents, that adds up to real money. Whatever you decide, you are in cat-bird seat. If you go early, you are still young enough to have another career. If you stay, your account will grow and your retirement income will be bigger. Win-win situations are so rare in life- and couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Congrats Jan- good luck with whatever direction you decide to go. James

Eggie is one of the Masters in our midst. His stories are classics of the genre that we've come to love. My payment was enjoying the stories and spreading the love.

Oh come on guys... Give Dom a break. It takes time to use and abuse emotionally fragile emo fanboys like a box full of power tools after a hurricane. Dom's only human. As soon as he's done, he'll come up for air with some new even hotter stories. Go Dom! Don't forget to keep score in your dairy. diary.

Village People... isn't that the lost Cantebury Tale? I'm kidding of course. They were classified as disco and I was classified as death before disco. Some relationships just aren't meant to be. They did have some monster hits- Macho Man, In the Navy, YMCA... they showed up here in Jackson for a Halloween show ~ ten years ago.

About 1am last Friday I took a break from the sci-fi channel to amble off to the kitchen for a sandwich. Shortly after arriving there I hear a series of loud POPs like a 9mm and I hit the deck. I thought I heard impacts hitting the house. After the last of 8 shots, a car or truck punched it and left the area. I looked for some time and found no evidence of gunfire... until this morning. I found 3 X .380 bullet holes- two in the facia and one in a large window in the front of the house. Inside I followed a trail of destruction as the .380 entered the living room, passed through the drapes, hit an antique piece of furniture and came to rest on the carpet. I hate living in the damned hood. This wasn't for us. More than likely the geniuses that did it were after someone else and got the wrong house. My Dad took it in stride: he said that it was the first time since Korea anybody had shot at him and it made him feel young again. I have to wonder what it is about and are we going to see more lead.

Now that's an insult to our Aussie pal. Sure Leo is blond but he has class which gives him little in common with enema.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is ~3000+ years old. I guarantee that the author never heard of womens rights or political correctness. >>I. E. a woman's primary purpose is to "tame" a man and provide the lubrication necessary for him to interact with society. >>I think it's an insult to women and it's definitely an affront to men. 3000 years ago if a woman had a smart mouth, her husband would tell her to shut up or she could sleep with the coyotes. They also lived in city states, owned (or were) slaves and worshiped a God for every occasion. We simply can't apply modern ethical standards to ancient writings and culture. It is even dangerous to do this with our own culture of 50 or 100 years ago. Society and standards have changed so much that there is very little common ground. It is instructive to see ancient or even pre-civil rights era writings and the attitudes prevalent at the time to remind us of how far we have come and why.

Have fun Myr and enjoy the sunny south. Maybe you'll find a hunky man with a tan at the Mouse House to ride the Pirates of the Carribean with. Good luck, James

Good fiction is independent of genre: it's all about character, character, character. Fantasy and Science Fiction have a few points you need to be kept in mind. The "world" of your story must be consistent. Contradictions make readers heads hurt. The culture of your "world" can be as exotic as you want to make it but at some level, it has to make sense. If there are dragons, it stands to reason that there might even be a cult of evil dragon worshipers. There may be another cult of good dragon worshipers. There may be cults, societies or organizations dedicated to exterminating dragons or similar groups that see them as noble creatures and seek to study, preserve and protect them. Not every culture has Judeo-Christian beliefs at its roots. While it may have worked for Tolkien, if you do some work and use some imagination, you can build believable cultures that people will be enchanted by. Much of Western Civilization is so steeped in Judeo-Christian ideology, many authors find themselves using those same arch-types and themes over and over. By stepping out of that mold you can create something unique; not a value-less society, it wouldn't work, but one with fundamentally different values, traditions, beliefs and a very different moral compass. For instance: in the movie the Highlander, there was a villain called somewhat cryptically the Kurgan. The Kurgans were in fact a real people who lived in present day Lappland and North-Eastern Russia above the Arctic circle. They are the kin of the Vikings. Because their neighbors were so hostile, the Kurgans had to be powerful warriors just to survive. No child that was infirmed and could not grow up and pull their weight were allowed to live. Always piratical, the Kurgan used to train their war dogs on weak children, who if they could survive the dogs were allowed to live. One very small, but very sly boy who had to face the dogs tricked them into attacking and killing each other. He grew up and became on of the most powerful Thanes that the Kurgen ever had. While the Kurgen tradition of killing weak children is abhorrent to us, it makes sense in their cultural context. They lived in a land that offered little in the way of food and long, hard winters. They were surrounded by powerful enemies. They could ill-afford weakness. Another example of an "alien" culture The Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was an historical king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the River Euphrates in modern Iraq; he lived about 2700 B.C. Although historians tend to emphasize Hammurabi and his code of law, the civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates area, among the first civilizations, focus rather on Gilgamesh and the legends accruing around him to explain, as it were, themselves. Many stories and myths were written about Gilgamesh, some of which were written down about 2000 B.C. in the Sumerian language on clay tablets and survive unchanged to this day. Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third human, is the greatest king on earth and the strongest super-human that ever existed; however, he is young and oppresses his people harshly. The people call out to the sky-god Anu, the chief god of the city, to help them. In response, Anu creates a wild man, Enkidu, out in the harsh and wild forests surrounding Gilgamesh's lands. This brute, Enkidu, has the strength of dozens of wild animals; he is to serve as the subhuman rival to the superhuman Gilgamesh. A trapper's son, while checking on traps in the forest, discovers Enkidu running naked with the wild animals; he rushes to his father with the news. The father advises him to go into the city and take one of the temple harlots, Shamhat, with him to the forest; when she sees Enkidu, she is to offer herself sexually to the wild man. If he submits to her, the trapper says, he will lose his strength and his wildness. Shamhat meets Enkidu at the watering-hole where all the wild animals gather; she offers herself to him and he submits, instantly losing his strength and wildness, but he gains understanding and knowledge. He laments for his lost state, but the harlot offers to take him into the city where all the joys of civilization shine in their resplendence; she offers to show him Gilgamesh, the only man worthy of Enkidu's friendship Gilgamesh and Enkidu become inseparable friends and have many adventures together. While similar to "the heroic journey", the Epic of Gilgamesh is taught because it is a departure from the usual arch-type.

Politicians like Ahmadinejad take a stance like this for one or more of several reasons: 1. To appease fundamentalist factions and keep the mullahs happy (that is southern baptist bigwigs in if you live in Texas) 2. Populist politicians say whatever is popular or what they think the voter wants to hear 3. He himself is a fundamentalist and honestly believes it as a matter of faith. 4. He is profoundly ignorant of the subject of sex in general and homosexuality in particular because he grew up under the Ayatollah's rule and the Revolutionary Guard's brand of Sharia. In any case, I doubt Teheran Pride is going to have much of a turn out until the Islamo-fascists quit hanging 14 year olds for masterbating together and chopping off things best left alone.

Real wrestlers are divided into weight classes so huge hulking steroid freaks like Hulk Hogan are figments of televisions imagination. Some of the smaller guys between 100-120 pounds are some of the toughest SOBs you'll ever tangle with. Scrappy doesn't quite cover it. When I think of Luke, my imagination sees someone who looks similar to our Leo. I meant Leo no disrespect- in fact I hoped that it was a compliment. I would have probably liked Leo anyway since he's from Oz cuz I've never met an Aussie I didn't like.