Wyvern

The sound of heavy lock valves turning and the sharp escape of steam signal the re-opening of the door to the Almost Dragonic Insatiable Instabaker Gang’s cooking HQ, bringing the huddling news rats back to their former positions in a matter of seconds. The swoop of a tail-stinger scraping gently against the side of the giant microwave door’s plexiglass is audible before Wyvern’s snout comes into view, his goggles and anti-radioactive cooking smock looking considerably more worn and sooty than before. The overgrown lizard grins to the crowd of rats and circles a claw in the air with a certain degree of reptilian flair, grinning toothily to the gathered vermin. “Firsssst off, before you say anything, I want to clear any rumorsss that the Almost Dragonic Insatiable Instabaker Gang has ssstolen Wiggly Cabbage recipes from rival cook contessstants - these accusations are absssurb! Everyone knows that the Instabaker Gang’s recipes are only stolen from the most reliable past cooking contest winner sourcesss.” Wyvern raises a claw and shakes it to prevent any squeaks from occurring, then continues with haste. “Sssecondly, before we commence, I’d like to say that Cabbage Patch Crème Brulèe has been added to ‘Le Wiggly’ dessert menu, and that we are mere minutes away from de-leafing Chiroq and cooking him in the way that a Wiggly Cabbage so rightfully deserves. Now please, squeak your piece.” Wyvern leans back against the side of the Headquarter entrance with a cocky lift of his wings, placing a claw under his chin in a thinking lizard’s posture and nodding his head pre-emptively several times. It takes a couple of minutes of nodding before the odd quiet of the crowd settles in, and Wyvern tilts his snout with a baffled flick of his tongue, glancing left and right over the eerily silent rats… who, on closer inspection, would have also revealed suspiciously static facial expressions. The reptilian cooking don scratches one of his horns in confusion, then meekly hisses: “Errrrrr, what’sss the matter guys, cat got your son? You guys eat some bad cheese or something…?” Wyvern glances around with a slightly worried look in his eyes until he spots a news rat in the front row wiggling, which instantly makes him more-than-slightly worried. The wiggles of the first rat seem to travel at a highly infectious rate, triggering the two rats beside him to move into an immediate wiggle, followed by the two rats beside and behind them, followed by other surrounding rats, until a wave of wiggles consumes the entire news rat populace. The wiggles eventually grow so intense that the rat costumes begin to fall in time with Wyvern’s jaw, revealing wiggly cabbages of all colors and creeds, gathered in unison. Wyvern stammers as the cabbages slowly begin wiggling towards him. He turns to escape into Instabaker HQ only to find that several cabbages have already infiltrated it, leaving him cornered. The overgrown lizard clenches his teeth nervously as he backs himself against a wall, the shadow of the collective cabbages drowning out the light of the distant Instabaker Furnace. “A-a-ambush!” Wyvern croaks. But it’s too late.

I really like both of these poems, Loki Wyrd. :-) The unsettling imagery of gnawing and burrowing used to personify the thoughts of the first poem was very effective, as was the nature imagery that you closed it with. The second poem was also very good and struck me as more of an observation and contemplation... very different from the poetic imagery of the first poem, but well structured and interesting in its own right. One thing that I am curious about is the connection between these two pieces if there is one - are they completely seperate poems, or did you group them together here for a reason? Great poems Loki Wyrd, thanks for sharing them here. :-)

I recently saw the film "Antichrist" courteousy of the internet, where I found a DVD-quality version of it to stream and watch (never underestimate the web and its countless resources!). Starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, this piece by Lars Von Trier is the morbid tale of a grieving couple who are mourning the loss of their 4 year old son, who fell out of a window while they were in the middle of intercourse. The movie is divided into chapters that cover the different stages of grief, but it turns out that grief is a mere facet of the things darkening the lives of the characters, and events move from psychological pain to something closer to the genre of horror. "Antichrist" is about as jarring and unsettling as they come, not to mention one of the most graphic films I have seen, so it's no surprise that many offended critics have condemned the movie for being pure shock value. Personally, I thought that "Antichrist" was a strong exploration of evil and the effects of grief on the human psyche, and it cements itself as a rather daring piece of art. If nothing else, there is some tremendous imagery threaded through this movie, much of it involving nature and the characters' perceptions of it. Whether it be a slow motion close-up shot of the dirty stems of cut flowers floating in water or a deer with a stillborn baby hanging from its rear stunning Willem Dafoe, this film contains images that will stick with you long after the credits have passed... and that's not counting the more grisly and violent imagery of the last two chapters, which also stands out regardless of how hard you may want to cleanse it from your system. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are the only two actors in the movie (with the exception of a young child playing the son, who we see images of) and do a stand-up job with the difficult events, particularly Dafoe whose face fits that of a mourning father so perfectly. Thematically, this movie bothers me in certain ways, as it seems to be about how women are evil and drive men to be evil... only to find that men are twice as evil as they could have imagined. Bleak stuff from Von Trier, but memorable nonetheless. One of the more interesting movies of the year and probably the best horror flick, but maybe not quite up to par with the other films I listed... I'm not sure if it's entirely settled in my system, though.

"Thank, errr..." Wyvern sets the hieroglyphic megaphone down on the Cabaret floor so that it faces up like a true Egyptian pyramid, hovering over it for a moment as he braces himself for more painful feedback. The overgrown lizard breathes a sigh of relief when the megaphone goes perfectly quiet after a slight echo threatening sound. "*ahem* Thanksss to Tanuchan, Signe and Patrick for participating in thisss Mighty Pen Madlib. The resultssss are hereby officially in." The segment used was taken from a Disco-Neck Ted post in the Conservatory's "When the Akashans Come a Knockin" thread. Tinkered with, the modified post read: Finally, with the different words applied, the following versions were created: Tanuchan's Version: Venefyxatu focused on the tray of cans before him, rows of tidbits arranged in a perfect, ornate catenary. The smell of the canary glaze was warm against his skin. If he took one tiger from each corner, he mused, the array would still be simply. It was not as if guests would be after them, not now. Shifting his grip, the killer produced a glass case. The clasp pinged like the twinkle of the evening's first cemetary and he wrote over the array of forks contained within. The grelanphrat, he decided, thumbing out a dark mauve. Definitely the grelanphrat. The blind wood would be the perfect complement to both the sweet, tingling glaze and the musky, silken taste of venus flytrap flesh. Shards of broken glassware tinkled to the floor like sprinkles of cinnamon on Venefyxatu's tongue, and a wrist shifted from beneath the rack of bird’s nest. Venefyxatu paused, savoring the moment even more than the thought of the treats in front of him. "Greenpeace have Patrick," the killer repeated. He looked down at the mini-skirt-clad figure that was once again lying motionless under a mound of bird’s nest and shook his head. "They just don't know that they have him." Signe's Version: Lord Panther focused on the tray of boardgames before him, rows of tidbits arranged in a perfect, spicy round circle. The smell of the cat glaze was warm against his skin. If he took one closet from each corner, he mused, the array would still be oozingly. It was not as if guests would be after them, not now. Shifting his grip, the astrologist produced an obsidian case. The clasp pinged like the twinkle of the evening's first candy and he flirted over the array of chopsticks contained within. The gurgleschmurtz, he decided, thumbing out a dark violet. Definitely the gurgleschmurtz. The shapely wood would be the perfect complement to both the sweet, tingling glaze and the musky, silken taste of venus flytrap flesh. Shards of broken glassware tinkled to the floor like sprinkles of cinnamon on Lord Panther's tongue, and a left earlobe shifted from beneath the rack of prairie oysters. Lord Panther paused, savoring the moment even more than the thought of the treats in front of him. "The Anti-Olympic Protestors have Wrenwind," the astrologist repeated. He looked down at the bloomer-clad figure that was once again lying motionless under a mound of prairie oysters and shook his head. "They just don't know that they have him." Patrick's Version: Wyvern focused on the tray of toads before him, rows of tidbits arranged in a perfect, bulbous double-helix. The smell of the feather glaze was warm against his skin. If he took one book from each corner, he mused, the array would still be coldly. It was not as if guests would be after them, not now. Shifting his grip, the telemarketer produced a broiled-leather. The clasp pinged like the twinkle of the evening's first order and he hustled over the array of spoons contained within. The globlaghart, he decided, thumbing out a dark blood-red. Definitely the globlaghart. The porous wood would be the perfect complement to both the sweet, tingling glaze and the musky, silken taste of Wyvernus Devourous Grandus flesh. Shards of broken glassware tinkled to the floor like sprinkles of cinnamon on Wyvern's tongue, and a tongue shifted from beneath the rack of Wyvern feet. Wyvern paused, savoring the moment even more than the thought of the treats in front of him. "The Bards have Peredhil," the telemarketer repeated. He looked down at the sock-clad figure that was once again lying motionless under a mound of Wyvern feet and shook his head. "They just don't know that they have him."

I went and saw "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" today at the excellent Grand Lake theatre in Oakland, and am pleased to announce that the film more than lived up to my expectations. :-) Superbly animated, funny in an original oddball kind of way, packed with great music and not without its touching moments, this flick pays such loving homage to Roald Dahl's novel that you practically feel the painstaking effort that went into making every second of it. It boasts an excellent cast of voice actors, including George Clooney (perfect as the smooth-talking Mr. Fox), Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Michael Gambon, and the list goes on... The real star of the show here is Wes Anderson though and his meticulous attention to quirky detail, which really excels in this story and medium. It's not just the hand-crafted stop-motion animation, but also the way he details every little object of Dahl's work while taking the artistic liberty to add certain elements. For all its excellent deadpan humor, the film also has the sad and melancholic moments we've come to expect from Wes, and the amount of emotion and drama he can sum up in the face of a talking fox is amazing. A very fun and artistic movie that stands next to "Where the Wild Things Are" as one of the best of the year. And speaking of the year's best, it's been a really excellent year for films in my opinion. "The Limits of Control", "Inglourious Basterds", "Where the Wild Things Are" and "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" are all better than pretty much any movie released last year (I can only really remember "The Dark Knight" and "Be Kind Rewind" from '08), plus there've been other great ones as well. Still haven't had a chance to check out "Antichrist", "Black Dynamite", or "The Road" but definitely need to see those three as well!

Wyvern grumbles and slowly lifts himself to his feet, using his tail stinger for balance as he blinks away the dizziness and shakes the stray pieces of torn carpet fiber from his wings. The overgrown lizard clears the ash from his throat, then lifts the writing exercise in one claw and waves it in the air, glancing about at the idle pennites observing. He reaches over to Ozymandias who is about to announce some important piece of Pen news and snatches his Egyptian hieroglyph megaphone, raising it to his reptilian snout and shouting not two feet away from other pennites: "NEW MIGHTY PEN MADLIB, SURELY WE HAVE MORE PARTICIPANTSSS?! MERE MINUTESSSSS TO COMPLETE, NO GELD REQUIRED UNTIL AFTER COMPLETION!" Wyvern nods with a toothy sneer, then coughs only to raise a piercing shriek of feedback from the megaphone. The reptilian Elder winces in time with the rest of the Cabaret Room, and begins fumbling over the ancient hieroglyphic symbols marked on the buttons of the megaphone. "AHERM! ERRRR, HOW DO I TURN THIS THING OFF?!"

Last night, I went and saw the Strange Journey tour starring CunninLynguists, Pep Love, Grieves & Budo, Looptroop Rockers, and Tunji at the Shattuck Downlow in Berkeley. This was quite a good line-up of artists together at the same show, and since I hadn’t seen many of them live before this was definitely a show I was eager to attend. It was a dang good show, though the venue was so packed with people that the lack of space made things uncomfortable at times. The tremendous enthusiasm and energy in response to the performers made for it though… Berkeley gets live! I arrived a few songs into Tunji’s set, and quickly made my way through the crowd to the front row to watch him do his thing. I’d never heard of him, but it turns out that he’s part of a crew called Inverse, who I do know and who are backed by the CunninLynguists’ producer Kno. His set was very strong for an opening act, with lots of crowd participation and a live Bay Area band called The Park backing him for a couple songs, which included a live cover of Common’s “The Light.” Good stuff, I liked it. Looptroop Rockers, a pretty popular rap group out of Sweden, were the next ones up to perform. I’d heard lots of good things about them before from folks, and they were pretty solid live, with the two MCs of the group trading some packed verses while the DJ/producer switched things up by knocking on a drum pad with drumsticks. It’s also worth noting that at this point, a projector had been set up on stage and connected to a laptop, projecting a Twitter page for the Strange Journey tour where fans and artists could post comments from their cells. Very odd choice of set up… distracting at times, but quite interesting to read at times. It was strange to see comments like “Looptroop Rockers are killin it!” appear on the live feed, knowing that someone in the venue was typing that on their cellphone instead of watching the group perform! Anyway, apparently Looptroop Rockers are pretty big in parts of Europe, and it’s cool that they could tag along on this tour. Cool set. Grieves & Budo, the one act in the line-up that I’d seen many times before (and was happy to see again), kicked some good tracks as usual. Their set was not quite as good as the last time that I saw them opening for Mr. Lif, but was still probably stronger than the Looptroop Rockers or Tunji’s set and included some new songs that sounded very tasty indeed. Grieves was really feeling the Berkeley energy in the house, with fans screaming and repeating his hooks louder than any of the other shows I’ve seen him at. He also announced that his new record has been picked up by Rhymesayers, which is very good news for him since they’re one of the biggest and best indie hip hop record labels out there and always promote their albums right. Budo showed off his instrumentation skills on keyboard and trumpet well, and Grieves kicked some good rhymes that were only slightly marred by sound difficulties. Good times. Pep Love, a talented member of the Heiroglyphics crew who’s headlined many of his own shows in the past, was the next to perform and got plenty of Bay Area love. He performed the shortest set of the evening and wasn’t quite as flashy or energetic as some of the acts preceding him, but showed and proved with his impeccable voice and flow. Goes to show that you don’t always have to be a showman to put on a good set. Pep Love also brought out A-Plus from Souls of Mischief (also part of the Heiro crew) as a special guest for one verse, and A-Plus definitely destroyed it in his brief time in the spotlight. A very nice short set. CunninLynguists were the last to perform, and I honestly didn’t know what to expect from them, though I’ve generally dug their work. I was surprised by just how good they were at putting on a live show, as their set was by far the most energetic and entertaining of the evening, with plenty of anthem style tracks that got the crowds chanting along. Deacon the Villain, Natti and Kno spent very little time standing still, in constant motion back and forth across the stage as they delivered a number of their best songs, including “Lynguistics”, “Seasons”, “Nothing to Give”, “Mexico”, etc. If I have one complaint it’s that they were very demanding on the crowd, requesting uproars of noise even when they paused to hydrate themselves with a bit of water. My throat is still recovering from all the yelling. Still, it was an excellent set... they brought up Looptroop Rockers to perform a great collaborative track they recorded with them, and brought up Grieves afterwards to do the same with him. Great way to close out the evening. Edit: Now with video footage I took! Here's CunninLynguists performing the track "Seasons":

Wyvern dashes into the Cabaret Room with a triumphant hiss, only to slip over a stray love letter from Ozymandias' recent Cabaret contribution and slide face first across the floor until his spread wings manage to slow him by digging their way into the carpet fibers. Present pennites stare down at the fallen Almost Dragon, only to find a booze-stained writing exercise clutched in one of his claws... A new madlib for folks to riff off of. If nothing else, it'll give us some idea of who's still present around these parts. Instructions on how to play on the first page of this thread, in case anyone hasn't done one before. 1. Name of Pennite 2. Plural Noun 3. Adjective 4. A Shape 5. Noun 6. Noun 7. Adverb 8. A Profession 9. A Material 10. Noun 11. Verb, Past Tense 12. Dining Utensil, Plural 13. Nonsense Word 14. A Color 15. Adjective 16. A Plant 17. Part of Body 18. An Exotic Food 19. Name of a Group 20. Name of Another Pennite 21. Article of Clothing

A faint wind from an inadvertent flap of wings blows across the back of mai takekaze's hair, making Wyvern's hiss of recognition all the more recognizable. The reptilian Elder pockets the little inkwell-shaped canteen of Bruteweiser he was nursing and steps into the Cabaret quarters with a half-drunken smirk, swaying around leisurely before circling and eventually pausing next to mai. "Greetingssss mai, long time no sssee." Wyvern raises a claw in greeting, then lets his tongue hang loose as he begins digging through his pockets for something. The overgrown lizard clears his throat when his claw re-emerges with a stack of IOUs, which he flips through once as if they were a stack of highly valued bills. "I'm afraid I don't have much in termsss of World Domination Schemer Police Bribe Money, but I figure sssince you're with the church now a couple of Almost Dragonic Brand Heavy Product Waivers™ will do?" Wyvern hands mai a heavy granite waiver for an Almost Dragonic Brand Ink Ne'er-do-Well™, then re-pockets his stack of IOUs and pulls out his own inkwell again, taking another swig of it with an emphatic swoosh of his tail. The reptilian Elder stretches his wings and pats mai takekaze on the shoulder, then continues on his course through the Cabaret Room towards the Recruiters Office, making a point to paw any Cabaret paintings or pottery of value on his way there... OOC: Welcome back, mai. :-) Glad the Pen still feels like home.

I feel like I don't read nearly as much as the majority of the Pen does, but did want to touch upon a few things that I read in recent months ever so briefly. Going back quite a while ago, I read through Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy i.e "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass." I thought that Pullman had quite a few creative concepts in them that made them interesting, particularly the concept of Daemons and the parallel dimension world hopping. It had some nice headstrong characters and some cool dramatic moments, including a few memorably sad ones. The third book took me a lot longer to read than the others for some reason (possibly because it's the longest of the three?), and included a period where I put it down for a while and had to go back and re-read it from the beginning when I got back to it. Still, I found it on par with the other two, though "The Subtle Knife" may have been my favorite of the three for the way that it strung the storyline of Will into that of Lyra and introduced our world as a foreign place. One quip of mine for the trilogy is that the angels and witches were both a little too all-knowing and powerful, both aware of the future and essentially having the ability to mold it. All the fate stuff kind of detracted from some of the dramatic tension of the story (Will's father was a little overpowered as well, as I recall). Still, a fine fantasy trilogy that I enjoyed quite a bit. More recently, I read Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," which was a very bleak tale of post-Apocalyptic survival. It was written in McCarthy's signature style of very curt and simple sentences, which were even more emphasized than usual and added to the bleakness of the unsettling setting. One thing that I found very effective about the book is that there were hardly any encounters between the main characters and other people in it, yet when there were they were often terrifying affairs due to what mankind has turned to in order to survive when natural resources have gone extinct. It was a very quick and engaging read, though it was very dark and had quite a few moments that were tough to take, the most memorable of these being a scene where the main character stops someone who's trying to steal his only cart of provisions and forces him to strip naked in the rain, in front of his son. I thought it was a very good book, and am looking forward to seeing the film adaptation of it with Viggo Mortenson as the lead. My most recent read was "Watchmen," Alan Moore's famous graphic novel that I need a serious late pass for. "Watchmen" is possibly the most interesting and realistic take on superheroes that I've read, and rightfully deserves the copious amounts of awards and praise that it gets. The comic covers a great deal of intriguing historical and psychological ground, examining the former heroes of the story in great depth and the impact that they had on events such as the Cold War and Vietnam. It presents great moral questions of what heroism truly means when the world's problems stretch far beyond mere bank robbers and inner-city crime. Rorschach is an excellent bad-ass lead, and the way that the Comedian and other character's are developed over the course of the story is fascinating. I'm curious whether the Pen's own Ozymandias had some inspiration for choosing his moniker from this comic, or if it was purely Percy Byrce Shelley's work... enlighten me, Ozy? ;-D

Sorry I didn't notice this here earlier, Dego. :-( I definitely sympathize with the feeling of isolation and loneliness, as it's pulled me down quite a few times before in similar ways and still does occasionally. I think it's just important to remember that there are many people out there who DO care and love you, regardless of how seldomly they express it. It's also sometimes a comfort to consider that there are many people who have tons of buddies and friends who are still lonely at heart, it's not that uncommon a thing and I think that many here can relate to it. Anyway, I hope that you and your friend feel much better since having written this, I'm happy that I know you and really hope that you're doing well. Please remember that, while I might not be as quick to respond as I used to be, I'm still here to talk to should you need someone in that regard. :-) And shooting stars are pretty to look at, but people change other people's lives. Wyvern sighs a sigh that smells of almost dragon smoke and rolls his eyes over his incoherent speal, deciding to end it in favor of wrapping Dego up in a big winged hug.

A very sweet poem of love and yearning, Kikuyu. :-) I liked the nature imagery, particularly the stream of it provided in the last stanza, which was also enhanced by the way that you switched the partial rhyme scheme into something fuller to emphasize it. One thing I'd like to note is that the yearning depicted in this poem felt like somewhat of a happier sort of yearning to me despite the screaming and begging of the second stanza, as the imagery and pleasant rhymes evoked day dreams of love and longing to me. I like the feel of this happy yearning, as it's a welcome break from the many more depressing poems of separation that I've read here on the Pen. Anyway, nicely done Kikuyu. Thanks for sharing, as always!

So lately, I've been checking out some films by a very talented director who somehow managed to slip under my radar till now: Lars Von Trier. The movies I've seen of his thus far strike me as bold, uncompromising examinations of the ways that people act and treat one another. I appreciate the interesting choices of stories and situations in his movies, as they always seem layered and complex to the point of being all too real. Here are some thoughts on a few flicks of his, in the order that I watched them in: "Dogville" - When I started watching this film, I was immediately thrown off by its choice of setting. The quiet backwood town of Dogville is represented by a single soundstage, with chalk outlines on the ground representing houses and no background scenery whatsoever. The movie borders on 3 hours in length, and this stage never changes, giving the film the feel of a recorded arthouse play of some sort. I was uncertain of whether I wanted to continue watching it after the 20 minute mark when I realized that the set would never change, but decided to give it a shot and found that the characters and story really took over and actually made the simplistic visual setting kind of admirable in an artistic way. And speaking of the story and characters of this film, they really do pack a punch. The tale of Dogville involves a woman on the run from the mob (played by Nicole Kidman, who's in top form here) who stumbles upon a quiet little backwood town where maybe 15 families reside. The residents of the town agree to let her hide there, in return for a few favors. But as her status as a missing person becomes more apparent and the police come searching for her, the town begins demanding more and more of her, until its residents start showing their true colors. I found it a very thought-provoking film, with a great supporting cast of actors including Ben Gazzara, Chloe Sevigny, Paul Beteny and James Caan. John Hurt also provides an odd narration for the film that sounds like it wouldn't be out of place in a Charles Dickens adaptation, and his voice works wonders in both providing some comic relief and making some acute observations. The ending of this movie is the most memorable I've seen in some time, and had me thinking about it for days until I just caved in and bought the DVD. There's a huge amount that one can draw from the ideas and moral conflicts that "Dogville" presents, and it can't be widdled down to one specific theme. Apparently, this movie angered many US critics when it came out for what they described as "Anti-American" sentiments, which is odd to me because I thought it covered a much wider ground than that and dealt with the universal flaws in people's characters. I guess it says something about American critics who can read themselves into it though! Really excellent movie, my favorite Lars Von Trier film to date. "Dancer in the Dark" - Quite possibly THE most tragic film I've ever watched. The movie was just brutal at times, emotionally painful in a way beyond evoking tears... the sort of emotional pain you experience deep in your gut, the kind that makes you angry and frustrated. I didn't cry, but boy was it ever tough to watch. The film stars Bjork, who plays a Czechoslovakian woman living in the US who's slowly going blind due to a hereditary condition, and who has a son with the same condition who doesn't know about it yet. She's saving up money from her minimum wage factory job to give him an operation to treat his eyes, but things go awry when a neighbor she trusts betrays her. Bjork's character is a huge fan of Hollywood musicals, and the movie occasonally goes into very modern and original musical numbers. pairing things like the clanging of factory machinery or railroad train pistons with Bjork's strange and often beautiful voice. It's definitely an original take on the musical genre, though the musical numbers were not quite as captivating as the tragic events that transpired in the film. Overall, "Dancer in the Dark" is definitely a powerful movie not short on dramatic performances, but probably not something I'd subject myself to more than once because of how painful it is. "Breaking the Waves" - Another very complex tragic drama, this one starring Emily Watson who is terrific in her role as a mentally unstable newly wed Irish Catholic woman. The story revolves around the new husband of Emily Watson's character becoming paralyzed, and her grievances over it. Understanding her instabilities and not wanting her to waste her life waiting for him to recover, the paralyzed husband requests that she find new men to sleep with and then to describe her experiences to him to keep him alive, but the plan drives her further off the deep end than he could have imagined. The film presents some interesting moral ambiguity in the choices of Watson's character under her very strict religion, as she must love and obey her husband but mustn't sin in the process. In many ways the character is frail and easily brought to tears or rage, but at the same time she almost displays a greater love and devotion than any of the other Catholics in the movie. Anyway, it's an interesting story with lots of great scenes and good imagery, as well as some sparse uses of awesome music to introduce each chapter of the story. And a knock-out performance from Ms. Watson as well, I've gained a new respect for her as an actress after seeing this. I liked "Breaking the Waves" slightly more than "Dancer in the Dark," though it's only marginally less tragic, so be prepared for some pretty tough emotional distress should you subject yourself to it.

Wyvern cackles quietly to himself and rubs his claws together as he glances over the first of the daring/dumb customers that have arrived to inspect his haunted Pen quarters... a gang surely brought by the pull of boredom and morbid curiosity, but a geld-sporting gang nonetheless. The overgrown lizard scoots the "Candy Wish Collection Jar" ever so slightly closer to the pennites examining the sign for his scare show, staring up at the ceiling and hisses something about "sissies" under his breath to motivate them to give his cheap thrill ride a chance. He scoots himself quickly in the direction of the first person that reaches for their wallet, stirring the special Bruteweiser vat quickly with his tail as his excitement grows, his eyes sparkling with the imminent promise of geld... "Oh Wyvern, I almost forgot." Degorram steps back out from her hiding place looking even more hideous than before, now with feeler tentacles swishing around her shoulder blades to compliment her already ghoulish demeanor. The few customers inspecting the booth freeze and start stammering at the ghastly sight of the monster, letting out a collective scream before turning and high-tailing it down the hall as fast as they can. "W-wait!" Wyvern jumps up, clutching a clawful of Almost Dragonic Brand Wyvern-Protecting-Waivers™ and waving them frantically in the air. "H-hey! HEY! That'll be 60 geld for the ssscare! 50 geld plus 10, that makes 60!" The reptilian Elder grumbles to himself and slumps back into his seat as the potential customers fade from view. "Oops. Sorry." Degorram cracks a little smile over her current shape working so effectively, then extends a hand to Wyvern with a little clear of her throat, tapping the tip of his wing with one of her tentacles. "May I have my one bar of chocolate in advance payment, as we agreed upon?" "Your one bar of chocolate?" Wyvern flinches as he suddenly remembers the reason that he had had the chocolate bar on the counter earlier, his side of the deal forgotten when his appetite had kicked in. The overgrown lizard hisses and turns away from Degorram in his seat so she won't see his expression, quickly grabbing the empty candy-wrapper from the tabletop and holding it in his lap so she won't see it. "After you sssscared away my first set of customersss? Forget about it! Now, get back in there like a good demonic monssster and maybe, jusssst maybe, there'll be chocolate waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. Capiche Dego?" Wyvern sits with his back turned to his talented assistant, his tongue flicking in and out nervously as he hopes she'll buy the tough talk. An ominous feeling of fear washes over the almost dragon in the silence that follows, and he very slowly clears his throat, wondering if Degorram is still there. "D-dego? Are you there?" Wyvern bites his lip and slowly turns his head in the direction of Degorram, only to suddenly go pale at the sight of the tall Halloween tax collector that now standing behind him. Wyvern backs out of his seat with a little shriek, getting his foot caught in the steel Jack-O-Lantern and tumbling backwards into the vat of Bruteweiser, which teeters before spilling over him on the floor, coating him in an alcoholic stench of pumpkins...

I checked out the new Coen Brothers movie "A Serious Man" today (yeah, I get out to the theatres a bit more these days now that I have a free pass to certain spots). The film had its moments and demonstrated some traditional Coen Brothers quirks, but left me feeling a little unexcited and disappointed. The movie is very overtly Jewish and pokes fun at Judaism in a number of funny ways, but at the same time it's so filled with Jewish references that it feels a little forced and overdone at times to me. People frequently criticize the Coen Brothers for being very emotionally detached from their characters, and though the approach generally hasn't bugged me I did feel it a bit more in this film than in their others. It's a movie where bad things happen to characters relentlessly, yet at no point did I truly sympathize with any of the characters, and that kind of detracted from the film as a whole. "A Serious Man" is not without it's merits - there's a pretty interesting direction taken for the finale and an hilarious scene involving a Rabbi relaying a story about a Jewish dentist. Still, this movie is nowhere near the top of the Coen Brothers' body of work, and I can't help but feel that I'll probably forget about it in a year's time. Average flick.

Nice poem, Ozymandias. :-) The random strings of intergalactic and fantastical imagery felt like something out of a crazed pipe dream and were a little bizarre at points (empires and rhinos?), but I really liked the themes of unity and friendship that you strung throughout it. These elements grounded all the weird directions that the imagery took quite a bit, and I liked the way you switched the "one by one" refrain to "one and one" at the end. Definitely feltl a certain hippie kind of vibe in all the personifications of nature and peaceful messages re-reading it. Cool stuff Ozy... thanks for sharing it here, as always. :-)

The sounds of ghastly howling can be heard echoing down the Mighty Pen's dimly lit corridors, triggered by a certain Almost Dragon and a certain stainless steel Jack-O-Lantern that fell on a certain sensitive tail. The howling fades as Wyvern tosses his throbbing stinger into a cold vat of Pumpkin Seed Bruteweiser that rests at his side, cocking his head back and breathing a hiss of a relief as the pain slowly subsides. The overgrown lizard spreads his wings under his cheap carnival ringmaster cape and slumps back in his seat, scooting it back so he can reach over to adjust the "Almost Dragonic Brand House of Horrors™" sign that hangs on the front door of Grimmael's quarters. The reptilian Elder scribbles "50 geld" on the bottom of the sign in messy crimson ink taken from Tamaranis' personal stash, then turns and begins rapping his claws across his wooden tabletop as he awaits his first gullible customers. "Ssssstep right up, one and all, to the mosssst horrific Pen sssspectacle since the day Melba was hired!" Wyvern shifts the collection plate so it sits adjacent to the "Candy Wish Collection Jar" on the table, then waves his arms back and forth with a grin. "Only the brave need apply... though the fearful are welcome as well, for an added fee of 10 geld!" OOC: Slightly belated as usual on my part, but wanted to wish a Happy Halloween to the Mighty Pen.

I went and saw "Zombieland" tonight, and thought it was not bad but fairly disappointing. The formula looks great on paper: zombies + Woody Harrelson + Bill Murray cameo + comedic elements = fun bad-ass movie right? Unfortunately, while "Zombieland" certainly had its moments, everything about the direction and presentation felt conventional and predictable to me... This is definitely "zombie light," crafted for the sorts of crowds that attend every big Blockbuster film the day it comes out. Yes, the movie does have some good scenes, including the great Bill Murray cameo. And yes, Woody Harrelson is pretty bad-ass with a machine gun in an amusement park full of zombies. But as a whole, this film just felt a little too Hollywood to me and didn't explore as many interesting comedic aspects of zombies as I'd hoped. A part of me really feels like it could have been more. Disappointing, considering the amounts of good press it's been getting and the praise from reliable sources it's been receiving. I'd label it an average zombie comedy film, nothing more nothing less.

An interesting and rather odd story you have going here, Mr. Clamhat. :-) When I began reading it my immediate thoughts were that it felt like a cross between "Oliver Twist" and the manga "Steam Detective," but then later on it transformed into something more reminiscent of the Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider series. Wolfgang strikes me as somewhat of a comic character in his naivety and very formal mannerisms towards people, and feels kind of like a figure from a coming of age story caught in some grand action adventure. One thing that I was uncertain about in the story was Wolfgang's age... initially I expected that he was very young, but then later different events seem to hint at him being a young adult. Any clarification in that regard in the story would be greatly appreciated! Aside from that, the supporting characters seem fairly interesting, with Rose and her former Bloodpath priestess roots standing out the most currently, though Mrs. Strauss is also a nice comic relief. The introduction of the setting through the abandoned ruins was a nice touch, and I like the concept of Wolfgang getting caught up in some mob thing that's way over his head and maturity level. I did feel that the Tomb Raider style puzzle of the temple ruins dragged a little, though having Oorak as the tome was a cool idea. I'm hoping that they'll find the artifact in question soon, so that the central story revolving around Mr. Shivers and Sean Riley the blacksmith can continue! Nice to see you posting again Sir Walnut, welcome back and thanks for sharing the story thus far. :-)

This evening, I went and saw "Where the Wild Things Are" at a local movie house, and wow was it great! I pretty much loved the film from beginning to end, and thought that Spike Jonze did a remarkable job of translating one of the best short children's stories ever into a motion picture that actually did it justice. The movie was visually stunning, very touching and emotional, and had a really terrific soundtrack courteousy of Karen O. The boy who played Max was well cast, as was Catherine Keener as Max's mom, and the Wild Things themselves had so many interesting personalities and character flaws that they were essentially humans themselves. There's a mature tone of sadness in the lives that the Wild Things lead and the loneliness that Max experiences, and we're witness to the kinds of tragic complications and tumultuous emotions that everyone goes through at some point. The expressiveness of the different faces, including the brilliantly rendered faces of the Wild Things, spoke volumes in themselves. "Where the Wild Things Are" is a strong universal statement, a thrilling visual masterpiece, and one of the best children's movies I've seen. Clearly, those 5 years that Spike Jonze spent working on it didn't go to waste!

A few more anime reviews, before I forget to write them altogether! "Ergo Proxy" - I'd say that this was moderately entertaining as far as sci-fi anime series go, though it was flawed and never quite gripped me in the way that some better animes have. It involves a "Blade Runner" style setting with Autoraves (read: cyborgs) that essentially serve as slaves to humans, but become infected with a Cognito Virus that gives them human emotions. There were lots of intellectual references strung throughout the series, from the names of characters homaging philosophers to mythological and literary references in events. These were mostly downplayed, but were overused in the last few episodes to the point of being obnoxious. As far as characters go, the two leads Re-L and Vincent Law were quite likeable, though it took a little time to get used to them. My favorite character overall might have been Pino, a child Autorave who added a much-needed optimism and innocence to many of the series' darker events. One thing I really liked about the series was its willingness to take chances and pull things in interesting and occasionally very weird directions, including an episode set in the form of a corny Japanese gameshow and a Walt Disney spin-off amusement park episode. The highlight episode for me may have been the final episode with Iggy, Re-L's personal Autorave, as it had some very interesting twists and a lot of great tumultuous emotions going on. As far as music goes, the opening theme and closing theme (Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" as the closer!) were both great, though the music within the actual episodes was less memorable. The animation of the series was also very good, and the character design was cool. I think that ultimately, the experimentation and weirdness of the series caused the plot to derail quite a bit, and the ending was over the top and not all that satisfying. Overall, I'd say it's a pretty good series but not great… you could do yourself worse if you're yearning for some sci-fi anime with a dark edge to it. "Berserk" - A great anime series through and through, very gripping and mature with quite a bit of good old fashioned hack-and-slash action thrown in for good measure. Right off the bat, the chronology of the series is very interesting, as we get a brief glimpse into the bleak present state of things followed by 22 episodes leading up to that moment. A tad frustrating perhaps since the story is left inconclusive, but the final image of the series still haunts me quite a bit and I found it an effective way to wrap things up. “Berserk” is a medieval fantasy anime that focuses on the trials of a skilled warrior named Guts, who bears a sword so large that even Cloud Strife would probably go hide in a corner somewhere. He joins a group of mercenaries called the Band of the Hawk when he's defeated by their charismatic leader, Griffith, a man entirely devoted to his dreams of ruling as King. The story that follows is full of great character development and mature themes, as well as a strong plot and some intense battle scenes. Knowing that things are going to end poorly from the get-go actually makes you worry about what will happen next more, as every time a character was put in danger I was biting my lip hoping they wouldn’t be knocked off. The story progresses in very interesting ways and even the minor supporting characters are well put together and very likeable. The series reminds me of “Trigun” in some ways since the animation is fairly poor, but the interesting characters and chains of events make you forget about it almost immediately. The opening and closing themes are great too. As far as favorite episodes go, the ones that gripped me the most were a series of episodes where Guts needs to protect a fellow Band of the Hawk member from a group of a hundred some men, as well as an episode where Guts is lead to re-confront Griffith. The last few episodes were over the top compared to the rest of the series, but the final image they present you with kind of makes them worth it. Excellent series, highly recommended. “Last Exile” – It took me a while to get into this one, but once I did it was quite rewarding and a very good series overall. I should note that right from the start, the animation in “Last Exile” is really superb, combining some very pretty art and smooth animation with excellent CGI graphics and ship designs. Unfortunately, the series spends a little too much time flaunting its eye candy for the first 7 episodes and not enough time developing an interesting story or any sort of unique characters. Thankfully, the series does begin to become much better at around the 8th episode, and it picks up quite a bit from there. The storyline involves a future where everyone flies ships in the air, and there are chivalric wars occurring between different continents at the hands of some greater manipulative force. The two lead characters Claus and Lavie are honestly not that interesting, but the series makes up for it with a cast of pretty great supporting characters, each with their own story and likeable traits. My vote for the most interesting and unique of these characters is Lord Dio, an oddball semi-villain who I initially figured was an annoying anime cliché, only to find myself very mistaken by the end of the series. The way the series portrays Dio and the way our perception of him slowly shifts later in the series is one of the most original elements of the anime, though frustratingly he’s mostly glossed over in the final episode in favor of some irrelevent Clause and Lavie plot point. Another somewhat unsatisfying and rushed final episode to a mostly great anime (anyone seeing a trend here?). Also, the opening and closing music of “Last Exile” is fairly bad, with the ending theme being maybe the most unmemorable of any anime I’ve seen. Overall, I’d rank “Last Exile” above “Ergo Proxy” but below “Berserk” on the quality anime scale. Worth checking out though, especially if you’re into air races and ship fights and the like.

An interesting little vignette, OxygenPlant. :-) I found it a very poetic read, with many of your metaphors and manifestations of emotions worded nicely and conveying the mood of the piece well. It also felt like a very personal work, possibly based on real events, and the rough feelings and harmful actions were made apparent in the writing. Though the curtains and stage metaphor at the end are interesting, I found the choice to have the first person narrator "exit, stage left" a little odd, possibly because the idea that things may have been rehearsed many times over and staged conflicts with the very emotional reactions of the different characters towards one another. Still, there are certainly people who are painfully harmed many times over in the same way... Anyway, thanks for sharing this here OxygenPlant, it's nicely done. :-) And apologies for the gender confusion in the previous thread, I'll be sure to edit the post!

A crowd of rowdy news rats swarms around the door to the Almost Dragonic Insatiable Instabaker Gang’s cooking HQ, bearing microphones crowned with swiss cheese for extended survival reporting. The door in question has been designed to bear a resemblance to the hatch of a gigantic microwave oven, with one-way bullet proof plexiglass covering the wide horizontal span of it and a code security panel where the timer would usually be. The news rats squeak in excitement and trample each others tails as the entrance slowly shifts open with a turning of several locks, very gradually shifting to the left and releasing a fair amount of steam and smoke from the interior. A figure dressed in protective cooking gear and what appears to be anti-radioactive headpiece emerges from the cooking mist like the chef of the future. The only identifiable characteristic of the alien cook are two large scaly wings, which stick from the back of his suit like some kind of ornamental kite. The news rats go ballistic as the figure raises a claw to his headpiece. “*Squeak* Mr. Wyvern *squeak* what’s the status of the Instabaker Gang’s recent cooking project?” “Is it true that *squeak* the Instabaker Gang has failed and is no longer in the *squeak* runnings?” “Oh Mr. Wyvern, Mr. Wyvern *squeak* what do you have to say to allegations that the project is *squeak* taking too long?” “Why has *squeak* no information surfaced about the *squeak* meal that the Instabaker Gang is preparing for the masses? *squeak*” Wyvern pulls the headpiece off of his suit, struggling with it for a moment as the back of it gets stuck on one of his horns. “Now now, my dear newssss rats.” Wyvern finally tugs the headpiece loose, and spreads his arms with a massive sneer. “Let’s not be hasssty. To answer your questions: yessss, the Inssstabaker Gang is still working on its cooking project. The appropriate ingredients have been acquired, and now it’s simply a matter of preparing the wiggly cabbage the way it so flavorfully deserves. What you newsss rats may not understand is that good cooking takes a good deal of time and patience, especially when on a limited geld budget.” “*Squeak* Mr. Wyvern *squeak* Mr. Wyvern *squeak* will there be any cheese involved?” “Mr. Wyvern, do you have any *squeak* evidence to back your claims?” “Well, it just so happens I was expecting you lot to ask that question.” Wyvern nods sagely and reaches into the front of his protective gear, pulling out a series of menus in pamphlet form. “Sssso I printed out a tentative list of foods for you to glance over. Here, spread them around.” Wyvern hands the menus to the crowd of news rats, who proceed to practically tear the limited “Le Wiggly” pamphlets apart between themselves. “Persssonally, I recommend reading the descriptions of the Painfully-Pealed Leaf apperetif and the Chiroq of Lamb.” Wyvern cackles evilly as he turns back to the door of his cooking HQ, leaving the rats to wrestle amongst themselves. “More dishes to materialize…”

A scaly figure sporting a long dark overcoat shuffles his way into the room, clearly a shady type judging by the way he tilts his snout left and right and the way he shifts his tail in nervous little twists. The figure carefully shuffles past the Death of Rats and Jason Newcomb while hissing things under his breath, coming to a halt when he arrives at OxygenPlant and tilting his head in a little bow. The trench-coated lizard proceeds to shuffle up beside OxygenPlant, nudging her side twice with an elbow and raising a claw to whisper. "Psssssssssst... OxygenPlant issit?" A toothy grin flashes from under the over-sized folds of the trenchcoat, the sharp reptilian canines gleaming in the light of the Banquet Hall. "I've been following your recent ssstring of poetry responses, and you strike me as the kind of person who might be interesssted in a few truly unsexy videosss. Well, it jussst so happensss that you're in luck, because look what I have in my front pocket." The cloaked scaly one reaches down towards the area of his crotch, causing OxygenPlant to stammer and back away before he pulls out a list of Almost Dragonic Brand Dirty Vile Discs™, tagged "Unsexy Edition," from his pocket. He hands the list to OxygenPlant, who examines it with an annoyed expression as the smut peddler continues. "As you can ssssee, I have quite a selection of exceptionally unsexy videossss." The scaly figure snags the sides of his overcoat and suddenly flashes it open, causing OxygenPlant to cry out and back away before she realizes that the lizard is merely displaying the product on the insides of his coat. Dirty discs and cassettes with names like "Leia Riding R2D2" and "Captain Ahab Riding His Ship" line the insides of the lizard's jacket like candy offered by strangers. Tasteless candy. "Here, try thissss as a sampler" Wyvern extends a copy of "Gollum Riding Bilbo" in a broken case to OxygenPlant, careful to cover the "300 geld rental" tag on its side with one of his claws. The cover of the Dirty Vile Disc displays Bilbo dressed as a horse, with Gollum seated on a saddle on top of him and pointing in the direction to travel in... ;-) Edit: gender confusion!

Great story so far Degorram, I'm really enjoying it! :-) I love the noble Victorian era feel of the setting and the way that the tone and narration of the story compliment this setting. The tale of Violet and her discoveries is told with a care and eloquence matching that of the characters, and I really like some of the descriptions, such as the drops of rain "collected on the leaves of the pines like little jewels adorning fine ladies." The initial discovery of Anton mixes elements of horror with elements of fantasy nicely, and there's a certain realism in the events of the story that strengthens things further. I'm currently very curious to see whether this strange prisoner is an actual physical person of some sort of spectral apparition, or perhaps Violet's mind playing tricks on her. My only worry thus far is the last part of the second post, as I'm hoping that this story won't be taken in a purely romantic direction... I'm sure you have some interesting ideas for it, though, and am definitely looking forward to your continuation. :-) Thanks for sharing this, Dego. Might be one of my favorite of your stories yet. :-)