Wyvern

Wyvern scratches his scaly chin as he considers Savage Dragon's options. After "thinking" for a moment, he hops up from his seat and whips out a brochure. "Well, MeThinksssUFoolish, that's a rather difficult question to answer. I guess that it would depend if the car that hit you was a hot rod or not, cus both of them would produce some heat." "Errrr." MeThinksUFoolish examines Wyvern's all-too-familiar saleslizard grin. "That's not exactly what I-" "Well, I'm glad that you're not exact, Foolish." Wyvern places a claw on MeThinksUfoolish's shoulder and grins. "Can I call you Foolish?" "Ummm." MeThinksUFoolish frowns. "No, actually." "Well then, Mr. Savage Dragon, I think I'm in agreement with Doctor Evil." Wyvern waves a claw in the Doctor's direction. "Allow me to demonstrate how this would be the coolest option through a durability test. Bring out the Almost Dragonic Brand Carriage-Buggy Mobile™!" The others that have gathered stare in confusion as three troglyodytes push in a large sports car shaped like a carriage. The troglyodytes then scurry over to a corner of the room, and take out a video camera. "Now, this tessst will clearly show how having one's car get hit by lightning is the best option. Not only because it's safe, but because these troglyodytesss will be able to film it and sell it as a claim to coolness. Observe. Bravery- the lightning spell!" The pennites in attendence watch as a bolt of lightning crashes against the Almost Dragonic Brand Carriage-Buggy Mobile™, causing it to explode in a huge burst of flame. The debris of the car flies into the air. Moments later, the troglyodytes are violently flattened by stray wheels and a flaming engine. "Erk." Wyvern bites his scaly lip. "I, uhhh... I guesss I'll go with car then... Just so long as it's an Almost Dragonic Brand Carriage-Buggy Mobile™. Thinkaboutthekids." ;-p

The lights of the Cabaret Room dim as several people take their seats, turning away from the birthday banquet tables that have been set up in the corners of the room. Two large red curtains are drawn back to reveal an empty stage, and Wyvern promptly prances out wearing a ridiculous Almost Dragonic Brand Taxedo™ (hey, have to use all those discarded tax forms for something). Clearing his throat of a few ashes and causing the microphone to screech, the lizard waves a claw and hisses: "Greetingsss, one and all, and welcome to the '05 Mighty Pen Gyrfalcorama! We now interrupt your birthday feasts/poems at the banquet tables for a special presentation in swordplay, brought to you by Almost Dragonic Inc. in honour of Gyrfalcon's birthday... Take it away, guys." Wyvern hops off of the stage as Sexy the Elder Dwarf struts in stage right. The Dwarf wears pointy ears, a mini-katana held by a tiny scabbard, and a curious two-piece billboard sign of armor. The audience lets out a collective groan as they notice the phrase "Almost Dragonic Brand Overyear Delivery Services™" written on the billboard. "Even a half-elven warrior like myself needs a bit of help every now and then." Sexy strikes a macho Gyrfalcon pose, causing the short ladies in the audience to swoon. "Which is why I turn to Almost Dragonic Brand Overyear Delivery Services™ when I want to order a useful weapon for battle. Now, if only those magical herbs that I ordered twelve years ago would arrive..." Sexy-Gyr turns as a roaring sound is heard from off-stage. "But hark!" He draws his small katana and points it. "My arch-nemesis arrives!" Silly the Elder Dwarf enters stage left, wearing a large dark monster costume. The word "FedEx-Ophek" is scrawled across his hide in white letters. "En guard!" Sexy-Gyr charges FedEx-Ophek and smacks him with his mini-katana, which promptly breaks due to it's Almost Dragonic fabrication. FedEx-Ophek pauses for a moment, then remembers his cue and drops dead. The curtains close, and Wyvern attempts to speak from the position that he landed in the orchestra pit. All that the audience hears is a tuba blurting. And now, back to the Celebrity Gyrfalcon Costume Contest... ;-) OOC: Happy Birthday, Gyrfalcon! *passes Greg a tall glass of Bruteweiser and winks* Also, a happy birthday to Solivagus... be sure to send him something via Almost Dragonic Brand Overyear Delivery Services™. ;-)

An interesting story so far, Katzaniel. I apologize for not commenting on it earlier, and am glad that you've decided to continue it this Summer. I find the subject matter of the story very intriguing, and am certain that many people here can relate to it (myself included). I'm not entirely certain whether Anthony actually has cyber powers yet or if it's just something in his imagination, and find the ambivalence in his powers interesting and original. I'm looking forward to seeing where the relationship between Anthony and Angel_A goes as the story progresses. The point of view of this story strikes me as awkward, though it may have certain advantages. Choosing to tell the story in third person may be advantageous as it creates a great distance from Anthony in the narrative, which may be what you're aiming for given the themes of distance and lies on the internet. This point of view also has a great disadvantage, however, as the reader can never really become involved in Anthony's emotions and struggles. For example, in the scene where Anthony mourned the death of his parents, I felt completely disconnected from his character and couldn't really feel anything for him. If this sense of disconnection is what you're aiming for in the story, then you've done an excellent job with it. If you'd like the readers to become more involved in Anthony's struggles, I would actually suggest to approach the story from a different point of view. In reading it, there were several times where I thought that a first person point of view might work well in relaying Anthony's thoughts and feelings, for what it's worth. The other comment I have is similar to Tanuchan's second comment. Where is Anthony when he enters into the computer, exactly? What does it look like? What is the experience of traveling through a cable to another computer? The setting and surroundings of Anthony when inside the computer are very vague, and more detail about his location might spice things up a bit. Nicely done so far. I look forward to the continuation.

I really liked this story, Zadown. I thought that the descriptions throughout it were very vivid and detailed, perhaps even more so than some of the previous Dreamer stories. This really helped in bringing the setting and characters to life, which made for a good read. I found the incorrigibly headstrong character of Shanna very interesting and entertaining, and hope that she'll make an appearence in some future Dreamer tale. My favourite part of the story was actually when Shanna finally decided to soften up just a tiny bit to ask the Dreamer whether or not he passed his test, to which he responded "Who knows?" That was an awesome exchange that left me with a smile on my face. :-) I also really liked the first Dreamer battle scene where he slays the trueblood demon and proves Shanna's "Old Man" nagging wrong. I was actually surprised by how well the Dreamer maintained his temper throughout Shanna's complaints, and attributed it to the nature of his test. ;-) A few very minor tidbits you might consider improving: in the second post, the phrase "I don't know how an old, scarred guy like you are supposed to help us, not even knowing anything." should have an "is" rather than an "are" in it to maintain proper tense. I also felt that the color-coding of the dialogue in the third post was somewhat unecessary, as just giving the dialogue would gradually reveal the speakers to the reader. Finally, I was caught off-guard at first when the battle between the Dreamer and Zadown was skipped over, and thought that it might have more dramatic tension if it was told in the linear narrative rather than through memories. Just a matter of taste, though. Great stuff, once again. Bring on "Serenity!"

Thanks to everyone who tuned into the show last Friday, I was very surprised and pleased by the number of Pen people that tuned in! :-) You guys are the best. Happybuddha and I had a great time throwing on random songs and ranting about food and Pen stuff over the air. Plenty of random sound effects and Pen shout outs were used. I apologize for the lack of a cohesive theme, and promise that I'll remember to bring my angsty punk rock hop selection next time. Here are links to a few pictures that were taken over webcam by Katzaniel and Panther (thanks you two!): Wyvern attempting to make an innocent puppydog expression and failing: http://www.jamie-quinn.com/imageness/Wyvern.bmp Wyvern pretending to feel relaxed: http://members.shaw.ca/analogpanther/images/Wyvern.JPG Happybuddha having a good time: http://www.jamie-quinn.com/imageness/HappyBuddha.bmp

Wyvern strolls into the Cabaret Room wearing a white scientist coat and a yeti wig leftover from a certain date. Four Elder Dwarves trail behind him carrying what appears to be an outhouse with a clock etched onto its front door. The lights of the Cabaret Room dim as the dwarves set the rickety structure center stage. Wyvern takes out a notepad, examines it for a moment, then places it over a hole in the wooden door of the outhouse. Bravery and Sexy proceed to nail the notepad into place. "Ladies and gentlemen." Wyvern spreads out his scaly arms and bows to a tiny crowd of bystanders. "I present to you the Almost Dragonic Brand Split-Second Time Machine™, known for it's... errrr... timelessness. Using this fantastic contraption, I shall attempt to move back in time in the hopes of wishing Xaioussss a happy birthday. Bravery, set the coordinates to June 17th." Bravery tugs at a lever jutting from the side of the outhouse. It doesn't budge. "Lemme see that." Wyvern storms to the structure and tugs at the lever. Finding that it won't move, he kicks the side of the outhouse. It promptly collapses into a heap of wood. "Errrr." Wyvern slumps over and picks up a piece of wood. "Prehissstoric times, anyone?" ;-) OOC: A belated Happy Birthday to Xaious the Master of Time!

We'll be on in approximately 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot my CD binder at home, absent-minded as I am, so the theme for the evening is cancelled. :-( Expect the theme to occur next week (the 24th). Happybuddha will still be guesting on this show, regardless of the random mix. :-)

Tune in on Friday evening (6/17/05) from 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM US EDT (Eastern Daylight Savings Time, thanks for the heads up Katz!) to catch special guest Happybuddha and myself do our little take on "Angster Rap." Toss the banjos and the fairy-design lutes into the nearest disposal outlet, as this show will feature few delicate melodies. Instead, think along the lines of "heavy guitar distortion/death metal noise" and you'll get the general idea. Check out the webcams and you might even catch us headbanging and throwing up our little devil hand signals. Mosh pit, anyone? In "Slayer" voice: "ANNNNYYYYY GIIIVVVEEENNNN MMOOOMMMMMENT!!!" *guitar stab, followed by artistic kerosene and lighter statement* (That's at http://www.gwradio.com by the way, for those caught sleeping.)

First of all, thanks for the interesting film reviews everyone. Jareena Faye, I'd be very interested to hear your reasoning behind the quality differences of the theatrical release of "Daredevil" and the Director's Cut. :-) Reverie, that was a very interesting write up and I'll be certain to give Wes Anderson another shot by watching "The Royal Tenenbaums" at some point. Mynx or DoctorEvil, what is the general plot premise of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" exactly? I ask as when I first read the title, I initially thought it must be a comedy, but given your descriptions it seems to lean more in the direction of action/drama... I saw "The Motorcycle Diaries" on DVD this evening. I had been meaning to check for it for a while, and wasn't the least bit disappointed by it. The film details the early journies in the life of Che Guevara, which span across Latin America and offer a lot of breathtaking scenery and eye candy. One thing that surprised me about the movie was that I was expecting to watch a depiction of Che Guevara's revolutionary exploits, but instead it revolves around him coming to terms with his own ideals and the journies that forged his beliefs. Another surprise was that the actor Gael Garcia Bernal, who played one of the lead roles in "Y Tu Mama Tambien," played the role of Che Guevara in the film and did an excellent job with it. The characters and landscapes of the film are exotic and full of life, the acting is great and the cinematography is superb. As long as you don't mind reading subtitles, I would highly recommend it. One of the better movies that I've seen in 2005 so far.

I watched the film "Be Cool" last night on DVD. This film is apparently a sequel to "Get Shorty," which I haven't seen. Fortunatly, not knowing the original didn't seem to detract much from the film for me, and I found it entertaining. I thought the strongest aspect of "Be Cool" was the characters, which were all well-developed and nicely acted out. I also thought that appropriate actors were chosen for each of the roles in this film, with John Travolta playing a smooth former loan shark and Uma Thurman playing the widow of a record exec. The plot was interesting and full of twists thanks to the intriguing characters, and I enjoyed the film overall. One disappointment of the movie was that Danny Devito was listed amongst the actors and even had a shot on the cover, but only appeared in the film for about two minutes. Overall, "Be Cool" is nothing spectacular, but is worth a rent if you're in the mood for something funny with good characters.

Wyvern scratches his scaly chin for a moment, then scrawls his results over the rather clean-cut test of Saint Gasoline (do I smell irony...?). Having finished with his writing, the overgrown lizard doodles several money bags on the page and tosses it into the result pile. Almost Dragonic Bastard You are 100% Greedy, 100% Perverted, 100% Self-Indulgent, and 0% Rational. Congratulations, you make the Spiteful Loner, the Sociopath, and the Bitch-Slap look like the Class President, the Diplomat, and the Red Cross respectively! You are the lowest of low lifes, and often involve yourself in schemes that force the Red Cross to arrive on the scene. Your plots and ideals are so far-fetched that you even make the Televangelist look rational. When you pose as a Televangelist in the hopes of getting a Diplomats attention, you only sell Red Crosses because you're narcisistic and want them to match the colors of your scales. You leave many a woman Red and Crossed after attempting to deal with them, and must often face their wrath. There is no use in attempting to evaluate your emotions, as doing so would drive even the Class President into a state of Bitch-Slaps and Spiteful Sociopathic Hippyness. You probably even cheated on this test, because cheating is simply part of your nature! To put it less negatively: 1. You are more GREEDY than intuitive. 2. You are more GREEDY than gentle. 3. You are more GREEDY than rational. 4. You are more GREEDY than brutal. * * Mainly because you're a coward. Compatibility: Your exact opposite is exactly what the world needs today. Other personalities you would probably get along well with are the Smartass Braggart Capitalist Pig, or saint_gasoline.

Wyvern grumbles as he claws past several people standing in front of the bar. A murmer of complaints rises from the bystanders as Wyvern obscures their view of Scarlett O Harpy's flaming package. He hisses loudly as the murmers register as shouts in his hungover mind, and slouches over in the direction of the flaming bag on the counter. "No so fast." Scarlett O' Harpy pauses in her frisking of Sexy/Sleazy the Elder Dwarf. She grabs the bag using a single sharply-manicured hand and pulls it to the side. "Finders keepers, hah!" Wyvern skids upon noticing that he's lunging for a clear bar counter. He slips over the wet pool he's created underneath himself and goes sailing across the counter, colliding into the busy bartender. Scarlett O Harpy laughs raucously as the bartender drops a platter of twenty exotic drinks onto the lizard. "Haha, looks like an iguana!" Scarlett points and keels over in her chair. "Hawhaw! Now then, where was I-" Scarlett O Harpy turns back towards Sleazy the Elder Dwarf. She continues in her process of frisking, moving her hands to his front pockets. "Oh, you already checked there, try the back pockets." mumbles the voice of Sleazy. "Ah, right, thanks." Scarlett begins moving her hands to other pockets, then pauses as something registers in her head. "Wait a minute... you're awake?!" "Errrk." Sleazy the Elder Dwarf sits up on his seat, suddenly realizing his error. "Well, uhh... what would you expect? I am, y'know, Sleazy this evening, after all." A silence envelopes the area of the bar. In the background, Peredhil's poetic riffing is heard: I'll have my fish with vinegar and chips - fresh plattered -- "Errrr," chokes Sleazy, backing up in his seat as he watches Scarlett's carnivorous eyes turn a deeper shade of red. "For what it's worth, that's a great flaming package you've got there." "That does it," growls Scarlett. She pulls out a lobster bib and two knives. "For that comment, you're an apperitif." "Wait!" cries Sleazy, squirming as Scarlett lunges. "I didn't mean- I meant that flaming package! That one, over there!" Scarlett turns as Sleazy the Elder Dwarf points, and cries out when she notices that Wyvern has reclaimed his flaming bribe bag. The lizard hightails it from the bar area clutching the package, then turns to Scarlett from a safe distance and laughs. "My shiny flame package, mine!" Wyvern reaches into the bag and pulls out one of the shiny sticks of dynamite within. "Ssssee this shiny, Scarlett? It's mine, I tell you, MINE!" The lizard pauses as the crowds surrounding him start running.

"Alright Kassie, just remember... we're aiming for 'sane' here. Can you do 'sane'?" Kassie Kurazy adjusts the speaker next to her mouth, along with the tiny bird that rests on her head. A hippo yawns in the background, and she yawns along with it. "Gaudie," growls Bob from the news control center. "Kassie isn't responding. Have the medics on reser-" "Thank you, Bob." Kassie Kurazy speaks to noone in particular, unable to even hear Bob's voice through her head set. She spreads her arms out wide as the camera pans out for a fuller view, revealing a number of animals scurrying around her. "We bring you to the Pen's crowded Cabaret Room for a special news bulletin. Animals have inexplicably begun flooding the quarters, and have built a pyramid of bloody rabbit hides in honor of some unknown entity. This reporter will go directly to the crowds in the hopes of gaining more information." Kassie turns to a mare passing by and shoves a microphone in its face. "Sir, would you care to explain what is happening here today?" *Neyeheheheh* "There you have it folks, straight from the horse's mouth." Kassie begins skipping along through the crowds of animals. She passes by Mynx and Daryl (mascot of Were-Fox News), and pauses as an elephant sits on a Wyvern grazing for geld. She eventually comes across a peculiar bunny wearing a red cape, and aims a microphone at him. "Sir, what do you think of this senseless slaughter of rabbits?" "..." "I see." Kassie jumps up and grins wildly. "A time of celebration for all except the rabbits. And I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, that this reporter will join in the festivities." Several alligators floating in a moat behind Kassie open their mouths and swallow the tiny birds that rest on their snouts. Kassie grabs the tiny bird off of her head and stuffs it into her mouth, feathers flying everywhere. "Alright, cut!" cries Bob Suloberrin, waving his arms. "CUT!!!" ;-) OOC: Happy Birthday, Canid.

Just to give a late heads up to listeners: the 6/10/05 episode of "Any Given Moment" was unfortunatly preempted for a sports game and won't be airing. :-( Things should be good to go for the 6/17/05 episode airing next week, though, and Happybuddha should once again be able to guest in-studio then. For themes, I'm deciding between an "Angster Rap" guitar-sample showcase, a "Copped Suey" oriented choppy beat episode, or coverage of the Los Angeles hip hop scene. Will reach a decision and give more info next week when the date of the show approaches. Thanks, and sorry for the confusion.

I think that this is an excellent story so far, Sweetcherrie. I find it very mature and realistic, and am already attached to the character of Mandy and her sad memories. I think that you do a great job of conveying Mandy's emotions and desires throughout it, as a great deal of insight is given into her thoughts and feelings. I also really like how you rarely touch upon the problems that Mandy faces directly, and instead gradually show them through Mandy's dialogue and situations. I think that the juxtaposition of Mandy's current thoughts with her memories also work well, and offer a nice way to transition between memories. In terms of potential improvements, I was a bit uncertain of the implications of the second memory that revolved around Mandy's grandparents and her mother crying. I once again like how you showed everything to the reader in it, but was left with vague impressions of what was going on with the mother and didn't quite see its significance to the rest of the story. The notion of marital issues are raised, but they don't seem apparent in any of the later memories. I was also a bit uncertain as to why Martin chose Mandy as his target for rape, given how much she's been teased by classmates about her appearence... while he's depicted as drunk, it still seemed a little iffy to me that he'd choose her given how popular he is. Perhaps it was an act of revenge, or he did it off a bet with Roy? Great stuff so far, once again. A very poignant and riveting series of memories. I look forward to reading more.

Nice narrative poem, drummondo. I really liked the phrasing of the girl's stories, and found the notion of "wishers and stalkers" very intriguing. I also liked the direct tone of the narrative, and thought that the curt wording of the sentences drove across the narrator's sadness well. The ending of this poem didn't bring it to a sense of closure for me, and you may want to detail the narrator's reactions more or detail the girl's next actions to tie it all together. Just my thoughts. Nicely done, overall.

Wyvern fidgets in a scaly heap on the ground and clutches at his head. Blocking the extremely loud and painful words of Vlad as best as he can, the hungover lizard groggily slips his way to his feet. His scales hang low in their soaked state as he drags his way to the bribery bin. The lizard scowls and wobbles dizzily, then sticks his claw into the bin and freezes. "Hey!" Wyvern clutches at his own head and grinds his teeth for a moment, unable to fully understand his own words due to their volume in his head. "Who took that beautiful bonfire that Loki Wyrd gave as a bribe?! Just when I need it the most too-" Spotting a familiar-looking flicker of light next to an even-more-familiar-looking Scarlett figure, the lizard begins sloshing his way to the bar. Next to Scarlett at the bar, a not-so-familiar-looking Elder Dwarf still dozes under revery's spell. Dwarven drinking habits die hard... --- The crowds mingle and chat amongst themselves as Wyvern shoves past them. They glare at him and pause as he passes by, then continue speaking in a dignified manner: "Well, thank goodness he's up. I couldn't hear a thing!" "Oh come now, Charles. It was perfectly audible. You didn't even hear Mira's fine appraisal of his Muse's whiskers?" "No, I didn't! All I heard was that lizard's horrendous snoring. Snore snore snore!" Another bystander interjects. "Madam... I believe that Mira praised the whimpers, not the whiskers." Yet another scholar turns to the group. "Really? Why, I thought he said whistles! How did you interpret cryptomancer's statement of each moment being "richer than mine"? It was a bit tricky to pick up, with the snoring and all." "Actually, I believe it was 'richer than vines.' What was the stanza after that though? I couldn't hear..." "Damn his snoring!" "I really did like Loki Wyrd's 'petri fish' image, that was rather original." "I'm afraid I missed that one... it was rather loud in my area, you know, with the snoring and all." ;-p

The Pen birthday crowds pause as the doors to the Cabaret Room slowly creak open. Mynx's jaw drops as a huge ball of colorful materials is forcefully pushed through the open doorway, barely squeezing through. The large multi-color ball rolls into the room towards the birthday feline. "A ball..." Mynx pokes the ball reluctantly with one of her paws. "Yarn?" She jumps back as the yarn ball speaks in a familiar voice: "An Almost Dragonic Brand Jumbo-Sized Multi-Color Ball O Substitute Yarn™, to be exact." Wyvern's scaly head pokes out from the depths of the yarn, and he winks. "Happy Birthday, Mynx!" With that, the reptilian Elder begins removing himself from within the ball of yarn. A painstaking thirty minutes later, he has not only managed to free himself from the yarn, but has also reduced the toy to a ragged pile of source material in the process. Wincing at the flimsy durability of the product, Wyvern grumbles and bows to Mynx. "Apologiesss, hopefully this pile is still tangle-worthy. It's all yours, except..." Wyvern clips off a little thread of yarn, and hands it to Falcon. "An Almost Dragonic Brand Fuzzy Whip™ for Mr. Falcon, to fend off minor imps and what-not. A Happy Birthday to you as well." The lizard bows again, then scurries off into the celebrating crowds in the hopes of finding party favours or post-birthday drinking games. ;-) OOC: Happy Birthday, Mynx and Falcon2K1.

Wyvern fidgets underneath Ayshela, not knowing what hit him. From a distance, the dwarven investor's shouts ring through the air: "Should've known you were a liar when you said that it never rained people around here! Darn untrustworthy wyverns!" Wyvern digs his claws into the ground and mourns the loss of another potential mountain of geld. The lizard's crocodile tears gradually come to a halt, however, as he gains a thorough awareness of his position and surroundings. His beady eyes widen into a glued-open state, and his fidgetings suddenly cease. As Mynx snuggles Ayshela with a tacklehug and the Elders congratulate her left and right, an all-too-familiar almost dragonic voice pips from underneath her skirt: "Congrats on the promo, Ayshela. Plenty of great views in the Tower, as I'm sure you'll find. Yep, pleeeennnnnty of great views." ;-) OOC: Nice to have you amongst the Elders, Ayshela.

"Why yesss," hisses Wyvern, his forked tongue dangling loose from the tacklehug. "I certainly have some good promotional party stuff for sale. Special promotion deals have been prohibited by Gyrfalcon, however, so I'll have to offer you things at their regular prices." Wyvern snickers and winks at Sweetcherrie, his tongue slowly sliding back into his mouth. The greedy lizard avoids Gyrfalcon's glares as he rummages through his suitecase, discarding rank plaques and rank tags as he claws through its contents. "Lessssee here. Rank tag, nope. Rank plaque, nope. Promotee perfume? Naw, too rank. QQQ (Qute Quillbearer Quill)? Oops, it broke. Page's Loose Leaf? Maybe for Patrick. Hmmmm... oooh, I have just the thing!" Sweetcherrie raises a brow and tilts her head, trying to make out what the lizard is clutching. "Hmm? What would that be?" Wyvern quickly tucks the item behind his back as Sweetcherrie approaches to view it. He flashes her a wide toothy grin. "Well. Let's face it, Sssweetcherrie: no newly promoted pennite is complete without their own personal Almost Dragonic Brand Promotional Inauguration Uniform™. And for a mere two thousand seven hundred and eighty geld, you can have your very own!" With that, Wyvern proudly holds up the "uniform" that he was hiding behind his back, which consists of an extremely tiny miniskirt with two Qs marked on the back in suggestive places. Sweetcherrie stares at the expensive piece of clothing for a long moment, then gradually turns her eyes to Wyvern and cracks her knuckles. "Errrr..." Wyvern takes a step back and holds out the skirt defensively. "You'll, ehhh... you'll be the life of the party...?" *SLAP!* OOC: Congratulations to Sweetcherrie, Patrick Durham, and drummondo on their promotions. ;-)

"Ah geeze Joey, I thought we agreed: no gat ties." Joe Mama shut the door to the large white van and scowled. He adjusted the Uzi-design tie of his reporter uniform and spat at the ground. "C'mon Al, plenty o' great negotiators have worn this kind of tie. Like Scarface." Al Fishy adjusted the final strap of the electric buzzer on his right hand and sighed. Slipping a white glove over it, he turned towards the Mighty Pen Keep and examined it for a long moment. "Alright Joe, time for Operation Gossip Buzz. Remember, I'm Alfred Fishingyacht, and you're Joseph Mamamia. We have to be real high-class an' all, since we're supposedly part of that Sexy Se- Oh would you stop that?!" Joe Mama gave his camera one last violent swing, aiming it like a rifle. He then nodded sheepishly to Al, and cocked the device onto his shoulder. "O.K, let's go..." The two mobsters-turned-news-reporters made their way into the Pen through the window next to the open front door. They wandered the halls for over thirty minutes before finally admitting to themselves that it was a much larger place than they expected. In took them another ten minutes to admit that they were hopelessly lost. "I told you, Al. I told you we should've made a right at that last-" "Would you shaddap? You haven't got a map either." Al almost slapped a hand on his forehead, then remembered his electric buzzer. "Let's see, I remember we passed that pig sty Office twice, and there was that stairway..." "Maybe we should just ask her?" Joe pointed down the hall towards Melba, who was sweeping the floors. Al Fishy perked up and grinned at his associate, then called out: "Ey you faaaa- I mean, I beg uhh your pardon. My partner and I here are part of the magazine Sexy Sexy Monthly, and we're searching for the quarters of one... Orlan?" Melba raised a brow at the two strangers, then scooped up her broom and pointed its handle in their direction. "You're standing right next to it." Al and Joe looked at one another, then turned to the door at their side. The two of them examined the large neon letters and stars spelling out "Orlan's room," and grumbled to themselves. "What's this?" Joe snatched a small post-it note nestled between two neon letters. "Out Sunbathing?" "He'll be back in a bit," muttered Melba. She then turned a corner and went back to her sweeping. "Sounds like a manly thing to do." Al leaned back against a wall, almost stuffing his electric buzzer-strapped hand into his pocket. "I guess now all we gotta do is wait."

I agree with Peredhil that this is a clever piece of fan fiction, Jade. As a fan of both Beckett and "Waiting for Godot," I enjoyed reading over your prologue to the other acts of the play. I really liked how you brought up the notion that Pozzo and Lucky are actually searching for Vladimir and Estragon, as it seems appropriate and only adds to the futility of the piece. I also thought the inability to act and dialogue exchanges were characteristic of Beckett, though I was surprised how much Lucky spoke in this given his lack of actual lines in the play. Also, the hat paranoia was mainly a characteristic of Vladimir in the play, if I'm not mistaken. Nicely done, once again. I read "Waiting for Godot" fairly recently, and this was a nice compliment to the reading.

First of all, an explanation for the lack of an overview for the reverie show in this thread... Recordings were actually made of this show (by Akallabeth, thanks a bunch again! ) and of the "chill" show before that one (by some of my friends outside the Pen). Unfortunatly, while the recordings are technically available, I haven't been able to listen to them yet or archive them due to problems in transfering and opening them. I had hoped to provide some audio with the overview, but will go with a simple summary for now: The "posse cut" show that reverie guested on (4/28/05) went extremely well. We both had a great time in the studio, and shouted out a countless number of pennites (simply too many to recall and list). In addition to generally giving Pen members props over the course of two hours, we also did some impromptu roleplaying that turned out great. During one song interval inbetween two spacey sci-fi posse cuts, we were astronauts floating in space... during another, we were Russian spies discussing the K.G.B (followed up by a posse track of the same name). The music was also great as usual. ;-) Hopefully, one day, we'll manage to get the show up in some listenable format for folks to listen to. Keep your fingers crossed. Another announcement: "Any Given Moment" will be airing throughout the month of June. It will only be a few shows given the limited time frame, but it will be available for listening on Fridays from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM US EST. The first June show will air on Friday the 10th, and will most likely feature the Pen's very own Happybuddha guesting live in-studio for the whole show. ;-) A theme has yet to be decided, but will be announced later this week. Pen people stand up!

Wyvern lurches behind a spare yellow flower patch as Patham shares a sentimental moment with Sweetcherrie. The reptilian Elder jumps out from behind the plants just as Patham turns to leave, and vigorously shakes the birthday pennite's hand. "A Happy Birthday to you, Patham, sorry for being ever-so-slightly belated." The lizard strikes a toothy grin. "Since the others have taught ya just about everything you need to know, I figured I'd getcha some add-on accessories for their exercises." Patham raises a brow as the overgrown lizard digs through a large sack by his side. "This first item is an Almost Dragonic Brand Non-Authentic Meditative Torch Device™." Wyvern hands Patham a filmsy piece of wood. "Perfect to light when you want to make white clouds to meditate to... though it may occasionally make black clouds, of course. Or grey clouds... *Ahem* next item." The lizard sifts through his bag again, and pulls out a thorny brier patch. "Here's a hi-tech Almost Dragonic Brand Forest Stealth Camoflauge Outfit™ for owls, to wear the next time you have to trek out in the wild. Warning: flight may be hindered. Comes with a mothball incense candle to help repel hungry tigers." The lizard searches through his bag once more, and takes out what appears to be a used pixy stick. "In terms of necromancy business, this Almost Dragonic Brand Semi-Professional Zombie Ward™ may help in getting zombies to hesitate before lunging at you. "Ummm." Patham hesitates as the lizard puts the pixy stick on top of his brier patch. "Th-thanks." "And don't forget this Almost Dragonic Brand Instinct-O-Meter™... it's like the ouija board of choosing animal instincts. Oh, and this Almost Dragonic Brand Table O Elements™, water omitted of course." Patham wobbles as Wyvern shoves a large table into his hands. He stutters as the brier patch begins feeling thornier under its weight. "I was going to offer up some Almost Dragonic Brand Napkins™ to help clean up any remains of your lunch, but they sorta dissolved. You can just tear out pages from this Almost Dragonic Brand Stega-Thesaurus™ to replace them, except for the pages that detail different phrases for geld. Those should remain in mint condition." Patham barely balances himself under the weight of all of the items. "Errrr, thanks Wyv." Wyvern pauses for a moment, then rubs his scaly claws together. "Sssay Patham, I don't suppose you'd happen to have any 'party favours' for a lizard like myself, would you?" Patham cringes as the rock in his pocket suddenly heats up to a scalding flame. He immediately turns to run from the area, and drops the rather useless bundle of Almost Dragonic Brand Gifts™ in the process. Wyvern watches Patham as he rushes off into the distance, then sighs and decides to check if there's any sugar left in the Almost Dragonic Brand Semi-Professional Zombie Ward™. ;-) OOC: A belated Happy Birthday to you, Patrick Durham. Also, a round of applause to Sweetcherrie, Mynx, Venefyxatu, Cryptomancer, Gryphon, Salinye, and Cyril Darkcloud for one of the most consistantly creative birthday threads in recent memory.

I saw the film "The Life Aquatic" last night on DVD. This is the first film I've seen directed by Wes Anderson, who's also known for his films "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Rushmore." I thought the movie demonstrated a very distinct style of discreet and subtle humor in which things that are normally magical and glamorous are flattened and rendered dull. It details the story of a washed up Ocean documentary captain, Steve Zissou (played by Bill Murray), who's searching for a Jaguar Shark that killed his best friend when filming his last documentary. Zissou performs such "heroic" tasks as stealing from one of his rich captain friends' Ocean outposts to get tracking equipment (and an expresso machine while he's at it) for his ship. Even the magical quality of the sealife was rendered ambivalent, as all of the sea creatures were presented through claymation. Overall, I found it an odd and interesting movie... it was rarely laugh-out-loud funny and there were scenes where it dragged a bit, but it wasn't bad overall.