Post by Akbar Le Grey on Dec 2, 2007 14:51:44 GMT -5
December 2nd – December 9th.
Editor-in-Chief: Akbar Le Grey.
Contributors: Linda, Libitina, tim, Dismay, Jemima, PJ, Spoony.
Published by 667er Publications, ltd.
A subsidiary of the 667er Group.
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Drama. Drama. DRAMA. That about sums up this week at 667. Anyone who misses the old drama of 667 is undoubtedly happy now. How often does a girlfriend contest, a gender mix-up, a moderator dispute, and a rampaging dragongirl happen? Well, maybe that was a bad question. How often does it all happen in one week's time?
In addition to that, we've seen the return of a lot of people who've been missing from 667 for a while, including CWM, Ernist, Dupin, and last but certainly not least, Kobolos. And someone's been attempting to start a "Secret Satans", there've been reports of suspicious activity involving PJ's hair, rumors have been swirling around Swans, Fancy's caplock-happy brother has been having fun, a hermit crab has cheated death...the list of happenings goes on and on. School is also wrapping up for our Aussies and NZer, and finals are coming up for college students, and various December holidays are coming, and...it's quite a busy time. Secret Santas have also started, as well as the annual 13 Days of Christmas theme days.
It's certainly been an interesting week for great quotes to take out of context. Like this one, spoken by dragongirl to Zaid, the new MM moderator: "u r a joseph stalin!!!!!!" Or Betsy's, referring to her new shirt: "My breasts are gonna be famous." Or a less-than-helpful suggestion made in the suggestion thread by dragongirl (I'm beginning to notice a pattern here): "go tickle a sleeping dragon u idiot!!!!!!"*
So everyone enjoy the 667 drama while it's around. Have fun. Go get in an argument with someone, and make it public so everyone can enjoy it. And participate in the seasonal theme days, because they're only around once a year.
*The motto of Hogwarts, by the way, is never tickle a sleeping dragon.
- Libitina.
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Libitina: This week's tip: Don't leave your chemistry project until the last minute.
Fantine: You fool.
Libitina: However, if you do have to do a chemistry project, baking a cake is a great way to go.
Fantine: You're still a fool.
Libitina: So, er, this article is going to be a little short. Moving on. In the words of George Harrison, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.
Fantine: Wise man, that George, and kudos to Fancy for quoting him. Respect.
Libitina: Thug life, Fantine. Anyhow, based on this quote, if there are two librarians who can check out your books and you don't know where to go, but one of them is pretty adorkable, go to the adorkable one.
Fantine: That really doesn't have anything to do with the quote, you just like it.
Libitina: I'm not the one who got removed through the nose by the Egyptians.
Fantine: Pity, really.
Libitina: Finally, to close, we're heading into Christmas. Do nice things for people. Be selfless. Bake cookies.
Fantine: Don't buy into commercial scams.
Libitina: Don't murder kings.
Fantine: Yeah, just bow down to the man, nonLobbytina.
Libitina: I think you're losing your touch. That wasn't even close to being insulting. Anyhow, good day, 667, and participate in the 13 Days of Christmas!
- Libitina.
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tim here once again to talk about my most favortie happiest thing. no it is not maccoroni and cheese because i try to cooked some in the kitchin when mom was not home and she got mad because i am not to use the stoves or talk to strangers either remember that how many times have i told you. my new happiest thing is my best girlfriend yet, fancy is the one. fancy is verrry pretty even though i have not seen her that is okay because love is blind and dont you forget it. and sweet and she likes me and does not ignore me like some people who will not be named. i choose fancy to be the new girlfriend because i listen to my heart like doctor love says when she writes poetry. the answers in the questions in the compedition are different from mine to hers but this is okay because oposites attract like magnets. fancy is a girl and she is my friend and she is my girlfriend this is true so hands off mister! rain or shine fancy is really great so love conquers all and thats all there is too it.
-tim.
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Part 2 of 2 of History Travels
We have reached the house. Ruth turns to me and says “Mother won’t be pleased to have so many visitors, so when we enter, think of going forward in time IMMEDIATELY. I’ll hold your hand so I can come too. The politicians should be able to move forward in time as long as you think of them in your mind.”
I nod and jump off of the wagon and run inside. When I get in there, I wait for Ruth, but think about my own time. My own place in history. I get a tingly feeling as she places her hand in mine. It is the same way I feel in all historical places. I think of the year 2007. I think of my classes and school. I think of the house I am in, and many of its inhabitants. The feeling melts away, and I am standing in the present. My present. I turn to the group of men in the room. “Welcome to the year 2007.”
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“United States History to 1865… this looks like an interesting text” Thomas Jefferson says as he flips through my US history text. I walk carefully up to him and attempt a curtsy. “There’s a copy of the Constitution in there, sir, if you would like to look.” Many of the men get up and surround Jefferson, looking over his shoulder. Jefferson smiles and says “if you could find the page, it would be much appreciated, miss.”
I take the book carefully from his hands and turn to the Constitution. The men read it carefully. They hadn’t finished it yet, from what I remember. Then they turn to the Bill of Rights.
“Hamilton, you owe me twelve pieces of eight, if I am not mistaken” a man says. He must have been an anti-Federalist. Alexander Hamilton begrudgingly hands over the pieces of eight. I giggle.
“What is so hilarious, miss?” I notice my mistake. “I am sorry sir, but I never expected that you bet on the Bill of Rights.”
“’Tis all right, miss. Or are you a mistress? You look old enough to be one.” I feel my eyes widen. “No sir! In my time, to marry before the age of eighteen is illegal.” I hear some grumbling from the men. They obviously don’t like this law.
“Sarah, what’s happening in there?” Uh-oh. My boss enters the room to see fifty colonial men poring over my textbook. She faints. Ruth helps her into the other room and winks at me. Ruth would take care of her. Having a twin helps in times of crisis. Especially when nobody else in your time knows you have one.
The television set was turned on. I’d forgotten that the President was making a speech that day. My boss had wanted to hear it. Some of the men were now watching it, mesmerized. “This is your President?” one asks me.
“Yes sir.” I recognize who he is. John Adams, a delegate from Massachusetts.
“Where is this Washington, DC? It says he is speaking there.”
“Really? It’s the Nation’s Capitol. He was in Singapore the day before yesterday, that’s quite a flight.”
“The man can fly?”
“No, he has an airplane. You fly in it. We normally take one when we travel in this day.”
“So you each own one?”
I shake my head. “No sir, very few have their own. He uses the government’s.”
“The government has its own flying machine?”
“More than one. And when the President goes to visit Iraq this year… he’ll probably take one. He is Commander in Chief, after all. He has a lot of privileges.”
A tall form came up to me. “What do you mean, privileges?”
I look up into the face of George Washington himself. The Nation’s first President. I curtsy and say “He… has a lot of things. In some ways it is like he is above the law….”
“Where are the checks and balances then? The ones we put in place?” Someone else asks.
“I don’t know.” I reply.
“Look at this, men! These amendments… look at them! And some are changed. We should never be able to change the Constitution like this!” Jefferson was still looking at the Constitution.
“No, no. We need to change them! It is a way to make it change to a growing nation.” Hamilton cries.
“Your President is speaking about a war! What war?”
The men start to squabble loudly. I can barely take it anymore. I cover my ears. “HUSH! All of you! The war was started when another country blew up three of our buildings, killing thousands. ”
“But he is the leader of this war? He makes the decisions?”
I nod. “But they’re not always good or checked appropriately. We’re losing a lot of money with the war.”
“But that is impossible! Congress can stop him.”
“But the veto makes him able to. It is like he has full power over them. And then the lobbyists have a say too. They do a lot in changing how it all works.” I am getting a headache. I have now spent over an hour answering their many questions.
“This is horrible! We must stop this reign of tyranny!”
“NO! It’s not tyranny! It’s his powers. The powers that were given to him. They couldn’t even stop him with judicial review.”
I feel a hand on my shoulder. It is John Hancock. “What is judicial review? The courts read everything the Congress passes?”
“Kind of” I reply apologetically. I really don’t like the situation I am in.
“What does “kind of” mean?” he asks me.
“It means they do but they don’t? I’m not positive.”
“And the states, what about the states? Where are their rights?” cries out another man.
“Oh, they’re involved. It’s just that the Congresspeople are only there in their own states for a limited amount of time.”
“Young lady, are you being serious?”
I nod. This is too much for me. I hear a ripping noise. Jefferson has just ripped the Constitution out of my text!
“HEY! I NEED THAT! Stop! Just go back to your own time!” I cry, covering my face with my hands and leaning against the wall. I feel a hand on my knee and hear a familiar voice.
“Don’t worry about the dress. Keep it. You’ll be fine. You’ve changed your own history, twin. Be proud of your past and your future. Be proud of what you have done.” The voice slowly drifts away. I black out and hear nothing. All is silent.
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“Huh? What just happened?” I look up from where I am sitting. My shoes are off of my feet and sitting next to me. My textbook is lying on the ground. Other than that, the room is undisturbed. The television set is off. I get up and notice that there is a Colonial dress sitting near my shoes. Hmm. That was odd. Maybe my boss was being kind and decided to let me use it for an event coming up. I crawl over to my textbook and papers. They were untouched. I see my history assignment and pull it out to work. My dream helped, for that was what it was, just a dream, right? I decide to look at the Constitution for a reference. I open my textbook. Someone had ripped out the Constitution...
-Dismay.
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Last week, I didn't have a chance to show you my table and dresser that's in my room, but now I do! Here we go.
Little play table from my childhood that's taking up about 25% of the floor space in my room:
The nakey lady happens to be this.
My dresser, with a load of other random crap on it (but I'll tell you one thing: there's a jaguar bank hidden on it):
I'd show you my clothes, but the drawers are stuffed full, and I just put them in after folding them neatly.
Next week, look forward to some of her shelves!
-Jem.
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PJ rants on about a bunch of stuff he likes to read/play/watch on teh Internets
Yo.
Webcomic of the Week:
I promised something special this week. And, well, here it is. Achewood.
Shown to me by our very own BSam (you may recall seeing Philippe – the little otter – in his sig at some point), this is the veritable diamond among the rough. This comic simply rocks, no questions asked, although I must admit that it does have a very specialized brand of humour and some (most) of you mightn’t like it. It takes a special person to love Achewood, and in this case, special means “good”.
It’s got both single part comics and storylines. It’s about a bunch of anthropomorphic stuffed toys, robots and cats living underneath our real world, basically, chilling it.
There’s one thing that makes this comic so goddamn great, and that one thing is the characters. They are simply beautiful. Chris Onstad, the creator, has created characters so complex, so amazing and creative and hilarious that it’s almost unbelievable.
Example: most stories (be they presented via book, comic, radio or film) show kids either as little adults, or just random side characters. Basically, most authors screw up when it comes to portraying a child.
But not Achewood. There’s only one proper kid in this comic, and he’s absolutely positively the most awesome and cutest kid around. It’s Philippe, the little 5 year otter. He’s so cheerful and cute and selfless and – I’m rambling. Basically, Onstad nailed it right on the head with this one. There’s a story arc in which Philippe marries a sunflower. And another in which he befriends a French fry, only to bury it falls off a tree.
So, uh, what I’m trying to say here is that the characters of Achewood are extremely awesome. It isn’t like other comics – it almost never has a punchline. The simple representation of the story, or the dialogue, or the character interactions or whatever is what makes this strip funny. This is the rarest type of humour: the type that makes you laugh not from a witty comment, or a funny punchline; this is the type of humour that makes you laugh, not at the action or the dialogue, but the way it is presented.
Now I’m sure I’ve lost most of you, but, well, just read the comic. You’ll find out whether you understand what I’m saying here or not. But don’t take my word for it; ask local celebrity BSam instead!
PJ: Sam, what do you think of Achewood?
Sam: its awesome
There you have it folks.
Also, the content matter of the comics is relatively adult, but…well, not in a bad way. They don’t say the f-word, for instance, because it adds humour, they say it because that’s the type of characters Achewood has. So meh. Read it.
Web Game of the Week:
This is an old favorite of mine. I had to find something special for you lot this time, and I hope I managed it.
The Dead Case
I played this quite a while ago, and it’s stayed with me ever since as one of the finest online point and click games online. Plus, it has funky music!
So, basically, you’re dead. You awake, as a ghost. You have absolutely no idea who you are, or how you died. If the jazzy tune hasn’t already clued you in, this is a detective game. Your mission is to find out, first of all, who the hell you are (were) and who killed you. You might also get some avenging in at the end, I can’t remember, and if I did, I wouldn’t spoil it for you anyways.
The graphics are good. You’re a pretty cool ghost, and you meet some other ghosts that are also pretty cool looking. I love the plot; the whole concept of the ghosts is an old one, but it’s extremely well played out in this game, which is why I’m telling you about it now.
You’ve got the traditional three utensils: the hand, for picking up stuff and performing actions, the default utensil, the finger, which is for pointing around and choosing directions, and the eyeball, which is for getting a closer look at objects. And, of course, an inventory. Can’t have a point and click game without one of those.
It’s a challenging game, which is also part of the appeal. One of the most challenging and long online point and clickers I’ve found, to date. There’s a hint system, or something, in case you get stuck, but you should only use that if you’re a wimp.
That’s about all I’ve got to say. It’s a good game, and I’d highly recommend you play it.
Flash Movie of the Week:
Ok, so maybe I should have used these last week. In crude week. Oh well. These are some of my personal favorites, although chances are if you skimmed last week’s issue in distaste, you won’t like these, either.
Ladies and gentlemen,Bad Guys.
Heh. Gotta love those BadGuys. They’re so freakin’ classic.
So these are random little cartoons with highly memorable dialogue that is bristling – bristling, I tell you – with swearwords. Which is part of why they’re so funny. For me, anyways.
You’ve got the two guys picture above, Green and Blue. Yeah, yeah, they’re pretty cool, but they’re just dudes. My favorite are the BadGuys. They’re indistinct dark blueish shapes without features or, well, much really. And they have kickass accents. They’re the BadGuys.
I – well – there’s not much more to say. Watch the first episode, then decide whether or not you like them or not. I'm really quite fond of them, which is why I've saved these up for last, but eh...here we are. Enjoy, etc. etc. etc.
The problem with my column, I think, is that as I’m only doing four issues I can’t really review it all properly, because, well – there’s nothing bad I can compare it to. I’m really just presenting a bunch of awesome stuff that I’ve found on the web in the hope that you guys will also like it, and that your lives will be brightened because I’ve shown you these. I hope at least one person has started reading at least one of the webcomics I’ve shown these last few weeks. That’d make it worth it.
Oh well. I might do one more of these, I might not. I really want to keep writing for the 667er, but eh, it’s always tricky trying to find something to write about. I’ve had just about enough of these reviews, anyways. They’re getting a bit stale, I’m finding. Meh. Hope you liked them. I’m off. Keep sending in articles to the 667ers, or I’ll do something nasty to your mother with a rake.
PJ out.
-PJ.
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***Spoony's Thought of the Week***
Hoy fuimos de compras para comestibles. Después de que consiguiéramos todo, nosotros fuimos al registro del ser-comprueba, y a qué escoge Papá para el idioma? español, por supuesto, aunque sean ciudadanos completamente Anglófonos. la mano repasó mi cara el tiempo entero que averiguamos. como terminamos, él anda sobre pagar la cuenta, y dice, "Buenos tardes, senora" y se jacta de nuestros viajes a México y otros países de America central. Significo, quiero hablar español, mais je préfère parler français.
~~~Spoony's Game of the Week~~~
So, last week I asked you to give me really creative and spunky acronyms that fit into the random jumble of letters I supplied. I got one submission. That was from Sixteen, aka Michael. Thank you Michael. the second one made me smile a lot. (:
Violently nibbling on xylophones, the giant visits important xenophobic armies.
Computers can commonly cause convoluted confusion, creating colossal costs nationally.
Realising your dreams makes a little wizard peel oranges.
Again, merci.
this week, the first person to tell me what the next word means wins:
Tetrybuhilnilihiasriopweddingelsogeicraterious.
--Spoony.
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The 667er's Caption Contest
Last week's image:
Thanks for the entries, everyone. This week the most amusing caption was:
"Do a little dance! Make a lit'le love! Get down tonight! (But you can only go up!)" - Spoony
The image for this week is:
Remember you can submit as many captions as you like each week, serious or hilarious, as long as they’re creative. Send them to Sixteen (volunteer16) by next Saturday, and your caption may be posted in next week's edition.
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Hey guys. I guess Akbar’s really busy with exams and such, so I’m posting this week’s 667er. I leave you with this link from Triangle Eyes:Feed the hungry, everyone!
(Edit: can't seem to get the picture to work. help?)
-Shruti
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Hey all.
I'm very, very sorry I couldn't do The 667er last night; I had my midterm literature and sociology exams today.
SHRUTI=THE ULTIMATE. *applause*
I'm glad to see we got so many good submissions, but it really bugs me that only one person responmded to Spoony's contest. Come on, guys, be proactive.
On a different note, welcome back, Kobolos. Hehehe.
PS: It's true; life will smile for you.
Yours,
Akbar.
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