Fantasist's Scroll

Yes, apparently even airplane geeks dream.
And, when they do, they dream of fantastic, frightening, freaky planes. Some even dream them into existance. Mostly, though, they just exist as fantasies. Still, someone has collected a bunch of them together into one easy-to-use webpage: Fantasy Planes.
Perfect for a Friday Fun Link!

Hey, it’s Friday, dream big and click the link!

It’s been a long time since I posted any of my digital art.
That’s partly because I’ve been so busy getting divorced, changing jobs and just generally trying to maintain my life. Still, as things stabilize, I plan to do more of this art stuff. And, of course, I’ll show it here. I suppose I should start putting copyright information on these things, but I don’t really care if anyone steals them. They’re not good enough to get money out of anyone, or I would have tried already! So, just enjoy them.
This one is a nice, little river valley with gold veins in it and a freaky plane.

Real or hoax?
While reading a story on Slashdot.org about an improper request for a non-existant version of the Linux kernel, someone made a joke about John Titor, time traveller. As per usual on Slashdot, a fellow commentor then posted a link to the John Titor entry on Wikipedia. After reading the entry, I find myself wondering who was really behind it and why. Is it simply a Toynbee Convector? (The Toynbee Convector is a book by Ray Bradbury which contains a story of the same name. In the story, someone fakes going to the future to get folks to develop things to create that near-utopian future.) Was it someone writing a bit of interactive fiction? Or, was it simply a hoax to sell a book? (John Titor A Time Traveler\’s Tale)
Who knows? Who cares? It’s fun to look at and contemplate the intricacy of the story.
And, of course, it’s Friday, so click the link!

Well, pretty soon, maybe.
According to this article on WiredNews.com, it’s in the works! To be more specific, big makeup manufacturer L’Oreal is working cosmetics that mimic the structure of a butterfly’s wing using only chemistry and light instead of the traditional pigments, waxes and oils in “normal” offerings. What’s more, they can use these new techniques to create surreal effects that just aren’t possible with traditional cosmetics. Freaky stuff, but kind of cool, too. I wonder how long before this develops into some kind of bizarre body-modification cult thing. I can envision chemicals that create scale and fur-like effects already, so I’m sure someone is working on it.
Once again, science is making science-fiction real.

No, this isn’t a news story.
Nor is it an appeal to the “hero in the grey flannel suit”, either. Rather, just an article on MSN about the value of fantasy. The author claims, and I think rightly so, that because we don’t have to exhibit physical heroism on a regular basis in our modern society, we learn about bravery and heroism through our stories, specifically, fantasy stories. Examples sited included the Lord of the Rings series and Harry Potter, and, in an earlier age, Icelandic Sagas. The claim is that all three examples serve the same purpose, namely, to teach us about how to “act right” and find that little bit of courage inside us when we need it. I’d say the entire article, short as it was, spoke very highly to the need for good, heroic, fantasy fiction.
In a sometimes bleak market for writing in general, and fantasy and science-fiction in particular, I found the sentiments uplifting and hopeful. Now, all I need to do is find more time to write…

“He has the heart of a small boy…
he keeps it in a jar on his desk!” Well, I don’t remember who to attribute that quote to, or who it’s about anymore, either, but it sure is fun. And so is DIY Head in a Jar! Yes, now, just in time for the freakiest holiday of all, you can have your very own head in a jar. If you have an old bottle, you’re halfway there already! So, hurry, it’s still not too late to …

get a head!

(Oh, c’mon, it’s the Friday before Halloween and I’ve got head jokes, what else were you expecting here?)

Alas, too late for this year, but still…
For next Halloween, I might just get one of these freaky portraits. They’re “normal” from one angle, but, from another, they’re quite monsterous. It’s Cool!
As I mentioned, we’ve already passed the deadline for this year, but for next year you can get one. Why, if you have the scratch, you can even get one done from one of your very own photos. Now, that’s really ghoul, er, cool!

Anyway, it’s Friday, this is definately a freaky link, and I worked late last night, so cut me some slack and just click the link.

Hmm, I seem to be talking about this a lot lately…
Still, it’s something that is so often done poorly, that I think it warrants a little extra attention. So, while I was looking around for links on this subject, I found the “One of Us Creative Writing Workshop” online where they had an article on Creating Fantasy Worlds. This article, though, was little more than a collection of links to other articles that went into more depth on specific topics. Still, enough of these links seemed fresh and new to me that I thought it was worth posting. One think I did like about this site was the Discussion Forum. It didn’t seem too active at the time, but I think anyone who’s in that very lonely job of writing needs all the socializing they can get!