Fantasist's Scroll

I’ve been selected for punishment!

Actually, to doll out punishment, ironically. So, I’ve been playing this game, right? And, I’ve faithfully made an entry for every letter so far. Some are better than others, but they all meet the bare minimum requirements. And, I’ve been consistent, so I think that counts for something.
Well, the other day, someone “broke the rules” in a small way and I was selected to punish them. What a novel experience for me! I’m usually the punishee, not the punisher, so it was a bit unnerveing. Still, I did my best. Hope it turns out well!

Yea! More toys!

Okay, these are mainly silly, but sort of cool toys. They’re called Neo-Kaiju, I guess because they’re kind of like Japanese monster-movie monsters. They’re funny, at any rate. I especially liked Humpty Djinn and Steam Punk. They’re mainly sold in whole-sale lots of 10, but you can get them individually at Super 7 Store.

Go! Be a good consumer and consume!

Hey, look, new stuff!

Okay, so my life has been a little crazy the past couple of weeks and I haven’t been posting too much new stuff. Well, there’s a person I know from several lists on-line who was so inspired by my conlang generators that he made his own. His name is Nikhil Sinha, and one of his websites is Azukania. Also, a direct link to his PERL word generator is here. For more information about Azgen, Nikhil’s word generator you can go to his Azgen Information Page.
Great work, Nikhil! We need more people making word generators out there!

No, this is not something out of the back pages of Wired.

It’s a real thing being put together by the DaVinci Institute, called, yes, the Museum of Future Inventions. Their idea is simple, actually, dedicate a museum to future technologies that haven’t been actually invented yet with the hope that someone will be inspired to make them reality. I don’t know if it will actually work, but it sure sounds like a fun museum to visit! In any case, anything that promotes hope for future generations is all right in my book!

And, what the heck, it’s Friday, so go check it out.

I always love a good random generator.

God knows, I’ve needed a good laugh the past week or two, so when I found the Euphemism Generator, I knew I’d hit gold. Of course, it mainly generates sexual euphemisms, but it does have others and, in any case, it’s a laugh riot! Most of them are a little bit off, if you know what I mean, but some of them are so dead funny that I thought I was going to spit my coffee all over my monitor.

Anyway, it’s Friday and you deserve a laugh, too, no matter who you are, so click the link.

The male version of the “bodice ripper”.

Let me preface this review with the simple statement that this is: a) Not the kind of book I usually read, b) There is almost nothing about real “bushido” in the book, and c) Was purchased at a used book store for less than a dollar. Okay, I admit that I was looking for something different, and not too challenging to read, but I was hoping for more.
I finished Code of Bushido by Don Pendelton this week. This is from a series of “men’s fiction” (no, that’s not a euphemism for pornography!) called SuperBolan, which is named after the main character, Mack Bolan. It’s about as low-brow as you can get and still be reading books that don’t have illustrations.
The characterisation is weak and the rest of the writing is worse. Everyone is a giant characature of actual characters. Mack Bolan is a stereotypical, steely-eyed, tough-guy fighting a shadow war against terrorists for the CIA. He’s the ultimate dark hero. A professional killer who’s out there killing the bad guys and keeping America safe. Yes, it’s really that heavy-handed.

But, setting all that aside. It was entertaining. Entertaining in the same way that, say, a Sylvester Stalone movie is. Lots of action, a little mostly bad dialog and not much else. But, I didn’t have to think about it. It was what it was. There wasn’t any really deep social message here, just action and lots of it. So, it was an oddly soothing change of pace for me. The only really annoying thing was the totally wrong presentation of bushido and traditional Japanese culture. This author has obviously never read anything about bushido, or any of the traditional martial arts, or even talked to anyone with more than a passing interest in Japanese culture.
So, while I can’t reccomend this book in all good conscience, if you’re in the mood for mindless mayhem and a break from anything too heavy, this might just get the job done.

But, to counter the “low-brow-ness” of Code of Bushido, I started reading The Science of Words. Nothing like some good linguistics to wash the filth off!

Whoa! I almost forgot!

I guess I’ve been busy this week, because I almost forgot to post a Friday Fun Link. So, without further ado, here is the Real FAQ, or Questions You Really Ask. C’mon, let’s face it, these are real-world things that people are always asking, so it makes perfect sense to write up standard responses to them and put them on a webpage.

At least, it made sense on a Friday. Aw, go take a look, it’s not like you were working anyway!

I got this in a spam the other day:

“He soon came to a stop, however, and saw that another of the monsters had
come upon him from the rear and was now, with its mate, circling closely
around him, while both uttered continuously their hoarse, savage cries. Rob
wondered why the Garment of Repulsion had not protected him from the blow of
the bird’s wing; but, as a matter of fact, it had protected him
For it was not the wing itself but the force of the eddying currents of air
that had sent him whirling away from the monster”

Now, golly, what an interesting thing to have in spam to make it seem like a real message. I almost feel like I should work it up into an actual story. Oh, I’d have to edit it some, but it’s not a bad start.