This is a sad but charming short documentary about bringing some whimsy to the world. It reminds me of the fairy doors in Ann Arbor.
https://youtu.be/ZLoBWpiOczQ

So, I will get to some of the discussion topics we've been working on. I've been sick with pneumonia and haven't been on top of some things like I'd like to be. But I wanted to make this thread as a kind of new form of "the floating island and other neat places to live" thread. In that thread, I collect examples of interesting dwelling choices.

In this thread, I want to discuss making the best fort. When I was a kid, I used to build forts in the woods. This was the most fun done with friends. As an adult working on a new career and day-dreaming about my family's future, I've begun thinking again, not just about what kind of home to live in, but also certain things that are more childlike. . . Building forts. I recently had a discussion about this topic with a childhood friend I used to build forts with. There will be some overlap between this and the "interesting places to live" thread. But this is more focused on building a really fun structure, not necessarily to be lived in. One rule: this has to be doable by ourselves -- one individual or small group of individuals with no prior construction knowledge.

Posts to follow describing various methods I have found.

*Blows out one candle*


(Earliest post seems to be February 24, 2016).

Pick three animals that you like or would be able to turn into if you were a shapeshifter in a fantasy world.
Tell us why you picked those.

1. The raven.
Perhaps the most intelligent bird there is, the raven has a brilliant mind, can be taught speech, is long lived, hunts with wolves, mates for life, has an incredible memory, is wary and smart, and tends to live in cold areas. God talks about ravens in the scripture. Ravens are typically black.. These are just a few of the reasons.

2. The coyote / a coy-dog-wolf
The coyote is a clever survivor.  The coy is a new breed that has developed as the coyote moved east and north, forsaking the desert for the woods and urban landscapes. The coy is so clever and wary that it survives in packs in urban areas amidst humans and is nearly impossible to eradicate. It also lives in rural areas, able to adapt to a host of situations. Most people living near a coyote never see it.

3. The black bear.
This was a hard one, but I think I'll go with the black bear. It is not really a vicious animal, but can defend itself. It likes nuts, berries, honey, tree climbing, and sleeping.

So, I have recently done the design for my emblem. I know this is not a traditional heraldic design, but it isn't meant to be. This also bears the motto. You can see the photo of the acrylic and wood burning I did here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-ut5PU83SADYWF1LVZwOEc1VlE

What would your design be and what would your motto be?

So, anyone who knows me well at all probably knows I like swords. . .
Growing up, I loved swordfighting with wooden swords, tree branches, or anything I could get my hands on that served. . .

Now, being an adult it is not generally smiled upon to run around trying to get people to swordfight you with wooden swords. But some adults have found ways to make this happen. And I'm not talking about LARP. I'm not necessarily dissing LARP although I do think it can get pretty strange pretty quickly. I'm sure it can also be fun (and I can't help but enjoy the German LARP group Talsker Woelfe's videos): https://youtu.be/ssofePxJg_g

But I'm talking about a bit more of a serious look at medieval weapons fighting.



There is "Medieval Combat" which is not entirely my favorite ( https://youtu.be/FPbTWDeqQf0 ). Though it is taken as a very serious sport by many it seems, the rules don't appear fun. It is like medieval combat for football players. Basically,  people dress up in full plate armor and whack at each other with dull weapons, and when you fall over you're "out." Any sense of actual medieval combat skill seems to be non-relevant. It tends to look like a glorified wrestling match.
Now, a nay-sayer might argue that in full plate armor, you basically had to get someone to the ground. I'd reply, well, maybe in some cases, with armor from as late a period as this seems to be modeled after (at the battle of Agincourt, English longbows had no problem busting up the chivalry). But in the case of armour of this kind the odds of people carrying around swords and bladed weapons would be lower, too, with maces and other high-impact weapons being favored and used in ways to deal damage to a man inside armor regardless of cutting ability. At least that is my understanding. In addition, I don't think they're allowed to thrust. Just whack. And thrusting was the primary way to kill an armored knight, I believe. Of course, you may need to knock them down to finish them with a thrust, but. This sport does reveal how well a man really can move in full plate. It also seems to devolve into something that seems somehow unrealistic. No doubt some of it is applicable and some not.




And then there's HEMA. People during the medieval period wrote treatises and manuals on weapons fighting and combat. Partly as a result, people are relying on them, as well as basic martial principles, archaeological studies, etc., to recreate and train in what is called Historical European Martial Arts.
This is probably the most interesting thing to me.
They practice with a variety of weapons and it really helps to illustrate medieval combat tactics and weapon evolution. But here are some examples.
Longsword vs. spear: https://youtu.be/cK32P7qnDuE
And a viking-esque sword and shield match: https://youtu.be/966ulgwEcyc

I would definitely like to pursue this kind of thing if there were people I knew who were into it.



So, to kind of mix HEMA and the other, there is the viking festival circuit and the variety of combat rules in that. The Wolin festival is one of the big ones. It's a pretty crazy sight. Though there are refs, I believe, the combat system is largely the honor system. Also, some only allow hits from knee and elbow up, no head. I've read that some are going full contact/no face, now. The no-leg rule definitely means the fights are not historically accurate because archaeological evidence of battlefield remains indicates the leg was a common target in battle, which makes total sense.

An overview of a battle at Wolin. Wait for it, the battle joines a little while into the video after initial skirmishes: https://youtu.be/VM-afOXLBdM
And a first person video: https://youtu.be/78509ehnnnM


Anything I've missed?

So, for the past 14 months or so, I've been getting into archery as a pastime. I have an Asian recurve horse bow style bow and shoot with the thumb ring draw.
Anyway, since getting into archery I've become aware of this game called "archery tag" that uses foam-tipped arrows and paintball style masks. Well, it looks like a ton of fun.
Here's a video of people using archery tag stuff and play swords to have a fun game.
https://youtu.be/Jsk-u-h8Z-s

Now if only I knew enough people who were as goofy as I am and would want to get into this.

Well, I'm selling the sword of Vaelen: http://m.ebay.com/itm/182296317708?_mwBanner=1

Also selling a ninja sword. I've had them both a long time but figure I might get something else with a few bucks if I sell them. Almost don't want to get rid of the Sword of Vaelen -- it's a nice looking piece and I've had it a long time -- but you know.

These days I'm far more interested in pieces with functional steel. There are a number of Windlass Steelcraft swords that I like. If you're not familiar with Windlass, check out their websites for sales in the states: http://www.museumreplicas.com and http://www.atlantacutlery.com

I myself like the Classic European Sword and the Sword of Holmildon Hill. I also like the Windlass seax and Ravenclaw fighting knife. But they've got lots of nice pieces.

Rule:

You have to tell a story triggered by the story of the previous post. For example, if someone told a story  about a hunting expedition, and it had a cabin in it, you could tell a story about something that happened to you in a cabin. In other words, there must be a connection to the previous story. The stories must be true (nonfiction).


Here is the first story:


I was once hiking in the fells in the lake district of Northern England. A group of us had finished climbing a fell called Wandsfell Pike, and we walked down the other side and went to explore a waterfall along a stream in a cleft of the fells. I was wearing a blue hoodie and had a waterbottle in the front pocket. As I hiked, the cap of the waterbottle loosened and ended up spilling down my front, making it appear that I had wet my pants. I discovered this while momentarily alone near a pool of water in the course of the series of small waterfalls. The swirling water looked deep and cold, but I was mortified at what happened. I knew I would have to walk through the village of Ambleside to get back to the hostel where we were staying, and I was with a group of people who I certainly din't want to see me looking like I had peed myself -- and perhaps they'd already seen, as I wasn't sure when the cap came unscrewed. So I did the only thing I could think of.
I dunked myself waist deep in the pool of cold, Northern English stream water.
And it no longer looked like I had peed myself.

Okay, here are the rules.
You have to make three statements.
One of them has to be a lie.
Then we guess which one. Each person gets one guess.

I'll kick it off.


I have stabbed someone with a sword.
I have ridden an elephant.
I have driven a convertible car.

What's the lie?

I just found this guy's tutorials. He's got some good fantastical project tutorials -- at least two of them I really want to try. If you like learning how to make things check this out!
https://www.youtube.com/user/epicfantasy

Growing up, I wrote stories and "books" in notebooks and later on the computer. I was in complete control of the world and could express my imagination howsomever I pleased. As the youngest child in a pack of boys, control in play was mostly found in isolation. But even so, there was also another type of storytelling I learned — a form of storytelling that involved friends. I remember as a little boy the fun of having my older brother play stories with me.

"Let's go out into the woods and play, and then come back and write it down."

We'd grab our wooden make-shift toy swords we'd hammered together from scraps of wood and nails from our father's unending projects. Into the woods we'd go, to meet the old hermit who lived in the apple tree, or to cross deathwater swamp and escape the man-eaters, slaying goblins and running from tree-tall dragons. As someone with a bit of an archival bent, I still have a notebook with such stories and I have later adapted one of them into a full length novel.
At other times, we had another method of storytelling. My oldest brother would take a couple dice and we'd begin our tale.

"You're a poor farm kid on Tattooine," he'd say.

With rolls of the dice to decide if my actions were plausible or would succeed, and his own whims as a storyteller, we would take my character far in an obviously D&D derived form of play that was a hand-me-down from my brother's friend who actually played D&D and had introduced my brother to it. But we had no official systems, just our imaginations and some dice to serve as chance in the story.

It was late at night, dark in the woods. We sheltered beneath a pine tree, the embers of our fire still smouldering nearby. Ben, Travis, and I lay in a circle of blankets and sleeping bags on the pine needles. Around us we could hear the nighttime sounds of the woods — crickets, birds, and small breaking of twigs from unseen animals. I listened to Ben's voice as I stared up through the dark of the pine branches.

"Alrick took his sword and said, 'If anyone can succeed, it's me, but I will need a volunteer. . .' Next."

"'All was quiet for a few heartbeats," Travis began. "But then a young boy, no older than seven or eight, stood out from the crowd.'I will go. . . "

The narration continued until I began my own turn after Travis, and told the next section of the story and passed it off to Ben.

In highschool, I typed in names for website ideas. Elvendale. Elvenvale. Elvenhollow. . . I later turned away from the elf theme and regsistered www.lostpathway.com. There, I wrote little stories and I started a forum in the pre-facebook years. Today, the re-started forum is called The Grey Horse Tavern. I had no idea what the forum would become. Over the years, a couple dozen members made that forum a little community, and the old storytelling style I practiced with Travis and Ben beneath the pine tree adapted itself well to writing over the internet. One member would post a beginning, another would follow up. What developed was communal storytellin away from the function of dice, pre-set worlds, and game masters. A few entire book-length projects resulted, most enduringly, a satiric story called the Ides of Starch which has continued for ten years and involved to date eleven different storytellers. The story is currently in its seventh installment, the final one, and is the length of a modern fantasy novel.

I never anticipated the impact lostpathway.com would have in those highschool years, and they continued on into college. I remember when Duke, Brendan, Ben (another one), and I sat on the dorm room floor and finally finished, after many hours, the "interactive fiction" game we had been telling. Taking turns as "character" and narrator and using dice to help us relinquish control of each role, we told an epic tale of magic on an archipelago — a tale of revenge and sacrifice that explored the fantasy and horror genres in a way that no single author could. I most remember the final moments, when the whole story wrapped together in a poetic and beautiful ending that none of us had seen coming but all knew was sublime. It was not D&D. Everyone narrated and everyone made choices for a character, depending on the rotation of the storytelling. There was no system, just a world that developed. There was no winner, and you weren't necessarily tied down to a character. This was not gaming — it was storytelling.



We took the map that resulted and each signed our names. It was to be a momento of a story that none of us could have told alone, a story that we shared together, and because it was spoken and not recorded, a story that will never be told again — not quite like that.

Since those days as a kid, I have gained a Bachelor's in Creative Writing and a Master's in Storytelling, but have I gained more delight in reading or listening? As storytellers and authors — or writers, for those who prefer that term — we can sometimes revel in the control of a story. We can point to it and say, "that is my story; I wrote it." We guard our "creativity" and our "work." We strive for literary quality. Sometimes, our learning gets in the way of our enjoyment and the reasons we love stories to begin with. But what happens if we can let go of having to control or own a story, even if just among a few close friends? We can begin to let go and enjoy a story for its possibilities. Yes, it takes getting past having the story go exactly as we want it. We may need to let go of the grudging feeling that we would have made better narrative decisions and character choices. Our "styles" may clash. In the writing of the Ides of Starch project, I have often become frustrated with various contributors because of a lack of continuity (over ten years, multiple installments, and multiple writers, such things happen) or disconnect in focus and content. I did at times steer the group to maintain order and pull the project from chaos — particularly during one installment where a satire of meta-fiction became especially hairy — but no amount of dictatorial rule could have produced a project like the Ides of Starch, something that has become a thing of its own so that we refer to writing it as "starching" and speak of it like some Arthurian legend. That was not the result of me, or my co-writer Duke, or any of the other storytellers. That was an "us" that could only become possible through none of us attempting to completely dominate the others. We had to at some point enjoy the course of the tale.

And what's perhaps even funnier about it all — it may be terrible. The Ides of Starch might just be a pile of steaming horse pucky — with its moments of brilliance, no doubt, but nevertheless, maybe no one but the participants will ever read the whole thing. And that's okay. Because we wrote it. Together. For ten years. And we'll never forget it. We will never forget Berbil, or Eliott, or Quemmerillius the Sage of Cinnamon (formerly the Pepppermint Avenger).

In the end, we just have to accept that communally told stories are not about us — they're about sharing a story with others, and enjoying the beauty of creative collaboration in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, something different and beautiful will result in a way that could not possibly happen alone — no matter the readership, no matter the ownership, and maybe even no matter the ultimate literary quality.[/size]

There is a significant update coming to the Lost Pathway website and I'm looking for ideas for content or people willing to write content. I'll be creating sections for quizzes, lists, and articles. So far, I have made a "how well do you know your JRR Tolkien lore?" quiz, and I'll be compiling all our riddles into a list I think and I'm planning to write an article on writing interactive fiction.
Anyone want to create some content? Everyone will be credited. Quiz questions with answers can be sent and I can plug them into the software or ideas for lists and quizzes and articles, etc.

Nearly ten years ago (evidence suggests the end of 2006) on the old Lost Pathway forums, a collaborative story was begun called the "Ides of Starch," written primarily by Duke and Trae, though with many other collaborators over the years. It was determined that it would eventually encompass seven installments. Even in the times when the forums were offline, the Starch continued. Currently, six have been written. One more is to be finished. Over the years, a lot has been written either in or about the Starch. This thread will be a place for the collection of things written *about* the Starch, as well as general information on the Starch, discussion of the Starch, sharing of memories, as well as planning for the self-published version of the Starch to be made available to those who would like to have their own physical copy (if we can do so without legal trouble).
As we prepare to begin the 7th Starch, I would like to honor those who have contributed to the Starch over the years. Please correct me if I'm forgetting anyone.


Part I:
Duke
Trae

Part II:
Duke
Trae
SisterGrimm
Nnaril

Part III:
Duke
Trae
Fran
Brendan
Ryan
Nathan

Part IV:
Duke
Trae
Steve
Ryan
Dan

Part V:
Duke
Trae
Dan

Part VI:
Duke
Trae
Sarah

The archivist of the Windmill, Justin Summerville of Dregnot, wrote in a recent post about George MacDonald, describing him as "A Scottish minister of Universalist leanings. . ."
Now, some people use universalism to refer to the idea that all people will be saved. I think this is often related to the concept of pluralism, the idea that all religions are equally true or valid. Universalism as a term is vague, and it could confer the idea that all people, regardless of belief, will be "saved," and in the terms of Christianity, this could mean "go to heaven."
In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis used George MacDonald as a character, making him a guide to souls visiting the outskirts of heaven from purgatory or hell, and being essentially evangelized there. In this, C.S. Lewis showed a good understanding of MacDonald. MacDonald's theological thoughts on the afterlife are mostly found in his non-fantastical fiction writing, not including his explicitly theological and sermon literature and/or poetry. In his fiction writing, MacDonald makes it fairly clear that his thoughts on the afterlife are not so simple or abstract as the term "universalist" may imply.
   MacDonald believed, (I say this having read a lot of his work), that redemption -- i.e., God's pursuit and saving of lost souls -- does not end at physical death. So while MacDonald believed in hell, from what I have gathered, he also believed that God would continue to pursue the souls of the lost in hell with His unfailing love. One key to MacDonald's viewpoint is that he still believed that the lost soul must come into submission to the will of God, or in other words, there would also be repentance or conversion in hell. I believe MacDonald would have fully affirmed the gospel, and I do not believe that MacDonald was a religious/spiritual pluralist -- at least, I can recall no evidence of such in the work of his that I have read (I have read MacDonald for many years now).
        As a reader, I value MacDonald for a number of things. First is his ability to write about internal spiritual journeys and tell those stories using external plots and settings as well as spiritual discussion. This is probably why he writes powerful fairytale or fantastical literature -- MacDonald's sensitivity to creation and human action is fuel for his spiritual concerns. Secondly, MacDonald had a passion for the Father heart of God. MacDonald had keen insight into the power of God's redeeming love and the pursuit of the sinner. Everything in life, in MacDonald's works, is used by God to bring about repentance and the embrace of God as loving Father (though this does play into his afterlife beliefs, as he did not believe God's pursuit of the lost could reach an end).
        And finally, MacDonald has an extremely unusual ability to write characters who are simultaneously interesting and good. Many writers believe that they have to write deeply flawed characters for them to be interesting. MacDonald is the only author who I have ever read who can take a character that is even unrealistically good and make them intriguing and enjoyable. He can write sanctified characters who are both relatable and people I would want to know and talk with. I believe that MacDonald's insight into God's love and goodness allows him to write characters who are loving and good and full of interest and life. MacDonald shows how attractive God's goodness really is when displayed in characters in his books.

   MacDonald is my favorite author, and I have enjoyed reading his work for years. That said, I do not agree with MacDonald's thoughts on the afterlife. While I love much of MacDonald's insight into the love of God, his views on hell don't seem to me to be in sync with Jesus' teachings on hell. For example, Jesus references teaches about "eternal punishment" in Matthew 25:46 in the context of humans, as opposed to the other option, eternal life. In Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus tells the story of 10 virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom. Five foolish virgins don't prepare and run out of oil before the bridegroom returns. They go to the market to buy oil but miss the bridegroom's return and knock on the door of the wedding feast. "'Lord, Lord,' they said, open the door for us!' But he replied, 'Truly, I tell you, I don't know you.'" These are just a couple samples of Jesus' teachings, and certainly some could be found that might not exclude MacDonald's ideas, but I can't think of any that indicate that those ideas are true. Jesus emphasizes not waiting and being caught unprepared at his return. And in the case of the virgins, it was futile for them to knock after the fact.
All that said, as a follower of Christ, I embrace spiritual mystery, and there is a lot that is mysterious and unknown about the afterlife even with the revelation of scripture (that Jesus is both God and man simultaneously is a mystery, and the scripture talks about the mystery of the gospel; so it would be very difficult to affirm the scriptural teaching of Christ without also embracing mystery). The Bible tells us what we need to know, but doesn't always go into detail about these things. We know that faith in Christ and acceptance of Him as Lord results in salvation, but we don't know all the details of heaven and hell. I tend to think of hell as not necessarily a literal place of physical flame, but as an eternal, complete spiritual separation from God the torment of which could be described as being forever in flames. The flames, perhaps, being our own depravity. Left to ourselves in isolation, without the goodness or grace of God, there is only torment.
Even though the Bible doesn't fill in every detail, that doesn't mean it can't be worthwhile to discuss it, nor do we have to write off people who disagree on certain things, so long as we affirm the scriptural truth that we are saved through Christ alone. I imagine that God's plan concerning heaven and hell will be much better than we imagine, even if we currently may be offended at it, in the same way that people were offended at Jesus because He was not what they expected or wanted, even though He is the perfect representation of God, who is love and truth, and the exclusive path of the Father's saving grace.
   I recently came across a good quote by a guy named Kallistos Ware which seems to hit upon an important point:" "We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder."
   That said, we have to understand our English word for knowledge is limited. In German, for example, there are two words for "to know." One is "kennen," which is a personal knowledge. A person would "kennen" their friend. Then there is "wissen," which is a theoretical or scientific knowledge. One would "wissen" a computer programming language or a map. In this sense, I believe that we "kennen" God -- we enter into relationship with Him and get to know Him personally. But we can never approach any kind of definitive, rational, scientific, possessive knowledge of God. I say "possessive knowledge" because in a sense, I think when we feel we "wissen" something, there is an implied power over it -- a mastery of sorts.
        All of this is why the revelation of scripture is so important, because in it God tells us things we can hold on to about Himself that are true. And because of the discontinuity between Jesus' teachings in the Bible and MacDonald's views, I can't get on board with MacDonald. Nevertheless, I have devoured MacDonald's books for years, enjoying his marvelous insights into God's loves and the hearts of people, and engaging with his wonderful imaginative worlds.

Okay, so we're talking about fantasy authors, so we need a fantasy movies thread because we live in the media age. Feel free to contribute by posting a film, a short description, and what you think of it.

The 10th Kingdom:
This is a great mini-series rolled into a movie adventure, almost 7 hours, of a New Yorker getting sucked into the land of fairy tales after it's prime. I'll admit to liking this one a lot. Some of the acting is cheesy, but it fits the story in a good way. Lots of good one-liners. I quote 10th Kingdom a fair amount.

The Princess Bride:
Perhaps the most classic fantasy film from my childhood, re-watched an untold number of times. The classic love story of Wesley and Buttercup, the fencing of Inigo Montoya, the whole thing is beautifully done. And it is infinitely quotable.

Lady Hawk:
An older fantasy flick about a man and woman who are cursed to be always apart and always together. It is an interesting film, if dated at times by its soundtrack.

This is an amazing animated short film. Of course, I'm partial because of the fiddling. It is "Crac!" by Frederic Back from 1981.

https://youtu.be/xsWU-nksQWA


Any good short films anyone else can recommend?

So, I'm going to be rolling out some updates to the website over the next little while -- mostly graphical and functionality type things.
I figured since we've been talking about ideas for new content, etc, that I'd create a thread to see if folks had any ideas for what they'd like to see.
So come one come all, tell me what the website needs.

So today I listened to the Eight Step Waltz by Iron Horse. http://youtu.be/X96xWLzCSLU
This song still moves me and gives me feelings from when I was a teenager. Some friends of ours went to Scotland and brought us back a CD collection of Celtic music, a CD which I listened to time and time again. This song in particular got played on loop in my room quite a bit I think, and this and other tracks were used in Search For The Quest.
Whenever I hear this song, I think of the siege of Minas Tirith as I remember laying on my bed reading Return of the King while listening to this song. Something about this song just gets me. I thought I'd share.

To celebrate our 100th post, I offer you, the original 100th post of the old Lost Pathway:


Trae
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Registered: 09-2003
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One hundredth post


The forum now has 100 posts!

---
I thought I saw a unicorn on the way here, but it was just a horse with one of the horns broken off.
   
10/5/2003, 11:52 pm  Send Email to Trae   


tmcmaken
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Re: One hundredth post


4/10 of them are from you. ;-)   
10/6/2003, 8:34 am     


Trae
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Re: One hundredth post


And your point is?


---
I thought I saw a unicorn on the way here, but it was just a horse with one of the horns broken off.
   
10/6/2003, 11:05 am  Send Email to Trae   


tmcmaken
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Re: One hundredth post


More of a comment than a point really. ;-)   
10/6/2003, 10:38 pm     


Jhae
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Re: One hundredth post


Hershey is not really and chocolate company, it's really a front for The Mofia.

---
Did you know that 31% of all statistics are pointless?
   
10/8/2003, 11:20 am  Send Email to Jhae   AIM 


HGLaurs
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mmmmchocolate


Mofia or Mafia?

Anyway, I already knew that, because I am a member of THE Mafia, so there. =P

---
There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
   
10/8/2003, 4:28 pm  Send Email to HGLaurs  Send PM to HGLaurs AIM MSN 


Jhae
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Re: One hundredth post


   No, no, Laurs, the MOFIA. (mow-fee-uh) You see, most people are familiar with the Mafia, which you claim you are a member of, but there is another organization out there called...
the MOFIA!! That's right, the MOFIA. And just in case you didn't catch it before, they're called the MOFIA. But for viewer's convenience and to not discriminate against case sensitivity, we will spell it "Mofia." They are even more deadly and vicious than their counterpart, the Mufia, well, and the Mafia, too. But they're really mean. They terrorize the streets of some big place you've never heard of! They roam the streets, pushing kids off their bikes and throwing their ice cream in the sewers, then making the kids go after it. Mua ha ha ha! They are also known for killing! Yes, they mercilessly crush innocent bugs, and are seen laughing afterwards. Oh, the humanity! (kind of) They smear chocolate on the windows of weight loss centers, and put drugs under the pillows of patients in rehab! They scatter roller skates around the grounds of paralyzation hospitals, and they donate TV's to the blind. They scream at deaf people and give candy to diebetics. They also fly remote controlled airplanes into grannies, and they don't bruth their teeth, and they feel that toilet paper is for sissies. Man, what a great club! I mean- wait I- that's not what I- uh, I don't know who they are! Some secret stuff I've never met! Yeah!

---
More than 2500 left handed people are killed every year from using right handed products.....poor lefties...
   
10/8/2003, 11:00 pm  Send Email to Jhae   AIM 


The Bard
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Re: One hundredth post


The One hundreth post
So goes this threads name
Since then we have added the same
Save for one,
Ninety-nine had we a minute a go
All that is left is to
Submit this reply
Then I will have made it so
Thanks Trae for being such a gracious host
Oh, yes. And by the way
This is the two hundreth post!

So Sings The Bard

Last edited by The Bard, 11/8/2003, 2:10 am
   
11/8/2003, 2:09 am  Send Email to The Bard  Send PM to The Bard 


Trae
The Vale Rover
Local user

Registered: 09-2003
Location: In the forest under the stars
Posts: 127
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Re: One hundredth post


And......drum roll.....We just passed 300 posts! Nevermind I have over 1/3 of them...



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I thought I saw a unicorn on the way here, but it was just a horse with one of the horns broken off.

A lot of what this guy is saying is out there and I don't agree with his spiritual points, but what he has made is pretty dang cool. He has constructed a small floating island out of trash, dirt, and plants. Check it out.
https://youtu.be/GnLhWpy_nqI

So,

Narrative. . .

We've been listing fantasy authors. There have been so many good books written. As the book of Ecclesiastes says, "of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body" (12:12). When I walk into a bookstore these days, though, I hardly know what to look at. Especially in the fantasy section, all the colorful book covers with the artwork that all looks the same -- none of it seems to capture my interest or promise anything unique. I normally don't buy anything like that from a bookstore, and when I walk into a used bookstore, I often look for classics. I've read the rest of James Fennimore Cooper's Leatherstocking series, as well as a number of maritime books such as The Sea Wolf in the past year or so. Lately, Game of Thrones has made a big impact in terms of the fantastical genre, though I haven't read them myself. Of course, Harry Potter within the past twenty years has been huge. In both cases, the books were turned into film/television media. I even think that in both cases, the awareness on the authors part that the works would be turned into film media changed the way the books were written. I've been a performance storyteller for a few years, which is another form of narrative art, and then there are video games which are another form of narrative art, though I don't really play video games anymore. . . It seems that the world of narrative is expanding, especially when we include the different forms of multimedia narrative. And yet, I find that things are multiplying and diversifying at such a rapid rate that it is hard to identify any significance. It seems there are simply tons and tons and tons of television shows, movies, video games, comic books, and even print books. The proliferation of narrative seems huge. Certain works rise to the top, like the Harry Potter series which was a huge phenomenon. The recent success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an example of how much the narrative universe of Star Wars has impacted our culture on a wide scale. We still have "big" stories that influence our culture. Still, it seems like things are becoming more fractured, and any appeal to mass audiences typically result in an reduction in quality -- the butchering of the Hobbit by Peter Jackson is an example, I guess.

Narrative has become big business. Novel writing is still a form in which an individual artist has control over the narrative, but I'm not sure that the dominant future of narrative rests in novels even as much as in video games. And such endeavors as video games, due to complexity, are the result of big business in order to reach any significant distribution. Even movies that reach any significant distribution are not made by an individual so much as a team and an industry.

So how does this change the stories we are getting? Is the future of storytelling collaborative, or will it still be driven by individuals like J.K. Rowling, for instance?

Okay, so I indulged in some geekery.
If you go to the village map on lostpathway.com you can now click on the Timberlost forest to have an adventure. Or you can go directly to the Timberlost by following this link: http://www.lostpathway.com/timberlost/index.html

I don't know what movie this piece was dubbed from originally, so I can't endorse it, but I stumbled on this clip and it is pretty reliable for a good laugh.

https://youtu.be/g09GtnWdBjc

So, back in the old Lost Pathway, we asked each other and tried to solve riddles. Let's set some ground rules.

1. Only ask one riddle at a time.
2. You are allowed to find riddles on the internet to share.
3. You aren't allowed to look for the answer to the riddles on the internet. Honor code here.



I'll kick it off. Here's an old classic riddle I remember hearing when I was young and which I just stumbled on again:

"A man went on a trip on Friday, stayed for 2 days and returned on Friday.  How is that possible?"

Some people may remember the old Lost Pathway. I let it slip for a while. It used to be a fun little community of writers and chatters. Do those exist anymore outside of social media?