MuseBlog

Robert, age 13 (yearbook photo)

Long before Museica and the PeacefulPieceful Pie Planet — before NationStates and World of Warcraft — even before Dungeons and Dragons had been invented, then-Muser-aged Robert (see photo, above) and about half a dozen of his friends invented an imaginary country of their own and used it as a setting for role-playing and storytelling. Unfortunately, any original maps and manuscripts that still exist remain buried in the Coontz archives. Robert will scan and post them as they come to light. Meanwhile, this description will have to suffice for any MBers curious about their GAPA’s disreputable history. Read on… Read more »

A thread dedicated to the use and preservation of Ble, the extremely economical (if not equally comprehensible) language that Nancy Kangas unveiled in the November/December 2003 issue of Muse.

Several dialects of Ble appeared in Part 1, and no doubt many others lie ahead.

Threadyay? (How do you like the new thread?)

Ultracondensed versions of books, stories, songs, etc. — perhaps in “Smiley Story” format, perhaps not.

Midnight Fiddler requested this thread, which is a sort of spinoff of Muser Parodies.

WARNING: WILL CERTAINLY CONTAIN MANY SPOILERS.

bookgirl invented this game, which she describes as follows:

One player states a quote from a blogger (who’s been blogging for at least 1 month). The blogger who guesses it first gets 1 MBSBB point (=Muse Blog’s “Big Brother”). The player who answered the question gets the next to ask the next one. The quotes have to give you a clue as to where they’ve been said (only active threads) and are not allowed to come from alter egos or masked balls e.t.c. . If a question isn’t answered in a week, we go to the next one.

Anybody game ?

Unlike the random thread, this discussion thread stays on topic until the topic changes or the month ends.

Newcomers should read The Rules and The Guide before plunging in.

Current topic: Snow, and things to do in/with it
Holiday “wish” lists

A thread whereon MuseBloggers can guess what other MBers look like, continued from 2008.1.

By popular request.

Unlike the random thread, this discussion thread stays on topic until the topic changes or the month ends.

Newcomers should read The Rules and The Guide before plunging in.

Current topic: Puzzles and riddles

Ask questions; find out about one another; repeat ad infinitum.

Continued from v. 2008.2.

When GAPA Robert Coontz was Muser-age, he acted in a couple of plays with the Children’s Theater of Arlington (next door to his home town of Alexandria, Virginia) and worked as a stage hand for various children’s and adult shows. He’s still in touch with some of his fellow actors, including the mother and aunt of new MuseBlogger Ham.

A few photos from that era:

Robert (second from left) played the Tortoise in “The Great Cross-Country Race,” a retelling of the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Ham’s mother (second from right) is practically invisible in this photo in her role as an all-black bird, a rook. Ham’s Aunt Diana worked on the costume crew and made the Tortoise’s shell, which was even more uncomfortable than it looks.

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Ham’s mother, center, looking pert in “Rumpelstiltskin.”

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Ham’s Aunt Caroline, kneeling at center, in “The Prince and the Pauper.” Caroline excelled in emotional roles and got to plead and cry a lot.

Continued from Vol. I, No. 6.

This year ’tis on Friday, September 19, me buckos! Let’s hear yer plans and yARRRns!

Continued from Part the Eighth.

Map by Red-tailed HAWK (click to see larger image):

Continued from Vol. I, No. 5.

Last month conversation at the H&H turned to the subject of creative alphabets and shorthand techniques. Do you use special symbols or abbreviations when you take notes? We’ll extend the question to include alphabets, invented languages, or any idiosyncratic note-taking habits.

To start off, here’s a shorthand system created by Nora the Violist.

Continued from Part the Seventh, than which no more need be said.

Continued from Vol. I, No. 4.

Prarilius Canix’s original description:

A thread to discuss wungs. What are wungs, you may ask? Animal, vegetable, mineral, subatomic particle? Nobody knows. Yet. This thread could be a place to post recent wung sightings and theories, and to cross-check them with other people.

By now, a fair number of MBers have acquired wung companions, formed the International Wung Appreciation Society, and started planning a campaign to raise awareness of wung-related issues.

Continued from Wungs.

“Could we just do Muse Chess and get it over with?” –muselover

Request granted!

The game so far (double-check at the bottom of the thread — the GAPA may not have included the latest moves):

Game 1.1 — OVER, White Won
###pgn###
1. d4 d5
2. e3 Nf6
3. Bd3 c6
4. a4 Qd7
5. Qf3 e5
6. Ne2 e4
7. Bxe4 d5xe4
8. Qf4 Bd6
9. Qg5 Ng4
10. O-O c5
11. Qxg7 Rf8
12. Qxh7 Qc7
13. Qxe4+ Be6
14. d5 Bxh2+
15. Kh1 f5
16. Qxe6+ Kd8
17. e4 Qh7
18. Bg5+ Kc7
19. g3 f5xe4
20. d6+ Kc6
21. d7+ Kc7
22. d8(Q)+ Rxd8
23. Bf4+ Rd6
24. Qxd6+ Kc8
25. Qe6+ Kd8
26. Rd1+ Nd7
27. Bg5+ Kc8
28. Qe8+ Kc7
29. Bf4+ Ng4e5
30. Bxe5+ Nxe5
31. Qxe5+ Kc6
32. Qd6++
%%%pgn%%%

Game 1.2
###pgn###
1. d4 d5
2. e3 Nf6
3. Bd3 c6
4. a4 Qd7
5. Qf3 e5
6. Ne2 e4
7. Bxe4 d5xe4
8. Qf4 Bd6
9. Qg5 Ng4
10. O-O c5
11. Qxg7 Rf8
12. Qxh7 Qc7
13. Qxe4+ Be6
14. d5 Bxh2+
15. Kh1 Nf6
16. Qh4 Bxd5
17. Qxf6 Bc4
18. Nb1c3 Rg8
19. b3 Qc6
20. Qxc6+ Nxc6
21. b3xc4 Rh8
22. Nf4 Rd8
23. Nh3 Bb8
24. Nd5 f6
25. Nxf6+ Kf7
26. Bb2 Ne5
27. Bxe5 Bxe5
28. Rb1 Kxf6
29. f4 Bd6
30. Kg1 Rh7
31. Rb1d1 Ke7
32. Kf2 b6
33. Rh1 Rd8h8
34. Rh2 Rg7
35. Re1h1 Rf8
36. Ng5 Rxg5
37. g3 Rg5f5
38. Ra1 Be5
39. Ra3 Bb2
40. Rd3 Rh8
41. Rxh8 Bxh8
42. Rd5 Rf6
43. Rh5 Bg7
44. Rh7 Kf7
45. Rh5 Ke7
46. g4 Rd6
47. Rd5 Re6
48. Kf3 Rh6
49. Rh5 Rxh5
50. g4xh5 Ke6
51. e4 Kf6
52. Kg4 Bh6
53. f5 Ke5
54. Kf3 Bc1
55. Kg4 Kxe4
56. f6 Bh6
57. f7 Ke5
58. f8Q Bxf8
59. Kg5
%%%pgn%%%

“Buy a pie to support the Muse Scouts, ma’am?”

Continued from Part 1.

The Musiversal saga will soon be as long as the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, the Gilgamesh Epic, the Divine Comedy, and the Faerie Queene combined.

Continued from Part 11.

Midnight Fiddler reminded Rebecca of this idea when she (Midnight Fiddler) demonstrated her truly remarkable eyebrow maneuvers. (Lady B.’s own weird talent is more humble: crossing and uncrossing her toes.) What’s yours?

You ask, we (sometimes) answer. What’s on your mind?

Continued from No. 5.

Continued from Vol. I, No. 3.

The idyll continues from Part 8.