MuseBlog

Speak, Friend, and Enter! If you’re new to the blog, come on in for a little orientation and some pie.

Please read The Rules. You might also glance at The HG2MB (Hitchhiker’s Guide to MuseBlog), which contains helpful hints regarding local customs, lingo, and other peculiarities of the blog; smiley information included.

Known Muser birthdays this month:*

02-02 groundhog22’s birthday (1989 – denim blue)
02-02 Shadow Gallery’s birthday (1993 – psychedelic)
02-12 Dot Keet’s birthday (1991 – bright orange)
02-13 The Tominator’s birthday (1996)
02-14 Gingersnap’s birthday (1993 – purple)
02-21 Karrdash’s birthday (2000 – red)
02-22 Shotgun #10’s birthday (1995)
02-24 tralalalolly’s birthday (year? color?)
02-26 Ötzi’s birthday (1993 – cerulean)
02-26 KaiYves’s birthday (1993-purple)

You turn 5,000 days old this month if you were born between May 26 and June 23, 1994.
You turn 6,000 days old this month if you were born between August 30 and September 27, 1991.

*Note: Listed MBers who have been inactive for several months won’t appear on next year’s birthday calendar unless they show up again.

Grant took advantage of a strong wind to get some photos of the Union Jack rippling in full glory. The flagpole, which he is making, is not yet finished.

And here we see Midnight Fiddler in her natural habitat.

*Role-Playing Game, of course.

By overwhelming popular demand.

WARNING! Will definitely contain spoilers!

To spare MBers reading the “Recent Comments” columns, please paste the following message in at the beginning of your posts:

SPOILER SPOILER FEBRUARY MUSE SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

Let us know when your issue arrives. NO SPOILERS, please. There’s another thread for discussing the issue.

Random fact: we haven’t had one of these since last June.

The birthday is today, January 27, 1756. It’s a bit late in the day to start a thread, but there’s still time for a little night music.

It’s been more than a year since we started the last one of these. Here’s how we described it then:

Chokoholics, video-game addicts, manga fiends — tell us how you know when you’ve crossed the line.

‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’
‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’

The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, logician, fantasy novelist, stutterer, High Victorian, and nonsense versifier supreme, was born on January 27, 1832. He concocted his famous pseudonym by Latinizing his first and middle names (to Carolus Ludovicius), reversing their order, and de-Latinizing them. Though he died 100 years before Muse came along, we daresay he would have approved. Thanks to lifewithoutacellphone for reminding us that today is his day.

Suggested by Gaea to popular acclaim. Describe your dream avatar in words or send a picture (to gapa @ musefanpage.com). If you can’t think what yours should be, I’m sure other MBers will be happy to help you out.

Somehow, MuseBlog’s great original contribution to world culture just keeps getting stupider and more senseless with every installment. Keep up the good work! If you haven’t experienced this medium before, SSSSs version 2007.4 will show you how it’s done.

As Gingersnap has just pointed out, today, January 23, is National Pie Day.

It’s true! You can read all about it on the website of the National Pie Council at www. piecouncil.org/national.htm . The Council’s list of “Random Acts of Pieness,” however, seems woefully incomplete…

As the January random thread enters its final trimester, image-manipulatrix extraordinaire Lady Bunniful once again unleashes her uncanny talents. Read more »

Unintended Pun says, “Not everyones’ names are on there, but it’s for the entire MB, including the newbies who come after it.”

Full-size editions of the valentines may be viewed by clicking on them individually, or you can browse the whole album.

MBers can’t seem to get enough of them.

The indefatigable podcasters Purple Panda and Taiwan Hippo Fan weigh in with their longest MuseCast yet, entitled Life on Mars.

Previous MuseCasts are still available:
MuseCast 1
MuseCast 2
MuseCast 3
MuseCast 4
MuseCast 5
MuseCast 6
MuseCast 7

Hear the splatting of the pies,
Apple pies!
What a world of misery their crusted warmth belies.

Yes, on the whole it’s a good thing that Mr. Poe didn’t write about Muse. He was an unhappy soul, but his poems and stories have given us many hours of diversion. So we hope that he’ll be of good cheer (in a foetid, sepulchral way) wherever he is (which we shudder to think about).

“The only president of the United States who was never president of the United States,” as the Firesign Theater once called him, was born 302 years ago today (January 17). Hail to one of the most fascinating, down-to-earth, and likable Americans to have trodden the continent in recorded history.

You’re needed on the Neophytes thread.

Including winter sports; requested by treble_cone_freeeskier!

It’s hard to believe we’ve never had a thread on this topic.

Latin is a dead language,
It’s dead as it can be.
It killed the ancient Romans,
And now it’s killing me.
Those are dead who wrote it;
Those are dead who spoke it;
Those will die who learn it;
And, blessed death, they earn it.
–Poem that Robert’s father (who knew Latin) taught him

Crusto volanti noli obstare, y’all!

*Round-Robin ‘Riting.

Part 3 remains open for editing the last section, while Part 4 forges ahead into new territory.

Requested by Alice, and continued from the not-terribly-active 2007 edition.

New year, new place to submit your ideas for threads or anything else you like. Continued from version 2007.2.