Myths and Legends
Perennially popular.
Band/Orchestra/Music/Musicians
Here you go, lilbro777: a hangout for band geeks. (Only please stop saying “pwease.”)
Time Change!
Robert has figured out how to fix the mistaken time stamp that’s been making it look as if Musers stay up even later than they do. Because so many of you live in the American Midwest, he’s set it to Central Standard Time (at least until Daylight Saving Time rolls around again, whereupon it will get all messed up again). Just thought you’d like to know.
Words
Ebeth’s idea. Her description: “not just like word origins but accents and slang and all that good stuff…”
MuseBlog Announcement
About links to other sites--please read.
All,
Rosanne and I try to discourage links to other Web sites–partly to avoid attracting the dreaded spam bots, partly because we don’t have time to check them all for “inappropriate” content. We’ll sometimes relax the rule if a site looks Muselike and/or useful and Mostly Harmless, but please remember that the rule is there.
There is plenty of shocking material on the Web. People post it for various reasons, good and bad. Because Rosanne and I can’t evaluate it all, we’d just as soon not become a portal to it. So go easy on the links, please, even when they relate to something you care passionately about–maybe especially then. After all, we’ve all got Google.
Thanks,
Robert
Monty Python
At randomrohanfreak’s almost everyone’s request, because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
Hot Topics — Handle with Care!
Politics, religion, and anything else that might require an extra dose of civility.
HG2MB
By popular demand: a place to compose the first edition of the “Hitchhikers’ Guide to MuseBlog.” Go to it, Musers!
Math
Or maths, if you prefer. Including numbers large, small, positive, negative, real, imaginary, rational, irrational, and transcendental; infinities of all sizes; paradoxes, puzzles, and conundrums; and proofs by demonstration, contradiction, brute force, legerdemain, and intimidation. If you’ve got ’em, post ’em.
Things We Like Heart Consider Flamablamablous That Really Get on Our Nerves
We’ve changed our minds. We’re tired of always being so positive. It’s time to let off a little steam.
Muse Parodies Are Up
David and Megan’s parodies (mentioned on page 3 of the November/December issue) are now available via the Gaboomba gallery page. Because of technical glitches, Moos is in black and white, but a color version will be coming soon.
Guy Fawkes Day
This quintessentially British celebration is extra-special this year: it’s the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Maybe Paul Baker will leave his bonfire long enough to tell us about it.
RRR FF
Round-Robin ‘Riting, Free-Form — the way we tried it before. For those who want perfect freedom to write anything they like.
RRR w/R
That’s Round-Robin ‘Riting, with Rules — with luck, a cure for the chaos that swallowed the previous RRR thread. Calo anor na ven!
November Whatnot
Wist not, wot not. This month's random thread: a warm place in a cooling season.Wist not, wot not. This month’s random thread: a warm place in a cooling season.
Post at will, but be sure to read The Rules if you’re new in these parts.
Muse – November/December 2005 Contents
Warning! Contains spoilers.
November/December 2005 (volume 9, number 9)
COVER: Exploding Trousers
FIRST PAGE: Dark Waters: The Random Thoughts of a Blind Teenage Cavefish
KOKOPELLI & COMPANY: Chad’s latest creation loses its mind.
ARTICLES AND COLUMNS:
Why Do Cavefish Lose Their Eyes? by Luis and Monika Espinasa
Farmer Buckley’s Exploding Trousers, by Stephanie Pain
Gamers All Around You, by Duncan Graham-Rowe
Calder: The Man Who Made Art out of the Ordinary, by Doug Stewart
Peer Pressure, by Sandra Blakeslee
Q & A, by Robert Coontz and Rosanne Spector: Where does grass seed come from? Why are LED bulbs common in flashlights but rare in home light fixtures?
Math Page, by Ivars Peterson: A Good Plot
LAST PAGE: Skaters, OUI! Cars, NON!
Online Book Club: Nicholas Nickleby, by Charles Dickens
Scroll down past the organizational preliminaries to discuss Dickens's novel. Warning! Probable spoilers ahead.
Scroll down past the organizational preliminaries to discuss Dickens’s novel. Warning! Probable spoilers starting around comment #50.
There’s an online version of the text at Bibliomania.
Reading schedule as of October 31 (may be revised later):
Tues. Nov 1st: chapters 1 and 2
Wed. Nov 2nd: chapters 3 and 4
Thurs. Nov 3rd: chapters 5 and 6
Frid. Nov 4th: chapters 7 and 8
Sat. Nov 5th: chapters 9 and 10
Sun. Nov 6th: chapters 11 and 12
Mon. Nov. 7th: chapters 13 and 14