Toonbots message board: The 1 month prayer service

mouse Fri Feb 22 15:32:59 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service amen, brother! o great michael, we thank thee for wonderous toons past, and pray for your return. (ummmm....are you sure that's _incense_ i smell burning?)

Michael Sat Feb 23 21:31:06 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > o great michael, we thank thee for wonderous toons past, and pray for your > return. I think I feel an episode coming on.

Tirdun Sun Feb 24 13:27:05 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > I think I feel an episode coming on. AND OUR PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED FROM ON HIGH! Oh-YEAH! ItsaMIRACLEcanyousayAMEN!

mouse Sun Feb 24 14:49:54 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > ItsaMIRACLEcanyousayAMEN! AMEN, BROTHER! HALLELUIA! HOSANNAH! HOSSENPFEFFER! - wait, that's not right....

spinclad Sun Feb 24 15:34:53 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > AMEN, BROTHER! HALLELUIA! HOSANNAH! HOSSENPFEFFER! - wait, that's not > right.... FAHRverGNUGen!! Mein Herz ist ganz freudenvoll!! (or some such words much to such effect)

Michael Sun Feb 24 23:47:40 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > FAHRverGNUGen!! Mein Herz ist ganz freudenvoll!! (or some such words much > to such effect) Spinclad, I think it's time you claim a title. If you cannot afford a title, one will be appointed to you.

spinclad Mon Feb 25 11:20:42 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > Spinclad, I think it's time you claim a title. If you cannot afford a > title, one will be appointed to you. My apologies, I missed those three chords a couple times and then I thought they'd gone on hiatus... Hmm... hmm... how 'bout `plaything of carcajous' (with thanks to Random House) (or is that one taken already?)... or another that has resisted nailing down a while, `girt in spins both half and whole' ... I'd go with either of these, or even both if y'all like.

mouse Mon Feb 25 14:45:20 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > Hmm... hmm... how 'bout `plaything of carcajous' (with thanks to Random > House) oooh, carcajous - i like it! ('skunk bears' is fun too, but 'carcajou' has such a lovely exotic foreign sound) (altho - do you really want to encourage them to think of you as their plaything? i mean, the little ones are nice, but some of the bigger ones seem to get carried away occasionally) > `girt in spins both half and whole' always wondered where 'spinclad' came from - now i know. clearly you lead life in a social whirl.

Emsworth Mon Feb 25 15:39:55 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service Coincidentally, amidst the mad whirl of the resumption of a jihad tradition, there still has yet to be a replacement for Elvis pickle. It's really getting to me, though so is the fact that humble self presently like continually bankrupt casino... broken. Great fall, long story... been at home for not quite week now, in wheelchair and with fractured right leg and arm for awhile, at least... Cards and wolverine tidbits are encouraged. Someone needs to be sure and hold Otu in the interim.

mouse Tue Feb 26 13:50:45 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > It's really getting to me, though so is the fact that humble self > presently like continually bankrupt casino... broken. Great fall, long > story... been at home for not quite week now, in wheelchair and with > fractured right leg and arm for awhile, at least... good heavens, man, what did you do? (_please_ say the pickle joke wasn't so awful it caused you to throw yourself off something really high - i mean, it might serve michael right for leaving it up so long, when he had tirdun's and your contributions even (what happened to those, anyway?), but it really is too much of a sacrifice for you to make.) it sounds quite nasty and unpleasant - hope everything heals up well and _quickly_. > Someone needs to be sure and hold Otu in the > interim. more than happy to....come here, sweetums!

Tirdun Wed Feb 27 06:47:15 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > i mean, it might serve michael right for leaving it up so long, when he had > tirdun's and your contributions even (what happened to those, anyway?), I'm sure mine needed tweaking, and tweaking involves time, and Michael seems to be short on that lately. Regardless, I sent him a series of around 8, so you've got that to look forward too sooner or later!

Jenn Fri Mar 1 09:11:46 2002 The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > I'm sure mine needed tweaking, and tweaking involves time, and Michael > seems to be short on that lately. Maybe you should send it to mouse, since she managed to submit something so flawless that he posted about it. She could tweak it. It could be a collaboration. It could smack of factionality amongst the famed Jihad. Then the other members of the Jihad could rise up in opposition of the mouse/Tirdun faction, and form their own faction called 'The People's Front for Toonbots Purity with Potluck Sundays Every Other Week' (or PftppSeow, cause that's a handy acronymn). And we could bang gavels and shoes as gavels, and call each other 'The greatest threat to Toonbotism the world has ever known'. I call dibs on bringing the lime jello for the first Potluck Sunday/Massacree of the mouse/Tirdun faction. In totally unrelated news, I'm so pleased spinclad has officially joined up! Even though I very rarely understand and got totally lost on the whole cloud thing. And poor Emsie! Geez. Get better!

Tirdun Fri Mar 1 10:48:21 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > Then the other members of the Jihad could rise up in opposition of the > mouse/Tirdun faction, and form their own faction called 'The People's > Front for Toonbots Purity with Potluck Sundays Every Other Week' (or > PftppSeow, cause that's a handy acronymn). And we could bang gavels and > shoes as gavels, and call each other 'The greatest threat to Toonbotism > the world has ever known'. HERETIC! I hereby brand you a heretic and call upon all pure members of the TRUE jihad to rally against you. There shall be much for the wolverines to feast upon THIS DAY! I'd excommunicate you... except we don't do that sort of thing and I don't have the authority anyway. BUT I CAN MAKE SPEECHES. Fear my speeches! We shall overcome the evil PftppSeow EMPIRE! We shall stop it's insideous.. insidius.. dark creepy taking-over plan! Our children's children will make holidays to celebrate the day of our victory. Then later they'll move it to a convenient Friday or Monday to make a 3 day weekend so they can go on long car trips! Then they'll forget the true meaning and the greeting card companies will commercialize it to death and WalMart will start putting up "Crush PftppSeow Day" decorations for sale MONTHS in advance and "Crush PftppSeow Day" will probably be changed to the easier-remember-but-less-accurate "Crushing Day", but THAT IS AT LEAST A FEW YEARS OFF! > I call dibs on bringing the lime jello for the first Potluck > Sunday/Massacree of the mouse/Tirdun faction. I'll bring chicken, I make great fried chicken. Oh.. wait...

mouse Fri Mar 1 16:34:30 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > BUT I > CAN MAKE SPEECHES. Fear my speeches! speeches? but you're the Arch-Überpopenschnitzel! i thought you could at least shoot death-rays out of your eyes or something....dang, i _never_ choose the right people to be in empire-destroying world-bracketing conspiracies with. do you at least give out multiple lives? > "Crush PftppSeow Day" will > probably be changed to the easier-remember-but-less-accurate > "Crushing Day" i don't know - 'pftppseow' is such a great sound effect for crushing things.... > I'll bring chicken, I make great fried chicken. Oh.. wait... i can do potato salad (with pickle relish) - we'll come to the picnic anyway and start a food fight - that'll learn 'em. (ha! your evil lime jello has no power to hurt me, vile infidel!)

Jenn Wed Mar 6 09:31:15 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad I gleefully went away yesterday, secure in the knowledge that I had fulfilled my sworn obligation to entertain spinclad. But somehow, my beautiful post full of witticisms and brilliant repoitre disappeared! So now you have to make do with this sad replica based off of what I can remember. > HERETIC! I hereby brand you a heretic and call upon all pure members of > the TRUE jihad to rally against you. What's that? I can't hear you. I'm busy nailing my 98 Theses to the door of Michael's basement with a tack hammer. > I'd excommunicate you... Ooooh. So, 300 years from now, when the Church of the True Faith of Toonbots decides that since they abolished the practice of Wolverine Indulgences 246 years ago, that they can finally re-communicate me, will you throw me a 'Busting Out of Hell' party? (People who are not the daughters of Lutheran ministers might not get that, I just realized.) > i thought you could at least shoot death-rays out of your eyes You know what would be a really cool superpower? The ability to make penguins appear at will. Preferably ones that mangle english with impunity. They have figured in many comics to date, and almost always serve to distract the main characters from whatever they were doing. You could use the penguins to get the villain's attention while disarming their nefarious plot. Or alternately, you could use them to keep those pesky superheroes from totally bashing your ultimate weapon of mass destruction before you even get to take it on a trial run. Personally, I've always liked the villains better. They have better toys. Except Batman, but he's kind of villainous looking anyway. Well, but really, the Penguin had way better stuff. That floating duck boat thing? That rocked. And an umbrella with a boxing glove attached to it? You see what happens when I try to recreate brilliance.

mouse Wed Mar 6 15:42:17 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > You know what would be a really cool superpower? The ability to make > penguins appear at will. Preferably ones that mangle english with > impunity. They have figured in many comics to date you know, i've been noticing that there seem to be a lot of penguins about lately....and yet everyone just goes on as if nothing has changed....shades of ionescu? (at least penguins are cuter than rhinoceri) _everyone_ gets to mangle english with impunity these days - now a flock of penguins that enforced proper speech, _that_ would be a distraction.

Jenn Fri Mar 8 10:04:14 2002 I am not padding my post count. > you know, i've been noticing that there seem to be a lot of penguins about > lately....and yet everyone just goes on as if nothing has > changed....shades of ionescu? (at least penguins are cuter than rhinoceri) > _everyone_ gets to mangle english with impunity these days - now a flock > of penguins that enforced proper speech, _that_ would be a distraction. I actually couldn't think of anything good to say here. But I didn't want mouse to feel bad that I answered everyone else separately and didn't answer hers. I'm nice that way. Shut up. It has nothing to do with the fact that I haven't been posting recently.

Brother Emsworth Fri Mar 8 11:46:06 2002 Re: I am [allegedly] not padding my post count. Methinks the lady doth protest *too* much. ::wolverines devour multiple identical subject titles::

mouse Fri Mar 8 13:46:11 2002 thank you! > But I didn't want > mouse to feel bad that I answered everyone else separately and didn't > answer hers. that really is sweet of you. > I'm nice that way. yes, i've noticed that. > Shut up. It has nothing to do with the fact that I haven't been posting > recently. no, no, like all of us you are merely contributing once again to the flow of reason and the feast of soul food that is the toonbots forum. i mean, like i said - i never ever even hardly look at the post counts any more, much - it was, just, you know, that once......

Tirdun Fri Mar 8 14:31:30 2002 Re: thank you! > i mean, like i said - i never ever even hardly look at the post counts any > more, much - it was, just, you know, that once...... Just a college experimentation type tying? 8^p I've stopped looking entirely. It's depressing, y'know. Whereas I once held status atop the mighty board, having posted all others into dust.. I lagged, and mouse, Jenn, spinclad have passed me. With gusto. Ah well, tis the circle of life. As long as BoxJam never outposts me :)

spinclad Thu Mar 7 14:59:51 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > I gleefully went away yesterday, secure in the knowledge that I had > fulfilled my sworn obligation to entertain spinclad. I was thinking this obligation was entirely mutual, and feeling keenly (pardon!) acutely my own debt of interchange. I hope to hold merely an unexceptional distinct part in the great jihad. > But somehow, my > beautiful post full of witticisms and brilliant repoitre disappeared! Now this is what I was fearing. It seemed unnaturally quiet, almost penguin in a feeling of silent, unassigned Doom. Like some stealthy, nakht-runed agent was harvesting our posts so we could only mouth mutely and in vain. ... > Ooooh. So, 300 years from now, when the Church of the True Faith of > Toonbots decides that since they abolished the practice of Wolverine > Indulgences 246 years ago, that they can finally re-communicate me, will > you throw me a 'Busting Out of Hell' party? Me, I am celebrating long and hard the pardon of Galileo. > You know what would be a really cool superpower? The ability to make > penguins appear at will. $#!+ $#!+ $#!+ DAMNIT NOW YOU"VE DONE IT! SPEAK OF A POWER, THE POWER APPEARS. HELP! HOORAY!!! > You see what happens when I try to recreate brilliance. everyone please to take cover

Jenn Fri Mar 8 09:58:50 2002 I am not padding my post count. > Me, I am celebrating long and hard the pardon of Galileo. Harumph. Well, I /suppose/ he can come to my party, but he'd better not go all 'earth going around the sun' all over. It really brings a party down. > $#!+ $#!+ $#!+ DAMNIT NOW YOU"VE DONE IT! SPEAK OF A POWER, THE POWER > APPEARS. HELP! HOORAY!!! > everyone please to take cover Chicago-style!

Michael Thu Mar 7 19:14:39 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > What's that? I can't hear you. I'm busy nailing my 98 Theses to the door > of Michael's basement with a tack hammer. Dammit, so *that's* what that consarned noise was. Can't a metacartoonist get any decent sleep around this place?

Jenn Fri Mar 8 09:55:29 2002 I am not padding my post count. > Dammit, so *that's* what that consarned noise was. Can't a metacartoonist > get any decent sleep around this place? That tapping? That's not me. The penguins have discovered Fred Estaire and are practicing on your kitchen floor. With their natural coloration, it was an easy leap.

mouse Fri Mar 8 13:37:05 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > Dammit, so *that's* what that consarned noise was. Can't a metacartoonist > get any decent sleep around this place? what - you mean we just needed to wake you up??!!

Tirdun Fri Mar 8 08:38:46 2002 The 98 Theses > What's that? I can't hear you. I'm busy nailing my 98 Theses to the door > of Michael's basement with a tack hammer. I'm confused about thesis number 45: The left toes should submit gracefully to the right. Are we talking about your toes? Left from your perspective or mine? The toes on the right foot and left foot or those to the left of the others on the same foot? How does that leave the middle toe? Are "the right" even referring to toes at all? The political right? How does one's toes submit gracefully? Isn't this just part of the long standing political right toe-ism that's dominated society for so long? Should we really be perpetuating this?!?

Jenn Fri Mar 8 09:53:03 2002 I am not padding my post count. > I'm confused about thesis number 45: The left toes should submit > gracefully to the right. No, no, no. You're reading it wrong. That 't' should be an 'sh'. The Left Shoes should submit Graceland to the right. > Isn't this just part of the long standing > political right toe-ism that's dominated society for so long? Should we > really be perpetuating this?!? You see, it's just this kind of religious text misunderstanding that caused the whole schism in the first place. I blame the penguins.

Tirdun Sat Mar 9 08:07:26 2002 I am blatantly padding my post count. > No, no, no. You're reading it wrong. That 't' should be an 'sh'. The Left > Shoes should submit Graceland to the right. AHHHH. Wow, I'm really going to have to rethink my worldview and perspectives on reality after reading just the first 50. > You see, it's just this kind of religious text misunderstanding that > caused the whole schism in the first place. I blame the penguins. Those darn penguins. You should have a few theses on the penguins, just to round it out to an even 100. 99: Penguins and all creeping birds that cannot fly shall be marked as "unclean" and must not be eaten. 100: Mark Twain's use of penguins in his short story "Puddn'head Wilson" is blasphemous and thus Twain should be branded a heretic and flogged with penguins. Or given a stern talking to.

Brother Emsworth Sat Mar 9 10:54:05 2002 I am padding my post count to correct an error > 100: Mark Twain's use of > penguins in his short story "Puddn'head Wilson" is blasphemous > and thus Twain should be branded a heretic and flogged with penguins. Or > given a stern talking to. Pardon, but for the record, Pudd'nhead Wilson was a novel, rather than a short story, significant for its use of fingerprints as a means of determining identities (the first major use of the technique in fiction, which may have contributed to the recognition of the values of fingerpriniting and expanding usage thereof in real life.) To the best of my recollection, no penguins were involved (though a pair of Siamese twins very nearly were, in an earlier draft, before Wilson himself entered the fray as a character and eventually bumped aside that aspect of the story.)

mouse Sat Mar 9 13:03:08 2002 should have read further.... > To the best of > my recollection, no penguins were involved thank you! i remembered PW as revolutionary in its examination of black and white, but didn't recall this being stated in penguin terms. now i can get something done today! (..rats - now i have no excuses not to get anything done today....)

Tirdun Sat Mar 9 17:29:49 2002 Twain and Pudd'nhead > Pardon, but for the record, Pudd'nhead Wilson was a novel, rather than a > short story, significant for its use of fingerprints as a means of > determining identities I know... I know. I didn't expect anyone to much about the book, it tends to get lost in Huck Finn's shadow. Librarians have been giving me odd looks when I ask for works related to it. I'm doing a critical review of the book for American Lit II right now. It is a dark, twisted and exceptionally odd work. I'd really not recommend it as a "light read" to anyone, although it was a very telling glimpse into Twain's mood after Huck Finn. I think I can see where he was trying (very hard) to make the comedy of the Twins (especially given the end-notes) but it ends up being a very unhappy book.

mouse Sun Mar 10 18:37:17 2002 Re: Twain and Pudd'nhead > I know... I know. I didn't expect anyone to much about the book, it tends > to get lost in Huck Finn's shadow. which is rather sad - although tom sawyer and huck finn were great, he wrote so many other good things. > Librarians have been giving me odd > looks when I ask for works related to it. you sure the odd looks are because of the books you ask for? :p > I'm doing a critical review of the book for American Lit II right now. It > is a dark, twisted and exceptionally odd work. I'd really not recommend it > as a "light read" to anyone, although it was a very telling > glimpse into Twain's mood after Huck Finn. I think I can see where he was > trying (very hard) to make the comedy of the Twins (especially given the > end-notes) but it ends up being a very unhappy book. a lot of his later stuff is very dark - The War Prayer is probably most noted for it (it was considered too grim to publish until after his death) - but a lot of other short stories have a very negative view of humankind (for example, A Dog's Story (i think that's what it's called)) - and Letters from the Earth. I think much of this was related to the death of his daughter, but can't remember the timeline, exactly - of course, he had other tribulations as well. i'm rather surprised Pudd'nhead Wilson even got published, with the picture it gives of relations between the races. it is pretty explicit about the mental cruelty that slaves lived with.

Michael Sun Mar 10 23:16:59 2002 Re: Twain and Pudd'nhead > The War Prayer is probably most > noted for it (it was considered too grim to publish until after his death) http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/warprayer.html Pretty harmless. Not in relation to right *now* of course, but in relation to what we have come to take as normal in the last coupla decades. > A Dog's Story (i think that's what it's called)) Or, in fact, a Dog's Tale: http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/sid.6/bookid.252/ > Letters from the Earth. Oddly, just read this one today, linked from the forum at James Randi's site (www.randi.org, highly recommended and *not* just because a Chopping Block toon was featured a couple weeks ago...) http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainlfe.htm > I think much of this was related to the death of > his daughter, but can't remember the timeline, exactly The death of illness of his daughter, who had gone mad while he was in Europe, the epilepsy of his other daughter, culminating in her drowning death in the bathtub on Christmas Eve, the heart condition of his wife, which killed her (her doctors had restricted visits from Twain himself as too exciting; he was allowed to visit no more than five minutes per day for the last year of her life). The estrangement of his third daughter. The death by drowning of his brother. And of course a lifetime of exposure to the basic stupidity of humanity.

mouse Sat Mar 9 12:55:57 2002 Re: I am blatantly padding my post count. > AHHHH. Wow, I'm really going to have to rethink my worldview and > perspectives on reality after reading just the first 50. ummm...you realize, such a decision could be unfortunate, career-wise, arch-ueberpopenschnitzel. > 99: Penguins and all creeping birds that cannot fly shall be marked as > "unclean" and must not be eaten. actually, i have been trolling good old "joy of cooking" for penguin recipes - this could be an ideal solution for dealing with the UAPF (and an excellent centerpiece for the celebratory picnic - now that i think of it, your fried chicken recipe could probably be adopted) > 100: Mark Twain's use of > penguins in his short story "Puddn'head Wilson" is blasphemous twain used penguins?? in "Puddn'head Wilson"???!!!! - rats - now i'll have to spend the day looking for my copy to verify this heresy.

spinclad Fri Mar 1 13:39:24 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad I think I might join the Run in Circles, Take Clueless Refuge with Carcajous faction (those of higher discrimination might look on us as Not Long for This World; Ah Well, Perhaps Better Thus). [RiCTCRwC or NLfTW;AWPBT respectively, for ease of reference] > In totally unrelated news, I'm so pleased spinclad has officially joined > up! I abase myself in appreciation for your good words. > Even though I very rarely understand and got totally lost on the whole > cloud thing. But haven't you ever noticed how atoms seem to resist getting too close together, not unfriendly really, they just find each other sort of repulsive close up; and how when two electrons are passing by each other, their wave goes through zero just as they trade places? I mean, it's sort of subtle; you have to be watching pretty close, but if you do, you can see it happen... > And poor Emsie! Geez. Get better! From me too! I wasn't sure if `Great fall, long story' had to do with autumnal excellence or a particularly fine ski-slope mishap... but damn! get well soon, will ya?

mouse Fri Mar 1 17:00:03 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad > [RiCTCRwC or > NLfTW;AWPBT respectively, for ease of reference] no, no, sorry - they'll never catch on (they lack the tongue-tripping fluidity of pftppseow - i just _love_ that - sort of a bronx cheer combined with a ricochet). no, i think you should join me and tirdun - they we can be an axis of evil (no, wait, we're the good guys...axis of non-evil? anti-evil? - axis of anti-evil! [i do love alliteration] or aoae, which we can sort of yodel as a war cry - altho be careful of pronunciation - that should be oh-AY, not OW-ee) > But haven't you ever noticed how atoms seem to resist getting too close > together, not unfriendly really, they just find each other sort of > repulsive close up you do need to pay more attention to these things, jenn - i mean, if you'd ever really _looked_ at an atom close up, this wouldn't surprise you. > and how when two electrons are passing by each other, > their wave goes through zero just as they trade places? I mean, it's sort > of subtle; you have to be watching pretty close, but if you do, you can > see it happen... once you know what to look for, it's really easy - i see this sort of thing just _all_ the time.

mouse Fri Mar 1 16:43:42 2002 Re: The Rise and Fall of the Jihad hey jenn! long time no.....post? um....why are you looking at me like that? > Potluck Sunday/Massacree of the mouse/Tirdun faction. oh dear......do we at least get to eat first? > In totally unrelated news, I'm so pleased spinclad has officially joined > up! Even though I very rarely understand and got totally lost on the whole > cloud thing. _i_ got it! _i_ understood! honest! - come over here with tirdun and me.....(i'm the one under the bed)

spinclad Mon Feb 25 23:25:05 2002 Re: The 1 month prayer service > (altho - do you really want to > encourage them to think of you as their plaything? i mean, the little ones > are nice, but some of the bigger ones seem to get carried away > occasionally) Oh. I thought I already was. *eep* Maybe if I take up the Em's-worth one on holding and otherwise caring for Otu (what is he feeding on these days? fingers? are his milkteeth well in?) Alaric et al might deign not to maul me too badly > always wondered where 'spinclad' came from - now i know. clearly you lead > life in a social whirl. well, sunlight is basically spin 1, and air, sand and other atoms are just clouds of spin 1/2 on the outside, so I figure I've got the bases covered.

spinclad again Mon Feb 25 23:33:08 2002 Post scriptum (No, I'm not trying to inflate my post count. Really. Why do you ask?) > well, sunlight is basically spin 1, and air, sand and other atoms are just > clouds of spin 1/2 on the outside, so I figure I've got the bases covered. along with gravity (spin 2), Higgs and other fine fields

mouse Tue Feb 26 13:59:00 2002 nice try > (No, I'm not trying to inflate my post count. Really. Why do you ask?) _i_ believe you (especially since the post count doesn't realize 'spinclad again' is the same as 'spinclad' - it seems to be able to identify only brother emsworth in multiple guises, and quite right, too)

spinclad again Fri Mar 1 14:13:02 2002 Re: nice try > _i_ believe you (especially since the post count doesn't realize 'spinclad > again' is the same as 'spinclad' - it seems to be able to identify only > brother emsworth in multiple guises, and quite right, too) It is indeed good and proper to count the occasional Pale, Wan Shadow with its original (but please mend well soon)... I wonder, does it require the hand and attention of the Meta-Blather-Meister to bring about? If so, could i request a special _exemption_ in spinclad again's case... such that, rather than consolidating vertically in a single count, i might expand horizontally (as it were), tentacle-like, into odd corners of the current standings? [You gotta believe: if it's not one conspiracy, it must be several more!] Then i can start posting as my titles, just to get them on the board...

Brother Emsworth Wed Mar 6 12:56:20 2002 Re: nice try > It is indeed good and proper to count the occasional Pale, Wan Shadow with > its original (but please mend well soon)... I wonder, does it require the > hand and attention of the Meta-Blather-Meister to bring about? Thanks for the get well wishes, but for the record, I'm not the only one. Pooga (who we sadly seem to have lost contact with) was the first, when he began posting as his title, Pooga Poogissima, in addition to the run of the mill Pooga. Michael simply set the auto-whatsit to recognize all variants of Pooga, and the same occurred following an unusual yet exhilirating evening in January 2001, when both Napoleon and myself got caught up in conversing with each other with the occasional name variant to spice things up, and the following day or so Michael fixed it to recognize variants of Napoleon and Emsworth. However, in many other cases, where there's been slight variation in a poster's name or spelling, he usually hasn't bothered with it, probably because of the time involved. When he has the time and if he has the inclination, Michael might do so, but again, time is the operative factor, and considering what his pressures of work seem to be at present, humble self would recommend doing opposite ofdiving swimmers - do not hold breath.