Barely Legal

Today is the day when the Godiva Procession takes place during the Godiva Festival, in honor of Lady Godiva, whom attorney Helen Morgendorffer emulates here. Ride 'em, cowgirl! If you're looking for pictures of the lady, however, shame on you.

On DariaWiki, Brother Grimace has outlined the powers of Defender Rings for those Dariaverses that have them. Whoa, nelly.

Now 829 fans in the Daria Fan Club. Some activity, mostly voting on polls. I'm going to start another one there soon. If you have an amusing idea for a poll there, post it and see what happens.

Daria was mentioned in passing in two recent online articles. One was a review of the movie Aeon Flux, and the other a look back at MTV's good old days. Both articles allow for comments to be posted; feel free to chip in.

Need to get some other things done. More soon.

Just Say "No"

The World Health Organization has declared the last day of May to be World No Tobacco Day, a U.N. holiday I can get along with. This student probably chases after all the other students who try to smoke at Holiday Island High. I tried to get an interdiction symbol over Heather's cigarette at left, but I'm not that graphically skilled. Dang. On a side note, I always thought having a gangster villain named Big Tobacco on Mystery Men was dead-on cool. That was perfect.

Today is also Syaday (Confusion 5) in the Discordian calendar, also known as Gulikday and Fearless Fred Day, but I am darned if I can figure out what it's all about. I think that was the whole point, though. This is a really, really confused Holiday Island kid. Probably on meds.

More shortly, lots to do today.

The Man Who Gave Condoms His Name

Only 3,287 years ago today, Ramses II (a.k.a. Ramses the Great to his closest friends) became the pharaoh of Egypt. I read this on Wikipedia and thought, how the heck did they know it was this date? Nice work there. This has to do with Daria because of "My Night at Daria's."

Also, Clint Eastwood was born 78 years ago. This has to do with Daria because the Gorillaz song, "Clint Eastwood," is played twice on "My Night at Daria's."

DariaPhantom has noted an announcement on TVShowsonDVD.com that may mean hope for Daria. Others are skeptical. We shall see.

Medea42 asks, "Has anyone ever tried to fit a fanfic to the song 'Daria' by Cake? It seems like it would be good inspiration for 'adult Daria.'" A link to the lyrics is here. (Speaking of Medea42, see her page on DariaWiki. Well done.)

In the realm of wacky fanfic, Paisleygal and NightGoblyn address an Iron Chef: "There are no laws, but there are rules!"

In Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Dawn of a New Nightmare, we read this blood-chilling passage: "I'm baaaaaaaaaack," Thom Sloane said with an evil smile.


FF.net

• What I needed after all, by MotocrossHottie089 (Parts 1 and 2): A tale about Jayde, Daria's daughter.

PPMB

• Avenging, by LSauchelli (Part 1): Jake Morgendorffer gets an unexpected visit from an old acquaintance, but Daria gets the biggest surprise of all in this crossover tale.
  
• Legion of Lawndale Heroes, by Brother Grimace (Chapter 13.1 - Teaser): "Where do we go from here?"
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!): The story ends with Epilogue 4, but in a way this tale is only beginning. (SFMB version)
• Long Trek Home, by Ranger Thorne (Part 1): "Antisocial Climbers" crosses over into the land where "no man has gone before." Read it to believe it.
• New Life, by legendeld (Part 1): A much changed Quinn Morgendorffer heads for home.
• Reign of the Darias: Life as a Corpse, by LSauchelli (Part 4): One word says all: doppelgänger.
• Size Does Matter, by BlackHole (Part 24): Jamie White has a new love interest: the local version of She-Hulk. (SFMB version) (author's website version) (Ben Breeck's discussion of the story on SFMB)
  
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): "I found myself in an incredibly creepy room decorated with pictures of dead people in Hello Kitty picture frames hanging on the walls." This is getting really really bizarre. A great read. PLUS: wild gangs of math students beat up the frat boys at Miskatonic U!
  

SFMB

• The Other Side of Time: Witness to the Monkey Show, by The Sidhe (COMPLETE!)

More to come.

Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt

Today is the feast day for Saint Joan of Arc, but we've already discussed Ms. Arc's trouble-filled rise to sainthood in an earlier posting. Today is also the anniversary of the first running of the Indianapolis 500, but we've already covered the Indy here, and we've also shown a picture of Andrea as the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., which was dedicated long ago on this day.

Today is the birthday of M. J. Pollard! Oh, wait. That's Michael Pollard, the actor, not the renown webmaster of Outpost Daria, Martin Pollard. Rats. Skip that.

Ah, here we go! Mel Blanc was born long ago today. He provided the voices of many many many many many Warner Brothers cartoon characters, plus Woody Woodpecker, also already discussed . . but not Daria. Damn.

Sorry, there isn't anything Daria-ish about today. Maybe someone else knows of something so I have something less bogus to post next year at this time. Have your people call my people.

Hail, Wisconsin!

One hundred sixty years ago this very day, Wisconsin joined the Union and became the 30th state. Patrick Henry and T. H. White (the King Arthur author) were born on this day, and Mount Everest was successfully climbed in 1953. None of this has anything to do with Daria. However, I have finished another chapter of the Doc Holliday story and am way behind on everything else. Soon, very soon, I swear, I'll get caught up. This time I mean it, too. Seriously.

"The name's Bond. Mack Bond."

Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, 007, was born this day 100 years ago. Mack leads the celebration with a drink (shaken, not stirred) and a jet pack rather unlike the one Bond used in From Russia with Love. Mr. Fleming also created Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which no one cares about.

Ranger Thorne offers three different outfits for a superhero Quinn. See which one you prefer.

Brother Grimace wants to know: Is Jake Morgendorffer really that bad? Post your opinion ASAP.

Szcz put forth some possibilities about the enigma wrapped in a mystery that is Grandma Barksdale. Were the Barksdale girls adopted? See what you think.

More later. Will try to write more on that Doc Holliday story.

The Woman Who Was W.O.W.

Many of the alter egos for Daria have a musical theme, and this one is one of the more interesting ones. Sandi Griffin is dressed as Wendy O. Williams, born this day 59 years ago. She was the lead singer of the Plasmatics and easily the most outrageous woman in rock, punk or New Wave or otherwise, in the 1970s and '80s. The picture seems to be derived from this photo of the Plasmatics. (Ms. Williams should be easy to pick out.)

It strikes me as odd that Sandi is the one doing the W.O.W. thing, as she would be the polar opposite of the singer in personality. That blouse Sandi is wearing, by the way, is her own, the usual one she wears in the last seasons of Daria. Wendy Williams often went topless in concert except for a couple of strips of black electrical tape (placed exactly where you think they would be). In a way this picture resonates in the same way that alter ego of Stacy Rowe as Dr. Hannibal Lechter works: you just have this feeling that under that shallow, stuck-up fashion-head is a wild beast waiting to be unchained. Or maybe not. You decide.

Interestingly, Wendy Williams's long-time boyfriend in life was Lemmy of Motörhead, and there is an alter ego with Mr. DeMartino as Lemmy, at the MTV website like the Sandi/Wendy pic above. Someone on the art staff with MTV had a very good knowledge of rock music from 20-30 years ago. It certainly shows.

A curious alter ego for a lot of reasons. More to come.

And let's hear it once again for . . .

. . . Northern Dancer, one of the greatest race horses to ever run in the Kentucky Derby. Northern Dancer was born only 47 years ago in Ontario, Canada.

God, I love this picture.

Holy Spandex! It's Bat-Jane!

On this day, 71 years ago, Detective Comics #27 came out, featuring a new crimefighter named Batman. The rest was history.

One hundred and thirty years ago today, Isadora Duncan was born, considered one of the greatest of American dancers. Jane Lane appeared as Isadora Duncan in an alter ego used earlier in this column.

This is also the 74th birthday of renown science-fiction author and critic Harlan Ellison, whom this blogger considers one of the True Gods of writing, period. One of Mr. Ellison's stories, "The Deathbird," had a profound effect in the writing of a Daria fanfic: "Mad Dog."

In addition to the various Three Word Story threads at PPMB, fen in need of a game can play The Amazing Daria Race. And Deref the Conquerer has a few more cave paintings to show of his recent excursion into civilization, which now lies in ruins from Spain to the Urals. Hail, Crom!

In the spirit of the elections this year, here's a T-shirt design you might like. Why pick the lesser of two evils?

SFMB has been little used of late. Getting concerned about that. Fanfic writers and fan artists are encouraged to post there when possible; exposure is always good.

PPMB

• Falling Into College 62: Run It Up the Mast, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): Friendships are made and preserved . . . an one enemy-ship is made as well.

Silly Question #28: Was Clone High cloned?

Is it possible that the depiction of Holiday Island High School on Daria's "Depth Takes a Holiday" had any influence on the later appearance on MTV of Clone High? I don't know if this question has ever come up before, but it began poking at me a while ago. Holiday Island High was better done, I think, and rather less offensive.

A number of fanfics have made use of the wormhole behind Good Time Chinese, and there have been a few Daria-related stories about various students at HIHS. I know it's perverted of me to say this, but Holiday Island High could support a few more fantasy/SF/weirdo fanfics as a micro-sub-genre of fandom. Think of all the holidays that haven't been covered yet! What if they came through the wormhole and bugged the Fashion Club? That might be a hoot. World Turtle Day could ask Quinn out for a date!

Okay, I tried. Think about it anyway. Could be fun.

Summer's Unofficial Starting Day

An unusual picture of Andrea (an-DRAY-ah), in that she seems to have lost weight for the sake of a bikini pic. She never looked bad (to me, anyway). Also seems to be floating in the air (see her feet?). She doesn't seem happy to be in that bikini, which is more like her. Whatever. Happy day at the beach for everyone.

As a little historical note, today was the day 151 years ago when Dred Scott was freed at last from slavery. Arguably one of the most famous people who ever suffered under such an inhuman system, he got a job as a porter and died the following year from tuberculosis, never seeing the start of the American Civil War. Hats off to you this Memorial Day.

Lawndale Online reports that as a result of spam, a new filtering system was put into place for posting. Read about it here and here.

24,800 visits logged here! Thnx!


FF.net

• Coming of Age, by Deep Metal (Part 22, almost done): Daria and the rest of the Highland High crew rush to save Beavis and Butt-head from a fate I'm not going to tell you about. A fun story from the "Beavis and Butt-head" fandom, this one. The coming epilogue will finish the tale.
• A Little Problem, by Smileyfax (COMPLETE? oh, that was a bad pun): Is this tale done? Can't tell, it could go for a while. It could have been called "Daria's Addition." It's going to make "My Night at Daria's" rather complicated, unless it isn't Tom who visits. (Three guesses who will be there instead.) At least Daria didn't wake up as a giant cockroach. *
• On a Rowe, by Alpacca Jo (COMPLETE!): Quinn hangs up on Stacy. Stacy snaps. Whammo! An alternate outcome for "Fat Like Me."

Lawndale Online

• Apocalyptic Daria, by Doggieboy (What About Tom?)
• Apocalyptic Daria, by Doggieboy (Epilogue 2)
• John Lane 34: Barbeques and Gridiron, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!)

PPMB

• Legion of Lawndale Heroes Mini: Goodbye, Tiffany, by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): Holy crap! thought Daria. I can't believe I just said that.
• On a Rowe, by Alpacca Jo (COMPLETE!): See description above.
• A Yankee Marine in General Lee's Army, by The Sidhe (continued): As I read this, I confess I wonder what Lincoln is doing right now. Alternate histories always leave you thinking.

* Contains adult content.

Memorial Day: A Girl in Trouble

"You got to help me. Lincoln's going to make me recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Call him off!"


Memorial Day begs for Daria's help in this blurry screencap from "Depth Takes a Holiday," probably my favorite Daria episode because of the awful can of worms (or wormholes) it opens up. Wonderful for fanfic.

This May 26th is especially important because it is the birthday of Ward Cunningham, who developed the first wiki. Yes, we have DariaWiki and Wikipedia and more thanks to him. Thanks, dude! This is also the 101st anniversary of John Wayne's birth, he whose commemorative coins Jake Morgendorffer collected in "Camp Fear," and the 144th anniversary of the day Montana (of the Montana Cabin Fund) became a territory of the USA.

More as the day progresses.

"Gentlemen, like, start your engines, or whatever."

The 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 is over, and someone won. Hooray! I have trouble seeing Trent in the Indy 500, though. It would be too fast for him.

Cynigal is asking if anyone will be around Portland, Oregon, for a Dariacon during the week of June 16. Write back here if you will be thereabouts.

On this day, 83 years ago, schoolteacher John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution. This led to the famous (i.e., infamous) Scopes Trial, which proved that if we didn't really evolve from monkeys, we should have.

This is also the day when, 47 years ago, President John F. Kennedy made his famous speech in which he announced that the United States would put a man on the moon before the decade was out. And so it was done, and then everyone forgot to go back.

Richard Lobinske has updated the 2008 Daria Visual Fanworks listing once again (PPMB, SFMB). Go, thou, and see wonders beyond imagining. I love it.

And Cypher, Dennis, and WacoKid have added some amazing ficlets to the Iron Chef called Autobiography. You have to check it out.

PPMB

• Avalon, by legendeld (COMPLETE!): “I’d be more worried about yourselves at this point.” Quinn said as she teleported in the room. Things went bad right after that.
• D: The Last Cynic, by CDM (continued): "If he's the last man on Earth, I'll be worshipping Sappho so quick."
• Falling Into College 62: Run It Up the Mast (Part 5): Michael paused in thought and then said, "Jane, can you and your friends do something for me?"
• Infected, by legendeld (Parts 4 and 5): “You still don’t believe in guardian angels?”
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy (Epilogue 3): “You win a kewpie doll,” Daria said as she quickly lifted the pistol, cocked it, and fired.
• The Other Side of Time: Witness to the Monkey Show, by The Sidhe (continued): Has the reason for "Mad Dog" Morgendorffer's bad attitude been discovered?
• Reign of the Darias: Life as a Corpse, by Lorenzo Sauchelli (Parts 1 and 2): This was probably not how Daria thought her reunion with a summer camp acquaintance would go. A new Daria/Harry Dresden story, though the previous one isn't finished yet.
• Snuff the Rooster, by Cypher (continued): “Daaaaaaaam! You scored!” An honest-to-gosh Jane/Upchuck shipper. Hang on.
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): Every good plot requires an injection of comic relief, and so it's time for the clown to take the stage. NOTE: In the next section is the classic Daria fanfic line: "Crystallization rate is 27 microboogers per second." I love it.
  
• Upon the Torches of the Stars (formerly Reaper), by Ray (COMPLETE!): Quinn takes on a metric ton of supervillains, but does she win?

Be All You Can Be! Be a NERD!

It's Nerd Pride Day! Hooray! This is primarily a Spanish nerd holiday, but I have no problem with stealing it for celebration worldwide, so here it is. I don't think we need to wonder what Nerd Pride Day looks like at Holiday Island High.

Richard Lobinske, E. A. Smith, Nighthawk, Brother Grimace, Doggieboy, Dr. Mike, and legendeld have done great work expanding DariaWiki. Thanks! The most recent of 1,852 (or thereabouts, I keep getting different numbers) webpages there is Richard Lobinske's addition for "If I Could Tell You," a tale in Wildgoose's haunting Unseen Phenomenon series. Check it out.

On PPMB, Teenracer6 asks, "What would happen if Stacy Rowe was kicked out of the Fashion Club?" Discuss!

Also on PPMB, the Iron Chef for Unusual Superpowers has reached and passed the OMGWTF level.

Some excellent story suggestions are being offered by WacoKid for Irredeemable Daria Characters. Contribute your own! Get people typing!

Lawndale Online

• It's Like the Beginning of an Era, by Kristen Bealer (COMPLETE!): How Sandi got to be the way she is. A great read.

"Groooovy, baby!"

We here at the DFB2 ("we" in a royal sense only) send a Happy Birthday off to actor Mike Myers, a.k.a. Austin Powers, Man of Mystery, born 45 years ago today. It is also the 64th anniversary of the birth of Muppeteer Frank Oz, he who gave us Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Yoda ("Do or do not! There is no 'try'!").

The Daria Fan Club has 822 members, but still not a lot of activity (*sigh*).

FF.net

• John Lane 34: Barbeques and Gridiron, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): "Why, pray tell, do you smell like beer?"
• Daria: The Door to Safety Is Shut, by MrPowerpuff (up to Part 9): “Oh, come on, Daria, why don’t you just admit you shot my brother!”
• Daria's Box, by Smileyfax (COMPLETE!): A naughty story about a few double entendres. *
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy80 (up to Epilogue 2: Redemption)
• Someone Set Up Us the Bomb, by Smileyfax (up to Part 10): Daria couldn't think of anything to actually say to her ex-husband, but the gun in her glove compartment had a few choice words it wanted to share.

* Contains adult content. Get ready.

DON'T PANIC!

Yes, today is Towel Day, one of many special celebrations this day before Memorial Day. Towel Day commemorates the great comedy SF works of Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide series).

The image at left is the only pic I can find anywhere that shows Daria with a towel, so this is now the official unofficial Daria Celebrates Towel Day Image. Maybe someone can post a clearer picture. It's from the start of IIFY?, before the ball hits Daria. (I took the ball out.)

Towel Day must be an interesting kid at Holiday Island High, always wearing a towel around his/her neck. Also at Holiday Island High today are Africa Day (a transfer student with a West African accent) and May Revolution Day (another transfer student who speaks Spanish with an Argentinian flavor). We also have Universal Day of the Jedi, in honor of the very first showing of the movie Star Wars only 31 years ago. (Man, that makes me feel old.) I cannot find any Star Wars alter egos of the Daria cast, so we'll have to skip that.

I remember now why I took a break last November from writing fanfic: I hardly have time for it thanks to some schedule changes in Real Life. Doing entries for this blog was easier and took less time. Nonetheless, the Doc Holliday story on PPMB/SFMB will continue. I'm about a third of the way through Chapter 4.

Time to do a fanfic update. More soon. Thanks for putting up with me.

"Does this sheep under my dress make me look fat?"

Yes, only a mere 178 years ago today, that immortal epic "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published, revolutionizing English literature and winning the Nobel Prize for its insightful political commentary. And I don't want anyone to give me a hard time because Tiffany is dressed like Little Bo Peep and not Mary of the Lambs. This is my blog, I can do anything I want. Just back off.

Still working on that !$%#$%% third chapter. More updates to come this weekend between periods of yard work. Hope everyone is having a great vacation so far.

LATE ADD: The third chapter is done, but both PPMB and SFMB are down. Damn it, damn it, damn it! Oh, well, more later. I knew there was a reason I stopped writing fanfic.

Who comes up with these holidays, anyway?

Hooray! It's World Turtle Day! I swear I am not making this up. (Click on one of the three linked words and see.) This is a Holiday Island High kid I've got to see to believe.

Once again I am going to work on my short story, but I will post as much as I can this Memorial Day weekend. Party on most righteously!

"It's like elementary school, Bro! I mean, Watson!"

A mere 149 years ago, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born, he who gave us one of the greatest fictional icons ever: Hello Kitty, star of such immortal works as Kitty of the Baskervilles, A Kitty in Bohemia, and The Adventure of the Speckled Kitty. Classic literature indeed.

I was going to do a fanfic update here, but I've decided to work on the next chapter of my Doc Holliday story instead, in hopes of posting it sometime before A.D. 2050. More later!

*

Did you mean Holmes like Sherlock, or homes like 'yo, yo, yo, what up, homes'?

—Jane Lane, "Look Back in Annoyance"

This Is Maybe a Little Too Much Diversity

Another weird United Nations-mandated holiday, and our special guests to mark the occasion are Mrs. Diane Bennett and Sandi Griffin, just back from the biodiversity transplant center. Happy International Day for Biological Diversity everyone! Yaaay!

What are other fandoms like compared to ours? smk asks that magical question, and you can answer it right here.

I don't have time for an update, too much real life, alas. I will add more as soon as I can.

In the meanwhile, what do you think IDBD (today's Holiday Island teen) would be like? Boy or girl? Freak or mutant? Post your thoughts below.

Jane: Which end is the warhead?

This grainy photograph shows Jane and Daria hard at work on the most powerful nuclear weapon ever invented, Tsar Bomba (not a song by Richie Valens), which was developed by the brilliant Russian physicist and later noted dissident and Nobel Prize winner, Andrei Sakharov. He was born only 87 years ago today. Today is also the birthday of Mr. T and the American Red Cross, but let's face it, Tsar Bomba was pure undiluted awesomeness. Fifty megatons in one shot. Whoa, momma!

DariaWiki has been aided recently by the likes of Nighthawk, Dr. Mike, Legendeld, Ranchoth, Brother Grimace, Quiverwing, and others. Thank you all!

Deref the Globetrotting Barbarian is once again home, awaiting the first shipment of the entire British Isles to arrive by UPS any day now. Bravo, well done, and three cheers!

Two fan artworks of sheerest mega-awesomeness: Old Friends, by S.C., and Jane-Cam, also by S.C. Click and be awesome-ated.

More tomorrow, time to crash.

"I've Got Me, Babe . . ."

This shocking image of Tiffany Blum-Deckler dressed as Cher graphically and horrifically illustrates that this is the most terrifying day in world history: Cher's 62nd Birthday. Yes, the sun has literally gone out all across America, and many believe the Day of Judgment is at hand. Alas, it is not. You need only glance at the image at right to feel bone-chilling fear that millions are experiencing in this nightmarish time. Or whatever.

Nothing else going on. More in a moment or two. Or three.

Lights Out

This shocking image of Quinn and Daria from "The Teachings of Don Jake" graphically and horrifically illustrates the most terrifying day in New England's history: The Dark Day of 1780. Yes, the sun literally went out all across Revolutionary War America, and many believed the Day of Judgment was at hand. Alas, it was not. You need only glance at the image at left to feel bone-chilling fear that thousands experienced in that nightmarish time. Or whatever.

No, really, there was a Dark Day and it was 228 years ago, and it was pretty weird. Several good websites describe the event, such as here and here. Good science reading. I know there's got to be a way to work that into a Daria fanfic, but if I'm going to mess with the sun I'd rather it just blow up, and that's already been done, so . . . oh, well.

Don't have much time to write this evening, so enjoy your fanfic and I will be back with more later. Party hearty.

Oh, while I'm gone, here's a topic to discuss: Was Daria really trying to kill Travis the Singing Cowboy in "Speedtrapped"? This debate is warming up the webpages on DariaWiki. (Click "Discussion" on Travis's page and add your own thoughts. I've had my say.)

Ka-BOOM!!!

Twenty-eight years ago today, Mount St. Helens blew up in Oregon. I was in Germany in the Army at the time. One of the suspected aftereffects of the explosion was that in June that year it literally rained, with barely a pause, for over 40 days and nights across Europe. The Europeans grumbled and blamed it on the U.S., of course. It was our volcano.

Sexy image there of fire-breathing Helen. We will refer back to it later when we conduct a purely scientific examination of her, um, physical assets. (I'm working on it, BG.)

MMan has offered a new and intriguing PPMB Iron Chef, called Autobiography. "Timothy O'Neill has given all his classes an assignment: write your autobiography. Pick a Daria teen and show what his/her response is." The Iron Chef has already drawn one remarkable response, listed below.

Now 810 fans logged in at the Daria Fan Club. A little activity there, too. Keep it going.

Ranchoth offers a look into the technical side of his "It's a Job" post-IICY? universe, in which Daria goes to work for COBRA and does pretty darn good for herself. Her helicarrier, the CS Argent Bifid (trans.: "silver forked"), is depicted on DariaWiki in screencaps from old G.I. Joe TV episodes. The helicarrier's name doesn't make sense unless you realize that "silver" and "forked" both refer to "tongue," as in "silver tongued" and "forked tongue." Honeyed words that are all lies: exactly what Daria was hired by COBRA to produce in her flying print factory. Nice work.

What are the most disturbing images in Daria? Richard Lobinske thinks it's Mr. O'Neill's butt.

Got any obscure movie references made on the Daria show that no one else knows? Crossada75 is looking for others besides the one for The Gamma People.


FF.net

• Daria: The Door to safety is shut, by MrPowerpuff (Prologue and Parts 1 and 2): What am I doing hiding in a confessional at the Lawndale Church holding a gun in my hand pointing at the door?
• It's Like the Beginning of an Era, by Kristen Bealer (COMPLETE!)
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy80 (Epilogue 1)
  
• Someone Set Up Us the Bomb, by Smileyfax (Parts 2 to 4): This is certainly an unusual avocation for Daria: domestic atomic terrorist.
  

Fortress CINCGREEN

• Autobiography of Jane Lane, by CINCGREEN (COMPLETE!): This is beyond fantastic, it's so good. I dare not spoil it. Read it and hang on.

Lawndale Online

• Apocalyptic Daria, Part One, by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!)

PPMB

• Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Dawn of a New Nightmare: Nice to see that Daria has a new hobby: gourmet cooking.
  
• Scenes that Should Be: Brains for Rent: Cypher offers an intriguing shipper you won't believe at first, but it totally works. My eyes almost popped out of my head. Good job!

More to be added as the day progresses, plus maybe I'll get some work done on the short story and think of an essay while pulling weeds.

Another Nerd Holiday Today!

Yes, once again it is International Museum Day. This teen is one of the geek squad at Holiday Island High. We have some strange holidays, that's for sure. International Museum Day. Why not.

This is also the day when the Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet in 1910, almost a century ago. Interestingly, a fanfic currently in progress on PPMB (legendeld's "Infected") was derived from a movie called Night of the Comet.

Movie director Frank Capra was born 111 years ago. It was his most famous movie, It's a Wonderful Life, that St. Patrick's Day was referring to when he was trying to convince Daria to help find the other missing Holidays in "Depth Takes a Holiday." The movie is also referenced in several fanfics, like Angelinhel's "An Angel Named Mary Sue" and Thomas's "It's a Wonderful Life, Not."

On PPMB, Psychotol has produced a picture of Quinn in the U.S. Marines. That's an unusual haircut for her, I must say.

PPMB

• Avalon, by legendeld (Part 22): Dorn and Daria strike a deal to end the war. It involves the deaths of a great many people, however.
  
• Expectavi: Spindoctor/Daria, Agent of Cobra Serial, by Ranchoth (Part 2): This just gets creepier and better all the time.
• Infected, by legendeld (Part 3): "Since when do either of you know how to shoot?"

More later, after wake-up time. I am still working on a new story but there isn't enough time to divide up among everything that's going on. [sigh]

BIG BROWN'S GETTIN' DOWN!

Big Brown won the Preakness today, and to celebrate we once again drag out Helen as Jake's pony girl. Ride 'em, Jake-o! Today's also the 133rd anniversary of the first Kentucky Derby, won by Aristides.

Forgot to reverse Jake's chest number. Oh, well.

Nothing else to say. Just wanted to use that picture again.




Heh heh heh heh heh heh . . .

"Wanna hear my Armed Forces Day cheer?"

Happy Armed Forces Day to you other veterans out there. Party hearty. He/she's probably one of those fatigue-wearing teens at Holiday Island High.

Other recent newly arrived students at HIH include the Internet-savvy World Information Society Day (another United Nations semi-non-holiday) and the rainbow-colors-wearing International Day Against Homophobia (nicknamed IDAHO), both celebrated today. Speaking of rainbow power, four years ago today Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. Wonder if Daria and Jane at college in Boston know about that (wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more).

Richard Lobinske has updated his 2008 fan art listings on PPMB and SFMB. Boo-yaa! (Did I say that right?)

If I understood Deref the Oz Barbarian's last smoke signals, he and Father Martin were hunting whales (charmingly misspelled as "wales") in the rugged mountains of Britain. Those wacky guys.

Brother Grimace wants your votes for the Crowning Moments of Awesome in Daria. Go, thou, and votest.

More annoying tidbits soon.

The reason why the picture below even exists

Just over half a century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling on Brown v. Board of Education, declaring that "separate but equal" education along racial lines was not equal at all. That's the reason why Jodie and Daria go to the same school. Think about it.

Today is also the 69th birthday of Gary Paulsen, the award-winning author of some amazing children's books. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times in the 1980s and loaned a book to him about the Native American god, Coyote, whom we both rather liked. Wish I could write like he does. I've thought about using some of his story plots in fanfic, but . . . oh, well. Drive on, dude!

More news later, time to crash soon.

Smoking Stinks

Only twenty years ago today, the then-Surgeon General of the United States, C. Everett Koop, announced that nicotine had addictive properties similar to heroin and cocaine. More recently, it was discovered that tobacco companies have been increasing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes over time, which logically makes it more difficult for smokers to quit smoking as time goes on. Anyone out there putting two and two together? If you want to quit, you may soon find that to be literally impossible. Now, that's angst.

Um, actually, I admit I wouldn't mind reading more about toad smoking at Lawndale High. . . .

A new mini-essay at Fortress CINCGREEN offers worthy food for thought about series stories and sequels in Daria fandom. I posted some comments to it, only to realize later I was talking about serial stories, which wasn't what he was talking about at all, so ignore everything I wrote there unless CINCGREEN deleted it, in which case it doesn't matter and you can forget about what I wrote above. I trust that's clear enough.

More in a moment. Back again.

PPMB

• D: The Last Cynic, by CDM (Part 1): A slightly different take on the End of the World as We Know It. (Think Night of the Comet. Great movie.)
• Falling Into College 62: Run it Up the Mast, by Richard Lobinske (Part 4): Daria finally gets a new job . . . editing fanfiction about herself. Just kidding. That would be funny if she did, though. Not funny for her, but, yeah, funny for the rest of us. Imagine the look on her face when she reads some of our stories. Man, that would be the best.
  
• The Other Side Of Time: Witness To The Monkey Show, by The Sidhe (continued): Jake's ancestor takes a licking but keeps on ticking, as they say.

Jasper Johns and the Flag Tattoo That Was the Wrong Color

Acclaimed artist Jasper Johns was born 78 years ago today. Devoted Daria fans might remember his name cropping up in "Speedtrapped," in the scene in which Jane is inking a flag "tattoo" on fellow inmate Sally. A police officer objects to the tattoo because the flag is "all the wrong colors." "It's an homage to Jasper Johns, an important late-twentieth century artist," Jane replies. "Besides, I don't have red."

If there was no red, then it is likely that the flag drawn on Sally's arm looked like the image at left: Jasper Johns' "Moratorium," created in 1969. The dot in the middle of the picture is there on purpose. If you stare at it for about half a minute, then look away at a white background, you will see an afterimage showing the American flag with its correct colors. Johns was fond of recreating the American flag, but usually he painted it as it actually appears, red, white and blue. "Moratorium" was an exception, and for a reason.

It's interesting that "Moratorium" appears on Daria, even obliquely, as it was controversial when it came out, produced by Johns for a poster for an October 1969 peace rally calling for a moratorium on the war in Vietnam. The painted flag's colors are completely the opposite of the real flag's colors, reflecting the view that America's involvement in Vietnam War was not what this country was all about. It's a strong political statement. Were the Daria writers aware of this? Was this a subtle part of the show's generally left-of-center politics? How much of this work's history is Jane supposed to be aware of? An interesting set of speculations.

It's also interesting that "Speedtrapped" shows nice cops who make Jane and Mystik Spiral work at a children's birthday party for their traffic sentence. The world of Fremont is a nice place. It's more the reflection of how we'd like America to be, and "Moratorium" is now a relic of another time. (Side note: Today is also Peace Officers Memorial Day in the U.S.)

Just some random thoughts on a small part of the show that kept catching my attention. Thanks for listening.

A Most Unusual Flight

It is the rule to give the Wright Brothers their place in history for the first powered flight, but they were not the first to fly by gliding. There is evidence that as long ago as 215 years past, today, a Spanish inventor named Diego Marín Aguilera made a brief but amazing flight using a homemade glider. Flight in the 1790s! Good pivot point for an alternate-history story.

Today is an unusual day for sure, as it is also the anniversary of the 1919 general strike in Winnipeg, during which almost everyone in every job in the city left work and stayed gone. Now, that is just sheer awesomeness. Beats heck out of "Lucky Strike." And we wish Las Vegas a happy 103rd b-day, too. Keep on rollin'! ("I'll take the Vegas odds on that one." - Daria in "Quinn the Brain.")

Kara Wild is now one-third of the way along her quest to become both Amy Barksdale and Helen Morgendorffer in one body. Will there be room for party-girl Rita? Stay tuned!

Deref the Formerly Plague-Ridden Barbarian has now captured top-secret equipment that puts all England under his control. He says he plans to have the island nation dismantled and brought to Australia, where it will be reassembled in his backyard by the patio. Speaking of Oz, today is the birthday of L. Frank Baum. Daria had a number of Oz references in it (e.g., "College Bored," "Fire," "Lucky Strike," Daria's Inferno game), and fanfics have even more, though they are hard to find.

Fanfic author Brandon League has been convicted of necromancy and corpse thread abuse after resurrecting the three-year-old Iron Chef, "I guess it runs in the family." PPMB moderators ruled that Brandon's punishment will be to read the new postings there. An appeal will be filed.

PPMB

• Eyeshield Morgendorffer, by LSauchelli (Part 3): Somehow, it slipped from her hands, like a shadow, like a dream. Cute. Very cute. [snerk!]
• Infected, by legendeld (Part 2): "Are you telling me the world ended while we were camping?"
• Reaper, by Ray (Part 1): A Daria crossover with both the Marvel and DC Comics' universes. Could be good.
• Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Dawn of a New Nightmare: More horrors, some of them pretty good!
  

Back soon.

Viva Mack!

Why the MTV artists decided to have Mack Mackenzie pose as the Communist revolutionary Che Guevara, I have no idea. Today would have been Che's 80th birthday, but that didn't work out (bang). Know what? I bet if Daria poked through the attic she'd find an old Che poster from the late 1960s that her dad used to own. You know Helen and Jake must have worshiped Che while they were at Middleton College, for a little while anyway. What do you think Daria would think of that?

More importantly, today is the 166th anniversary of the day Alfred, Lord Tennyson published a book called Poems, among which was the poem "Ulysses," which served as one of the inspirations for this fanfic.

Fanfic writer JJXB is looking for beta readers. Got time? Drop him a note. More news later. Peace out, yo!

LATE ADD: The first alt.lawndale.creators fanworks interviews have been posted to both PPMB and SFMB. (I was mentally addled recently and forgot the latter.) You can read about Kristen Bealer and her work here or here, and Christ Oliver and his work here or here. Enjoy! And more interviews are coming!

LATER ADD: Want to watch the birth of a new Daria fansite? Check it out!

Indiana Lane and the Mystik Temple That's Thinking About Changing Its Name

Sixty-three years ago today, George Lucas was born. Thanks to him, we have more Daria/Star Wars crossovers than you can shake a lightsabre at. Thanks, man! And we can stop with the crossovers, there are enough now, please.

This is also, more or less, the 743rd birthday of celebrated medieval computer-game designer Dante Alighieri, whose greatest creation was Daria's Inferno, based on some other work Dante wrote a few years earlier that no one remembers now. u R0k, d0oD!

Also today in history, Israel was founded, Skylab was launched, and Jamestown settled. Go look it up.

Did Daria Join the Herd After All?

Here's a discussion question for you: Did Daria cop out at the end of her series and join the herd?

There are three basic elements about the Daria show we know and love.

1. Daria has a bad attitude about almost everyone else in the world because she thinks they're idiots, and she refuses to join them in doing idiot-like things.

2. Everyone else in the world really IS an idiot, and this is proven over and over and over again.

3. Daria's bad attitude and refusal to be a joiner are thus justified. She is clearly on the right course.

The first two seasons of Daria basically validated the above premises. The third season muddled around, then we had the fourth and fifth season and the movies. At the end, Daria admits her parents aren't entirely stupid, she is worried that her lifestyle will lead her to be a lonely old woman in a houseful of cats, and she is every bit as capable of being thoughtless and mean and stupid as everyone else. She doesn't live up to her high expectations and is encouraged not to continue doing so. She is on her way to joining the herd, and all that attitude she had as a high-school sophomore turns out to be kid stuff.

Or is that true? Your thoughts next in Comments.

Birdbrains

One of my most very favorite movies of all time ever, so much so an incredibly beloved favorite that I even have Tom and Elsie Sloane mention it in a Daria fanfic ("A Midsummer Nightmare's Daria"), is Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. This ultra-mega-classic horror movie was based on a short story by Dame Daphne du Maurier, who was born 101 years ago today. Thank you! What a great movie!

This is also the 64th birthday of Armistead Maupin, author of the Tales of the City novels, which had a pronounced effect on the writing of the Pause in the Air fanfic series. Thank you, too!

Christ Oliver has a striking new crossover artwork: Futurama with Daria and Jane. Enjoy!

PPMB update time at last!


PPMB

• Avalon, by legendeld (Part 21): The war against Avalon does not go well for the U.S.A.
  
• Big's Jake's Harley-Davidson, by Ranger Thorne (continued): A classic unfinished fic gets a new chapter! HOORAY!!!
• The Cynic, The Fashionista and The Jackass, by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!): Hands down, the best Daria Western ever, and possibly the best crossover this year. Read it!
• Death Takes a Holliday, by The Angst Guy (Parts 1 and 2): A visitor arrives in Lawndale through the back of a restaurant, during a holiday. See what happens next. (SFMB version)
  
• Falling Into College 62: Run It Up the Mast, by Richard Lobinske (Part 3): Dancing, drinking, cute boys, drinking, dancing. More power to you, Jane.
  
• Infected, by legendeld (Part 1): Daria and Quinn have a little problem: everyone on earth is trying to kill them. Literally everyone.
  
• Size Does Matter, by BlackHole (Part 23): Quinn soothes the savage beasts.
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): The long-awaited update on Lord Manglepunk's delicate condition. Also, Tom Sloane speaks out on the obvious economic advantages of slavery.
  
• Turnabout Confusion Part II: All The King's Horses, by Dennis (continued): "Shakespeare really can be fun," said Quinn to herself. "Of course, Machiavelli can be more fun."

. . . and . . .

• The 1,001 Deaths of Tom Sloane (continued): More crimson goodness.

Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat — eww!

Today marks the 68th anniversary of one of the better speeches in the English language: Sir Winston Churchill's first address as Prime Minister to the House of Commons. Part of this speech appeared as a chapter title in the fanfic "A Hard Days' Night."

This is also the birthday of so many famous people that listing them would be a bore (Stevie Wonder, Stephen Colbert, Roger Zelazny, Carl Linnaeus, Joe Lewis, Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert & Sullivan, etc.), so you can click here and see them all. I have a few favorites to mention later.

The Daria Fan Club has hit the 800-fan mark. Nice work. Now if only someone would actually DO SOMETHING THERE, that would be perfect.

While lying plague-ridden on a pile of artwork stolen from the Louvre, Deref the Barbarian has been admiring the phallic symbolism of the Eiffel Tower and has posted photographs of the same captured from unlucky tourists who crossed his path. The Darian Horde might move on into Germany without him, but Deref is still the Supreme Oz Darian Commander-for-Life of Greater West Europa. Crom bless him! dErEf r0OlZ!1!!!!11!!!

Update, part the first. Sorry I've not kept up with the Big Fanfic List Project, but hope to do it soon.

FF.net

• Apocalyptic Daria, by Doggieboy80 (Part 44): What about Tom? (Heh heh heh heh heh)
• Embers, by Sailor Ranger, a.k.a. Angelboy (Part 18): Quinn has a valuable learning experience about dance partners.
• Falling Into College 61: Latitudes, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): The epic saga is done! Shame about Jane and Mack, though. They so ruled together.
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy80 (Part 19): “Tom Jones? That’s an odd name to choose.” “Oh, it’s not unusual." (Such an awful pun.)
• Someone Set Up Us the Bomb, by Smileyfax (Part 1): Hell evidently hath no fury like a cynic scorned.

Fortress CINCGREEN

• Private Dicks, by CINCGREEN (Part 1): An accurate but misleading title for an intriguing premise. Moar, pleez.

Lawndale Online

• Falling Into College 61: Latitudes, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!)
• Yes, Quinn . . . ., by NightGoblyn (COMPLETE!)

SFMB

• The Cynic, The Fashionista and The Jackass, by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!): IT'S THE AWESOME MEXICAN STANDOFF SCENE! (“Can we get this over with? I have better places to be!”)
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy (Epilogue 2): Daria gets hers, so to speak.
• Size Does Matter, by BlackHole (Part 23): Too many cooks almost spoil the broth until Quinn saves the day.