A thread of inspirational inks on the UnderWorld forum is filled with obscure and cool goodies, of which I picked this one, to article printed in 1997 in the Miami New Times Myths Over Miami: “Captured on South Beach, Satan later escaped. His demons and the horrible Bloody Mary are now killing people. God has fled. Avenging angels hide out in the Everglades. And other tales from children in Dade’s homeless shelters.“
The entry for Eärendil the Mariner at the Encyclopedia of Arda, a big Middle Earth site.
Eärendil was half-elf, half-mortal, and he sought to sail to the Undying Lands to beg the gods for help against Morgath (the dark lord). He eventually succeeded, but only after his wife Elwing brought him the Silmaril, by flying to him in the form of a white bird.
“He now sails the high airs with the Silmaril upon his brow, shining as the morning and evening star. ”
Tolkien purists stop reading here: It seems to me that Eärendil’s story is an excellent basis to build a Middle Earth/Star Trek (or maybe Star Wars? the mix might work better – or not) crossover game; He’s literally a mortal travelling in a flying ship to the distant world of the gods, using god-technology (what else would you call a Silmaril?) to signal them. The “War of Wrath” in which the Valar come to rescue their Elvish followers and kick Morgath’s butt (sorry) is a classic assault by an unimaginably advanced technological superpower.
There’s a peach tree outside my study window, and the peaches are all red and gorgeous today. They’re probably still stone-hard and bitter, or the birds would have gotten to them, but for now they’re just pretty.
The Surrealist Compliment Generator and the first Surrealist manifesto, both via links posted by Richard Kadrey here.
Ten handy dandy hints for fitting in at apple:
“It doesn’t matter if you’re still working on the same thing you were yesterday. Your boss absolutely must have a complete record of everything you have ever done sitting in his inbox in order for him to function correctly. Ideally, you should send an email every time you press a key on your keyboard.“