@Action News, May 29, 2000

Maxl, editor of the SpinDizzy Newspaper, has announced his return.. Those who had noticed his absence expressed a slight rise in interest, and some were actually quoted as saying 'Good.', 'That's nice.', and 'Who's Maxl?'

Argon, who has been serving as acting editor during Maxl's hiatus stated he has "...offered his assistance as Maxl resumes the helm, and hopes that his leadership has helped the paper's circulation." Argon also offered his ongoing help, and will contribute stories and such as requested. Argon closed by stating he was anxious to be able to enjoy reading the paper without already knowing what was in it. He also smiled and said he would be glad not to be responsible for the paper's HTML.

Maxl's leadership will resume with the next issue. It's date of publication has not at press time been disclosed.

On Monday May 22nd SpinDizzy residents were shocked out of their normal lives as the world around them dissolved and become nothing but a memory. As the world disappeared in great chunks, many folks took refuge on Nikon's Raccoon Muck ( tfmuck.tigerden.com port 6020 ) where the possible causes of SpinDizzy's disappearance were discussed.

A number of theories were offered, some concerning a giant snake eating the world, acid dropped from an airplane, and even the possibility that the Wizzes had done it just to get everyone off the muck so that they could put puppet characters in our places and make us appear to be active.

Finally though, it was determined that a power failure had caused the burp in existence, and as soon as power was returned, SpinDizzy was it's usual, solid self.

As Royce wandered into the Rose Garden the other day, wishing everyone a Happy Raccoon Day, folks started asking about the start of this internationally celebrated holiday. Royce was happy to tell the wondrous story of how Raccoon Day got started.

It seems that hundreds of millions of years ago, Raccoons, which were the most enlightened species of life on the planet, were constantly harassed by Dinosaurs. Although nimble and quick, Raccoons often were caught, and eaten by these giant carnivorous beasts. So, when a Raccoon escaped the fate of being a Dinosaur's dinner, a celebration occurred. As Raccoons advanced, more reasons for celebration came about, the invention of pointy sticks, sharp rocks, and of course, the greatest invention by pre-historic Raccoons, that of fire, by 'Shie-nee'. Fire was considered wonderful due to being so useful, and the fact that it was shiny! All of these days were noted as 'Raccoon Days', and celebrations were held.

The work of Shie-nee was followed by the discovery of irrigation, the wheel, writing, and architecture. No longer were Raccoons at the mercy of nature and weather. They now had control of their fates. One of the first 'Raccoon Days' was started when a giant shiny object fell from the sky and killed off all the Dinosaurs, leaving Raccoons as the dominant species on the Earth. Another day was added to the growing list of 'Raccoon Days. This led to the invention of the calendar.

Time went by, and Raccoons made many advances. They built great buildings such as the Sphiny in Egypt, and grew food, working in harmony with nature and other life. However, from 400 to 900 AD, some experienced 'The Dark Ages". Raccoons of course, much preferring shiny things to those that are dark, and not basing their lives entirely on religion, superstition, or myth, were not affected. In fact, many credit Raccoons with bringing about the Renascence, through the work of great Raccoon minds such as Leonardo DaCooni, who created shiny sculpture and inventions, Coonpernicus, who invented the telescope and plotted the movement of the planets, Richard Shinysphere, who's plays were performed on stages with shiny lights, and many others who brought the world back to it's proper shiny place. All who's work put another 'Raccoon Day' on the calendar for celebration.

After the discovery of the New World, by Christopher Coonlumbus, Raccoons eagerly went west to settle. With the help of Native Americoons, European Raccoon were welcomed. Working with one another The Amricoons, and European Raccoons made advancements in both technology for the Americoons, and a closer balance and understanding of nature for the new Raccoons, and incorporating Native Americoon 'Raccoon Days' into the calendar. Here, Raccoons made their greatest advances, settling the West all the way to Coonifornia, Building railroads across the country, climbing mountains and exploring. The work of Lewis and Coon opened the great North West Territory for other Raccoons. The westward expansion adding even more holidays to the Raccoon Day calendar.

After the turn of the century, Raccoons raced ahead, the invention of Radio by Marcooni, The development of the assembly line by Henry Coon, Charles Lindcoon flying 'The Shiny of St. Louis' across the Atlantic, the invention of television by DeCoon, and the development of aluminum foil by Alcoona. All of these great events adding 'Raccoon Days' to the Raccoon Calendar.

Finally, the Raccoon's greatest technological achievement, that of landing a Raccoon on the Moon was reached. All over the world, on TV, and radio, folks listened and watched as the words, "Houston, the Shiny has landed." were heard. They waited breathlessly as Neil Armcoon set paw on the surface of the Moon and said, "That's one small step for a Raccoon, one giant step for....Wow! It's so shiny up here!"

The celebration, and joy swept the world, and as the date was marked on the Raccoon Day calendar, it was seen to have been the last 'blank' day on the calendar. It was now all filled up with the great works and victories of Raccoons. Each day was a celebration of the wonderful things Raccoons had done. And this is why, Every day is Raccoon Day!

If going to the Rose Garden or the Park Of The Day has become 'old hat' (with apologies to Maxl) and you're looking for a place to move and groove to the greatest dance mixes, then visit LilBit's Danceclub. The club has a delightful decor, and the DJ, LilBit is great. He mixes all your favorite music, old and new without missing a beat. The club has a fantastic light show, and the sound system is awesome. A visit to the DJ booth shows that all the newest equipment is used, with some brand new beta versions of items not yet on the market.

The dance floor is beautiful wood, with inlaid lights. The focal point of the floor is the huge mirror ball which turns above it, reflecting the huge number of lights which illuminate the floor.

Danceclub owner LilBit is also the DJ, and everyone seems to enjoy the music mix. Without a missed beat, he beat-mixed, country, techno, old punk and new wave into a seamless blend of thumping jams. LilBit's music collection is awesome, he even had music that was out of print.

So for a great night of dancing and fun, visit LilBit's Danceclub. Just enter Danceclub and get ready to 'Jam On it!"

Following the assurance that one regular visitor to Spindizzy was doing "fine," head wizard Austin Dern proceeded to ask, "Oh, really?" Some tiny quiver of doubt that the respondent's statements was a complete answer thus lead the way to a long examination of this visitor.

The visitor then noted there had been minor changes in his player's work schedule; following a five-minute attack the visitor admitted his player was on a three-week vacation following his flight on an experimental Soyuz capsule lifted near the space station Mir and then, following an extraordinary 14-hour extravehicular activity, assembling the Soyuz with a partially fueled upper stage from the heavy-lift Proton vehicle which was then boosted to an orbit with apogee of 200,000 miles as test for the deep-space network in advance of the construction and launch of a lightweight lunar-orbiting space station.

There were quite a few anxious moments on the seven-day test flight, including a terrifying orbit during which the primary and backup navigational computers failed and telemetry indicated the vehicle's engines would not work, leaving the player stranded in space for thousands of years to come, but they were resolved in an exciting repair during the emergency spacewalk, the first spacewalk conducted outside the Earth's gravitational sphere of influence since the final Apollo flight and only the fourth ever.

After the harrowing tale of life-and-death struggles in the course of attempting to better civilization was complete, deputy wizard Skyler asked the regular why he hadn't said anything until asked the long series of questions Austin derived from watching three straight hours of "Law & Order." The visitor said simply, "I didn't think there was anything much to talk about," after which Skyler fumed and Austin's player stepped away from the keyboard to kick a box left over from his recent move.

Austin, Head Wiz and HTML expert announces his offer to provide training for those who wish to learn the simple but elegant language of HTML. Presented in a lively yet informative style, Austin will have participants parsing like pro's more quickly than you can say </html> . The date of the class will be announced when Austin has determined a time when all who are interested can meet. Contact Austin for details and 'registration'.

In an attempt to supplement my college-student budget, I am now doing 'commissioned' character pictures. That's right, this is your chance to own your very own original custom-created portrait -- in full color or stylish black and white -- for mere sofa-change. Browse around http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~lia/art/art.html for an idea of my drawing style and check out commissions.html in the same directory for the tedious details. Or drop me a page #mail (Rhea or Lia) or e-mail lia@ocf.berkeley.edu )with any questions.

@ACTION NEWS