Please don't forget to read the bulletin board. Enter +read from anywhere.

This weekend, the Rose Garden's usually lush vegetation and appearance was traded for soap suds and bubbles! The ground, the benches, even the Ancient Oak were all made of soap bubbles. The sudsy scene was confusing to those who somehow missed the articles here in @Action News and the conversation among the folks, not to mention the posts on the bulletin board. Nonetheless, everyone quickly adapted to walking on bubbles and sitting on seats made of soap film. A chewy or fizzy drink or snack would change the appearance of the drinker into that of a soap bubble, allowing them to fit right into the decor

As this edition of @Action News went to press, everyone had found the Magic World of Soap Bubbles to be a fun and exciting event. Bubble experts Don Ho and Lawerence Welk gave the event a hearty thumbs up!

Credit goes to Flutterz, local Flower Fae, and Austin, local elastic coati, for several weeks of hard work and creativity to make the Magic World of Soap Bubbles a reality.

The Rose Garden spent several hours as a giant chocolate eclair, as out-of-control magic and coffee-flavored rain made a mess of its usually clean surfaces.

The trouble began as Chanspot decided to try out one of its coffee-magic spells. After making the portable thunderstorm rain coffee, it went on to practice other edible magics. Its next trick went out of control, as the Rose Garden lost its grass and walkways and became one large cream-filled chocolate eclair.

Some, like Chanspot and Lend, had a good time swimming in and eating the park. But others were not so lucky. Slug found himself unable to move in the chocolate goo while others, like Millicent sank in the gooey eclair and nearly drowned. A fortunate few, such as Butterfluff and Annalee, were able to find solid ground to watch the events.

The park turned back to normal as Chanspot left to feed its chocolate addiction, and folks turned to other business.

When long jaws open wide,
And bite into your side,
That's a Moray.
When you finish your dive,
You're just glad you're alive,
That's a Moray.

Wounds will sting, curse-this-snakey-thing,
Curse this snakey thing, how you'll wring,
It's vicious head off...
Though such things you say, you'll never see that day,
Never see that day, not in any way,
Under water.
Too strong for ya.

Then you'll get tetanus shots,
And you'll hate your life lots,
That's a Moray.
So you'll be careful 'round rocks,
To avoid suprise shocks,
Through your gloves.
In no holes will you feel,
Lest you disturb a mean eel,
Be sorry.
'Cause as you will see,
It will make you bleed,
That's a Moray!

 --__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__-
 |                                                                   |
  |   SED INCORPORATED   ("The D isn't for Dead!")                  |
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  |    STOCK CERTIFICATE                                            |
 |                                                        \ | /      |
  |    This document guarantees that __Argon__________   --SED--    |
 |                                                        / | \      |
  |        owns  _7000_  shares of SED Stock.                       |
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  |                                                                 |
 |                                       __Morticon_Wallaby__        |
  | #00002                                                          |
 --__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__-

In a desperate move to collect funds, Morticon, local 'possum and alledged leader of the SED (Society of Evil Doers), announced sale of stock in the organization. So far a money pit, several investors decided to purchase shares in hopes of changing he direction of the SED, and turning it into a profitable operation.

SED Shareholders include Joe, Argon, Slug, Lend, Borris, and Darwin. After the total 10,000 shares were placed on the market, the shareholders met for a meeting to elect a chairman of the board. Argon, local centaur, was elected to the post. He then named Darwin,local cheetah, as Human Resources Director, and Borris,local polar bear, as head of security, with the approval of the board.

Morticon. was asked to remain on the payroll as an advisor. Full time SED personel Suri, local lemur and Mouser, local fursnake, will be assigned duties commensurate with their experience by Darwin.

Informal discussions for future plans for the SED included a playground, profitable licensing of non-destructive SED technologies, and renovation and fumigation of SED facilities.

Morticon was disapointed to find that the money he collected for shares of the stock belonged to the SED and not to him. His plans for what he thought was a personal influx of riches to buy that a amalgalizeriation device were dashed, much to his chagrin. Argon, Chairman of the Board of the SED said, "Morticon, although a terrible manager and having run the SED into the ground, will be an important, but not essential part of the new SED. It is hoped that under new management, the SED's name (which will certainly be changed) can be uplifted, and seen as a fine example of business and community working togther for the betterment, and profit of all."

Hearing this announcement, Morticon turned a strange shade of green and excused himself from the room.

Since last Sunday there seemed to have been a waves of folks connecting and then idling for quite a while. Some would interact sporatically, but the usual interplay of ideas and conversation was absent.

Local Un-idle enforcers claim evidence points to an "Idle Bomb" having been detonated in the Rose Garden. Lead investigator, Neonwolf, stated, "It was obvious to the trained eye that this was a powerful bomb. A shaped charge, it seemed eo have been directed at the Rose Garden. The Jellicle Fields, Centaur Square, and SED headquarters seem to have avoided its effects."

As of Thursday evening, the effects of the Idle Bomb seem to have dissipated. Vistors to the Rose Garden found the usual chit chat and debate, along with a little discussion of tail rings.

Austin, local coati, was seen this week looking a little different. Still in his stretchy "elastic" mode, Austin has returned to his ice sculpture look. His form having that clear yet cloudy look of ice. It was no shock seeing Austin like this as he has looked like this before, yet what was a surprize was his ears. Long and slightly pink, one with a definite droop in it, they look like bunny ears. In addition, Austin's new bunny ears weren't at all elastic.

At the same time. Findra. local bunny, showed up. She looked about the same as usual, except in place of her long floppy bunny ears, she was sporting a pair of small, somewhat rounded brown ones. Apparently, Findra and Austin had traded ears.

Keep in mind now if you talk about Austin behind his back, Findra's ears will burn, and if you talk about Findra, Austin's will. So feel free to talk about them both and see if a fire starts!

Reed Richards of the Fantastic 4 was subject of a conversation between Patch O'Black, local Jellicle cat, and Austin, local coati. The conversation centered about Reed Richards, the groups' leader.

As his experimental rocket was quickly losing government interest (and financial backing), Reed Richards launched its first test flight into space in 1961. His co-pilot Ben Grimm and passengers, Sue and Johnny Stormjoined Reed for this unannounced space flight. Due to a surge in cosmic rays, unusual solar flare activity and an abnormally high neutrino count, the four human guinnea pigs were transformed into powerful entities. They dubbed themselves Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Human Torch and the Thing -- collectively the Fantastic Four -- and vowed to use their powers for the good of all mankind.

For years they used their powers like most superheros, fighting bank robbers and saving the populace from disasters. As time passed, they fought enemies from space and then, as is true of most comics, found themselves playing the "angst" card.

All that aside, the subject of Austin and Patch's conversation centered around Reed's current problems with Attention Defecit Disorder, and his PDA with infinite memory, lightning speed, just a huge array of amazing features. The point was that Sony gave him $3 million to keep it off the market.

The concesus seemed to be that a) Reed was an idiot to sell out for so little money, and b) Sony was crazy to not buy the license and sell it. The criticism didn't stop there. Reed's setting up an invisible computer terminal in Times Square to distract his ADD while doing LINUX programming were all discussed.

Roofus Roo, local kangaroo, after listening to the discussion thought that it was a shame that folks were being mean to a poor comic book.

"Does Spindizzy have any restaurants?"

"I heard that Alice has a restaurant."

"Alice doesn't live here any more."

"She's probably in jail. I heard she was now Alice in Chains."

"I thought she had politican Alice-um"

"I think back in the Jurassic, she was known as Alice Saurus."

"only one way to find out for sure ... Go Ask Alice."

Millicent

Q: Why did the fruit bat go to the opera?

A: Because he was a sucker for good mellondrama!

Kinsor

Welcome to latest edition of Bearing up, the advice column where Ba" ar (That" s me!) has answers to your most challenging questions.

Dear Bearing Up:
A gangster has made me an offer I can't refuse. What should I do?
Signed Gunmoll

Dear Gunmoll:
Don't take it and enjoy your sleep with the fishes.

Dear Bearing Up:
If good people are compensated for their services, why aren't evil paid compensated for theirs?
Signed Dick Dastardly

Dear Dick:
Evil doers ARE compensated for their services, by being punished for their rotteness.

Dear Bearing Up,
I have this job mailing letters for this company, but licking the envelopes leaves a bad taste in my mouth. How can I solve this?
P. Express

Dear P. Express:
Put a sponge on your tongue. That should take care of things.

To Bearing Up,
Which is better, McDonald's or Burger King?
Wendy

Dear Wendy.
Neither. Jack In the Box (They have milkshakes for instance that are TO DIE FOR).

Dear Bearing Up,
My coconuts are tiny and I want them big. What's wrong?
Gilligan

Dear Gillian:
Plant them, water them and watch them grow.

Dear Bearing Up,
Am I the only one that thinks the new Duck Dodgers show is kind of lame?
Argon

Dear Argon:
Yes. It's a LAME DUCK show.

Dear Bearing Up,
Are you a black bear, a brown bear, a polar bear, or a panda?
Honey bear

Dear Honey Bear:
I'm a Grizzly with the disposition of a teddy.

Remember possums (to steal a term from Dame Edna ;-D), if you have any questions,please page mail me (Ba" ar) online or send mail to big_bear@operamail.com. Thanks.

This week, Argon asked, "I'm doing a survey for @Action News. The question is, "What's your pet peeve?"

• Cobalt thinks about this. "I don't really have any pets..."
• Lend -- My pet peeve is named Jim and it's about 2 ft. long. ;)
• Terry -- My pet peeve is people who think that being made of marshmallow means that they can eat you, but being made of meat doesn't. That, and hooves. Gaaah, hooves.
• Kinsor -- My pet peeve is when I'm trying to sleep, and some other bat starts unwrapping a candy. Ech!! How can you sleep with all that crinkling noise going on around you? And should you ask for one or does that mean you have to brush your teeth again?
• Gilead's had pet kitties, hamsters, and ferrets, but never had a peeve. "However, what really pisses me off are people who drive badly, in road conditions that scare them. If you're too scared to drive properly, stay off the road, and out of my way."
• Findra -- My pet peeve is called Gerald. I really wanted a skunk, but had to make do with a peeve instead. Still, he's quite nice, and he grows on you after a while, although he does shed on the carpet quite a lot.
• Darwin -- My pet peeve would have to be annoying people.
• Brenda -- Brenda doesn't have a pet peeve. She has a pet CAT, but not a pet peeve.
• Nimble chitters quietly, "I guess mine would be people who sit in their cars and honk their horns when waiting for people."
• Dael -- D&D players who decide to quote the manuals at the Dungeon Master. I don't care how many HP the red dragon is supposed to have, it's not dead yet.
• Sunshine -- "Oh, and in answer to your survey, my pet peeve is bad hair days."
• Austin says, "My peeve is the tendency to let inertia overwhelm curiosity and creativity. It's something we're all prone to, and it bothers me in myself as much as in anyone else."
• Phoex says, "Hmm mine would be when people don't even try to type or speak coherently."
• BarterGarter hisses, "Total lack of good stories featuring snakes definitely ranks up there, Argon." PatchO'Black hugs Gilead!
• Kinsor wiggles his fingerclaws, "Mine is trying to get the last pickle out of the jar."
• Cye hmms.. "People who stare upwards too much.
• Leslie doesn't have any pets!
• Darwin's pet peeves in her litterbox. Or at least she better.
• Guest1 says, "I really get ticked off with anyone who doesn't know the size of their own vehicle.
• Royce -- I've got it! One thing that bugs me is when people spell "raccoon" with only one "c"!

Full Week of Activity

Today (2/14/2004) at around 6 a.m. we completed a full stretch of 168 hours -- a full week -- in which there was *always* at least someone on the muck. As far as I know this is the first time we've managed this. I'd like to congratulate everyone and remind them that the muck is as friendly, as enjoyable, and as interesting as we all make it; let's please take the chance to make it everything it could be.

Austin

Valentine's Day surprise

Alex used Valentine's Day to propose marriage to Felina. During the early evening SD time, Alex arrived at the renovated Rose Garden in his best dress uniform, roses in one arm and chocolates in the other. While the usual silliness continues around them, Alex presented his gifts, then showed her a diamond ring and said, "Felina, will you marry me?" At Felina's acceptance, he is quoted as saying, "You have made me the most happiest kitsune in the enitre Neo Republic." "And I am the happiest cheetah around," replied the new fiance.

The newly engaged couple kissed and cuddled while the usual park silliness continued.

Millicent

Submitting a story or artwork for @Action News is easy! Just send it to newspaper@spindizzy.org or qmail or page @Action or sdnews about it.
@Action News is published weekly on or after 12:01 AM Eastern Time on Sunday. Most any type of story or article will be accepted. Generally, we" d prefer things that aren" t out and out lies or flames about other folks, and have a basis in the reality of SpinDizzy. Things that occur in public areas are fair game. The things reported don" t have to have actually happened, (any more than anything that happens here does) but make sure you don't overstep the social boundaries and rules of interaction that we have. These are pretty broad guidelines, but we expect good sense to apply.

Thanks! Argon, Editor @Action News