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Wednesday night, Morticon "celebrated" the anniversary of the crash of SpinDizzy's predecesor, Toons Furrs and Fluff.

He remarked, "Folks... while most of you don't realize it, right now marks the day of when the old MUCK was wiped clean, and thus started a new chapter for us - in the form of Spindizzy, 5 days later."

"It may have taken the Bible 7, but Austin just had math on his side. Or something like that. I know many of you don't remember that day, because you didn't exist yet. But still, it greatly influenced how things were done here. We owe a lot to the old muck that was TF&F, though it only exists in our memories and old log files."

"If (you are) curious about our history, type 'charter' to get whisked away. Or, you can try the train North of here. They're trying to recreate the toony feeling TF&F had back then." Morticon said, "In short, It's an important day for the MUCK, especially to those that remember it well. One minute everything worked, the next.... commands like say, page stopped working altogether, giving all sorts of errors... then room descriptions disappeared, and all that was left was the pose command." Morticon said, "I remember the last few minutes... when all we had was the pose command. I hear that austin said something like 'Don't worry, it'll be alright'... and then the server finally crashed altogether, it's hard drive wiped clean."

Morticon said, "And in a way, it was. We got this. Which let us fix our mistakes, and improve upon the old. Many places on the map here are shadows of their TF&F self. Eerie shadows, true, but still... I encourage you all to explore."

Morticon said, "Anyway, I'm off my soapbox. Old timers like Argon can also recall those last few minutes. "(So), In rememberance, the Rose Garden is to be stripped bare for one day. As if what it looked like the minute before everything went down.

Morti then removed all tho objects, the Ancient Oak, the fountain, the busges, the paths. The "park" was completely blank.

Some of us suggested that Morti make only the "pose" global work, as happened in those last few minutes on TF&F, but he wisely noted that some folks might be confused by that. A lot of visitors that day got it, some didn't and "Old Timers" were happy to tell them the story.

On Thursday, Morti returned saying, "And now.. it's time to restore the garden. It was in rememberance of when the previous MUCK, TF&F was tragically erased as we were using it. Which happened.. 6 years ago from yesterday I think."

Morti then restored the Rose Garden back to normal.

Following are some memories of TF&F and now over six years of SpinDizzy

Having been made aware that this issue of the @Action News also marks something of an anniversary for Spindizzy, I would like to add some comments on my own experiences.

I’ve only been on Spindizzy since around June 23, the occasion of Butterfluff’s memorial, so I haven’t a lot of history to to report. Still, in the last three months, I have grown to care a great deal for my new virtual “home.” I can’t really pin down a set of particular “top” moments; rather, I have accumulated agrowing collection of impressions which have built to form a comfortable sense of place and purpose.

As I discovered on my very first night on Spindizzy, this odd, little world, set apart in the depths of the electronic universe, has a wonderful sense of community. I have been made to feel, even at that earliest time, welcome, my presence valued, and, in time, my contributions worthy and appreciated. Absent but not lamented were the usual tensions and even open rancor to which I had been witness for almost five years else MU; here, furs chat and play and create things together. It is that sort of sharing which drew me here, and keeps me here. I will always regret not having come here sooner, but I reflect that the time I missed prepared me to better appreciate Spindizzy once I got here. Bravo, Spindizzy, and those who make it what it is. Thank you for sharing with me, and allowing me to share what I may, as well.

"Amalfi, I want to thank you for takin' the time for this interview.I've heard you can't speak, is this true? Please just say yes or no." I phrased the question as politely as I could, and waited for a response from it. Amalfi's a small, plush rabbit, sort of like the Velvetine of legend. Most of its stuffing's gone, the fur's in colorful patches, and the eyes are sewn-on buttons, but the overall effect is a much-loved creature, or child's toy.

Amalfi shrugged, and began hopping about in small circles. Some of its stuffing shed, falling on the grass, too, like small snowflakes.

"I'm guessing we'll have do this by er, mime...can y' do that?" A thought struck, "Are you liscensed? I only ask because y'were supposed to have some sort of official white-gloves for it, but the mime we asked about it just didn't say it was necessiary, and Morticon's a bit cheap--'ee didn't provide me with the budget without them speakin' up...So..." I winced.

The plush hopped, and looked as though it'd like to say something, but, well, we're back to that no talking part. What secrets of the world could Amalfi reveal if it could talk? Or, Beltrami for that matter? We skipped that and moved to the next question. Amalfi continued to hop about and act rabbit-like, with adorable, twitching whiskers.

"So how do y' manage to rule SpinDizzy if you don't speak...and is Austin really jus' a puppet? There've been quita few rumors there, an' no little money attached to it...have you put yourself into the bettin' pool as well?" I tapped the pad, "...what's th' pool at now, anyways?"

Amalfi hopped about in a circle, and handed me more stuffing.

"I guess we should get to the matter at hand--s'der really a control center...I can't believe I'm sayin' this...but a control center in Squirrel City? D'place is supposed to be all ruins and ghosts b'now."

Amalfi nodded jerkily, hopping up and down all of once. That's a 'yes!' I felt as though we were finally getting somewhere, but...it was getting close to time to close the interview. Amalfi didn't seemed to mind though. Well, they didn't say much about it.

"So how d' you operate it?"

Amalfi hopped exactly once, and then patted its cottony chest. Again, I found myself wishing the plush could talk, but all we could do is move onto the next question.

"...so, what's life like as a plush?, and what d'you do with all th' extra stuffing? I hear it cures toe fungus when mixed w' shreds from Skyler's slippers..."

Amalfi waved. They had to go.

I tried some of the stuffing. It tasted like cotton candy, and melted in the mouth, not in the paw.

Spindizzy's new weekly Bardic Circle (Poetry/Filk gathering) met Friday, September 17, at 7:00pm Spindizzy time, moderated by Ray. In attendance at varying times were Elizabeth, Stormsong, Elericia, Logan, Findra, Slug, Whiffert, KevMan and Leian, Roofus_roo, and Guest1.

Ray first read a "Poetry's Voice," then "Art Appreciation," (a poem about the varied landscape of the MUCK), followed by "Memory: A Limerick."

Ray then presented a brief definition of filk, from http://www.massfilc.org/filkdefined.html (Well, maybe not so brief...). Afterward, he read a filk titled, "Boot It," (Music: "Beat It," author unknown).

Stormsong then read an untitled poem which began, "In the beginning of time..." which, Stormsong explained was "Just writ, so rough, but... *shrugs.*" Nevertheless, it met with much approbation.

The subject then turned to Haiku, a Japanese poetic form, in which a complete concept must be expressed in three lines of exactly five/seven/ and five syllables. Ray read a Haiku about Chado (the Japanese Tea Ceremony). Stormsong took that opportunity to serve up tea, a nice tikaunyin, with a bit of sencha added in, and some clove, orange peel, and ginger. Whiffert then recited a quick Haiku about the dangers of cooking pancakes with no shirt on. Logan followed with another Haiku on sorrow and hope, and Findra shared a Haiku about dolphins, followed by one about text-based social interaction. Logan followed immediately with a quatrain on essays.

Whiffert then read a poem by William McGonnagall, often lauded as the worst poet in the English language, titled "Tay Bridge Disaster" Ray followed with a sonnet titled "Seven Stars," about the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Changing the tone, a bit, Ray then read another sonnet, titled "The Fur Beneath the Skin," about discovering furrydom.

Whiffert continued in a furry vein by reading Marriot Edgar's comic monologue, "Albert and the Lion," to the amusement of those gathered.

Afterward, Ray dropped a quick Haiku, "Absent Touch," similar in subject to Findra's second Haiku about keyboard-conversation. Ray followed up with a limerick, "Windows Weary," reflecting on Microsoft's operating system.

Once again, the hour grew late, and the session ended.

The Bardic Circle (Poetry/Filk gathering) met again Friday, September 24, at 7:00pm Spindizzy time, moderated by Ray. In attendance was Chanspot (awake, this time!). Ray started off with "A Bald-Headed Limerick." Chanspot followed with the second chorus of Jack Kerouac's "Mexico City Blues." Ray then read a Haiku on the nature of Desire. Chanspot read the 3rd chorus of his earlier offering, as well as an untitled poem of his own about promises.

Ray changed the tone by reading a filk titled, "You're Going to Give Me an A, Ha-ha!" (Music: "They're Coming to Take Me Away?" Words: various SWILers). Chanspot followed with another untitled poem, about money. Ray read another poem (about coffee), titled, "Java Joe," followed by a mock-rap titled, "SUV Jam." Ray then read a sonnet titled, "In Faintest Praise."

After some further discussion, Ray read another poem, titled, "Lonesome Road," followed by a reprise of "Art Appreciation." The session ended shortly thereafter.

The next session will be Friday, October 1, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm Spindizzy time (luge N5 W4, [B]asalt [P]illars, [E]nter [P]ortal). All are welcome, either to read or just to listen. Check the eventlist for more details.

Who ever said you can't get enough of a good thing? This year, Florida (and other states) watched three blockbusters in a row. It was as if they were planned and shot all at once, such as the Lord of the Rings was. Each hurricane in the Trilogy is equally important, so I shall review them separately, in my usual dry and probably unfunny style...

• Hurricane Charlie
  Rating: 5/5

  The one that started it all. With it's high-speed winds, it generated nonstop action sequences for it's run near my home. The film noir look (ie: Loss of power) that started early in the hurricane was dated, but heightened the action in a way not done before in central Florida. There's nothing like 80+ mph winds howling around your home, sucking noise away from the house so you don't realize that a tree just fell a few feet in front of your house. Add darkness to that, and it makes it a bit of a thriller. Will those old and decaying trees hit your car, your house, or you? I was sitting at the edge of my seat the whole time, a rare thing indeed!

  Like most movies, after the action comes a bit of quiet, and that's just what Charlie left us. Near silence as every electrical device became inactive, the jet planes overhead not present (airport was shut down), and the nearby road almost empty of vehicles. The next morning, scenes of epic devastation (pick any disaster movie) filled the screen. Trees everywhere. Roads littered with green leaves. Roof damage. Signs (including stop lights) of all shapes and sizes broken and on the ground. This was indeed a much needed wake up call, and it shall leave a lasting impression on many viewers. Had the hurricane ended here, it would have been a somewhat happy ending. But, like some movies that don't know when to end, this one left a little power problem. Darkness persisted for 4 days (longer in other parts), giving us a Lord of the Flies feel. Ice and water were nearly as valuable as gas, and all were in short supply. That was when the rise of the zombies began. Coming out of every house, the unwashed heathen roamed the streets in search of.... flesh! OK, I made that part up, but I did see various zombies recharging their cell phones at a drug store. Even zombies have to phone home, you know. Eventually, the power came back, driving the zombies to whence they came.

  Reminds me. You've seen those disaster movies with the cars lined up on a highway, like a parking lot? Charley had a bit of that too, as the whole city of Tampa moved to Orlando, and then back again for no apparent reason (That's not true - they forecast it wrong and said it was going to hit Tampa. It didn't, of course). It was no Mad Max on I4, but certainly not the place to be.

  As expected, there was much news coverage of the event, and a special thanks must go out to the local FM talk radio station for it's amusing and informative content about the storm and it's aftermath. There's nothing like good comedy while your house feels like it might get torn apart with you inside it! And that's the truth. As for the TV coverage, I heard it got hilarious near the end. Many TV stations lost power, and it apparently turned into a sort of Blair Witch Project for at least one of them.

  As we left the theater of life, all of us could only be thinking, "Well, that's our storm for the season!" If only that were true....

   

• Hurricane Francis
  Rating: 2/5

  With Charley fresh in our minds, the threat of another storm running through central Florida put us all into panic mode. Supplies were snapped up faster than anyone could have imagined (compared to the beginning of Charley, when few took precautions). For my area, Francis felt more like a drama rather than an action/adventure storm, like Charlie was. Was it going to go here? No, it was going there! Why was it only going 4mph? These and other questions were never answered, which surprisingly made the whole thing even more dramatic. It kept everyone guessing to the very end.

  News stations screamed at us to be careful, and that it was going to do all sorts of damage, but we didn't even lose power. Our newly boarded up windows easily withstood the ~40-55mph winds, and the only people who got damage were the ones with roofs damaged by Charley. The whole weekend consisted of staying indoors, expecting the power to go out. In an ironic twist, it didn't. After the storm left, life returned to normal pretty fast, save for the giant fence nailed to my window to this very day, making it look like a prison (no comments, Morticon detractors.

   

• Hurricane Ivan
  Rating: 1/5

  This was a quick storm. It brought almost as much marketing fluff with it as Francis. Perhaps two days of very light wind and an occasional sprinkle, coupled with an eternally cloudy sky. Obviously, Nature didn't know when to stop making these things. This one will tank at the box office for sure.

  I realize this storm brought much worse devastation elsewhere, but I am just reporting what occurred here.

Editor's note: Perhaps an update on Jeanne will follow.

The SpinDizzy paper, @Action News has a new search engine.

Editor, Argon was disapointed in the "free" search service he had for the site. You'd enter a term, and it would give you a page full of headlines, and you'd have to shuffle through them to find the word(s) you wanted.

Argon asked Ping, local toon mouse, about building a search engine for the site, but the mouse pointed out that Google offered a service called, Site Search that does a Google search limited to just one site.

This is really a great improvement, and I owe Ping a big thank you. She pointed me to something that has really enhanced the site. So give it a try, and thanks Ping!

The planet SpinDizzy seems to be aproaching planet is dtill a mystery to us and whatever fate it may have upon our small is still unknown.

Alex Vulpnine recently regained his memory and had a devistating event that he dealt with recently. In response he stole his grandmother's, Alicia Vulpnine's, prototype all-purpose fighter. His intent was to leave Spindizzy to investigate the planet further since no conventional probes could penetrate the athmosphere. So far the Neo Republic, the only spaceworthy force in the area, has had no success investigating the unknown planet.

By a decision by Alicia herself, Alex took the Core Spendor and set off for the unknown planet, however it was only a few minutes later that a fireball could be seen within the planet's atmosphere and all communications with the tiny fighter were lost. We fear the worst has happened to the young Prince.

NeverNever changed me into something more dragon-like 2 weeks ago.

The change was voluntary. Usually I only change into vehicles, so I wanted to try something else for a change.

So I asked local bodysculptor NeverNever for a change. And she changed me into this. This new form feels great, the scales, the wings, the tounge, those dragon-like parts are really amazing.

Well I'm going to keep this shape in my portfolio, althought I'm intending to be a skunk again. This form is great, but it's not too cuddly and all.

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

Dear Bearing Up:
Why the heck are Argon and Mavra getting married?
- Mort

Dear Mort:
Because they truly love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together. Why else?

Dear Bearing Up:
Is it true that hurricanes are caused by nature?
- Ivan

Dear Ivan:
No, Hurricanes are caused politicians spewing out too much hot air.

Dear Bearing Up:
I'm addicted to Ebay, what should I do?
- Bidder

Dear Bidder:
Give Yahoo Auctions a try.

Dear Bearing up:
Do you think that Morticon will ever succeed in his crazy scheme to take over Spindizzy?
- Mouser

Dear Mouser:
Yes. That will the day when I go on a diet.

Dear Bearing Up:
What makes a better pet? a dog or a cat?
- Wondering

Dear Wondering:
Neither. A teddy bear. No food bills, no shedding and best of all just as cuddly as a live dog or a cat.

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

@Action News, SpinDizzy's weekly paper, apparently has a fairly healthy circulation, swe figured we'd show just how healthy it is.

Each week, as long as there's room. I'll show the 'hit graph' for the @Action News website.

This week, Argon asked, "I'm doing a survey for @Action News. The question this week is, 'You may have seen or heard of Amalfi, the little plush that shows up once in a while. Just who or what (IC) is Amalfi?' "

• Findra -- I've often wondered about Amalfi. He -does- have ears sort of like the Dungeon Master, doesn't he?
• KevMan says, "Spindizzy's god??"
• Lady_Ravenwolfe says softly, "I've never seen the Amalfi....good room builder though."
• Adara purrs, "I bet he contains the "key to Spindizzy", or it's equivalent."
• NeverNever squeaks, "He is God! We shall bow down to him! :D"
• KevMan says, "Spindizzy's god?"
• Ray -- Who's Amalfi? Far as I can tell, Amalfi's the biggest landholder on Spindizzy, holding title to all unclaimed lands. The Landlord, the Realtor Supreme. Other than that, I dunno. Head of the local Rotary Club.
• Austin -- Oh, yes, I've got stories about Amalfi ... some of them even happened.
• Terra oohs! She bounces up and down. "Amalfi is the sugar in our cereal!"
• Phoex says, "Amalfi is!"
• Aleu mrrs, "Amalfi is a screwed up way to spell animal?"
• Slug hasn't heard of that at all.
• http://www.wunderground.com/data/nids/MLB19_anim_t.gif?t=1047938184
• Aushae sultrily sibilates, "Never saw it long enough to see it well..."
• Bigears yrfs, "A bunny plush hippity hoppy?"
• Suri says, "He's a velveteen Bunny, I thought..."
• Alicia closes her eyes. "One of the rare few who acutally seen Amalfi...Amalfi is a plush rabbit. The most powerful being on Spindizzy."

• You exhibit a slight twitch when introduced to anyone with the first names of Charley, Frances or Ivan.
• Your freezer never has more than $20 worth of food in it any given time.
• You're looking at paint swatches for the plywood on your windows, to accent the house color.
• You think of your hall closet/saferoom as "cozy".
• Your pool is more accurately described as "framed in" than "screened in".
• Your freezer in the garage now only has homemade ice in it.
• You no longer worry about relatives visiting during the summer months.
• You, too, haven't heard back from the insurance adjuster.
• You now understand what that little "2% hurricane deductible" phrase really means.
• You're putting a collage together on your driveway of roof shingles from your neighborhood.
• You were once proud of your 16" electric chain saw.
• Your Street has more than 3 "NO WAKE" signs posted.
• You now own 5 large ice chests.
• Your parrot can now say" hammered, pounded and hunker down".
• You recognize people in line at the free ice, gas and plywood locations.
• You stop what you're doing and clap and wave when you see a convoy of power company trucks come down your street.
• You're depressed when they don't stop.
• You have the personal cell phone numbers of the managers for: plywood, roofing supplies and generators at Home Depot on your speed dialer.
• You've spent more than $20 on "Tall white kitchen bags" to make your own sand bags.
• You're considering upgrading your 16" to a 20" chainsaw.
• You know what "Bar chain oil" is.
• You're thinking of getting your wife the hard hat with the ear protector and face shield for Christmas.
• You now think the $6000 whole house generator seems reasonable .
• You look forward to discussions about the merits of "cubed, block and dry ice".
• Your therapist refers to your condition as "generator envy".
• You fight the urge to put on your winter coat and wool cap and parade around in front of your picture window, when you finally get power and your neighbor across the street, with the noisy generator, doesn't get electric. And finally, you might be a Floridian if:
• You ask your sister up north to start saving the Sunday Real Estate classifieds!

Submitting a story or artwork for @Action News is easy! Just send it tnewspaper@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 dont have thave 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 tapply.

Thanks! Argon, Editor @Action News