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After a quickly arranged news conference Wednesday night by Morticon concerning the imminent collision of SpinDizzy with "The Planet" seen in our sky, a search party for the legendary "Control Room of SpinDizzy" was set up.

A large group of concerned residents met Friday night at Centaur Square. Morticon showed a map revealing three possibilities for the room's location, Neopolis, Squirrel City, and someplace else. There were enough volunteers for the group to split up and check all three locations.

Alicia, local kitsune, had discovered what she thought might be the control room, so I joined with her and others to look it over. Alicia had a "transporter" of sorts that delivered the group right to the room. The room was very small, and everything seemed "squirrel sized". Although lights and panels would light up, nothing seemed to operate.

Mouser, local furpent was drafted to crawl inside one of the panels to see if he could find any loose wires or diagrams. After bumping against some live wires, (see following story,) he slithered out having gained no additional information.

Brenda, local balloonie cougar, and Argon, local centaur, discovered a "master switch," that was loose. The two seated the circuit board firmly, but still no effect was seen.

Morticon joined the group and immediately stated that this couldn't be the main control room as the technology was "too new". Leaving the room and meeting with the others in a Squirrel City tunnel, the search had seemed to reach a dead end.

Morticon was urged to summon Amalfi, SpinDizzy's oldest known resident. Morticon had "stolen" a Wizbit from the plush by summoning him using a tape recorder. Morti claimed that he no longer had that tape. Argon suggested that since Amalfi gave Morti his Wizbit, the plush might return if Morti's bit were stolen.

Darius, local ferret, stepped in and with ferret skill, snatched Morticon's bit. Morti then asked Amalfi to help, and the little plush appeared. Being all knowing, Amalfi knew what was needed and a wall of the cave collapsed to reveal the real control room.

The group stepped in to find a very old room with pictures of the actual construction of SpinDizzy along with images of giant turbines and other equipment unseen by any living resident. (OOC: This area, by the way, was built by Royce, local raccoon. It was an amazing recreation of the technolgy described in the Cities in Flight series of books by James Blish. These books were a part of the inspiration of SpinDizzy) There were a number of what, to us, seemed old banks of equipmewnt using large tape reels and nixie tubes.

This room led to an astronavigation area and a pilots' room. The pilots' room had a number of display screens and consoles. Argon, Alicia, Brenda and Darius took their positions as the consoles. Others manned the astronavigation room and Tami, local coyote, acted as runner between the two rooms.

Alica said, "From the substation to the control room, I felt like I was at home. The real control station was much bigger than I expected and going into the pilot's room reminded me more of the main datacenter to one of my starbases. Trying to help guide SpinDizzy down onto the planet was no easy task as the controls I worked were unfamiliar to me."

Working together as SpinDizzy plunged towards the planet, everyone worked to figure out thier consoles and get coordinated. Other panels and consoles were operated by other folks. Some stood by as observers and offered advice and suggestions.

Everyone worked quickly to learn what their controls did, and after a couple of missteps, which might have jostled the folks on the surface, SpinDizzy was stablized. As the planet grew closer, the viewscreens showed that the planet seemed to be a collection of spindizzies similar to ours. Different colors and textures made a patchwork of the surface.

A closer look revealed that we were heading towards what appeared to be a canyon. A sharp eyed observer noted that it was the same shape as SpinDizzy and had what appeared to be large sockets and mechanisms. It seemed that SpinDizzy was to be guided to this docking port and secured.

With careful work by everyone, SpinDizzy was guided to a safe landing. Once down, a switch was pressed and our floating island in space shook and bumped as it was locked into place.

By working hard, and together, everyone in the group was essential to making a safe landing. This list includes everyone involved:

Cithara, Amalfi, Kinsor, Roofus_roo, Nimble, Kiora, Gilead, Austin, Aushae, Firewind, Findra, Tami, Morticon, KevMan, Mouser, Alicia, Argon, Clarisa , Brenda and Darius

Special credit goes to Morticon, Royce, Kinsor, Austin, and Chanspot who worked behind the scenes to organise this RP.

Exploration of the "planet" is hoped to start next week. Who knows what we'll find out there?

Mouser fursnake's fur got burned in some spots when all the landing happened so he went to Leslie bunny for help. He was going to grow a new fur coat but it'd be a couple months before his white winter fur grows all in. Leslie used the magic wand to turn him into a glowing purple ribbon and wave him around a couple times and get his fur re-made.

Mouser didn't want to have raccoon tailrings like last time but he was happy to think about new color schemes and he asked if he could have skunk-like racing stripes down his back. Gilead asked what kind of skunk, but Leslie wasn't sure so just gave him long black fur with a couple white streaks running down. They're a little yellow but that's just from black and white fur mixing together. He likes it though and wants to keep the look a while.

Heather, local human, got a bit more of a change then she bargained for on Friday morning.

She got her first taste of flubber Water, and while playing around with being bouncy, Aushae, local dragon, and Nikon, Local raccoon, played around with her very malleable body.

First Heather got bunny like feet, and a fox like tail, before Aushae got in on the fun, and gave Heather a dragon's muzzle. Her tail, and feet were reshaped to make her more dragonlike, and she gained a pair of wings.

Heather commented at the time, "Oh. That is nice. Hope David wakes soon. would love to wing-hug him." She was quickly shaped the rest of the way into a beautiful dragoness, with Aushae giving Heather a long kiss, in which the new dragon gained some new powers. All in all, Heather seemed to be happy with her new form, and we're still waiting on David's reaction.

Morticon, local wallaby, found his MU programming out of whack this week in the Rose Garden.

After saying a few out of context items, his body began changing form, sprouting appendages of folks he knew. He also began spouting bits and pieces of memories from the past including;

"....This svelte coyote girl, perhaps college-freshman age, stands a few inches past five feet tall on her digitigrade .... Amalfi waves a paw at Shadow. What looks like a loose thread appears under the fox's feet. ..... waves a paw, and the thread stitches itself around Tuesday, before dissolving its glow into her smoky figure...." / "....... Tuesday waves her paws about, trying to make weird wizardly things happen." / / "Tuesday's eyes burn brightly, bathing everything in the scene slightly green. She pulls the thread out of Shadow ....... jdjsaha98! ...... << FILE ERROR >>" This gibberish continued for a few minutes.

It was suggested that it was a memory dump that was causing Morti to express, both verbally and physically, memories from his past.

After a while, "bits and bites" of data began coming loose. Argon, local centaur, took the lid off a trash can and scooped up the data and then popped the lid back on. Tying it down, the trash can, and bits of Morticon's memories are still in the Rose Garden.

When asked for a comment, Morticon said, "That's the last time I let Aushae compress me! Her algorithms are clearly no good."

After all the landing Roofus was hugging Amalfi the plush toy, when it did something really surprising! It tapped Roofus's paw a couple times and they started rippling like they were under water. Then it turned into a bubble wrapped all around the kangaroo, and it shrunk down until Roofus and Amalfi were just about the same size.

Then the bubble kept shrinking and as it got smaller than Roofus it left him turned into a brand-new plush kangaroo toy! He squeaked a little cutely and jingle bell beads were stitched in around his neck and his wrists, so he made a little ringing when he was shaken up or moved at all. Leslie thought of something he needed still and got a long silk ribbon out to tie around Roofus's neck.

When that was done Leslie gave plushie Roofus and Amalfi up to Brenda to hug--she's one of the people that helped save Spindizzy when it landed and she made neat squeaking and crinkling noises when she did--but she had to go to bed finally and gave them back to me.

And then we put Amalfi on Gilead's back and Roofus on Leslie's to hold a four-footed race to the water edge, Gilead hoped he he'd remember to stop there. But nobody could agree to be the umpire so that didn't get raced. Mouser thought it was pretty neat but he hoped it wasn't catching because he has enough trouble with Sock Mouser, a evil plush toy alter-ego who was hanging around the Puppet Theater. Nimble really liked the jingle bells, and thanked Amalfi for them.

Those who've known the shy, often-larger-than-life cougar may have noticed something different about her this week. Other than actually being small enough to hug (and DECENTLY unclothed), her soft fur seemed to shine and shimmer in the light and she seemed to have an extra bounce in her step. Those who gave her the usual hugs and scritches noticed an extra 'rubbery' feel to her all over, and how her body squishes and bulges in various places from the hugs.

Finally, after much coaxing, Brenda revealed that she has joined the inflated ranks of the balloonies.

How?
"I heard my good friend, Nevernever, offer her 'body-sculpting' services so I took her up on that. It was an...interesting experience."

Why?
"Well, with all this talk about the possibility of Spindizzy crashing into the nearby planet, I figured that this form would be a great way to bounce back from disaster."

But wouldn't she pop or, at least, melt away from the planet's atmosphere?
"I highly doubt it. Never 'sculpted' me out of a version of latex that seems to be stronger and more durable than I ever though possible. Oh, I imagine I can still pop or tear, but only in the most EXTREME cases. Plus, I can turn liquid and shape this latex however I wish. So if I melt, I can just reform, just like the T-1000."

How does it feel being made of latex?
"It certainly feels...different compared to flesh and blood. Not necessarily in a BAD way, mind you. In fact, everything feels more...sensitive, like I'm just one giant nerve. It was something I had to get used to."

Now that Spindizzy has landed on the planet and disaster averted (see above article), does she plan on going back to flesh, blood and real fur?
"Eventually. So far, it actually feels...good being like this. Also, I haven't had the chance to explore the aspects of this form due to the crisis this week. But hopefully that'll change."

Spindizzy's weekly Bardic Circle (Poetry/Filk gather) met Friday, October 8, at 7:00pm Spindizzy time, in a special "Apocalypse" session moderated by Ray. In attendance at varying times were: K'purra, Findra, Naomi, Elericia, Firewind, Ba'ar, and Elizabeth.

Participants sat out the "landing" in a place far-removed from Spindizzy, accessed by the Court of Infinite Destinations. Some chose to leave, in order to seek a solution to what appeared to be imminent doom; the rest remained behind, in faith that Spindizzy would be saved. Kudos to those responsible for ensuring the safety of our shared home.

K'purra opened the session by reading Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice." Ray then presented REM's "It's The End Of The World As We Know It." Discussion turned to a brief poem of uncertain pedigree which Ray quoted, "As I walked down upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again, today. I really wish he'd go away." Ray thought it was by Emily Dickinson, but was unable to confirm that. Ray returned to the "Apocalypse" theme, reading Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." Brief mention was made of sci-fi/fantasy author and BOC lyricist Michael Moorcock.

Findra then read John Keats' "Ode," and K'purra read "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Ray followed with an original poem titled, "StormRise." Ba'ar lightened the mood with a humorous quatrain by McLamburg Wilson contrasting optimists and pessimists. K'purra then read another poem titled. "Ozymandias," this time by Horace Smith, who wrote it in friendly competition with Shelley. This spurred a discussion of archeology and the novels of Harry Harrison.

Ba'ar again lightened the mood with a parody quattrain he composed after a solving a hard programming problem, about Lizzy Borden and her VAX. A brief digression into things Seussian transpired, and K'purra read an ominous, if silly, poem by Frederick Winsor, "The Hydrogen Dog and the Cobalt Cat." Continuing this technological string, Ray read a filk, "I am the very model of a Genius Computational" (Music: Gilbert and Sullivan's "Modern Major General." Words: Jonathan Partington). This led to dicussion of Gilbert and Sullivan's contentious partnership, and those of other fractious creative teams.

K'purra then recited Shel Silverstein's "Polar Bear." Ba'ar followed with an untitled poem about Algy and the bear, author unattributed. Ray changed the mood with a more serious, original poem, titled, "Touch." Ba'ar recited an original poem for the late Rodney Dangerfield. After reflection on the fallen comic, Ray read another original poem, titled, "Why, Here?" about online relationships.

Ray then lightened the mood again, reading a filk titled, "The Doctor's Pockets" (Music: "My Favorite Things." Words: Anne Wilson and Meg Garrett), about Dr. Who. As not all members of the Circle were familiar with the good Dr. (!), Ray read another filk, about a more familiar character, titled, "Inside Barney" (Music: To the obvious tune. Words: Dave Aronson). Ray followed right up with another filk, titled, "The True Confession of Luke Skywalker" (Music: "Love Potion #9." Words: (c) 1978 by Arthur D. Hlavaty).

At that point, the Circle had gone on for nearly three hours, and the session ended. The next session will be Friday, September 17, 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.

(Added 10/10/2004) Oops *massive earblush*! In this week's edition of the @Action News, I reported that the next session of Spindizzy's Bardic Circle would be Friday, September 17. I regret to report that my Tardis is broken, and we will have to reschedule for Friday, October 15. Please make a note of it, and always check the Eventlist.

• Nighteyes underwent a fission into two dragons last night. His reasoning seeming to be that the full use of his magic powers would surely drive him mad; but if it were divided between two dragons, each only half-mad, well, that would be quite survivable. Defying a prediction that the fresh-budded dragon would be named Tanookee, the new half took on the name Knighteyes. Aushae's adopted at least one, maybe both.
   
• Nikonraccoon took the chance to flatten out, fold up, and fly as a paper airplane. She hit into Casandro's head-fur (or, as he insisted, mane); she gave him a sip of flubbered water and then tried to take things forward. No news if Roofus Roo did anything much after Austin wrapped Casandro's stretchy tail around him.
   
• Nikonraccoon also took advantage of the returned-to-slippers Skyler to hide inside, and make herself quite cozy, it seems, within. She also invited in a Guest, who's asked for a character; she had as guest the Space Hero body and enjoyed that greatly. The Guest was divided on whether to be a mouse-sized mouse, or to be a raccoon, possibly mouse-sized. It's not known if Royce had any comment.
   
• Austin mentioned how nice it would be if there was a more convenient way to add ambient sounds to a room. This could be tied in to an upgrade in noises.muf that isn't such a pain to install and use (and switch between noise files); it also ought to be written so that it's easy to add a new ambient sound, e.g., addnoise The radio starts playing The Red Skelton Show. and then all the paperwork is handled. Anybody feel inspired?

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

Dear Bearing up:
If you invested in the stock market, who would you pick?
- E. F. Hutton

Dear E. F. Hutton:
I'd pick Bear Sterns and Company.

Dear Bearing Up:
Which is better, Windows or OS X?
- S. Jobs

Dear S. Jobs:
Neither. Linux!

Dear Bearing Up:
Since Spindizzy is going to run into a planet, is this your last edition?
- H. Lindsey.

Dear H. Lindsey:
There will be a edition next week. The 'crisis' was created as a money making scheme by Morticon.

Dear Bearing Up:
If there is ever a Spindizzy the Movie, who would you like to play you?
- S. Spielberg

Dear S. Spielberg:
I'd play myself, thank you very much.

Dear Bearing Up:
What's worth more, horsepower or taurpower?
- Mr. Ed.

Dear Mr. Ed.
I think that taurpower's worth more. A centaur has the strength of a horse plus the intelligence to figure out how to haul that load in the most efficent way.

@Action News, SpinDizzy's weekly paper, apparently has a fairly healthy circulation, so we 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 "What should we call the planet we've landed on?"

• Gilead chirps, "Giladea!"
• Shoe says, "I was thinking Fusion"
• Nelle says, "...I dunno, planet BillyBob McJimbo?"
• PatchO'Black churrs, "I think we should wait to find out what this planet is like before naming it."
• Aushae - Aurora, Horizon, Neotopia, Galatea, Argonia, Aleuria, Austinia, Findrania, Skyleria, Pingia, Argentia...?
• Tami thinks we should name the planet Tami. And anyone who thinks different is wrong.
• Carl click clacks, "Who cares? As long as it isn't called 'Old Bay'.
• Mouser hisses, "At the risk of sounding too Carrollian, I vote we call it Planet Gimblegyre."
• Aleu mrrs, "How about Mine?"
• Nelle says, "...Otteru?""
• Gina_Doberman pages, "Gragnarr!"
• Lionfish - "Planet Of The Humans!"
• K'purra - "Planet of the Damned?--no, that's taken."
• Michelle - "Planet Cye!"
• Ghost wonders if we know anything about this planet, which should be named after its discoverer, or the leader of the first expidition to the surface, like all new worlds
• Jules - "Foxworld!"
• Borris says, "Hm, Ringtailed World?"
• Ceralor - Balloonland! We should establish it as a balloonie colony.
• Kinsor shouts "Model T! We'll have SpinDizzy and the Tin Lizzy!"
• Ray - Depends on how long we'll be here... This /may/ be just a scheduled refueling/maintenance/data download stop, so we shouldn't get TOO attached to the place. Mebbe 'MotherWorld?'
• Liam - Spherica Rasa.

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