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There's a whole new Rose Garden look and part of it is the sky changes! Even while we were just watching Saturday night it went from looking like it's about noon to a little after that. It's a weird kind of sunlight though because it doesn't look like there's any sky, but since we're in the middle of space maybe that's normal.

Than, the lion kitten, wondered if there's no sun then where our shadows went? Her daddy DTF, the wolf, said, "When there's no sun your shadows sleep so they can be up and playing around before you get up." Than liked that a lot, "They gonna have lotsa fun when they up an' playin', aren't they Daddy?" and DTF said they sure were.

It's kind of confusing because according to "time" it's really the evening when the sky says it's about noon. DTF guessed maybe Austin the coati set it for his time zone by mistake, because he's on the other side of the world where it's day in the middle of night and night in the middle of day.

There's a brand-new radio too. It's got a lot of dials and buttons and switches and stuff, and I don't know yet how you pick something on purpose. It's a little silly. First time I tried it turned on "Olsen and Johnson" and we don't know who they were except it bugged Gilead the otter. Then it turned on "Dr. West's Medicine Show And Junk Band's The Eggplant That Ate Chicago." The dial doesn't seem like it works.

Plus on top of that sometimes there's little things that happen like where the picnic tables or benches grow bigger or move around. That's pretty weird but good. And the fountain even sprays coffee sometimes! Plus the bulletin board scrolls messages too. Plus there's all kinds of stuff you can buy. It's a lot of stuff.

The command 'rose' will, for the duration of the day, bring people to the newly opened Rose Shore, at N0 E1, rather than the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden will repoen shortly and will resume normal business. There is no need to panic.

Those attempting to enter the Rose Garden will be swept home; we'd rather it just left you where you were, but the program we're using isn't quite that discerning and @locking all the relevant exits would drive us mad.

Well, after two weeks of nominations and one week of vote, you have choosen your King and Queen for the Queen's Day Festival being held on March 31st starting at 8:00 am PST until about 8:00pm PST. Don't worry, there will be events scattered throughout the day. Now, for the moment you all have been waiting for.

• King: Austin
• Queen: Findra

Thank you all for voting and congratulations to Austin and Findra, may we serve you both well.

The runners-up will act as Princes and Princesses in the stead of the King and Queen should they be unavailable to officiate.

• Princes: Morticon, Argon and Boki
• Princesses: Portia, Nevernever and Mavra

Remember, check the eventslist to see when the Queen's Day Festival events are and, most of all, come and have fun!

Queens Day Schedule of Events for March 31st, 2006

Time	Event	Location	Description
8:00 am PST	Opening Ceremony	Clearing: Luge S4 E4, M	This is the Ceremony to crown our King and Queen
8:30 am PST	Poetry Contest	Savannah:Luge S7 E4, BP, EPSavannah:Luge S7 E4, BP, EP	A chance to flex your poetry skills and see who prevails
10:00 am PST	Limerick Showdown	Studio 1: Luge S2 W2, s1	Make a limerick line by line until the last one stands
11:00 am PST	Picnic in the Park	Picnic Grounds: Luge N4 E7	Bring your lunch and enjoy the company.
1:00 pm PST	Pie Eating Contest	Countdown Cafe: Luge S1 W1, CC	Stuff your face first and see who will prevail.
3:00 pm PST	Archery Contest	TBA	Aim to be the best and everyone else will 'Bow' at your feet.
5:00 pm PST	Poetry Contest	Odd Books: Luge N1 E5, O	Missed the first time? Take a shot and show what you got.
6:00 pm PST	Archery Contest	TBA	Take a shot and remember the pointy end goes in the target.
7:00 pm PST	Pie Eating Contest	Countdown Caf: Luge S1 W1, CC	Reach for that pie in the sky or on the table rather!
7:15 pm PST	Limerick Showdown	Studio 1: Luge S2 W2, s1	Make a limerick line by line until the last one stands
8:00 pm PST	Story Telling Circle	Gaelic Ruins: Luge S1 E1	Come join us to write a bit of Spindizzy history.
9:00 pm PST	Closing Ceremony	Taurus-Littrow Valley:Luge N8 W8	Announcing the winners of the Rose & Vegetable contest.

For all of those who wish to enter the Rose and Unusual Vegetable contest, please make sure to get your entries into me by March 30.

Thank you,
Portia Lee

On Sunday afternoon an unusual event occurred in the Rose Garden. Lou, "magical" palm civet, was hit by a few bolts of magical blast energy by Thanny, lioness kitten. The bolt took a number of folks by suprise including Morticon, local wallaby. Due to this disturbance, Morticon, along with Aleph, brought Lou to Tanuki’s temple to find a reason for the kitten’s confrontation. In the temple folks meditated and individuals involved received an image of what was the cause. This vision implied that the kitten was indeed scaring the civet before the event that led to the surprise strike.

Morticon spoke with DTF, Thanny’s father, that same day. He raised his concern that DTF should not condone blasting energy at Lou or anyone. Later in an interview DTF admitted to mostly forgetting what Morticon had said. Something also struck DTF in an odd way about Morticon. DTF in turn made the decision that Morticon was too serious and therefore altered Morticon’s visage to that of a clown. DTF still decided to talk to his daughter Thanny afterward about the incident and further get her to apologize to Lou.

After the apology, Portia later explained to DTF that he was setting a poor example by changing Morticon and that he too should apologize to the wallaby. Morticon cleaned himself up and reversed the changes. As of this time, Morticon also has not received an apology from DTF.

Thanny herself explained in an interview later that she was only was trying to scare off Lou because he had turned evil and was going to eat her. She described that she chased Lou to pet him one day and while the civet was in a hole it actually bit her. From that wound a glowing scab began to form.

She kept the scab hidden as it grew bigger from her father and her best friend Christie, being concerned about frightening them. Eventually it was revealed and was bandaged and healed by DTF and Christie. By the time of the interview the wound has entirely healed.

Still evidence seems lax, if indeed Lou has gone evil. Morticon did admit that the civet seems a guardian to him now and then. The civet has eaten sleepers in the Rose Garden. None of these sleepers seem to stay eaten for long and usually seen later.

Additionally, Lou offerd no comment to indicate a shift to either side of the spectrum. It is also possible there is a conspiracy planned by Vixie to detract from Thanny. As it is the Cuteness Oscar is hotly contested between the two for the upcoming ceremony.

This week, Patch O'Black, local Jellicle cat, revealed that a family heirloom, the moss-covered three-handled family gredunza was missing! He noted that it had been lost once before by a relative, but it had been found again. He asked several folks if they had seen it, though he was rather vague on the details. He eventually found it in the pouch of Morticon while Morticon was sleepwalking. He was glad at its safe return, and said he will make sure it doesn't disappear again!

Than the lion kitten and Christie the bunny kitten got an ice cream named for them! It's called the Thanny and Christie special! Than said, "It's two scoops of orange sherbert, two scoops of vanilla, covered in chocolate and caramel with two cherries and whipped cream on top! It comes on top of a slice of carrot cake and got catnip on top too!"

"It sounds neat but Than didn't taste it yet so we don't know if it's really good. Than guesses licorice ice cream should be good too. They made their special up together. Gilead the otter thought about a Leslie Bunny Chip Ice Cream after me, made from alfalfa ice cream with chocolate chips. And then vanilla and licorice striped ice cream so it can be Suri Lemur Ring Ice Cream!

PatchO'Black the jellicle cat didn't remember if he ever made an ice cream for me. Borris the polar bear said it should have fairy cake in it! Strawberry fairy shortcake with fairy cake and strawberry ice cream and syrup and strawberries on top. He's got an ice cream parlor.

Local couple, Gina Doberman, local Doberman, and Darius, local ferret, have been seen lately being quite affectionate around SpinDizzy. Gina, who's vet reported she was expecting, has been quite lovey-dovey with Darius whom, due to recent events, Gina claimed was the father.

Darius seemed less than enthused with accepting responsability for Gina's babies, much less with the idea of marriage. Gina though, was convinced that Darius wouldn't have been romantic with her if it wasn't true love, so she was very sweet and loving to Darius. Darius kept trying to distance himself from Gina in spite of Argon, local centaur's, notations that Darius would make a fine daddy, playing with the babies and getting up in the middle of the night to feed them. It was also suggested that being a 'ferrets's ferret', he would happily take care of changing diapers, doing the shopping and housework, and taking on two jobs so that Gina could have the life of leisure an expectant mother deserves.

As Darius' difference of opinion in taking responsability for the babies became apparent, local opinion in the Rose Garden forced him to change his mind. One night, he claimed he would solve the problem once and for all. He pulled out his wallet and offered Gina, $20.00, and then added an extra $10.00 claiming to be a "good tipper". Gina took the ferret behind some bushes and after some thrashing and screaming, both came out, Darius in Gina's arms.

Soon, Darius reverted to his claim of not being interested in marrying Gina. Gina continued making wedding and nursery plans and one night, she gave Darius a gift, a very nice leather collar with a silver clasp. Darius, like most Ferrets, likes shiny things and put it on right away. As he did, Gina pulled out a remote control and with a "click", the collar was locked into place.

Darius wasn't happy about this at all, and was even more unhappy as Gina asked him again about "The wedding." Darius replied, "There won't be a wedding!" Gina pressed another button on the remote and Darius felt a strong electric shock from the collar! As he continued to resist the shocks got stronger.

As Darius found himself writhing on the ground, a ring tone came from Gina's bag. She answered it, talked quietly for a few moments and then removed the collar from Darius. She was most appologetic as she revealed that there would be no need for a wedding as a nurse had mixed up test results and the lovely doberman was indeed, not expecting.

Gina seemed a bit dissapointed but Darius did the happy dance. It seemed a shame as Gina is a lovely female and Darius will be hard pressed to do better as the lovely Mavra is already married.

Patch O'Black, local Jellicle cat who for a bit was a fae Jellicle Cat, honored the Rose Garden with the following rendition of "The Flying Toaster Song".

PatchO'Black sings o/` Flying out of the sun! / The smell of toast is in the air! o/'
PatchO'Black sings o/` When there's a job to be done / The Flying Toasters will be there! o/`
PatchO'Black sings o/` For it's flap! Flap! FLAP! / Now help is on the way! o/`
PatchO'Black sings o/` This vict'ry song they sing: / We pop up to save the day / On mighty toaster wings! o/`

PatchO'Black sings o/` In brightest day or After Dark / When times of trouble are at hand... o/`
PatchO'Black sings o/` The Flying Toasters set a spark / And hope is blaxing 'cross the land! o/`

PatchO'Black sings o/` And it's flap! Flap! FLAP! / Salvation from above! o/`
PatchO'Black sings o/` This precious gift they bring: / Gleaming angels of love / On mighty Toaster Wings! o/`

PatchO'Black bowed and everyone gave the catfae a round of applause.!

These Flying Toaster Song lyrics are © 1996 byBerkeley Systems as found at http://home.wanadoo.nl/tjorni/toasters.htm

This week we chat with Violet, local donkey.

Violet has arrived.

Ba'ar smiles, "Hi there, Violet."

Violet waggles ears, "Hi.. I'd wave, but the current ah, body shape situation makes that kind of hard right now."

Ba'ar gives Violet a skritch between the ears, "Don't worry about it. At any rate, welcome and thanks for helping me with the interview."

Violet perks her ears and rubs up softly against the touch, nickering a little. "Oh No problem. I'm kinda honored that you asked anyways."

Ba'ar smiles, "No problem. Okay let's start. Our readers know about you and some have even met you 'in the pelt' as it were. For one thing, how long have you been here in Spindizzy?"

Violet hmms, "I think it's been almost two years now since I found myself here. I've rather enjoyed it all though. There are lot's of nice people, uh critters, hmm well folks here.

Ba'ar growls, "What brought you to Spindizzy?"

Violet brays, "Hmmm.. I guess you could call it a lack of purpose. Ya see..I'm not usually uh, live and ya know, flesh and blood. I was a 'toon, a cartoon character. But I kind of got left on the drawing board, tucked away as an idea that didn't, for the lack of better term, sell. I guess whatever spark of imagination that got me started in the first place, didn't want to be relegated to the trash bin or scrap file...so I wound up here. I guess I needed to show I wasn't just a bad idea and a bit of paint."

Ba'ar growls, "So you were a toon? Did you come out of any studio we know of? Warner Brothers? Klasky-Cuspo? "

Violet brays, "None of the big ones no... I was more a student freelance project at one of the art and animation schools. I had hoped one day to mingle with the big guys and gals at Warner or Disney maybe, but that never quite worked out. One little film and the start of another was all I got. My ummm creators were told that 2D animation was a dead end... So I was left rather abandoned."

Ba'ar growls, "As I understand it, you weren't always a donkey. What caused you to change?"

Violet brays, "This? Oh, recently I got to wonder what it was like being real. I guess it the Pinnochio syndrom. And well, as part of my 'toon backstory, there's a slightly loony mad scientist type that I work with, but Dr. Cogz is an uh..off camera character, yeah, that would be a good term. Well, Cogz is really never around so I fiddled with some of his 'toys' He has a transmorgifier machine that never quite worked right and I kept trying to fix it. So I thought maybe it might do the trick. Well, I changed some settings, got some extra stuff from here, plugged it in, turned it on and uh...well it kind of worked. Maybe a little too well though."

Ba'ar growls, "What was your original form, may I ask?"

Violet brays, "Originally? Oh way way back, I was a toon skunk. But that got changed by Cogz in the middle of working on the second film... I ended up a silly blend of donkey and skunk. It was a 'scent-taur' with pun intended of course, given the toon nature. My lower body was a four legged donkey and my upper was mostly skunk, though I still had my nice big ole fluffy skunk tail. Since the film was never finished, I never got to change back into a skunk and I arrived here as the scent-taur. "

Ba'ar nods, "What caused your transoformation to donkey form?"

Violet brays, "My mistake, I think. I forgot to put in all the proper information and Cogz's computer is...kinda cranky anyway. It couldn't pattern match the scent-taur to anything real live and flesh and blood. And since I was more than half donkey, what with the lower half being bigger than the upper...it translated all of me into this. I guess it was the closest match the computer could come up with. But I secretly think that the dang machine likes to play tricks on me anyway..."

Ba'ar nods, "So do you think you'll stay in donkey form?"

Ba'ar growls, , "Also, are you a REAL donkey or are you still a TOON donkey?"

Violet brays, "Oh, I'll answer the second first.. Yeah, real, live, and all that goes with it, so it would seem. But I'd like to get back to what passes for normal eventually. Normal for me that is. I hope the flesh and blood readers don't take offense...but this whole real live thing isn't what it's cracked up to be. Things like having to eat, having to sleep, and blunt trauma actually causing damage can be really confusing when you are used to it being optional before."

Violet brays, "Plus..this body just can't do stuff..."

Ba'ar cocks his head, "Stuff like what?"

Violet brays, "Oh, for instance...umm, I kinda really wanted to whack Morticon the other day with a mallet I carry in my toon skunk tail...but ah..I got no tail to carry things and even if I could...these real hooves don't pick things up. I can't stand up on two legs now either. As a toon, being exempt from most laws of physics and biology was very handy. I didn't realize that real folk had it so hard sometimes..."

Ba'ar chuckles, "I see. Think you'll stay in donkey form?"

Violet hmms, flicks her ears and ponders, "I don't know. A lot depends on if I can get the computer in Cogz's lab to cooperate. But I have a feeling I might be like this for a while given all the rude noises it made at me..and the giggling. At least I think it was giggling. I usually whack it with the mallet too when it does that...but uh..well...you know..." She looks down at her forehooves and holds one up.

Ba'ar growls, "So what's a typical day like for you-or is there one?"

Violet brays, "Lately..it's been a lot of grazing and trying to figure out how all this real live thing works. Even little donkeys have to eat a lot of grass and greens, so at least a third of waking time is spent grazing unless I get a big bale of hay to munch on. I find I like running a bit like this though. Before this though, I tinkered sometimes in the lab for part of the day and then went out to get into trouble...err I mean to see folks and..ah yes umm socialize...yeah."

Ba'ar growls, "Who do you admire the most?"

Violet flicks her ears and ponders, "Oh ah..well in the big picture... I guess it's a toss up between Walt Disney and Chuck Jones, both did a lot for toons in general. Walt practically defined the medium in some ways and Chuck tweaked up the madness. Here...well Austin for one. He keeps things lively and ever changing." She ducks her head and looks around for a moment, whispering, "Uh secertly I think Morti is kinda cool too, coz he stirrs up a lot of trouble...but I wouldn't want it to go to his head. I'd never live it down for saying that..." She pauses a moment, "Oh and I admit I'm rather impressed by you and Argon, I don't think folks sometimes appreciate how much work you put into the paper...it's one of the things that really helps make this place unique and interesting.

Ba'ar blushes. "That's so sweet. Thank you."

Violet brays, "I mean it... it's stuff you don't have to do..but do it anyway. It makes a difference."

Ba'ar nods, "I have to give credit to Argon. He's the one who does most of the 'heavy lifting' in putting this paper together."

Ba'ar growls, "Coming from a toon's background, do you have any cartoon characters you admire the most?"

Violet brays, "Oh...hmm... Bugs Bunny comes to mind first. I mean, Mickey may have been one of the first, but Bugs went the distance and to all the extremes. He has the attitude, the spunk, just the right balance of madness and precision control. Nothing every fazes him and he always manages to turn the situation to his advantage. He's very inspiring...but also almost impossible to copy."

Violet brays, "Err nothing ever fazes him...rather. "

Ba'ar nods, "So do you have any plans for the future-other than getting your 'tooniness' back?"

Violet hmms, scuffs a hoof, "Not yet. I hoped to be involved in setting up something more for toon folk here and a kind of tribute to both animators and toons...but I keep getting distracted away from that. I'd like to get more involved in things around here in general..but for some reason I get pulled away a lot too. I fall into a kind of a deep sleep where I'm 'gone' for days or weeks sometimes. It makes things difficult to get stuff done as I'd like.

Ba'ar nods, "So what secret fact or desire about you would surprise our readers?"

Violet blinks and her muzzle gets a touch of pink blush. "Oh...err. Hmmm..there's probably a few, but uh I guess the big one is that I ahh err... kind of like the odd changes that I go through. As a toon, I got turned into the 'taur, uh a toon donkey, a toon goat, a toon cow... and now this. It's fun for me to explore different shapes, I guess, as long as they don't get too...far out. Though some would say some of my shapes already did.

Ba'ar nods,"One more question before we close...Do you have any words of wisdom for our readers?'

Violet nods, flicking her ears, "Yeah, I'd have to say, don't let others get in the way of your imagination or your dreams, we often want to do something and there's always someone to say, 'Oh, you can't...it can't be done...it'll never work...' It's easy to get derailed...but even when yo do, always try and get back on track.

Ba'ar grins,"Good advice that. That concludes our interview. Again, Violet, thanks."

Violet nods and offers a gentle nuzzling with her fuzzy nose. "And thank you... I'd shake hands, but ahh..well we discussed that part already..."

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:
What do you think about astrology?
- Stars

Dear Stars:
I don't know. I'd have to ask A MEDIUM I know.

Dear Bearing Up:
The Great American MEATOUT is coming up soon. What food could we use to commemorate it?
- P. ETA

Dear P. ETA:
Some Hamburger Helper would be perfect for such an occasion,

Dear Bearing Up:
What's better, a McDonald's McFlurry or a Sonic Blast?
- Sonic

Dear Sonic:
Neither! Dairy Queen Blizzard!

Dear Bearing Up:
What do you think about MARCH MADNESS?
- Coach

Dear Coach:
Anyone who suffers from MARCH MADNESS should have his or her HEAD EXAMINED.

Dear Bearing Up:
I've heard it's a myth that BEARS HUG. What say you?
- Ursine

Dear Ursine:
Well, we bears only HUG the ones we LOVE.

Dear Bearing Up:
What's your sign?
- Cleo

Dear Cleo:
STOP!

Hi all, Ba'ar here with the Spindizzy @Action news survey for this week. Do you collect plush? If so, what kind?

• Argon says, "I have a lot of teddy bears. I also have some plush tigers, and some centaur figures but they aren't plush. Mavra is soft and snuggly but she isn't a plush either. Of course with an Associate Editor who is a bear and a friend who is a polar bear and with all the plush Care Bears, none of whom are "my" plushes, I can't help but like teddy bears!"
• Angel_bear says, "No, I collect scrolling LED message badges, belt buckles, and mini desk signs. But I think I've come to the point where I have enough of them."
• Kri says, "If I collected plush, I'd have to beat myself up. :)"
• Darius says, "I collect Plushies! And the ones I collect are Badger plushes."
• Vixie says, "I collect plush, most are foxes, skunks, squirrels, raccoons, and otters."
• Borris Gruffs, "Polar Bears, Of Course!"
• PatchO'Black mews, "I collect plushes of lot of different kinds, though mostly felines."
• Gina_Doberman has no plush. Has puppets though.
• Randy_Panda giggles, "I do collect plush, though I've lost count on how many plush I have."

Back issues from a year and more ago. Remember when...?

• One Year Ago - / MySD Survey Results
• Three Years Ago - / Spindizzy.com Back In Business

@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.

Each week @Action News will print the "Eventlist" notices here. This list will be accurate as of press time, but be sure and check it during the week. Activities and events can be proposed, rescheduled or event cancelled for all sorts of reasons. So stay "in the know" by checking Eventlist often.

To get a list with details as shown here, enter eventlist #week #long.

The following events are scheduled within the next 7 days:

In the tradition of Queen's day festivals, there will a rose competition to see who grows the best rose. In order to compete, simply create your rose and describe it to your liking. Submit all roses to me and make sure you set them @chownable with the following command @set rose=C (With rose replaced with the name of your rose.-Ed)

Each rose will be able to be judged by festival attendees throughout the day. For any other questions, please contact me and thank you for participating in advance.

Portia Lee

In the tradition of Queen's day festivals, there will an unusually shaped vegetable competition to see who grows the best unusually shaped vegetable. In order to compete, simply create your unusually shaped vegetable and describe it to your liking. Submit all vegetables to me and make sure you set them @chownable with the following command @set vegetable=C. Each vegetable will be able to be judged by festival attendees throughout the day. For any other questions, please contact me and thank you for participating in advance.

Portia Lee

Ins spite of "aggressive campaigning" the vote count didn't meet certain candidates expectations.

Submitting a story or artwork for @Action News is easy! Just send it to newspaper@spindizzy.org or qmail or page Argon, or Ba'ar 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

Thanks! Ba'ar, Associate Editor @Action News