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Timmie, local skumk, and Airborne, local airplane, have been working the last few weeks on renovations to the local airport. The hanger has been renovated and a new terminal has been built.

There were two "cerimonies" for the opening. One for the day shift and one for the night crew. Both were moderately well attended and casual comments overheard indicated that the new "facility" is well suited for local aircraft. Some of the equipment seen were the SED blimp, and the Burning Duct tape Airplane.

When asked about airport security, Timmie mentioned that a wolf patrols the area keeping passengers and aircraft safe from harm. During my interview with Timmie, however, some sort of robot camera calling itself, R/Ccamera6 has arrived.

Argon noted the camera and asked, "Part of airport security?" Timmie peered into the camera's lens, which got a closeup view of his eye and nosehair. "No, not realy. We have a wolf to guard the place."

The robot gadget spoke up and asked, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Timmie tapped a claw on the camera lens glass. "I'm me. Who are you?" he responded. This reporter said, "I'm from the local paper interviewing this individual. Who are you and what are you doing here, I might ask?" The robot then fell silent.

A quick look around revealed a moderate sized airport with most of the items and services you'd expect. The airport is located at S2 W5. Timmie and Airborne are hoping more flying vehicles make the airport their home, and that more machine based flying takes place on SpinDizzy.

After a long "vacation", Argon, local centaur, is resuming his duties as editor of @Action News.

Mumbling some story about his "job" and not having the time to properly manage the paper, the centaur asked Ba'ar, local bear and Associate Editor, to take on the duties of Editor in his absence. Ba'ar did so, and now that Argon's responsibilities at "work" are under control, Ba'ar will resume concentrating on his regular articles, the survey, Bearing Up, and his weekly interview.

Argon is thankful to Ba'ar for his work and reminds everyone that with our new server, thanks to Findra, (All hail the server bunny!) contributions to @Action News should be e-mailed to newspaper@spindizzy.org.

Auntie Portia was giving dance lessons today in the garden today! It all started when Unka Morticon pulled out a water gun and fired it into the sky, causing rain to come down. As the rain fell, Portia asked Morticon to dance, and they began to waltz together, just as Than, local cutekitten, came in and started playing in the mud puddles from the rain. As Morti was trying to get the hang of the waltz, Than decided to join in, following along with the same steps as Portia. Morticon was caught off-guard as FoxPaws, local fennec fox, cold-nosed Morticon, and Than, seeing a possible dance partner, lifted the nonmorphic FoxPaws onto his hind legs to waltz alongside Morticon and Portia.

Soon into the dance, FoxPaws began to whine, getting uncomfortable from dancing on his hind legs, so Than let him down, after giving him a kiss on the nose. Portia, seeing this, decided to follow along and give Morticon a kiss on the nose as well.

The rain then stopped, and Than went back to pouncing through muddy puddles around the garden, until Portia offered Than a dance with Morticon. Thanny, covered in mud from the puddles, wiped her paws on the grass and then held Morti's hands as she began to waltz with him, Portia moving to Tanuki, and beginning to teach him how to waltz as well.

Suri reported that she uses a different technique for each case. She noted that she is currently working on the house of Argon, local centaur, saying that " It might be possible in his case to knock out the end walls of the basement, and dig a tunnel under the house to allow a bulldozer to push the zinc out. We could also possibly melt the zinc in place, then drain it out through a pipeline, but that probably wouldn't get all of it." Once started, work proceeds very fast and the house is soon zinc free.

According to Suri, zinc's easy to spot. "It's a grey, semi-lustrous metal, often encountered in the form of a brick or ingot. Sometimes it's present as lumps of 'mossy zinc', or as little castings meant to serve as sacrifical anodes in water tanks or boats." she said.

Cost will of course, vary on a case by case basis (financing packages are available). Suri assured me that she treats the zinc in an "eco-friendly" fashion by putting it in her special Zinc Storage Vault, securely buried in a secret location.

Suri encourages all to try her service. After all, she was quoted as saying. "Choosing Suri Zinc Removal Service over Brand X is easy. There is no Brand X!"

"Oh, yes. By the time the journey's through, you'll see things much differently."

Roleplay. Communal storytelling. SpinDizzy has been argued as both a social and a roleplay based MU, and when the dust settled among debaters the coin fell right inbetween. It still spins, flashing gold now and then.

The best-known source of roleplay on SpinDizzy is the SED. Inbetween pie heists and escaping from Tarka, Otter of Doom, Morticon was kind enough to sit down for an interview just a few nights ago to talk about this popular pasttime.

According to the wallaby, creating successful roleplay means remembering your audience. Generally speaking, the most success can be found "with both silly and semi-serious, but the drama-heavy and super-serious ones probably won't do so well here." Public RPs work well when kept to single sessions, as time zones and personal schedules can make it difficult to regather the same group later on. Groups who do meet regularly tend to involve more set and organized groups.

In addition, he advises making use of the existing environment rather than making something up off-world. Using well-known locations (such as the Glimmersea) give immediate tie-ins to players, also. Someone who has been to the Glimmersea has more experience and material to draw from than an entirely new location.

Running roleplays, finding roleplays, and joining in them involves communication and a willingness to participate. The SED runs several private roleplays in addition to public ones, and over its history, SpinDizzy has seen a variety of roleplays take place. The Fen Inn has been host to a variety of Dungeons and Dragons groups as well as GURPs, the Glimmersea is active with cetans, and Airborn, Cassandro, and TImmie are opening up a new Airport. Most roleplay on SpinDizzy tends to rely less on dice systems and more on freeform interaction with the characters, though dice systems aren't uncommon.

So, what's up next on the SED's schedule? According to Morticon, there's "a possibility of an anti-SED group forming later this month, for those who like longer running RPs but not necessarily wanting to be in the SED." Also, a laundromat mystery, and a possible changing of the landscape...but this fossa's muzzle is sealed!

If you're interested in getting involved in the SED, please contact Morticon. If you're more of an aviations person, Airborn, Cassandro, and Timmie are the ones to contact, and you can visit the new SpinDizzy Airport by 'luge to s2 w5.

Graphic graciously supplied by Westly! Thank you, Westly!

Icefox has arrived.

Ba'ar smiles, "Hi there Icefox and thanks for helping me out with my interview."

Icefox smiles back, shrugging. "No problem. You write for the paper?"

Ba'ar nods, "I'm Associate Editor for the paper and I write several columns for the paper. One of them is the one we're doing now-In Step With."

Icefox nods, tail swishing as he sits somewhere comfortable. "I see then. Well, go ahead."

Ba'ar growls, "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?"

Icefox hmmmm's, tailtip swishing. "Just a little more than a month, come to think of it."

Ba'ar growls, "So what brought you to Spindizzy?"

Icefox says, "No great long story here, I fear. A friend of mine suggested that it was a good place to be. I visited a few times, then decided he was right."

Ba'ar cocks his head, "Perhaps I know your friend. Who is he?"

Icefox grins, "Premchaia. A cute cuddly widdle black dragon, and you can quote me on that."

Ba'ar shakes his head, "I know many on Spindizzy, but not Premchaia. Sorry."

Icefox shrugs, "No worries."

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

Icefox hmmm's, "Not really. Right now I'm more or less on vacation, so life isn't too exciting. Hunt down some food, go sailing, get some reading done, maybe get a bit of work done if I feel especially inclined to it."

Ba'ar cocks his head, "Vacation? You have a job here?"

Icefox smiles, "Not here, no."

Ba'ar growls, "If there was one thing you could change about Spindizzy, what would it be?"

Icefox hmmmm's. "More people... maybe. There's sorta a balance between having things going on and making it hard to get to know people."

Ba'ar cocks his head, "What do you mean?"

Ba'ar growls, "Not as many people to run the things that you want to do?"

Icefox says, "Well, if you see the same faces a lot it's really easy to get to know people and make friends. But if there's a lot of people then you know there's always someone new out there to meet."

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

Icefox grins. "Well, that depends. The honest answer would be that I don't know really, and am still getting to know people. I haven't been here that long after all, and I make friends slowly. However, the dishonest answer would be the fair and lovely Portia, but only because I like making her blush."

Ba'ar chuckles, "So who do you admire the least?"

Icefox says, "Hm... you know, I actually hadn't thought of that. I haven't met anyone here who really begs for disdain. One of the things that convinced me to come here in the first place."

Ba'ar nods, "So what's your position on Morticon and his minions of the Society of Evil Doers (SED)?

Icefox earperks. "Morticon! That's his name. He needs to find a good ninja-rental agency. And while his flaming duct-tape paper airplane project is promising, I still feel that there are some fundamental flaws that need to be worked out." The fox grins. "Like the flaming and paper. And, as the aforementioned fair and lovely Portia apparently works for the Society of Evil Doers, I must say that I look forward to becoming more involved with them. It already sounds like the plot for a horrifically bad action movie!"

Ba'ar grins, "Even worse than 'Snakes On A Plane'"

Icefox says, "Well... maybe. More along the lines of one of the really horrid Godzilla rip-offs where the guy in the monster suit has his head come off in the middle of the film."

Ba'ar giggles, "So, do you have any plans for the future?"

Icefox hmmm's. "Plans? Plans, plans, plans........ nope! Not at all, at the moment."

Ba'ar nods, "Is there a secret fact or desire about you that would surprise our readers?"

Icefox ponders for a moment, "Aha! Yes. I, despite being a fox, magical, and quite mischeivous at times, am actually NOT of kitsune descent. Lots of people jump to the wrong conclusions about that."

Ba'ar nods, "In closing, do you have any words of wisdom for our readers?"

Icefox ponders. "Oooh, that's a hard one... I suppose that lacking anything better to say, just always make sure you know where your towel is."

Ba'ar grins, "That and the OTHER classic saw...'Don't Panic'?"

Icefox nods, "Exactly. But if you can induce panic in OTHER people, you're on your way up in the world."

Ba'ar grins, "Good advice that. With that in mind, that concludes our interview. Again Icefox, thanks."

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's worse than 'Snakes On A Plane'?
- Moviegoer

Dear Moviegoer:
'Centaurs At An Airport' of course (no room to move around)!!

Dear Bearing Up:
Why is the next generation console from Nintendo pronounced "We"?
- Mario

Dear Mario:
Because if it were pronounced "why", parents might question why they needed to buy the thing in the first place.

Dear Bearing Up:
You've done so much work for the paper. Why not give yourself a promotion to editor?
- Jason

Dear Jason:
Because Argon would kick me if I did.

Dear Bearing Up:
What's the definition of the word 'gobbledygook'?
- Peter

Dear Peter:
Nonsense words uttered by turkeys!

Dear Bearing Up:
In spite of the lack of hype, "Fursnakes on a Plane" was well attended and got good reviews. Why would a movie with creepy crawly snakes do better than one about soft cuddley furpents?
- Furpent

Dear Furpent:
Because snakes are scary and people love to be scared!

Greetings all, Ba'ar here with the Spindizzy @Action news survey for this week. The Spindizzy Airport is going to have a grand opening soon. What unique niceties would it have that no other airport would?

• Argon says, "The airport security staff would realise that some centaurs wear horseshoes and move on when their "detection wands" go off around their hooves."
• Ba'ar growls, "Massage stations to help ease the tension of harried travelers."
• Icefox says, "Lack of airplanes?"
• Borris Gruffs, "A (Zeppelin?) docking mast."
• Than giggles "A really big plushie store"
• Cora growls, "Security by the SED."
• DTF says, "Flushing toilets so the whole place would be doody-free. (I know, it's a pun worthy of Gilead)"
• Nimble chitters quietly, "An arrival terminal for flying squirrels. ;)"
• Gilead caws, "Newsstands in the restrooms, for the paper-trained passengers."

THIS WEEK'S CAPTION

• Vixie recoiled in horror as she finally comes across someone cuter than she is. - Ba'ar
• I'm cute - Gilead
• Vixie is so cute she makes yellow sparks shoot out of the electrical outlet! - Argon
• Furry Foxy Love Love Monsters! - Than
• Some call me the Foxy of Looovvvveeee.... - Patcho'black
• Ack! Don'cha know those things steal your soul?!? Give me mine back!!! - DTF
• Muck Cuteness seen in the Light of Day - Aushae

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

• One Year Ago - / Gilead's Robot Fox
• Three Years Ago - / Alex Has Narrow Escape

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