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Spindizzians of all stripes convened at the house of Cora, local bear, for a holiday party. "It'd been a while since anything big and fun had happened," Cora is quoted as saying, "so I decided to have a little get-together." The party was a well attended affair and featured appearances by such SD luminaries as Argon,local Centaur, Morticon, local jackanapes wallaby and Austin, local coatimundi.

The party began with a special event. Cora had read about the upcoming wedding between Portia and Morticon so she proposed a toast to both of them, wishing them many happy years together. This was echoed by the various guests.

When the party was in full swing, things started to get interesting. Jesu, local fox, started things by bringing out a stick of TNT which Cora swiftly confiscated. Natasha, local coati, followed up by breaking out a tube of Crazy Glue, gluing Jesu to a tree and trying to hit him with a huge toony mallet. Fortunately (for Jesu, anyway), Cora quickly confiscated this as well and things quieted down. "I'll have to prune the guest list next time." Cora is quoted as saying. "I don't need such mischief at my parties."

All in all, a good time was had by all and Cora deemed the party a success. "I'll have to schedule more of these more often." Cora said. "Things ought to be more lively around here."

A seven-foot-tall ball of dark fabric appeared in the Rose Garden and proceeded to engulf several furs. When I investigated, I found myself also drawn into the strange object. Within, it was warm and soft. The furs who'd been captured seemed unharmed. I could hear Morticon and others outside talking about what to do with the ball.

Several furs attempted to free those within. They had little positive effect until Natasha, local cartoon coati, had the idea to consume the fabric of which the ball was comprised. Helped by Shizuka, local human, and perhaps by my own attemtps to shred the ball with my claws from inside, it was unraveled and its prisoners spilled out. It turned out to be some kind of mechanical and electronic device at its core, which gave shocks to any who touched it.

At length, Morticon gave the strange contraption a fierce kick and sent it from the Garden, receiving a shock for his trouble.

A cult with exclusively mink members was uncovered by police in Neopolislast week at the Think Mink store.

The cult, which was having a meeting in a back room at the store, apparently got into a fight of some sort with another group. The resulting noise alerted police, who promptly surrounded the store and raided it. While little of the store remained by the time police arrived, they detained some cult members for later questioning. No charges have currently been filed.

In a related story, a house occupied by minks burned to the ground. Fire fighters are unsure of what caused the blaze.

(Editor's note: Sometimes when you want to take someone to a place, you can use the "carry" program. If character A wants to take character B someplace, character A would enter "Handup B". Character B would then enter "Hopon A". The default message is something along the lines of "B scrambles up on A". But sometimes a tiny mouse or a large dragon finds scrambling onto someone's back inconvinient. Borris has found a way to easily change that message. - Argon)

Borris P. Bear here with a quick tip about the Carry command. Tired of the same old thing every time? Well, there are four variations of the Carry command that are easy to set up and or change when needed.

The standard method is @set me=ride/_mode:carry, this shows that someone you are carrying is actually riding you. And is the default mode for Carry. Next is @set me=ride/_mode:hand, this allows you to have some one take your hand with you use the Carry command. Third is : @set me=ride/_mode:walk, this is good if you want to lead a large group around, as it lets others walk with you. For those who fly, there is even a Carry command for you, it is : @set me=ride/_mode:Fly, this lets others fly with you.

So next time you want to change your Carry command, I hope this helps.

Ho ho ho! Santapaws here to inform the children (and children at heart) of Spindizzy that I will be making a very special visit to Spindizzy.

On Friday December 21st, I'll be holding court in the Rose Garden from the hours of 1800-2000 (MUCK time) to listen to what all the good little cubs and kits of Spindizzy what they want for Christmas.

See you there and of course MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well, 'tis the season, and, you can never have enough parties!

Liz and I were planning to host another Winter holiday dinner party, this month; since Ms. Cora is having her shindig this Friday, we've simply moved the date for ours back to next Thursday, December 20, from 5pm to 8pm (approximately) SD time.

Come visit us at Gepard Manor: tel #12439, [O]rnate Iron [G]ate, [M]anor [G]ate, [F]ront [P]ortico, [F]ront [D]oors, [E]ast [D]oors

One and all are invited; our dining room and the dinner board can accommodate everybody! We hope to see YOU there!

Happy Holidays!
-Elizabeth and Ray

I am happy to invite all to an inauguration ball to properly start the office of mayor.

The ball will start Wednesday December 19 at 8 pm muck time.

The next day at 10 am Airborn will present an air show. The inauguration ball will start from Springboard Town Plaza, which will be park of the day.

I saw The Golden Compass over the weekend. I'd heard a lot about it and decided to see what the fuss was all about. I was expecting an adventure movie rather reminiscent Lord of The Rings and I was not disappointed. Briefly put, the movie told the story of an alternate universe ruled by a quasi religious group called The Magerium and a little girl's quest to free children that have been kidnapped by said groups.

The casting was excellent. Newcomer Dakota Blue Richards made an excellent Lyra, playful and mischievous one moment and brave and fearless the next. Nicole Kidman, on the other hand, made an excellent Marisa Coulter, conveying a sweet and kind surface that belied a cold and controlling core.

The special effects were excellent as well, and effectively helped to convey the illusion of an alternate universe of souls manifesting themselves as anthropomorphic animals and talking polar bears.

I'd heard about the movie's 'anti religious' bias, and though the movie had the anti-religion angle toned down, it still was a prominent part of the movie. The Golden Compass, is very much the "anti-Narnia", with the allegorical Magerium representing the church in its grab for power and control of the populace (and knowledge itself) throughout history as well as the learned people who quest for further knowledge about the world around them outside the church.

In summary, is it worth seeing? All in all, the Golden Compass is a great movie. Just check your religious beliefs at the door and enjoy!

Again, my request for help with @Action News really worked. We have another good paper this week with a lot of interesting articles, and I didn't any of them!

So keep it up! Send in articles and observations and little stories about the things going on here. Thanks to all who sent in articles and don't forget to send in more to newspaper@spindizzy.org!

• Ba'ar here. My caption contest entry is..."Hug me."
• Nimble chitters quietly, "Happy panda has run out of happy?"
• Borris Gruffs, "What did I eat?"
• Toledo says, "Oh geez, not this s*** again."
• PatchO'Black looks at the picture, "How about "o/` I'll have a blue, blue Christmas.... o/`"
• Gilead chirps, "I can't...believe I ate...the whole bamboo stand..."
• Austin huhs. "Muppet Surplus?"
• DTF does the caption. "Oh poo... at the vet's again. I just _knew_ she was gonna stick the thermometer there..."

Welcome, brothers and sisters, for another sermon from the ol’ Four-Kolor Kitty. With only one more week till Christmas, I thought we would look at angels in comic books. Hold on to your halo, and here we go!

We will start with a character that is simply known as Angel, though he is actually one of the merry mutants of Marvel’s X-Men.

Born Warren Kenneth Worthington III, he is the son of a wealthy industrialist. He was attending a private school when, in his teen years, he started growing wings from his shoulder blades. Knowing that being in high school, if you are different you are going to get picked on, he tried to hide his new-feathered limbs. However, when a fire broke out in his dormitory, he used a costume and wig from the drama department to disguise himself as (what else?) an angel to rescue his schoolmates. He then created the identity of the Avenging Angel, until he was approached by Professor X, at which time he got the shorter code-name of Angel.

Since then, he has had his wings cut off by anti-mutant forces, re-grown with razor-sharp blade-feathers by the evil Apocalypse and renamed Death (as one of his four Horsemen), rejoined the side of good as Dark Angel, then changed his name to Archangel, then finally regained his original physiology and is once again known as Angel.

For a true angelic super-hero, let us slip over to the DC Universe. We need look no further than one Zauriel, Member of Eagle Host of Heaven and former Guardian Angel.

Zauriel serves “The Presence”, which is his term for God. From the beginning of time, he was assigned to guard the souls of many women. He has watched over Cleopatra, Mona Lisa, and Joan of Arc. However, he fell in love with his last assignment. At the same time, he learned that the King-Angel of the Bull Host, Asmodel, was going to try to succeed where Lucifer had failed and lead a revolt in Heaven. In an attempt to both win the lady he loved and stop this renegade angel, he asked that he be allowed to leave his post in Heaven to live on Earth. His request was reluctantly granted, and he came to Earth. While he did not end up getting the girl, he did help save both Heaven and Earth from Asmodel. He was then given his own headquarters known as the Aeire floating above Los Angeles, and a heavenly suit of holy armor, using technology that could only be created by divine minds.

While he is known for working with the JLA, lately he has been seen with the supernatural heroes of the ShadowPact, taking the place of the Blue Devil. Zauriel is quite powerful, able to fly at great speeds, unleash a sonic scream of devastating strength, a flaming sword, incredible knowledge of things of a mystical nature, can perform minor miracles such as parting the Red Sea, and can even recover from fatal injuries. Not to mention, when he says he has friends in high places, he means it!

Zauriel isn’t the only angel on the planet though. In fact, for a while, Supergirl was an angel as well. Now, this isn’t the Supergirl of days gone by who was Superman’s cousin. No, this Supergirl came from another universe, created by an alternate version of Lex Luthor to stop a trio of Kryptonian criminals.

This version of the Maid of Steel was made of protoplasm, who after coming to the Post-Crisis Earth, merged with a young woman who was dying in an attempt to save her. In addition to becoming a combined being, the new Supergirl eventually became an “earth-born angel” She gain the ability to create wings of flame, gained a fiery version of heat-vision, and could teleport in a burst of fire, leaving behind S-shaped line of flames in the air.

Eventually, however, The protoplasmic Supergirl and her human host were separated, with the being formally known as Supergirl embracing her angelic status to be the earth-born Angel of Fire, and her human half taking over as a new Supergirl.

And I think that will close out this little slice of heaven of a column for now. Remember, if you have a comic book question you are praying will be answered, or have a vision of a topic you would like to have us look at, just page #mail PatchO’Black. Until next time, see you in the funny pages!

Q: What do you call a pair of young flower pals?
A: Best buds.

Q: What is it important for a plant to tell its buds before they blossom?
A: All about the birds and the bees.

Q: Did you hear the story about the pollen grain and the pistil?
A: It's a flowery love story.

Q: Why didn't the stamens go to see Terms of Endearment?
A: They heard it was a pistil flick.

Q: What do you call a foreign spiky desert plant?
A: A cactthem.

Q: What do you call an angry plant part?
A: A glower.

Q: Why did the sickly plant just die where it was?
A: It couldn't leave.

Q: What is the wisest plant saying?
A: The love of money is the foot of all evil.

Q: What did the old tree say to his seedlings when they asked him for a Wii?
A: Hey, money doesn't grow on animals.

Q: What are the biggest political debates in the plant kingdom?
A: The stem cell debate, the leaf cell debate, the root cell debate, the petal cell debate, ...

Q: Where do plants go to pick up flowers of the evening?
A: Seedy bars in the red photosynthesis district.

Q: What plant is constantly annoyed by Ernest P. Worrel?
A: Ferne.

Q: How do you get a grass's attention?
A: Yell, "Hay!"

Q: How do sea otters keep from floating away when they go to sleep?
A: They get by with a little kelp from their friends.

• Leowulf says, "They didn't have armor in his size-or they wouldn't let him keep his own hat."
• Terry puffs, "Um... because he doesn't have any armor?"
• Darius says, "Well, Borris Probably didnt get his phone call back after the interview, since they don't have cell phone service where he lives."
• Eliahn says, "'cause he burps in public! That's not decorous."
• Andros yips, "There was concern that he would mallet and eat the production crew."
• Ba'ar says, "He was too nice."
• DTF waves to Fala and ponders the survey question. "Too much gas to create the "northern lights" effect."
• Portia says, "Because Gold is much more his colour."
• Argon says, "Who says he wasn't?"
• Gilead says, "He was too busy snuggling with Dingo to audition."
• And the real reason why Borris didn't get picked to be an 'Iron Bear'....?
  Borris Gruffs, "Is because did not get proper documentation of being able to work with humans, aka, no shot records,"

Argon at his computer working on the paper. Thanks for the great picture, Carlos!

Got something that You'd like to contribute to @Action News, but aren't sure if You should, or how to do it? Just get in touch with Argon, Skyler, or Findra, and they'll be happy to help! Here are some basic guidelines, though.

Contributing a story or artwork for @Action News is easy! Just send it to newspaper@spindizzy.org, or qmail/pagemail Argon, Findra, or Skyler, with Your article!

• @Action News is published weekly sometime on Sunday.
• Articles received after midnight Pacific time on Saturday may be held and published in the next edition of @Action News.
• Most any type of story or article of interest to SpinDizzy's newspaper readers 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