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After the publication of last week's 400th edition of @Action News, Argon, local centaur and current editor of, was suprised when summoned by the current Mayor of SpinDizzy, Beltrami, local balloon and Portia, local red panda and Deputy Mayor.

The centaur found a large crowd had gathered and her honor, along with Portia, , called him up on stage. Beltram and Portia told Argon that, on behalf of SpinDizzy and its ctizens, they wanted to present the paper with a Certificate of Appreciation. Beltrami held the certificate up for all the crowd to see and they "Ooohed!" and "Ahhed" at the award, which reads:

        +-----------------------------------------------------------+
        |      The City of Spindizzy presents its congratulations,  |
        | its appreciation, and its admiration to the staff and the |
        | editors of @Action News on the occasion of its 400 issue. |
        | The newspaper has been and continues to be an institution |
        | in which the residents of the City take pride.            | 
        |                                                           |
        |                Beltrami               Portia              |
        |                Mayor                  Deputy Mayor        |
        +-----------------------------------------------------------+

Argon was suprised by the outpouring of good wishes by the crowd and when asked for a speech noted that the certificate had been earned by a number of editors, writers, artists, and all of the residents of SpinDizzy who had done what the paper had reported. He then thanked the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor for the honor on behalf of all the folks who had made @Action News possible.

The Certificate of Appreciation was proudly placed with the Pulitzer Prizes many other awards the paper had been given throughout its over 10 year history in the 'paper' offices off Centaur Square (cs).

It was a boring Tuesday afternoon. The birds were singing, the idlers idling, and the centaurs running. It was then that Argon proposed a race between Zen, local demon mouse, and Nyni, local shapeshifting unicorn. The course was simple: one lap around the park of the day, with the finish line set as the pulling of Darius' tail. With Argon acting as judge, the two began.

From the start of the race, the two were close. Zen's demonic power lent to his speed, but the little unicorn kept up her best. Several times, Zen pulled ahead, only to trip and let Nyni pass her. As they weaved through the trees, it seemed like it could be anybody's game.

By the end, the race seemed to be in Zen's favor as he gave a final burst of speed in his rush to the finish line. In his rush, however, he bowled over Darius, leaving the mouse stunned and unable to find the right appendage to pull. By the time Nyni got over to pull the tail, Darius fled into the bushes in a flurry of angry hisses. After several minutes of decision, the race was called in Nyni's favor, as she managed to touch the right limb.

And so as the race came to a close, Nyni was crowned winner of the day, though sort of by default. It was a glorious victory, however, one that would be remembered for ages to come, or at least until next week.

A story circle seemed to start out of the blue in one of the daily "Parks of the Day" (Another event that has been met with quite a bit of enthusiasm,) Zen, Nyni, Jimun, Argon, Ping, and Borris all took part in creating the following tale.

Once upon a time, there was a mousie! He was a cute little mousie, with brown fur and bright eyes. He was a cheerful mousie, who usually laughed and smiled all the time.

One day, this mousie went to find the mysterious cheese that was lost in the dark forest of his back yard! First he looked under the potted fern which his momma grew. But under the fern, he found only a worm. The mousie shakes his head and set the fern down, looking for another place to look.

This time he checked in his daddy's tool shed. Inside he found all kinds of tools which looked rather scary to a young little mousie. He took a deep breath but didn't smell any cheese. He began nosing around, sniffing and looking. The mousie sniffled and snuffed, but found nothing but his daddy!! And so he looked around for another place to find the cheese.

Next he wondered if it was in one of the trees in his back yard. He found a tree that had big branches that could hide cheese. But a chittering squirrel made him decide to look elsewhere.

The mousie looks for another place to search, this time he decided to look in his mommy's garden! Looking through his mother's flowers, however, the aroma of the blossoms drowned out evertyhign else he could smell. He sniffed at a Venus Fly Trap which nipped his nose! The mouse then thinks, where would cheese be..?

In the Dairy Of Course! The mousie runs back to the tool shed to see if his dad would take him to a Dairy, but his father seemed a bit busy. Because Daddy was a bit busy, he went to look for his momma, but she wasn't home. The little mouse was sad! How would he find the cheese now? He thought and thought. Where do his mommy and daddy mousie find the cheese they get? He thought, perhaps they make the cheese!

The mouse thought and ran about the house, not sure where his parents were and so he looked in the kitchen! They were not there, but momma had left a note on the fridge. The mouse looked up at the note, but it was a little too high for him, so he started jumping and making grabs at it. The mousie stopped and gathered his wits. Ah ha! He thought and he pushed a chair over to the fridge. The mouse hopped up on the chair, tugged on the note, and read it. It says, 'To do: Buy more cheese'. The mousie looked and smiles. How silly of him, looking outside in a garden for cheeze... he chuckles and hops off the chair to wait for his mother to arive home.

Several hours later, his momma still hadn't returned yet. The mousie started to worry! He began to search around the house for his mommy! He looked all over the downstairs and then the upstairs. He looked outside and saw the mousie car was gone. He looked up and down the street. Then the mouse heard a strange noise outside, though it was fimilar. Hearing the noise, he looked outside to see what was causing it.

Outside... he saw the neighbor mowing his lawn. The mouse looked beyond the neighbor and saw his mommy in the mouse car heading home! The mousie was realy happy and bounced up and down! He couldn't wait for his cheeze to come!!! As his momma opened the door, he could smell the cheese she brought home. The mouse jumped up and down, happy to see that his mommy had the cheese he had craved so bad!!!

His mother smiled, "Sorry to keep you waiting dear. I brought the cheese." he mousie nuzzles his mommy, "It's ok..." He smiles, watching her prepare the cheese for the both of them. She went into the kitchen and cooked up some grilled cheese sandwhiches. The mousie bounded behind and watched as his mom made his favorite snack!! Momma smiled, taking the sandwhich over to the table. "Here you go," she says, "Eat up!" The mousie sat at the table and started to eat his sandwitch. He smiles as his mother comes by and hugs him from behind.

Soon after his father came into the kitchen as well, rubbing a hand on the small mouse's head fur, "Hehe, watcha got there?" The mousie smiles and chuckles, tearing off a pieces for his mother and father to have. The mousie smiles and hands his parents a small slice of the cheese.

He starts to think to himself, and then smiles, "How did you know I wanted cheese?" His mother laughs, "Hehe, well, why else would you be in my garden?" His father chuckles and nods, "Hehe, and why would you bee in the tool shed? You do that every time you want cheese!" The small mousie chuckles and grins. He nods his head, but then starts to think. Maybe he was after the cheese, maybe not... but he knew he loved his parents very much and would search every unturned fern, tool shed, or garden to get to find them.

It’s strange to think of it that way but Spindizzy is an old muck. We call it new, and that it replaced an older muck, but it has been around longer and has a far more glorious history then the one before it could ever dream. Me, I have been here sense the beginning and have seen it grow and settle down with so many of my friends.

Enough of that though and time to get to something of interest for all, the original location for the SED secret headquarters that existed moments after Spindizzy came to be. Many have wondered… and many probable still wonder where it could have been. Sadly, the command equipment and map have been removed now, but the area still exists to this day and is still hidden away from prying eyes.

Some people have gone on expeditions deep into the wilds of Spindizzy looking for it… traveling the grid in the less used areas… looking near the edge of the world… hoping beyond hope that it might be found. Well, you were all wrong, its right next to the rose garden.

The secret, long forgotten by all but this old otter, is as simple as the initials of the Society of Evil Doers. From the rose garden… you go “S”outh once, Then “E”ast once and finally… you go to the “D”read Lair of Evil. In other works. S.E.D.

Enjoy!

Back at my home in Florida on Earth, a tropical storm hit the state and, along with several other SpinDizzians from there, we witnessed a very long, very wet storm.

Coming together in the Southern Carribean, "Fay" wandered around and meteorologists never seemed to be able to correctly predict its path. After crossing over Cuba, "Fay" made landfall in Florida a total of 14 times. Its first landfall occuring on December 24, 2007 and raining steadily until October 31, 2008.

Although high winds and tornadoes sporadically accompanied "Fay", the big story was the amount of rainfall. A record breaking 2 miles of water covered the state by the time the storm was done. Low temperatures accompanying the storm brought sightings of ice bergs in Miami Beach. Folks in Key West waited for them to float south for the making of giant margaritas.

One unforseen benefit to the storm was a unique method of saving gasoline. Many "mobile homes" or house trailers were flooded. Although inconvinient and a loss for some, others took advantage of their RV's being flooded and added paddle wheels and steam engines to their mobile homes to go river cruising. Rather than being fueled by expensive gasoline, they were powered by wood and coal.

Some enterprizing Native Americans took this idea one step further and made floating gambling boats from their mobile homes. Installing bars, roulette wheels, and slot machines, they've taken a bad situation and made a succesful business from it.

So that's the story of tropical storm "Fay". Hopefully, it'll be the last on of this year. On Earth anyway!

Hello dears, it's your party maven Cora. It's been quite a while since there have been any parties so let's have one!

I'm throwing a Labor Day bashat my place (T #2086). It'll be held on September 1st starting at 20:00 (8:00 PM) muck time and going until the last guest leaves. Come one come all because there will be fun and food for all.

I hope to see you there dears!

As a 'mousician', Zen loves to make songs and record! He will take requests and do his best to get the song done in a resonable amount of time.

With that said, what does this 'mousician' play? Zen's played the keyboard ever scince he was 5 years old. His first keyboard was a Yamaha PSR-80 that he still has to this day. He currently plays on a much better keyboard, but come time of his high school graduation, he will have the $4000 Tyros 2!

He has been playing tombone for a long time as well. Zen played the trombone for about 8 years and is very decent at playing it. Then he also plays guitar, bass, and the trapset, each having been played for about a year.

What style does I play? Well, I am willing to stretch and play almost any kind of music you could think of. My main genres though are techno, rock, and jazz. So far, every song that I have recorded has been me and me alone, so they are not high quality, but still sound good. Hope you enjoy! If you want a song, just ask and I'll try to make one up for you. The one and only mousician, Zen Fetcher. n.n

Well, I have to take a lil break as in I haven't played any current major games lately.

Well, time for a small theme... dragons

Yes, there have been many dragons in video games and its time that some of them get their due.

The first one, to memory that I remember is "The Dragonlord"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l5oG8FF_5A

The big boss of "Dragon Warrior". After many hours of fighting and struggling, you arrive at this fight! He gives you a choice though... do you rule the world with him... or fight. Well, I personally would prefer to fight myself. As a final boss, he's a pain in the butt! His death is a welcome end to the game!

Of course, you always have to include "Spyro" if you talk about dragon games!

He's the main character in the series! A small, purple dragon with a lot of spunk, attitude and abilities. He has saved may dragons and fireflies in his day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqmCLCPe4gA&feature=related

Just beware of his lovely breath and even worse headbutt!

Let alone, if you're talking about dragons, Final Fantasy, as a series, is full of them! From the regular enemies to the all encompasing summon, BAHAMUT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPnsJPb-2Ho&feature=related

Each game is different, even the remakes! You can fight Bahamut in Final Fantasy IV at one area with your entire crew, and another place for Kain's salvation! Then again there are three versions of Bahamut in Final Fantasy VII.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7OdCqJjN28

Of course, there is another game that comes with dragons, the series known as "Lunar".

You start with one young boy who dares to dream to become the "Dragonmaster" and he needs to gather the dragons support for his strength to defend the goddess "Althena". Thoughout the game, you gather the support of various allies who lend you their strength as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay7DCjZNjPY&feature=related

During your travels, you get the support of the white, red, blue and black dragons! They each have their strengths and personalities. Just be wary ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyPcxUJQUUk&feature=related

I especially love Lunar because of its clever twists and turns in the story line and how many of the characters can jump the line of twilight so often! It even had a bit of "eyecandy" for both guys and gals!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySESWeKO7TM&feature=related

Oh to hell with it! This game is my next review... but.. which Lunar shall I choose!

Zoie - The Magic Empress!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the newspaper this week!

Special thanks go to:

Argon, for the report on the @Action News Certificate of Appreciation,
Nyni, for the article on the "big race",
The folks in the impromptu story circle for the story about the mouse,
Tarka, for the secret to where the SED's headquarters is,
Argon, for the somewhat enhanced report on the storm back at his home,
Cora, for her announcement about her Labor Day party,
Zen, for his article about being a "Mousician",
Zoie, for her "Classic Gaming" article,
Patch O'Black for his story on "Dial H for Hero",
Gilead, for his puns,
Ba'ar, for the survey,
and, Gilead, for a Doze Garden cartoon.

Welcome to another Four-Kolor Kitty. This week, we will once again take a trip back to the Silver Age of Comics to begin a look at a unique little entry in Super-Hero History known as “Dial H For Hero”. It was an interesting idea, and one that would be remembered for some of the lamest super-heroes ever!

We begin out story in the year of 1966. DC Comics is faced with a dilemma. One of their comics, House Of Mystery, is floundering. So, they need to pepper it up with something new and exciting! Suddenly, a brainstorm! Perhaps it is that the comic’s current star, The Martian Manhunter, isn’t giving the readers enough variety. Let’s make a comic that features new and different super-heroes each issue! Brilliant! They even came up with a semi-inventive way to do it.

In issue #156 of the series, readers were introduced to Robert “Robby” Reed. A bespectacled youth, he lived in the town of “Littleville”, which leads me to believe it is not a major city. Anyway, while walking home one day, young Robby falls into a cavern and finds an odd dial with strange symbols on it. Being quite bright, he manages to decipher some of the writing, translating them to letters, and four of them are H, E, R, and O. Imagine that!

Before you can say “Sockamagee” (which Robby said quite often), he is spelling out HERO, and, ta-da, is transformed into a superhero! For his first time out, he becomes “Cometeer”, ably to fly at high speeds, as well as become gaseous. This was to be followed by some of the most embarrassing super-heroes ever. Okay, aside from the name, “Giantboy” wasn’t so bad, but who thought “The Human Starfish” would make for a great crime-fighting persona?

Oh, that’s not all, folks. How about “Mighty Moppet”? That’s right, he became a pint-sized ankle-bitter. He had milk bottles that, when he squirted criminals with it, reduced them down to toddlers as well, at which time the wee hero could pound on them. There’s exciting action for you!

Oh! How about King Kandy? With his licorice lariat and lollypop bombs, that’s sure to get super-villains quivering in fear! He was especially effective against evil dentists.

Then there was Howzit, who was a living pinball machine that had to feed himself a coin before he could use his powers.

How about the Human Buzzsaw, whose whirling blades could allow him to cut through almost anything, but also made him drowsy with their continuous buzzing noise?

Anyway, a little under 20 issues of this, the writers finally came up with a thought. And that thought was “What we’re we thinking when we came up with these ideas?” Robby Reed and his dial was moved to a back-up feature in a couple of different comics and, eventually disappeared. However, that wasn’t the last we would see of him, or of the hero dial….

However, we will pick up this story another time, as we wrap up this edition. Remember, we are always looking for suggestions for future issues, so page #mail PatchO’Back with those ideas! Until next time, see you in the funny pages!

Q: How does a three-toed sloth get into shape?
A: It stops hanging out at the mall food court with a three-toed gluttony, and starts hanging out in the gym with a three-toed pride, a three-toed lust, and a three-toed wrath.

Q: Why did the mother kangaroo join a gym after her joey moved out?
A: To lose the pouch paunch.

Q: How can you tell when a bear is in shape for winter?
A: The shape it's in is "round."

Q: How can you tell when your coati needs more food?
A: The ribs show on its nose.

Q: How can you tell when your otter needs more food?
A: It's awake.

Q: How does an orca lose a few tons of blubber?
A: He switches to eating Ba-Lean whales.

Q: How did the squirrel develop a weight problem?
A: She spent all summer putting away nuts.

Q: How did the otter shed ten pounds fast?
A: He dried his fur.

Q: How can a necromancer tell when his skeletons are getting too thin?
A: He can no longer feel their ribs.

Q: How does a ferret lose weight?
A: She drags it behind the dresser and notices something new.

Q: How does a vixen stay in shape?
A: She does as many tail-ups as she can manage, every day.

Q: How do you make a fox thin?
A: Wrap all of it but the ears in your hands, squeeze towards the ears, and call it a fennec.

Q: What's a kangaroo's favorite Olympic swimming event?
A: The Australian Hop.

Q: What's an otter's favorite Olympic swimming event?
A: It's a toss-up between the victory banquet, and changing in the co-ed locker room.

Q: What's a cheetah's favorite event at the Olympics?
A: Girls' gymnastics, same as everyone else. Their low breeding rate is purely genetic.

Q: What do you call the new Olympic event consisting of swimming, sliding, and power biting?
A: The Otterthlon.

Q: What do you call the new Olympic event consisting of walking, trotting, cantering, and galloping?
A: The Centaurthlon.

Q: How does a centaur lose 200 pounds fast?
A: He bucks his rider off.

Q: How does a bear lose hundreds of pounds?
A: Winter.

Q: How does a fly lose weight?
A: He stops eating so much crap between meals.

Q: How did the young fly realize he had an eating problem?
A: He just couldn't take any more crap from his family at mealtime.

Q: Why didn't the big cat lose any weight even though he swore he was laying off the between-meal zebras?
A: Obviously, he was lion.

And a joke:
Two flies are sitting on a dog dropping, when one of the flies suddenly passes wind. "Dammit, you're disgusting!" says the other fly, "Can't you see I'm eating?!?"

Hi folks, here's the latest Spindizzy @Action news survey. Are you watching the Olympics?

• Ba'ar says, "Heck no. I'm avoiding the games like the plague."
• DTF ponders "Depends on how you define watching. Is it on? Yes. Am I paying attention to it? Not consistently".
• PatchO'Black mews, "Not really. To be honest, I've never been much of a sports fan."
• Natasha says, "The Chinese dictatorship's scrambling to keep up appearances is more entertaining than any sporting event."
• Dingo says, "Yes."
• Argon says, "I like watching them as much as Darius likes having his tail pulled."
• Zen smiles, "Well... I only watched for a while, but then I quit when I saw USA loose both the men's and women's 100 X 4."
• Borris Gruffs, "Yes, now and then."
• Nyni says, "Don't watch anything on TV."

Got something that You'd like to contribute to @Action News, but aren't sure if you should, or how to do it? Here are some basic guidelines.

Contributing a story or artwork for @Action News is easy! Just send it to newspaper@spindizzy.org!

• @Action News is published weekly sometime between Sunday and Wednesday each week, although the date of publication may vary.
• 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