Monthly Archives: February 2012

One Good Witch Deserves Another

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Nathan

The theme of the 2011 Oziana is possible explanations for mysteries in the Oz series. We begin with David Tai’s “Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought, Alone,” which gives the Glass Cat’s inner monologue upon having her pink brains replaced … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Jeff Rester, L. Frank Baum, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cats in Black

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Nathan

An old game that I was interested in finding out about is the Black Cat Fortune Telling Game, which appears to have been first released in 1897. Part of the Victorian obsession with fortune-telling, this game consists of twenty-four cards, … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, England, Games, History, Playing Cards | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

That’s So Raven

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Nathan

I’m sure you all know I’m a fan of both Oz and mythology, and I’ve noticed that some writers of apocryphal Oz stories like to combine the two. There’s a fair amount of objection whenever this sort of thing comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Discworld, Jeff Rester, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Terry Pratchett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Wages of Sim Is Death

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Nathan

As I suppose you know if you follow my LiveJournal, I purchased The Sims 3 this weekend, along with the Pets and Late Night expansion packs. As someone who logged a lot of hours playing the first two Sims games, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sims, Video Games | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

We Support the Status Quo

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Nathan

The issue of things not changing much in the Oz series has come up a few times recently, with both Gregory Maguire and John Troutman saying they preferred the first two books because there’s more of a sense of change … Continue reading →

Posted in Futurama, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Tiddlywink Squad

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Nathan

Today, we take a look at a game with a name that suggests it’s not all that serious, but that actually has organizations centered around playing it. I’m referring to tiddlywinks, based on the simple principle of using a disc … Continue reading →

Posted in Games | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Semiramis Kind of Life

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Nathan

Looking back at this Chick Tract dissection, I thought that Jack Chick’s obsession with Semiramis might be worth a post. So who’s Semiramis? And is she related to Harold Ramis, who played Egon in Ghostbusters? I don’t know about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Babylonian, Catholicism, Christianity, Fundamentalism, History, Jack Chick, Mesopotamia, Middle East, Mythology, Religion, Semitic | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shark Raving Mad

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Nathan

I recently came across this post about shape-shifters who take animal forms, and I noticed it mentioned that Pacific Island mythology included shark-men. Considering the proliferation of sharks and werewolves in the modern media, you’d think were-sharks would be more … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Comics, Mythology, Pacific | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Me and Charles Manson Like the Same Ice Cream

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Nathan

I found this post from Alan Cook to be rather interesting. It’s about how Charles Manson interpreted the lyrics from the Beatles’ white album to be about a coming race war, somehow also tied in with the Second Coming. “Helter … Continue reading →

Posted in Conspiracy Theories, Cults, Music, Religion, Scientology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Getting Goosed

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Nathan

An interesting post on Tumblr today inspired this post. And people think Tumblr is just for pictures of naked girls! Okay, it’s for that too, but this particular post was about the fairy tale “The Goose Girl.” I’d read the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Celebrities, Fairy Tales | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment