Monthly Archives: February 2014

Whatever Happened to Predictability?

Matt Keeley alerted Beth and me to the existence of Full House Reviewed, a site that does exactly what it says in the title. Beth occasionally points out to me that there are bad shows she can watch and bad … Continue reading

Posted in Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Reptite Room

Environmentalism is not an uncommon theme in video games, particularly role-playing ones, although admittedly it isn’t always explored in a realistic manner. For instance, in the early Final Fantasy games, restoring the environment is usually accomplished by restoring power to … Continue reading

Posted in Chrono Trigger, Environmentalism, Final Fantasy, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Unheard History of Oz

Two more Oz book reviews for you lucky readers today. Yes, I’m kind of surprised that there are still some I hadn’t yet read, too. The Tales of Yot, by Adam Nicolai – A collection of three short stories that … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Characters, Jack Snow, Jared Davis, L. Frank Baum, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

How to Succeed in Ozian Politics

When Benny, the living statue from Boston in Ruth Plumly Thompson’s The Giant Horse of Oz, arrives in Oz, he asks the Scarecrow if the country is a republic. The straw man replies, “Indeed not! We are a magic monarchy … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Dick Martin, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Politics, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Planting Sheep

Seeing a mention of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary in this Wired article made me realize I’d never addressed this myth on my blog, and while I probably won’t be adding anything new to the existing information, it’s something that’s … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Animals, British, Mythology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Let Our Powers Combine

Ah, Captain Planet. I remember watching that show mostly because my brother would turn it on at, like, 7 AM on Saturday, before any of the other cartoons came on. A bit of well-meaning but obnoxious preachiness from Ted Turner, … Continue reading

Posted in Cartoons, Environmentalism, Television, Video Games | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lorasian Royalty

I follow a few Tumblr pages devoted to the Dragon Quest series, and it’s strange to realize that I was literally playing games from this series before some of the maintainers were born. There was a deal to get the … Continue reading

Posted in Captain N: The Game Master, Cartoons, Dragon Quest, Etymology, Final Fantasy, Magic, Metroid, Television, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Pauper, on the Other Hand, Is Ruling, Strong and Wise

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s three companions all end up as rulers: the Scarecrow of the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman of the Winkie Country, and the Cowardly Lion of the Quadling Forest. In later books, only Nick … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, L. Frank Baum, Onyx Madden/Jim Nitch, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Even in the Most Encroaching of Darkness, There Is Always, Always Oz

I’ve managed to get my hands on a few Oz books recently. In fact, I still have a few more to go. The ones of this batch that I’ve read so far are about as different in tone as possible, … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Characters, Jared Davis, Jeff Rester, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, Magic, Magic Items, Marcus Mebes, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The Crocotta Hunter

With my interest in fantastic creatures of legend, it’s kind of surprising I hadn’t come across the leucrota before reading Rick Riordan’s The Demigod Diaries. This monster is first mentioned in the work of Pliny the Elder in the first … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Authors, Greek Mythology, Heroes of Olympus, Monsters, Mythology, Rick Riordan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment