Oh Christmas Tree!

Geektopia is being decorated for the holidays! I was invited to a little party the other day to enjoy the scenery and a little bit of skating as well. It was a nice opportunity to chat with some friends and make some new ones. BluegrassTIGGS has done a great job with this place. Just check out that tree!! Those ornaments! Some serious effort went into this. It looks awesome, Tiggs!


After visiting with Tiggs at Geektopia, Dihtri and I took her to meet Mr. Blinky. Can you believe she'd never met him before? Well, Blinky was glad I introduced her. He always enjoys meeting new friends.
Because Mr. Blinky is the silent type, Dihtri and I had to tell his story to Tiggs. Although, in all honesty, one look into those eyes of his reveals far more than any words can:
Tiggs was very curious about Blinky and asked him many, many questions but, as usual, Blinky steadfastly and stubbornly refused to respond with so much as a word.
But I did catch him eyeing Tiggs...
As is usually the case each time I visit Blinky, I learned something new about him. Ever try to send him an e-mail? Well, the error you get is rather peculiar: "pWebAvatarFactory_->Get(108891507) returned NULL: Numrows is 0." Basically, the method calling a lookup on Mr. Blinky's DOID received a NULL in reply. That's geek speak for Mr. Blinky doesn't exist.

Jon Quixote was There!

Don't Touch That!

Hey Jon, what's this flashy red light mean?
Don't touch that Dihtri!

Jon Quixote was There!

New Evidence Surfaces About the Blue Concrete

Yielding to the demands of a large portion of members loosely associated with the There Preservation Group, the staff have begun to release previously classified documents from beta, some of which have shed light on the circumstances surrounding the creation of our massive ocean of blue concrete.

According to portions of certain declassified documents, it would appear Justin and I were on the right track with our Theregen theory which is recorded in this entry. Previous theories about the blue concrete typically surround a giant drain which lies mysteriously unplugged out in the middle of the ocean. Although such theories may explain the absence of any water on Theria, each fails miserably to explain the presence of the blue concrete. In our ramblings, however, Justin and I stumbled upon a theory which adequately explains both the disappearance of the water existing in the beta days as well as the formation of the blue concrete we are so acquainted with at present.

One evening back in February of this year, while pondering about Mr. Blinky's need for the bottles of SPF 10,000 I so frequently leave him, I came to believe that planet Theria had little ozone left in its atmosphere as a direct result of all the vehicle emissions and, therefore, provided insufficient protection for Mr. Blinky's fair skin. To this, Justin commented that we actually do not know what fuel our buggies burn and, therefore, what kind of emissions are given off. Do they burn a fossil fuel? Could they possibly use a Thereite byproduct? Justin speculated on the possibility of developing an energy-efficient means of utilizing the Theregen molecule to produce a low-emissions vehicle. We then wondered if this had already been done. It is possible, we surmised, that all the Theregen could have been extracted from There's oceans for use as buggy fuel. This certainly would have accounted for the blue concrete. This theory of ours is confirmed in the now declassified portions of the following memo:


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INTEROFFICE MEMO

FROM: Vash

TO: Samsyn

SUBJECT: On the theoretical extraction of the Theregen molecule (___) from our oceans to produce a more energy-efficient buggy fuel to alleviate the growing concerns of our beta testers.

Samsyn, I was up all night puzzling over the recent issue brought up in the beta forums regarding the pollution that the current set of test buggies produces. I think you were on the right track with the ___ molecule. We could potentially extract it from ____ ____ ________ ___ ___ ___ _____ _ ____, as _______ suggested, but I believe that would be extremely costly and _____ would, no doubt, throw a fit. Where else might we find such an abundant source of Theregen? It hit me like a brick: The oceans, Samsyn, the oceans!! I ran it by a chemical engineer friend of mine, ___ ______ over at _____ Industries, and he estimated that, given the chemical makeup of our water and the unique bonding behavior of Theregen, we could extract 87.2% of the molecule in its natural state. The remaining molecules would coalesce into an extremely dense bluish hued substance. _____ ____ ______ _____ __ ___ __________ ___ _____ __ ____ _______ ____ _____ __ _______ ________ ____. Even so, we would 'kill two birds with one stone', so to speak. Recall the numerous reports from members who wadded out a bit too far into the water? On the downside, according to ___ ______, we would invariably have to restore what Theregen we remove from the oceans to prevent


----------------


At the time, we hardly realized the implications of that fleeting discussion between Justin and I. Oh, if only Mr. Blinky had communicated this to us! A mere wink, a nod, a chicken dance, anything to signal the importance of our discovery! Surely Mr. Blinky keeps countless secrets from those dark days before public beta! But alas, he remained motionless as ever, longingly staring out into the vast blue yonder.

The remainder of the memo references another extremely cryptic document with regards to a restoration process currently underway. From what little we can understand of this document, the restoration of the removed Theregen molecules is vital to the stability of the planet's ecosystem and efforts to that end have only recently proved successful. It would seem Theria is now in immediate danger and the staff members are working overtime with a group of chemical engineers on a process for reintegrating most of the extracted Theregen and restoring our oceans to their previous state.

Still other declassified memos have us completely baffled. We are working around the clock decrypting them and are confident we will be able to ascertain their meaning before long.


----------------


INTEROFFICE MEMO

FROM: Vash

TO: Samsyn

SUBJECT: To remember is to persevere.

'cluck 'cluck 'cluck


----------------


There are still hundreds of these declassified documents which have yet to see the light of day! Sifting through them is a tall order for any man, but the search for truth must continue for the sake of avies all across Theria.

Jon Quixote was There!

Metaphysical discourse between two anthropomorphic bicarbonate vessels on the topic of discarnate substrata in There

So I said to netrider6: "Hey net, did you ever stop to think about the pataphysical implications of the rapid linear motions of an incorporeal elastic form about an equilibrium position while its perturbed mass of bubbles of air in a matrix of liquid film precipitate towards a spitbox?"

The look on net's face at that moment defies all explanation. I reproduce it for you here, in all its frothy glory. Click to enlarge:
Just as he was about to respond, a peculiar atmospheric phenomenon passed by in our immediate vicinity resulting in the most absurd personification of a flaming banana and a root burp. In retrospect, the anomaly bears a striking resemblance to those mentioned here, here, here, here, and here.

Such were the results:

Pardon me, but you're the most gorgeous steaming hunk of bicarbonate I've ever seen! We should go out some time. Oh why thank you, I come in seven different flavors. Might I have a taste? Certainly, help yourself!

Oh my, your bicarbonate is showing!

Is that your bicarbonate or are you just happy to see me?

From that point, it didn't take long at all for the situation to deteriorate into... well, just take a look for yourself:

Watch the floating disembodied mugs' dance ritual!

As the atmospheric phenomenon responsible for all this nonsense finally began to disperse, an electromagnetic wave, which must have been riding the tail end of the phenomenon, suddenly and without warning smashed into us causing what was perhaps the most interesti-

Jon Quixote was There!

Winter Retreat

A couple days ago I decided it was about time for a small, portable winter paz. Sure, I can pitch my tent just about anywhere but it offers little protection against Frosty's raging winter storms (and oh, how the storms are a'raging!) So I jumped in the snow and began building myself an igloo. And a couple snowmen while I was at it. And a secret stash of snowballs just in case Buff drops by. I had forgotten how expensive paz building can be! Fortunate are ye designers who actually earn a profit from your designs! Pity the unfortunate penniless avie such as myself! It took me a long while to hunt for cheap decorations for the paz, but it was time well spent. I'm happy with the results. A million thanks to JoAnn for all your help! Eye candy? Click to enlarge if ye must!

Jon Quixote was There!

There Film Festival

My favorite videos from the current There Film Festival. Okay, I like them all. Sue me. These are loads of fun to watch in-world at our brand spankin' new theaters! Don't miss out!

Wild Griefer by Francis_7
Banshee_Kate rocks! I can't get enough of this video, I love it!


There Goes Our Lives by Disky
High-larious!


It's All There by Elaur
Can't forget E! I voted for you!


A Bad Day for Mr Penguin by Natalia Price
There is absolutely no point to this video. At all. It's so great!!!


An Amazing Day in There by Chagall
Dihtri really likes this one.


There Gathering by Antaios
And I think the music in this one is great.


Machinima in There by Rick Slick

Jon Quixote was There!

Memoirs of an Almost Two Year Old Avie

My avie was born into There on November 30th, 2004. That makes me nearly two years old now! I figure it's about time for a look back at all the good times passed. It'd be impossible to get all 1,298 screenshots to date up here, I'm probably pushing my storage limit as it is, so here's some, ok a lot, of my fondest memories. If you're on dialup, don't even bother. This post will likely fry your computer. Otherise, enjoy! And as always, click to enlarge.

Ain't I a beaut! So new and full of excitement over this new-found world.

My first freestyle hoverboard. Transportation would never be the same.

My first There-buddy, JoAnn. She picked me up the moment I set foot on Therian soil and started showing me the sights! Don't ask what we're doing here, I haven't a clue.

My dog, Rocket. He actually followed me way up there! He's such an obedient dog.

Who says avies don't feel pain!

Oh, how I miss my treehouse.

Vroom vroom! Fastest stroller in There!

Woah! There go my pants!

The crew on one of many Massive Hoverboat Flotillas. MJ, Buff_God, MustangGirl, and myself.

The first time I ever emptied a drink. Boy, was that a surprise!

The very first time I met g0d!

Me n' ol' Roy goofin' around.

No panic zone.

Can you guess who that is? Need a hint? Does the DOID number look familiar?

The mother of all glitches?

MJ's house on Frosty. There were two things we did here. The first was drop our entire inventories to see how much stuff we could cram into a confined area.

The second was... you guessed it, paintball, with varying results.

Justin and I flinging ourselves over the tops of small islands at eye-watering speeds off the coast of New Kansas.

More good times with Justin. He went afk for a while and, well, I got bored.

Engaged in some highly illegal and extremely shady dog riding exercises with Art_Stone and Justin.

Party time at JoAnn's!

Tellis. I didn't realize it then, but this was the beginning of my quest to join the Big Eights Elite.

A burping contest! The things people do for fame and fortune.

The endless chit-chat. Dihtri, Justin and I somehow ended up crawling into a complete stranger's bed and chatting it up straight into the wee hours of the morning. How did we get on the topic of werewolves again?

You know you love 'em.

One of many, many, many, many, oh so many events in the Winter 2006 There Games. Green team won! '''exhausted.

My first introduction to the joys of chicken griefing Elaur.

The night it all began. Shame on you, qgon, for planting such an evil idea in my head!

They quickly multiplied and marched straight through Karuna Plaza! Huzzah!

I pretended to be clueless, but there was no hiding my guilt! Sorry, net.

I was chewed out by Helper_Julian after doing this to Mackie's clubhouse. It was then I was faced with bannage unless I parted with my dearly beloved YahoOoligans.

What, you didn't expect me to part with all of them, did you? Elaur instructs Justin and I in the finer points of afking at Karuna Plaza.

Gasp! Karuna Plaza is empty! Not a nametag in sight anywhere! I never thought I'd live to see the day! They have all migrated over to the new Zona Island, it would seem.

Just relaxing with an old friend, reflecting on all the things that have kept me returning after nearly two years.

It has definately been a memorable two years. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. The best part about it all is the company you keep - the friends you make. Even when you go MIA for months on end, when you finally return, there they are to greet you and welcome you back. After all we've been through, we're none the worse for wear. There offers opportunities like no other community, virtual or real, and I am fortunate to be a part of it. Here's to another memorable two years!

Jon Quixote was There!