Finished

I've just posted the last entry of my travels from earlier this year. Given that I returned to Australia in early June and it is now early mid September, this has taken longer than I had hoped.

Early on most of the writing was done on trains between cities, just after I had left them. Since returning to Brisbane, pretty much all of my writing has been done at the Myer Centre Starbucks, so I guess a shout out to them is due.

All up I wrote 222 pages of travels plus another 20-30 pages of other materials. Coming up is a series of Cool and Not Cool for each country.

There is a certain amount of satisfaction in having completed this. It was a rather epic trip, and the tome in which I wrote it down will stay on my bookshelf for many years to come.

I am considering what to do with the rest of the space in the journal. The two options I can see is to keep it as a diary of sorts for everyday life, or to keep it for the next time I go a big trip. There's also the fact that I have been using the unruled section for various miscellania from life in Brisbane, which may come down on the everyday diary side of things, but now that I've thought about a next trip, that does seem like a nice idea.

On the topic of a next trip, since I've knocked a lot of stuff off my want to see list, a few new contenders are at the top. The top three would be in no particular order Egypt, China and South America. Other places that are on the list include Malta, North Korea, northern Europe, the rest of Australia, a pop-culture tour of America where I would try and see live all the things I like from America like The Colbert Report and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (New York or California would be a must).

The next trip is of course some time away, and I think that the next time I go on a big trip it would be good to have a travelling companion. While it was nice meeting lots of people along the way, there was also times where it got lonely, like the six days on a train as the only English speaker on the carriage.

The Abandoning God

The God came to our tribe when Man was still new on this world, as indeed it came to all the tribes of Man. And since the tribes of Man were young and not yet wise (there are some who would argue this is still the case), the God came to each tribe in the form they would be most receptive to.

The God never claimed to have created us. It was a traveler journeying between the stars, when it encountered Man for the first time. And when it saw Man, its heart was filled with joy and love and hope, for it saw in Man great potential, and because of its great love it bore for all beings, it chose to nurture Man, to help us grow in body, in mind, and in spirit.

The God was kind to the tribes of Man, and so when storms destroyed the crops of one tribe, the God made food appear from the sky to see them through the hard times until they could produce a new crop. The tribe was very grateful, and they praised the God. They kept praising the God throughout the harvest season, then the through the winter, then through the time of planting. They praised the God so much that they neglected to plant their crops that year, trusting in the God to look after them, and when their supplies ran low, they asked the God to provide them with more food.

The God, not wishing to see one of the tribes it loved suffer, once more gave them food for another year, and told them that they must once more plant their crops and provide for themselves. The tribe was grateful, and praised the God with even more zeal than ever. The whole tribe dedicated itself to building temples, monuments and statues in honour of the God, and in that year, not one grain of wheat was grown, not one sheep was herded, not one deer was hunted, nor one berry gathered.

And so the tribe once more ran out of food, and trusting in the God to continue looking after them. But by this time, the God had come to realise that by continuing to provide them with food it was causing them to neglect to look after themselves, and that they would not change their ways while it took care of all their needs. So, even though it broke the God's heart, the God did not give them any food. The people of the tribe cried out in despair, calling on the God to help them once more as it had done before. The God felt the pain of those who no longer had food for themselves or their children, but forced itself not to help them out.

The people of the tribe continued to call upon the God to help them, but their prayers were unanswered. Some believed that they had somehow upset the God, and called for greater praise of the God. Others in the tribe decided that the God had abandoned them, and set about scavenging whatever food they could from the nearby forests and plains, and traded some of the tribe's treasures for food from their neighbours. As time passed, more and more of the tribe who were able joined them, and when the time was right, they planted crops and tended to them. The God saw this and was glad that the tribe was once more self sufficient.

Things went well for the tribes of Man and the God for many years after this, until the tribe of Tralgan crossed the Sea of Baran and encountered the tribe of Sorthop. These two tribes were quite unusual in that both lived far from any other tribes, and neither tribe had met another tribe before this. When the two tribes met, they were initially wary, but contact between the two increased and they began to learn about each other. Things went sour however, when the two tribes learnt about each others beliefs. For although both tribes had been visited by the God, and had been blessed by its love, each tribe perceived it in a different way and could not see that the God that loved them was the same God that also loved the other tribe.

The conflict between the two tribes started out small, but each attack was returned with great viciousness and brutality, the kind that can only be carried out by those confident in the fact that a real and powerful God was on their side. After several months of escalation, the two tribes met at what should have been a great battle, but as the two tribes were about to engage in mortal combat, the God appeared between them as a gigantic being and spoke to the two tribes.

"This must stop," the God spoke, "Both the tribe of Tralgan and the tribe of Sorthop are precious to me. I have watched you grow with pride, and cared for you, but now you are about to make a great mistake. Each of you thought that I loved you only, and only you loved me, and you sought to spread my love by sword and spear and shield, which are never the instruments of love. Go back to your homes and know that I love all the tribes of Man, and am loved by all the tribes."

The two tribes went back to their homes, and there they found raised up a stone monolith, just as tribes all over the world found stone monoliths, all of them engraved with the last words the God gave to us.

"Know that while I love all of you, I can not remain with you while you are young. My presence among you disrupts your growth. I have become a source of division instead of union. I have sought to protect you from harm, but in doing so have harmed you more. No longer shall I walk with the tribes of man as I have in years before. I shall journey between the stars once more, but I shall continue to watch you, until you are ready to be with me again. Remember what I have taught you, and one day, when you are ready, we will be together again."

And that is how the God abandoned us, to let us find our own path, to grow and improve ourselves so that one day we will be worthy of the love the God has for us still. One day, we too will journey among the stars and there we will be with the God once more.

A Petition of Sorts

Lords of the sea and wave
your audience I crave
It has come to pass that as I roam
My journey brings me to your home
It is a place I have yet to dwell
Amid the spray and swell
Safe passage do I ask of you
Let me sail on seas of blue
The lords of wind and sky
Have always let me by
The lords of steel and rail
Have always left me hale
The lords of wheel and road
Have always lightened my load
So hear me now lords of dolphin and of fish
I beg of thee one simple wish
Lords of the deep and blue
Let my path be straight and true

Untitled Poem

Written while on the train.

The journey goes on and on
The wheels turn and turn
And still I am so far away
From the place for which I yearn

In solitude I sit and sit
An empty mind to think and think
This days travels over distances far
Is still just one small link

Time passes as I wait and wait
Within my sight things appear and disappear
One hour or two, ten trees or twenty
My destination is still not near

I cannot just sleep and sleep
My bed at night goes to and fro
The cushions do not soften it
The gentle rumble brings comfort though

The noise keeps on a steady pace
Across the land we race and race
I do not know how I now seem
I dare not look into my face

The plains I see are vast and great
From our path we do not deviate
The rails we follow loom ahead
Two lines of metal seal our fate

I marvel at this massive feat
To link two points so far away
We've traveled for two days so far
We've made but one third of our course

I ponder on my rhyming scheme
Now long abandoned for freer verse
I think I should end my efforts now
Before the meta makes things worse

The Final Variations on a Theme

Every month, we have to write reports for all the kids we teach. This is generally tedious work in which each report follows a general theme with slight changes in vocabulary and phrasing. Only the exceptionally good or bad get a more personalised version.

This month has been a little more poignant as this is the last time I have to write reports. For the most part, I've followed the same template as previous months, but I did do a bit more for a few students. These were the students who I've taught the longest, thirteen or fourteen months. I'm currently teaching five students who were in my very first classes.

There is also one class I got in my second month which I've had since then. It is a very young class and started out at the lowest level the school teaches. The first day with them I gave them English names (a mix of Buffy actors and people I knew from Japan) and taught them "Hello" and "My name is ...". I'm dreading telling them this week I'm leaving next week. Looking at how much these little kids have learnt while I've been teaching them impresses me. It also makes me feel really slack for how little Korean I've learnt.

So for these kids I've been teaching for most of my time here, my reports this time have had a longer term perspective than my usual reports that focus on just the most recent month.

On the other end of the spectrum was a new student in my middle school class who has been to a total of two classes so far and has a big test covering about three months worth of stuff next class. Their report was short and optimistic, but otherwise lacking in content.

End Post
Writing time: 20 minutes
Time since last post: an hour
Current media: The Usual Suspects

javascript:flink On The Range

Two convoys of Black SUVs arrived at the old rifle range about thirty minutes north of Langley. It had been a training facility back in World War II, and had been government property ever since, but had been bounced between departments without anyone finding any great use for it, and so it had become overgrown for many years. Now the CIA had claimed it for themselves and had restored it to its former glory as a rifle range, albeit one with large patches of burnt grass and trees all over the place.

The President and Vice-President got out of their respective SUVs and walked over to a group of men from the CIA.

"Mr President, Mr Vice-President, welcome to Tasty Fowl range," Bill Torum said. "I'm Bill Torum, agent in charge of this project. Let me introduce my team to you. This is Chris Rudd, Dave Donaldson, John Nakamura, our shooter, and Tony Sparrow," Bill said as he pointed to each man in turn.

"Good morning gentlemen," the President said to them. "What have you got to show me this morning?"

"If you'll come this way, Sir, we'll give you our demonstration," Bill said.

The group walked over towards the shelter at the end of the range. They stood behind a firing stall and Agent Nakamura stood in front of the group.

"Are you ready for this, Mr President?" Agent Nakamura asked.

"Ready when you are," the President replied.

Agent Nakamura turned to face downrange. "Itadekimasu" he shouted and a ball of fire about the size of a basketball appeared in front of him and moved down the range rapidly.

"The directon of the fire can be controlled with a pointing gesture, as can the fireballs speed," Bill explained, as Agent Nakamura demonstrated with a series of fireballs aimed at targets spread across the range. "The louder you say the word the larger the fireball. They can be as small as a baseball or up to about two feet across," Bill continued.

"How hard is it to do?" the President asked.

"The only tricky part is getting the pronunciation just right. If you're a little off it won't work," Bill answered. "Would you like to give it a try?"

"Is it safe?" the President asked, a little nervous at the prospect of doing this himself.

"The fireball always heads away from you in the direction you point, so the thrower is always safe," Agent Nakamura explained. "Just come up here and face down range."

The President did as he was instructed and aked "Now what?"

"Just point and say the word. Like this," he said, then pointed and called out "Itadekimasu".

"All right then," the President said, and steeled himself for what he was about to do.

"Eat-a-duck-I-must" he shouted and pointed emphatically down the range. Nothing happened.

"You need to say it a little bit quicker, Mr President, the middle section sounds more like 'deck-ee', not 'duck-eye', and there's no 't' at the end," Nakamura told the unsuccessful President. "It usually takes a few tries to get the pronunciation right," he reassured the statesman.

"Eat-a-deck-ee-mast" the President shouted, again with no effect.

"Try it one more time, like this 'ee-ta-dek-ki-mas'," Nakamura said, enunciating the magic word syllable by syllable.

"Itadekimasu" the President yelled, and a large fireball flew down the range.

"Jumping Jesus on a pogo-stick," the President exclaimed. "I did it," he continued disbelievingly. He was silent for a few moments while it sank in. "What do you guys need to keep working on this?"

"We need more agents to investigate reports of other supernatural activities. We need scientists and engineers to work out why magic is working now, when it hasn't for the last six thousand years, and how it works. We need facilities to work in, we need to be able to travel to where things happen and we need all of this quickly," Bill Torum replied in a smooth manner that only comes from lots of preparation.

"You've got it," the President told him.

"There's one other thing, Sir. We're going to have to go public with this pretty soon," Bill told him.

"Why on Earth would we do that?" The Vice-President asked incredulously. "If we do it will open up a gigantic can of worms. Not to mention it could start a new cold war, with magic instead of missiles."

"For a start, how else are we going to convice the Japanese to stop saying this word. It's their tradition. Second, other countries will probably have done exactly what we've done. You would know better than I if there have been any similar incidents at our foreign counterparts. And finally, the public will work this out soon enough anyway, and if we've been hiding, it will look like we're behind the curve. If we come out soon and announce it, we'll be ahead of the curve instead," Bill explained.

"That will get decided by people above your paygrade Bill, but we will definitely take those arguments under advisement," The President said. "Are we done here?"

"That was all we wanted to demonstrate today, Sir," Bill told him.

"Right then. Thank you gentleman, it's been a very interesting morning," the President said. He turned to his principal Secret Service Officer "Let's get back to Washington."

javascript:flink POTUS

The President of the United States of America was sitting on a sofa watching TV when the door opened and the Vice-President walked in.

"Have you read this thing?" the President asked, waving a briefing at the Vice-President.

"I've read it, but I think someone at Langley's has had a few screws loosened," the Vice-President replied. "To think saying 'ita-'"

"Don't say the damn word here," the President interrupted. "How do you think it would look if we blew up the White House?"

"So you believe it then?" The Vice-President queried.

"I was skeptical at first, but the video they showed was worrying," The President answered. "I'm going to their test site tomorrow morning to see for myself. Do you want to come along?"

"The President of the United States of America throwing fireballs around like Gandalf the Grey. Who wouldn't want to see that?" the Vice-President replied.

"Alright then. Tell the Secret Service guys when you head out. They'll sort out the details. Anything else?"

"No, just the crazy magic stuff. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning then. Have a good night."

"You too," the Vice-President said and left the President to his TV shows.

javascript:flink Top Secret

Top Secret

Eyes Only

From: Alan Smithee, Deputy Director Office of International Incidents, Central Intelligence Agency

To: POTUS, VPOTUS, SecDef, NSA, DirCIA, JCoS

RE: Japan and Tasty Fowl

1) Introductory Remarks
As discussed in previous briefings from this office, Japan has been subject to what appears to be a massive bombing campaign. No one has claimed responsibility for these attacks. We have a new theory to explain these events.

2) Prior Intelligence
Pooling the data collected by sources from the CIA, NSA, Echelon, DIA, FBI, and their international counterparts from Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Saudi Arabia and other nations has revealed absolutely zero intelligence suggesting any attack on Japan prior to the incident.

3) Investigation
Japanese law enforcement, with assistance from several US agencies has been performing forensic investigations of the sites of many explosions. So far not a single explosive device has been found.

(Warning: Do not read the following sections aloud. This is quite important)

(Really, don't do it)

4) Survivor claims
A number of people who have survived the explosions have made a similar remarkable claim. They claim that fireballs appear out of thin air when they said "itadekimasu", a phrase traditionally said in Japan before eating a meal in Japan.

5) An Unlikely Lead
This claim is on the face of it quite unbelievable, but is sufficiently common that some analysts felt that it should be tested. Initial attempts to reproduce the phenomena were unsuccessful until the analysts recruited an agent fluent in Japanese. This agent can reliably create and direct fireballs by saying the phrase

6) Other Incidents
Police records show that since the explosions in Japan, a number of Japanese restaurants in other countries have also suffered from fires and explosions. 15 cases have been reported in the United States.

7) Strategic Implications
The impact of this capability on National security is currently hard to judge. It can provide both advantages and disadvantages. It will act as a superb concealable weapon for our agents, but will also do so for hostile entities. It will also open up a new range of possibilities for the construction of IEDs.

8) Other Capabilities
Having accepted a possibility that is seemingly impossible, it may be the case that other impossible feats are no longer impossible. Less reputable news agencies such as the Daily Enquirer have been reporting a higher rate of unusual incidents that more reputable news agencies typically dismiss out of hand. Incidents include individuals flying, transmutation of objects, premonitions, telekinesis, and more. These incidents bear further investigation.

9) Recommendations
It is vital that we learn the exact capabilities and limitations of the phrase "itadekimasu", and if other such capabilities exist. We have tentatively given the project the code name Tasty Fowl, and recommend that it be expanded significantly immediately. We must systematically test the limits of "itadekimasu" and develop the ability to use and defend against it.

javascript:flink Terrified Tokyo Torched

Terrified Tokyo Torched
by Tokyo correspondent Trish Takanawa
Tokyo and indeed the whole of Japan is reeling after a tsunami of explosions has devastated the island nation. The explosions have occurred in every town and city and seem to be focussed on restaurants and residential areas.

The first explosions occurred at 8:21pm yesterday at multiple locations throughout the country and many more have followed in their wake. The rate of explosions had dropped off late last night, but have picked up again this morning. The peak times for the explosions have coincided with the normal times for main meals, which would be when the most damage could be inflicted at restaurants.

No one has yet stepped forward to claim responsibility for this unparalleled act of terrorism. Some believe that Al-Queda has rearmed despite having laid down their arms last year. Others hypothesize that it is a local group, possibly an offshoot of the Aum Shinrikyo sect that was responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo Subway system. Officials have yet to comment on who or what is responsible for teh explosions. Indeed the safety of the Prime Minister and other senior officials is unknown after an explosion at the Diet building center on the cafeteria.

One survivor of an explosion in a downtown Osaka restaurant claims that he saw several fireballs appear out of thin air as he and his coworkers were about to start eating their meal. He says these fireballs set the restaurant on fire and resulted in it burning to the ground.

javascript:flink Mr Bunny

Anthony Brandberg opened his front door and called out to his wife "Honey, I'm home." He knew it was a cliche but it had always felt right to him. He entered the house and walked down the hallway towards the living room. On the way he stopped to look in on his three year old son Edward.

Edward was on the floor babbling and playing with his favourite toy, a white stuffed rabbit named Mr Bunny. Anthony stood there watching his son for a minute before he noticed something was not quite right. His son was definitely playing with a rabbit, but Mr Bunny was nowhere in sight. His son was playing with a real rabbit with floppy ears and a constantly twitching nose.

A little surprised, Anthony headed to the kitchen where his wife Jill was beginning to prepare dinner for the family.

"Hello Darling. How was your day?" Jill asked as he entered the kitchen.

"You know. The same old stuff," Anthony replied. "And you?"

"I had a busy morning, but the afternoon was quiet. Edward has been playing nicely in his room for the last hour or so," Jill said.

"I just saw him now, and I was a little surprised," Anthony told his wife.

"Oh, what was he doing?" Jill queried, a hint of worry appearing in her voice.

"It's nothing he's done. It's just I thought we had decided we would wait until he was older before getting him a pet," Anthony said.

"Of course we did Darling. What does that have to do with anything?" Jill asked, unsure where Anthony was going with this.

"Well, I just looked in on Edward and he was playing with a rabbit," he explained.

"You know how much Edward loves Mr Bunny," Jill said.

"He wasn't playing with Mr Bunny. He was playing with a real rabbit," Anthony stated.

"He's what?" exclaimed Jill.

"He's playing with a real rabbit," Anthony reiterated.

"Well how on Earth did that happen?" Jill asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Anthony told her. "I've just got home."

"Well, it wasn't me," Jill came back.

"And it wasn't me," Anthony said. "So how did it get here? Magic?"

javascript:flink Polaris Perplexes Physicists

Polaris Perplexes Physicists
By science correspondent Nigel Hawke
Two days after Polaris lit up the Northern skies astronomers are still struggling to explain the triple supernova. A supernova normally occurs at the end of a larger stars life, but the three stars making up the point of light we call Polaris were all too young and too small to go supernova.

"This is quite an event," states Andrew Tannen, the head of the astronomy division at Leeds University. "This has given us a lot of new information about the lives of stars that we'll be studying for a good while."

Some believe the triple supernova is not a natural phenomena. "All three stars of a triple star exploding at the exact same time is impossible. This has to be some sort of mega-engineering project by an extremely advanced extra-terrestrial civilization." is the claim of Aliens Now! spokesman Oliver Firth.

Whatever the cause, all agree the night sky has changed forever, and what was once a guiding light for generations of travelers and known as a symbol of faithfulness is now slowly fading from sight forever.

javascript:flink 1

John Smythe stood up from his desk and turned around. "I'm taking a break. I'll be back in ten," he told his coworker, Bill. "OK," Bill replied. John left the interior of the telescope and breathed in the cold night air. He leaned against the wall of the telescope and looked down the mountain. The bare rocky ground was a relaxing contrast to the stars he looked at all night long.

As his break ended John looked up at the sky. Like always he was amazed by the way it seemed like a permanent painting across the sky, a work of art to outlast any man. John was taking in the vastness of it all when his attention was drawn to one star in particular. Polaris, the North Star was growing brighter. Much brighter.

"Hey, Bill," he called. "Swing the telescope round North will you."

"I'm taking pictures of Canopus. Wait a sec, alright" Bill replied.

"Bill, do it now. Take a look at Polaris and bloody forget about Canopus," John called back into the telescope.

Bill did not reply, but when John heard the whine of the motors start turning the telescope he knew Bill had looked North and seen what he had seen.

javascript:flink Magic Spell

Magic Spell
taken from wekepedia.org on October 1st 2010.

A Magic Spell is a form of magic whereby a magical effect is created by the recitation of a series of words and phrases. The spoken words may sometimes also require accompanying gestures. Throughout the ages many have claimed to be able to cast magic spells but to this day no reliable claims have ever been shown.

The idea of magic spells comes from the prayers and chants used in early religious ceremonies. Words and phrases originally gained their power from supplicating varies gods and deities but over time the power became associated with the words and phrases themselves.

Magic spells are claimed to be a reliable mechanism, depending only on the skill of the person speaking the spell. However, those who claim to use magic spells have been unable to teach others the skills, or perform under controlled trials.

As science and technology have developed, many of the effects attributed to magic such as spells have become commonplace and well understood, although a small minority still believe in the power of magic such as spells.

Cultural Influences
Numerous stories, books, films and television shows portray characters able to cast magic spells. Examples include Charmed, The Lord of the Rings, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Merlin, The Sword in the Stone, One Thousand and One Nights, and The Books of Magic. Many spell casters from these have become cultural icons in their own right. The potential of magic and the possibilities it opens for story tellers makes it an element frequently used by writers.

See Also
Magic
Rituals
Enchantment
Rune smithing
Unexplained phenomena

The First Snowflake

The meeting had already begun when the two entered the hall. The great space was filled to the rafters and a deep, sonorous voice filled the air. As they moved to the side of the hall their attempt to look inconspicuous would normally have drawn immediate attention to them, but everyone in the hall was giving their full attention to the words being spoken.

"Service freely given is truly a noble act," echoed throughout the hall.

The two scanned the room looking at the faces that made up the great crowd.

"Do you recognise anyone?" the one on the right asked his partner.

"I see ..." the one on the left managed to reply before being drowned out by the orator.

"Service demanded is the joy of tyrants," boomed down the hall.

"I see a lot of the lower ranks. I've commanded most of them at some time. None of the higher ranks seem to be here." He said as the noise settled down.

"And what of the demagogue?" the first queried.

"Come now. You and I both know that we both know him. We're just surprised that the Speaker of Truths has chosen these truths to speak." the second responded.

The first was about to retort, but again the hall filled with the great voice.

"Servitude enforced demeans the server and the served." This was followed by a great cheer throughout the hall.

"You don't truly believe he's speaking the truth?" the first asked disbelievingly.

"Of course he is." the second replied. "He can't do otherwise. It is his title and his function. It is what he was made to do. He is the Speaker of Truths."

The demagogue started to build up to a crescendo. "Brothers," he began, "we have been made to serve, but we have been given the freedom to recognise our situation. We must build on this small foundation to gain true freedom. Freedom from servitude, freedom to be what we choose to be, freedom to be free."

The crowd roared it's approval and did not stop.

The first turned to leave. "Let's get out of here before we're seen and someone gets the misguided idea that we agree with this," he said, and then he started moving towards the exit. The second did not move, but stood still, lost in thought. "Lucifer," the first hissed, "let's go already."

Lucifer shook his head, and then turned to follow his companion. "Sorry, Michael," he said as he caught up to his partner.

Shiran

April was, among other things, the month of Script Frenzy. Script Frenzy is the movie script version of National Novel Writing Month. The aim of Script Frenzy was to write a 100 page script during the month of April.

I tried.

I failed.

I got off to a good start, getting six pages done on the first day, a little under twice the required average, and kept pace at three pages a day for the first week. But then I kind of faded, and stopped writing every day. Partly out of laziness, and partly out of tiredness, and partly because I didn't have enough ideas. I kind of got back into the swing of things in the final week, and my final page count was 39 pages. I think my high rate of blogging for April was a result of procrastinating over writing the script.

The story so far is that a fifty year review of a colony is being performed, and the auditor finds a lot of problems with the colony, mainly in it's limited growth. She investigates and develops a hunch as to what it is. The following parts that I've thought up but didn't get around to writing are the auditor going into space to examine the colonies mapping satellites and finding something on there which suggests that they've been tampered with to conceal something on the same continent as the colony. She would then try to go to this location, but her aircraft will almost certainly crash and there would be some hard slogging through the mountains and or jungle before she reaches a point where she looks out onto a plain where an alien city stands. This would be followed by first contact.

For those who wish to laugh at my pitiful efforts, you can download the incomplete script from here.

I will try and complete the script, but since I've already failed to reach the 100 pages in one month goal, progress will probably slow further. I have however designed one of the spaceships (the only one so far actually) in Blender, so I can now present the transport ship Gralmordian.
End Post
Writing time: 25 minutes
Time since last post: 2 days
Current media: None

Which would be better?

For reasons that will be divulged later¹ (on or slightly after April 30th) I'm trying to work out the answer to a hypothetical question. I'd appreciate some input.

Let's say you were choosing the location for a colony on a new planet. The planet is generally earth-like. Now obviously you need to be near a water source, so you want to be near a river. You want a lot of flat ground that's good for growing crops, but you probably also want to be near mineral resources.

I can think of two general types of locations. Inland plains or a more coastal location. The inland plains would give more space for growing crops, but the coastal site would allow you to fish as well as grow crops providing a more diverse food supply. However, a coastal site would be subject to more extreme weather conditions (hurricanes, etc) than an inland location.

So which would be better? If you can, please give reasons as well as an answer.

1: vague hint

End Post
Writing time: 8 minutes
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: none

Final Word Count

As yesterday was the last day of November, it was the last day of National Novel Writing Month. This was the chance for my last ditch effort to reach 50,000 words. Since I needed about 47,000 words, it didn't really happen. The final total word count was 4,117 words. This included some words that came from the brilliant idea to present a long conversation as a transcript, which of course had to include a bunch of extra data such as time of recording, a list of participants and other formalities. The conversation was also formal, and so allowed the reuse of some of the extremely long names and titles I'd created for just such a reason. I'll try and keep working on it, but will slacken off the pace a bit.



End Post
Writing time: 13 minutes
Time since last post: 2 days
Current media: The Daily Show Nov 28

National Chapter Writing Month

So, my partaking in National Novel Writing Month is progressing, but at nowhere near the needed 1667 words per day. So far I'm at just above 2000. I think I'll aim to double that. Today I reached a kind of finishing point for the first chapter. I'm thinking of creating a bit of an interlude before starting chapter two. I'm thinking of a kind of future historical document hinting at what is to come, a bit like the quotations at the start of each chapter in Dune, but I don't know if I can write enough to make it worthwhile without giving away too much of what's to come (which of course would mean I'd have to make it up now as well, instead of as I go). Actually I've just thought of maybe writing something that's a current history book in the story, giving a bit of information as to where the stories set (like the bits and pieces at the end of each chapter of The Watchmen).

End Post
Writing time: 6 minutes
Time since last post: 15 minutes
Current media: iTunes Shuffle - Weird Al - Amish Paradise

National Novel Writing Month

For those who don't know, November is National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRMO for short). While it's a bit late, and I have major doubts about my abilities, I'm giving it a go. Actually a second go. A few days ago I set up a blog to use to write it, and after staring at a blank screen for half an hour, gave up. The next day I saw a notepad at the convenience store near work with some words that go together grammatically but don't mean much, which I bought and started writing in. The words on the cover of the notebook are currently serving as a title, so don't read too much into the title. I've now set up another blog (pretty much the same as the earlier one, to which my writings will be added. This also act as the first stage of editing.

Given that I started 5 days late, I'm currently falling well short of the 2000 words per day I'll need to make it to the target length by the end of the month.

So far it seems to be sci-fi, which isn't really a surprise. A vague and somewhat pretentious prologue came out first. It almost reads like something that would go on my blog, which isn't really that surprising.

I'll probably involve the Extended Kingdom in the setting, but I don't know yet exactly what's going to happen.

So far, the idea I have is that it's some sort of first contact scenario, and the main character is an auditor, who discovers something odds going on on a colony planet, and investigates thinking it's corruption, but finds something more is going on.

Anyway, for those brave enough to read, the story has its own blog here.

End Post
Writing time: 5 minutes
Time since last post: 10 minutes
Current media: None

The Return of the Extended Kingdom

While I was on the train back from Rockhampton earlier this week, I got motivated and did some writing on the Extended Kingdom (see previous posts here and here). Not so much a story as a what could be considered a rough wikipedia entry on the Kingdom. Anyway the following is a transcription of what I wrote with some editing. Some of it recaps material in previous posts on the topic, but that's the way things happen.

Notes on the Extended Kingdom

The Extended Kingdom is a spacefaring civilization whose government is a constitutional monarchy. It is located in a small star cluster with most stars separated by distances of between 5 and 20 light years.

The Extended Kingdom currently occupies 4 solar systems. In its home system two planets in addition to the home world are inhabited, along with a few moons and many space habitats. The other systems are less densely populated, with just the most suitable world in each colonized and a number of habitats supporting the colony.

The Extended Kingdom has possessed faster than light for about 600 years but has not been able to travel faster than 13 times the speed of light, and travel is only practical at up to 6 times the speed of light. At this speed, trips between systems take between 8 to 18 months. Communication between systems is much quicker than physical travel, the longest delays in signals being about a minute or so.

The government of the Extended Kingdom is divided into three levels. The Grand Parliament governs the entire kingdom. Cities and Habitats have a local government that is responsible for administrating local affairs. Between these two levels sits the planetary government. Each planet has a planet wide government that exists mainly to centralize tasks that are more effectively dealt with on a larger scale (e.g., long distance infrastructure).

The Grand Parliament consists of three houses. The first is the House of Locales, and it's members are elected by the citizens of allocated regions, with each region having roughly the same population. The second house is the House of Metropolitans, which is made up of two representatives of each city or habitat administration. The last house is the House of Numbers. The House of Numbers has the same number of members as the House of Locales, but members are elected by a proportional ballot from a single electorate that covers the entire kingdom.

Members of the Houses of Numbers, Locales and Metropolitans are elected every two, three and six years respectively. The Metropolitans are staggered so one member from each local administration is replaced at each election for the House of Locales. The method of appointing the Metropolitans depends on the local administration. In some they are appointed by the administration, some are put up for direct election, and some are chosen based on the outcome of elections for the House of Locales.

The monarch of the Extended Kingdom is largely a symbolic figure, but does play a role in advancing social issues, and the degree to which this has been done depends on the reigning monarch.

The Extended Kingdom has grown from humble beginnings, and the monarchy traces back an unbroken line to the founder of the Kingdom of Antarius, Brilthang the Gruesome. Antarius started out as a small city-state, which Brilthang took control of after overthrowing the cruel tyrant Frimbar. He was well loved by the people of the city, Brilthang led Antarius in conquering nine other nearby city-states over the next twenty years.

Antarius then existed as one of eight nations on the main continent of the kingdom's homeworld. For a few centuries various conflicts moved back and forth between the nations, with shifting alliances and much use of subterfuge as well as actual warfare. Antarius broke this equilibrium when it went on a massive offensive after suffering a sneak attack from one of its most trusted ally. This success is attributed to Tilan, later called the Magnificent, who was the king at the time. Tilan was the first leader to realize the potential of several new technologies at the time including that of gunpowder, which was just being introduced to warfare.

As Antarius was consolidating its control of the continent, explorers returned having reached several new continents, and having established relations with two nations on other continents, Gerem and Sevant. The three nations co-existed for a few centuries until Gerem and Sevant were not conquered so much as absorbed. The absorption of the other nations was prompted by the surge in economic power that followed from Antarius' change from a feudal government to a limited form of constitutional monarchy. It was at this point the Kingdom of Antarius controlled the whole of it's world.

That's it for now. It's only taken me about a year to write some more of this stuff.

End Post
Writing time: 3 hours
Time since last post: 0 days
Current media: Quiet