Stupid Chromosomes!!! And Other Stuff.

Okay, so I got "XY" and "XX" mixed up on the Penelope Pitstop icon! So sue me. ;P I'll post a fix today. Hey, who hasn't gotten confused about gender issues before?

Um.

Speaking of which, sailor_atma informs me that the Prime Minister of Romania is offering to sleep with reporters' wives and girlfriends to prove he isn't gay. If that doesn't make you giggle uncontrollably, I don't know what will. I particularly like the newspaper's response. Now THAT'S Gut Journalism! ;)

Finally, this is for praeriedog, to help him further scare his roommates: from linguaphiles, Words That Do Not Rhyme.

Enjoy!

-The Gneech

PS: Am I the only person who can't write the word "chromosomes" without thinking of Inspector Kemp and darts flying everywhere? Am I the only person who even knows what I'm talking about?

Some More Stuff

I have a ton of would-be writers in my circle of friends, most of whom have a great deal of talent but rarely actually write anything.

axiomaxiom has some words of comfort for you.

Also, I have fixed the Penelope Pitstop icon.

-The Gneech

What's In a Name? Ask the Person Whose Name It Is

I have noticed, about my fantasy setting of Ethangea, that a lot of the wonderful, exotic names of the cities and places turn out to be actual names of real places or people. Two examples, right off the top of my head:

The lich-ruled city-state of Khaldun, I have learned, shares its name with a prominent historical figure, the 14th century Arabian historian Ibn Khaldun. I don't remember ever having heard of this august personage, but at the same time it's entirely possible that I may have, nearly napping over many a volume of forgotten lore, and the name percolated in my brain with associations of Arabian nights. When I think of the city of Khaldun, I see golden spires on the edge of a harsh desert.

Then, continuing with the exotic and undead motif, the city of Bhavnagar, home of the vampire Black Prince of Bhavnagar, turns out to be a real and not-at-all-scary city in India. It's easy enough to figure out where that came from ... I was raiding the World Atlas for place names!

Since references should be deliberate, and I don't want people to be thinking of a real-world city in India, I renamed Bhavnagar to Branapar in my recent Soloman fragment. I'm not sure if I like the Khaldun association or not; the historical reference is kinda cool in its own way, but to avoid flack I may rename it Kraldun or something similar. Branapar and Kraldun, unlike the other names, have been at least briefly checked to make sure they don't refer to something in the real world. How did I reality-proof these names you ask?

Google Search is your friend. ;)

-The Gneech, aiming for a new novel in the not-too-distant future