Saturday, June 6, 2009

BOOM! Good morning, Earth! This is your wake-up call!

Was there ever a story about Lawndale getting hit by a giant asteroid or meteor? I keep thinking there was, but most of the fandom talk about it was from the early 2000's, kind of a joke meme. But did someone ever write something like that? Maybe an old timer can clue me in.

Today is the 7th anniversary of the Eastern Mediterranean Event, which is why I was wondering. It appears to have been an impact event, one of those little reminders that the cosmos is very big and we are very small and easily stepped on. Still pretty cool, though.

Today is also the 70th anniversary of the declared death of Judge Crater, a well-known New York City judge who vanished without a trace in 1930. There is considerable controversy over his disappearance, and at one time it was considered a sensational mystery story. His name, along with those of writer Ambrose Bierce and pilot Amelia Earhart, has become synonymous with missing persons in general. Were Eric Schrecter to vanish in a similar way, would anyone care?

What if it was Helen Morgendorffer?

PPMB
  • Expecting Trouble, by Legendeld (Part 9): Helen Morgendorffer didn’t hear her youngest daughter enter the kitchen but when she finally noticed Quinn standing at the age of the nook bar looking at her, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the redhead had been standing there for a long time. She pushed the paperwork away from her and tried to give a smile that she hoped wouldn’t be more of a grimace.
  • Falling Into College 68: Judging January, by Richard Lobinske (Part 2): "At least I stopped sleeping with the knife under my pillow." "That's because I kept bumping it in the middle of the night and you moved it to your nightstand." "It's progress." [Plus, Michael screws the pooch and brings out Daria's inner b-word. Stay tuned.]
  • Lawndale's Finest: The Dark Knight, by NightGoblyn (Chapter 4, Part 5): The rough surface of the rooftop crunched as Robin settled herself down to peer over the low safety wall at the edge. She tapped the side of her goggles the way she’d been shown to activate the zoom function, and then carefully scanned the shipping yard across the street. The stench of the industrial park was stupendous, but she wasn’t going to let that dim her high spirits.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Daria AE had Earth getting pulverized by a dwarf planet.

jtranser said...

From 'Stacy Rowe, Seeker Pt. 1:

"...The requirements for admission are quite strict and, some would say, bizarre. First, one must be famous, to the point of being instantly recognizable. Second, one must be completely sickened by one's celebrity status. Third, one must be willing to throw one's fame, authority and position completely away. Finally, one must fake one's own death and slip out of the limelight forever. The origins of this very exclusive group are lost in the mists of antiquity, having gone through numerous changes and incarnations through the centuries..."

"...And so, from Frederick Barbarossa to Owen Glendower to the twin brother of Louis XIV to Tsar Alexander I, from Francois Villon to Ambrose Bierce to Richard Halliburton and from Etta Place to Amelia Earhart, down the centuries they have come, men and women wanting a clean break from the suffocating prison of celebrity...."

jtranser said...

Of course, Judge Crater was a member and served as the club's legal advisor for a number of years. Eric Schrecter, however, would've never been admitted to Les Clube des Psuedomorts....

brnleague99 said...

Erin Mills' classic fic "Last Night In Lawndale" features the world ending in an unspecified way. Damn good un'. Classic n' such and all.

Anonymous said...

I meant: Le Clube des Psuedomorts. It's the meds...
jt

The Angst Guy said...

"Judge Crater, call your office." That was a standard comedy line through the 1930s and 1940s, I hear.

I liked "Last Night in Lawndale," but it did not concern an asteroid strike. Maybe all the talk I recall about that scenario was said in joking, making fun of angst stories. It still seems to me that I read someone actually did it... eh.

"Daria AE," that was good. Ended too soon, though. :P