Back When Dystopias Were Found in the Fiction Section

Young Daria would clearly much rather read than attend camp, but in her defense today is the anniversary of Animal Farm's publication in 1945. Bad news for Daria; I think she's about to find out that all campers are equal, but some campers are more equal than others.

Helen and Jake should know that today is also Baby Boomers Recognition Day, and they should be, well, noticed. Helen referred to herself as a Boomer in Is It College Yet? but I really don't think Baby Boomers are in any danger of being ignored.

On this day in 1997, Daria appeared in The Chicago Tribune's TVWeek with an interview with Glenn Eichler, Susie Lewis, and Abby Terkuhle. The latter's "What separates 'Beavis and Butt-head' from 'Daria' is a lot of brain cells" quote still amuses me no end.

Fanfic Update!

• Run, Timmy, Run, by wilddogjj (part 2): "Quinn's Cadillac was going home. Inside, Quinn was driving while Jim rode shotgun. The triplets were in the back. Timmy was visibly nervous while Tommy, Jim and Quinn were all visibly upset."


• Spider Quinn 11 The Huntsmans, by cfardell_Brenorenz29 (part 2): "While O’Neill was drawing names from a box, Ms. Li was looking up information on the competition in Middlebury."

One Book Good, Two Books Better!

Daria's getting ready to celebrate the anniversary of the publication of the novel Animal Farm on this day in 1945 by--what else?--reading Animal Farm. It'd be kind of silly to read anything else, wouldn't it?

Today is also the anniversary of one of Daria's earliest features in 1997, in The Chicago Tribune. Abby Terkuhle said, "What separates 'Beavis and Butt-head' from 'Daria' is a lot of brain cells," and I think that's about the truest thing I ever heard.

Fanfic Update!

• An American Band, by ladyevil (part 3): "Inside the Tank, they were still waiting out the traffic when Trent suddenly realized 'I shouldn’t have eaten all that salad.'"


• Obligatory Beach Episode, by wheresthequeef (COMPLETE!): "Already sweating as they ascend the sandy boardwalk onto the beach, Daria grimaces under the blazing, mid-summer sun."


• Hurricane Daria (The Carbones), by wilddogjj (part 1): "A not-fully-awake Jim entered the kitchen in his bathrobe and turned on the coffee maker. As he walked towards the table to wait for his coffee to brew the door to the laundry room opened and Daria emerged."


• Ozark Odyssey (Linn's short stories (or ficlets, drabbles...)), by linnofthewoods (parts 7 and 8): "After a day of hiking, one would expect Rose to be able to get a very good night's sleep. But for whatever reason, she just couldn't. Even Jane had managed to fall asleep before her." (Part 8)

All Authors Are Equal, but....

Daria's going to read a blast from the past, Animal Farm, in honor of George Orwell's birth on this day in 1903. We know she's more than a casual fan, too, because she quoted the author at least once during the course of the show.

Today is also the anniversary of the episode "Boxing Daria," which aired on this day in 2001. It was a poignant almost-finale to the series (with only the final movie left before the end), giving us insight into the relationship between Daria and the rest of her family as well as a nice callback to the school psychologist scene at the beginning of the series.

Fandom News!

• Dervish wonders about coarse behavior in soldiers.


• Talk about the B-17 aircraft.


• Roentgen posted a new Round Robin Iron Chef: Quinn.

Two Eyes Good, Four Eyes Better!

Daria's going to settle in with a childhood favorite on the anniversary of the publication of Animal Farm on this day in 1945. That is, she will if her fellow Grizzlies will back off on the watermelon games and horseback rides long enough for her to read it.

Also, on this day in 1997, Daria was featured in the The Chicago Tribune. It gives some interesting background into the development of the show, although Daria might take issue with her description as "Beavis and Butt-head's only female friend." Friend...is not the word I would have gone with.

Fanfic Update!

• Bobbie Caller, by Meester_Lee (parts 2 and 3): "Daria looked out her bedroom the next morning and saw that it was raining and windy. After she got dressed and went downstairs and opened the front door, she saw that it was not only rainy and windy, but chilly, too. Daria got on the phone before breakfast and told Jane that she'd get her parents to pick her up on the way to school." (Part 3)


• Harry Potter Morgendorffer, by Meester_Lee (parts 24 and 25): "Albus Dumbledore's Monday was not going as he'd expected. True, he had expected to be busy. As the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he had expected to cope with the minutiae of running one of the foremost schools of witchcraft and wizardry in Europe, and the only such school of its size and import in Britain." (Part 25)


• I am not a good friend, by Wassersauefer (COMPLETE!): "Whenever Kevin saw Mack, the first thing that came to mind was the words of his dad."


• In the woods, no one will hear her scream, by Rémi (COMPLETE!): "Daria and Quinn are in their tent at night. Quinn : Daria ? Daria give Quinn an interrogative look. Quinn : Do you feel weird sharing a tent ?" (Part 3) (Part 4)


• It really makes you sink, by Rémi (part 1): "Daria's room. Daria is sitting on her bed, looking awfully depressed. She has dried tear streaks on her cheeks. She is cradling a pink baby-T in her arms and sadly looking at the yellow smiley face."


• Second Chance for Love, by David Falkayn (part 20): "'You sure no one's home?' Angie asked as Elizaveta led her by the hand into the Morgendorffer house. 'Yes, szereto.'"


• Superiors, by ST91 (parts 5 and 6): "General Rogers was already awake by an hour when the alarm sounded at 6:00 am. Yet he had decided to stay in bed to save his strength." (Part 6)


• The Wrath of Con, by Lady Evil (part 20): "Danny woke up Sunday to a sound he never thought he'd ever hear. Jesse was screaming."


• Wreckonciliation (Quinn, Season 5), by WildDogJJ (COMPLETE!): "Quinn is at her desk going through her mail. She frowns as she looks at it. Quinn: (Thought VO) Homemaker Magazine...mine. Hot Rod Monthly...Jim. Pre-Approved Credit...shred. Coupons at Payday...might wanna hold on to that. Phone bill." (Part 2) (Part 3)

Some Books Are More Equal Than Others

Young Daria's all set to celebrate the anniversary of Animal Farm, which was first published on this day in 1945. That's assuming that Helen doesn't snatch it away, and Skip leaves her alone long enough to read it, and Amelia stops talking so she can focus on the book. I'm afraid it's not really looking too good, Daria.

Fanfic Update!

• Meant to Find You, by PrecambrianStudios (part 3a): "Three pages into an essay on 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,' Shona received a call, her phone ringing to the theme from Doctor Who. She flipped it open. 'Yyyello?' she said cheerfully into it."


• One And The Same, by Princess_Pasta (part 6): "The low sound of Earth, Wind, and Fire filtered over the radio as the Lexus sped down the highway, the early morning drive free of traffic or congestion. It was much too early to be awake let alone dressed and on the road, at least in Daria's opinion, but she didn't have a say in the matter."


• Possibilities, by Sureia (part 32): "It wasn't often that clients had him feeling nervous before an introduction, but this was a fairly unique situation, and he was honestly curious about it. Straightening his clothes, Jake took a calming breath,checked his watch one last time, and opened the doors, smiling politely."

Some Books Are More Equal Than Others

Daria's celebrating the 70th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's Animal Farm, or at least she will if her fellow campers (coughAmeliacough) leave her alone long enough to read it. Perhaps one of these days someone will write a Camp Grizzly/Animal Farm crossover...and it will be a thing of beauty.

Fandom News!

• Kem is looking for meatless recipes. Got any?


• Share what you're learned from talking to older people.


• Post funny videos and other humor in the new political comedy thread.


• Two new Iron Chefs have been posted in Creative Writing: Shiva's Linda's Trash Freakout and StickShift's Animatronics are creepy.

Some Boxes Are More Equal Than Others

Daria's wishing George Orwell a happy birthday, as the author of one of her favorite books, Animal Farm, was born on this day in 1903. Orwell also wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four, which Daria references in "Psycho Therapy."

And speaking of Young Daria, today is also the anniversary of "Boxing Daria," which aired on this day in 2001. It's thanks to that episode that I can never look at a refrigerator box the same way again.

Fandom News!

• Share all of your random non-Daria thoughts and questions in a new thread.


• HuffPost recently published an article about Daria. Discuss it here.

Boxing Day for Daria

It pains me to inform you that today is National Catfish Day, for no reason whatsoever, but it is also a special day for Daria fans.

Nine years ago this evening, "Boxing Daria" premiered on MTV. That was a good episode. Lots of fanfic sprang from this one evocative tale. Commentary on the story may be found here and here. The biggest complaint about it was the lack of humor; Daria had turned into a coming-of-age drama though it started out as a pointed comedy. People loved it or didn't. I guess it depends on what you see in the inkblot. (I see a Balrog who has dropped two valentines and is very sad about that.)

Today is also the 106th anniversary of the birth of English writer Eric Arthur Blair, better known to the world as George Orwell, author of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. Daria was highly familiar with both texts, as she references the former in "Psycho Therapy" and took a copy of the latter to Camp Grizzly when she was younger (but had it taken away by her mother).

Speaking of 1984, Mr. DeMartino has a special thought from the Sick, Sad Life Planner. What a guy.

If you for some reason are curious to see what was being blogged about here one year ago, click here and find out. I'm trying not to repeat too much of what I've done before, and I especially want to start adding new screen caps and images (and sound bites) when possible.

I DIDN'T DO IT DEPARTMENT: I just noticed that the "Radio by Daria" button at left, which opens a screen to Last.fm's alternative rock station for your late 1990s listening pleasure, is actually called "Alternative radio Tag Rock" at the website. I honest to gosh had nothing to do with that happening. It sure wasn't called that a few months ago. Weird.

I kind of wish I could set up a Mystik Spiral Radio button, but I want to get more viewers, not less of them.

SPECIAL EXTRA IMPORTANT NOTE: In case anyone would like to take and use any of the MTV derived images or sound bites found on this blog for nonprofit fannish purposes, be my guest. I would be nuts to make any sort of claim on them, since they ARE after all owned by MTV. You need a pic for a blog, or a sound bite for your website, go for it. Just take 'em, don't even ask. If MTV tells me to knock it off, I will, but until then have fun. This is a fandom, not a doctor! Uh, mmm, I don't think that McCoyism worked, sorry.

PPMB

• An Affair to Remember, Please God Let Me Forget, by Kangaballs (preview): "What did you just say?" Daria asked Jane to repeat what she had mumbled over morning coffee. She was never quite the morning person and Daria wanted to be absolutely sure she heard her right.
• Formula Savvy, by Ajar (COMPLETE!): This marks the one year anniversary of The Event, so I suppose I should take stock of what has happened in the past year. Mack, Kevin, Jane and I have managed to eke out enough food through farming to live on. I suppose we should be lucky that we still used the old lead-lined refrigerator from my Dad's army days and that they had just gone to the grocery store earlier that day so that we had lots of seeds that were viable for planting.
• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: TGIF), by Betting on Delusions (COMPLETE!): "My fear is that my son will never understand me!" "Jake! We don't have a son." "Oh. Heh, right."

And Everywhere There Was Song and Celebration

Perhaps I should have noticed this earlier, but I wonder if the reason why Alternapalooza was scheduled on August 15-17 (in The Daria Diaries) was because those were the original dates of the famous 1969 musical festival called Woodstock. (The festival actually ran over into Monday the 18th.) Funny. Here it was, a secret counterculture reference all this time buried in Daria lore, and only now do I figure it out. I must be reeeaaally slow.

The book that young Daria took to Camp Grizzly (at left), George Orwell's Animal Farm, was first published 63 years ago today.

Eleven years ago this weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about Daria, seen here.

The most important anniversary, however, is last. One hundred years ago today, Frenchman Émile Cohl released the first-ever animated movie: Fantasmagorie. It was shown on-screen in Paris. To this little silent cartoon does Daria and all other animation owe their very existence. Merci!

Lots of terrific responses to two PPMB Iron Chefs: Sic transit gloria mundi and Mirror, Mirror... Read, enjoy, and add your own!


PPMB

• Legion of Lawndale Heroes Mini: How to Talk to Your Teen, by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): As Helen Morgendorffer watched her children grow, she wondered if she’d have a favorite child.
• New Life, by legendeld (COMPLETE!): “You just spent three hours with me standing here completely naked, rubbing me with makeup. Wasn’t that enough?” “No.”
• Starbright, by legendeld (Part 1): “What if you could have one more chance, just one?” “That would be great. One night to prove that we’re more than just fakes … but it would never happen.” “What if it could?”