A Few Anniversaries of Fandom Note

Lots of Daria-related birthdays today (with the connections & links in parentheses). Christina Aguilera is 29 (Stacy Rowe alter ego at right); Brad Pitt turns 46 (many mentions); Steven Spielberg is 63 (Jaws, E.T.); Michael Moorcock is 70 (see here); Piltdown Man (at left) would be 97; Joseph Stalin would have been 131 (Stalin jokes); Saki would have been 139 (Clovis); and the Holiday Island High student named International Migrants Day turns nine but looks 17.

Eleven years ago today, the webmistress of one of the early major supersites, Michelle Klein-Häss of Lawndale Commons, wrote an essay about the demise of supersite Planet Daria. A year later, someone else wrote about the demise of Lawndale Commons. LC continued in a reduced capacity until 2003. The fandom's been through a lot of collapses and regrowth.

Fanfiction updates are on the way for the weekend. Stay tooned.

And the final score: Vandals 14, Rome 0

Just 1,553 years ago today, the Vandals (from whom we get the words "vandalize" and "Van Halen") entered Rome and subjected it to pre-modern phenomenological deconstruction for two weeks, after which they moved to England and invented the soccer riot. Their descendants today can be found in trailer parks and middle schools all across the United States. I swear this is all true.

PPMB

• Long Trek Home, by Ranger Thorne (continued): The killing will be reduced to a maiming, but Jane’s still going to pay.
• Red Centre, by TheSecretSharer (Part 2): Murdock has a friend who might help Melody. Breaking his friend out of the insane asylum might be a problem. (That's three 1980s TV shows, now.)
• Screwed, by MMan (Parts 1 and 2): Only Stacy Rowe of all people would find herself in this mess, thanks to fanfic writers.

Enjoy.