"Next, on Sick, Sad World!"

Daria and Jane are celebrating World Television Day and--oh, wait. This is what they do every day, so never mind. I guess I don't need to tell anyone how to observe this holiday!

Today is also False Confession Day, so feel free to pretend you committed a crime, I guess? I have no idea what the point of this one is, but it could be a good opportunity to claim you murdered Kevin. Everyone else did, after all.

Fanfic Update!

• Career Daze (Life After Thirty), by WildDogJJ (COMPLETE!): "Quinn is driving while Sam is in the front passenger seat. Teddy is in the back taking notes. Sam looked out the window. 'So, this is Philadelphia, huh?'" (Part 3)


• Forty-nine Old Geek (Ironic Chef - "Daria Schrecter"), by Szcz (COMPLETE!): "'Mr. Schrecter, can I ask one thing?' 'Yeah.' 'Why have you been living in our home and keeping house for two months?'"


• Hands Down, by Princess_Pasta (part 3): "Daria was eating lunch at a lone table in Pizza King on a breezy Saturday afternoon, her trusty journal splayed out before her among discarded grease-stained napkins and stray crumbs."


• Home, by Rémi (part 1): "Morgendorffer household. Helen, Jake and a still pregnant Quinn are watching the news. Quinn suddenly tenses up when a new subject is adressed."


• Late Postal Delivery (My Annual Thanksgiving Fanfic Release - 2018!), by Brother Grimace (parts 1 and 2): "'It's a quarter to five, Chris! We're leaving in fifteen minutes!' Christopher Griffin tried to not growl at the sound of his mother's voice in the distant darkness." (Part 2)


• Thank U, by Lady Evil (part 25): "Trent was woken by the sound of his phone quacking. I gotta get a new phone sometime. He thought even as he answered it. 'Hello?'"

She's Still Got All Her Bouncity-Bounce!

Brittany's celebrating because today is the anniversary of the children's TV show Captain Kangaroo, which first aired on this day in 1955. Someone might want to explain to Brittany that there weren't actually any kangaroos on the show...but maybe we'll wait until she's put away the boxing gloves.

Meanwhile, Quinn is gathering the cuter technical types for Techies Day, the day we all celebrate the people who save us from the Blue Screen of Death. Stupid tiny hourglass! Spin, damn you, spin!

Fandom News!

• ktrick45 shares a semi-SSW from his hometown.


• Discuss the U. S. government shutdown in a new Nick's Corner thread.


• Why do people assume that aliens will destroy us? Wouter has a few thoughts on the subject.


• Robyn has an image request for specific characters.


• If Daria and Jane were a double act, who would have which role?


• Place your bets on a fight between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers.

God Save the Cynical Queen!

It was on this day 480 years ago that Queen Elizabeth I was born. Daria, in her alter ego of the English monarch, looks pretty good for being almost half a millennium old.

One of Kevin's favorite anniversaries is also today: the sports channel ESPN was launched on this day in 1979. Although he seems to prefer the Pigskin Channel, I'm sure he at least switches over during the commercial breaks. Gotta keep up with current events, after all.

Fandom News!

• Help DIsaac come up with ideas for a Daria-themed college paper.


• Post about any songs that remind you of a Daria character.


• Share footage you loved but which now makes you feel sad in a new thread.


• How many of the 17 problems only book lovers will understand have you experienced?


• Talk about your favorites in a new anime thread.


• LSauchelli posted a new Iron Chef in Creative Writing: The Long-legged!Fashion!Daria.

...and after the National Anthem came...

On this special day in television history, 71 years ago, the Indian Head Test Pattern was completed by an RCA artist named Brooks, who hand-drew the whole thing. The test pattern was used by TV stations after they signed off the air. Eventually TV stations remained on the air 24/7, and the test pattern fell out of use. However, many in North America remember the days of old when they stayed up too late and fell asleep in front of the TV, only to awaken to the sound of an annoying tone and the above image. It is not likely Daria or Jane would recall this image, but Jake and Helen would know it on sight.

NO0OZ!

• What would Daria have looked like if Filmation Studios had done the series? Wouter provides images to jump-start would-be fan artists.

FF.net

• Daria and Dan Beavers: A New Beginning, by Coonassblondie (Part 1): Contrary to popular belief, Todd wasn't an idiot. He was a thief, yes, but not stupid. He was fairly certain that blond half of the Idiot Duo had a concussion. He picked the boy up bodily and laid him in his back seat, startling slightly when the kid groaned and his eyes slit open. Good, Idiot boy was awake. Todd had always heard you were supposed to keep people with concussions awake. He would drop the kid off at the emergency room and disappear. Yea, he wasn't stupid. (Daria/Beavis and Butt-head) [Contains mature content]
  

PPMB

• Daria/Dorian 7: Motorcycles and Jocks Don't Mix, by LadieT (Part 3): Jane waited for Dorian to say something, anything, about what happened in gym. They were halfway through lunch when Dorian was paged to the office. Letting out a long sigh, Dorian gave Jane a quick hug before walking out of the cafeteria. Sitting in the secretary's room was Jake. While exiting the building, Jake explained the situation. "Ms. Li called your mom and told her about Kevin's motorcycle incident. Is it true you encouraged him to do that?"
• Finn Morgendorffer 56: A Journey to Eternity, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 6): “So, before I get into announcing my successor, and to stall for time until the burgers get done, let’s talk about what a crazy-ass year it’s been. We took State, Barch got fired, and Ms. Li... I don’t remember what the term was, but she’s gone, too.” “Don’t forget Mr. O’Neill,” Leanne chuckled. “Oh yeah, sorry, I did forget,” Finn returned. “So anyway, the evil regime is over, and school can actually be a place where you learn stuff instead of whining about feelings, strip searches for contraband candy that isn’t from an overpriced fund-raiser, and having to fake like we’re sorry for being born male.”
• General Semantics, Private Angst, by Gwrtheyrn (Part 29): Daria was in transit from the bathroom toward the office, walking slowly, deep in thought, when Tiff caught up to her and touched her shoulder for attention. "Tiff! What's wrong?" "We've—taken a non-binding straw vote, because of what we've heard from that—guy. Nineteen to—zero, so far, say we need to evacuate this location." Daria wasn't surprised. The process Sherman had used to find them wouldn't work again, but the power department itself had data which could parallel that search. It wouldn't be all that hard to find them if the enemy started looking intelligently. "Are we racing a lit fuse?" Tiff looked blank. "Sorreee?" "Do we have to move instantly?"
• God Save the Esteem 3: Family Devalued, by Charles RB (Part 1): “So zombies really exist,” said Daria, stunned. “Now come on, the car’s not that bad,” protested Tom. “I think you need these glasses more than I do.” Tom had been acting smug all day at school, stating he’d got his own car to go with his learner’s license. At the end of the day, Daria and Jane had agreed to come along and let him show it off to them... only to find the most ancient, rust-riddled Jaguar imaginable. “I paid for it myself, saving up with my part-time job.” Tom proudly patted the car, causing it to groan under the pressure. “In later years I can look back at this baby and be proud.” “And today, you can look back at it to find out which piece has fallen off this time.”
• In Any Other World, by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): She could always count on Joey, Jeffy, and that other one to brighten up lunch. Usually the football team stuck to cheerleaders but those three always crowded round her, and thanks to them so did other team players. She was doing better than she ever had in Highland and Sandi was jealous as hell. It was great. “Hey, is that Mike talking to a brain?” Quinn glanced up and her face fell. Mike—red-mohawked bad boy of the team, someone she’d been working on nabbing—was talking to Daria. Damn. “Dude, that’s not a brain, that’s one of the retards from the retard table. She must’ve got lost.” “Oh, right. Sucks to be her then.”
• John Lane 47: Another Look in the Mirror, by RLobinske (COMPLETE!): Erin was glad that the booths at the Pizza Place were the wider versions that seated six instead of the usual four. She was seated next to Daria, with John against the wall while across the table were Quinn and Tom. They had finished their pizza and were still working on sodas when she said, "I'm sorry, everybody. I didn't think that Brian would follow me." Daria said, "I really don't think that you planned for him to show up, get into a fight with Dad and John, and get arrested." John teased, "That's what she wants you to think. I'm sure it was all part of her grand design."
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part III), by jtranser (continued): It was the Night of the Dark Moon as they stealthily crossed the border. The K'iche Mayans accompanying Daria's group had gone ahead and secured the trails leading to their destination. Using special warding symbols gathered from all over the Mayan lands, they set the paths that may not be crossed and hung obstacle charms that pinned the mind of any would-be adversary to a single thought repeating itself over and over. And, as that thought echoed through their mind, their legs would be directed to perform a demented suicidal jig marching through a grove of Cameraria trees whose toxic sap, released by casual touch, is as excruciatingly painful as it is deadly.
• Unnamed story (Crossovers Still Crossing Over), by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): The explosions rocked Lawndale. The top ten floors of the Lawndale Savings and Trust crashed to the street below. As the dust cleared, the shape of a giant, humanoid shaped thing became visible. One of the few survivors of the devastation brushed the dust and dirt from her black skirt suit. She straightened her black necktie. Raising her wristwatch to her mouth, she spoke clearly... (Daria/The Big O)
  
• Unnamed story (Crossovers Still Crossing Over), by LSauchelli (COMPLETE!): Daria glared at the road before her as she stepped on the gas as hard as she could. She was heading to Tom's family's stupid party. It wasn't that she was going because she wanted to see Tom or anything, she was just... angry at her parents. It was a rare occasion, indeed, when she was actually angry. It's not that she never got annoyed at the world in general; in fact, that was quite usual for her. But to be really angry? Never. She couldn't believe her parents would lie to her. And what was the deal with the fridge box anyway? Of course her dad had wanted to leave her as a kid, why hadn't she thought that had ever happened? (Daria/Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes)
  
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Gangster School?), by LSauchelli (COMPLETE!): "How'd your day with Venom go?" asked Jane as Daria stepped out of the Manta outside the school's front door. "Went fine in terms of demonstrating my career aptitude. I just wish they'd done better showing how badly they messed up past missions," said Daria as Vanessa drove off. (Daria/M.A.S.K./G.I. Joe-COBRA)
  

Telstar Tales

A very curious and historic day this is, indeed. Just 48 years ago today, a satellite was launched into Earth orbit from Florida. Its name was Telstar. It was not only the first communications satellite to transmit live television and high-speed data (telephone calls and faxes) across the Atlantic, it also the first privately sponsored space launch.

It created a great stir, uniting in one stroke the people of North America and Europe through their TV sets. Telstar I became the forerunner of a great family of communications spacecraft still used today. (We're up to Telstar 18.)

So, up went Telstar, and then... people went a little crazy. You have to understand how amazing Telstar was to the world of 1962. It was SO amazing, a mad blizzard of completely unrelated things were all named Telstar in honor of the original one, because everyone thought it was such a cool thing. This naming trend has continued to this very day. Things are STILL being named Telstar because of that one long-ago satellite.

Did you know that Telstar revolutionized soccer? (That's football to everyone but the USA.) This happened when Adidas came out with a soccer ball painted to look like the satellite. It is now the standard soccer ball the world over. No kidding.

And there's more. Telstar also happens to be the name of...

• a very popular instrumental song that I remember from my childhood (listen to it here)
• a brand of soccer shoes
• a soccer team from the Netherlands
• a make of Ford cars
• a high school in Maine
• a family of Coleco videogame systems (one example)
• a character (a.k.a. Satellite) in the Final Fantasy VI videogame
• a 2009 movie
• a book of science-fiction stories
• a blog
• a hotel in Italy
• a brand of computer tower cases (detailed images)
• a brand of automobile tire rims in New Zealand
• a type of electronic part
• a brand of telescope
• and what looks like jewelry that lights up, I think... maybe
  

I wonder if anyone has named a child Telstar. (Oh, the horror.) The original Telstar satellite was destroyed by radiation from hydrogen bombs set off in outer space, which sounds like I am making that up, but I am not. Burned the satellite's power right out. Very sad. It's still up there, the original Telstar, still orbiting the Earth even in electronic death. Not likely it will ever be forgotten, at least not by anyone who plays soccer.

Today is also the 154th birthday anniversary of super-genius Nikola Tesla, whose name sounds like Telstar but is unrelated. Tesla is mentioned in only three Daria fanfics. A pity. Telstar has never been mentioned at all. (The above was corrected, thanks to readers more alert than I am.)

Time for something completely different. Or not.

NeuZ!

• C.E. Forman displays his most fantastic treasures: original Daria collectibles! My brain can barely process all the win!
• Fan Chris Tucker asks, "Did you ever notice...?"
• NEW! Fun reading: "Daria: A Love Letter From A Former Teen Nerd," from Jezebel.com.
  

PPMB

• Daria/Dorian, by LadieT (continued): As school ended, Jodie and Mack approached Dorian. Dorian was staring at the tiny slip of paper from Mrs. Bennett's class. Jodie shook her head as she pointed at the Dorian's hand. "Congratulations on getting the one project that none of us wanted." Jodie smirked. "Gee thanks. Good luck with your projects. Mack, twenty bucks says Kevin actually ends up buying a car." Dorian replied. "I would say you're on but we are talking about Kevin." (FF.net)
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 52: With Extra Bitters, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 5): “Look, I didn’t want to snap at you. I’m just not used to having other people criticize my writing. Or other people for that matter. Ask my first boyfriend what happened when I showed him a story I wrote. And, well...I read yours. The one you said wasn’t any good because you divided your time like you did. Well...I liked it. It was good, better than mine.” Daria admitted, and every word was painful. “So what’s the problem with that? Course mine’s gonna be better, I’d been writing these things my whole life, and I’m older than you. It’s as obvious as don’t run with scissors or don’t put your dangly bits in the mouth of an alligator.” “I wrote my whole life too!” Daria returned, ignoring his randomness. “That was me, every day I wrote. And I watched my writing get better and better, and the off-chance that I shared it with someone, they loved it. Not that my English teacher would ever say something that could damage my poor self-esteem, but it was enjoyed, and thought to be great.” “So I come along and ruin everything by, what, being good at the same thing? Jeez, ego trip much?”
  
• First Born, by RLobinske (Part 4): Seated at the dining table while Derek prepared breakfast, Karen said, "Jane Lane. What are you doing up so early?" Hair as rumpled as her t-shirt and shorts, Jane said, "Having to get to school at 7:30 has made me a morning person, dammit." "But not a very cheerful one," Karen said. "You can bet your sweet ass I'm not cheerful about it. Coffee?"
• NEW! Full Metal Pragmatist, by Dark Kuno (COMPLETE!): "OK, this might hurt a bit..." came Trent's voice as it roused her from her nostalgia. "Don't sugar coat it for the girl, boy," grumped Bernice Lane-Rockbell from her place near the girl's lower body. "OK, it will hurt a bit..." he continued. "Hell with a bit, it's going to hurt a lot," stated Trent's aunt and guardian as her nephew carefully and expertly slid the ends of the wiring into the exposed flesh around the girl's clavicle. (FF.net)
  
• The Graduation Gift, by LadieT (COMPLETE!): I glanced at the clock. It was six thirty. I showered and got dressed. I stared at myself in the mirror. My short black bangs had been replaced by longer ones that curved around the contour of my face. I covered my lips in their signature red. My face appeared drawn and tired. My last set of finals had been brutal. I looked down at my hands. My fingers were calloused from years of artistic abuse. Today though will prove it was all worth it. I left the bathroom and headed back to my room. (FF.net)
  
• Regifted, by Ajar (Part 8): Quinn took a deep sip from her diet soda like a stereotypical cop with a cup of coffee in a particularly difficult interrogation. “Okay, let's go through this again. What skirt do you want to go with your top?” “What's wrong with jeans?” Daria asked. Quinn sighed dramatically. “I told you already. My jeans don't fit you. You have an apple body-type, everyone will see your belly. A couple weeks away from Pizza King and we'll discuss that.” “Quinn, this is really just a one-time thing.” “I can help you out. But ultimately you have to figure things out for yourself. Me doing this all for you isn't going to help you in the real world.” “I don't even watch The Real World.”
• NEWER! The Theme from Mack Dynamite, by Dark Kuno (COMPLETE!): [Songfic lyrics for everyone to sing!]
  
• Three-Edged Sword, by NightGoblyn (Part 3): "Jane... I... there's something I need to tell you." Jane leaned over, poking just enough of her head around the large canvas that Tom could see her from the nose up. She gestured with her paint brush for him to speak. "It's... it's important." Tom waited a moment, and when Jane didn't respond his brow creased with irritation. "Could you come out from behind the damn painting a minute?" Jane sighed, and Tom heard the clatter of her palette on the table followed by the gentle splash of her brush being dropped into a jar of water. She walked around the side of the easel and stretched, moaning slightly as her neck and shoulders popped. Tom's eyes flicked away, trying not to notice that Jane's figure had returned to what it was before her pregnancy, only now enhanced with a gentle swell of hips and a prouder set of breasts. Doing a good job not noticing, Tommy Boy, he thought sourly. (Continues from this once-unnamed story)
  
• Unnamed ficlet (Did you ever notice...), by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!] (Daria/The Matrix)
• NEW! Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by rglovejoy (COMPLETE!): The mob of peasants surged forward and threw the bespectacled girl at Bedevere's feet. "A witch, a witch! We've got a witch! Might we burn her?" "How do you KNOW she is a witch?" Bedevere demanded, his right eye periodically popping out of its socket. A particularly dim peasant, with outsized shoulders, spoke up. "She looks like one, y'know?" "I'm not a witch," the girl said flatly. "But you are DRESSED as one," Bedevere told her. "These morons dressed me up like this," the girl countered. "This isn't my nose. It's a false one." "Well, we did do the nose," the peasant conceded. (Daria/Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• NEW! Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by Staticblast (COMPLETE!): "Good morning, Minister." "Gfd mfrng... Sorry, good morning. Scone's a bit dry." "Yes, well, I'd like to obtain a Government grant to help me develop my silly walk." "I see. May I see your silly walk?" (Daria/Monty Python's Flying Circus)
  
• Unnamed story (More Crossovers Not Yet Crossed Over), by Minx (COMPLETE!): Sandi stood in front of her locker discussing the new school dress code, "...And under no circumstances shall either of you wear neon. It wasn't cute last year and I'll make damned sure it won’t be this year. I don't care what Valentino says," she turned to her trench-(wo)men for confirmation but was cut off but the chirp of three message cell phone tones sounding out simultaneously. Stacy was the first to check, she flipped open her phone and looked at Sandi gravely. "What, what is it?" Sandi barked. Stacy shook her head timidly and muttered a few words that resembled, 'Nothing, don't worry,' before flipping the phone shut and shoving it into the depths of her bag. "Nothing my ass," Sandi retorted as she drew her own cell-phone from her locker and checked her messages.
• Unnamed ficlet (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by Roxanne M (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!]
• Unnamed ficlet (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by rglovejoy (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!]
• Unnamed ficlet (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by Roxanne M (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!] (Daria/Fawlty Towers)
• Unnamed ficlet (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by rglovejoy (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!]
• Unnamed ficlet (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!] (Daria/Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• Unnamed ficlet (Iron Chef: Crossover the Pond), by Wormbait (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!] (Daria/Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• The Vision of the Burning Cities, by jtranser (continued): "Daria, I called because I wanted to find out if you could do something to help Stacy. She's been having these horrible nightmares about high school." "Quinn, there's nothing wrong about that. Almost everyone has horrible nightmares about high school. Even you. Remember that dream you had where you were surrounded by fanboys and nerds and couldn't get away from them, as they tried to get your autograph, cut off pieces of clothing and cop feels?" "Yeah, I sure do. And who would've thought it would turn into reality after I went to work in television..."
• NEWER! The White Fox, by Lord Akiyama (prologue): The figure went over the words again to make sure what he was reading was the material he was looking for. He looked up and around to make sure the teenage girl was still asleep in her bed. Satisfied, the figure silently slipped out of the padded bedroom through the window, careful to not make a sound as he went. He quietly moved, jumping from one rooftop to the next. Much of the moon was covered by clouds on this night, offering him more darkness to cover him from unsuspecting eyes that might get lucky and catch him about. The figure did not stop until thirty minutes later when he reached his destination.
  

Dancing Cheek to Cheek

Today is World Dance Day (also International Dance Day, Dance Day, etc.). It's another of those UNESCO-type holidays when our International Overlords force us to do things for cultural diversity, like eating healthy foods and appreciating badgers. Today you must dance. I have a note from my doctor saying I'm excused, but you have no excuse. Get goin', shake a leg.

By the way, the Landons at right are doing their dancing bit as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Hope someone here remembers who those two were. They appear to be doing that famous "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" bit from the 1935 movie Top Hat.

OUTPOST DARIA has updated again! Yay!

The Great and Powerful Kara Wild reports on her DVD Daria set: contents, cool stuff, and everything! DVDaria has updated! See also this PPMB thread about the set.

Superfan CR85747 informs me that MTV2 will air Daria starting on Monday, May 10, 5-6 AM EDT/PST, and Tuesday, May 11, 1:30-2:30 AM EDT/PST. Be there!

PPMB

• The Dream of the White Darkness, by jtranser (continued): "Once you slice open a bag of potato chips, there's no going back." —Stacy Rowe [NEW! Extra chapter here! "Emergency meeting in the Director's conference room! Round up your staff and be there in 10 minutes, before they close the security doors! And use Quiet Passage Protocol!"]
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 44: My Three Young Women, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2): Jane had been getting increasingly distant lately, and it was getting more and more difficult to enjoy spending time with her. And, oddly enough, it wasn’t as if they weren’t doing anything different. They hung out, Finn watched her paint. Sometimes they went to a movie, exchanged bodily fluids, and all the normal teenage stuff. Nothing about their relationship was different. Except Jane, Finn thought to himself.
• Shining Star: Temporal Conundrum, by RLobinske (Part 8): "I'm a little miffed at seeing versions of myself in relationships with what look like good guys," said Daria. "I'm pushing thirty and haven't even had a good date in the last two years." Archangel said, "I could set you up with Pam Anderson in a heartbeat." [Yowsa! See the alter ego at left for Daria as Pamela Anderson on Baywatch!]
• NEW! Transgender Bender, by Minx (Parts 1 and 2): Hmm, so Quinn isn’t little miss perfect after all. This fugly chick is her sister. Sandi smirked. He had found Quinn’s Achilles’ heel. [Originally posted here.]

The Mighty Jane brings you... Inventors' Day!

The Mighty Jane shows off her latest suit of powered armor as we bring you Inventors' Day, which celebrates all inventors on this, the 163rd birthday anniversary of Thomas Edison. You go, girl. This is also the 72nd anniversary of the showing of the first science-fiction program on television, which was accomplished by the British, not the Americans.

Speaking of art, has Enigmawing created the Daria of Today?

Entertaining Message Threads

• Ruminations on Daria getting married
• Things you'd love to see on the DVDaria
• 11th May, 2010!
• So how many of these people are regulars here? (refers to this)
• Quality of the DVDs
• Ruminating on our years-long quest for DVDs
• Daria World on Facebook

Mother's Day +100 and Goin' Strong!

I can't shoot my own mother. Not with paint, anyway.

—Daria Morgendorffer, "The Daria Hunter"


Yes, Daria's fond thoughts lead us into this happy weekend celebrating the joy that is Mom. Though tomorrow is the official time of Mother's Day, today is the actual 100th anniversary of the first real Mother's Day in the U.S., which was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia.

Did you ever wonder what kind of teenager named Mother's Day goes to Holiday Island High School? I have. She's a pissed-off sarcastic pregnant teen (think Juno) whose jobless boyfriend, Father's Day, drinks a lot and sees other girls. If you have a different vision, post it in the comments below.

IT'S TIME FOR NEWS!

Now for some news and cultural references. While surf-skimming the interwide cyberblog webnet, I discovered an amusing editorial making reference to Our Heroine (not Jane, the other OH) on the student website for Vanderbilt University. You might like to read, "TOP TEN: Most Awesomely Bad Cartoons of Our Youth" and travel down Memory Lame a moment. Ah, the vast TV wasteland, you gotta love it. Too bad they didn't list Q-bert, but that was from the '80s.

You might also wish to read a student editorial on the state of MTV today from the website of The Roanoke Times. Where have those good days gone? (Maybe I shouldn't talk, since I missed Daria almost entirely when it was on.) See also an editorial on wrestling (no, seriously) on 411mania.com, a website about pop culture; you may have to search for "Daria" to find the reference, but it hits home. Where is that bright and shining light that was Daria? Oh, well.

The best is last. If you're into irony (and we all are, I know), read the opening lines of this entry from MTV's Movies Blog. Forget that it's about Speed Racer (barf!); just look for . . . well, you'll know it when you see it. Made me smile. Maybe she's out there in a spiritual out-of-body sense, making sure no one at MTV forgets her. Gotta love it.

Happy Birthday to Reno, Nevada!

Upchuck reminds us that today is the 140th birthday of Reno, Nevada, which is probably where he works today.

Today is also Europe Day, for those of you of a European persuasion, and the 115th birthday of William Marston, a psychologist who co-invented Wonder Woman. (This is not the same William Marston as appears in "Forgotten but not Gone.") Interestingly, Marston worked for a time at Tufts University, which is thought to have been the model for Raft University, where Daria Morgendorffer went off to college.

By a curious twist of fate, today is also the day when, in 1961, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Newton Minow, called TV programming a "vast wasteland." My, that was prescient of him, wasn't it? Good thing Daria was there to balance it all out.

More soon.