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Ponderables to Ponder over a Cup of Java

Lots going on today. First, it's the anniversary of the birth of the Singing Cowboy, Antonio DeMartino Gene Autry. Not sure if DeMartino is trying to be him, but who cares.

It's also the birthday of a piano-pounding star of rock-n-roll's early years, Jerry Lee Lewis, famed for one song in particular (turn up your speakers).

As you see at right, today also marks the start of Michaelmas, and who better than Saint Mack to represent that. Do it to it.

There's more! This is also the 462st anniversary of the birth of Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote. A surprising number of Daria fanfics reference this character, so Cervantes (often credited with the invention of the modern novel) is a solid part of Daria fandom's background.

Do you use ballpoint pens? You should know that today is the anniversary of the birth of the guy who invented them, László József Bíró. Argentina celebrates this event as Inventor's Day.

If you like to read banned books (and who doesn't?), this week is Banned Books Week, and you should go out and get another banned book to read before they are REALLY banned and gone. Srsly.

Finally, this is National Coffee Day in the U.S., and caffeine is good for you, so have another cup. And another. And another. Keep going, no problemo. Remember, a love of coffee (houses) was the root of the whole problem in "Cafe Disaffecto," and it was in "Pierce Me" that Helen Morgendorffer uttered those famous words, "I NEED MY COFFEE!" And why not try out the latest coffee fad? Go for it! Caffeine didn't hurt Ms. Li in "Fizz Ed," did it?

Wow, that was a lot to go over. Have some more caffeine and stay tooned.

No More Foaming at the Mouth for You!

I've always wanted to sleep upside-down
and spread rabies.

—Jane Lane, "Psycho Therapy"

Today is World Rabies Day, established in hopes of eliminating rabies forever (as has pretty much happened to smallpox). Vaccinate your pets! Make the world safe for dog lovers! Yeah, well, cats and bats and other stuff, too, but mostly dogs, 'cause they're our friends. Cats just enslave you to do their bidding and bats drink your blood and the other stuff is just icky. Dogs rule.

Today is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Al Capp, creator of L'il Abner & co. Mr. Capp created the character Sadie Hawkins, for whom Sadie Hawkins Day is often declared in high schools. The only Daria fanfic to have Sadie Hawkins Day featured in it is "All in a Rowe," by MMan. The only Daria fanfic to have a Holiday Island High character named Sadie Hawkins is "Acts of Cupidity," by Disco316. Congratulations!

Pouring on the Potpourri

Daria's plastic model at left (taken from her room without permission) reminds us that today is World Heart Day. Take care of yours, please.

Kevin's alter ego at right reminds us that this is the 124th anniversary of the birth of stage magician Blackstone, Sr.

Today is also National Chocolate Milk Day, but I was unable to find a Daria-ish image to represent that. Just make a glass of it and celebrate.

Jane's multiarmed avatar of a Hindu deity at left reminds us that today is World Tourism Day. Which deity is she, though? She is holding the mace Kaumodaki, so she might well be Vishnu. I hope this image is not sacrilegious. Sacrilegious stuff belongs in fanfics.

Just 104 years ago, Annalen der Physik published a paper called "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" by some guy named Einstein, which described the relationship of energy, mass, and motion, represented by the equation E=mc². This turned out to have quite an effect on world history, particularly in the Geekdom of Nerdland. Atomic Space Trent reminds us of this event at the bottom right.

That should about close it out. Oh, Avril Lavigne turns 25 today, but she only shows up in Canadibrit's fanfics as the musical background.

Have a good one!

LATE NOTE: Richard Lobinske has updated the 2009 Daria Visual Fanworks list!

An Apple a Day....

It is hoped the fandom won't mind if I clip some items from last year's posts, as they are exactly what I was going to say today. Today is the 235th anniversary of the birth of John Chapman, a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed. He used to be just a wandering religious apple-planter, and now he's an environmentalist. Kevin does a good imitation of him at left.

Exactly 40 years ago this day, the Beatles' last studio album, Abbey Road, was released in the UK. Fanfic writer Jill Friedman (LeopardLady) wrote a tale about Penny Lane's best friend, who happened to be named Abby Rhode. Ms. Friedman got Penny Lane's age exactly right, too, and even did a sequel. Penny Lane herself was named for a song on the Magical Mystery Tour album from two years earlier.

The Daria/Abbey Road connection doesn't end there. View Kemical Reaxion's artwork (featuring Mystik Spiral) for a story by jak981125 called "Shabby Road," or read Canadibrit's "Rue Brittania," from TLAS, in which Mystik Spiral re-enacts the scene on the cover of Abbey Road, in the same manner in which Kem drew it. (This story was novelized by Austin Loomis.) That's a lot of Daria mileage to get out of one album!

Only 142 years ago, famed cartoonist Windsor McCay was born. See if you can remember his most famous creation, part of whose name is also part of the name of a famed Daria fanfic writer.

T. S. Eliot, whom I am overly fond of quoting in my Daria fanfics, was born 121 years ago today, too. His words appear in "After the End," "Always Beside You," "April Is the Cruelest Month," "Die! Die! You Bastard!" "Deus Jane," "Drive," and "One More River to Cross," at least. Gregor Samsa outdid me, however, when he wrote two excellent parodies of Eliot's work: "The Love Song of Jake Alfred Morgendorffer" and "The Waste La(w)nd." I was properly humbled.

At Holiday Island High School, today is European Day of Languages. He's the Eurotrash kid who never speaks English because it is beneath him.

In fanficland, today is the 12th anniversary of the day 12-year-old Daria Morgendorffer was found alive after she disappeared at Camp Grizzly, per "Who Once Was Lost."

Most importantly, this is the 26th anniversary of the moment when a minor Soviet military officer saved the Earth. His story is worth reading, though you probably haven't heard it before. If you see him, remember to tell him, "Thank you."

Finally, of least importance, today is Bureflux. Celebrate it as you see fit. Fnord.

Phandom NoOz Nohtz

• Pinkminx has completed her version of Jane Lane from "Love Is a Series of Burning Sensations" (with the glue gun that started the whole mess). Excellent!
• Pinhead did a remarkable illo for E. A. Smith's "The Tempest," showing the funeral scene. More excellence!
• Roentgen offers artistic support for Daria/Brittany 'shippers, taken from episodes in the series.

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• Falling into College 70: Is It the Future Yet? by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): "Lt. Col. Wyatt. Our investigation found no official records of other coalition aircraft in the area. You've been exonerated." "Then whose aircraft did I shoot down?" "I'm sure you understand that we don't need any unnecessary international incidents."
• Finn Morgendorffer, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2 COMPLETE!): Finn idolized his aunt Rita, and that relationship mystified Helen to no end. Rita, her older sister, was her mother’s favored child, and Rita often got special favors from her, like having her first wedding paid, and fancy vacations for Rita’s daughter Erin. What Helen’s mother, and Finn, saw in Rita could not be explained. Rita was vacuous, trite, dilettantish, and a whole slew of other names Helen wouldn’t utter in public. She never held a job, and flitted from boyfriend to boyfriend, all men with money.
  
• Finn Morgendorffer, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 3 COMPLETE!): Brittany Taylor’s party was going to be the first one of the season, and, just like at the first day of school, Finn wanted to aim high. There would probably be many other cheerleaders at the party, many other cheerleaders. Brittany seemed to be a very bubbly, energetic person, maybe cheer captain. It would make sense that this would be a rather big party. This only gave him more reason to make an entrance there.
• M4: (Don't Turn Your Back on) The City, by Silver (interlude): "Look, I understand you'd like something greater than Lawndale, Quinn. But I was born here. So were Tiffany and Sandi. We grew up here. Yeah, we'd like to go somewhere better with our lives, but even so, we're still here in Lawndale as far as our spirits go." Stacy took a deep breath, getting herself back under control.
• Reusably Complex, by Ajar (Part 5): “Well, I couldn't help but notice that you have Jane over and the last time you elected to have her over here as opposed to you going over there she was having family issues.” “Actually, I was considering telling you. I'm kind of scared. Jane seems to be having delusions.” “What kind of delusions?” “Well, that for the past year or so that I've had a boyfriend that I stole from her.”
  
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part III), by jtranser (continued): Flanking Stacy on the right and the left were specially trained mutant emperor penguins who escorted her up the steps to the awaiting dignitaries, and a giant panda mime which worked the crowd till she raised her hand for silence. Above her head hovered a giant pink and white polyhedron which gave the appearance of breathing. Stacy raised her hand and all fell silent.
• Tales of the Ringbearers: A New Ringbearer, by Aloysius (Part 1): “May I join you?” Tony looked up into the face of Gerald W. Wright - the senior Ringbearer known as Archangel—and jumped to his feet quickly. “Relax, Tony!” Archangel said and held up his left hand. “This isn’t the Marine Corps.”
  
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Single Parent Jake), by NightGoblyn (COMPLETE!): "Daria?" "Quinn." "Mom's... m-mom's dead, Daria. There was a car wreck, and...."

Because TAG issed a challenge: Saxon Daria

A major hoard of Saxon gold and silver was recently revealed in England and TAG issued a challenge.

Okay, he asked for fanfiction, but I'm going to extend it to some old fan art I did years ago of Daria as Wealhtheow from Beowulf. Somehow though, I can't see her as the dutiful wife passing a drinking horn around a table full of warriors, but I can see her as Æthelflæd, the Lady of Mercia.

Speaking of Saxon ladies, can't you just picture Jane as her namesake, Lady Godgifu, or more commonly known, Lady Godiva? Riding naked through town would be a great piece of performance art.

Enough rambling for today.

Around the Bend

What characters do you think are most likely to go around the bend in the future?


Will Stacy finally crack and become a cannibal killer?


Will Mr. DeMartino finally have an unrecoverable dose of Kevin?


Is Mr. O'Neill secretely the long-sought "Inner Child" serial killer?


Will Jake finally have that final knock-down, drag-out with Mad Dog?


Something to contemplate on a slow Friday.

All the News That's Fit to Suppress

The great history of freedom of the press in North America began a mere 319 years ago today, when the first edition of the first newspaper in the New World was printed in Boston. The newspaper was shut down the next day by the government and was never printed again. I bet that taught the liberal press a thing or two.

Today is also the seventh anniversary of the Vitim Event in Siberia, whatever the heck that was. Must have been a sight when it came down. BOOM! Perhaps it was a UFO crashing, but we will never know because 62 years ago yesterday, or so it is alleged, President Harry S. Truman signed off on Majestic 12, the ultra-secret government cover-up of its contact with alien creatures from across the galaxy. If you are looking for conspiracy lore to add to your fanfic plots, this one's a goodie.

More to come. Stay tooned.

As I Want You to Be

I'd much rather stay
home and listen to my
brother practice
the opening to
"Come as You Are."
—Jane Lane, in "The Invitation"

Nirvana's Nevermind was released this day eighteen years ago. Still smells like teen spirit.

A few interesting links for fun:

• Jane's art gallery from an Italian fansite (the art doctored up in an amusing way)
• That 3D image of Daria I posted once, from Lawndale Commons
• That 3D image of Jane (same source)

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• Finn Morgendorffer, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2): Football tryouts were actually two hours after school, so Finn had time to head home first. Not to his surprise, Daria was not at home. She would not be around to make herself a target for a while, and Finn could only seethe with fury at her performance today.
  
• Love Is a Series of Burning Sensations, by Undefinedlust (Part 12 COMPLETE!): Daria smiled in amusement as she walked from the video store to her mom's Suburban, here she was about to have bad movie night with her sister and Stacy Rowe. If she had ever been in a more absurd situation, she couldn't remember it. The fact she had been busted staring at Stacy's ass made the situation even more amusing.
• Unnamed story, by Teeki (Part 1): "What?" Helen Morgendorffer screeched, "The teleconference is back on?! But Fred, you assured me it wasn't going to happen tonight. I'm supposed to take my daughters shopping." Quinn scowled as her mother listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. "But of course, Fred. Listen, I'll be a little late. Let me get back to the house, get the girls a snack and I'll call in from there. Bye, Fred."
  

One Last Blast from the Past

It's funny to think about it now, but when I began this blog two years ago, I was afraid I would run out of images very quickly. How naïve.

At left, a special image The-N once sent out to those who completed a quiz to show how much like Daria they were, and managed to score right at the top. One of the neater little things The-N had on its site, along with large-size images of Daria and Jane, and huge unique wallpapers.

Garden gnomes! Who doesn't love garden gnomes? I think the image at upper right was from Wildgoose's old site, Hell Is Other People. Was this scene at the Gupty's house? Don't remember where it showed up.

Oh, just a side note: check out the newly expanded Backgrounders webpage for The Head, the clueless nerd who seems to show up everywhere, sometimes twice at the same time. You know Ms. Li's gotta be running a Professor Xavier-type school here with all the mutant time traveling, shape changing, self-duplicating, teleporting kids around this school. My sincere and heartfelt thanks to UU and Pinhead for the images and labor that are slowly transforming the Backgrounders site into a thing of absolute wonder.

Too bad you can't click the image at right and really get Mystik Spiral to show up at your house. This was from an old MTV Daria page. I seem to have a lot of tiny Tank images from all sorts of places.

Where did the Fashion Club like to shop? Just look to the right and find out (another old MTV image for wallpapering).

At left, an excellent screen capture from Is It College Yet? showing Daria and Jane as bff's in the 1920s. They're wearing flapper outfits. Good jump-off image for a time-travel tale. This was from CyberDaria, touched up a bit. Funny, when you read the first couple of paragraphs about flappers on Wikipedia, it does remind you of Jane and Daria. Mostly Jane for me, but your mileage may vary.

At right is an alter ego that might not look familiar to you unless you've played the computer game, Daria's Inferno. In the end credits for the game, as information on the game's publisher (Simon & Schuster) is being given, this picture appears. (It is quite large. Click on it.) It is Mr. O'Neill, of course, dressed as the Simon & Schuster logo. He looks more like an older version of the S&S logo from 1961, but even more like the original source of the logo itself. The S&S logo was based upon a French artist's work from 1850: Jean-François Millet's The Sower, which surprises us nowadays as it was once considered a revolutionary work. During Daria's time, Simon & Schuster was the publishing wing of Viacom, which also owned MTV. And there you have it: an alter ego with a longer-than-expected history and meaning.

Left: A rare screen capture of Jane Lane putting on lipstick. I forgot which episode this was in and on which extinct website I found it. Oh, well. The image came from fan artist extraordinaire Pinhead, and my thanks to him for it. Love the shot. It's actually rather big. I touched it up a little.

Last, we have what I think is an image from the Mystik Spiral rock video, "Freakin' Friends," though I am not sure. Kind of evocative, the lighter and psychedelic background and everything.

Enough for tonight, moar tomorrow at some point.

LATE NOTE: I've just discovered that some of the images I posted today and credited to CyberDaria actually came from a different goldmine, the recovered files and images from the old Triste Monde Tragique website (also French). I have so many new images I'm losing track of their origins. My apologies for the mix-up.

LATE LATE NOTE: Remember the Lawndale High teachers' lounge?

Strange and Unusual Things, More of

Delving into the cybernetic underworld once again....

At left is one of the front-page images from Et Jane? (a French Daria website no longer updated). The site was exclusively focused on Jane Lane and contained lots of fanfiction and fan art for a somewhat AU version of the Daria series.

Upchuck's favorite magazine is at right, from "That Was Then, This Is Dumb." This was from a long-ago version of the MTV Daria website.

Ever since I recovered the image at left from Wildgoose's website, it has nagged at me. It was originally from a "couples" flipbook on an old MTV Daria site (a flipbook that is no longer around). It clearly implies that Jane and Alison were being tagged for a time as a couple. I know, the artists just needed a reference scale for drawing the two of them when they were standing very close together, but....

Want a really big image of Helen as a martial-arts master? Click on the pic at right. It was on Wildgoose's site, but may have come from MTV somewhere. It's a much enlarged version of the standard alter ego. Interesting. I recovered a few other giant-sized images like this one, and used one of them on DariaWiki (on the fanservice page). If you need a giant-size picture of Daria dressed up as Mother Goose, let me know.

Karine (or someone else) put together the composite crossover image at left, showing a mutant Brittany Taylor (that artwork originally by Liliane Grenier) about to take on the characters from Futurama. Cute. Still not sure what this was all about, but I like it.

Trent Lane's guitar is below, from an old MTV Daria site. Anyone able to identify what kind of guitar it is? Wouter? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Moar l8r. Hope you are enjoying this.

The Way Out WayBack Machine

What else can we drag out of the archives... oh, this is interesting. Karine, of CyberDaria, designed some light switch covers like the one at left. Here we see Quinn, and the switch itself appears to be... ZOMG!! Okay, that is just wrong. (Need a shocked-face smiley, have to make one for times like this.) Whew! Better move along and see what else we have. ("Are you happy to see me, or did you just want the lights on?")

A little reminder at upper right that we do indeed see Daria and Jane praying in the traditional Christian manner during "Daria!" (Something to remember in those arguments about religion in cartoons.) At least no one can say Daria was satanic.

Daria and Jane in 3D? Apparently there was something on CyberDaria showing this. Difficult to recover now, except for the image at right.

Thought you might find this item on the left interesting. There was a palmtop computer game called "Dear Daria" some years ago, which you could download for free from several sources. I had a link to it in the Daria Directory, but the game seems to have vanished in the last two years. Dang. However, I did recover something that might turn out to be the game itself, saved on CyberDaria as a RAR file, so we will see. This amusing GIF shows Daria doing the advertising thing for the game.

Okay, I really like this one at right. Not sure if Karine did this, or MTV, or what. Seems to be a combination of two different images from MTV, maybe someone else can set me straight on that. Great 'shipper artwork! Dead solid perfect.

Ever wonder what Helen's American Access Gold Card looked like, the one she always used to bribe Quinn? This image came from an old MTV Daria site, along with a bunch of other iconic Quinn possessions like her gum machine and T-shirt design. They were meant to be tiled together to form a desktop background. The card seems to be an American Express parody. Anyone remember what other kinds of credit cards Helen and Jake used as bribes? Hard to image that. Did the girls just sign their parents' names, or what?

And now that I've mentioned Quinn's T-shirt design, here it is at left. Imagine having a background all tiled up with this image. Hurts my head to think about it, but women like pink, so who knows.

And Quinn's stuffed Triceratops is at right. (Quinn with a stuffed Triceratops? I always thought that was excellent! If I was six years old, I would SO want one.) And that will close this post out. Amazing what you can find when you just look.

Daria in Any Language Is "Cool"

Let's see what else we can drag out of the archived parts of CyberDaria, the French supersite that went into the Internet's black hole half a decade ago. Lots of interesting flotsam to see while surfing the cyberspace ocean....

First off, who is the guy at left? We have his illustration but I don't recall him. Does anyone here know this guy? (Click on him for a larger image.) He was posted to a flipbook on the MTV Daria site long ago, but the flipbook vanished.

A scene from "Scientific Stuff" (B&B episode with Daria) appears on the upper right, evidently a button you clicked on CyberDaria to show a film clip from that episode.

Here is "Andreax" on the right, an image I don't recall seeing before, though in a funny way it seems familiar. Anyone recall where this pic of Andrea came from, originally?

Some kind of PacMan-like videogame pic with Daria.... huh. Not sure if it was an illo or part of something that worked.

Ah, this was interesting. Karine, the webmistress of CyberDaria, designed some useful items for everyone to use. One of these was a CD case cover, at lower right. Nicely done. Part of the artwork was Karine's. Wherever she is now, we can only wish her the best for what she gave us.

More stuff later. I'm in a mood to share unusual things for a while. Not sure how many people are into this, but Internet archaeology is its own reward for the thrill of discovery it provides.

Bump Day

The televised Daria really only mentioned two pets, Sandi's cat Fluffy and Leary, the Yeager's dog. The Daria Database mentions two cats living in the Lane home, Zachary and Taylor. In contrast, fanfiction authors have added many animal companions, such as Opie the Armadillo created by Galen Hardesty or Roger the Mouse by The Angst Guy, or Bump, our featured feline.

What is also fun is how these characters haven't stayed in their home stories, but have been used by other fanfiction authors. Sometimes even combining several, like Brother Grimace's "Paws Force Power Rangers".

More pet characters can be found at the DariaWiki entry.

So give your pet(s) an extra treat today. They deserve it.

ETA: Missed one, Penny Lane's parrot Chiquito.

Weighing Your Options

Today, yesterday actually when the equinox occurred, is/was the beginning of the Libra part of the astrological pseudoscience thingamajig, and Dawn is here to give us the Libra look. Libras tend to wear white togas and carry gold cups around with them. Talking with them is useless because of their Walkman sets.

Also today, in astronomical news, Neptune was discovered 163 years ago by three guys at once (Joey, Jeffy, and Jamie). Neptune is generally considered the outermost boundary of the planetary part of the solar system by socialists, infidels, and heretics who obstinately refuse to acknowledge the God-given supremacy of Pluto as a planet. Thank heavens I am not bitter about it.

Ms. Kinnikufan, who single-handedly has created some of the best-ever Iron Chefs ever seen on PPMB over the last decade, has done it again: Iron Chef: Single Parent Jake. Go for it.

In the Art for Art's Sake Department, Pinhead once again reduces fans to shock and awe with "Through a Pane Darkly." Not to be outdone, Lorenzo Sauchelli has begun a pen-and-ink freestyle portrait of Daria that has the look of an Al Hirschfeld caricature. Wonders will never cease! LATE ADD: More art from Pinhead! More art from Pinkminx! More art from Acidgirl! YEEE-HAAAW!!!

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• Falling Into College 70: Is It The Future, Yet? by Richard Lobinske (Part 4): "It's really weird for Pentagon brass like Gen. Trainor to get individual information on one guy in combat. Even weirder for said brass to contact a family member with the information." "Amy and Paula are good friends." "True, but that doesn't explain Paula getting a special briefing on Reese. I have to wonder if something really classified got buggered-up and Reese was sucked in."
• Long for the Flowers, by Charliefox2012 (Part 1): Jake Morgendorffer sat at the little table in his motel room. On the table sat a half-empty gin bottle--no shot glass--and the final version of his divorce papers, the declaration of the end of his twenty-three year marriage. He picked up the gin bottle and took a long drink. He grimaced slightly and put the bottle down. [FF.net]
  
• Regifted, by Ajar (Part 17): ...I will be satisfied by those around me. I will be satisfied by those around me...
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part III), by jtranser (continued): I enter the dark road from the darkness. Far off shines the moon on the edge of the mountain.
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Single Parent Jake), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "What is it? I'm got a customer who's a real grinder here and if I can't close this I'm going to have to turn this one over! I can't be interrupted! I TELL YOU I CAN'T BE INTERRUPTED!"

"I'm pretty damn good. How are you?"

This is American Business Women's Day in the U.S., and Linda Griffin is our image person. This is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the American Business Women's Association, and Mrs. Griffin is on the board of the Lawndale Businesswoman's Alliance (per "Gifted"), making her the appropriate choice. Nice blouse color, love that shade of blue. Interesting to listen to her with that slightly deeper, nasal Sandi voice. (The same voice actress, Janie Mertz, did both mother and daughter, as was done with Helen and Quinn and another voice actress.)

Let's see, what else... oh, today is the anniversary of the mysterious Vela Incident in the South Indian Ocean, wonder how that can be put into a Daria fanfic.

It is also OneWebDay! Hooray! This is supposed to be very important to web freaks like you and me, but every day is special on the Internet. Still, there is a pledge to take. Not sure Daria would do this. It would mean she was taking a position. However, all she does is complain, so maybe she would. Whatever.

I think we've run this into the ground. Take us out of here, Mrs. Griffin.

Moar gnus l8r.


LAST NOTE: Did you love that tired roll of the eyes that Linda gives in "Gifted" when Helen is going on about "the stick"? Linda is such a babe.