ka-BOOOM!

It would be criminal to leave this day without mentioning that today marks the

102nd!

anniversary of the Tunguska Event, a titanic explosion whose origin is fiercely debated and whose existence has become a geek touchstone. (It was mentioned without explanation in Ghostbusters, and everyone who was a geek got it.) Some fascinating websites covering the Tunguska event include this one, this one, and this one. (Click on "tunguska event" under Labels to read previous blog posts about this burning issue.)

It was a good thing the event didn't occur over a major city—or, as Daria would put it...

Do you realize that only one Daria fanfic even mentions the Tunguska Event? ONLY ONE??? The shame of it. Okay, I lied: two others (here and here) also mentioned it. BUT ONLY THREE?

MoaR N00Z!

• ImYourOpheliac has created a new Iron Chef: Tom and Jeffy become friends? "I was watching 'One J at a Time' and wondered, how would it affect the show if Tom and Jeffy became friends?"
• Roxanne M created Iron Chef: Daria and Jane pregnant at the same time (and what a response!)
• Charles RB has unleashed Iron Chef: Barch VS DeMartino. "Professionally, in sport, in post-apocalypse car-on-car warfare... whatever the situation or genre, DeMartino and Barch must battle in an all-out struggle."
  

NOTE: I am still adding fanfics to the previous post. There are so many lately I can barely keep up, but I will continue to try.

One Shift, Two Shift, Red Shift, Blue Shift

Only 104 years ago today, Albert Einstein's physics paper on special relativity was published. Daria will demonstrate the basics points here. That should make it clear enough, except for the added distortions of time and space which are covered elsewhere.

Of greater importance, though, is the 12th anniversary of the premiere of "The Big House" on MTV. And we still don't know with whom Daria was out that late at night. Had a yellow car, though. Not a taxi.

The Tunguska event is 101 years old today. Happy birthday to you, you big lug of a non-crater, you. And the Corvette Sting Ray (thanks to smk's correction there) is 56. Wonder why none of the characters in Daria ever drove one of these. They drove everything else.

In the art department, MDetector5 offers a new perspective on Quinn that I think all fans can get behind.

BAY STATE DARIACON time is almost here! Get ready!

RUMOR DEPARTMENT: Yesterday a fan named Kate wrote that someone heard that Daria might come out on DVD next year, according to this rumor. We can only hope! Oh, wait, that means I have to keep this blog going for another year. Well, fine, whatever. MTV, if it's true, THANK YOU!

"The Big House" Turns Eleven

Okay, we still don't know where Daria was or who she was with before she returned home at the start of "The Big House," which first aired eleven years ago on MTV. It appears that the creators of the show meant to keep that a secret. The show has been favorably reviewed (SSW1, SSW2, OD) and has a nice page on DariaWiki. I've added a few new links to the latter regarding fanfiction that spins off from this episode.

Today is also the 100th anniversary of the Tunguska Event, which has never once ceased to grip the imaginations of geeks and mundanes alike. Current explanations of the megaton-range explosion focus on a cosmic collision with a small asteroid or large meteoroid (e.g.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), but people have also suggested the explosion was caused by geophysical events, a nuclear bomb, a UFO, a UFO being hit by a comet, or a UFO being shot down by Nikolai Tesla's experimental energy weapon. The FBI has investigated the event, as have many gamers. The only known consequences of the biggest interdimensional cross-rip in history are a flattened forest, a growing cottage industry of people trying to connect the event to an alien invasion (for fun and profit), and a new dietary drink that gives you a "blast" of energy.

The real question is, how can a fanfic writer connect Daria to the Tunguska Event? More importantly, how can we connect the Tunguska Event to "The Big House"? Both occurred on the same day of the year. Coincidence? I think not.

Fanfic update later. Party on.