|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 005--8/25/94 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 1  ||  -------> (Cup OWis005, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [[BEGIN005OW]] [[01005MH]] OsoaWeek005, August 25, 1994 Published by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement. Contact via e-mail at obliviana@aol.com, via voice at 1-800-OBLIVIANA, or via snailmail at 37 Gill Lane, Suite 119, Iselin, NJ 08830, USA. On America Online, contact via "Obliviana". Copyright 1994 by Frank Edward Nora. Permission is granted to make complete, verbatim electronic copies of this ezine for the purpose of free distribution. All other forms of reproduction are forbidden without express written permission from Frank Edward Nora. This file should contain approximately 61408 characters and 1686 lines. OsoaWeek originates in the United States of America. Statement of Purpose: OsoaWeek is the weekly ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement (Osoa), an innovative and far-reaching game with an eye on the future. See the Appendix at the end of this file for a clear explanation of what Osoa is all about. And check out the Sneak Preview below (after Contents) for an overview of what's inside this issue! *OW* [[02005CN]] Contents of OsoaWeek005 BEGIN 01 005 MH--Masthead 02 005 CN--Contents 03 005 SP--Sneak Preview 04 005 LO--Lord of Obliviana Revelry 05 005 NH--Nihilistica 06 005 CO--Catalog of Obliviana * * * 07 005 SO--The State of Osoa 08 005 FW--Fonosta World * * * 09 005 HR--Hemisinister Review 10 005 HT--Halfevil Times 11 005 FE--Friction Enhancer 12 005 SU--Superior 13 005 SR--Severe Repair 14 005 AX--Appendix END Unless otherwise noted, all contents are by Frank Edward Nora. See Appendix for more information on the Contents, codes, and searching. *OW* [[03005SP]] Sneak Preview of OsoaWeek005 OsoaWeek is an impressive, cutting edge, weekly ezine chock full of essential stuff for GenXers and other decent folks! In this, the fifth issue, you'll find a whole lot of really nice stuff to feed your craving for information, entertainment, and stimulation. Here's some of what you'll find! Lord of Obliviana Revelry (04005LO) relates a strange experience Frank Edward Nora had Tuesday morning--where the words "Dexy's Midnight Runners" flashed into his mind the moment he woke up! Nihilistica (05005NH) gives you some very cool previews of things to come, including "Jaguar Dreams", "What is Stupid Exposure Frigate?", "The Obliviana Channel", and "Codingseeds Chaotic"! Catalog of Obliviana (06005CO) has a lot of cool stuff for you to buy, which you really should buy, you know. And this issue marks perhaps the last time that ALL existing Obliviana Artifacts are available for purchase. Each Obliviana Artifact is produced in extremely limited quantities, so take advantage of this early stage in Osoan history and BUY BUY BUY! The State of Osoa (07005SO) brings you the shockingly simple core concept of the entire Obliviana Super Occult Amusement milieu. In fact, this sneak preview of The State of Osoa is longer than the feature itself! Get into the essence of Osoa! Fonosta World (08005FW) has the Fonosta of Peter Litkey, star of Assignment: Mystery Box! See all the things he chose! And yes folks, the next Mystery Box is in the works, and should be finished within the next few weeks! Hemisinister Review (09005HR)--Can we talk snacks? Can we? If so, you'll find a delightful assortment of snack reviews, including "Veggie Pockets", "Corn Nuts", and "Pop-Secret Pop Chips"! Very yummy, don't you know. Halfevil Times (10005HT)--Time again for the Halfevil Times Classifieds! Peruse at you leisure the Help Wanted (ie, Androidsmith), For Sale (ie, Almighty Sweater), and Lost & Found (ie, Found--The BMW Ape). Heck--you never know what you might find! Friction Enhancer (11005FE) brings you "Lapmall", a fine little Friction Enhancer, in which you must walk all the way around a bunch of different malls. It's more fun than you might think! Give it a shot! Yeah, go on! Superior (12005SU) starts off with "this is not the train it was", travels to "flip your relatives", smacks into "bother, Imher the rail guy" and finally slams to a halt at "you're gneiss". A bunch of irregular passages for your unstable spiritual consumption. You know? Severe Repair (13005SR)--This time, get ready for "Bicentennial Cane", where Tanner Loblolly sits down for a chat with a bunch of gods and goddesses, including Fluffy Netherf*ck, Mem Elemorty, Little Fisher, and Little Red Thread. Also, check out Violent Evan, a tiny hippo god guy trapped in a pocket universe who throws up an odd black substance called "murder". Severe Repair--like a NordicTrack for your imagination! Appendix (14005AX) asks "Are you confused by Osoa? Severely confused?" If so take a look at the Appendix and get the answers to some of your questions. You'll feel smarter if you do. *OW* [[04005LO]] Lord of Obliviana Revelry You wanna know how weird I am? When I woke up this morning, I sat up and the first words that came into my mind were "Dexy's Midnight Runners". Now I WAS dreaming that I was in a record store, but I don't remember any reference to this one-hit-wonder, best-of-the-'80s band. Maybe some powerful force in the universe wants me to "Come on Eileen"? Nah. I have been rather blank this entire week, as this bare-bones OsoaWeek is testament to. But what the hell, writing an ezine like this every week causes great mental fatigue. So sometimes a minimal issue is called-for. But like all issues of OsoaWeek, this week's is at least 50K, and full of awesome material. So check it out! And people, c'mon. Send us some e-mail for crying out loud! We know you're out there! That is, we THINK you're out there! You ARE out there, aren't you? Eh? *OW* [[05005NH]] Nihilistica ***JAGUAR DREAMS*** As most all of you know, the Atari Jaguar is the coolest, most potential-laden video game system ever to be released! Still in limited release, this awesome entertainment system will rip into America (and the world) this holiday season. Seeing the fantastic capabilities of the Jaguar, Obliviana Super Occult Amusement has approached Atari about becoming a developer. And while there's a whole lot of red tape and other hurdles in the way of actually creating software experiences, don't be surprised if you see the Obliviana Primal virtual universe available for Jaguar sometime in 1995! ***WHAT IS STUPID EXPOSURE FRIGATE?*** Stupid Exposure Frigate (SEF) is a concept for a TV series currently being developed at Osoa. The idea is that each episode would bring together a group of talented, but as-yet unsuccessful young people to create a 10-minute video feature. Each episode would start with a 10-minute behind-the-scenes segment, in which the various personalities are profiled and the methods of productions detailed. The 10-minute feature itself would follow, and after that, the final 10-minute segment would be presented. This final part will cover the gang preparing to view the final version of the feature, then the viewing itself, then the aftermath and conclusions. The idea would be to bring together a wide variety of individuals, with one goal being the development of conflict due to various personality and lifestyle aspects of the participants. The same people can be in more than one episode of SEF, but fresh blood will be essential. ***THE OBLIVIANA CHANNEL*** Okay, so maybe Osoa doesn't have the kind of resources to start a cable TV channel. Not by a long shot. But with the innovative new idea of Crummy Piggyback Digital Television (CPD-TV), The Obliviana Channel may just become a reality! The idea is that a low-res, black-and-white, small, gritty video image accompanied by a low-quality audio portion can be digitized, compressed, transmitted, and decompressed with cutting edge technology. Such a datastream would be rather modest and could conceivably be imperceptibly piggybacked on cable TV channels, broadcast TV channels, radio stations, or through other transmission methods. Another possibility would be to dedicate a single cable TV channel to a large number of individually-operated CPD-TV stations. Such a channel could potentially carry hundreds of crummy-quality channels, each run by a totally independent organization. There are several questions. On the aesthetic side, how crummy can the quality be without ruining the viewing experience? On the technical side, some sort of decoder/tuner will be needed to view CPD-TV channels. While a dedicated unit is possible, it's far more likely that tuner software could be written for a video game system or desktop computer, making set-up for CPD-TV reception potentially cheap and easy! ***CODINGSEEDS CHAOTIC*** A QuickTime movie (a Macintosh animation/video format) featuring 56 cool Codingseeds is in the final stages of development and will soon be released for all to see! Each Codingseed is a cool logo of some part of the Osoa universe. Awesome transition special effects were made possible using the application "Morph". A smaller version, sans transition effects, will also be available. And the best part? Like OsoaWeek, these movies will be absolutely free! Look for 'em in a week or two! *OW* [[06005CO]] Catalog of Obliviana With more and more of your life switching over to digital, isn't it nice to be able to obtain something unique to the physical world? That's what Obliviana Artifacts are all about! Each one is signed, numbered, stamped, and very limited! So for the best in non-digital thrills, order often from the mighty Catalog of Obliviana! You can always call 1-800-OBLIVIANA to check out how many of a given Artifact are left, and also reserve an item. Your Artifact will be held for 5 business days, awaiting your order. I keep two of everything, so the initial amount available is at least two less than the total. To order, send check or money order made out to Frank Edward Nora, or cash (at your own risk), to the address in the Masthead. All prices include postage and handling. Guarantee: Return any Artifact within 30 days of receiving it for a full refund. MINIATURE SUPER OBJECT 1: NON-THORIUM ANTENNA This is a strange little Super Object I developed some time ago as an incentive item to get you to order one of my former magazines. I got no orders, though. Now, there are 40 Non-Thorium Antennas, complete with tiny plastic container and title card. 30 left. OA001. Only $3 each! PERFECT FOVY Fovy was a publication I released fortnightly for five issues last Autumn. Each issue is on one folded-up 11 x 17 sheet of paper, with an awesome 8-Codingseed poster on one side and cool stuff on the other, including two Zope comics per issue! A wonderful collection, bound with a paper band, and only 26 made. 24 left. OA002. Yours for $5! PELTER CD-ROM This is an actual CD-ROM I had pressed over a year ago, and it contains 256 of the coolest clip textures you ever saw! Being for the Macintosh, each image is a 512 pixel by 512 pixel 32-bit color image. As well, each image comes in 6 varieties! These are 32-bit, 8-bit, grayscale, tiled 32-bit, tiled 8-bit, and tiled grayscale. This product never saw commercial release because, (a) I blew all my money just producing it, and (b) I'm too lazy and wary to have anyone else produce it. So! A great bargain, with only 40 copies available. Includes the original color-photocopied cover, and a brand new insert with updated information. Requires Macintosh computer with CD-ROM drive. 38 left. OA003. Only $30 each! OSOAWEEK001 HARD COPY VERSION ONE The entire text of OsoaWeek001 output on four legal-size sheets of paper. Only ten copies were made, and it will have some different design elements in the next imprint. The "OsoaWeek" logo is different from the official one. There are only 1 left, so call before ordering! OA004 (note: this code is not printed on the Artifact itself). $2 each. Ultra rare! READ THIS OR DIE! An awesome collection of Zope comics spanning eight years! Contains twenty sheets of colored paper, with 40 Zope comics in all! Included are "Zope's Resin Conundrum", "Zope's Little Puppet", "Doctor Zope and the Abdomen Ghoul", and loads more! Each set not only has the usual signature, stamp, and number--but an original drawing of Zope as well! All bound together with a big binder clip. A very raw artifact! 20 made, 10 left. OA005. $4 each. *OW* [[07005SO]] The State of Osoa Obliviana is a place. And the goal of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement is getting to that place. It can be done. *OW* [[08005FW]] Fonosta World ***NEW FONOSTAS*** FONOSTA 003: "Alice Cooper of Sawdust Winter" Date Entered: 8/24/94 Personal Information: Peter Joseph Litkey, Bedminster, NJ, Male, Interests: bowling, bike riding, music, hiking, movies, and zoning. Osoa Info: Flower 9, Digs 6, Bellum: Carbon Giovanni, Team Supreme Being, Tarb: 29, Totems: Car & Joker, Sentence: "What am I, nuts?", Colors: Coffee, Yellow and trim: Pine, Device: letter "C". *OW* [[09005HR]] Hemisinister Review ***SNACKS*** KEN & ROBERT'S TRULY AMAZING VEGGIE POCKETS Being a vegetarian is a real pain in the ass. So any sort of microwave fast food sort of thing without meat really gets me revved up. Veggie Pockets are pricey little snacks, basically an "organic wheat crust" filled with a variety of vegetables and imitation tofu cheeses. I tried the Indian Style and Greek Style variations, and both were tasty, hot and satisfying after two minutes nuking. (I only wish they could have called it something other than "Greek Style"--it's not a particularly appetizing name). Other styles available are Pizza, Tex-Mex, and Oriental. And this is one of those food products you're not gonna find in every supermarket. But what do you want? Vegetarianism IS a pain in the ass, but for a me, it's worth the effort, 'cause it makes me feel good. I wouldn't suggest it for anyone else, though! But all you carnivores out there are sure to love Veggie Pockets, too! Just have some beef or something on the side. ORIGINAL FLAVOR CORN NUTS Here's a snack that's sort of lurked in the shadows for years. Recently, however, they revamped the entire Corn Nut concept, with all-new packaging, flavors, and marketing. Still, however, Corn Nuts seem to be a very low-key food item. Of all the flavors, including ranch, barbecue, nacho and others, the original flavor is the most interesting due to the simplicity of the ingredients--corn, vegetable oil, and salt. How they take corn and make these large, very nutlike, tasty morsels is beyond me. Corn Nuts are very hard and tend to tire the jaw toward the end of a bag. I find the idea of frequent munching on Corn Nuts unappealing for some reason--perhaps it's the difficulty of chewing, perhaps something else. One interesting thing I remember from awhile back is that Corn Nuts, Inc. has the trademark for the Pac-Man shape, as the Corn Nut Creature (which does look very similar to Pac-Man) predates the Namco superstar by quite a while. I can't remember the details of the story though--maybe I'll do some research and get back to you. So check out this new incarnation of Corn Nuts, they're worth a try! POP-SECRET POP CHIPS These pathetic snack chips are touted as being "made with popcorn", but when you read the ingredients, it turns out that "ground whole popping corn" is used. Duh! I don't know about you, but when I think of popcorn, I think of it in its popped form. What a rip off! Anyway, Pop Chips have an awful flavor--sort of like sweet cardboard with a dash of salt. And a huge $2.50+ box contains only 5 ounces of chips! I only tried the "Original" flavor (being that it's a new product, does this name really make sense?), and not the "Butter" or "Sour Cream & Onion" flavors. But I think I'll pass. Try and find the Pringle's popcorn chips if you can--they're much, much better. *OW* [[10005HT]] Halfevil Times  HALFEVIL TIMES CLASSIFIEDS ***HELP WANTED*** OTTOMAN SLASHER New Federal regulations require that all ottomans sold in the Continental U.S. must be torn up and destroyed. Nationwide furniture retailer seeks violent bastards to ruin all the ottomans in our inventory. B.A. in Machete Arts a plus. Send criminal record to Rolandworld, Inc., 7 Cockspur Ave., Deep, IA 34933. Dudes need not apply. ANDROIDSMITH Skilled robotics expert sought to aid in the construction of a new Bill Clinton android, as the one in The White House has been seriously malfunctioning lately. Successful candidate must be a worshipper of Satan (currently posing as "Hillary Clinton") and a kiss-ass f*ckhead. Send resume and copy of health security card to the attention of Greta Gaylord at The Mr. Measle Automusement Team, 1 Lemur Plaza, Bunnyjaw, Saskatchewan, 24T-T42. DULL TRENT Boring, insipid, uninteresting individual with the first name Trent sought to tone down the party atmosphere at our wildly successful cybersex startup company. Those with anything interesting about them need not apply. Equal opportunity employer--female Trents welcome. Send photocopy of birth certificate and list of vapid non-accomplishments to Do-Yer-Pentium, Inc., 55 Swallow Lane, Lake Woebegone, MI 56673. ***FOR SALE*** BLEAK HAMSTERS Litter of small rodents without hope available individually or as set. They tend to drain all life and energy out of everything within 50 feet. Supply of Prozac included with each purchase. We were planning to send them to the former Soviet Union, as their presence wouldn't be noticed, but customs is a bitch. Asking $8,500,000 each or an even trillion for the lot. Call James Deer-and-Hawk-Mating at the Calawakka Indian Reservation at (503) 555-1231 for more information. EDISON DEATH DEVICE Original from 1897, in box. One of Thomas Alva Edison's lesser-known inventions. The Death Device is composed of a heavy iron shaft tipped with sharp iron spikes. Can be used to kill in a variety of ways, as detailed in instruction manual. Legal in most states. Asking $9 for this unique antique. Call Sal Kabbij at 1-700-555-4343 after "Models, Inc." ALMIGHTY SWEATER Beautiful white sweater worn by GOD HIMSELF, for sale by owner. He left it behind after putting that image of Jesus on the U.N. Building. When worn, bestows omnipotence and omniscience. Also good for chilly Autumn evenings. Asking $145 or B.O. Call Leon the Intelligent Pigeon at (212) 555-7824 before the stock market closes. ***LOST & FOUND*** FOUND--SPUDS MACKENZIE TOWEL Faded towel with image of former canine commercial superstar Spuds MacKenzie found by the side of the road while I was changing my tire. I used it to wipe my hands and threw it in my trunk--only to find out later that it's some kind of sentient flying carpet! Like an unwelcome house guest, the towel eats, sleeps, and watches TV with us. The kids love it but I'm at the end of my rope. Please reclaim, or I'll go on a shooting spree. Call me, Mrs. Gross, at 5:19 PM tomorrow night--call information and ask for the number Tim Rotch in Sea Bright, NJ--he knows my number. FOUND--BALDY CASH Sack containing $100,000 in gag bills found on 89th floor of the Baines Building on June 31. Each bill depicts historical figures as if they were bald, such as a bald Washington, bald Lincoln, bald Hamilton, bald Jackson--you get the idea. Includes $3 bills with Sy Sperling's "before" photo. Contact Beth via telepathy to reclaim. LOST--THE BMW APE Huge, 20-foot-tall, silvery-blue ape lost at the Knobdale Archery Range last Sunday night. This star of a popular European ad campaign of the mid 1980's is not well-known to the American public, but if you've seen an ape of gigantic proportions roaming around demolishing all non-BMW cars he comes across, that's probably him. If found, call Clint the Clever Magician at (213) 555-VOILA. Free disappearing coin purse offered as reward. *OW* [[11005FE]] Friction Enhancer FRICTION ENHANCER 5: Lapmall For this amazing Friction Enhancer, all you'll need is an ordinary deck of cards and a mall--preferably many malls. For the purposes of this FE, the definition of "mall" is somewhat looser than in Mallball, in that strip malls are also accepted. The basic idea is simple. First, choose a card--any card will do. Now, while holding the card, start at a point outside the mall, near an entrance, and walk around the entire circumference of the mall. Once you're done, sit down, put the card on your lap, take an indelible marker (such as a "Sharpie") and write the name of the mall, as well as the date, on the card. And voila! Every card prepared in this manner is another Lapmall. There are a variety of challenges possible in Lapmall, such as doing an entire 52-card-deck (or 54 with jokers) for a single mall, doing 52 different malls, doing malls in each of the 50 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, and so on and so forth. So get yourself a pack of cards and be off on another Lapmall expedition, y'all. *OW* [[12005SU]] Superior SUPERIOR 33 This is not the train it was! The very well time is here, too it can helibeb nofnena. I've such a wonder in the place it was the park? I can't help have to see it it neodefrea. I wanna to apartment know alone do. High team it the winding roading farm townering tower to it the college the mall. To go to go is to do it at all. SUPERIOR 34 Sometime devastation well a year forever is just fake. Named at happened back had and confused come and locatated. Land and flames and unearthly been walking for an hour. The clocks are having not a bar-b-q but a financial meeting at the Marriott. The serving girl has big tits. Don't tell me eastern standard time! SUPERIOR 35 A strange little house, yeah you graduated community college, now you're an eighth grade teaching assissstant-t. Anyway we went in and there were vegetables everywhere. Depiction of tiger in web? No problem. Complaints: ok, asistint is spelled wrong, is there a spider so big to catch a tiger?, that house ain't so small. SUPERIOR 36 Relate whistling Dixie to your viewpoint on the primeval forest. Bizarre crystal formations on your left wrist are not uncommon. The roar of a jet engine and the shriek of a priest sound the same to you. Bees don't live in a cave! Be wary as you sit stunned watching the construction equipment perform a ballet. The shrike is your main avian. Flip your relatives. Use an arc welding device to damage your toilet. SUPERIOR 37 Perhaps we can let me interest was tomorrow too like place a. Please, entrance is kind of the wild a new been. If we were to windy ride was darkness here cool cellar. Of blue paper was when in the unrefined kend glories, can the nest of all weethest remumpt. Portable northeries superreflect lap antipathy. Bother, Imher the rail guy. SUPERIOR 38 The that was the smooth across the floor the chair the timer. Cold wonderful hug, into the not the day the way the thing the what! Time for tome, the cool book was here, the girl Irene in green was around and she's so cool. She and the book and magic and dice, these are good. Not that the day wasn't the best, but these exciting stimulants rule. SUPERIOR 39 This is most unexisting voltage the porridge be God nude haphazards a hell spry goop snoozings fusing dupe a both a shamble screwer do not enter please do not enter. SUPERIOR 40 Eat little Swiss Army knives in a bowl of milk for breakfast. Adopt a rhombus. Fondle the abrasive surface of an obsidian grave, if you will. Wear an undershirt made of coral and tobacco. Enter unto the mallard's den. See the kerosine welding brat. Relax and delve into the general issue of destruction. You're gneiss. *OW* [[13005SR]] Severe Repair SEVERE REPAIR 5: "Bicentennial Cane" Tanner was looking around at the variety of gods and mortals milling about the place. He suddenly felt extremely good about himself, and thought it was really cool that he was hanging out with a goddess. They got to the coffee bar and Fluffy ordered two full-strength Tan Venoms. The attendant produced the beverages posthaste and placed them on the counter. The cups were white Styrofoam with a blue Supbam hotel logo on the sides. Fluffy took them both, and then handed one to Tanner. "Careful--it's hot." she said. "Okay." They walked over to a cozy little open lounge which had scattered tables surrounded by sofas, went over to a sofa, and sat down. "So how do you like Cellar Sixteen?" Fluffy asked. "It's tremendous--like all the other places here." "So you like Agoopish." "Yeah. Yes. Definitely. It's the greatest place I've ever been, by far. Totally belgrade." "You simply must tell me how you found your way here--I'd love to hear about it." "Well," Tanner said, putting his cup down on the table. "It was basically just that a friend of someone we know had a dream about this electrical station, about crawling through it and stuff, and we heard that some people tried it and all sort of weirdie things happened. So we--me and my two friends--were waiting for a ride from my father, but we had a couple hours to wait, so we went along the rails and then found ourselves over a huge canyon, and then we got to, I think, the outskirts of the City." "The hinterland." "Yeah. So anyway, we explored a little bit, and we eventually wound up in an underground mall--on the Cellar Four level I think." "Yeah, I know the one you mean." "And we went into a movie theater, and that's where we met Janine and a couple other goddesses. Janine asked me to the dance, and another one said that if we just arrived, we should split up for at least six hours, to help invigorate our intermingling energies or something." "Who told you this?" "A goddess. I think her name was 'El Flacto' something." "El Flactor Floor?" "Yeah that's it." "Oh her. She probably knows what she's talking about. She's into the whole hinterland thing, you know." "What do you mean by hinterland?" "Oh, you know--the outlying areas. Where you can find your way to Earth. Only, gods can't go through alone--we get all dizzy and disoriented out there--we need mortals to lead us through. And even with a guide it's a bit of a harrowing experience." "So you can only go to Earth with a mortal as a guide?" "Yeah. So most of us avoid Earth because it's a bit of an ego deflater to be so helpless." "I see. And the normal people in the City--they can't make it either?" "Nope. The denizens have a mental block or something about Earth--and even if forced to go, they have the same disorientation as gods. They're pretty useless, except as cheap labor." "Well that's pretty good to have." "Yeah, but if you think about it, most of what they do is to support their own population. We certainly wouldn't need this many to meet the requirements of the god and mortal populations." "Well you could deport them. Or genocide them." "Yeah, that's the way. You must have a pretty severe view of us deities." "Ah, just kidding, y'know." "Yeah... It just seems these denizens are getting too full of themselves these days. They lack a basic level of respect for the deity community. I mean, I know you hear a lot about equality and stuff, but in the end, we are gods, and they're--well--they're denizens." "Yeah." "So when do you have to meet your friends?" "Uh," Tanner said, looking at his digital watch. "I guess in a couple of hours. I'm gonna meet them by that fountain." "That fountain? Tanner, there are thousands of fountains in the City--which one do you mean?" "The one near that movie theater in the mall off Cellar Four, I think." "Yeah I know the one you mean." Fluffy said. "Are there really thousands of fountains in Agoopish, as opposed to like hundreds?" "Yeah--that's an interesting feature of Agoopish--all the fountains." "When were they all built?" "Oh, I don't know. Over the centuries. Whatever." "How long has this City been here?" "Oh, since the dawn of time of course." "Hmm..." Fluffy sipped her coffee and studied Tanner's features. He seemed sincere and earnest and lacking anything to hide. She sort of felt sorry that he had stumbled into the whole deranged milieu of Agoopish. "Tanner, you look a little tense." Fluffy remarked. "Yeah, I suppose. I'm just running on dream logic and, uh, stuff right now. When I finally sit down and realize what's going on, I'll be in trouble. This whole Agoopish thing is remarkably shocking." "Well, I can't really relate, since I've been living here for all time. So nothing really seems so new or shocking to me." "How--now if you don't mind me asking--how, uh, how old are you?" "Well if I were an earthling or denizen woman I suppose I'd be reticent, but as a goddess, I've no problem. See, I've been here in Agoopish always." "What do you mean--that you're infinitely old?" "No Tanner, not infinity, but since the dawn of time." "That's like--isn't that like twenty billion years ago or something? You're saying that you're twenty billion years old?" "Look Tanner, it's not something you can measure in years--we've just always been here." "But you must have memories of your life. How far back can you remember?" "Look, let's talk about this later, hey? Now Tanner--how old are you?" "Well, it's not as impressive, but I'm nineteen." "That's a fine age." "You must think I'm awfully young." "You'll find that when you're ageless, age means very little to you." "I could see that." Tanner said. They sat in silence for a few moments. A calm female voice speaking over a public address system was reciting a series of numbers. "415... 80 ... 611... 552..." Tanner considered asking Fluffy what the numbers meant, but he didn't want to seem ignorant. "Oh look," Fluffy said, nodding her head in the direction of the coffee bar "there's a god you don't see around here too often." Tanner looked over. "His name's Cxoven Greatcicle--the big tundra deity. A real effem type, if you see what I mean. Sort of keeps to his own little band of pals and hangers on. I wonder what he's doing here?" "Hmm." Tanner said, sipping his coffee. "Cudworth tells me he's throwing a big party for everyone, but I find that hard to believe." "Cudworth is the guy in the lobby?" "Yeah." "I thought so. I was talking to him before." "About Janine?" "Yeah. I was just walking around the outside of the Hotel when I saw that banner Janine put up. Y'know, I was really riding high on being in this... this supernatural urbania, if you will, and being invited to a dance by a goddess. And man, did that banner ever sour my bliss." "Well, one of the things you have to learn very quickly is that you should be cautious and modest here if you're ignorant of our culture, customs, and laws. I dare say you have little if any real knowledge about Agoopish." "I don't. I admit it." "So it was a bit unwise of you to go and summon Janine, don't you think?" "Well I'd read that if you had a legitimate gripe with a god or goddess, that you could summon them and they'd have to appear." "Well, that does work, I suppose, but so would picking up the phone or writing a letter. I mean, if someone summoned me for such a trivial thing, I'd be totally pissed. When you're summoned, you have to drop everything and disappear out right away." "But Janine knew I was from out of town, and I think she just led me on to be mean." "I'm not so sure of that. I think she misinterpreted what you were saying, and after she found out that you had really just discovered Agoopish, she understandably had apprehensions about going to a dance with you. I mean, it could be most embarrassing if your date knew nothing of Agoopi etiquette and form." "Well I didn't think of it like that--but what about the banner? How can you justify that?" "Well Tanner, first of all, me and Janine don't get along, so I'm not trying to defend her. But being a fellow goddess, I can understand where she's coming from. And the banner--that really is a traditional way for a god to convey an urgent message to someone if he or she is not to be found through normal means." "But the degrading tone..." "She is a rather degrading person, but that's her right. Gods and goddesses have the right to have whatever personality they desire. But some-thing you might not realize is that it is an Agoopi custom that once a date is made, it must be officially broken before other arrangements can be made. So by hanging the banner she officially broke the date--whether or not you saw it. It's assumed that if you didn't see it, someone you know would surely see it hanging there and tell you of it." "But it's still embarrassing." "Well, another thing you should know is that even though gods and mortals intermingle comfortably, the official structure is that gods are supreme over mortals. So though you might take offense at Janine, it is not proper to express that offense to her. And believe me--Janine could have been much more severe with you for summoning her. But, though she is a bitch, she is basically fair. She plainly realizes you are ignorant of our ways." "Well..." "So just put the entire matter out of your head--and stay away from Janine. And especially--don't go to that dance." "I don't even know where it is." "Good. Don't even find out. If you go there, you'll be in for trouble. And if things went crazy, you wouldn't be able to defend yourself." "I took some judo in grade school." "Here, such as judo is vapor." "Eh." From the other side of the lounge, there was some activity. A little meeting was in the process of ending. Both Tanner and Fluffy looked over. A guy in a purple Colonial-America style outfit was facing away from them and talking to someone who was seated. He looked around and saw Fluffy, waved to her, then held his finger up as in saying I'll be with you in a minute. The fellow was tall and of a heavy build, with short black hair and a stubble beard. His face had a childish chisel to it, and his eyes were very intent and piercing. "Who's that guy?" Tanner asked Fluffy. "Him? He's Mem Elemorty." "A god?" Fluffy paused, and then said "Yup." "Huh." Tanner said, sipping his coffee again. Mem Elemorty was laughing and saying good-bye to a few people. Then he turned and came walking over to Fluffy and Tanner. He had a cane, and was using it aid his limping stride. "Is he injured?" asked Tanner. "No. He just limps because he thinks it's cool. And also because it gives him a reason to carry that stupid cane around wherever he goes." "Huh." Mem came over, and following him was a tiny, stout, tan weasel creature. Tanner looked at the creature, and saw that a piece of red thread was floating along in front of the creature. Tanner produced a perplexed grimace. "Tanner, before you say or do anything, listen--that little creature is a goddess, and the piece of thread in front of her is also a goddess. So be nice." Fluffy warned. Tanner looked over at Fluffy with an incredulous expression and was in the process of uttering What?! when the three arrived at the sofa. "Well hello there Fluffy." Mem said. "Hi Mem." said Fluffy. "I see introductions are in order. Lo, allow me the honor. I am Mem Elemorty of Agoopish, God of Tomes. And you, friend? Who are you?" "Me?" Tanner asked. "Mem, this is Tanner Utopis Loblolly of Gullia Fair--mortal, high school student, and novice occultist." "I seeeeeeeeeeeeee." Mem said, sitting down. "Well Tanner Utopis, allow me to introduce you to my two good friends..." Mem motioned toward the cute little weasel and the six-inch length of red thread, just as the weasel was climbing onto the sofa and the thread was floating toward Tanner. "...floating before you," Mem continued, "is Little Red Thread of Agoopish, Goddess of Arithmetic. Lo, don't let her appearance fool you. She's a firebrand, sure." "Hi there." Little Red Thread said to Tanner. Her voice was rich and female and natural and adorable, and came from right where she was floating. "Uh, hi." Tanner said, recoiling a little, and wearing a worried look. He struggled to come up with a hypothesis as to how a piece of thread could talk, but was unable to think clearly. Little Red Thread came near Tanner, and then floated all the way around his head. "Lo, and this, Tanner Utopis," Mem said, pointing to the weasel, "is the most irresistible of ragamuffins, Little Fisher of Agoopish, Goddess of Tea." Little Fisher stood up on her hind legs and made sign language motions to Tanner with her paws. She was a rather diminutive fisher, cute as a button, and very clever-looking. "She say's she's pleased to meet you, and to pay no heed to Mem's flowery speaking." Thread said. "Um--pleased to meet you, uh, also." Tanner said to Fisher. Fisher nodded to Tanner. "She's mute, the poor thing." Fluffy said. "Fishers have neither the vocal cords nor the oral agility to speak. But rest assured, she's as sagaciously sapient as the rest of us." "Speak for yourself, hmm." Mem said "Last time I checked, I was fine on sagacity, but a little low on sapience. Haw! Haw! Haw!" Mem's laugh was nerdy, loud, and grating. Tanner was nervous. "So Tanner," Thread said, floating around his head again, "tell us of yourself. You're from Gullia Fair in the United Areas?" "He just got in, Thread." Fluffy said "And I do mean just. In fact, he only discovered Agoopish a few hours ago--so be easy on him." "How exciting!" Thread said "You must tell us of your journey." "Uh, well," Tanner began "it was, uh, me and a few of my friends, and we heard about how this electrical station was supposed to lead to some weirdie place, and we were waiting for a ride from my dad, so we went along the railroad--" "This was in Gullia Fair?" Mem asked. "Yeah." Tanner said. "Uh huh." Mem muttered. "So anyway," Tanner continued, "we crawled along on the railroad tracks, and..." So Tanner told the tale of his coming to Agoopish, with frequent interruptions from Mem to clarify some detail or other. After about ten minutes, Tanner was just about done. "...so then I met Fluffy and we came down here. Then you guys came over." Tanner concluded. "Boy Tanner, you certainly drew a bad number in tangling with Janine Engineen as soon as you arrived." Thread said. "Yeah." Tanner said "I figure I should be more careful when it comes to going on dates with deities." "That's for sure." Thread responded. "So," Fluffy said. "What was that meeting all about? Another one of your game thingies?" "Welllllllllllllllllllllll," Mem said in a dramatic tone, looking to the side briefly, "we were planning another of our pan-City game campaigns, based upon formality and mathematics, where we will play games and perform rituals in different parts of the City at different times, and record the whole affair, thus producing a macro-dance-design of sorts." "Sounds great." Fluffy said. "Well to be quite honest Fluffy, this is one of the best ones yet." Mem said. "What sort of games do you have here?" Tanner asked, hesitantly. "Well, Tanner Utopis..." Mem began, but Tanner looked over at Fluffy, and she interrupted. "Uh Mem--I think he prefers just to be called Tanner." Fluffy said. "Well Tanner," Mem said, looking at Fluffy briefly, "we have a great number of games here. But the three we're concentrating on now are Derelict, Nitrogen Autumn, and Be." "They sound pretty cool. I'm into games too, y'know." Tanner said. "Well how nice." Mem said. Silence for several moments. "Mem, why don't you show Tanner your cane?" Fluffy said. Little Fisher stood up and did some more sign language. "She says not to let Mem talk your ear off about his dumb cane." Little Red Thread said. "Well," Mem said, lifting his cane onto his knees "this, Tanner, is the famed Bicentennial Cane." "Hmm." Tanner said, nodding and leaning forward. "Lo, it was given me by the great hermit craftsman 55-Yunyusk of Chon just before he vanished, over twenty years ago. Legend has it that he spent 200 years crafting the Cane..." Mem grasped the handle of the Cane and gave it a little twist, then pulled on the handle, which produced odd mechanical-sounding noises, and revealed an opening, wherein the spines of several diminutive books became visible. "...and stocking it with the greatest works of literature, science, philosophy and everything else--in miniature form. Fully, there are over 19,000 volumes contained within the cane. And see, this concealed button near the handle scrolls the inner bookshelf to the left, or the right." Mem demonstrated by pressing the button, and the visible row of books moved slowly to the right, then to the left, revealing more books. "Wow that's excellent!" Tanner exclaimed, genuinely impressed. "But how could 19,000 books fit in there, even at that small size?" "Lo, no one knows." Mem said. "But experts agree that it is a marvel of mechanics, and that no occultism is used in its operation. Indeed, the Cane seems impossible. It is a grand mystery. Only 55-Yunyusk knows for sure how it works." "All those books were inside when you got it?" Tanner asked. "Why yes." Mem said. "Have you put any more in since then, or taken them all out at once?" Tanner asked. "Er, no." Mem said "I wouldn't want to disrupt the perfect set of volumes 55-Yunyusk chose. And no, I only take out one at a time, as the great craftsman himself advised." "Well then, maybe there are only a few books, but their shape and color and text can be changed by internal mechanisms according to digitally stored information." Tanner said. Mem looked at him, surprised for a moment. "Eh, ideas such as that have been suggested, but as I said, only 55-Yunyusk knows for sure." Mem said, closing the panel on the side of the cane. "What's that on the other side of the handle?" Tanner asked, pointing. "Oh," Mem answered "just a magnifying array and bookstand, for easy perusal of the tomes within." "Hmm." Tanner said, nodding. Mem looked around, apparently disquieted by Tanner's theory on the cane. "So Tanner," Thread said, floating motionless a little above the sofa next to Tanner. "What sort of games do you like to play?" "Uh... Well we have this game we play now after school where we have to come up with weird ideas, and then write them down in note-books, and then use that base of ideas as a sort of simulated academic rivalry thing, describing essays we would write, research we would do, etc. Sort of like rival metaphysics departments at different universities. We call it Distantwind House." Mem stared at Tanner with a concerned expression on his face. Fluffy smirked a little. Fisher yawned and signed to Tanner. Thread interpreted--"She wants to know who invented the game, and how long you've been playing." "Well, uh, Little Fisher, uh, I made up most of it, but I had help from some of my friends. Especially Minion Van Hall--he's one of the friends who came here with me." Fisher signed again, and Thread translated "This Distantwind House sounds like fun--would you consider teaching me and my friends how to play it sometime?" "Sure!" Tanner said. "In fact, Martin Fovea is also here in Agoopish, and he plays too. We could set something up sometime, I'm sure." "You planning on staying in Agoopish for awhile?" Thread asked. "Uh, well, I just got here, and I'm not exactly sure what my plans are. But if it's at all possible I'd sure like to stay. I wasn't prepared to find a paranormal city this afternoon, to tell you the truth." Tanner said. "What are some of the ideas in this Distantwind House game?" Thread asked. "Well, a few of the ones I did recently were, like, one was if you sleep exactly nine hours--to the millisecond--something devastatingly bizarre will happen. Another one was could there be a place where Thursdays only come along once in awhile? Oh, and a good one I came up with the other day was doubling your life by writing on the other side. Y'know--like a piece of paper or something. Also we get a lot of ideas from that TV show Johnny Pitch." "Johnny Pitch?" Mem asked. "Where have I heard that name before?" "Well, it's an old TV show from Boolevathers, based loosely on the Essevent deck of occult cards." "Certainly--Johnny Pitch is a card in that deck." Mem said. "Yeah--and there are other characters from the deck, and a lot of other cool characters too. Me and my friends watch it all the time. They just started broadcasting it in Gullia Fair last year." "Sounds fascinating. Lo, tell me something of it, Tanner." Mem said. "Well, right now in it, Johnny is being harassed by this guy Daniel Odd, only he doesn't know that it's his twin brother, see. And Bookfaye, Johnny's girlfriend, is being held prisoner in the basement of a library by the ghost of the poet Libro Gesessnar. He's fighting the ghost of Pervellack Slochlin, another colonial poet guy. Speedy Chill and Mouse Powder are lost in A Rainy Town, and Darkfreen the ultra warlock is up to his old tricks. And the typesetter Whawque St. Wave is helping the jester Treezle Trookus hide--but is putting him to work as well, and Johnny's friend, Alex Mammonville, is researching into the legendary Ebsekkian, Evil Master of Weirdness, and Tendril Davy got killed--again--and, and, and the pion fiends Infoflfam and Fwhich get trapped in an evil movie theater, and, and, uh, lots of stuff." Tanner said. "I see you really like the show." Fluffy said, finishing up her coffee. "Yes," Mem said, "we must get Blankablark to put this Johnny Pitch program into his schedule." "Blankablark?" Tanner asked. "Yes," Fluffy said "Adlai Blankablark runs one of the two TV stations here in Agoopish. And sometimes he imports shows from Earth to broadcast." "Can't you get any Earth TV stations here?" Tanner asked. "Well," Thread said "We can't receive any broadcasts from Earth, but with this new cable TV thing you have over there, we should be able pipe Earth TV in, just as in the case of the phone lines." "But of course Blankie isn't too thrilled at the prospect of Earth TV dissipating his audience." Fluffy said. Little Fisher squeaked and nodded. Tanner finished his coffee, slurping loudly. Silence for a while. Mem pulled a watch from his vest and frowned as he looked at it. "Is that the time?" Mem said, getting up with the aid of his cane "Well I must be off. Lo, Fisher and Thread, I trust you two will be at the next meeting?" "Certainly." Thread said. Fisher nodded and yawned again. "Maybe Tanner could come to the next meeting too." Thread said. Mem glanced at Tanner, looked him over for a few seconds, and then said "Why certainly. I'd like to hear some more about this game of his." Tanner looked confused. "So whatta you say Tanner? Would you like to go to their meeting?" Fluffy asked him. "Uh, sure. I'd really like to. But--when is it?" "Oh, next week at some point." Mem said. "Okay." Tanner said "But I can't guarantee I'll even be here, in Agoopish." "See," Fluffy said "Tanner hasn't exactly worked out an easy way to get back and forth. And Tanner, I assume you still have to go to school?" "Yeah, I guess so, but I'd drop out in a second if I could get a job around here or something." Fluffy smiled. "Tanner, I'm sure you'll work something out when you've been fully educated in the ways of the Agoopi mortal." she said. "Well I'm off. Nice to meet you Tanner." Mem said as he held out his hand. Tanner got up and shook Mem's hand. Mem's grip was very strong, and it hurt Tanner's hand a little, but he tried to hide the pain. "Good to meet you, uh, too." Tanner said. "Farewell folks." Mem said, and he limped off toward the elevators. The remaining four sat in silence for several moments. "Well Tanner," Thread said "I hope me and Fisher can get together before the next meeting with you and your friends, to hear some more about your game." "Sure." Tanner said. "Did I see Dealowl over at your meeting?" Fluffy asked Little Fisher. Fisher signed and Thread translated--"Why yes. He seems to have acquired an interest in games of late. Of course he has some ulterior motive, though none of us can fathom it." "Who's Dealowl?" Tanner asked. Thread answered "He's this owl god who does all sorts of stuff for people--so long as he gets a good deal for himself in the process." "Huh." Tanner uttered. "So," Fluffy said "Whattaya say we show Tanner around Cellar Sixteen, girls?" "Sounds good to me." said Little Red Thread. Little Fisher nodded casually. Fluffy got up and stretched. "Let's go look at the balcony first." Fluffy suggested. Tanner got up, and they all started moving toward the center of the Cellar, Thread floating and Fisher scrambling along behind them. They got to the center of the floor, where there was an octagonal balcony, about 30 feet across, looking down into the floor below, Cellar Seventeen. Cellar Seventeen was a huge space, extremely dark, with a height much greater than that of C-16. Looking down, the four could see lights of various colors moving around below, but couldn't make out much else. Also, cold air was blasting up through the opening. "That's Cellar Seventeen, Tanner." Fluffy said. "It's a weird place--like a perpetual chill nighttime. A lot of plotting goes on down there." "Cool." Tanner said. "More like cold." Thread said. "Too cold for me." Tanner nodded. "Are all the cellars different?" Tanner asked. "Well," Fluffy said, "around here, like from Fifteen to Nineteen, it gets pretty weird, but the others aren't quite as diverse." "Huh." Tanner said. "And over there, you can see the subway platform. That's one of the deeper subway lines, but with connections, it can take you just about anywhere in the City." Fluffy said. "Excellent!" Tanner said "That's so cool how it comes through here like that." Fluffy led them on, across a bridge over a little artificial river and waterfall and waterwheel, and came to one of the walls of the Cellar, facing a window about six feet wide and four feet tall. In-side there was apparently a three-dimensional diorama, such as one might see in a museum. It was nighttime and raining hard with lightning piercing the sky in the background. The landscape was dark and marshy, and hills could be seen in the distance. The rain and thunder were just barely audible. Near the window was a miniature hippopotamus, about the size of a raccoon. "What the hell is this, Fluffy?" Tanner asked, dumbfounded. "This is a pretty weird thing, Tanner." Fluffy said. "It's sort of a portal looking into another universe--a sideuniverse, if you will. That hippo in there, that's Violent Evan, God of Rainfall. Ages ago, he was experimenting in extreme areas of the occult, and wound up trapping himself in this little universe of his own creation. It was all the greatest occult minds of Supbam could do to create this viewportal, which follows Evan around this little world. "My god." Tanner said. Thread laughed. "Tanner, every new arrival to Agoopish uses that phrase at least once, but if you think about it, a more appropriate expletive would be my goodness, if you see what I mean." "Huh?" Tanner said, then "Oh--I see. My god is a bit too ambiguous in a city of gods, I guess. My goodness it will be. So--my goodness--this is unbelievable, this portal." "Yeah." Fluffy said "And what's even weirder is that Evan eats swamp vegetation and then vomits this black stuff--wait a second--it looks like he's about to vomit now..." Violent Evan lurched forward and was still for a few seconds, then in a great heave vomited forth a mass of black goo. Then he turned and walked off. The portal, as if a TV screen, followed him through the swamp. "Damn." Tanner said. "Yeah--" Fluffy said "and that black stuff is called murder--and it always seems to disappear soon after Evan vomits it. It's thought that unknown gods collect it in some manner and use it for their own sinister ends." "Wow." Tanner muttered. "But of course that's just a rumor." Thread said. "Of course." Fluffy said, sarcastically. "I don't like that hippo." Fisher signed. Suddenly, a gunshot was heard over by the subway tracks. A guy in a green jumpsuit scram-bled up onto the platform from the tracks below, and was stumbling away when a hand shot up from below and grabbed his ankle, tripping him. Tanner and Fluffy looked over. "Looks like quite an altercation." Thread said. Still grabbing the guy's ankle, a thin woman dressed in a revealing black leather outfit climbed onto the platform. She had short black hair, a black cape, and a variety of equipment on her person--guns, grenades, ammo, umbrellas, etc. She held a pistol to the guy's head, and then produced a piece of rope or something and wrapped it around his neck. "What the--" Tanner started. "Oh--it's that mortal detective, Cursive Caxopy, I think." Fluffy said. "Yeah, that's Cursive Caxopy all right--and hard at work, from the looks of it." Thread commented. Cursive Caxopy then roughly pulled the man to his feet and slapped him across the face. He looked weakened and was grabbing at his neck. Then a subway pulled in, and when it stopped and opened its doors, Cursive roughly pushed the man in. Then the subway departed. "Gee," Tanner said "Is that what mortals do around here?" "Some of them." Fluffy said. "Cursive and her sister Elaine are into the whole rough thing, but most mortals are a bit more reserved. Anyway, why don't we go and see the pinball alcove now? I don't enjoy gawking at Evan all day." "Sounds good to me!" Tanner said. *OW* [[14005AX]] Appendix Confused? Here's Everything You Need to Know! (This information is reprinted every issue in essentially the same form.) The ezine OsoaWeek is the central product of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement. Each weekly issue is prepared as a plain vanilla ASCII file not less than 50K and not exceeding 100K, with the goal of being readable on as many computers as possible. Mac users will likely get little boxes on the lefthand column--this is due to the "hard return" needed at the end of every line on DOS machines. You can live with them, or search-and-replace them away (but please don't distribute any altered copies of OW!). Meaning of codes: The first two-digit number is the sequential section number in this issue of OsoaWeek. The next three-digit number is the issue number of this OsoaWeek. The last element, a 2-character code, is shorthand for a given feature. To search: To find the beginning of the next section, search for the string containing two lefthand brackets with no spaces. To find a particular section, search for the string containing two lefthand brackets followed by the two-digit section number, with no spaces. To find a particular feature, search for the string containing the two-character code followed by two righthand brackets, with no spaces. Using the latter method, you can find a particular feature in any issue of OsoaWeek without even referring to the contents. The Contents are divided into three sections: (a) the introductory, informative, housekeeping sort of features, (b) stuff directly relating to the playing of Osoa, such as new Fonostas, events, info, etc., and (c) the general entertaining and informative section. These three areas are casual and separated for ease of use. To make it easy, in EVERY issue of OsoaWeek, the first section starts with Masthead (MH), the second with State of Obliviana (SO), and the third with Hemisinister Review (HR). 1-800-OBLIVIANA--This toll-free number can be called anytime from any phone in the Continental USA for the latest information on Obliviana, including samples of Obliviana sound bites! Acknowledgments: I would like to thank my girlfriend Kerri for putting up with me while I spend countless hours developing OsoaWeek--thanks Kerri, I love you! This Appendix is located at the end of the file because it contains boring, repetitive info you wouldn't want in your way. Obliviana Super Occult Amusement (Osoa) is an endeavor created by Frank Edward Nora, AKA, Lord of Obliviana. Osoa is fully independent and not affiliated with any other organization, belief, etc. Here's a detailed introduction to Osoa: You know there's something else going on in this world, but you can't quite pin it down. And you know there's something else going on with YOU. But it ever eludes you, and teases you, these glimpses of otherness. On the subject of explaining the world, people generally consider that science and religion form a complete scale. Science dealing with the measurable and observable, and religion dealing with the supernatural and mysterious. But really, science is limited to physical measurement and observation, and religion is limited to gods, supernatural beings, how the world was created, and what happens to us when we die. But if you consider it, there is a vast realm of human experience which does not fall into either category. It is this realm that I call Obliviana. Dreams, hunches, deja vu, luck, humor, creativity, emotions, intuition, events "working themselves out", psychic phenomenon, the atmospheres of certain places, memories from childhood, ruts, coincidence, "small world", and more. These are just the tip of the iceberg in Obliviana! Who knows what other exhilarating phenomena await our exploration? With the dawn of the Digital Superworld, that complex and ever-expanding interconnection of computers, networks, and the like, the realm of human endeavor is drastically changed. We have glimpsed a danger in the mesmerizing qualities of even the worst television. In the Digital Superworld, this effect is magnified by several orders of magnitude--so even the cheapest and most worthless online activities become irresistibly engaging and addictive. Imagine a population fully engaged in such tripe--jacked in, spending more and more time engrossed in such pointless, empty activities as computers and robots do more and more of the work. Not a pretty picture, is it? It is partially with the intent of preventing this nightmare that Obliviana Super Occult Amusement (Osoa) was established on July 28, 1994. Osoa is the first and greatest endeavor to provide the world with a viable, broad-based, universally-compelling endeavor to provide CONTEXT in the Digital Superworld. The exploration of Obliviana can be undertaken in a wild variety of ways. Check out the eleven Osoa Flowers (introduced in OsoaWeek001) for details. Also check out the first issue for details on establishing your very own Fonosta! Osoa is an innovative and far-reaching game. Why a game? Well, aren't most explorations really games when you come right down to it? And, as a practical matter, some of the elements in Obliviana are too bizarre to be presented as anything OTHER than a game. So Obliviana as game can be looked at as shielding and candy-coating, but can also be viewed as cutting to the heart of the matter--hey, exploring the realm of Obliviana is not vital to our ongoing survival, but it is pretty darn entertaining and satisfying. It is with the game of Obliviana running on the ever-expanding Digital Superworld that we can abandon the mediocrity of the past and make something very new, wild, and now. *OW* [[END005OW]] -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----