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|| -------- -- ----- 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 112--9/14/96 <------- || OsoaWeek || Issues || Book 9 || -------> (Cup OWis112, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [[BEGIN112OW]] [[01121CV]] * * * O S O A W E E K 1 1 2 * * * September 14, 1996 "The weekly ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement!" by Frank Edward Nora CONTENTS 01 112 CV--Cover 02 112 LA--Lord of Obliviana 03 112 LM--Life Mysteries 04 112 ZP--Zope 05 112 SU--Superior 06 112 SR--Severe Repair OsoaWeek112, September 14, 1996 Eighth issue of OsoaWeek Book Nine Written by Frank Edward Nora Published weekly by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement obliviana@aol.com http://www.obliviana.com/~osoa 1-800-OBLIVIANA All contents copyright 1996 Frank Edward Nora Regarding this file, you are free to make digital copies, so long as they're not altered or sold. All other forms of reproduction require permission from Frank Edward Nora. *OW* [[02112LA]] Lord of Obliviana Wed 2/5/97 * 11:07 PM * Home SEVERE REPAIR REPORT Okay. A few days ago I came up with the idea I've been looking for, as detailed in the previous Lord of Obliviana. Once I got this idea, I started focusing on Severe Repair more. The idea is still sinking in, and I think that having gotten it, I am free to spend more mental energy on Severe Repair. First, I finished the SR reference, where I went through all 69 OsoaWeek chapters and wrote a brief synopsis of what happened. Then I sorted the whole thing into a list of subsections in general order. That is, some chapters had sections separated by three asterisks, like: * * * So each chapter has subsections. Will a set of all of these, I put them into rough storylines, and I now have a much better idea of what's going on. Then, after some difficulty, I found a printout of info on Cup's Club from July 1993. I lost the computer file a long time ago, and I've always meant to type it back in, and I've been finding and losing the darn thing for years now. Well, today, three-and-a-half years later, I have finally typed it back into the computer. I am going to use it as a thing Millicent has in her pocket, a piece of literature she got when she went to see the Cup's Club movie. Then I figured out the situation with the orgy in Daptin's Land. I listed all the characters and did an initial appraisal of how each will react to the situation. And I have been delving into my past writings for Severe Repair material, and believe me, there's lots of it. A lot of what is in SR now are events that take place AFTER stuff I had planned on writing but never did. So I'm going back to old notes and stuff, to fill in the gaps and also to add vitality to the mix. I find that using old material more or less verbatim and then continuing it is a wonderful challenge, and something that works very well in the world of Severe Repair. It's not that I have a lack of new ideas, it's just that my old ideas are DIFFERENT, and therefore add depth to the whole thing. I just started going over the SR material in my old Halfevil Graphics publications, such as "Bible II". This stuff will fit into SR quite well, and I look forward to the challenge of picking up where I left off a decade ago. You can see such a thing in the Alva Meow storyline, where Alva feels as if a decade has passed, and indeed, a decade HAD passed for me before I continued the story. I have a lot of older stuff, much of it boxes of paper right now in my storage in Iselin. Kinda scary. Anyway, Severe Repair is blooming right now. I have to keep control over this new SR initiative so it doesn't go haywire. I have developed a new hypertext format for SR. I believe that this system will allow for SR to grow into something truly amazing. I plan on converting all of SR into this new format, and then making it available in that for on the Web. With enough hype and promotion, I think that SR will gain a following. Indeed, SR is one of my greatest assets, and I mean to use it as a major tool in the true launch of Obliviana. There's a lot of material in SR derived from dreams I have had, and since I have written down tons of dreams, this will be another place I will look for new material to mix into SR. Another area of endeavor is Antebellum, introduced in OW001, which is a set of 118 superhero-type fighters in a weird version of NJ. I will bring these characters into Severe Repair. And then there's the issue of Superior. I have had the idea of bringing Superior into SR for awhile now, and I think I'm gonna do it. The question is, where does SR end and the rest of Obliviana begin? The answer is that Obliviana has several major thrusts. Severe Repair is indeed one of these major thrusts, but the other thrusts are probably as strong. One issue is that of Zope. I have considered bringing Zope into SR, but I have decided against it. Zope is a major thrust unto himself! 12:06 PM I am at a turning point in the progression of Obliviana. So what's up? Okay. Severe Repair is blooming, and it will be a major attraction for Obliviana. I have not made as much progress on Zope, but my new Grayscale medium holds the potential for being the bedrock of a major resurgence of Zope. Zope and Severe Repair are my major personal "narrative works", for lack of a better term. Obliviana Radio contains a lot of different ideas, but it is a major thrust. Primitive Interface, which is the total Obliviana Interface as I have conceived it, is a thrust, because although it contains other thrusts, the main interface screen, based on the spirit of classic video games, is a whole thing unto itself. The now-mature Fonosta idea is indeed a thrust. 209 is a thrust. Here: Severe Repair Zope Obliviana Radio Primitive Fonosta 209 That's six. I need two more. I think that the place that is Obliviana, Little World of Racetracks, is another thrust. This set of things is identical to a list I made a few weeks or months ago, and is right below this text as notes as I am writing this. Here it is, as I have been working on it: ** *1: Primitive COMPUTER INTERFACE Primitive Interface ** 2: Fonosta TOOL FOR IDENTITY Fonosta ** 3: (Competition) MOTIVATION & VITALITY Little World of Racetracks ** *4: (Talk Radio) CULTURE & SENSE OF FUN Obliviana Radio ** *5: Severe Repair (Hypertext) WILD THINKING Severe Repair ** *6: 209 REAL WORLD INTERFACE 209 ** 7: Zope (Hypergraphics?) OBLIVIANA ZEITGEIST Zope 8: ? Common thing moved along by everyone's involvement, something that spills over into general society, a big thing that you are part of, that keeps on moving, keeps on getting better. Check out that last entry! I'm seeking this eighth thing, and here it is. Let me venture: the idea of an inner and outer world of Obliviana. Think of the "People Magazine" angle. The idea of being a part of Obliviana, as a creator, as an enthusiast. Inside, there's a great amount of freedom and leeway in everything. Then there is that which all of us in Obliviana present to the rest of the world, a presentation of entertainment meant for mass consumption. This is it. For now, let's call it OSOAWEEK! Hence: ------------------- Severe Repair Zope Obliviana Radio Primitive Fonosta 209 Little World of Racetracks OsoaWeek ----------- Wow. This is it. This is it! I've finally defined Obliviana! Man, I tellya. Obliviana is powerful. This is it. The way is clear. Obliviana Launch: Monday, July 28, 1997. Good night, 12:25 AM, 2/6/97. 2/7/97 * 2:14 AM OBLIVIANA SUPER OCCULT AMUSEMENT by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- Fonosta Primitive 209 Little World of Racetracks Severe Repair Zope Obliviana Radio OsoaWeek ----------- So the big new idea is that there will be a very definite distinction between the inside and the outside of Obliviana. Specifically, all of what I have conceived of as Obliviana will be the inside, and then that inside is the basis of a presentation of entertainment to a wide audience. Inside Obliviana there are the creators, and there will be a wild atmosphere of creativity and innovation. The ideas and works inside will be unrestricted by the whims of a mass audience. But from all that is going on inside, an entertainment will be distilled that is aimed at a mass audience. I am still a bit disturbed by this idea, as I was when I first conceived of it, in the context of using creators as personalities, to tell the human interest stories of people involved in the wild creativity of Obliviana. I am disturbed by it, but I realize that this aspect is necessary. It will provide both money and structure to Obliviana. And since wild creative are prone to having no money and no structure, the "Outside" aspect is vital. You don't get something for nothing. In Obliviana, Outside is the price I must pay. But Outside is not all that bad. It is unpalatable in some of its attributes, but overall I think it will work out. I want to go back to the idea of only letting people into Obliviana every 13 weeks, and having requirements that must be met in order to get in. Another idea is that Fonosta Storage will be a pay service available to everyone, but if you're Inside, you don't have to pay. What this all means is that all the frustrated creative souls out there will have a place to go. This idea is indeed powerful. Get all Obliviana. *OW* [[03112LM]] Life Mysteries LIFE MYSTERY 21 "Anthony My Barber" by John Nora You can imagine that writers must worry in some cases whether or not a person they are writing about will ever see and read the piece in question. Well, with Anthony, my barber, there is nothing to worry about. There is an infinity-to-one chance he'll ever see this, in the grade-school vernacular. I'm glad because he's a small, old Italian man, and moreover a veritable ninja with his straight-razor! But that is good for scouring clean my neck, and there's no worries otherwise, of the jugular variety, for I am here to say that Anthony is the best barber I've ever gone to. And besides, it seems like he never leaves his barbershop, which is partly because it's become an extra-but-crucial limb of his, and partly because he's a very popular barber due to his great skill, and always has three or more guys in the doleful magazine chairs, waiting. I tell you, he can hack and chop away at your head like he's half-asleep and dreaming your hair, and you still stand up looking handsome and young. You feel like a million minty bucks! *OW* [[04112ZP]] Zope ZOPE 039: "Serious Zope" 2/21/97 ZOPE Remember my Big Atomic Party? MASTER JOE (irritably) No. ZOPE Sure you do! It was that whole thing where I killed Ed Ape and then Lord Lenzo brought him back to life and he blasted your mountain with a megawatt laser and turned it into a volcano. And there was a guy called Killer Atomic? Remember that? MASTER JOE Vaguely. ZOPE Why are you so reluctant to remember stuff from our past? MASTER JOE I don't know. LINDEN Excuse me, gentlemen, but there is a beautiful nebula off to the left side of the ship. ZOPE Wow. Willya look at that. It's amazing, really amazing, that considering we're going only forty miles per hour, that we've crossed the vast interstellar distances that would be required for something like that to suddenly come into view. LINDEN This is not "hard" sci-fi, Zope. Just relax and take in the sights, Zope. MASTER JOE (shaking his head) Zope, what the fuck is Linden talking about? Linden, are you saying that this, that OUR LIVES... that our lives are just some kind of science fiction? LINDEN This is science fiction. Yes, Joe. MASTER JOE No. This is real. I mean, isn't it? I mean, it's as real as life can be when you live in Halfevil, with all the crazy stuff that goes on... I mean... my life on Chaire was real... at least I remember it being real... ZOPE Isn't space madness fun? See Joe, we don't even know if we're real anymore! MASTER JOE Zope... ever since you mention Emily... bringing her back... I mean... ZOPE I'll do it if you want. MASTER JOE No... I mean, I don't want you to waste another wish... it's just that... I mean... I guess I've just been suppressing my emotions and stuff... ZOPE I wish Emily was here. Suddenly, EMILY appears. EMILY looks around, confused. EMILY Joe? Is that you in that getup? MASTER JOE takes off his visor and stares at Emily. MASTER JOE Emily... haha... guess I must look pretty strange... with this stupid visor on and... why was I even wearing it? Guess I was just so used to it... the light on Halfevil is too bright for me, but here on this spaceship... EMILY What's going on? MASTER JOE Emily... I want you to meet my best friend, Zope. EMILY (hesitantly) Hi. ZOPE Hello. EMILY So what's going on? ZOPE I brought you back to life. EMILY What? MASTER JOE (starting to cry) I can't believe it... EMILY What? Oh damn, this feels too real to be a dream. MASTER JOE It's not a dream Emily... it's just space madness... LINDEN I have adjusted life support systems to compensate for the additional person, Zope. ZOPE I like being crazy. I like it. *OW* [[05112SU]] Superior SUPERIOR 601 * 10/25/96 White faze observed all light as a worse blindness. SUPERIOR 602 * 10/25/96 I am proud. Close your eyes and think about a car journey. If you can't get to New Jersey from where you are, think about where you are. The buzzword is "stuck". The closed door is yourself. Ah, go bite an elf. SUPERIOR 603 * 10/26/96 In the dream, the Asian girl on the bus asked me, "Would you rather kiss my tit, or walk on Mars?" I said, "Well, to be honest, I'd rather walk on Mars." Then she asked "Would you rather have sex with me, or walk on the moon?". I answered "I have to be honest, I'd rather walk on the moon." But all the while I was thinking that I couldn't walk on Mars or the moon, because space travel isn't real. SUPERIOR 604 * 10/26/96 Tiger temporary work, lamp dainties carousing in the FedEx mailbox. Blasting fossil teeth. Plainsboro jogging trail, promise not kept, but a good winter bench sometimes. Lip. Mysteries of the tongue, edufilm got snickers from lusty teens a few hours ago. Time continues and, regarding the boredom of gold foil, and the smartness of anachronistic elevator operators was apparent. And a stationery store guy said I had a very gentle voice. Immortality means you'd have 128 great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers hanging around. *OW* [[06112SR]] Severe Repair $~RIT003 "Hyrax" ~~SEVERE REPAIR: A Hypertext Novel by Frank Edward Nora Storyline "A Rather Interesting Tale" Packet 003 00013 * 2.994K * New 12/1/96 * OW112 Copyright 1996 * All Rights Reserved~~ "Uh," Dave said, "hello? Harvey?" "Crap," Harvey said. "Teleporters on the blink. Blew out the main fuse." "Huh?" Then Harvey lit a little blowtorch and motioned for Dave to come into his office. "Have a seat." Harvey said, as he clambered up a pile of demolished cash registers and typewriters to get to his desk. "Um," Dave said, looking around at all the junk for a place to sit, "where should I..." Harvey ignored him and spoke into a microphone, his voice echoing throughout the massive cavern. "Clarice... Clarice this is Harvey. Please reset the main fuse. If you cannot find the main fuse, there should be a map behind a pile of giant statues or something, I don't know." Then Harvey wiped his brow and looked off into space. Dave waited a few moments, and then cleared his throat. Harvey's eyes darted around a little and then found Dave. "Yeah, yeah. Come on up, there's a chair up here somewhere." So Dave climbed up the pile of cash registers and typewriters, but managed to dislodge something with his foot as he finally got to the top. He watched as a copy machine tumbled lazily down the pile of junk. Harvey's eyes widened. "A copy machine?" he said incredulously. Dave raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as he sat down in a metal chair across the desk from Harvey. Harvey continued to stare wide-eyed and concerned at the copy machine, and then Dave sighed. Harvey had set the blowtorch on his desk, and the two were lit in its eerie glow. Finally Harvey looked over at Dave. "Dave, I have something to tell you." "Yeah?" "I've made a decision. A very personal decision. And I want to know what you think of it." "Okay." "There comes a time in a man's life when he must come to some conclusions." "Uh-huh." "And I have COME to some conclusions." Dave nodded. "And the conclusion that I have come to," Harvey continued, "is that I must change my name to Harvey Hyrax." "What?" "I'm going to change my name, Dave. Legally, officially, all that." "Why?" Harvey sighed. "It's a long story, Dave. But let me show you something." Harvey rummaged through his drawers, and finally produced a large, tattered book. He flipped through it, opened to a page, and laid it on the desk before him. He stared longingly at the page, and then turned the book around, so it was facing Dave. Dave looked at the page and saw a color photo of a little rodent of some sort. At the top of the page there was a heading that said "HYRAX". "I may be a hoofed mammal." Harvey said. "What?" Dave said, confused. Harvey turned the book back around. "See Dave, my great-grandmother was a hyrax, not a rat. All this time I thought I had rat blood in me, but it turns out I'm part hyrax--and even though it looks like a rodent, it's more similar to a hoofed animal." Dave was perplexed. "I will be Harvey Hyrax. This is be Harvey HYRAX'S Underground Empire." Harvey waved his hand to indicate the space around them. Then, all of a sudden, the lights came back on. ~$RIT003 *OW* [[END112OW]] -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- ----- |