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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 214--9/1/98 <------- || OsoaWeek || Issues || Book 17 || -------> (Cup OWis214, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ------------------- OSOAWEEK Ezine of Obliviana Issue 214, 9/1/98 by Frank Edward Nora ----------- ------------------- LORD OF OBLIVIANA ----------- I know that Obliviana is incredibly confusing. And I know that the Internet is a place where attention spans are even shorter than usual. Confusingness plus short attention span equals ZERO. You know, feeling discouraged doesn't necessarily mean that things are going badly. Just like feeling encouraged doesn't mean that things are necessarily going well. I tellya, I have a lot of emotional highs and lows working on Obliviana. And right now, I'm feeling pretty low. Last week I mentioned "Surface O", which is going to be a new part of Obliviana that allows you to explore Little World of Racetracks. When I came up with the idea for Surface O, I was quite ecstatic. Now I'm in the midst of creating Surface O, and instead of ecstasy, I'm feeling rather dull and depressed. Thinking about something is easy--DOING it is a real bitch! Xappenshard Craze is another thing like this. I was really thrilled when I came up with the idea. Now, two weeks after getting it going, I see that I still have a long way to go before it's gonna happen for real. I'll keep on working hard on Obliviana. All I can ask of you is to stay tuned--I'm telling ya--Obliviana is gonna keep getting better and better! Also--send in a letter for the new letters section! I haven't gotten any letters yet! Read "Duffy the Soapsud" and let me know what you think! Bye-bye. I'll see ya in 42 Tarbs! ------------------- GAME NEWS ----------- CLEARER INSTRUCTIONS COMING Xappenshard Craze is very unlike any other game out there, and I realize that the instructions I've given so far are pretty sketchy. So, by next week, I hope to have a whole new set of insturctions, which will be much clearer and much more understandable. FONOSTA ESTABLISHMENT CHANGE The biggest problem in Fonosta Establishment has been getting people on the Obliviana Mailing List. The problem is that I use a service called ListBot, which requires a person to respond to a verification message. I think that ListBot has some technical problems, and also, I think that some people don't understand the meaning of the verification message. Also, I think that some people fear that ListBot is a scam of some sort--which couldn't be further from the truth. Anyway, I decided to revamp the Fonosta Establishment procedure, putting ListBot FIRST, and telling people not to go forward until they are on ListBot. Well, I got one new Fonosta Establishment this week (from Sweden!)--and the person has not yet gotten onto the mailing list. The Fonosta Establishment procedure is much improved, however. I will have to determine whether I should stick with ListBot, or seek some other mailing list management solution. FONOSTA CANCELED! The person who had established Fonosta 13 chose to cancel their Fonosta. The Fonosta Name has been made available again--but the number--13--is "retired". As to why the person chose to cancel, it probably relates to either difficulty in getting on the Obliviana Mailing List, or not wanting to be on the mailing list at all. I was kind of upset at this first Fonosta cancelling, but I gotta get used to this kind of thing. Obliviana has had an audience of one (me) for too long. I have to move forward and face the perils of a real audience! XAPPENSHARD CRAZE DAILY WINNERS [8] 8/25/98--DashingPresto (Fonosta 19) [9] 8/26/98--EveningJane (Fonosta 20) [10] 8/27/98--SpunkyTerrapin (Fonosta 18) [11] 8/28/98--DewDrop (Fonosta 12) [12] 8/29/98--SylphidMorning (Fonosta 15) [13] 8/30/98--SpunkyTerrapin (Fonosta 18) [14] 8/31/98--WatchfulCondor (Fonosta 6) XAPPENS SOLVED FlyingOcean solved Xappen 6, after LittleRebel gave the wrong answer. FlyingOcean chose Mall Store A110, which turned out to be the empty store! FlyingOcean won nothing! Xappen 5 remains unsolved. I will not make another odd-numbered Xappen until it is solved. Remember, each Daily Winner is sent two randomly-drawn Xappenshards from the current odd-numbered Xappen, in this case, 5. ------------------- NEW THIS WEEK ----------- [1] DUFFY THE SOAPSUD--A brand new issue. Do check it out! [2] NEW FONOSTA ESTABLISHMENT PROCEDURE--Tell your friends! Establishing a Fonosta is now easier and more fun than ever! ------------------- LUCKY STORM ----------- Lucky Storm 214: 175 (Flip 10, Dire 4, Storm Pelter "SpicySmoke", Pilcansas Stormpost 9) Previously: 209: 27 210: 126 211: 20 212: 140 213: 170 Note: The Lucky Storm is drawn randomly, using a deck of 30 cards (called a "Storm Codex"), one for each Flip and Dire. ------------------- SONGS OF THE WEEK ----------- The Aqua Velvets, "Smoking Panatelas on the Blue Mediterranean Sea" (Album: "Nomad") Roger Eno, "Ne Cede Melia" (Album: "Lost in Translation") ------------------- CARNE'S MOISTURE DETECTION FRIEND Episode Six (The last two episodes were numbered incorrectly.) ----------- CARNE: My cousin was pretty unique. Her and my Moisture Detection Friend would sit around for hours, playing strange games without saying a word. So when my cousin joined that cult, we were all very disappointed. We were expecting great things from her. PACER: What cult was that again? CARNE: They worship this guy named Greg Ann Conway. He's a maniac. He makes them sleep in Nineteenth-Century gambler outfits. You know like on riverboats, like in the "Karma Chameleon" video? They sleep dressed like that. A damned ridiculous idea. PACER: That sucks, man... Y'know, is this rain ever gonna stop? Can you even see where you're going? CARNE: The directions are pretty sketchy, but I tellya, I knew this guy in college. He's a real computer genius. If anyone can load my cousin's disk, it's him. It's amazing we even found it, considering how well she hid it. PACER: So whattaya think is on there? Poems? Drawings? A novel? CARNE: We're leaning toward a novel. She always said she was working on one, but she'd never give specifics. And if the disk DOES contain a novel, maybe if we publish it, it'll snap her out of this stupid cult involvement. PACER: Cool. Damn it's windy! I think this shitty Ford Aspire of yours might just go and blow away--with us in it! What possessed you to buy such a friggin' lame car? CARNE: Oh, I don't know. I kind of like my little Aspire. It's not much of a car, but it gets me where I want to go. And whenever I see some big shot pass by in a Hummer, smoking a big expensive cigar, I smile, and take a draw on my corncob pipe, and know that I am free of that man's burdens. PACER: What? Man, you're losin' it. I think you're in some kind of cult. Some kind of Ford Aspire, corncob pipe kind of wacky cult. And you don't take this austere, Zen attitude when it comes to buying your audiophile shit! You spent more on your turntable than on your car! CARNE: Well, I bet you've spent more on those silly action figures of yours than your... um, your... that moped you're thinking of buying. PACER: Come on man! Action figures are the, like, quintessential representation of the rebirth of our culture! You gotta realize that! The statues of the gods have become the plastic figurines of godlike characters! You gotta know that! CARNE: Maybe my cousin is smart to be in that Greg Ann Conway cult. She doesn't have to worry about cars or pipes or action figures or mopeds. All she has to do is wander around all day long, doing whatever Greg Ann tells her to do. I heard that last week she was selling sand to inner city youth. And that's not so bad. ------------------- XAPPENSHARD ----------- Here are the Xappenshards for this week! Look for the other half on the Xappenshard Craze Message Board! =XASH 8.1.2! "Avogadro had one, so does your phone"= =XASH 8.2.2! "thestlfiuc veertial"= =XASH 8.3.2! "it flew over the home of an otherwise clock-residing avian"= =XASH 8.4.2! "--zantine, --pass"= =XASH 8.5!.2! ""Zogan's --", 2.1 country WWII planes, losers"= ------------------- INFORMATION ----------- Obliviana is at "www.obliviana.com" Send all E-mail to "obliviana@aol.com" OsoaWeek is copyright 1998 Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana. It may be copied for personal use only. No part of OsoaWeek may be published, either digitally or physically, without permission. The Obliviana Mailing List currently has 20 members. ------------------- END ----------- -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- ----- |