442

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 442, 1/19/03
(Ts34, No. 13 / Tarb 18577 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sat 1/25/03 * 9:43 PM

Yes, here I am at the end of Ts34.

I have been working very hard on the new Obliviana that I will be launching at midnight tonight.

In all of the history of Obliviana, I am at this point closest to making my dream a reality. But there have been so many ups and downs over the years, that I do not have a feeling of unrealistic euphoria or excitement.

Now, as to the future of OsoaWeek... I think I shall continue on with OsoaWeek in its current form. It would be good to add a section which does have news from the week.

Well, gotta continue to work on the new Obliviana!

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 442 * 1/3/96
Dunking phased, a salty muddy car window. Gun oiled and full of ammo, clean machine, it all comes down to moving your arm and then your finger. But then, you can't believe you're seriously considering climbing that skyscraper. Fifteen-year-old whiz kid. Friends say you're a minor, you can't go to jail. You look like a twenty-year-old woman, the boys are insane with lust. Your life is out of control. Should you become a model or a physicist? The no-smoking sign.

(((From OsoaWeek075--12/29/95)))

*****

This one is pretty good. Kind of tells a little story, quite insane.

(Reviewed 1/25/03)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 067 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1089
Wow man it's 1089 and add 900 and it is 1989. Back to the nostalgia, wow, bittersweet with emphasis on the bitter for 1989. Sleeping on the floor of that photo studio, driving down to D.C. to see a girl who was through with me. Graduating college, and for some reason went to the West Belt Mall later that day (now called the Wayne Towne Center).

HURRICANER 068 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1090
The anger about the cool car is just jealosy and is it so bad? Good feeling, good anger, emotional circulation like blood, get it moving. If you are the one with the car it's like a coldness in that regard, of emotional flow. I just want to say, I just took some Alka-Seltzer PM and I'm starting to get incoherent with the writing.

HURRICANER 069 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1091
What place does Superior have in the new Obliviana? I would think that a distillation, presenting the best of the best stuff, that would have a place certainly. And an audio aspect? Maybe with musical accompaniment like the beatniks. I would like for my stuff to be popular. Should I resort to self-reference to make this Superior better? But there, in asking that I made it that. This Superior sucks. When this Superior is reviewed in OsoaWeek 1090, I wonder if I will agree that it sucks. I could figure out when that review will be... um... like 2014, 2015, something like that, a long way off.

-------------------
END
-----------

441

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 441, 1/12/03
(Ts34, No. 12 / Tarb 18535 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 441 * 1/2/96
Something about trullity--a flowery, girlish component of the fashion industry--and my computer skills, getting me into it, perfumey. Forget about it. One of those shocks of youth. This is not about anything. I'm in a hot coastal world. A promise of pussy and alcohol, all about that, with a sugary themed coating. I am lost. I have no money. Do you grasp me? I am a poet! My words soothe me, when I imagine the multitudes reading them. Does it matter if it ever happens?

(((From OsoaWeek075--12/29/95)))

*****

This one is quite insane. And good.

Google search of the word "trullity". Only hits on this Superior, because it is a made-up word.

(Reviewed 1/25/03)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 064 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1086
The world of Mac shareware and software back in the late 80s, early 90s, and then later the high-minded CD-ROMs of Voyager and the like, all faded away now, and kind of forgotten. The whole spirit of the mid-90s, pre-Internet revolution, with CD-ROMs the big new medium. And the techno-shaman type spirit of the early-to-mid-1990s. What the hell am I talking about? Just plain nostalgia, just stream of consciousness, maybe not much value to it, but sometimes I write some good stuff in Superior, gotta just keep moving.

HURRICANER 065 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1087
The pyre of the computer mazes, dark tan hallway is with ferns and office smell and we have to go, freezing air and go to the seaport museum. The decorative eagle has no camera in it, we are not going to be afraid of the speedboat, and the poster of the speedboat, add some girls in bikinis and sell it for college dormroom display, along with faded eagle graphic, pub sign.

HURRICANER 066 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1088
Ha ha even the most adult and expert are idiot.
-------------------
END
-----------

440

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 440, 1/5/03
(Ts34, No. 11 / Tarb 18493 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 440 * 1/2/96
Shout about cradle. Ha, durable comfort, erotic fun out of hand near the convention. Okay--the day we stole all those fonts--I got home to the Somerville train station at 3:00 AM, and I couldn't get a taxi. So I had to call Dad for a ride. Had to be 1990. I remember that station.

(((From OsoaWeek075--12/29/95)))

*****

This one is pretty good. And it is partially based on reality. I don't think I had any erotic fun near a convention, but I did copy a lot of fonts and get home very late one night, and had to call my father for a ride.

Overall, a pretty good Superior.

(Reviewed 1/25/03)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 061 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1083
Gotta say that fear of being an innocent player in some drama. Mental techniques to soothe the pain of the stupid world. The universality of bad poetry, it's everywhere, it all sounds the same. Some of Superior is good, though, I have to say. One day find sub-levels in the subway stations and another universe and all that jazz, sci-fi story, get lost in it. Weird tiles on the walls, yeah for real, they have cool new tile murals at some N and R stations.

HURRICANER 062 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1084
To muse on memories, I talk about that subject frequently, and puzzled at the semi-sour vision of role-playing games and hobby shops in the late 1980s. Like steampunk and furries, kind of lost the magic of like 77 thru 83, 78 thru 82, like that. Getting cryptic, vision of a park in Plainsboro, NJ, worst place I ever lived. Stream of conciousness writing, the thrill of romance, icy itchiness, and the mournful sound of distant lawnmowers.

HURRICANER 063 * 1/21/03 * SUPERIOR 1085
Creative collaborations have been a source of some bitter memories. The two big ones, Anything But Monday Magazine and the band Fuzzy Daupner I think achieved a lot, but the loose ends still cause some pain. Freelance writing for MTV To Go Magazine and writing meetings for a planned public access cable comedy show, around the same time, both kind of ended in a vaguely negative way. The comedy show, my writing and ideas for it were good in their own way, but not really in synch with what it was all about, and like many memories, make me cringe a bit when thinking about it.

-------------------
END
-----------

439

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 439, 12/29/02
(Ts34, No. 10 / Tarb 18451 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 439 * 1/1/96
Fond. Talk about success. Clean away--I am here, so here. It is good, and deserved after a period of hardship. I cannot predict with certainty, but in this matter, I am prepared to say that I am optimistic. And these days, that's really saying something.

(((From OsoaWeek075--12/29/95)))

*****

Kind of okay.

(Reviewed 1/25/03)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 058 * 1/5/03 * SUPERIOR 1080
Me, me are contain a lot and I am interested in it. That we should obsess on ourselves, that somehow this is considered wrong. Of course I think everybody does it, and maybe feel bad about it, that is unfair. But it is nice to not burden other people with the subject of oneself which is probably not as interesting to others.

HURRICANER 059 * 1/5/03 * SUPERIOR 1081
Constant daydreaming. And places from the past. Is meaning derived. A lot of fun is revisiting the past in mind or action. But it could be indulgent. Wake up and do something, people rely on hope always.

HURRICANER 060 * 1/5/03 * SUPERIOR 1082
No matter what we are always gonna be thinking about stuff. Even if you get rich and famous. Maybe it's good to just have people ignore you while you experience hyper imaginings.

-------------------
END
-----------

438

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 438, 12/22/02
(Ts34, No. 9 / Tarb 18409 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sat 1/25/03 * 9:17 PM

Last few hours of Ts34. Let me catch up on OsoaWeek. Superior Reviews and Hurricaners.

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 438
Take care. To far me, her coldness, and the inability of my spirit. I have am generation. No matter what, Europe sucks. Newspaper. Thing of maze was, I am cloudy must, I am not cloudy. Struggler--you always feel better when you conquer the mountain. I am new to this. I am you.

(((From OsoaWeek075--12/29/95)))

*****

Not very exciting.

(Reviewed 1/25/03)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 055 * 12/31/02 * SUPERIOR 1077
Breakuality, come on. Breakuality, oh yeah.

HURRICANER 056 * 1/5/03 * SUPERIOR 1078
The fences are soft and mashing, you. Got a bottle of something in a vision, that is the grassy lawn of youth, violent feeling of beekeepers in the neighborhood. Free train stations, the rainy light night, laptop and things to say.

HURRICANER 057 * 1/5/03 * SUPERIOR 1079
Vapid library reception desk, vague and growling. To recall places and situations, weak friends lost in gust. Shaking my head, closing my eyes, uncomfortable memories. Scary as time goes on, the grand design made visible by constant analysis of past experiences, and it's incomprehensible, but seems to be meaningful. And I thought the answer was just around the corner when I was in college a decade and a half ago. And also now.

-------------------
END
-----------

437

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 437, 12/15/02
(Ts34, No. 8 / Tarb 18367 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Mon 12/16/02 * 9:00 PM

SCHEDULE

January 1, 2003: New Obliviana Website

Mid-January, 2003 (approx.): Obliviana ad in "Weird NJ Roadside Guide" released

January 26, 2003: Start of Ts 35, official launch of new game of Obliviana.

-----

Retrospective: I've been working on the Obliviana project consistently for a long time. I would say that February 1986 was when things really started. That was 16 years and 10 months ago. I was 18 years old. Now I'm 35.

Here's a thought. Maybe at the point where I have spent fully half my life working on Obliviana, it will have become a success. When will that be?

Let's see... February 1986... I was 18 years and 4 months old. So, double that is 36 years and 8 months old. That will be June 2004.

Anyway, when I set out to create this thing called Obliviana, I was embarking on a project that had very lofty goals. With goals that big, I don't think it's that much of a surprise that I'm still hammering away almost 17 years later.

But the goal is now in sight. I think I may indeed have finally come up with the right ideas to make Obliviana a reality.

-----

Like it says in Hurricaner 54, I gotta wake up. I gotta stop thinking, "gee, I wonder if I'm gonna really make Obliviana work this time". I just have to do it!

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 437
I have some timing let's all talk about timing. The doldrums of midwest shippings. A girl in an orbitter, could I know her. The snowiness of my bright looks, and me climbing a tree.

(((From OsoaWeek075--12/29/95)))

*****

Yeah, I don't think this one is too good.

(Reviewed 12/16/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 052 * 12/16/02 * SUPERIOR 1074
Adapt and fool the you. Want to find people. On the subject of mind surfing. The dead web sites. Forgotten dreams and plans. Under the walkway. Remembered places and people and events, these reflect the light of the original world. And the ideal of the face-painted chaotic-good savage-hero.

HURRICANER 053 * 12/16/02 * SUPERIOR 1075
Almost too much study of this off-balance realm. Something like 16.4 million years of human experiences every day. Am I experiencing it all, and is it entertainment.

HURRICANER 054 * 12/16/02 * SUPERIOR 1076
I am really in a daze, I don't think straight, I have to sober up a bit. Distractions! They are everywhere and pretty cool. Gotta straighten myself out. Denial and daydreams make for a pleasant muddling. Wanna get sharp. Wake up a little.

-------------------
END
-----------

436

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 436, 12/8/02
(Ts34, No. 7 / Tarb 18325 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 12/8/02 * 2:21 PM

Well, I had to do 5 issues of OsoaWeek today to catch up.

And now, here is the subject, the future of OsoaWeek.

In the new Obliviana, I want things to be more understandable. OsoaWeek has become a jumble of ramble, some Lord of Obliviana, Superior Review, and Hurricaner.

OsoaWeek is the weekly ezing of Obliviana Super Occult Amusment. As such, it will need to change with the upcoming new Obliviana.

But, I am absolutely commited to keeing OsoaWeek going. So the question is, how much will OsoaWeek change, as opposed to remaining the same and existing alongside other weekly news things, specifically, and audio show and a graphical web page.

So, could there be THREE weekly news updates for Obliviana? I think this is not a good idea.

There are a few forces here:

[1] The tradition of the all-text OsoaWeek.

[2] The ideal of an audio-only weekly show.

[3] The practical need for weekly information, in a form most easily used by fans of Obliviana.

11:41 PM

Future of OsoaWeek. Started back on July 28, 1994. Almost eight-and-a-half years. ago. And what have I acoomplished? Well, I have accomplished quite a lot. I have gotten myself to this point, and I think it's a good point.

I guess there are 2 main areas of concern in terms of maintaining OsoaWeek in its present form. One is Superior, which has had its home here in these pages since the beginning. And the second is the text format.

Superior. I think Superior is awesome, and I think there is an audience for it out there. But I do not want people who are just getting into Obliviana to have to necessarily see Superior in the weekly information source thing. That is, I think it's something that has great value, but that does not really have a place at the center of things.

And these days, OsoaWeek is pretty much just Superior (with Superior Review and Hurricaner) and Lord of Obliviana. Well, Lord of Obliviana is... it's also of a style that is not really appropriate for the central place. So... what does this mean?

What about the text format? Well, this also does not really work. Why limit it to text, when people are used to a combination of text and graphics online?

So this is leading towards the 3 separate weekly news places, with OsoaWeek, radio show, and web-based things. Does this make sense? I'm looking to make things simpler, not more complex.

Oh well. I'll figure it all out.

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 436
Dashing. Hallway yellow brown theory. Drinkers of pine trees, the band, the movie. Cold college nights, the chill and the thrill of ladies. Yeah, no. Bo. Think and drink. The way of the wave, I am of it. True. Soviet aspirations, you are a little cougar and I love you. Enough refear--the dogs of rage are angelic ponies in your of dream faze.

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

Wow, another totally amazing Superior! I have a bare memory of this one, but almost nothing.

Gotta remember 435 and 436, two really good ones!

(Reviewed 12/8/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 049 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1071
Get over it, the textured hotel lobby that was all yours. Lemon tart town walk, three stores and a holiday decoration. The copyrighted music of your life. The disillusioned snow breakers. Weak broken red plastic snow block fashioner, anxious to leave and check the email maybe from a lover, a savior, the best.

HURRICANER 050 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1072
Ward keep away from the wheat field in racing game, that you might be convinced you are a character in an amusement, poorly organized club from thirty years ago.

HURRICANER 051 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1073
This vision, always a number of people, maybe in college, open to exploration, going to weird places, old malls, cool stores, making up games, and all that. Supernatural, mystical, fantasty. This vision, people wanting to explore, idealized, frozen in time. The real ones, not like the idealized ones, with other concerns in their lives, other things to think about. And not continuing with the mystical exploration thing, most of them. What this vision is all about, ideals, places, times. Maybe something deeper, maybe the real world, the original world. But the fire of this vision burns ever brighter in me, why I do not know.

-------------------
END
-----------

435

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 435, 12/1/02
(Ts34, No. 6 / Tarb 18283 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 435
No mood for scratch-off madness. Smiling nobody, like to destroy him, movie theater. Badlight, under the streetmess, power mass forces, the waiting for the waiting. Another. Open lit window, strange transaction, the fall wit the redemption in mind, fun and the nuclear muscle. Family buffet. Dog dreams. The dread of flight, the thrill of flight, writing it down, using levels of power. Too much tool. You cannot, Tracy, it is not... like.

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

Wow, this one is great! And I have no memory of it whatsoever! Kind of like a lost classic redisovered.

What about it, me reading my writing from 7 years ago, and it being like reading someone else's work, the memory faded? Ah, it's alright.

(Reviewed 12/8/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 046 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1068
Pretty hood marketing flavors.

HURRICANER 047 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1069
Someone talk about polo but I think it is for people with a lot of money. We are gonna meet some people from 1994 working on a virtual world's fair project. They are enthusiastic about it now, but it's not gonna succeed at all. They will have moved on by late 1995.

HURRICANER 048 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1070
People are gonna watch with amazed eyes at our punk desires. They call it prurience, they call it bad. But concrete dust is in our lungs a little.

-------------------
END
-----------

434

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 434, 11/24/02
(Ts34, No. 5 / Tarb 18241 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 434
Duck I am loopy the fog rail. Is it causal, caramel? I pretend that this is me here--you have to see--I might really be somewhere else--my state of being is totally unfamiliar to man. Randolph? Maybe that was the town I went to--once--always wondered how to get back...

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

This one is pretty good. But I gott a comment on the part about that town.

Back in like 1989 when I was going "Anything But Monday" magazine, there were these two people that had gotten involved with it, named Candy and, I think, Brian. I visited them once at their apartment, in this town, and years later I got curious as to where the heck that was. I remember a few years ago driving all around in that area trying to find the area again, to no avail. I remember hills, and a strip mall, and garden apartments.

There was some trouble between Candy and Brian and the magazine, and I recall mailing something to them and it was refused and sent back. I might have the address in some ancient database somewhere.

Wow, that didn't take very long. I found the address pretty easily, in a document from 1991. It's for a P.O. box in Pompton Lakes, NJ. I think that was the town I tried to explore that one time.

Could it be:

Pompton Hills Apartments
615 Hamburg Tpke
Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442

Just some research on the Internet... I don't know...

(Reviewed 12/8/02)

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SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 043 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1065
Cat under the table, the magic reference place, slant and slash light, pop into dimension here, feel the window glass, blatant quaint village scene with red snow, blue hats.

HURRICANER 044 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1066
Pile of misunderstood lockpicks, the pathetic and confident are all over the place. The place to hang out, old wood, firelight, good times, not forced, not a themed place, but a real place, and do time travellers flock there, is it any better than a theme restauarant.

HURRICANER 045 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1067
We have a mystic power in our gaze, and it's a sexual palace, and a rollercoaster glance out, the four dimensional flap hatch of us, a wild frontier airport for the scoot of nothinghood else. We are fire in our place, we am books, fixtures.

-------------------
END
-----------

433

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 433, 11/17/02
(Ts34, No. 4 / Tarb 18199 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 433
Dim-it. A female Alexander Hamilton. Gaga. Gump. Forsaken woman, she evil. Hazzaha haha. Ga ga ga! You gotta wonder. Enterway to office and...

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

I actually think this one is not bad. That last bit about the office "enterway" is somewhat awesome.

(Reviewed 12/8/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 040 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1062
Deep in the heart of obscure entertainment product of the past. That lifestyle, the junk of the previous time, getting into new facets of it all the time. Old time sexy stuff, campy, weird, zombie and robot and gorilla.

HURRICANER 041 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1063
After the time of glaciers and obsessions and college, trying to find patterns in the sprawl, and being old enough to be parent of one of those college occult weird seekers.

HURRICANER 042 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1064
Smashing pinball pachinko and little bulldozer game with plastic pellets, and spinning wheels of prizes and plastic mustard container, old and dirty. She is extended into some kind of psycho dimension.

-------------------
END
-----------

432

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 432, 11/10/02
(Ts34, No. 3 / Tarb 18157 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 12/8/02 * 1:23 PM

Fell behind again. Next Lord of Obliviana in 436, see ya there.

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 432
Many ices. Imperfect footing, you start off behind. Young, the innocence of being a Dr. Who fan. Why scorn the beautiful fragility there? It felt good, but the fear of it all falling apart, and the stress of starting to face life. School, girls, future. I don't know. There was something more to it.

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

I just wrote 15 Superiors today, and I touched on a lot of the sames themes as this one. The idea of the youthful seeker of mystical exploration, and how people fade away from that scene, and how the ideals of that vision are different from the realities.

I am still a "mystic seeker". And in Obliviana, I am trying to create a new system of "mystic seeking".

The idea of the idealized past, of bittersweet nostalgia. I see this as an ongoing process. For example, I have been thinking a lot about the time period around 1995, when this Superior was written, and idealizing it somewhat.

1995. A whole different view on multimedia entertainment. The idea that CD-ROMs would be the medium of interaction, and this was the case for awhile, until the World Wide Web took off.

"There was something more to it."

(Reviewed 12/8/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 037 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1059
The old free grand ice weed, color and possible. Misty catcher, dark tree child night, shelter with mechanical audio machine. Dark fiber optic amusement spectacular, hitting the mind like petting a cat. Freezing train platform at overcast morning, thinking about warm friends.

HURRICANER 038 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1060
Hunting fun in a huddled night fray, crafting dark skinny dippings into the ice way mellow. Boundaries, a few streets, bike ridings and school bussings. The party, vapid lounge, are they also pretending to appreciate it. The magic tricks, could he have real powers. Think a book series of science fantasy might be real. Book about reptiles not amusing at this time.

HURRICANER 039 * 12/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1061
Sold out to the warrior clamp side. Obsessions and dioramas, the used bookstore as ultimate cathedral place. Pure explore, pure city, all about the cool stores. Evil people in their evil nests. All slippery, cannot draw any conclusions, must take the next flight out.

-------------------
END
-----------

431

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Issue 431, 11/3/02
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
(Ts34, No. 2 / Tarb 18115 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 11/3/02 * 7:32 PM

Okay, I'm back. I took a little break from Obliviana. And I think the break has produced good results. I have refined some ideas in a very good way.

Back on 10/7 I took a day trip to Washington DC, to the Smithsonian and stuff. It was very therapeutic. I got in touch with the pre-Obliviana me, because I used to go there as a kid a lot. Air and Space Museum rules!

Hemisinister Review, CD of the Week, I guess I'll leave that on hold for now.

Hey! It's Ts34! Alright!

Well, clearly there's not a big change with this Ts. I see the "big change" for Obliviana coming in Ts35, January 26, 2003.

I have come up with some refinements for Dashic Deeds, which I hope will improve the system considerably.

I have been quite confounded with the whole Fonosta Device aspect since about 10/12. I have a somewhat better grip on it now, though I am not 100% there yet.

I am also doing what I've been doing for a year or two now--trying to bring together the 2 broad areas of 209 and Bluffcosm. I have actually been wrestling with this issue since around 1987, trying to reconcile the whole 209 side of Obliviana with the entertainment-oriented side.

Why do these sides need to be reconciled? Well, it's more of a "whole is more than the sum of the parts". I have this vision that if I can successfuly meld these 2 aspects, I will have something that is much greater than either one could be on its own.

And I have to say that though I have been very frustrated with Obliviana for the past few years, I have been making steady progress. And I still believe that Obliviana can be something quite amazingly great.

12 weeks. 12 weeks till Ts35. I would very much like to launch the new "New Obliviana" on that date, 1/26/03.

Power of 209, Dashic Deeds (which were once called Friction Enhancers), and Bluffcosm (which is also known as Obliviana Wander Radio, and I'll have to work out this naming conflict). Three powerful ideas that I believe will blend together in remarkable ways.

I have been toying with the idea of starting fresh with the website, and taking down all the old stuff. I should update Aerie Obliviana, and then maybe make that available.

I am also thinking of changing OsoaWeek. OsoaWeek in this text format... with Superiors and Lord of Obliviana and all the obscurities therein...

OsoaWeek should be "The Weekly Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement". So, when there really IS an Obliviana Super Occult Amusement that is up and running, OsoaWeek should be about it.

One of the ideas I have is to do OsoaWeek in PDF format, with a graphical layout, pictures, fonts, etc. Another idea would be for OsoaWeek to be in audio. But, it could remain text also.

Regarding any change in OsoaWeek, I want it to reflect the needs of Obliviana. I don't want to resist change because of tradition.

Yes, the complete archive of OsoaWeek is available online... but is anyone going to read it?

How much is the history of Obliviana going to matter in the new "New Obliviana"? Will there be the rare "Obliviana scholar" who studies all the old writing? Yeah--but only if Obliviana becomes extremely popular, and that's not gonna happen if I drag my feet.

Hey, I admit it, I am my own number one fan. I'm not saying that in a cynical or sarcastic sense. It is absolutely true. And I guess it's kind of cool, idolizing this celebrity, and you get to be with that person 24 hours a day. (Man, that sounds kind of insane.)

But because I know it's insane means that I'm not really insane. You can't be crazy if you know you're crazy... or so they say...

So what will happen to OsoaWeek? Hmm...

The PDF option... definitely a lot harder to produce, especially on a weekly basis. And remember, content is at issue here, beyond the format.

Of course, if it's PDF, it could also be printed out and mailed... like the old days, when I published minicomics and sold them thru the mail.

But like I said, I want the OsoaWeek decision to be based on the needs of the new New Obliviana.

How about the audio idea? Intriguing. But would it necessarily replace the text version? Um... yeah. I think so. If it were called "OsoaWeek"... unless I took the time to transcribe what I say on it. Or, write the text version and then read it and record it to make it audio. Nah... an audio version would probably replace it. Though, it could be possible that OsoaWeek could continue in text, and there also be a weekly audio feature of Obliviana.

A year or two ago I was thinking of the idea of making Obliviana 100% audio. I liked the idea, but I did nopt pursue it at the time. I think "Stormtoon" was the end of that effort.

Now, it is clear that the printed Dashic Deeds are going to be a part of Obliviana, so Obliviana is not gonna be "100% audio".

However, I do see the audio side of Obliviana as the side that brings everyone in Obliviana together, like an Obliviana "tribe". And the power of radio to tribalize, as people have talked about in the past...

So in this context, it would seem absolutely that there should be a regular audio feature about Obliviana, a kind of weekly update. So the question then becomes, does it supercede OsoaWeek, or can OsoaWeek continue in the same form, albeit with a much-reduced place in the scheme of things?

This sounds better. And the whole PDF thing... I think this would only make sense if the thing PDF'd was also something that was printed out and distributed... an Obliviana magazine...

But yeah... OsoaWeek as it is could continue... it doesn't take all that long to produce, and like I said, I don't have to present it as the central source of info...

Oh well, that's it for now.

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 431
A time of Arctic air, driving on Route One, say patterns in ice, and all the girls at all the malls I've ever explored. Yesterday, I mused that if I write an autobiography, one chapter would definitely be called "Malls". Say building in the distance, I remember my first college friend trips to Manhattan, and how overwhelming the place was. Yeah, I'd like to soft time travel back to one of those days in 1985 or 1986, one of those trips to New York. 80 pounds lighter.

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

Well this one is pretty interesting. First of all, this one is all "true" in that I am talking about myself, not talking in the voice of some made-up character.

Those early college friend trips to NYC have been on my mind a little bit lately. We took the PATH train to 14th Street, and the exit somehow came out in the basement level of a store or something, as I remember, though maybe I'm remembering it wrong. That definitely sounds like something from a dream, a train station entrance in a store basement.

And I guess I'm happy to say that 1995 was less than 10 pounds lighter. Yeah I weighed like 150 or even a little less in college. Now I'm like 235-240, and in '95 I guess I was like 225-230. I gained the weight when I became vegetarian, and began eating a LOT of pasta all the time. Pasta with margarine and hot sauce and garlic and salt and pepper and various other spices. Still my favorite.

(Reviewed 11/3/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 034 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1056
Let us wend our way thru the vast heaps of cocky young souls with unsharp minds, you like the bodies.

HURRICANER 035 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1057
This phenomenon of denial is one of the core attributes of the adaptability of human beings. You can make up a fantasy and overlay it on reality, to make unpleasant situations much more manageable. It is good and bad. Good in that it makes you happier. Bad in that it softens the pain and thus may cause delay in addressing those aspects of the situation that could be improved thru effort.

HURRICANER 036 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1058
This observation is important and should be repeated often. At any given time, you feel a certain way. Now, from experience, you should realize that the way you feel will change, usually in a matter of minutes. Yet, for some reason, there's some kind of problem with the human mind, and you think that you will continue to feel the same way for a long time. And it takes effort to remind yourself that you know from experience that you will NOT continue to feel this way.

-------------------
END
-----------

430

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 430, 10/27/02
(Ts34, No. 1 / Tarb 18073 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 430
Avoid escalator in office building train station, they who sing, who confuse in a fish bowl, and the sporting event, calibrate. Sometimes well a year never ever, kissing, dreams of relationships wake to nobody next to me. I am hurt. It's good though. The more I get hurt emotionally and get over it, the more I grow up. I am a wristwatch made of mist. Didn't I tell you that. Too weak, needs editing, but I never do that.

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

This one refers to these 2:

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 236
I am a wristwatch made of mist. Commanda Royal Blue, the cinnamon backlash affair. Junction, the mystery of the man made of milk.

Yeah, at that time, I was pretty hurt after a break-up that had occurred a few months earlier.

The last sentence is self-referential, and is pretty true. I do edit Superiors sometimes, but mostly they are spur-of-the-moment little creations, that I write in a minute or two and put into OsoaWeek right away.

I have been thinking about reviewing the earlier Superiors. I started Superior Review in issue 289, on February 9, 2000. So Superiors 1 thru 288 need to be reviewed. I have done 142 reviews so far. Maybe I could start with 288 and go backwards? Yeah, maybe I'll do that, but not right now, eh.

(Reviewed 11/3/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 031 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1053
That is better, us American kids preoccupied with all things British. Silver wires, talk about silver wires, English accent. That is cool, bringing them places, getting a new look at things, and standing on top of some place with a view, and the other side. The urban night, cold outside and hot in coats inside, sweat and freezing air, and electronics stores.

HURRICANER 032 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1054
We are more powerful children of the age. Just gotta rip open a time portal sometime. Gotta confront the kids, sitting around and talking about their grandiose plans to change the world. And I think, I wonder, should this be a world where everyone is a hero of the age.

HURRICANER 033 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1055
That the night is untamable is clear. Yet we can build an outpost to observe and interact with the night. We can build a better outpost.

-------------------
END
-----------

429

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 429, 10/20/02
(Ts33, No. 13 / Tarb 18031 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 429
Hi. Join now. Creates. Silent cold dawn, walk down the street, see no one. Hi hitchhike. A summer in the '70s. What can I say? She's having sex, drugs, and rock music on the road. Today, you gotta wonder. It WAS hedonism, was there a price to pay? Just skiing.

(((From OsoaWeek074--12/22/95)))

*****

This one has moments of brilliance, but overall is a bit mediocre.

I really like the start, "Hi. Join now." And "Hi hitchhike." is pretty good too.

The last sentence is kinda good too.

(Reviewed 11/3/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 028 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1050
Should probably be a drug addict by now. I am an observer and I wait. To think of my state of mind in the past, always just about to break thru with the big idea. But if you can keep it up, it makes for pleasant living.

HURRICANER 029 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1051
There is joy in being semi-utterly fucking clueless and being fully aware of the situation. Also fucking semi-paralyzed by bittersweet nostalgia.

HURRICANER 030 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1052
It yarshwennic below a happy dancers collegiate. Shaky hands, short of breath, blurry vision. Cryptic with nothing encrypted.

-------------------
END
-----------

428

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 428, 10/13/02
(Ts33, No. 12 / Tarb 17989 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 428
Ah, again, just once, was it. Horses, my sister liked 'em. Light rail, can I copper aluminum the yes icon, to pretend--the dork, making fun of the dork--his feelings never cross my mind. But what real punishment is there? Cosmic balance? Yeah, that's realistic.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

Lame.

(Reviewed 11/3/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 025 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1047
The potential of that time viewed from this time. Is it a waste of time to indulge in thoughts. Do we have a goal, do we have a plan. Randomly go to that mall, part of the plan.

HURRICANER 026 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1048
Resist if this thing is falling apart, so hidden and free.

HURRICANER 027 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1049
Dripping interweaving motorcycle, slicing the reality of time and shards. A zillion atomic bombs on video. Box has molded place for device that is missing. Waiting on line for some kind of autograph. The obsessions of six years ago.

-------------------
END
-----------

427

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 427, 10/6/02
(Ts33, No. 11 / Tarb 17947 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Tue 11/3/02 * 6:42 PM

Around the date of this issue, a little less than a month ago, I decided I needed a break from Obliviana for a little while. Now I'm back. I'll be writing the next Lord of Obliviana in OsoaWeek431. See ya there.

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 427
I am have a script typeface was my life. Love. Kiss my love. Can't get it back. Funny, it's the girl I lost six years ago not six weeks ago. Funny. I am funny in a way of jarknest. Fuck yes. Storage technologies will evolve, and we must evolve along with them.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

This one refers to this one:

SUPERIOR 52
Slabjolt me, night. I am funny in a way of hannipost. I am a stinger, they said, I am unwelder. A vague open highway from a dream or from some reality beyond my dreams. Dark, maybe rainy, a lit skyscraper in the distance. I declare?

Both "hannipost" and "jarknest" are nonsense words I made up.

The thing about the girls I lost is from my life, not made-up. I guess I was all emotionally messed-up, but more upset about the 6-years-ago girl than the 6-weeks-ago girl.

And yes, storage technologies have evolved. I wrote that almost 7 years ago. And we have evolved along with them to have more stuff we need to store, so it's never enough. (I don't think there were MP3's back then...)

(Reviewed 11/3/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 022 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1044
Us against the world, our random idiosyncrasies like super hero powers, kind of a mutual admiration society, plugged into a bona fide zeitgeist. And what is the value of people hearing about it and thinking about it long after it is over? Do we want, like in the the year 2500, some kid to discover the magic of us and go like whoa this is cool and get into it? Or is it just the spur of the moment, or just making money.

HURRICANER 023 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1045
The power of pre. Of being before the thing. Think that playground was upside-down.

HURRICANER 024 * 11/3/02 * SUPERIOR 1046
Seeking, seeking, personal mythology, own little world, own biggest fan. Arm and horizon, fake military feel, whipped cream TV, river smell. Conclusion, arrival. The challenge completed, satisfaction.

-------------------
END
-----------

426

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 426, 9/29/02
(Ts33, No. 10 / Tarb 17905 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Tue 9/29/02 * 7:54 PM

Drove around today talking into tape recorder trying to get my head straight, and it definitely helped.

Making progress on the ad that's going into Weird NJ Roadside Guide.

I'm gonna start to get down to serious work on the Ts34 Black Envelope launch.

Not much else to report in the world of Obliviana right now.

Get all Obliviana...

-------------------
HEMISINISTER REVIEW
-----------

***CD OF THE WEEK***

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives
Behind The Music
2001

1. Infra Riot
2. Sister Surround
3. In Someone Elses Mind
4. Mind The Gap
5. Broken Imaginary Time
6. 21st Century Rip Off
7. Tonight
8. Keep The Line Movin'
9. Nevermore
10. Independent Luxury
11. Ten Years Ahead
12. Still Aging
13. In Your Veins
14. The Flood
15. Into The Next

Review: Band from Sweden, starting to be associated with the "rebirth of rock" (The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, etc.) This CD has a lot of stuff going on... too many musical ideas to digest in one sitting. After a few listens, I was a bit lost... then, several of the songs started to play in my head... I have yet to fully grok this album, but I can see already that it's a great rock record. I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 426
Again, quench interstate power. Bye. Everyone experiences night.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

A short and sweet little classic.

(Reviewed 9/29/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 019 * 9/29/02 * SUPERIOR 1041
We spend our days in losing cool over what we're missing. All mean to each other, and bitter no one's nice. Ignore the mindblowing scenery, licking wounds is our delight.

HURRICANER 020 * 9/29/02 * SUPERIOR 1042
Summer in the astral plane, of dollar signs and peaceful knives. Gonna punch a hole in a wall aficianado, cinder block wall painted black and avocado.

HURRICANER 021 * 9/29/02 * SUPERIOR 1043
Decadent smells and scents, and an 85th-generation memory. Looping, old movie machine at the theme park, hammering and hammering with vague intention. The zoom sound effect playing with toy car, and real girl there, was raining earlier, health food store hatch door, subway level store front, old paperback sci-fi books, and a sour feeling inside, but with tinges of delight.

-------------------
END
-----------

425

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 425, 9/22/02
(Ts33, No. 9 / Tarb 17863 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Tue 9/17/02 * 10:51 PM

There was a band I wrote lyrics for and participated in the songwriting process of, and basically oversaw the production of everything, blah blah blah. The band was Fuzzy Daupner, and it's been almost a year since it broke up.

Well, it's clear now that Fuzzy Daupner is not gonna get back together, and its songs will most likely wallow in utter obscurity forevermore. Anyway, when the band broke up, I had the lyrics to three songs, which never got put to music. So I'm presenting these three lyrics... um, song lyrics, sets of lyrics, whatever you want to call them. I'm presenting them here, because I'm proud of how they turned out, and I spent a lot of time working on them.

I'd try and write the songs and perform them myself, except that I am not very skilled technically in music, and I have so much other creative stuff to work on. So here they are! The lost songs! Hooray! Ready to wallow in obscurity with all the rest of the songs!

***
LASER BAFFLE RAG
by Frank Edward Nora
11/29/00
***

Had an open mind about the Spice Girls movie
But it didn't deliver
Noticed your mind is alive with wizards
My blood is hot for revolution

The mushrooms and armaments in me
Weapon and war learning TV
Father Time is a stupid old liar
The sand and rust of solo desire

Minor questions, like
Was Dana Plato a loser?
Is anything ever gonna be easier?
Surf guitar, is it minimalistic?
Lozenge is eucylyptus

Is anything ever gonna be easier?
Is anything ever gonna be easier?

A Charles Nelson Reilly on caffeine
Describes this kid to a T
In Wintercindie's bed he will not sleep
On delusions he sips like a laser bee

The mushrooms and armaments in me
Weapon and war learning TV
Father Time is a stupid old liar
The sand and rust of solo desire

Minor questions, like
Was Dana Plato a loser?
Is anything ever gonna be easier?
Surf guitar, is it minimalistic?
Lozenge is eucylyptus

Technomagical maniac vehicle
Technomagical maniac vehicle

George M. Dallas and his kingfisher Milly
Are hanging out with kittens that're silly
In a pet store window in a cold mall
Calling out, loving the mystery of it all

Calling out
Calling out
Kitten Kitten Kitten Kitten
Calling out

***
MOUNTAINSIDE MADNESS
1/23/01
by Frank Edward Nora
***

sexuality's an f'd up thing
but I think all in all it can pacify me
I thought strolling darkly and flicking a lighter
we're all jolly foreigners in hardship and winter

we haven't got a chance of a clue
sketching dragons with crayons in gray sexy clothes
and sometimes it surprises the jaded
who take pleasure in predicting the end of relationships

the rough-hewn glee was once a part
of fighting in the streets
when pleasure grew like weeds
in washing wells of clash and commonality

a jar of air from dreamland
a jar of air from dreamland

sexuality's an f'd up thing
but I think all in all it can pacify me
I thought strolling darkly and flicking a lighter
we're all jolly foreigners in hardship and winter

we haven't got a chance of a clue
sketching dragons with crayons in gray sexy clothes
and sometimes it surprises the jaded
who take pleasure in predicting the end of relationships

the rough-hewn glee was once a part
of fighting in the streets
when pleasure grew like weeds
in washing wells of clash and commonality

a jar of air from dreamland
a jar of air from dreamland

***
SNOWFLAW CAR
6/17/01
by Frank Edward Nora
***

The maniacs of the dirty scene
Have a charm and thrust that's good to see
You're a dusty mischevous thing
Movin' on road with feather and glee

Various strategies
Reaching out to the chimpanzees on TV
Detours and coffee skylines
Lovers in the outdoors having a nice time

Give me a house in winter fit for a ghost
With aspirin door beads and a neutron star
A twinkle in the eye
Of a dark old bird of prey
Drink the air and phase the rapids
At the end of day

As bookstore sidewalks crack
Daydream time's the only life attack
This place is dead you scream
And the sad old trees get what you mean

The sad old trees get what you mean

I wouldn't find fairies yawning
In the concourse just 'fore dawn
If your ice walls weren't just shattered
Fake flaws blown to Rome and Mars

Fake flaws blown to Rome and Mars

Give me a house in winter fit for a ghost
With aspirin door beads and a neutron star
A twinkle in the eye
Of a dark old bird of prey
Drink the air and phase the rapids
At the end of day

The maniacs of the dirty scene
Have a charm and thrust that's good to see
You're a dusty mischevous thing
Movin' on road with feather and glee

Movin' on road with feather and glee

*****

Okay? See? Pretty awesome, huh?

"Laser Baffle Rag" has a lot of references to other Fuzzy Daupner songs, not that there's anyone out there to get the references.

Well, I just wanted to present these lyrics to the world. Now they'll get sucked into Internet archives and stuff, and be available for future generations, whoop de do.

Thu 9/19/02 * 11:29 PM

Well, it makes me feel good to get these lyrics out there. And also the "working lyrics" which I've been slowly putting into Hurricaner in one way or another.

Creativity. A crazy thing. Creative collaborations are usually quite rewarding, but they sour eventually.

But I've been closely guarding the bulk of my creative output. Creating by me, no one else involved, lots of it on the Internet, though not seen much by other people. Just me, as the number one fan of my work. Safe little world. And one that I'm finding it harder than expected to get away from.

Yeah, I am resisting at many levels the process of moving forward. So I should just... stop resisting. Just move forward. Damn the torpedoes. So people trash my work, say it sucks, so what? So I have to fight people to move forward, and deal with ego damage...

Ego damage... I'm too damn sensitive to that crap.

Fri 9/20/02 * 12:08 AM

Downloading too damn many MP3s.

I have to... work on new Deeds... work on the ad...

Sun 9/22/02 * 4:05 PM

Yeah day after day, same old stuff, slow progress.

I'm definitely looking at this coming October 27, the start of Ts34, as the launch of the new Dashic Deeds. The new Deeds will be mostly the same, but there will be a few modifications.

First of all, there will be only one aver-arching card type, not the multiple-card-type insanity road I was heading down recently.

Also, there will be just one product, the black envelope with 13 randomly assorted Deeds. In order to make this poosible, and also to streamline the system, I've decided to scrap the "Start Your Fonosta" Deed. As well, the "Trick Sojourn" Deed will be changed so that it can be inserted as a header for the Ts at any time... that is, you don't have to Scrawl it as the first Deed Scrawled in that Trick Sojourn.

I think the system is better streamlined... and the overly strict Fonosta rules, like having to do these certain Deeds first, bog down the system, and also call for a starter pack/booster pack setup. Well, I just want one kind of "pack", and I think I can achieve it with this new system.

Each Black Envelope will have some kind of rules sheet that will NOT be a Dashic Deed. It'll just be a rules sheet.

So... should I rescind the free offer? Nah... maybe someone will take it... and only a little over a month till the new system and Ts34.

Still working on the ad. I'm a little confused as to when the "Weird NJ Roadside Guide" is coming out. One place it says November 2002, and another place it says 2003.

Oh well. Either way, I gotta design the ad to be read for years to come.

Slow progress... good progress...

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
HEMISINISTER REVIEW
-----------

***CD OF THE WEEK***

Watson & Company
Catharsis Infinity
1993

1. Oceans
2. The Dream
3. Romance
4. Canon in D (Pachelbel)
5. The Universal Wish
6. To Francisco
7. Love's Song
8. Concord
9. Tristan Chase
10. Lagrima
11. Autumn
12. Air Space
13. Allegro
14. Orlando Sleepeth
15. The Different Blues

Review: Violin and guitar, quirky, earthy.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 425
Lost. Days away. I want to be all over America. Now I know--duty calls--I cannot cry--it is a metallic Christmas memory here--bird. Commend. Look to you for support. Just... just hanging out, talking. Fear of insanity. Going... going home all the time. Dark days. Who was it? Daddy's apartment, I was proud to think he had girls over. Morning... what is the loss of.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

Hmm... first of all, it's interesting, the "fear of insanity" line, and right below here in OsoaWeek425 is Hurricaner 18 (Superior 1040), which also refers to the fear of or danger of insanity. Huh...

So this one... what is it about? It's a good one, I'll say that much.

The "Daddy's" sentence... this one seems to be based somewhat on real events. My parents were separated for a year or so around 1980, when I was 12-13 years old. Me and my brother spent many weekends at his apartment, and it is one of my brightest memories from childhood. As far as being "proud to think he had girls over", I don't think that at the time I really thought about it that much... so maybe in this Superior, the "character" of the piece is having similar thought about a similar situation...

But I have to say, this really is a top-notch Superior. And another one that I have pretty much no memory of.Like I've mentioned many times, it's very cool to read something I wrote and getting to experience it fresh, since the memory of it has faded away.

Yeah, I probably spent 5 minutes writing it, almost 7 years ago. And I probably didn't read tha tmany times. So it makes sense that the memory of it has faded.

Memory... insanity... yeah, all that.

(Reviewed 9/22/02)

-------------------
SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
-----------

HURRICANER 016 * 9/15/02 * SUPERIOR 1038
Little powder blue Audi TT, the First Internet Rock Band and me. Coffee is flavored with blueberry cream, England swings and tobacco is king.

HURRICANER 017 * 9/17/02 * SUPERIOR 1039
The wolfen barmashox, celebration day wolfen tea leaves, wolfen celebration day, celebration days and catalogs obscene. Night air travel, daybreak systems. Lamp dainties sip off residual light from lampshades in pitch dark rooms at night. A friendly voice, deep and weird.

HURRICANER 018 * 9/17/02 * SUPERIOR 1040
It's not a matter of people pretending. People are more screwed up than we think. All the buildings, maybe just erasing nothingness, revealing the buildings. We are in a stimulated portion of reality. The pressure, and don't collapse, or it'll be insanity. There are things out there that are very old. Computers are comforting, I like them.

-------------------
END
-----------

424

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 424, 9/15/02
(Ts33, No. 8 / Tarb 17821 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 9/15/02 * 4:08 PM

Hi.

OsoaWeek is really the backbone of Obliviana thru all these years. As of a few months ago, I didn't know if it would continue. But now of course it's back as strong as ever.

Right now in Obliviana, I am shifting gears. I have to relax, I have to approach Obliviana in a different way. I have spent many years searching for the right design, and now I have it, but I am still in search mode, so I have to relax and switch gears.

New Jersey all around me. I love New Jersey.

Still no takers on the free offer.

So Ts33 is over half done. Ts34 coming up.

I think that I will now be focusing on Ts34 as the first "real" release of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement. This is in about 6 weeks.

Switching gears. Not easy.

Over the past few weeks, I have succeeded in cleaning up my office. I'm amazed that I was able to do it. It may have been that it was a good distraction from Obliviana. I have had a lot of subconscious desire to avoid working on Obliviana, and I think it relates to this whole "shifting gears" thing.

Generally, over the past month or so, things have slowly been moving into a better direction.

OsoaWeek... ninth year...

Everything Obliviana has been... all the intellectual journies... but not dead ends! All those journies have moved Obliviana forward.

Now, what about Bluffcosm? What about "the new computerized audio entertainment"?

This was a big theme for me in 2001, trying to reconcile the 209 side with the Bluffcosm side. Right now, Bluffcosm is indeed "on hold", and the 209 side (Obliviana Super Occult Amusement) is in the forefront.

Well, what I can say about this situation is that Bluffcosm shall return, but not until Obliviana has made significant progress.

It's upsetting for me to keep Bluffcosm suspended, but right now, it is what I have to do. And in the plan, once Obliviana gets going, Bluffcosm will be much stronger, as a part of Obliviana.

Dear reader, I realize that all this stuff I'm saying might make little sense to you. It would make sense if you've read all the previous OsoaWeeks... and who knows? Maybe in the far future people will read and study all of OsoaWeek...

Um...

Get all Obliviana.

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HEMISINISTER REVIEW
-----------

***CD OF THE WEEK***

Porcupine Tree
In Absentia
2002

1. Blackest Eyes
2. Trains
3. Lips Of Ashes
4. The Sound Of Muzak
5. Gravity Eyelids
6. Wedding Nails
7. Prodigal
8. .3
9. The Creator Has A Mastertape
10. Heartattack In A Layby
11. Strip The Soul
12. Collapse the Light Into Earth

Review: The first song, "Blackest Eyes", is truly amazing. I've heard most of the rest of the album, and it sounds pretty good. I don't know too much about this group, but it's part of the "prog rock" genre, which is indeed a difficult and fascinating genre in today's world of music. And y'know what? The album isn't even out yet! Alright! Reviewing an album in OsoaWeek that isn't even out yet! I feel like a real reviewer!

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SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 424
Back home, dark and cold, college friend memories, stabbing shame, no pony tail today. Go on. Friendly colonial street, weight of the daily childness I can Louisiana and--a bar--I--screwed it all up, it is she--and I cannot return--again and again--the way out, forget about the other girl--but no girls--and... and... and... I am here. What I know about. Please.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

This one refers to some real events, which I have touched on in recent reviews. Basically, around December 1995, I was about two months past breaking up with a girlfriend of 2.5 years, and was all messed up. There were some girls in NY who knew each other, who I liked, kind of one after another, all my efforts going nowhere. Definitely a weird experience, kind of embarrassing for me thinking back.

As a Superior, 424 is okay, but not great. Starts off strong, then gets awkward.

"College friend memories" stirs feelings in me today. Memories of college friends are pure bittersweet nostalgia to me.

(Reviewed 9/15/02)

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SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
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HURRICANER 013 * 9/15/02 * SUPERIOR 1035
Carl Sagan in 1991 on CNN saying how the oil fires in Kuwait would cause some kind of major ecological disaster.

HURRICANER 014 * 9/15/02 * SUPERIOR 1036
No By-Tor, no Snow Dog, no Yo-Yo, no Holmes. Let's lazily observe our lives with narration by Doug Jones.

HURRICANER 015 * 9/15/02 * SUPERIOR 1037
A marriage of the elements and special times at health food stores, the striving youth, and of dreams of magazines. Yes worldwide impact, the famous in room, the cool old movie posters. The atmospheric place, old wine corks, spray mount cans, lovely smiles. Several lists. The dark side of the 1980s, indulgent, shallow. Just the dream of driving motorcycle thru misty rainy noplaces. And raining outside, cutting-edge software, screensavers and music generators. And a beautiful day, watching laundry dry in the breeze, with a sour feeling inside.

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END
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423

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OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 423, 9/8/02
(Ts33, No. 7 / Tarb 17779 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 9/8/02 * 7:36 PM

Been fighting myself lately to get moving with Obliviana.

Lots of distractions, but I'm making progress toward focusing on Obliviana.

Cleaning up my room this weekend, making progress on that too.

Bitterness about not being able to go on trips or get things I want because of financial problems, also distractions. I gotta get Obliviana going!

I did work on the whole "card types" issue, and I have come to a solution, which I hope will work.

So far, no requests for the free Deeds.

I have reserved an ad in Weird New Jersey, that should be out in November 2002 in the "Roadside Guide" book. I haven't designed the ad yet.

I finished the "missing issues" of OsoaWeek. Now I have to put them together into one HTML file.

So, in terms of moving forward, I must forge the new overarching Deed definition, and make changes to the Deed designs accordingly. There are not that many Deeds printed out right now, so this is not that big a deal.

Then I need to create the area on the website where each Deed is detailed.

I am confident that this whole new direction for Obliviana is indeed the "keystone". It's just, working on making it a reality is not always fun. So I must push myself forward.

I think this new clarification of Deed types will help me move the process forward.

I tellya, it'll be amazing if anything ever comes of this whole Obliviana obsession of mine. I just keep hammering away at it, all alone.

Get all Obliviana.

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HEMISINISTER REVIEW
-----------

***CD OF THE WEEK***

Peaches
Teaches of Peaches
2000

1. Fuck the Pain Away
2. AA XXX
3. Rock Show
4. Set It Off
5. Cum Undun
6. Diddle My Skittle
7. Hot Rod
8. Lovertits
9. Suck and Let Go
10. Sucker
11. Felix Partz

Review: Sex rap with raw and sparse electronic beats, a really good CD, check it out.

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SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 423
Talk about hussy. Tired in city. Toy store enlightenment is as immolation in self-awareness. To stab, she forgets to kill, street corner as they paint me. Car. The sex thing. Kissinger.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

This one is decent. The first two sentences are excellent.

Kissinger, kissing her.

Um...

(Reviewed 9/8/02)

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SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
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HURRICANER 010 * 9/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1032
Photo vest with a rook in each pocket. Video taping a lame sport game. Tangles of logics and braided hair cute ones. Bright lites thru mist or smoke, browsing watches in 94, the flowed energy is far away. Cleaning reveal satin and the imagined monorail thru garden from mall to hotel. A video of petrified wood.

HURRICANER 011 * 9/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1033
Crushes on female superheroes. The dark game on the think, the mind is a wild one, travelling all over the map of the good and bad. The highway rest area, the imaginary ice chip volcano. Power games and power trips. Maybe there are some people that could open the curtain for you and show you a new world, but they don't want to hurt you.

HURRICANER 012 * 9/8/02 * SUPERIOR 1034
The reality that I've been taking the path of least resistance for the most part, this is an unhappy thought, because that is disguised, and pretends to be otherwise, for a long time.

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END
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422

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OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 422, 9/1/02
(Ts33, No. 6 / Tarb 17737 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Mon 9/2/02 * 7:04 PM

I added a Dashic Deeds page to the site the other day. I'm planning on making a page for each Deed soon.

I've been working on the whole FOW (Forge of Wander) issue this week. The idea of FOWs as cards of a class distinct from Deeds. And then, with Deeds as not the only class, the question of instructions and reference cards perhaps being of another class. And then, the whole question of a unified system, with exceptions to rules popping up and all that.

I also have the Fonosta Device issue looming on the horizon, but I believe that I have prepared the rest of the system in such a way that the basic system will not have to change in order to accomodate Fonosta Device.

No takers on the free Deeds offer yet. The is not surprising. But at some point, I gotta get people into Obliviana!

I think this week I'll make some new Deeds, and also work on the individual pages for each Deed.

I am absolutely going to move forward with Osoa as my main focus. I am a little unhappy with Bluffcosm being pushed into the background again. But it is unavoidable at this time. I have to make Osoa a success.

Right now, I am at a point where I need to "recharge" my resolve regarding Osoa. It's easy to get distracted, and I have been allowing myself to get distracted by several things. Dreamcast and MP3 and digital video, and other things as well.

I have gotten quite nostalgic toward the mid-1990s. 1994, 1995, 1996. Such a long time ago, such a different time. And the feeling that 2002 is the future, that we've finally gotten to the future. I think it's because our coolective view of the future has become less optimistic.

I mean, in 1982 if you asked someone what 2002 would be like, they'd be very optimistic, with space travel and robots and flying cars and all that. Definitely thinking that it would be a really cool, really different world. Now, in 2002, what do we think of 2022? I think 2022 will probably be pretty similar to 2002. Or worse. Any big changes would be of the disaster type. I mean, computers should be faster then, but over the past 20 years, I've seen computers getting constantly faster, and the software getting constantly less interesting (especially in the past 5 years).

So what does it all mean? This is 2002. And 2000 already seems like a distant memory. Change... change... this world shall change into one ion which Obliviana is popular...!

Get all Obliviana.

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HEMISINISTER REVIEW
-----------

***CD OF THE WEEK***

DJ Harry
String Cheese Remix Project
2001

1. Wake Up
2. MLT
3. Texas
4. Turn The Bend
5. Rollover
6. Sand Dollar
7. 'Round The Wheel
8. Molybdenum
9. Absolution

Review: Over the past years, I've been somewhat interested in jam bands. I've gotten into Phish the most, Grateful Dead just a little. Besides those two, there are some other big names, like Moe, Disco Biscuits, and The String Cheese Incident. I've only heard a few songs by String Cheese Incident, then I ran across this CD at the Used Book Cafe on Crosby St., near where I work in NYC. I looked it up on Amazon, and seeing good reviews, I bought it. This CD is house music, made up "almost entirely of samples from The String Cheese Incident". It's an excellent CD to listen to while I write, because it's mellow and has few vocals. I've been listening to it a lot, and I like it more each time. Similar to St. Germain's "Tourist" CD, also an excellent choice.

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SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 422
Heat dazzled for beach company date, wonder, what do you have to do. In extraordinary circumstances, not to wind up back in your apartment that night or the next. Being tired, all I want is to be home and in bed, end this torture. But isn't being home in bed, as opposed to everything else you want to do, torture itself? Heat dazzled, and big money torpedoed, foil streamers at convention, $4 Coca-Cola, wandering. Heat.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

This one has some good-sounding stuff. Overall, a little awkward. Tells a story, and I can't recall how much reality is mixed in with the fantasy here. I've been to some conventions, as are obviously referenced here, and the idea of staying out all night or hooking up with a girl or something. I don't know. Overall, I'd say this one is pretty decent. I like the first line, "heat dazzled for beach company date".

(Reviewed 9/2/02)

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SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
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HURRICANER 007 * 8/27/02 * SUPERIOR 1029
Now this is gonna be a painful Hurricaner. The thrileed washes of The Harrowshed Accuracies, spread across glass playing cards, normal wide and mile tall. Accuracy and Dragon Mapping, get those away just wayward thought. A change come over them, American Draconis. Well, private look out portal, I'm shaking I'm so upset, Accuracy Am-Dragon Mapping, the ovals are not yet manifest. Slice away, now a real observation, the need for warm bodies to like and talk about the creations. Your creativity, it needs those idiots.

HURRICANER 008 * 8/27/02 * SUPERIOR 1030
My pain of bad Superiors, brings me visions of copy shops in 1984. The smash up sketchy imagined room. Flimsy reality, just stoking insanity, and the imaged glimpses of trees and skies and great outlets for creativity and great girls. Do I exaggerate my talent to myself? Horrible fear. Superiors are all first drafts, that explains the badness of some of them.

HURRICANER 009 * 8/27/02 * SUPERIOR 1031
The massive beast chained with yarn, talk to me. Prestige, goddamn, back to the warm bodies again, needing them to yearn. We are all warm bodies, we are the basic unit of everything fame and prestige, yet we are losers. Third whining Hurricaner, gotta stop that trend. Gotta wake up, tone down the insanity, move forward.

-------------------
END
-----------

421

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 421, 8/25/02
(Ts33, No. 5 / Tarb 17695 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 8/18/02 * 3:12 PM

I'm still working on Obliviana. It's been such a long time, and I'm still working on it. And I'm making progress.

I watched "American Movie" the other day, a documentary about a filmmaker's pipe-dream-like project. And of course I thought of the similarities to my own situation.

In the movie the guy said something about unfinished projects, saying that there are repercussions to actually getting a project done.

Well, I've found myself seeking after the unsolvable problem. Now that my unsolvable quest for the keystone idea is over (I have the keystone), this past week I descended into a creative stupor, trying to create the perfect website redesign.

And the sick part about this whole issue is that even being completely aware of your self-defeating subconscious stuff only seems to help a little. I'm still falling prey to distractions and self-made delays.

Yet I've come much farther than it would seem likely that I would have. Been working on Obliviana for nearly 17 years now. That's both a depressing and an encouraging thought.

I was reading a little OsoaWeek from 1995 earlier. And I can honestly say that I have grown a great deal as a person since then. But I often wonder what would have happened if I had "gotten" the keystone idea back in 1995, or in 1991, or in 1986.

My thinking is generally that it would not have worked at those times because I was not yet mature enough, and also that the world was not yet ready for it.

Any yet, even now I am split, one part of me pushing to get this new idea into reality, the other part wanting to procrastinate. And it's a subtle battle. Hard to work on. Cuz when I do some work and get some stuff done I get a sense of achievement and feel I can take a break. Then the break goes on too long.

I have many suspended creative projects all around me. I would like to be able to unfreeze some of them and complete them. I realize that the best way to do this is by making OSOA a reality. So that is what I really must try and do.

I have taken much satisfaction in starting up Superior again. That was a suspended project, but now it's going again.

But Superior is manageable. Other projects I've been thinking about lately are not so manageable. The Video Game Connections documentary... if I were to do it full steam ahead, it would take up all my free time. But this project is time sensitive. So I plan on taking footage and then waiting until I have the time to do the editing and stuff.

Then there's Fuzzy Daupner, the band I put a lot of creative energy into. The band broke up, and it bothers me that the music is now in limbo. I think the songs are great, and they deserve to be heard. But right now, I don't have the time to embark on any big project related to these songs. So they will stay in suspension for the time being.

I'm writing all this because I need to get my feelings out, and writing in OsoaWeek has always been a good platform for that, because I know people will be reading it.

So to recap, I have achieved much in Obliviana in 17 years. I have been seeking after the keystone idea, and though many times I thought it was a pipe dream, I have finally found it. And I have made a good start at making it a reality.

So right now, I should not feel all fucked-up. I should be elated that I have gotten this far. And I should work on making Obliviana a reality with every spare moment I have.

And that would work, if I didn't have to fight myself to get those spare moments.

Sat 8/24/02 * 12:43 PM

I updated the site a lot this week. The menu of the left is much improved. And the graphic on top of the page now describes what Obliviana is all about:

"Collect 'Dashic Deeds'. They're cards, each with a challenge for you. Complete the challenge, scrawl the Deed. Keep on gettin' Deeds and scrawling 'em!"

Also, I added an offer to the homepage, to get the first 10 Deeds for free. I decided to do it this past Thursday (8/22/02). I put it online a little after midnight (technically making it yesterday that the offer was made). Not surprisingly, there have been no requests for the free Deeds yet. So I gotta get people to the site!

I'm planning on placing an eighth page black and white ad in Weird New Jersey magazine. That'll be one form of promotion. And I know I can do a lot of free promo online as well.

Today, I'm gonna be filming more of my documentary about Video Game Connections, a store my friend Mike has run for about 12 years. Tonight is one of the video game collector meetings, so it should be interesting.

Also on the menu update, I put all the Zope stuff at the top of the OLDER STUFF heading. I feel bad about shoving Zope into suspension over and over again. I do plan on starting a new Zope project at some point. But I can't allow myself to get distracted from the core Osoa project.

1:50 PM

I was reading some Superiors from 1996 and 1997 the other day. I was disappointed somewhat by them. Oh well. There are some good ones mixed in there, but... distance gives perspective... the ones I'm reviewing now, from 1995, seem to be better overall. But then again, I just kind of skimmed thru...

2:01 PM

So I've brought back Hemisinister Review, with CD of the Week. I'll probably keep this feature going for awhile. I have a lot of CD's I'm excited about, and I keep discovering new ones all the time.

And of course, Hurricaner continues. You know, back during my lyric-writing for Fuzzy Daupner, I wrote an awful lot of cool stuff that never made it into the songs. So I'm gonna be using some of that material in Hurricaner. But it'll be mixed in with new stuff. I just don't want to let good Superior-ish writing go to waste.

Well, I gotta head on down to Video Game Connections.

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
HEMISINISTER REVIEW
-----------

***CD OF THE WEEK***

Prodigy
Music for the Jilted Generation
1995

1. Intro
2. Break & Enter
3. Their Law
4. Full Throttle
5. Voodoo People
6. Speedway (Theme From Fastlane)
7. The Heat (The Energy)
8. Poison
9. No Good (Start The Dance)
10. One Love (Edit)
11. The Narcotic Suite: 3 Kilos
12. The Narcotic Suite: Skylined
13. The Narcotic Suite: Claustrophobic Sting

Comment: I was a big Prodigy fan back with their first album, Experience. For some reason, I didn't get this album when it came out. I got their 3rd album, Fat of the Land, and liked it somewhat. It was just in the past week or so that I finally listened (many times) to Music for the Jilted Generation, and I have to say that it blows away the other 2 albums! It's a really good CD, well worth checking out.

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SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 421
The cosmos, rock concert, the waitings and wantings of teens, expectation of a state beyond expectation. The hopes so bright, how adults laugh at them, knowing so well how they'll slowly die. Snickering at hopeless dreams. All teens fall into the same trap, follow the same preset path, no matter how fervently they might believe otherwise. Rebellion as part of growing up, might seem like rebellion, but they all lose it. Except, me, Frank Edward Nora, I have not lost it, and I am 28.

(((From OsoaWeek073--12/15/95)))

*****

This one rambles along awkwardly, but is then saved by the last sentence.

(Reviewed 8/24/02)

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SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
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HURRICANER 004 * 8/13/02 * SUPERIOR 1026
Decorating. Jealous turn of the car. Haha, free, few days train, new face.

HURRICANER 005 * 8/18/02 * SUPERIOR 1027
Food Court Logic and The Flimsy Anchor, welcome to our stupid game. If you knew how close you were to disaster you wouldn't be goofing off like this.

HURRICANER 006 * 8/18/02 * SUPERIOR 1028
The inner feelings of 1980. Previews of sci-fi and darkened arcades. To breathe the air of 1980 again. And all that could have been, while the future was still satisfying. Comic book wizards mumble arcane runes. Just stop on a staircase and smile.

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END
-----------

420

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OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 420, 8/18/02
(Ts33, No. 4 / Tarb 17653 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 8/18/02 * 3:45 AM

Been an interesting week. Went to see The White Stripes and The Strokes two nights in a row in NYC, at Irving Plaza and Radio City Music Hall. Great shows.

I've been having a little trouble redesigning the site. But I've just completed phase 1 of the redesign, adding a menu frame kind of thing, though it's not nearly done yet.

On Friday, I started filming a documentary about Video Game Connections. I'm shooting it on an ancient VHS camcorder (circa 1986). I'm not sure if the final product will be video or audio. I may do it as video if it warrants it...

On to other news, Superior is back! It's the fourth "phase", called "Hurricaner". I'm gonna be doing 3 per issue... the first time there's been an odd number of Superiors other than 1 in an issue!

No new Dashic Deeds this week. Hopefully I'll do some more next week.

And now... what we've all been waiting for...

THE OBLIVIANA DOMAINS REPORT

OBLIVIANA.COM
July 1995-present
Status: Points to main Obliviana page.
Future: It's the main domain! It's gonna keep on going!

BLUFFCOSM.COM
November 1999-present
Status: Points to main Obliviana page.
Future: Bluffcosm is gonna return!

FUZZYDAUPNER.COM
April 2000-present
Status: The band Fuzzy Daupner is dead. The site has not been updated since 9/5/01.
Future: Unknown. Not an "Obliviana domain" per se, but I do have some say in its future.

DASHIC.COM
June 2000-present
Status: Errors out because it points to a server that no longer exists.
Future: Uncertain. I may just keep it and point it to the main site.

ZOPETV.COM (expired)
July 2000-July 2002
Status: This domain is expired.
Future: I have no plans to revive it.

INTERNETROCKBANDS.COM (expired)
August 2000-August 2002
Status: This domain is expired.
Future: I have no plans to revive it.

VENDINGYAMP.COM
November 2000-present
Status: Points to a subpage on the Obliviana site that says "Coming 11/19/00".
Future: I will most likely let it expire.

THINKFANG.COM
November 2000-present
Status: Points to out-of-date Thinkfang page on Obliviana site.
Future: I plan to keep the domain and reinvent what Thinkfang is.

SEVEREREPAIR.COM
October 2001-present
Status: Points to Network Solutions "under construction" page.
Future: I'll eventually make a Severe Repair site.

Get all Obliviana.

-------------------
SUPERIOR REVIEW
-----------

SUPERIOR 420
Last for now. Auto repair, the tidal one. Fly flight back to pressent. Being--first minutes at Luxor--tired? Boat thing. Need to edit. Reality. I am better person. Drink up, see you sitting there at the bar, beer in your hand, reading me. Yeah. I see you, whenever you are, see neon, you're waiting for a blonde, never saw her before, you are tough. Butterflies in your stomach, I am on a train in 1995, I want to tell you something that might help you. The guy, brainy, pocked face, glasses, greasy hair, scarf, glasses--do not trust him at all.

(((From OsoaWeek072--12/8/95)))

*****

Okay. This one is obviously a mess, but maybe it works at some level. Lots of time travel and conceit... kind of a beautiful disaster?

Starts off with some Superior ramble, and then stumbles onto a real memory, my going to Las Vegas back in... um... 93, 94, or 95... and getting to the Luxor, and the boat ride. But was I tired? I don't remember.

Now, the next part is interesting. About the subject of editing reality, to become a "better person"...

Then this whole thing of acting like I'm looking into the future and seeing someone who is reading it, and if someone matches the description they'd be really freaked out.

The warning about the weird guy is kinda cool and whimsical. I think that last sentence saves the Superior and makes it halfway decent.

(Reviewed 8/18/02)

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SUPERIOR 4: HURRICANER
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HURRICANER 001 * 8/13/02 * SUPERIOR 1023
There's a just fraternize electride, sliding up the doorish curtain, and to cleanse the ractide realm. Jillo bash in the air controller and hunt the urbane crashers. The rurid spin, can't compose meaning, flailing mind calm cement door surface. All the same, back into the cavern's stripes.

HURRICANER 002 * 8/13/02 * SUPERIOR 1024
Yeah gun super archery and the spiked memory. The fist should have magic energy. Driving around with some side people go to some fair or get together. And drive with a lover and climb the house of the people with garage sale.

HURRICANER 003 * 8/13/02 * SUPERIOR 1025
Prove I got strength, got decade spanning life in my eyes. And humans variations on a theme. Don't wanna know the truth about people yet. And some unbelievable characters, some people if I were to encounter them again, like a long ago mostly-forgotten movie. Clear coffee.

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END
-----------

419

-------------------
OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 419, 8/11/02
(Ts33, No. 3 / Tarb 17611 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
-----------

-------------------
LORD OF OBLIVIANA
-----------

Sun 8/11/02 * 7:36 PM

This week I made 2 more Dashic Deeds, and updated the graphic on the homepage to show all 10 current Deeds.

I've been working on a new design for the site, but progress has been slow. I want to redesign the site and set up the online shopping cart.

Thus far, no one has emailed me for more info about getting the Introductory set of Dashic Deeds. But this is understandable, since the site is still very sketchy as to what Dashic Deeds are all about, and also very few people go to the site right now.

So, in redesigning the site, I want to keep focused on the main purposes of the site: tell people about Obliviana Super Occult Amusement, and give them an easy way to buy OSOA stuff. Also, the "community" aspect, where people can share their experiences with others. And the reference stuff, all the Dashic Deeds... and the whole Wander Radio side of things, the audio side, and...

I definitely need to get my thoughts together on all this.

But I will say that this current work I am doing on Obliviana differs from previous work in that I feel that I am working towards something concrete now. That is, I have a plan, and I am working towards executing that plan. (Double meaning there? All the fear of success shit and all?)

So I feel a little less pressure in terms of having to develop the right idea... to get the keystone idea... The Keystone always seemed so close... that just a little more development, and I'd get it. Now, I'm confident that I have the Keystone. And I'm more confident about the whole thing. But I've been dragging my feet somewhat this weekend.

Well, I just gotta keep on workin'.

Get all Obliviana.

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SUPERIOR REVIEW
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SUPERIOR 419
The blonde plays with her hair. I want a girl. Ha ha--I could get one, but I'd have to work for it. Tame talk. I know what I have to go do. Obliviana. My Core Endeavor. Once called Nomadi. Who am I. Knowing it. It's your fn.

(((From OsoaWeek072--12/8/95)))

*****

Well, back in December 1995 I obviously had women on my mind. I had just recently broken up with my girlfriend of two-and-a half years. I recall that being a somewhat difficult time for me.

In this Superior, I'm basically saying how I need a girl, but how I also need to get Obliviana going. Get Obliviana going... that's still what I'm always trying to do.

Almost exactly 6 months after I wrote this Superior I met my wife Denice. And now, over 6 years later, I am still struggling with Obliviana, but I am with the love of my life.

"It's your fn." I think fn stands for Frank Nora here. And maybe a kind of really solipsistic concept, of entities "having a Frank Nora"...

Um...

(Reviewed 8/11/02)

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418

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OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 418, 8/4/02
(Ts33, No. 2 / Tarb 17569 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
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LORD OF OBLIVIANA
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Fri 8/2/02 * 2:17 PM

All eight Dashic Deeds from the beta series all now have official "1.1" releases. They are printed out, numbered, stamped... all ready to go.

Last Sunday, I had images of 4 Dashic Deeds on the site. On Tuesday I added 2 more, and then yesterday another 2. So yeah, eight Dashic Deeds, ready for people to get.

So where did the whole Dashic Deed idea come from? The specific idea came to me on May 8, 2002. I had been using the term "Dashic Deeds" to mean what I had previously called "Friction Enhancers" (the cool little challenges in Obliviana). And, I had long been working on the idea of "Scrip", little pieces of paper that would be collectible, serve as a kind of currency, etc. But it was on May 8 that I put the 2 ideas together.

On May 24, I printed my first beta Dashic Deed. And now, on August 2, 2002, I have 8 Deeds ready to be sold to people.

If you've been following the Obliviana sgaa over the years, you know that I've always been seeking the "Keystone Idea of the Vision of Obliviana" which would bring all my disparate ideas together. Well, I have to say that of all the ideas I've had, this new Dashic Deeds idea seems to be the most likely to succeed as Keystone.

I have to now face the challenge of presenting this idea to the world. Right now, I have pictures of 8 Dashic Deeds on obliviana.com, and the words "Introductory set of Dashic Deeds now available."

Now, this is a good first step, but in reality this is not gonna make much happen,. For example, I haven't gotten any emails about it yet.

So, my next step has to be twofold. First, get people to the site, and once they come here, effectively communicate the nature of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement and the Dashic Deeds.

I need to keep in mind that I am presenting Obliviana fresh to a world that has never heard a thing about it. There is something cool about that. While to me there is this long and complex history to the thing, almost everyone on earth has, at this moment, never heard a single thing about Obliviana.

I think I'm gonna put together the first package to sell. It will consist of Deeds in a black envelope. One question I have is whether or not the Basic Instructions Deed is enough to get someone going with the system. Maybe not.

What about throwing a loose mini-CD-R in, with a 20-minute instructional audio track? Interesting...

Sat 8/3/02 * 9:04 PM

I took a picture of myself earlier, holding the current 8 Dashic Deeds and a Black Envelope. I put it on the homepage, with the caption "The Lord of Obliviana wants to amuse you".

Right now, OsoaWeek417 is also on the homepage, but that's just a temporary thing. I'm gonna finish this issue, and then make a separate page for the new issues of OsoaWeek, and then also make a link to the older issues.

Hopefully, this week I'll add a shopping cart to the site, with the first product available being a Black Envelope with all 8 current Dashic Deeds.

Also, I plan on making a lot more new Dashic Deeds... hopefully another 8 in the next week or two.

And I need to overhaul the website. Once it's worthy of visitors, I do plan on promoting the site. It's definitely gonna be a long process, but it feels very good to be working with a concrete plan.

Get all Obliviana.

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SUPERIOR REVIEW
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SUPERIOR 418
Bad Macanudo walk to 14th street through the gay area. Scary. Howard Stern on Jay Leno last night--amazing. Played Boggle all day at work, lost a lot. Drinking water, taking vitamin and herb pills. Wore the sweater-like thing inside-out. Talked while eating bread, must have seemed like a slob to June. Honesty... driving down the road in the rain, alone is an experience--builds character, I am destroying myself in order to phoenix myself what is that. Eggs by the side of the road at night.

(((From OsoaWeek072--12/8/95)))

*****

Wow, this one is pretty darn good. And it is based on reality. Everything before "Honesty" looks to be an accurate record of events, working in Manhattan. The driving down the road thing is also based on real events... me driving alone, thinking about things. Now the eggs... I don't recall if I really did observe this, but whether it is real or figurative, it is a very nice end to a very good Superior.

A Macanudo is a brand of cigar. Sometime a cigar just doesn't "work", and that's probably what was happening there.

At that time, I worked on Varick St., so the walk in question was probably to 14th on 7th Ave., through what is definitely a gay area.

Boggle... me and a co-wqorker used to play computer-based Boggle when things were slow. The letters and stuff were on the screen, but we wrote the words down on paper.

June was a person that I worked with sometimes back then.

All in all, very interesting. 6.5 years ago...

(Reviewed 8/2/02)

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417

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OSOAWEEK
Ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
Issue 417, 7/28/02
(Book 33, No. 1 / Tarb 17527 / Year 9)
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana
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LORD OF OBLIVIANA
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Sun 7/28/02 * 11:13 PM

Well hello there. I am Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana.

The last published issue of OsoaWeek was issue 369, from 8/25/01, about 11 months ago. Several more issues are done, but I never put them online. So I'll go back and get those online and stuff. And I think I'll do the missing issues with the Superior reviews, retroactively.

So, Obliviana Super Occult Amusement and OsoaWeek have entered their ninth year. Wow. Long time. But I have been making progress that whole time, and now I have, on this Obliviana Day 2002, released the new "Obliviana Super Occult Amusement".

The past year has been tough for me in Obliviana. But I am happy where Obliviana has gotten to at this point.

And I'm gonna try and get OsoaWeek back on track. For now, it'll just have "Lord of Obliviana" and "Superior Review". Superior will come back at some point, but it will be Superior 4, since the Duskaway era is clearly over. Or maybe... I don't know... no, I should have a name for the new Superior phase.

I wanna get this done before midnight so I technically have this issue out on time. But I'll try and give a broad overview of Obliviana for people who aren't familiar with it.

I have a vision. I've had it for a long time. I've been doing all kinds of creative stuff all my life. In 1986, what would become Obliviana came forth. I was 18 and at Drew University in Madison, NJ. I did a magazine called "Anything But Monday", but it failed in 1989. From 1990 to 1992 I did experimental publications, videos, audio stuff, etc. Then in 1994 I started this ezine, OsoaWeek. In the first issue, I outlined my vision. It was very primitive, but also quite similar to where I've gotten too now. In 1995 I started the obliviana.com website. In 2000 I started Bluffcosm, the audio production thing. Now, in 2002, I have brought forth a new version of Obliviana, which I hope is the true manifestation of my vision.

Just so you know, none of my stuff has ever gotten really popular, but there have always been a few people who were into it. I've been persisting for a long time without any "success", and I think I'll keep on persisting.

Get all Obliviana.

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SUPERIOR REVIEW
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SUPERIOR 417
To talk of craft shops. Friends go to bars, video games and masturbation. I am hiding. Understanding people, as it pains me to discover. Sexy blond next to me right now. Next to me, physically. Far from me, situationally. How I am running my life. Early December '95. Moving in a new direction. If I am true to anything, I must remain true to my ambitions. That last sentence, I feel like I might cry--it's my ambitions that mean the most to me, that I cherish, that I must accomplish. Succeeding in my ambitions is worth severe loserdom, no sex, no social life, whatever.

(((From OsoaWeek072--12/8/95)))

*****

Huh, quite an appropriate message in this Superior for this current time in Obliviana! 6.5 years later, and I am still true to my ambitions...

As far as the Superior itself, it starts off with more "styled" writing, and then goes into some observations... a form that is in a lot of Superiors...

Um... I know this isn't a very good Superior Review, but I haven't done one for nearly a year, so I gotta get back into it!

(Reviewed 7/28/02)

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