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Showing posts from September, 2018

Story of the Day: Thusly is Not a Word

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It is so dreadfully easy to discompose Bartleby Crulge. As a librarian and scientist extraordinaire, he cannot but take everything seriously, and the best way to get him to do exactly what you want is to purposely make a mistake and wait for him to fall into the trap of correcting you : = Brogan pulled the hatch open, and Bartleby was launched into the air. He saved himself from hitting the railing by careening into the side of the hull, and with a whip of his robes, he rolled back over the hatch before Brogan could lift it up. “How dare you making a japingstock of me!” Bartleby cried,flailing his arms. “Mutiny! Mutiny, captain!”                 “There is no mutiny here, my old friend,” said Danaco, “excepting that which is being committed by a certain scientist who refuses to give his captain his own glass when he asks.”              ...

Story for the Day: The Creature of the Deep

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Shanties and seasongs are not exactly the same thing: a shanty is a song chanted out for work purposes, to make the laborious drudgery of heaving the capstan or hauling on the bowline more pleasurable, while seasongs are melodies sung when the crew is otherwise unoccupied. Danaco and the crew of the Myrellenos have a fast catalogue of songs they go through on their journeys, some songs quite vulgar (like Brogan's rendition of Marie the Whore), some downright wholesome (like the Song of the Sahadin), but one that everyone enjoys, because it comes attached to a game of chance is The Creature of the Deep, a seasong by Livanese sailors, telling the tale of the mysterious monster that may or may not live at the bottom of Livanon Sound : T he table was setting for the ensuing gaieties: Feiza was eagerly handing out knives to everyone on deck with a “And one fer you, and here’s fer you, this one’s clean, this one’s a got a bit o’ butter onnit, and here’s one for you,” and the only ...