Science and the Frozen King

Researchers, in an apparent Bob the Builder on crack episode implanted eye tissue in the tails of blind tadpoles giving them sight. The eyes took root, spread nerves and then connected with the spine. An eye test was conducted at the frogs could see. Live Science.

How cool is that? No, really I'm not sure if this is cool or not!

Keep it up science and soon we'll have to deal with this . . . . err the frog, not the girl!

Chris Achilleos The Frozen God.

Upon the Edge of Folly, A Wizard's Tale

Through hard study and much alchemy, he unraveled many secrets of the world’s origins, of the All Father, the Language of Creation, the runic magic of the dwarves and Ondluche the sorcerer.  He learned too, that many creatures existed beyond the world. These creatures possessed memories of the All Father’s first acts of creation and were therefore possessed of great knowledge and some even of the whole Language itself.  He determined that he would bring one of these creatures to Aihrde and that he would bind the creature to him and learn from him the Language. Here the wizard went too far, for he failed to fully understand the power of the Language, nor did he understand the power that those who could speak it commanded.

He learned in those days of a dark god, a great horned beast, that the All Father created at the bottom of time. He only vaguely understood the creature’s nature, never realizing that the horned one was a figment of a nightmare, a creature so horrid that the All Father drove it from him even before the world’s making.  But the beast bore with him a piece of the All Father and he knew the Language in its entirety. It was this beast that Nulak intended to bring into the world.

So he lent himself to mastering the runes of old for with them he hoped to mimic the sorceries of Ondluche and the Dwarf Lords who had breached the Wall of Worlds, opening Aihrde to the Multiverse so many eons ago. After many years and many defeats he managed this monumental task and prepared himself to walk the path of Umbra, that is to breach the Wall of Worlds and enter the void. The runes unearthed proved to be only shadows of those used to create the Rings of Brass; but in the magi’s hand they proved true to the task.

A House of Sorcery

He stole to the wilderness, in the shadows of the Holmgrad Mountains, a land that overlooked the Gray Coast. Here no man, nor dwarf, dwelt, for it was the haunt of 

Armor Up

Now this is just bad ass!

Dragonstooth Miniatures

Vikings on History Channel

I've not had a chance to see this, but it looks very promising . . .

Vikings.

Gods at War

Some few years back I was flying into Arkansas from a trip to California. The ride was a bit long and became longer when we hit a bank of thunderstorms over Fort Smith and western Arkansas. The plane diverted and we came to Little Rock from the south. This turn gave me the perfect seat to view the thunderstorm from on high. Huge bolts of lightening ripped the clouds, arcing high into the dark sky; others tore through the heart of the storm, unseen, but illuminating the clouds in a wash of blues. It was a violent storm and time and again the skies lit up with the jarring bolts. Occasionally the sound of the struggle carried to me.

I imagined Thor at war with some giant in the clouds; his hammer ringing blows of lightening upon the giants arms and armor. Huge misshapen creatures they fought the thunder god on high using chains of darkness and chaos. The gods struggling on, oblivious to small wants of men that crawled across the ground far below. 

(these are not my pictures, but this is very much what it looked like)

Daily Cosplay

Long Live the Turtle

Lately I've been thinking that I want to live forever. This  thought never really appealed to me until I decided that we live in between the really cool interesting days of High Adventure or knights to Indians and the even equally cool sounding space journeys as we chart out the galaxy.

Though I hold out little hope, this turtle give me pause for thought. Apparently he lived in a box for 30 years in some kind of semi-hibernation state or some such. His longevity defies the experts, but he's now, since discovered, being coaxed back to life.

National Geographic.

He has some ability to slow his body down and live off of padded reserves. Of course with my high body metabolism its probably a no go. How I would store up padded reserves is beyond me . . . and the Dr. Pepper would be tough.

But maybe its the box that kept him alive all these years. Maybe I just need myself a magic box.

Hmmm. On second thought, that box might not be the right one for me.

Armor Up

Painted by Jason Green

Jack the Giant Slayer

I've been looking forward to this movie for some time. The old yarns and faerie tales fascinate me in both their simplicity and in their original take on things . . . magic beans, to a stalk, into the clouds where a giant lives? come on, it doesn't get any more original than that. Here's Cinderella's sister cutting off chunks of her foot to get it in the slipper; and then you have Rumplestiltskin and the Queen's daughter.

Tales to teach and amuse. So Jack the Giant Slayer is a new take on an old yarn. I may sneak out and have a gander this weekend.

Into that Lonesome Valley

The Pontiff

The Pontiff has stepped. This is the first time in many centuries that a Pope has retired. The Catholic Church is, for now, without its singular leader, entering a time referred to as sede vacant, the "vacant see." Pope Benedict XVI passed into history, traveling north to the Castle of Gandolfo, with the words "I am simply a pilgrim."

The Cardinals must now meet, set the time and date to elect the new Pope who will guide the Church for the next while. In the meantime the Camerlingo will run the Church with aid from the Dean of the College of Cardinals, the Master of Liturgical Ceremonies and the Proto-Deacon. Read more here.

With well beyond one thousand six hundred years of organized history the Church is one of the oldest, longest lasting institutions created by man, rivaling the Dynasties of Egypt.