[Age of Mouldwarp]
A*r*c*h*i*v*e*s
Been some time since I've updated anything...So I've got this new poem in Poetry Pallor which might seem utterly baffling at first, but here's how I composed it. Having received as a Christmas present last December the "original edition" Magnetic Poetry, I set off to break up as many words (and letters) as would fit in orderly columns and rows on a board I received at the same time. Up rows, across columns, diagonally, plus a few other ways, I wrote out stanzas of gibberish, trying to make as much sense as I could from strictly reading through like this the jumble on the board, compromising for when certain combinations simply could not make sense by using a word in place that more or less resembled the two noncooperative ones. The effect is utter nonsense. I was relatively pleased.
Prod Oasis is done until the fall. It was a great disappointment to only get two new entries written in this particular period, but there were many more extenuating circumstances going on than when I squeazed out four chapters nearly a year ago. I can't say if and when the whole thing will be finished, and right now I'm doubtful that it will ever all be viewable on this site, which might be headed toward the grave in December. I don't really know. It's been my intention for some time to somehow publish Enigma of the Dawn as a novella, maybe not as the starting point of wider literary opportunities, but as a pet project, since it is an indirect starting point to a much greater tale. Ambitions, bah!
~5/06/03
Hey, did you know there was a war going on?
The latest and possibly last Copernicus tale, " Rush," is posted finally here. It ain't finished and I'm not going to finish it, at least not in the near future. Isn't that great?
~4/4/03
You've no idea how much "Segue Your Way" has been weighing on me. Casting aside summer holiday, the break between new chapters of Prod Oasis hasn't before been this long. Well, it's finally here. I will make the extra effort to make sure it doesn't happen again. But then, don't count on that...
~3/30/03
Upcoming updated, now with my reading list! Also, as you might have noticed, there's a war in Iraq.
~3/24/03
Mouldwarp Moratory, as I've been threatening, has expanded. Whereas I've been fudging things in
Pre-History all this time (not so long, really), there's now History to consider, and I've begun with two, er, historic civilizations, the Sumerians and the lost city of Atlantis. Enjoy or not!
~2/26/03
My Andromeda page, The Machine Shop, is up. It's not much, really, but it does have my current picks for the show's best episodes so far, and a news item of some particular interest.
~2/16/03
There's been so much delay with new Prod Oasis material that I figured that I would put up a brief preview of the new chapter, Segue Your Way, to keep things looking like they're alive, which they are.
Also, there are several new links to the side here. Scroll down and check 'em out.
~2/8/03
Finally, a new entry in Mouldwarp Moratory, and possibly the real final one for the Prehistoric Age, meaning that I'll possibly leap into the Historic Age, possibly with the wacky adventures of the Sumerians or those Fertility Goddess folks...
~2/4/03
You might have noticed by now that there's been a slight site redesign. I felt it was time, and for those counting this marks the fourth such change for AoM. Other than that, I've also given
And, a new poem, plus a new site logo.
~1/25/03
Back, and soon to be back to work on Prod Oasis, all of whose chapter titles are now listed.
~1/20/03
No "Segue Your Way" just yet! And with this message, I bid adieu to AoM at least until
January 21, 2003, possibly longer. I'm soon to be off for the long winter holiday, with one exam to go and the trip home ahead of me. It really was terrific getting Cadavers written. It helped me better understand my goals as a writer, and certainly affected Prod Oasis, in more than one way.
Thanks go out to all who have supported this site since it debuted a little over a year ago,
and happy holidays to all.
~12/18/02
Unless things change within these past two weeks, I will not be able to write "Segue Your Way" as I might have liked. However, I've have two other titles to add to the upcoming chapters, which you can find at the storyboard of Prod Oasis.
Plus, two new poems, one entitled "A Holiday Thought," and you'll never guess what that means.
~12/08/02
Haven't talked about Prod Oasis in a while, have I? The next chapter, "Segue Your Way," I'd like to write and have posted in the next three weeks, before I pack up for another year and take the annual winter siesta. I've been neglecting PO since getting Cadavers completed became such a priority this fall, and now that that particular Copernicus saga has been concluded, I'd like to switch emphasis back to the main reason AoM was created in the first place. (For more info on the future of Copernicus, check the Upcoming page.) I've been plotting in greater detail future happenings in the Prod Oasis story, and getting back to it will allow a greater amount of it to appear before the perceived break in AoM updating at the end of 2003, when I anticipate graduating from university and embracing the open country for the first time...
(Also, another entry into Mouldwarp Moratory! I'm seriously considering moving on from Prehistory to Historic moments. Real soon.)
~12/02/02
Two new poems in the Poetry corner...
~11/20/02
Want more mindless ranting from me? Check out this all-new weblog, Scouring Monk!
~11/18/02
I've hidden a special page on secrets of Cadavers. Well, hidden isn't really the sense of it, more like you have to find it since it isn't really hidden so much as its location not is not explicitely stated or linked anywhere but in the one place you'll find it. Why did I create such a page? Because Cadavers was, in many ways, the culmination of a year's work, and I wanted to commemorate it in this unique way. For those who find it, congratulations.
~11/15/02
Finally rotated Poetry Pallor, with a fresh poem entitled "blue boy." It's a fairly long one, so that's the only one there for now, although the link to the 9/11 poem
"Is That You, Agamemnon?"
is still there. Poetry, always fun to dabble in, I say...
~11/13/02
Cadavers is completed. Finally. It's genesis was the very first Copernicus story, " Eyes of Fire," and of course it is that story's sequel. It's plotting, done shortly after, in the fall of 2001, and then "Cool Heads" came along and altered a few features of the plot as a result. Details of the original sketch will be presented later, but for now, enjoy what is perhaps my most ambitious short work, starting with Part 1. In a way, I can't believe it's over, and now I'm beginning to realize what it'll feel like when the Prod Oasis saga has been told in full. The prospect is daunting...I have cleaned Cadavers up a bit from its original display at Lowerdecks.com's Observation Lounge, but I suspect that eventually I will have to clean it up still further and more extensively. Please, I welcome all comments. E-mail me or use the services of Tin Can Alley.
~11/11/02
Two more entries in Mouldwarp Moratory, bringing the total to eight. So far I've stayed in prehistoric matters, but I'm thinking I'll eventually branch off into historic and modern entries.
~11/9/02
A page has been added that's called Upcoming, and wouldn't you know it's about upcoming things, specifically about stories I'm working on. Also, and here's something I'm sure is going to really get you excited, I've added another entry to Mouldwarp Moratory!
~11/8/02
Inexplicably, I have 'resurrected' Tin Can Alley. You can check it out if you like. Oh, and there seems to be a small spike in interest about AoM. I figure if it continues, I might have to create a FAQ page, which is actually not an unpleasant prospect. I've excised the older archives material as I threatened to yesterday, as it isn't really all that important. 'Older material' being all the messages from May 2002 and earlier. The history of the site was fairly well chronicled in the anniversary message, which can still be found on the archives page.
All-in-all, I'm pleased with it all.
~11/3/02
The whole one year anniversary deal how only sharpened my understanding of how poorly I am an ambassador for my own work. Certainly, I did not go around shouting the rooftops about this, but I did drop a line at the former generator of all the interest in the site (which has always been negligable, mind you), at the Observation Lounge forums of Lowerdecks.com (yesterday, by the way, I submitted my first news item to them, which was credited to my pen name of Sean McKenna; it was not a news item espousing new news about Star Trek: Nemesis as much as it was letting people know that the film is expected to be an event, such as the last film, Insurrection was most defintelty not, and I might add that I did like that film). I never set out thinking that AoM would be a huge hit. I'm not naive. I simply thought I could drum up a little more interest a year into it. It doesn't help that I believe I put off my main supporter of Prod Oasis a few weeks back in an unconsequential debate in which a few unfortunate sentiments were shared. His banner's below, and I do believe he's a great guy, despite whatever misconception might have arisen from the incident. He simply seems to have a more negative outlook on life, and I wish I could change that.
Another case of misconceptions. Gene Roddennberry's Andromeda. That's a show that started out huge, with expectations set upon it as being the new modern-day sci-fi savior, but two seasons later and some creative shake-ups behind scenes have shaken the confidence of the shw's fans. They feel as if the loss of show co-creator Robert Hewitte Wolfe spelled the doom of the integrity of the show, pointing out star Kevin Sorbo's clout and supposed ego as the main reason the show would decline rapidly in quality. A storyline shifted at the end of season two, and admittedly the season had showed wobbly knees for the first handful of installments after Wolfe's departure, but the impact has been exaggerated as to how the show's overall quality has been affected. Admittedly, it has never been the most psychologically intense offerings on television and its cast has at times come off as less serious than a show that needs to be taken seriously should be, but it has never fallen to the level of crapulance. That's a myth, offered by departed fans who would like to be justified in their aborting of it. It's disheartening. A show like Babylon Five or Farscape can amass a cult following based soley on the fact that they have one creator driving the series clearly to a certain point, and all of the flaws can be forgiven for the innovations the products give the audience. They may be jaded, but damned if they don't have their peculiar standards. The smart-ass writing of Joss Whedon has thus far delivered the hits Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to the public, and they've been eaten up by fans and critics alike, and damned if I understand why. The material is trite and the actors fluff. His new offering, Firefly, is the same, but it makes the mortal mistake of transposing the past onto the future and expecting it to be taken seriously. Well, of course the hardcore Whedonites out there and the critics are wolfing it up, but every time I give it a chance I am disappointed. The actors on the whole are an even more insulting lot than is usual for his shows (I'll grant that Adam Baldwin is intriguing as Jayne), and the hardnosed Western element of the society Whedon presents is appalling. He couldn't come up with anything original, as always, so he presents something not usually seen in that particular drama and suddenly it's supposed to be good just because he made it up. Well, it's not, and the low viewer turn-out, though not itself by any means indicative of the show's quality, proves it. If he wants an idea of how a little thought into the background of a show can go right, check out Andromeda's attempt. That's genius compared to Whedon's halfassed attempt, it really is. I don't know how much Wolfe had to do with it, but that's his greatest contribution, as far as I'm concerned, to Hunt's continued adventures, setting it all up. I'm not peevish enough to believe that without him Andromeda can't be any good. It was for me in the beginning and it continues to be into the third season. (What's wrong with Whedon's future? Besides the fact that all of history contradicts its likelihood in its most mundane - read: everyday - aspects?...)
That was a long rant, and probably for naught, but I wanted to get it off my chest. The archives page will be taken down most likely before a month's time from when they were posted. Cadavers will be completed by then, and that great bulk will replace it. Although it's considerably more. I don't expect to have anymore Copernicus tales for a while afer that, which means don't expect any until the new year at the least. I need to concentrate on Prod Oasis. For all the good it'll do.
~11/2/02
Can you believe it? AoM has reached a year. I can hardly believe it, and I'm the one person who would have noticed how slowly it has evolved to its present state. The beginning was rough, sketchy. I knew that the reason the site was to exist was Prod Oasis, and I knew that I wanted to do something unusual with Exploring the Age, but Star Trek: Copernicus was not on the menu. That development took me somewhat by surprise, as did my recent decision to stick it in its own subsite, which quickly evaporated and after a brief period the material returned home. But EtA expanded, and now it looks like it has life, but not so long ago it was the most dead page here. PO began to unfold, and indeed it was the main attraction at the beginning, and I am under no delusion that it is not still holding that title, though STC may overtake it. Perhaps, perhaps not. Several features came and went, including the original news page, the Brick House, which in its infancy also doubled as an opinion page and a place to drop off other little bits, as EtA has now undertaken as its own. Tin Can Alley lived and died at a fairly even pulse...flat. There simply was not and still isn't enough interest in the site, and I do not fear saying that aloud, to sustain my own message board. The Cinema Shop came and went even quicker, and the never-surfaced HAMMERHEAD critic page found in its death the reflection of the Shop. The Links Page was lost in favor of sticking odd links to this main page, where the news also found itself after a period of one line update notices. Poetry was what gave EtA life, and its existence owes to a self-revelation on what exactly I want out of my creative talents. It allowed me to give my thoughts on the recent anniversary of 9/11, and for that I'm grateful. And where would I be without ShortURL? Well, here, but with an annoyingly longer address. That's the short of it.
I've got a special Archives page for the anniversary, which includes each and every news bit, save a few from the very beginning, that I ever typed up for AoM. It'll only be up, in its entirety, for a limited time, so go and relive all of the crap I've yapped about for the past year. Lot of good memories there, definitely. There's also another entry in Mouldwarp Moratory, a new story and an updated cast page at Copernicus, and an updated Prod Oasis timeline for your pleasure.
So whether you've visited now and again
and have noticed the three different designs and the ever-expanding reading material to be placed here, or the site is completely new to you, I hope you find something to enjoy.
~10/26/02
Mouldwarp Moratoray has two new entries, bringing the total to four, since there was an unannounced addition not longer after the new feature premiered. I'm starting to really like it.
I hope the feeling is eventually mutual...
~10/19/02
The fifth installment in the Prod Oasis saga has been posted. Marcus was supposed to have helped me edit the story, but I'm beginning to wonder if I can depend on him for the length of what's to come, so I went ahead and posted A Momentary Solace without his input. I've been waiting on him so I could close the book on this chapter and move on to the next one, but I've decided that enough is enough. I'm headed into another friendly period for writing, and I don't want to squandor it. There's Prod Oasis and Copernicus as well to consider, and I like to keep my options open.
thing that I'll be adding to whenever I come up with something new. Hope you enjoy it in the meantime.
~10/4/02
Star Trek: Copernicus is back by demand to AoM, and with it is a newly-crafted timeline of events both told in the stories and otherwise, plus reference points to the televised adventures of TNG, DS9, & VOY. What can I say? It was probably easier and better this way, to bring it back here, than to create another site. Better exposure here, for all things involved. Speaking of exposure, for whatever reason, Tin Can Alley just never took off. Perhaps because of the modest success this site has seen, and that level simply could not sustain my own message board. Not sorry to see it go. The Post Adventures were fun and all, but there are far better ways to write than that. If you don't know what the Post Adventures were, go read their culminations in Copernicus'
"Cool Heads" and "Silent Running." The first four chapters of "Cadavers" have been written just fine without the Posted's...
And so I've also moved the silly Frog Princes ramble, to the contact page, as motivation to go there. It's a subtle hint. *_*
~9/27/02
Whatever possessed me to create what now resides on the edge of the Exploring the Age page, The Frog Princes...? I certainly don't know. It's nonsense, but it's got rhythm, and it's whimsical. Not enough things are whimsical, I guess, and so that's not why I did it, but a good thing to say in retrospect. It isn't quite a poem, so I didn't stick it on that page. It is what it is. "A Momentary Solace" is nearly ready. Well, it's with my editor, anyway, so that means it's getting there. Oh, and in "Is That You, Agamemnon?" I reference the titular subject as copper when it is in fact gold, hammered gold. I don't care. Artistic license. That is always a good excuse, and poets like making excuses for their eccentricities. It's what all the new and weird movements arise from, the bizarre new schools that you come across as you study poetry, which I have to a very small degree, although when you stoop to studying poetry you lose a little of your own originality.
Mind you, that's not always a bad thing.
~9/18/02
September 11th. It has come and gone, just as it has throughout history, yet it is different now. I still do not know what it means to me, but to America and to the world it means the world is not what it was September 10, 2001 and before. I have written a poem, as I said I would, today, with an epigraph taken from President George W. Bush's brief address to the nation this evening, which I felt worked off my previous poem, "Rhapsody Takes a Fall," well.
"Is That You, Agamemnon?" will be my last meditation in poetry on 9/11, so for me it holds all the more meaning. It is my tribute.
The fifth installment of the Prod Oasis saga, recently collectively labeled Enigma of the Dawn, has seen its initial draft completed. "A Momentary Solace," focusing on Trey alone, for the most part, should be ready in the next two weeks or so at the site.
~9/11/02
A new poem at the Poetry Corner, my initial reaction to the one year anniversary of 9/11. I expect to have a fresh poem written on the day itself, and I will not give it any thought until then, to keep it spontaneous and specific to the feelings conjured then.
~9/7/02
The site is freshening up a bit in anticipation of it's one year anniversary, which amazingly is less than two months away. Price & Patter, long promised, is upon us
(see for yourself at Exploring the Age), and three pages are no longer to be seen here. One is the links page. Needless clutter. (Look here on the main page for castawat links.) Another is the Brick House, which will live on in other forms. The third is Star Trek Fan Fiction, which has graduated to its own site.
Prod Oasis, which would have seemed the logical offshoot, will remain here a while longer, so people can keep track of it while it expands and hopefully starts to catch on.
Luckily, I had a good summer.
~9/5/02
if you haven't already, why bother? site features © copyrighted by Sean "Waterloo" McKenna 2001-2003
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