Sunday, December 29, 2013

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Ded Moroz

This is Ded Moroz. He is the incarnation of the winter holiday. So who is he? What does he do each winter holiday? What ways does he interact with the people celebrating? What is his history? What if he began as an evil figure? Why was he evil and what changed him?

Create a Wikipedia article about him.



For the real story, Wikipedia has a good article on Ded Moroz.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Accidental minstrel

Snow Soldier by The Paper Lady 42 
For each set of 5 words create a sentence about winter or your favorite winter holiday. (Feel free to tamper with word forms.)

✵ rumble minstrel mist accident heart
✵ flash tremble vanity tease soldier
✵ cold shard crumble navigate reporter
✵ nunnery rumple dampen silver cling
✵ gypsy embrace temper shade obey

(Sorry for the delay. It was time for a new computer. And time to discover new software often has a distaste for old files.)

This is both cool and kind of creepy! Google created this automatically from the picture and stuck it in my notifications.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Apicem rhoncus

#12 17 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped
(Hmm. Clearly I was struggling for titles when I scheduled these a few months ago. Google translates it as "peak pricing", though it also says rhoncus can mean "range" or "the range" which is obviously what I meant. But, I have no idea why I chose it. And, really, it just comes across as snooty rather than intriguing! Sorry about that!)

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Greenplanet

In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Norwegian-born Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. Along with extended family and thralls, he set out in ships to find a land rumored to lie to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers. (Wikipedia)

With the advent of inexpensive faster than light travel, many new planets have been found suitable for human colonization. Some, more pleasant than others.

Your family has found a planet that is less than a paradise. You fully believe with some work it could be a really great place to live but it needs the right people and the competition for new places to live is high.

Write a promotional piece to encourage people to come settle on your planet. Emphasize the quirkiness. Or the challenge. Give it a good coat of "green" wash.

Some of the things you'll need to "sell" are:

"Spiders" the size of kittens.
Frequent dish-rattling earthquakes.
There are 12 tiny moons.
Occasional drops in oxygen.
All day all the time. Except on the other side of the planet.