Loses. Back in December my friend Ash, aka The Bacterium, MasterRanter Extraordinaire, went and died on us. Bummer. I do miss him a lot and I find myself talking to him whenever Max Keiser says something particularly amusing, or when a revealing piece of news comes up confirming our worse suspicions on the subject of the mental health of politicians at large. Oh dear…life does suck, sometimes. And Gains. On the plus side, out of the deep blue of the Unexpected, that intrepid publisher my Tarot deck had long despaired of ever finding, …found us! Hey! Hey! That was the last good news I managed to share with Ash (he was the first to know) only 24 hours before he went and departed this vale of chaos. He was so happy for me, poor darling. Oh well… Not being a believer, I have no hopes of him watching the cards emerge into the world of matter from a vantage point (say Andromeda, for instance). But I do hope he’s still out there, if only in stardust form, giving all the other particles a hard time. Bye bye, toots. Update 26/02/13 Just a quick visit to upload the latest Shoggothic sortie. In their brand new ship, the Icecreamnik, they have gone visiting their old pals, the slaves of the RottenEgg-Monster of Blingo, to a) invite them to a hedonistic cruise and b) irritate the R.E.M. And there’s very little the said creep can do about it because this time the Shoggies are armed with (apart from their staggering chutzpah and their natural bulk) the Sacred Cricket Bat. Ha! Update 03/03/13 I’ve been reading H.G. Wells for the fort time in my life. (Thank you free e-books sites!) I read The Island of Doctor Moreau, which I enjoyed a lot in spite of the barely veiled casual racism & antisemitism. What most stuck in my silly mind was a bit where the eponymous doctor says that “you can educate a pig“. Indeed. Here be proof. Update 08/03/13 And here’s his also-educated mate, aka “One More Piggy for the Road”. Now I must, really must, get back to the book. Uffff… NB. Behold! The also-ineffable GorgoMormo seems to have developped a massive crush for the cultured hog! And me thinking, all these years, that she was just another pretty face and a mere frivolous good-time girl. Ah, well…Update 16/03/13 Advanced Happy St. Patrick and a bit of local colour.