DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XLIV

     “Some kinda job, makin’ up alla ‘is inferior decoration,” noted Louba.  “Does ya hasta go ta school fer years ta learn it?”      The refugees were easing along a narrow bridge stretched high above a cage holding animals no one recognized.  There were dozens of them: long, muscular animals with big brown eyes, hugeContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XLIV”

Right Back After These Melodies

     A while back, we spoke of the sitcoms which have been neglected in narratives on television history because they lasted a minute or less and were called “commercials” or “ads”.  Well, the folks in charge of television have, in their unending quest to keep us entertained, also pioneered the very short music video.     Continue reading “Right Back After These Melodies”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XLIII

    “Ain’t one ta complain, Cap’m” said Louba, sliding down the metal slope and landing hard at the end.  “But if we got an easy way, me elbows got teeth.”      “Why not, Greenguts?” demanded Bassada, reaching for a handhold on the next metal mound.  “Got yer brains in yer behind.”      The silent, shadedContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XLIII”

Just Take a Seat

     We have discussed, hereintofore, a number of important props used by courting couples on postcards of a hundred years ago or thereabouts.  We have discussed park benches, rowboats, and hammocks.  But romance is nothing if not inventive (say several websites that have turned up on my computer for absolutely NO REASON) and there wereContinue reading “Just Take a Seat”

Dragonshelf and the Drover XLII

     Lager was shooting in fountains around them, but the pirate threw his mask over his right shoulder.      PLEASE, CAPTAIN DEAR, PUT ON YOUR MASK      I DON’T THINK I CAN GO ON.  I’D REATHER DROWN THAT LOOK AT MORE COPIES OF THAT UGLY LIBRARIAN      “There, my pet,” said the emperor, shloorking atContinue reading “Dragonshelf and the Drover XLII”

Shifting Shirts

     We were so busy in history class in my schooldays that we hardly ever got past about 1928. The older and more cynical I get, the more I wonder if this was intentional.  In my day, kids were exposed to an ongoing debate on the relative merits of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt amongContinue reading “Shifting Shirts”

Fishing for Affirmation

     It has been a while since we discussed fishing postcards.  These were wildly popular in the middle of the last century, when people stopped sending postcards the way our modern generation sends texts, and instead made postcards a vacation staple: something you sent to the folks at home while you were on a fishingContinue reading “Fishing for Affirmation”

Dragonshelf and the Drover XLI

     Bott pushed the light blue card into the slot next to the fountain of lager, bracing for disintegration.  “You’ve been a great crew,” he said, his eyes on the card.  One last push, and it was in as far as it would go.     And nothing happened.      “Mebbe it’s nothin’ but a foodsContinue reading “Dragonshelf and the Drover XLI”