Pariah

Wait, what?

6.02 x 1023 of anything--atoms, molecules, ions, '57 Chevys, it doesn't matter.

I can hear you cry From behind the door of your troubled mind You locked yourself inside A lonely prison of your own design Do you feel the burn? Does it ease the pain when you close your eyes? Do you give in to your desire Or live inside your tower of endless nights? I would burn it down for love Watch the smoke roll out of my broken heart Burn it down for love There's no force on earth can keep us apart Take my hand I'll lead the way Through the darkest parts of these castle halls No more masquerade We'll fight ghosts and demons And we'll breach these walls I know you're still afraid I'll guide you through these crumbling spires Trust in me to light our way With these glowing flames that only you inspire I would burn it down for love Watch the smoke roll out of my broken heart Burn it down for love There's no force on earth can keep us apart Pure of heart and innocent I can hear your voice from afar I've had my share of loneliness Can you hear me now, where you are I would burn it down for love Watch the smoke roll out of my broken heart Burn it down for love There's no force on earth can keep us apart I would burn it down for love I would soon set fire to a bastioned heart Burn it down for love There's no force on earth can keep our souls apart I would burn it down for love....

Would Annie Mercury be a better name for a pulp heroine or a sci-fi heroine?

Gold in a 2+ oxidation state?

Dance like no one is watching. (Because they aren't. They're all starting at their #$&!! cell phones.)

New joke for today:

It's kind of what we do around here. Yep.

That goes without saying.

Q - Wait, is that a quintuple integral? What do you call this nonsense? A - Such a sight for my poor eyes.

What kind of idiot burns gold?

Q - Weren't we supped to get a telegram from Command before proceeding? A - I'm looking for you, screwball.

That was a long time ago, wasn't it?

You're hilarious, my friend. Truth is, I haven't read comics regularly in over 20 years. I gave up collecting comics just after Marvel's "Fall of the Mutants" and never really picked it back up. (The fact that I wasn't really reading comics at all for two years after that probably contributed to it.) Any comic book reading I do these days is thanks to the library, which means by definition they're out of date. And, oddly enough, I've never really read much DC and practically no Indy comics.

"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." -Yoda

I'm reminded of the one about the guy who goes to see his psychiatrist. He says, "Doc, you've got to help me. Every time I meet someone new, instead of saying, 'Hello', I just blurt out, 'What's new, pussycat?'" "Hmm," the psychiatrist replied, "It seems that you have a case of what we call Tom Jones Syndrome." "Tom Jones Syndrome?" the man asked. "I've never even heard of it. Is it rare?" "Well," the psychiatrist replied, "It's not unusual." /threadjack

"Wait, are you saying that magnets and light are the same thing? Whoa...."

Washington came first and he was perfect, John Adams kept us out of war with France Jefferson made a Louisiana Purchase In 1812 James Madison kicked the British in the pants James Monroe told Europe they could suck it John Quincy Adams looked just like his dad Andrew Jackson got rid of all the Indians Van Buren served one term but he wasn't bad William Henry Harrison died early John Tyler annexed Texas from Mexico James K. Polk fought Mexico to keep it Taylor was a Mexican War hero Filmore gave a boat to Commodore Perry Pierce repealed the Missouri Compromise Buchanan saw the Civil War's beginnings Lincoln saved the Union, then he died Andrew Johnson just survived impeachment General Grant enjoyed a drink or two Rutherford B. Hayes ended reconstruction Garfield was assassinated in 1882* Arthur suspended Chinese immigration Cleveland made the railroad people squirm Harrison signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act Grover Cleveland served another term McKinley kicked the Spanish out of Cuba Roosevelt was handy with a gun Taft was big and fat and had a mustache Wilson kicked some ass in World War I Harding said let's laissez-faire with business Coolidge made the roaring 20s roar Hoover screwed the pooch in the Great Depression Then Roosevelt beat the Nazis in the war Truman dropped the bomb on Hiroshima Eisenhower kept the commies well in hand Kennedy was killed by a magic bullet Johnson murdered kids in Vietnam Nixon was a sweating filthy liar Ford gave Nixon pardon for his crimes Carter lusted in his heart for peanuts Reagan won the Cold War and lost his mind George Bush senior poked at Saddam Hussein Clinton gave an intern a cigar W's legacy's a work in progress That is all the presidents so far In the year 2005 we're out of money Somewhere surely freedom's on the march I don't like to make political statements . . . .

Dr. Daniel Jackson. I wonder what he's looking for there?

A few observations from previous seasons, if I may presume. a. Each manager spends points, although there has always been a cap as to how many points one may spend (15 in Season I, 12 in Season II, 10 in Season III, as I recall). b. The popular vote is pretty straightforward. c. The Random Number Generator was a d12 in Seasons I and II, and 3d6 in Season III. Personally, I prefer the 3d6. I expect that I am not alone in this opinion, as the d12 was often regarded as a spiteful, arbitrary little [redacted], but I can offer no proof. The initial allotment came from the manager's draft picks, based on meeting certain character criteria (Fr'ex, bonus points for female, non-Caucasian, published before / after a certain date, having a certain color in their name, foci meeting certain requirements, etc.). Trivia quizzes were used to bolster points in Seasons I and II. This led to certain players--those with a near-encyclopedic knowledge of comic book history and trivia, especially--amassing huge point totals, while others who hadn't read comics in decades (or ever) scrambling to get three or four points here and there. This was replaced in Season III by a Homework system, where any player who was willing and able to invest the time and effort could earn bonus points. In both cases, these opportunities were offered most (but not all) weeks. Oh, and in Season I (and maybe Season II), a player could earn bonus points be winning all five matches in a week. It only happened once or twice, as I recall. (Against me in Season I, I know for sure.) Rosters so far have been 8 each season. Returning players have been allowed to keep one returning character (or two, if they had leftover points to spend from the previous season). New players, or players opting not to keep any characters from the previous season, made up Round 1. Round 2 then proceeded in reverse order of finish from the previous season, With new players picking first, followed by returning players who didn't make the playoffs, continuing until the returning champion made the last pick. Round 3 was then in reverse order of Round 2, and rounds 4-8 continued in repeating serpentine fashion. The defending champ would make the last pick of the draft. Each round of the draft would have a theme. The first round was usually Open; following rounds would have themes like Girl Power (female characters only), 80s Night (characters must have been introduced in the 1980s), Color of Victory (character names must include a color), Amalgam (don't ever do this one again), and so on. We can probably compile a list of the various draft themes that have been used, if you're interested. The only real provision for character selection after the draft was for characters who lost a match by 20+ points and were considered 'rebooted'. These characters were selected randomly from a previously published list of C- and D-listers. Having such a character on your roster was NOT considered a good thing, although Squirrel Girl and Captain Carrot did all right. Matches have traditionally been held Monday through Friday. In Seasons I and II, The same two players would face each other for the entire week, with the first player to win 3 matches taking the week. Standings were based on weeks won, with individual match victories as a tiebreaker. In Season III, a new format was introduced where players would face someone new each day in a rotating schedule. Each player ended up facing each other player a total of four times. While it was undoubtedly more work for the Lord Commissioner, I greatly prefer this setup. At the end of the regular season, the Top Four teams in the standings faced off in a single elimination tournament, in a 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3 format. In Seasons I and II, this was Best of Five series, meaning the first to win three matches advanced. In Season III, this was changed to a Best of Three series (and all three series went the full three matches). The winner of the tournament was declared the season champion (Hermit in Seasons I and II, Lady Pariah in Season III). A location was specified for each match, and there were usually (but not always) bonuses for certain characters based on the location. Fr'ex, non-flyers received +3 or +4 in the Cargo Plane, characters without Resistant Defenses got +1 in Otford Manor, characters without appropriate Life Support got +1 or +2 in the Cave of the Crystals, the iceberg, and the interplanetary junkyard, and so forth. Some locations, like the Redwood Forest, offered no bonuses and were considered true neutral ground. This is probably where the Mud Wrasslin' thing would come into play. In Season II especially, most matches had themes in addition to their special locations. These themes would limit shich characters could be played that day. For example, we had things like Ladies Night (female characters only), Powerless Peril (no superpowers or super tech), Naked Aggression (no equipment [or clothes!]), Tag Team, and so on. I personally felt that having a theme every single day was a little too restrictive, but two or three times a week would have been fine. (Nobody actually asked me, of course.) Anyway, that's what I know/remember. Take it for what it's worth.

That Easter morn, a grave that burst Proclaimed to man that Last and First Had risen again And conquered pain This morn renews for us that day When Jesus cast the bonds away Took living breath And conquered death Thus we in gratitude recall And give our love, and pledge our all Shed grateful tear And conquer fear

There's a reason a group of crows is called a 'murder'.

The Lord Commissioner as just another player? I can hardly conceive of such a thing! What's next, the Broncos actually winning a Super Bowl?! (Um, Logan, you DO know what generally happens to cops when they wind up in prison, right! Just sayin'.)

My name is Pariah, and I support this message.

What the [CENSORED] do you care? (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)