Draco Orientalis Baselius Rx

This world has more sorrows than WR ever did! The place is run by thugs like Jagera who refuse to cut their losses. Edouard Harle used to call them Nazis. "snakes refuse to admit when they're beaten." Leaving no other option than the "kiba tracheotomy".

That's it for this year. Maybe forever. I sure hope not.

Next year is "the dragon year"....

In other news, the Financial War continues. Looks like the so called, "central banker Gold Short" was misjudged. By two or three orders of magnitude. All the fairy tales about "Yamashita's Gold" were just the the tip of the iceberg. Of course, none of this gold will be bidding for dollars. Oh no, quite the reverse. That's what the fools cannot understand...

Ookami wants their Gold Back. "We're taking Cheza, AND Paradise".

This becomes harder and harder to understand. For the paper gold Bugs: why would those old farts sit on 300 million TONNES (you heard me right, 10 trillion ounces) of gold and not spend it? As if they've never heard of zero declining marginal utility. The other silly idea, is why they would want to buy DOLLARS? They think that China is buying up Africa- the idea of DEVELOPING africa is beyond their comprehension.

You see, (you dont see), it's all really very simple. These poor boobs never watched Wolf's Rain. They never had an original thought in their entire lives. They've been living inside Jagera's Dome for so long, they forgot what snow looks like. They think like snakes, or worse, like dogs. "Please beat me, master! I want my kibble now! May I pee on the neighbor's yard now?". For these pampered poodles, WWII was a vague memory, and the atrocities and double-crosses that preceeded it all a myth they never heard of!

Blue was right "Wolves would never do that". No, they're at leased civilised. Well, it will all come out in the end. Then the Dragon Year will be followed by the Snake (shudder) and then maybe, there will be room for Ookami to have some breathing room at last.

Ah me...

I'm getting ahead of the story. Christmas is a funny time. We're at the solstice. The point where earth's energies are at the point of least action in the north. All the cycles are comming to an end, and the Nobles are getting ready for a victory that will never be. The silliness of this season never ceases to amaze me. Ellie is completely blind to it (especially if the night's are clear and the moon is out)...

SYS_ABEND

Do you see it? The last full moon of 2011, and the last lunar eclipse before 2012? At this time this morning the earth, the sun and the moon and the galactic center are all in alignment (or about as close as they'll ever be) while the sun hides in the heart of Ophuichus.

Ok, so in Europe you're missing it, though if you are parked around the ring of fire you probably have a decent view.

Last year this bizzare event actually happened on 12/21, yes, another lunar eclipse.

Next year this event (no eclipse though) will take place on "the feast of innocents" The bath of stars, the.... anyhow.

But before then, you can have the pre-view, around the new moon on the night of June 19th, when the earth will stand between the the Galactic center with the moon and Sun on the other side.

And did you know that the first full moon of the year is sometimes called (what else) the wolf moon?

And next, a summary from ML... (assuming we dont get hacked) and Greetings from Narniaweb.com

Melda' Laure's (in-)Famous trail of broken treaties Pumpkin Pie.

Back by popular demand:

ML - "Y'know, Quent would say this is a damn waste of good booze."

Ell - "d'ya think you should tell them that you created this recipie as a means of clearing out the house of all hard liquor to prevent the alcoholic's from ruining the holiday?"

"Tell you what Ellie, I promise not to reveal any of your personal vices- ok?"

"Ha ha ha, very funny."


Na Tarte Nirnaith

Prepare pumpkin pie filling from Can of Libby's solid pack pumpkin (for two pies) as usual. Substitute 1 cup of Cheap Rot-gut Off Label Supermarket Brand Rum (I wouldn't even use Bacardi) by reducing the amount of canned milk by a similar amount. Use dark rum of course, the nastiest 2nd distillation- not quite good enough for molasses type stuff.

At this point, if you're having a party, you can just serve up the pumpkin pie filling raw and call it pumpkin Egg Nog. Dont worry about the raw eggs- the booze just killed all the bacteria and any sense of taste you may have had.

Now, since rum has no appreciable solids and the pie would be runny, add in 1/2 cup of yellow corn meal in memory of all those poor two leggeds (and four leggeds) who bought the farm at the hands of the Nobles 500 year war against native freedom, and everything decent and worthy and living. Feel free to toss a pinch of meal to each of the four directions if you're into that sort of thing (easier to get away with if your kitchen is out of doors.)

And remember, not even all of Jagera's guns and 200 year Final Solution pogrom against wolves could prevent the final outcome. 500 years of sorrows (and for some, drowning them in booze) gets on you after a while. It doesn't matter, in the grand scheme of things our present miseries are winning for us a great reward and victory.

It is (after all is said and done) as declares Kiba: I've lost nothing. Paradise is empty if you're the only one there- it's meaningless without your friends, or if (like Jagera) you dont have any.

"Ellie, are you going to help in the kitchen or waste your life on the computer all evening?"

ooh, gotta go.

Elluindil is on Vacation.

may the valar keep you
may heaven's light shine upon you
until we meet again...

(oh, yeah, we'll be back, soon as he gets his head back in focus. I'll post a summary here soon, events permitting. In the meantime, turn off the TV news, and go chase your tail or something.)

auta i dagor aranelyi ?

Sentio vis magnam perturbationem.

Jeezis! This is worse than 911 and way worse than Japan! Ammanye Atarelya! At this rate there wont be any nobles left by the time Ellie finishes this exposition...

Ummm... I think the kid just passed out... I shouldn't have told him the death toll. Jeez! Even Jaggera's troops didn't deserve this sort of shit - (ok, well I mean, even if they DO, but even thugs have kids you know.) I fear I will sound like a broken record, but you simply must not be angry at all the nasty and evil people that are tormenting the wolves (or you). It will just distract you from the real prize. Look at poor Quent: no amount of revenge could ever fill his pit of misery. That sort of thinking will never get you to... aw crap!

War sucks. Elli is totally worthless when this shit goes down, even when the bad guys get their comeuppance (he just isn't the sort to care about things like revenge) - kid's going to be a nervous wreck...


牙の錬金術勝利

well maybe not. The war of the nobles may just have ended. Give my regards to K Nobumoto if you ever run into her.

Melda out. sk..

Supernova Pinwheel

thunder of heaven! nous sommes baises!

You know it's a serious bear market day when Ursa Maior gets a friggin CROWN! Hot new supernova in the pinwheel galaxy!

In a long discussion of "the art" we are often reminded of the "star" which appears on the material at the final stage of the process. (you know, just before the northern lights go all bonkers and everybody gets killed).

This star (says F.) reminds us of the epiphany cake, the little bather, the fish (" oh see how I drown in this sea!" ) the urchin or erkina, or in french, il ourson, the little bear which is the constellation that contains the Pole Star, shining at the apex of the alchemical sky.

Now if Kiba only spoke Nahuatl (or one of a few other unrelated languages) he might have remembered that Cuetlachtli is not only the word for Wolf (as distinct from Coyotli) but it is also the word for bear. Well, at least Quent put them both in the short list of reasons for being well armed "if you go out to the woods tonight you're sure to get a big surprise!" it's no teddy bear picnic.

Now students of greek will recall that Polar Bear is arktos polaris, and that bear is in fact arktos, or arktikos depending on whether or not googletranslate is to be trusted.

Oso
Ursin
Ours
Ourso
Arth (welsh) arthur
Melda's Favorite beer: Stella Artois
Arktos
Arktikos ( a proximite' d'el ours - "near the bear")
Arctic.

Poor Kiba, the wreched arctic wolf. He pretty much wiped out half a brigade of Jagera's troops. (ok so they we're asking for it). Part of Jagera's plan, no doubt, to make him even mo' miserble than he already am. It's a sort of Cognitive Dissonance, fill you with evil and suck the life out. All of that just makes it harder to forgive the evil done to you, and incidentally to prevent you from achieving what it was you came after to begin with.

"Ellie, are you sure you're ok? that's a bit on the bloody side for you. I think you'd better have a stiff one before you pass out, how about a nice chartreuse on the rocks? The heart of heaven is fixed while the earth spins out of control"

Huh? (Gah, this stuff is awful! Ar we out of miruvoir?)

"oh, just a bit of old carthusian doggerel, stator crux, mentras vuelta na rota mundi - and I'm not at all sure that Artois has ANYTHING to do with Artur - though it does pertain to the artesian well, fontsagrada, and whatnot."

I think i'd better sit down, I"m getting dizzy...

" 'a hisenno, skaal! - you know if we lived on the planet Uranos, our pole star would point at the heart of heaven, eta ophichae."

Yeah, but the long winters would be way too depressing.

"And speaking of gravity, dont forget the spacetime torsion."

Enough Melda! I thingmbtk I'm going to be sick!

Cartago Delendra.

カルタゴは、 破壊

Looks like Kiba has learnt to write. Ben Bernanke got up this morning and there was a scrawl in the snow outside his bedroom window (in August? what's the world comming to!). The FBI reported back to him. "Sir, it's wolf piss - and we think the writing is in some form of archaic Japanese. But we cant figure it out - there are no wolves in Japan."

That's the stupiddest logic I've ever heard, who the BLEEP cares! Just tell me What the flook does it say!

"A message from heaven: Say to the west, Bab-il-Lon is Destroyed." That's what we think it says- actually it says literally "the gateway of heaven is forever barred from you" The translators are still arguing.

What, cant you read the eff-ing handwriting? Go arrest that Martin Armstrong guy!

Waiter, we'll have the Roadkill Amador and a bottle of chardonnay - um, to go.

Highway 88


what did you take me into the mountains to see, Melda?
a willow twisting in the wind?
nobles in Prada boots?

a coyote I saw, lying dead on the double yellow line. I
would have moved if off the road, but you said no-
"would you deprive the crows of their meat?" I dont
know why. On the afternoon I saw the other one
on the shoulder. Did I miss it on the morning pass? Please
say yes. If only I had tossed the other to the side of the road!

What did I take you into the mountains to see?
Willow reeds twisted by mortal hands
or bankers in Armani suits?

Saw you one or two? Or did your eyes see what I saw?
Saw you two dead brothers, where I saw two
brothers reunited in their original form? Would you
have left the one to mourn the other alone? Did the blackbirds
make a nest of your hair, or wer they picking cobwebs? Please
Say they were saying hello and not cursing you.

What did we go to Amador to see, otorno?
Strands - woven from old roots, hina. Too deep for nobles.
With noses too dull to find them.

What a hopless case- I had to take him Past treasure island and kirkwood.
On El Dorado Hwy up the hill from twin bridges to cool his head
Until his tears froze in the snow before I dragged him home:
Look, bozo, there's one covering his scat... and there's another
in the tall grass on this side of the barbed wire, watching the cattle.
and there's another, hunting mice in the alfalfa...

What did I take you to see?
Neither guns nor liquor can free
the earth from flowers stars and trees.

Can we PLEASE finish this Wukking Exercise! Dammit - next time I'm sending
your invitation to Keikosan instead!

doggies on Tia's "Polar express"

Randa Isil "re-mix"

Our paw prints disappearing,
There are fewer of us now,
This is what our race was fearing,
And humans disavow.

Our homes are gone,
And we are left to wander.
Hoping to make it until dawn,
We cried at the moon and pondered.

We say you humans need a tune-up
But few if any care,
They do these things - total screwup,
This world we have to share.

Your polluting and your dumping,
And credit card fueled spending,
The gas you cant stop pumping,
When the banksters were all lending:

Maybe when the lights go out
You'll tally up the damage done,
Gaze at the moon, and cuss and shout,
And wonder where we've run.

A Rakuen, soft light and hallowed
The garish earthly lights did hide.
And HAARp'ing sound laid fallow,
Where now the wolves abide.

Apologies to Tia, who is no longer "Age 14"
(Disclaimer: Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery - but not necessarily endorsement


"Not bad, conetzin, considering it's all plagiarized"
"I didn't say hers was good, nor mine better"
"Hmmm... looks like a hard read, according to the software here:"
"You're kidding!, you gonna believe an algo or you're own lyin' eyes?"

Quetta Aiwenion

"I cant do it!"

what?

"I cant!"

oh , now what it is it Elli?

"I cant tell the story- I - I just cant do it."

What do you want me to do, Cariad? Cut out your heart - would that make it easier?

"Do you think it would help?"

Hmmm... cant say it would help - it might stop your whining...

... or not... Okay... well anyways. I forgot, Elluindil DOES know the language of the birds, never thought about teocuitatl in quite that way, but it's obvious... ok, so it's not. We must be circumspect in what we say about the subject as there are aspects of alchemy that should not be taken lightly (as the engineers at Tepco have discovered) and this circumspection has made this subject harder to write about...

The language of the birds, well I'm not talking about language like in the last post, but the OTHER language of the birds, the alchemical one

Wolves, (Men) and Angels

Blood of the Moon, teocuitatl

Alchemy is a strange beast you find it in the most unlikely places, Toluca for instance. Beasts wretched or otherwise trees flowers stones stars, nobles and humans - all contain the same essence, the-same-mercury, the same sulfur...


"The same tears of the gods," -ML


Melda, you want me to finish or start leaking again?


"sorry... "


Some of you would like to figure out how to transform yourselves into one of the four-leggeds like Darcia did- but for altogether different reasons I guess - or perhaps not so different but perhaps not so selfish either.

I'd better explain. Or rather, I'd better quote somebody else. This world is so screwed up now, and so confused over stuff that used to be obvious when the great chain of being included, well, everything.

In addition to WR, I also like SSOTC, and what I like about it is what Lewis writes in "Out of the Silent Planet."

"How can I tell you I just KNOW the malacandrians do not keep pets: they dont need to. Each of them has the experience of the other species as an encounter with the wild other - like themselves but different. A thing we lack in our world, a hole we try to fill with our pets."

You realize Little Creek and Spirit can almost talk to each other. Of course Toboe could do that too: horses, crows, cats (though they creep him out).


"Rats, Hawks..."


Daro Ya! Where was I - oh yea, talking to other sentient beings

more to follow...

Sometimes with all the mess around you it helps to keep a sense of perspective. Poor Kiba, I'm not sure he ever quite understood it all until the end. Melda said to me, "Look to the west and ditch the western traditions." Speaking of your house burning down and Now I can see the moon...

The sky disintegrates and turns to dust,
The great earth becomes peaceful, no-one can see it.
Abruptly, the dry tree opens its one flower.
Calling to another spring, beyond history.

(What Daichi taught the Samurai Kiksushi in the snow)

ML - As with Laurelin, so then with the white tree of Gondor.
EL - I figured out the riddle, Meldasama, the shortest route east from here is to keep going west.
ML - The shortest route anywhere is via internet.

Yikes!

Ellie, it's getting much too rareified here. C'mon, do I have to teach you to tell a story? If it gets any more obtuse, even detective Lebowski wouldn't read this garbage. This isn't supposed to be a graduate dissertation you know...

(hmm... like he should know...) - EL


Me contareis mentiras...

Auta i Lome, Rakuen entuluva!

Suilad Mellyn!

it is said that on the day of hiroshima, only one doctor was on duty at the hospital and some hours after the event, the americans called to see what was going on. (The nerve!) Allegedly this saint is supposed to have replied.

"now that my house has burned down, I can see the moon more clearly."

And that is why Alchemy was never the science of the masses. The price is too high, beyond me, soteigai.

"oiyedd, conetzin, me dijisted que hallareis boas albricias!" ML.

Supposedly this story has a happy ending. If you can get over episode 28 and 29, you'll get to 30. That is to say, the nobles loose. Utterly

Apres 11.3.2011, le Deluge.

Ai, cariad, did I not warn you that the war of the nobles is real? Did you think you could long avoid this reality? 滅びの日


Tell me what the Rain knows:
Oh is this the flood of fortune,
that breaks itself upon me,
Oh see how I drown in this sea...


You ask, what did they do to deserve such catastrophe? But already you know the answer: nothing.

That is the way of such things, or have the tears all blinded you? In order to transform the caterpillar into the butterfly, the former must be unmade, for man to repent he must first dash his head on the stone of destiny. How greatly I desire to wipe away all your tears, but this I cannot do yet. And theoretical discussions ("theo-rhetor") are such a poor substitute for direct experience which you must encounter and suffer for yourself, na kare indomelya... ai, such bitter words. These are given to you: to apply wisdom where it is warranted, apply prudence where it is called for, and show compassion where it is needed most. Come now, would Toboe ask such silly questions?

-ML

What schlemiel came up with the idea of storing that much spent fuel in one place?... Oh, the AMERICANS! Of course! Damn Fool Cowboys. Baw! Were there no other choices? Then why do they spend so much on cold fusion research? What did the old master say "threaten them with death, and they will live." Threatened they have been, now what will they do? Now how will they live? There is no place to go. The secrets of freedom lie within energy, and the secrets of energy are well known, but hidden away where the wolves cannot find them. Daro! I waste my words.

3/19 Damn! He's been crying for a week- well for three days, and when he couldn't anymore, he sat there by the kitchen door watching as the rain fell and the sky did his crying for him! Then on sunday he turns to me smiles and says.. "I know how this story ends... the nobles loose."

Les Quatre Edades, (the four ages)

Yon eigo-

as catro eidades

Si yiwan

Les Quatre eons

na keithre aois

Yenion Cantea. (couldn't help myself...Jp, Gal, Ch, Fr, Gael, Quenya)


Tetrahedron des quatre Metaux

In the first age, the creda yuga, when virtue is firmly established. Randa culea, The age of red-gold whose alchemical symbol is the Circle and dot.

Then the 2nd age when wisdom is challenged, but there is still the remnant of wisdom, and the age of silver and the moon, whose alchemical symbol is the crescent.

Then the age of brass, the impure koupros mixed with tin, the false gold, when indifference sets in. And madness and no one can bear the stench (or the food). Amusignly, the symbol of copper is that of Venus.

Lastly the age of gray iron, who's alchemical symbol is the circle with outstretched blade, the fourth age, founded in instability, depravity. When only strength will suffice for anything, and all pretense of virtue is lost. It is the age of 49, 7x7, the seventh step, the point of completion of the work when the world must be transformed. It has no other sign but death.


"and when the birds fall dead from the sky, then will the rainbow warriors appear..."

The schema of the four ages is to be found in various places, and in various guises. The most well known is from India. But it also turns up in odd places, such as among the Lakota and others where the it is the mother buffalo that stands on four legs, etc. I would also be remiss not to point out the dream of Nebuchadnezzar of the statue, with a head of gold, arms of silver, legs of iron and feet of clay mixed with iron. Scholars will of course contest this last example as referring to other times and kingdoms different than the other examples.

Now it is true that some clueless people hearing it called the "creda yuga" have allowed sloppy semantic creep to get the impression that this somehow implies "credulity", gullibility and naivete'. This is of course absurd. Creda, as in faith, is neither, but it is merely the certainty of truth, when virtue is firmly established, because it is obvious. It is only later when wisdom has faded that what ought to be obvious becomes "doubtful." So it is that your little hero never doubts his virtue, even when it gets him a swift punch to the face, or is ridiculed by those he calls friends.

Those attentive persons will have already grasped the associations to our characters. They may however not have appreciated that Kiba is of the age of silver. It is so, your great hero must be challenged, just as the little hero is challenged, and never wavers, but for all that can never understand why the others are so devoid of any virtue: faith, compassion, mercy, etc. It is so: the little one is of the age of red gold, randa calaea. As he says in episode 19, "why cant we all get along?" because for him it seems inconceivable that it should not be so.

More attentive persons will have noted, that it is these two orphans who were raised by "humans". While the two of the age of brass and iron were not. It is also a sign, for the motif dear to the heart of Nicholas Flamel - but also in that part of the world, it was tradition that orphans were often named "innocente". Like the "creda yuga" this also has been misunderstood.

But here I must touch upon one of the greatest of questions. Why are there four ages at all? Not why, 4, but why is there decay? You cannot hope to conquer without danger for that would be a triumph without victory. And so it is, that to have strength of conviction it is not enough to have "urges" and "voices inside". Gold is refined in the fire, it dies and is re-born, purified and stronger. But with each stage it is not as before accquiring new abilities and attributes and becomming more and more like those that made them. You cannot go from kindergarten to grad school all at one go.

Therefore do not despair that you have come to this fourth age when all is madness, depravity and death, nor dwell too long on what was in the noontide of our history. Can you not hear his voice calling to you, saying "my friends, it has been our distinct honor to live in this last 4th age of the cow when all works of false wisdom will at last fail in chaos, destruction, instability and death- for we who have stood the test, persevered in truth, charity and compassion and love till the end are crowned with a victory! One beyond the imagination of those of the earlier ages, one of which the stars will declare, "behold they have come at last"

"I thought you were going to talk about alchemy?" - Ell.
"I did." - ML
"I was thinking more of an introduction."
"The moon is too new for that."

That Hideous Strength - The other war of the Nobles

"I cant believe you talked me into this!" ML

Darcia Stealing the Sun

... It was the mid 1950's and the west was sleepwalking through history (as is usual) when an obscure author became aware of the "chatter" among the nobles of the day: "come let us be done with man, lest he remember the ancient wisdom and come into his last inheritance. Let us drown the earth in fire until only we remain!"

What to do? Surely no one would believe such a tale, who anymore knew about such things when the last keepers were discredited and hunted like animals. But that did not stop him. The Fools! "There are rules" they said, believing the borders of the sky were inviolable....

...We're having an argument over content - Ell.

Doshte?

Suilad mellyn! Ore nomo Elluindil.

If you're here to learn about alchemy, you came to the wrong place. But if Tsume, Toboye, Hige and Kiba mean anything to you, then you've found a special place, doubly so if you understand the italic text!

Doshte?

Why are some tales memorable and others are not? Why do some tales hold our thoughts for days, weeks (years) after? If you are like me at all, then you know that Wolf's Rain is a tale that is both enchanting and terrifying, beautiful and sad, "filled with the sadness of men" as the elves say. And if I am any judge of the comments I've seen on YouTube and other places, then it seems that the ending left most of us with a lot to ponder, perhaps more than we could comprehend.

Alright, admit it, you cried for three days after episode 30. Then you watched it all over again!

Well, after much discussion with my friend and mentor of many years, Melda Laure, we both decided that in light of the ancient current of story that runs through WR, and its "high moral vision" and the fact that it has touched so many in a deep and lasting way, that we should (must?) finish the Great Work, and square the circle and explain, as fully as possible, the subtle message of hope within it. But here we ran into a bit of a dilemma. BONES you see, wrote a lovely story that is altogether pagan, (%99.9) indeed, not unlike the work of Prof. Tolkien who although an extreme Roman Catholic wrote a story about the (post-atlantean, pre-Abrahamic) world where christianity had not yet come to pass (nor Islam, nor any other creed of any kind.) So what to do? "Elli, you may know every tale from the Inuit to terra do fuego, but nobody wants to hear about that. "

"Possibly, even probably, sensei, but if I make the discussion about one faith I will leave out %80 of those who actually are fit to learn something, and it would be an insult to the authors," I answered.

Well, like Kiba, and any patient teacher, ML said nothing for a long time before he finally gave me a clue: "As the three rings opposed Sauron, so also it is in WR, and remeber, Elli, it was the ring of fire that held the center in both stories" You call that help? Some friend! It took me about a week to figure that one out!

I had forgotten. You see, the three rings of the elves were also alchemical. Nobody remembers this anymore, as if anybody cares.

But just as Lord Darcia had his grandfather's alchemy, so too there is Another Alchemy which opposes him, and it is this that gives the story its power and depth and glory. You see, I can tell you about Kiba, Toboye and Cheza and the lot in a metaphorical alchemical sort of way, and I hope, nobody is offended, and nobody is left out. Because of course WR is a story about the end of the 4th age, when the mother buffalo of destiny stands on one foot, wobbling, in chaos, instability and death. It is the perfect analogue and story for this dysfunctional and wretched age.

And yet, if you follow carefully, you will learn that there is within this tale, a message of incredible hope which should have left you burning with such a fiery joy that it might just dry up all those tears (well most of them) and maybe even leave you laughing. Ok, this is getting too long...

Where will You go?
Now You've no Home?
Let the Rain wash away your last days.

Aw jeez! I just unplugged the bathtub! Here, have a tissue.

The actual truth of reality is that the above lines really apply more to the Nobles than they do to the wolves. Now about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Jamie Dimon, Henry Blankfein, and Tim Geithner-

"Elli! Daro! No politics!"

"ok, nin heru"

"Enough already! I'm not your Lord, nor your sensei. dammit cariad we're barely 1% different in age anymore!"

"You're still 915 years older than me."

"That's no excuse for poor grammar, lousy japanese, and even sloppier quenya! You're beginning to piss me off - go howl at the moon or something... And dont come back til the market closes."

Welcome...

Suilad mellyn! Ore nomo Elluindil.

If you're here to learn about alchemy, you came to the wrong place. But if Tsume, Toboye, Hige and Kiba mean anything to you, then you've found a special place, especially if you understand the italic text!

Doshte?

Why are some tales memorable and others are not? Why do some tales hold our thoughts for days, weeks (years) after? I showed some of the comments on YouTube to my friend and mentor of many years, Melda Laure, and he was touched.

"Good heavens! It's a bloody dagor nirnaith! *" he said

"Yes, it looks like everybody cried."

"It's about time they cried about something! As if Haiti and Baghdad weren't enough!"

"Sensei! You said no politics."

Alright, admit it, you cried for three days after episode 28 and 30. Then you watched it all over again! Oh yeah. We all cried, but how many actually understood what the storytellers told us?

I thought so.

And yet you come back again and again to watch it. Why? Because there is a deep underlying truth here from which your waking mind hides. But more importantly, there is a hidden message of incredible hope which should have left you burning with such a fiery joy that it might just dry up all those tears (well most of them) and maybe even leave you laughing yourself silly like Toboe.

"Do you really intend to tell them everything? No one will believe you."

"Sensei, what is left to tell? They might as well know the truth. Besides it's a story."

"It's a minefield. Dont come whining to me later."

Apologies to the Windowmaker for having to modify your work to fit our story. We cant leave out the runt!