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NOTICE: Posting schedule is irregular. I hope to get back to a regular schedule as the day-job allows.


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Slight delay and fill-in entertainment

http://teddysratlab.blogspot.com [Full link to blog for email clients.]

I had great intentions to  complete the series on research grants, round up some humor and post some more neat SCIENCE FRIDAY news...

...all before I started my vacation...

...but that didn't work.  I've still got a couple of days, but there's a deadline for annual meeting abstracts this week, I still have to do my blog for Broken Crown Games*, and I've got a research paper to review by Wednesday night.  It's obvious that I won't be able to write 4-5 blogs to finish out this week and next - so I've got some entertainment lined up - and I'll get to that in a minute.

*But first, I want to put in a plug for Broken Crown Games.  (http://www.brokencrowngames.com/).  My friend Tyler Yohe has a great idea for a game that will promote science, as well as science fiction, and he's moving right along toward release of Escaping Titan next year.  In the meantime, he's assembled a team of experts to discuss The Science Behind the SciFi - in the game forum (http://forums.brokencrowngames.com/forum2.html) (and upcoming sourcebooks).  Go check it out - there's some neat science going on in the name of great game-play.

So back to my idea for a little entertaining filler...  As many of my regular readers know, I am a friend and fan of Sarah A. Hoyt (http://www.facebook.com/sarah.a.hoyt)... well, a number of her fans have participated in some fun stories based in a fictional "Sarah's Diner."  We call it "Diner Fiction" in lieu of "fan fiction," and sometimes feature caricatures of the regular participants.  For the next several days, I will serialize a story I wrote in this Sarah's Diner world - feature Speaker to Lab Animals, the Lab Rats, and an invention gone slightly awry.

Before I start, though, I need to warn you about a few things...

There's inside jokes, and characters that you might feel you're supposed to know (but don't... yet).  Just bear with me, it's all about the story, not the characters.  For a little bit of background, you just need to know that the "mini-onions" (minions) are young wannabe authors that tend to wreak havoc on everything they touch.  Do not mention The Pink. The Lab Rats are the cleaning crew and serving staff.  There's a Bassett Hound in this story: where there's a Bassett, there's drool - but this Drool has taken on a life of its own.  Do not *ever* mention The Pink - especially in front of the Bassett.

Oh, and Rex is a rather... *enthusiastic* ... invventor.


This story was written specifically at a time when Sarah was a bit worn out by a book project, and she gave us specific orders to "make her laugh" with time travel, blank verse and a famous historical figure.  And now, a glimpse of things to come...

"Unh unh.  No, we haven't seen any Cherenkov radiation – he didn't go FTL from *here*."

---



"…and right here you have the color control for the walls and fixtures.  Right now we're set to 'Diner Chrome.' But you can pick any color scheme you want."
"But not pink."  said Amanda.
---

"Oh, just thinking of the Lab Rats™ trying to clean up the Dining Room with the new frictionless floor turned on."
---

"Sarah?"  Laura raised her voice to be heard out in the dining room.

"Yes, dear?"  answered the Proprietress.  "Anything wrong?"

"Well, the water is running backward. Is it a side effect of the frictionless floor wax?"

".fo erawa ma I taht toN" derewsna haraS

"What?" asked an obviously rattled Laura.  "Oh.  Where's Rex?"

---
"Oh hostess, fair and comely
Of sustenance we crave
Our fealty unswerving
To slake our thirst and waite
And till yon daybrake dawning
We rest in your demense
The light of new day find us
And break our fast with thee."
 ---

So, tune in Friday for "Past Midnight!"




 

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