Victory and the Luciferian Banana.

Okay, so.

We posted the latest ep of our YouTube "play-through" series last night, and I'm still excited.

After months - nay, years - of setbacks and technical difficulties, I think this is one of our best. Possibly the best we've put forth yet. And we're continuing to fix those problems, and get them out faster.

Meanwhile, we're starting work on the last episode of this quincunx (Episode Five), after which we'll start in on one of our requested games: a more serious one-shot with a young young lady's name on it, And after that, probably something silly and light.

Seriously, please check the videos out when you can. If they make you smile or laugh, then mission accomplished. 🤡

Coyote Learns: Spyro (episode four)

Are these clowns real?

OK, in the past 24 hours of social media, I have seen a pic of a racist note asking a day care center to fire an worker because she was "too dark" to be with the kids, footage of ICE harassing a family needlessly, and an assortment of other madcap twirls and fits that I kept having to stop and ask, "Wait, is this real? Are you sure this is real?"

One of the twirls was a story claiming that the head of Amazon dropped a baseball bat studded with nails between the mayors of two cities and asked them how bad they wanted the second headquarters to be built in their towns. I had to scroll down to the end, because that is actually plausible right now.

No, really. Think about what's been on the news the last year or so. Every week. Now: in light of that: is having a CEO of one of the world's most powerful companies silently challenge two city politicians to deathmatch one another for an exclusive deal worth untold millions really so impossible?

No. It's not.

Not today, it isn't.

That one, I am pretty confident, was a joke. But only because it ended with the two men diving for the bat while the CEO looked on and laughed. And while I can see the bat being dropped by some git who thinks he's being clever, this culture isn't quite to the point of men in tailored business suits killing each other like a scene from Escape From New York.

Not yet, anyway.

But the rest of the text, images and videos.... yeah, I really don't know for certain.

Have you ever watched a movie that was so bad, and got so distracted and aimless, that it actually seemed to be lampooning itself? A movie where, to all appearances, it had resorted to becoming a parody of itself?

Right. Me, too.

That's where we are right now. We are living in that movie. The United States has become, in effect, a parody of itself. Take all of US history, crumple it up, and hand it to a grade-schooler to make a caricature out of... and this is the result. All the high points, all at once and in cartoon-like over the top effect. Some of the cast is great, but man, nothing can save this kind of writing. And don't even talk to me about direction and editing.

Years ago, The Pitch ran a story on the The Racist With Pamphlets in Kansas City. He had to be careful, this guy, because he was alone... and had to make certain he didn't get caught. He was a scared man. A weak man who knew he was outnumbered, and that the days of his ideology were dwindling fast.

Earlier today, at my college - my embracing, intellectual, Jesuit-values, all-inclusive college - some dink posted racist pamphlets on the outer doors of the residence halls. It was probably no one who actually attends, if only because students know that there are cameras covering those areas and the priest who runs the joint has exactly zero sense of humor about such nonsense.

But still. some dink went out in the early a.m., went on private property that is known to be patrolled and monitored, and repeatedly posted racist literature.

Maybe they felt that safe with their message. Or maybe their hatred empowered them. Or maybe that was just the statement that said dink wanted to make with his or her life, and if they got caught they thought they'd be a martyr for the cause.

Wow. Just... wow.

I know that fascism is on its way out. Likewise sexism, racism, and so forth... some aspects of each more slowly than others. And each facet of hate, ignorance, or oppression, as it feels its death encroaching, lashes out. Blindly, almost. Like a venomous serpent with a broken back, doing whatever damage it can before it's gone. The Nazis did that, executing as many people as fast as they could, even while the Allies were knocking on their doors. Robespierre pulled a similar trick. Probably the Romans did, too. It isn't a smart move, but these aren't smart people.

So I look at humanity a thousand years ago, then five hundred years, then fifty years, then today, and... yeah, okay. Slow and uneven progress is still progress. I can dig it.

But I was thinking that maybe they'd get smarter, lash out a little less. Silly me. this isn't high comedy, after all. They'll make faces and drop their pants, tell some fart jokes. And then they'll release the Zyklon B. Drop the guillotine. Light the dry wood fast, before the witches get freed. Because that is what they do.

And sometimes, when everything is going everywhere in little pieces, or threatening to, and the heavy solutions for the heavy problems are still dangling right out of reach, all you can do is laugh. It's always a challenge to laugh when the joke is told at your expense, but after a while I usually manage.

Better than giving a blindly destructive, dying breed the dignity of tears. Any day.

Interviews!

Lauren and I have been doing some guest posting and interviews here and there. So, if you would like to find out a little more about us...

Read Jan Ruth's interview with Lauren here.

Lauren also guest wrote a guest post for Steven Ramirez here.

Richard Foland's interview of Lauren and me both can be found here.

Both of us have written a guest post for Michael  K. Eidson. Mike also interviewed us. Unlike Richard's interview, Mike interviewed the two of us apart, so everyone could enjoy comparing our answers. Cagey fellow, that one. You will be able to read our posts and our interviews here.

All of these fine people had great questions, and their sites are more than worth a look!

Sometime again,
--Coyote.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

Yes, that's right, it has finally come to pass. The Order of the Four Sons, Book I, as distributed by Kensington Gore Publishing!


Re-edited by the brilliance of Lauren Scharhag and yours truly, this is the final-final release version. The "solid blue" edition is now out of print, though I understand a few sites are advertising it here and there.

(Which also means that those of you who possess the first edition printing have collector's editions. Congratulations!)

But this is the great beast that truly starts it all, reworked after years of writing on the rest of the series and discussion on the book where it all began. In fact, we added a few touches here and there, knowing what we know now about the O4Sverse and its characters.

Below you will observe the lovely and capable Kate West on our new cover, as rendered by the brilliance of Ms. Erin Kelso.


Even with the picture here saying its thousand words, it's difficult not to gush about how excited we are to be working with her. Lauren found her work on Pinterest, and Erin has graciously agreed to do covers for the rest of the O4S series!

And, speaking of the series...

Book II, Carcosa, is being edited even now. I had been anticipating its release this coming spring, but it turns out it should be ready December of this year. After that, we anticipate binge on a May / December pattern until release of Book VI in 2017.

(Our books make great Beltane gifts and stocking-stuffers, by the way. Just saying.)

So, allow me to end my jubilant dance with one final shameless self-aggrandizement: You can order in paperback (with the gorgeous artwork!) or kindle at:

http://www.amazon.com/Order-Four-Sons-Book-ebook/dp/B0155S8KAI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443680052&sr=1-1&keywords=the+order+of+the+four+sons

And once you read our books, please remember to leave a review. I cannot tell you how much it means to us.

So. Before you stands the Royal, and the secrets that wait within. Be brave. Enter. Your life will never be the same.

Sometime again,
--Coyote.


 (Picture of a young lady reading courtesy of free4kwallpapers.blogspot.com. All rights reserved by those who reserve them.)

Published!

And so it came to pass, after ten years of work, that the talents of our heroes were finally recognized.  In a far off land, full of strange beasts and exotic customs, word spread of their exploits and the adventures of the heroes they crafted and the stories they told.  A labor of love, long neglected by the dark and sinister forces of publication, at last was lovingly taken up in the tentacles of an ancient and forbidden cult of lore-worshipers known only to the wisest of seekers, its name whispered of in the most horrified tones, known only as . . .

KENSINGTON GORE

Yes, the rumors you have heard are true.  Kensington Gore is a publishing company in Britain, and has picked up The Order of the Four Sons for publication.  The contracts were signed by all parties and confirmed Tuesday.  Lauren and I are delighted to be aboard and excited to not only see our joint work finally chosen for publication, but also at the prospect of having our solo work in print.  Lauren always said we'd do well overseas.



Our books will be available from our new publisher starting with Book I: The Order of the Four Sons this coming spring.  Which means that hard copies of the self-published versions of the books will soon become collector's items, as Lauren is removing them from Amazon and Smashwords. 

Look for us and Kensington Gore in ebooks and in print, available online this Spring!

And there was much rejoicing!

Sometime again,
--Coyote.

(Coyote in a party hat was attained from http://partycritters.tumblr.com/, who in turn got the original, hatless coyote from http://animalphotos.info/a/2007/12/22/wise-looking-coyote/.  All rights reserved by those who rightfully reserve them.  The picture of musicians I copied from aquilavictrix.blogspot.com, I'm not sure who they are but the weblog put them in context with the Royals; and Kensington Gore and its affiliates are owned by Kensington Gore.  All rights reserved by those who reserve them.)

Philosophy and the Incomplete Cube

Awesome Philosophy Professor.  Accept No Substitutes.

My philosophy professor for this semester was awesome.  We disagreed often, she challenged my perspectives whenever possible, and I am glad to have had her. 




When giving her advice to the class for how to handle the essay question on the final, she said to be brief.

This, then, is the net instruction for the essay question for my final exam in Philosophy this semester, which I reproduce for you now only because I am sure she will never use this exact question again:

"Explain what it means to be a person, a "you," a "me," using ideas from Luijpen, Sokolowski, and Wallace.  Talk about what it means to be philosophical and why is it important to our individual future.  From Sokolowski's "What is Intentionality," be sure to talk about how persons search for truth and how it is related to ethics.  From Wallace, be sure to explain and use Wallace's account of "operative perfection,"how it is developed in person, and how it is related to ethics.  From Sokolowski's "Soul and the Transcendence of the Human Person," explain and use Sokolowski's account of soul and spirit, being sure to talk about why spirit is different from soul and what makes it so important for our human actions.  From his account of "The Self," talk about what it means to have both am empirical and a transcendental ego, and how they are differently related to the world and what it means to be an "I."  Be sure to talk about human freedom and the resulting responsibility from either Sokolowski or Wallace.  Finally, explain a theory from one of these texts that you have not already talked about and why you think it is important to you as a person here and now.  Be precise, give some real detail and give explenations for all the ideas first as the authors discuss them, and then in your own words.

. . . be brief."



(Now, this alone, of course, is laugh-worthy.  And even as I prepared for this essay (and we were all well prepared, I think), I was laughing at the irony inherent between the verbal and written instructions.  However, since the rest of you were not there, let us have a bit of context if you please.  For one thing, it was a timed test, and all things are relative.  Any student who got too wrapped up in one point would not have time to finish the rest.  And for another . . . well . . . frankly, I was in the class.

Egad, why write a dirty limerick when there are entire ribald novels waiting to be composed...!

So do not let my jest paint her in a poor light.  For all that, upon consideration, I misread her instructions and therefore did at least part of the test improperly (wups), all in all I think everyone did well.  All her students knew what they were in for, and walked away wiser for having taken her class.  It is the apparent contrast in directions that amused me.)

And that being said, just as phrasing can paint anyone in any light, good or ill or indifferent, let us remember the joys of context, innuendo, and incomplete data this coming season.  The Politics are coming upon us once again - or still - and disinformation continues to be the world's biggest business.  And, like cars cranking out rap tunes with too much bass, it is everywhere.






Sometime again,
--Coyote

(Calvin and Hobbes are (c) Bill Watterson; ACME and WILE E Coyote are (c) Warner Brothers.  All rights reserved by those who rightfully reserve them.)