Came across an interesting musician, Panjabi M.C., an Indian musician. He works with a lot of western rap artists, and the over-all effect is–surprisingly good. The blend and, in some songs’ cases, flip-flopping back and forth between the styles works surprisingly well. He has quite a few interesting songs out there. Seriously. Go see for yourself.

So I’ve been asked about why I like the Phantom and why I built what I did on CaveMUSH. I know I’ve written about it before, but let me nerd-gush a little on the Phantom himself, as a character.

If you saw the live-action film starring Billy Zane, or the Syfy mini-series, or the futuristic cartoon, you have an idea about the over-all character. The mantle gets passed from father to son, much like Zorro. In fact, Lee Falk has said often that he was fascinated by the Hispanic crusader. And I, for one, could see why. I was fascinated when I was first introduced to the character via the cartoon, and when I researched more about him, the more involved I became.

I think something about the character is innately compelling–a man raises his son, from birth, trained to use his wits before fists, his fists if he must, to defend the defenseless. He wears no special armor (well, by the year 2040, that changes…), has no special weapons, doesn’t have a ton of money to throw at a problem–he has the image of the Phantom and his own brain. That’s it. All to help the helpless. There’s something there, I think, that more people could get into. Though Zorro also inspired DC’s Batman, and in his way the Phantom inspired Marvel’s Daredevil–there’s a special, unique place for Christopher “Kit” Walker.

For a young boy who, like most people, had a harsh life–I really gravitated to that. And on CaveMUSH, where RedWolf made clear that (within certain ethical constraints) one has free reign to create anything their heart desires–I almost couldn’t help but build an homage, of sorts, to a franchise that says we can, each of us, be more than who we are. We don’t need to have a near-infinite amount of money, nor be able to build a nuclear reactor in a cave with a box of scraps–we just have to give a damn. That’s it. We just have to give enough of a damn to get off our tuchus and do something. Anything. Give a guy the time of day. Hand him some change, or better yet an actual meal–and ask how he’s doing. Even better, after doing that, get involved. Help people you’ve never known. Some things you might have to risk your own safety–but isn’t it worth it to help others? A lot of people, of any age, need help but don’t get it. Each of us can help. We just have to care.

Yeah, I’ve been pretty bad about this. The whole “updating daily” thing. Ah, well. Currently I’m strolling through random web cams around the world. It’s pretty interesting, I think, how one can sit at home, and see what’s going on around the world at that exact instant. It’s a reminder that as you live your life, all around the world, other lives are being lived, too.

Reminds me of CaveMUSH, in a way. Reminds me of on-line text-based “social structures” in general, but CaveMUSH is a good example. Not only are the people from all over the globe (though mostly in the United States), you can see the different influences everywhere on the grid, if you know where to look. More than just spelling differences–word choices themselves, or what one chooses to build in detail over here as opposed to glossing over there. CaveMUSH is, in its smaller fashion, a good example of how the world is just awesome.

Is that old brain-numbing Flash thingie still popular? Huh. Anyway. Missed yesterday, but, eh. RedWolf revamped some of the descriptions for the common areas of the grid, so–yay. Eh, another short one today, methinks. At least I’m writing something.

I swear, I can usually never think up a good title for these things, but since a certain someone prefers titles and doesn’t mind if they’re weird and completely unrelated, I guess I can go with that, heh.

Since it was asked for, I suppose I can relate a bit about myself, as far as CaveMUSH goes. I chose the user-name of “Phantom” because I adore the character. Got started with the Phantom 2040 cartoon and loved that depiction, so dove into the history of the character, and away I went. When it came to building on CaveMUSH, I went with a bit of a conglomeration of bits from various histories. Like with so much of fictional things, you can find incongruous bits or even entire histories, though it’s nowhere near FUBARed like some other characters I could name.

Anyway, yes, back on track. I’ve been told it’s an interesting collection of things. I decided to go with the African setting as opposed to the Indian one, and thus with actual African tribal references. On the other hand, I kept a few references to other aspects. Like I said, a conglomeration.

Hopefully that’s enough to make sense. And at least it’s more than a sentence or two of absolutely no consequence, eh?

Another short one. Where this comes from is irrelevant, but it’s something that, once I came across it, has stayed with me, for many years now.

“Sometimes You Plant Seeds For Trees You Never Sit Under”

As for what it “means”–that’s up to the individual. What does it mean to you?

Not much going on in the middle of the night. I wonder if anyone else is going to suffer insomnia and pop their e-heads in. Usually not, but you never know.

It occurs to me I could stand to write down how I came to CaveMUSH.  There isn’t much to tell, so I won’t be wasting much of anyone’s time.

As it’s irrelevant I’ll gloss over the years spent on role-play MU*s and say that I found myself on an old MUSH called Delphi MUSH. It was a no-quota build-as-much-as-you-want sort of thing, which I enjoyed. Real life, as is its wont, got in the way and I had to leave MU*ing in general for a while save the occasional popping-in. Feeling the old itch to build and chat, I went looking for Delphi again only to discover that, in my absence, it had shut down. So, I headed on over to The Mud Connector and started poking around. After a good bit of searching, I came across CaveMUSH.

It was different than what I was used to, primarily in code-base, but I’m glad I found it. The “regulars” are nice to chat with, RedWolf, Nrg, and RLaw usually more than happy to either help out with a technical issue, or just shoot the breeze. The “sleepers”, when they unidle, are often ready to pass on interesting stories about MU*ing history (just pester Finrod for TinyMUSH stories, for example–well worth the listen) or, as well, shoot the breeze.

All in all–CaveMUSH is what MU*ing should always have been. Relaxed, fun when appropriate, serious when appropriate, and overall a good place to hang one’s e-hat.

Yeesh, I’m starting to sound like a freakin’ advertisement over here. Not that it’s not deserved, but. Ah, well. Let’s see if I can keep the verbosity going.

A little about me–I have a deeper and wider vocabulary than a sense of keeping it to myself.  I don’t think I’m all that imaginative or creative, so trying to do daily posts will, I must warn, likely result in monosyllabic posts on the tediousness of being awake when few other people in the country are.  This may well be the most polysyllabic post I make.  We shall see!

In 1102, Grand Architect Mardus Tolmuk laid the last cobblestone into the floor of Tunnel #847. Just outside, in the Nexus, hundreds of Gnomes from the seven villages gathered to mark the special occasion. Large celebrations and feasts were usually on order upon the completion of any tunnel project in the ‘Pire (as Doccus V used to call it), but this one was quite different.

You see, the celebration of the number “847″ holds a special place in Gnomish culture; the custom’s roots lie in the ancient Gnomish creation text, Sarduk, which states:

In the pristine age, when all was quiet and still, Grand Mardus threw chaos upon the deep ether, and from that havoc sprung eight modes of form; those of flesh, fur, feather, scale, shell, tabrus, stalk, and mauds. In four days he created the four domains of the corpus: water, lavae, earth, and sky. Within each of these domains he placed seven kings (or Seeds); seven for each of the eight forms. Those who thrived in their domains grew to take them as their own.

This is why, to the Gnomish people, the number “847″ became identified with the act of sentient creation, and why this tunnel, in particular, is so famous.

[ Tunnel #847 (#21R) Description from CaveMUSH ]

Room created 03/08/2000, description written 01/05/2002 by RedWolf.