Creativity of the day

[Astraios]

Haha, true, but most good graphics are American made so...

Or it could be a book/poster for teaching Falgwian-American children their (grand-)parents' language.

[Viktor77]

Haha, true, but most good graphics are American made so...

Or it could be a book/poster for teaching Falgwian-American children their (grand-)parents' language.

They're ya' go!

[Viktor77]

Bored, so drew a drawing of this bedroom in its original condition.



I kind of regret coloring it.

[makvas]

New art (click image for full size):


http://xvedejas.deviantart.com/#/d3az4rh

[Viktor77]

I just don't understand the attraction in strange facial hair cuts/grow outs.

[TomHChappell]

.

[dhok]

I wrote the following essay.
---------------------------------------------------
On Aristocracy

I am not a democrat.

By this I do not mean that I do not belong to the counterpart of the Republicans. I am also not a Democrat, but this is because I prefer to pick and choose my opinions on an individual basis, rather than buying into a prepackaged platform. What I mean by stating that I am not a democrat is that I am not a democrat in the same sense that Voltaire was not a democrat; I do not buy into the philosophy that the masses are necessarily the best group to govern.

Democracy is, of course, a noble idea, but I think it suffers from the same problem as Marxism: it assumes that people are by nature good, and that the masses are even better; they will be well-informed and thoughtful, and weigh pragmatic needs with the highest ideals to produce the best course of action. If man were good, we would either be well on our way to a communist paradise by now, or be partaking of libertarianism’s bounty. We are not. By nature, man will act in his own self-interest, even or perhaps especially if it oppresses others. This is obvious from a casual study of history; if an empire does not oppress its people, its seeming charity towards them is all too often another means towards stability. The democratic process, on both the left and the right, produces demagogues, and there is no shortage of people to fill the role; we usually call them “politicians”. The principled politician is a rare figure; more often, a compromise must be reached between the politician’s own canny goals and the gifts he must make to his electorate (whether that be, on the left, gay marriage and Obamacare, or, on the right, anti-immigration laws and the Defense of Marriage Act.)

The simple problem, with many issues, is that the people are not always qualified to make decisions about them. Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that a foreign country has a dictator. This dictator cannot spell the word “insurance”, yet he has the final say on health policy; he cannot distinguish between religious marriage in church and the civil contract by the same name, but bans gay marriage; there is an influx of immigrants into the country to do work that no native citizen has ever done out of choice, yet he bans immigration because “immigrants take our jobs”; he has not the faintest idea of how to balance a budget and continues to add government programs. Would we not say that the dictator is wholly unqualified to run his country, insofar as a dictator can be? Then why should our answer change when we replace the word “dictator” with “the people”?

The problem, then, is: who, if not the people, is qualified to run the government? If we accept that man is basically bad (the hypothesis upon which our thesis rests), then the answer is certainly not “nobody”- anarchy is a Bad Thing. I submit that the answer, insofar as there is one, is “aristocracy”.

The concept of aristocracy, of course, must be modified. The feudal idea of aristocracy is bankrupt. What we should be looking at as a model, really, is Great Britain in the latter half of the 19th century. In the latter half of the 19th century, the highly educated and qualified British gentry helped the economy grow to fantastic levels, increased life expectancy, reduced working hours, instituted water and housing codes, and protected the civil liberties of their people (as indeed any government worth its salt must do). America itself has never had a tradition of great landholding families; the aristocracy, as it is, would best be chosen according to the merit system in a system not unlike that of Imperial China. Now I am not so naïve as to believe this would solve all our problems; problems will remain. But progress is not about removing all problems, so much as it is about reducing their impact. I leave you, then, with this proposal: that rule for the people may be better when it is not always by them.

[Radius Solis]

uh.

Yeah, well, democracy is well known to be the worst possible form of government, except for all the others.

Also one of your premises is incorrect. Democracy does not rely on the people on average having any sort of clue. Instead it relies on their varying forms of cluelessness to, on average, cancel out. This is a spectacularly flawed notion, but I wanted to point out that it's that, and not the average competence of the general public, that you should be basing your anti-democracy arguments on.

[Pthagnar]

alternatively, mencius moldbug

NE: also i was unaware that 19th century Britain was not a democracy, and even more surprised to learn that present-day anglo-americania appears not to have a civil service recruited by means of competitve examination at all

[Aurora Rossa]

alternatively, mencius moldbug

I don't know why you keep plugging that grossly anatopic reactionary.

[Pthagnar]

what you don't know could be written on a library of congress

[Viktor77]

After neglecting it for nearly three years, I finally decided to finish my interpretation of state flags with state counties.

See here. Too big to show.

[Aurora Rossa]

That's actually kind of neat, Viktor.

[Risla]

Whoa, that's pretty cool actually.

[Viktor77]

Thanks!

[Rui]

New art (click image for full size):
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/064/6/4/shanghai_at_night_by_xvedejas-d3az4rh.jpg

http://xvedejas.deviantart.com/#/d3az4rh

Oh. my. god. That is amazing, and now I miss 上海 a LOT!

[Warmaster]

After working all weekend, got 20 pages of conworld background (Planetary system, moons, climate, calendar) updated from a load of old notes, some of which are 10 years old, and into a single document *phew*

Next to get some biology stuff done (always helpful to have this stuff in one document)

Makes me feel chuffed anyway

[dhok]

Hai guys! Remember that poem I wrote? I revised and finished it!

Code: Select all

I. Cride

Raheł er Raheli
ἐκ Ραχέλην venerunt
then three and one and another are two and one
or to hope
that one IS three and one
      2
      is
   d'où qu'elle est
   I and she is not.
   o ha ha
   its so irrational
drain the river elves fill up the river
filler
filling with filler
heart filler 
in the river where we drown
we drown, we drown
all of us drown together
i do not
drown
with her
and where SHE is from SHE is not.

Reason assigned
and reason believed
and believed too is passion
to the assigner of reason
destroying reason
the passion unknown
and the reason exalted
are one
is or nída?
biid
7ace to Face
and Face to 7ace
Drang drang
to fall
      fall   
         fall
arms      her      arms
      
      assigner
      assigneress
      an dhun dhin
      dhun, dhin
      dhin, dhun
one ago on two
the cookie said to me
and she smiled
and none ago on twenty and something born
(or twenty and something ago nothing born)
at hug it is hard to remember
5 in one and 3 on 1 and 2 and 1 on 2
then the blood
out out
whyi deed ye
the back the back
wherein what is conceived after twenty and something then it does not conceive and still is wanted
and we
that is i
picked the violets
of (and or) hwæt we ate there there is no more
there there
there, there? hie is he and then hie new is born scæ and scæ is neither he nor hie are
or (and of) what we wish to eat
we may not touch

the king may not
may not 
king of nothing 
         fall      fall
            





                   fall
         me
         me

(her)          her       
         


         AIRCHINN

II. Ingen
Dhin dhun
airchinn?
I is yesterday and II is now
to walk in
that we may eat what we want
and what we want
we may not eat
dhun dhin
first we go 
and then we eat
and second we go
take the cookie
V cookie
a budget cookie
or i say
a stale cookie
open broken
shattered cookie
☺                                              ☺
       people are attracted
       by your delicate features 
softly ṡoftly
smile ṡmile
                     eyebrow









eyebrow        eyes
rosca caéna
walk in 
(have) walked in
here's the birthday girl!
is related to me
what to get her
what together
hug                       her                     hug
yes a hug
you need a hug (i love you)
then the turtle
the turtle flies away

again the sunsetting

at ten a friday night

the lonesome
cuddle cuddle thru the window into the flat
ḫaaaa

wait wait
cannot wait
lobhaḥ lobhaḥ tvaṃ lubhyami

poke poke
and eyebrows raised confuse the heart
to say 'Rakhel sru ħu yeʔ mum ħwim ħaun'
we go to the field of battle
in war (a cridiu) can not be won
we
bahaha

2 fights and does not know and 1 fights but may not be known to fight
SO CHARGE
be slaughtered but by no army
CHARGE UP STAIRS
past many Cubas and the same-named clear mountain dyed red (to be continued)
but no be kicked out all is lost

die die die die
live? live? live? live?

and we long for those before us 
for there is no more MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!
Charge for the panda. 
Cry "creepy" and let loose the panda of war

now for what panda is shouter live and where pandas are none are

but for whom no panda is there is no love and for whom panda is screamed there is and panda is not love
the music sent by umpteen is to think of umpteen and some more used

μῆνιν  ἄειδε  θεὰ
μῆνιν, μῆνιν
ἔρως
ἔρως Ῥαχελῇ
Ῥαχελῆ
Rāśale
Reh2ḱele!
Reh2ḱele!
tewe reh2ḱelos ne h1esti
lewbh-
lewbh-
lewbh- 

III. The hies and the scæ

In the 
In the beginning
Hibernia wæs. Native Hibernia
Nay- ere Hibernia *waz the country road
Sister of the assigneress the road
And now we wander down. 
Then native Hibernia blonde and prickly
I the great mathematician and advice was given be not. 
Then on against York in true Hereford wæs. 
True Hereford I say, and there was truth. 
Truth Cymrian as did they run away to join true Hereford. 
And he veered off the course to say what did I think and he was right
but there was man
Later did I write but nay hie said (the hie rational) nay taken.
And on Ulawa and Sa'apo and when hie wæs those the bēc used 
And nay again. 
And then scæ not hie is met had been hired but scæ is not THAT scæ yet
nay yet
nay yet we scæl get to scæ! 
ḫaḫa will hie we will 
then do we to nine come as should be eight for eight is twice and four and five are one and zero is zero.
There hie wæs o o pretty and smart no? 
and the group in the hūs of bēc and the pretty eyes i to dinner took and dance but did not dance.
HIE seized hie in fedora
but o non sumus sororēs
but then HE seized hie in fedora
o i forget myself
well then þæt?
this hie wæs with karel and not carl no other hie with carl wæs.
nothing in nine remember I
the summer
the summer the summer there are two
first from ængland 
but hie yelled and hated
second- oh why do i say
hie is scæ in my mind
but gone
i dance i dance i cannot say
fall sick, and she is gone away
gone gone o gone 
note written written write again
ic lufie þē
and said hie lied to me

o why? 
and then dekm then dekm

but first after dekm 

ah yah i loved dinner that the only dinner (perhaps i might have paid) ĀC let us remain.
er (diediediedielivelivelivelive!) i love you
hie is not sure
PROKIO, PROKIO, VLERË?
kai mikrophthalmaporne m'eromais. And later on ou. Deservemi better.  
far far they are all far
sarai sarae 
first the many camps o i know you not
ice mountain ah sorry i've someone else
ai quizhina, ai quizhina,
but my teammet sayer shary

reh2ḱele? 
o hai! 
and notice what may not be, wish what may not be wanted
were YOU my competition
fighting me for the right
to run your fingers through her hair
and look into her eyes? 
non. je suis seul en ça. 
beauty appreciated by what cannot appreciate it
no better than beauty appreciated not
what are you crazy  
you don't want to
run your fingers through her shining hair and stare into her eyes
crazy call
do you are you

night night
im nočen sonai dy ilat žiraču
climb into the window and say 
"je suis ton amour, venu pour te tenir"

řo, řo! i write i write eř lübao notcharaimm twe lubhyemi EI ŽINA ESË.
night 
night
and maybe on the morrow
the morrow the morrow
there is no morrow there is only now
et tē credō ut sit
credō credō 

eh3 reh2ḱele
i offer up my innocence 
i am repaid with scorn
a hug a hug aye a hug
the turtle the turtle
the awkward turtle to my mind and there it lays its eggs

pay attention pay attention
say yes say yes yes ma'am
o but i was looking
your eyes your eyes
you can't she's not your age
what's age what's age
eyes have no age love no age...

o you know those carnations of february i shall send one
you cannot they do not work that way
what's love that's not expressed?
i don't care you can't have it
i'll die if i cannot
die! sayeth friends 
die! sayeth the law
die! sayeth good advice
die! do i hope scæ scæl not say

hwæt doth scæ say? think? 

on chnleqde jarthththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththth mbbôth

on nlîth xôp mbbôthsh qôch li on ndud

pax sedet in corda eia 
o corda cordam eiam volo nunc
non possum habere. 

non possum
non possum 
non possum

mors amori
mors amoris
mors amore

IV. ÍAR NUILU
April?

two  fore, the winter by our bundling up in our despair does make us warm
Let's into the museyroom. For A and L are M, as C is H and D is C and E is N. Or A is R and P is M, and L 

unknown. He's Completely the Eternal penman. With sick mule and blind horse. Fr'I may add Norton, but I am 

not. She is Nortona. I'll rearrive frer from over the short sea. Slháli swiyequetsel. 

Well, what do you see? Preadyct it. 

She stands alone in glory in the wind upon a moor, with her overcoat out-flapping and her grace to me a lure. 
She is a place imagined where I'm always safe and warm; she is my own Dylanic loving shelter in the storm. 

Near! Nghool!

Now end. Arma virumque et eias bracchas meque canavi.

[Jipí]

I, too, have shored up fragments (against my ruins?):
Eine W
      a
      n
      d zu machen,
Pour qu'il ne me faille pas t'écouter :
Stultiloquentius! Ет ту,    Б р у т е ?
ρι μιρᾶραρεγγ ἀδαλει Ἐλιοτ
  नार्य
    रि
      मिरोइरें
          व,
                सिमल्यं।

[Dewrad]

Everything about you sucks. Everything.

[dhok]

My friends liked it.

[Pthagnar]

or do your friends just like you?

[Dewrad]

I don't believe you have any friends.

[Jar Jar Binks]

I. Cride

Raheł er Raheli
ἐκ Ραχέλην venerunt
then three and one and another are two and one
or to hope
that one IS three and one
2
is
d'où qu'elle est
I and she is not.
o ha ha
its so irrational
drain the river elves fill up the river
filler
filling with filler
heart filler
in the river where we drown
we drown, we drown
all of us drown together
i do not
drown
with her
and where SHE is from SHE is not.

Reason assigned
and reason believed
and believed too is passion
to the assigner of reason
destroying reason
the passion unknown
and the reason exalted
are one
is or nída?
biid
7ace to Face
and Face to 7ace
Drang drang
to fall
fall
fall
arms her arms

assigner
assigneress
an dhun dhin
dhun, dhin
dhin, dhun
one ago on two
the cookie said to me
and she smiled
and none ago on twenty and something born
(or twenty and something ago nothing born)
at hug it is hard to remember
5 in one and 3 on 1 and 2 and 1 on 2
then the blood
out out
whyi deed ye
the back the back
wherein what is conceived after twenty and something then it does not conceive and still is wanted
and we
that is i
picked the violets
of (and or) hwæt we ate there there is no more
there there
there, there? hie is he and then hie new is born scæ and scæ is neither he nor hie are
or (and of) what we wish to eat
we may not touch

the king may not
may not
king of nothing
fall fall






fall
me
me

(her) her



AIRCHINN

II. Ingen
Dhin dhun
airchinn?
I is yesterday and II is now
to walk in
that we may eat what we want
and what we want
we may not eat
dhun dhin
first we go
and then we eat
and second we go
take the cookie
V cookie
a budget cookie
or i say
a stale cookie
open broken
shattered cookie
☺ ☺
people are attracted
by your delicate features
softly ṡoftly
smile ṡmile
eyebrow









eyebrow eyes
rosca caéna
walk in
(have) walked in
here's the birthday girl!
is related to me
what to get her
what together
hug her hug
yes a hug
you need a hug (i love you)
then the turtle
the turtle flies away

again the sunsetting

at ten a friday night

the lonesome
cuddle cuddle thru the window into the flat
ḫaaaa

wait wait
cannot wait
lobhaḥ lobhaḥ tvaṃ lubhyami

poke poke
and eyebrows raised confuse the heart
to say 'Rakhel sru ħu yeʔ mum ħwim ħaun'
we go to the field of battle
in war (a cridiu) can not be won
we
bahaha

2 fights and does not know and 1 fights but may not be known to fight
SO CHARGE
be slaughtered but by no army
CHARGE UP STAIRS
past many Cubas and the same-named clear mountain dyed red (to be continued)
but no be kicked out all is lost

die die die die
live? live? live? live?

and we long for those before us
for there is no more MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!
Charge for the panda.
Cry "creepy" and let loose the panda of war

now for what panda is shouter live and where pandas are none are

but for whom no panda is there is no love and for whom panda is screamed there is and panda is not love
the music sent by umpteen is to think of umpteen and some more used

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ
μῆνιν, μῆνιν
ἔρως
ἔρως Ῥαχελῇ
Ῥαχελῆ
Rāśale
Reh2ḱele!
Reh2ḱele!
tewe reh2ḱelos ne h1esti
lewbh-
lewbh-
lewbh-

III. The hies and the scæ

In the
In the beginning
Hibernia wæs. Native Hibernia
Nay- ere Hibernia *waz the country road
Sister of the assigneress the road
And now we wander down.
Then native Hibernia blonde and prickly
I the great mathematician and advice was given be not.
Then on against York in true Hereford wæs.
True Hereford I say, and there was truth.
Truth Cymrian as did they run away to join true Hereford.
And he veered off the course to say what did I think and he was right
but there was man
Later did I write but nay hie said (the hie rational) nay taken.
And on Ulawa and Sa'apo and when hie wæs those the bēc used
And nay again.
And then scæ not hie is met had been hired but scæ is not THAT scæ yet
nay yet
nay yet we scæl get to scæ!
ḫaḫa will hie we will
then do we to nine come as should be eight for eight is twice and four and five are one and zero is zero.
There hie wæs o o pretty and smart no?
and the group in the hūs of bēc and the pretty eyes i to dinner took and dance but did not dance.
HIE seized hie in fedora
but o non sumus sororēs
but then HE seized hie in fedora
o i forget myself
well then þæt?
this hie wæs with karel and not carl no other hie with carl wæs.
nothing in nine remember I
the summer
the summer the summer there are two
first from ængland
but hie yelled and hated
second- oh why do i say
hie is scæ in my mind
but gone
i dance i dance i cannot say
fall sick, and she is gone away
gone gone o gone
note written written write again
ic lufie þē
and said hie lied to me

o why?
and then dekm then dekm

but first after dekm

ah yah i loved dinner that the only dinner (perhaps i might have paid) ĀC let us remain.
er (diediediedielivelivelivelive!) i love you
hie is not sure
PROKIO, PROKIO, VLERË?
kai mikrophthalmaporne m'eromais. And later on ou. Deservemi better.
far far they are all far
sarai sarae
first the many camps o i know you not
ice mountain ah sorry i've someone else
ai quizhina, ai quizhina,
but my teammet sayer shary

reh2ḱele?
o hai!
and notice what may not be, wish what may not be wanted
were YOU my competition
fighting me for the right
to run your fingers through her hair
and look into her eyes?
non. je suis seul en ça.
beauty appreciated by what cannot appreciate it
no better than beauty appreciated not
what are you crazy
you don't want to
run your fingers through her shining hair and stare into her eyes
crazy call
do you are you

night night
im nočen sonai dy ilat žiraču
climb into the window and say
"je suis ton amour, venu pour te tenir"

řo, řo! i write i write eř lübao notcharaimm twe lubhyemi EI ŽINA ESË.
night
night
and maybe on the morrow
the morrow the morrow
there is no morrow there is only now
et tē credō ut sit
credō credō

eh3 reh2ḱele
i offer up my innocence
i am repaid with scorn
a hug a hug aye a hug
the turtle the turtle
the awkward turtle to my mind and there it lays its eggs

pay attention pay attention
say yes say yes yes ma'am
o but i was looking
your eyes your eyes
you can't she's not your age
what's age what's age
eyes have no age love no age...

o you know those carnations of february i shall send one
you cannot they do not work that way
what's love that's not expressed?
i don't care you can't have it
i'll die if i cannot
die! sayeth friends
die! sayeth the law
die! sayeth good advice
die! do i hope scæ scæl not say

hwæt doth scæ say? think?

on chnleqde jarthththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththth mbbôth

on nlîth xôp mbbôthsh qôch li on ndud

pax sedet in corda eia
o corda cordam eiam volo nunc
non possum habere.

non possum
non possum
non possum

mors amori
mors amoris
mors amore

IV. ÍAR NUILU
April?

two fore, the winter by our bundling up in our despair does make us warm
Let's into the museyroom. For A and L are M, as C is H and D is C and E is N. Or A is R and P is M, and L

unknown. He's Completely the Eternal penman. With sick mule and blind horse. Fr'I may add Norton, but I am

not. She is Nortona. I'll rearrive frer from over the short sea. Slháli swiyequetsel.

Well, what do you see? Preadyct it.

She stands alone in glory in the wind upon a moor, with her overcoat out-flapping and her grace to me a lure.
She is a place imagined where I'm always safe and warm; she is my own Dylanic loving shelter in the storm.

Near! Nghool!

Now end. Arma virumque et eias bracchas meque canavi.

I think I just had a stroke and died. Even without the pathetically obvious plagiarism, this would still easily be the worst piece of so-called poetry ever written by anybody ever. I hope you're proud.

[bulbaquil]

*snip*

...

......

....................................?!?

*brain explodes*