Grazza

Classic Bolivia.

Have you been to the famous one in Sedlec? Here's a link to the pictures I took in 2011: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ATN4wy6RaCkAGDHT8 Obviously, this was before they banned photography there.

Molybdenum

Istvan Pataki's version that you mention is from 2000 (2003 was the upload date to the current archive), and is the one you find most places. I have a version from 1997 (attached), at least, assuming the date-stamp of the file is correct. Looking at the binary file, this was made by someone called "Deity". Offhand, I don't recall that handle, though it might be someone we've heard of, or that someone can remember. I wouldn't be too surprised if someone had made a similar utility at an earlier point, but the most likely place to find it would have been the file libraries of the CompuServe Action Games forum, or the usenet groups. I don't have a file of that name among the stuff I downloaded back then, but it's not the sort of file I probably would have downloaded at the time. Of course, it might have had a different name, but it probably would have been a .com file, and I don't see any others that look promising. Edit: well OK, duh, "Deity" is Istvan Pataki (email address given in 2000 was deity@sch.bme.hu ), so it looks like he made a version of it at least as far back as 1997. Note: the 1997 and 2000 binary files are not identical. novert.zip

Back in 2002, in my 51st post in these forums, I promised some Mother Gong lyrics, but felt the forum software wouldn't handle them. So here goes: Wassilissa Mother Gong : Fairy Tales traditional Gilli Smyth / Harry Williamson There was once a house near a big dark forest where a little girl called Wassilissa lived with her cruel step-mother and stepsisters. They made her do all the work while they painted their faces and admired themselves. Their father was away and her only friend was the doll her real mother had given her with her blessing before she died. One day, the fire went out. Her stepmother was very angry. 'Now look what you've done! You'll have to go into the wood and fetch fire from the Baba Yaga', and she pushed her out of the door and slammed it. Wassilissa walked for hours through the black wood, and just as Venus touched the horizon, she came to a path. The birds began to sing, and through the trees a man dressed in white rode past her on a beautiful white stallion, and the day came. Then the path became a wide track, she heard the sound of hooves again, and through a cloud of dust appeared a chariot drawn by winged horses. As it flew past she saw in it a man dressed in gold, who looked straight ahead and would not see her. The sun rose. She journeyed on all that day until twilight, when she could make out in the distance a twinkling of lights, which became a cottage surrounded by a fence of little lights. As she got closer she saw that each fence post was a bone topped by a grinning skulll, whose eyes glowed like dark coals. There was a rush of wind, and a great black warrior on a black horse carrying a silver scythe rushed by with hardly a sound, galloping straight into the cottage, and disappeared. Wassilissa crept closer to the house. She could see now the gate latch made of a human arm, and the lock, that was a grinning mouth, full of teeth. She was just about to run away when she heard another sound, and round the corner slithered a mortar, steered by a woman with six arms. She was brushing away her tracks at the same time with a broom made of cats. 'Aah, so you've come at last. Well, you shall have your fire, but you must work for it. Come in and serve me.' And Wassilissa followed her in. 'Bring me everything in the oven.' And she ate it all, leaving only some dry bread and water for Wassilissa. 'Tomorrow you must clean the house, sort the good corn from the bad in these four bushels, and cook me dinner by the time I come back, or I'll eat you'. Then she went upstairs. Wassilissa couldn't sleep for fear, until the Doll whispered in her ear, 'The morning is cleverer than the evening, go to sleep'. When she woke up the Doll had just finished sorting the last of the grain. So Wassilissa hurriedly cooked dinner and had just finished when the Baba Yaga returned. She was so angry when she found the house spotless, the corn sorted, and the dinner on the table, but she said nothing, just clapped her hands and the three pairs of bodyless hands appeared, took the good seed and started grinding it into flour. Wassilissa couldn't look away. 'What are you staring at? Why don't you say something?' 'Who were those riders I passed in the forest?' 'The white's the day, the gold's the sun, and the black's the night, of course'. 'Where do you go when you leave the house?' 'Be careful what you ask about other people's business; too much knowledge will make you old'. Wassilissa wanted to ask about the hands, but dared not, and so the Baba Yaga said, 'Very well, it's my turn, how did you manage to finish all the work in time?' 'O, it was with my mother's blessing'. 'I don't want blessings in my house. Tomorrow you will have to do all you did today again, and sort out these three sacks of poppyseed', Next day as the doll was finishing the work, Wassilissa was seized by a terrible curiosity to explore. So she went upstairs, and opening a huge iron door, found herself in the middle of a beautiful room full of strange things. In front of her was a mirror, and as she approached it she saw the reflections of a faraway town. In the foreground stood an old man, talking to an old woman dressed in rags. As Wassilissa leant forward to try to hear the conversation, the man looked straight at her. His face was so sad she took a moment to realise it was her father, and she had to turn away. Then she noticed an enormous copper-bound book on a table. She tried to open it, but it was locked. Then she noticed a little golden key lying beside it. It was very heavy, but with a great effort she managed it, and had to clasp her ears. The book shut. She backed away, only to bump into a pedestal on which was fixed a beautiful crystal. Smoke swirled there and as she gazed into the multicoloured depths she began to see wonderful landscapes from a great height. Looking down, she saw a forest, and in the forest was a little cottage, and going in through the door was the Baba Yaga, and she was going up the stairs and opening the large iron door. 'So this is your mother's blessing', and Wassilissa was seized by the hair and dragged into the mortar. 'Now you will see what you should not want to know'. And they slithered off through the forest. Soon they came to a large building which had strange smokes coming from it. Near a gaping mouth stood several large creatures. Some had animal heads on their bodies, others had too many legs and arms. They were grabbing bundles of people and throwing them into the mouth, which chewed them into small pieces. Suddenly Wassilissa felt a pair of claws take her feet, while something else coiled about her neck. She looked up to see a wolf and an eagle grinning down at her. She screamed and struggled for all she was worth, but the jaws came closer until they were all around her, and she felt no more. The next thing she knew she was flying high over a beautiful country. She saw the sun, racing across the sky trailing sparks everywhere, so that a day passed in a second. Trees, plants and buildings grew before her eyes and collapsed again. Wassilissa just wanted to hover there, as winter followed summer followed winter, and watch the world grow older and older. A moment later she was in the forest again, standing by a pond. She could hear the dreadful sound of the machinery in the distance, and was about to hide when she noticed her hands. They were full of deep wrinkles. She felt her face and the skin was ridged and rough to her touch. She looked in the still waters and saw the reflections of a bent old woman. Then the Baba Yaga appeared holding a skull on a pole with two glittering eyes... 'Now take your fire and go'. When she came to her stepmothers's house, Wassilissa was surprised at the kind welcome she received, because they did not see many strangers. She gave them the fire, and they set it in the hearth. It was after supper, when they were all sitting round the blazing fire, that Wassilissa realised they had not recognised her, for they were discussing her long absence. 'Maybe she met the Baba Yaga after all, and was turned into a stone.' 'Well, good riddance to her, is what I say'. 'But who will do the housework now she is gone?' 'Maybe my husband will return soon', said the stepmother, and they all laughed. They were all staring into the fire meanwhile, and every lie they told caused a flame to leap out at them. Soon their heads were surrounded by a cloud of little dancing flames, so they looked like demons. Then came a knock on the door. They opened it to see their father standing there, tired and dusty from his long journey. He seemed not to see the flames, but straightaway fell to asking about Wassilissa. 'For night after night I have been having the most terrible dreams. I became so fearful for my sweet daughter's life I have had to return, but I see she is not here'. 'We sent her to fetch fire from a friend in the wood, but she has not returned yet.' Then Wassilissa said, 'As I journeyed through the wood I passed a pretty girl on the track to the Baba Yaga's house. Maybe I may guide you there to rescue her. 'Let us start at dawn', said her father. And so they did. By mid morning they had come to the little cottage in the wood, but there was no-one there so they went on and came at last to the mill. There they saw the Baba Yaga directing her slaves. 'So you have come back, have you, and brought him with you? Seize them and throw them into the mill'. They were quickly surrounded by the horrible slimy forms and many hands gripped their arms and legs and dragged them down to the giant grinning mouth. But it was slowing down, and gradually it stopped, and then started again, in reverse. Struggle as they might, they soon felt that indescribable pain, and both lost consciousness. This time it seemed to Wassilissa that a stream was flowing up her back and into her head. It became stronger and stronger, becoming a river which swept all her experiences away into the ocean of oceans. Her hands and face felt young again, and beside her stood her father, wiser than ever before. The Baba Yaga appeared in the form of a goddess, beautiful and terrible. Her skin was smooth and black, and seemed to glow from within with a fire. In one of her hands she held a mirror, and in it they could see an image of their faraway home. There was no sign of the stepsisters and stepmother, but the skull was still burning, and where the women usually sat, there were some small piles of ashes. As she looked at them, the Baba Yaga said, 'Those who hate will be consumed by fire; to those who love, life is given again and again.'

8pack.zip Judging from the location of the file on my backup disk, it seems Searcher did email it to me.

From impencse.txt:

"Unread Content" is the only sane way to browse these forums.

Updated Europe maps for the SatNav: I was recently in Spain and tried to get by with old maps from something like ten years ago, and quickly decided it was time to cough up for new ones. A bit of a rip-off that there is no way to upgrade for a lower fee; you just need to buy again from scratch.

Today I visited Arse and Peniscola.

The fridge in the kitchen simulation stayed upright this time.

I am happy with the fact that the physiotherapist I am currently working with seems to be extremely good. Of course, I am a good deal less happy about the fact that I need to be working with a physiotherapist (fractured shoulder).

Well imagine how I felt when I realized I'd posted my important xenon-platinum dentistry research in the AI shit thread.

Perhaps the "best": https://web.archive.org/web/20120412195858/http://www.doomworld.com/vb/post-hell/22217-ralphisfor-my-sake-and-your-sake-read-this/ You can browse much of Post Hell here. Sort by thread starter to find particular users, such as The Big Robb, or Replies to find the ones that got the most attention.