I have just received word from a fan (who shall remain anonymous) that he has a broken mirror of the Triste Monde Tragique website. Is there any fan out there who can help this fan repair or convert this mirror? The fan has the capability to host the mirror on his/her own.

If so, I will get you in touch with this fan. Serious inquiries only. Send e-mail to cincgreen at yahoo d-o-t com and I'll forward your e-mails.

The French Daria website Triste Monde Tragique has now disappeared. If anyone can contact the site owner and ask what happened, or can recover the frame grabs that made that site such a wonderful resource, please let someone at the Daria Fandom Blog know.

Richard Lobinske completed "John Lane 10 - A Tale of Two Brains".
sleepless completed Part 7 of "Broken Connections".

Fan art: The Fashion Club by The Great Saiyaman.

The DVDaria Blog has updated. Check it out here .

sleepless completed Part 6 of "Broken Connections"

Added to Fanfiction.net:

Chapter 11 of "The Lawndale Factor" by FAH3

The Atlanta Dariacon is now completed. ahmygoddess posts his assessment of the proceedings here . Our hope is that we can have the Dariacon on a quarterly basis. (As Father Martin Sylvester said, "That's not a 'con, that's a regular society!").

Therefore, the goal is that the second meeting of the Atlanta Daria Appreciation Society will be sometime on a weekend in early December 2005. It will be a festive, Christmas-y kind of thing. (Incidentally, it is also Ruthless Bunny's birthday around that time of year. Cake will be served. Do NOT bring presents, but be prepared to eat too much cake.)

Those wishing to travel from far-away places, plan now. Since I don't know my December schedule, I don't want to set a fixed date until we get closer.

The current results of the Daria fandom survey at The Irony Maiden are located here . An interesting read.

At the PPMB:

Scissors MacGillicutty posted Chapter 7, Part 7 of "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her"?
Angelboy began Chapter 2 of "Dariatation".

coyote and Willow completed Chapter 6 of "How the Other Half Lives" at the hidden board of SFMB.

Added to Fanfiction.net:

Chapter 10 of "The Lawndale Factor" by FAH3.

Oh me oh my, a lovely day is dawning
Oh what a joy, I didn't wake up dead
So I can go to school and then resume my yawning
And get my sleep in class instead of in my bed

I know how you feel, dear. {sigh}

For three weeks, while enduring problems with both aging and brand-new computers, I've had not just "Daria," but "Daria!" (a.k.a. The Musical) running through my head.

Not, by the way, just "Gah! Gah! Dammit!" -- entirely appropriate, and a great sing-along release, when waiting for Windows XP to re-install for the umpteenth time. And not just being reminded of their getting overwrought about "the town blowing away," apropos of, sadly, Ms. Katrina making some towns actually do so.

It's a perfectly timed parody and a loving send-up of nearly every convention and trope of the Anglo-American musical theater. I'm amazed at how much Glenn Eichler and Peter Elwell, and the composers, were able to pack into it so deftly and so entertainingly. (See a fan's well-designed Web display, with many screenshots, of the full script.)

More to the point, it becomes ear candy, if you at all love musicals. And it's all original, to boot, more involving and challenging than Woody Allen's evoking of Tin Pan Alley standards in "Everyone Says I Love You," its obvious direct inspiration.

Pining dual soliloquies of Cosette and Eponine in "A Heart Full of Love" ("Les Misérables") ... Helen and Quinn in "I Can't Leave Yet." The "real" musical is one of my great loves, but I can't help laughing at the jab at such a song's over-baked sentimentality.

It should be obvious that I vehemently disagree with Ms. Geek, who at the time of her 1999 essay either didn't then appreciate the American musical, as such, or was being all too serious for her own good.

Being "real" is exactly what's suspended in the classic musical, where we hear the characters' inner thoughts. Doing this in animation means ranging over far more settings than even a live-action stage or movie production. That makes this not only hugely funny and evocative, but genuinely innovative.

Take that Computer Installation Theme Song, for example. ("Gah! Gah! Dammit!" was banned in Britain, by the way, one of the few major cuts they made -- unlike The N, but we won't get into that. As to who to thank Over Here about no "blasphemy" strictures, to quote Daria, "I think it was ... Jefferson.")

Not only does Jake get into his own world of frenzy on the freeway, but you SEE what's rattling around in his head, down (or up) to fearing his daughters have joined "that hev'n'ly choir." Wings on Daria and Quinn. How can you do that on stage? Okay, in the movies, with CGI effects, but there it's almost too artificial for its own good.

Kudos to whoever directed the voices. A perfect twist-bounce on that last phrase. Julian Rebolledo did Jake -- who has a huge role in this episode -- with verve and polish. Not a refined singing voice ... but if Woody Allen's actors could do it, why not? (It's more "real," anyway, Michelle.)

And any story with Jake saying "C'mon, Trent! Your daughter and my sister are out there" has to be within the top ten episodes as to unexpected dialogue. I'm howling with laughter just thinking about it.

I think I'm going to put on a DVD {ahem} ... gotta try out that new CD/DVD drive, anyway. What better way to break it in and to be "Manly"?

So for those who were fortunate enough to see it on MTV or who can {ahem again} put in a disk, what's your take on "The Musical"?

At the PPMB:

Mike Xeno posted Chapter 11 of "Sarcasm at 1600".
Richard Lobinske completed "Falling Into College 38: Lane Closure".
Richard Lobinske completed "First Summer 4: Driving Fear".

Added to Fanfiction.net:

Nine chapters of "The Reluctant Ringbearer: A Daria/LOTR Crossover" by Morfiwien Greenleaf
"Coffee Talk" by GGADDICT22
"Wicked Inspiration" by Eric Jablow

The graph speaks for itself.

From Kara Wild:

If you're wondering "What the f*ck is going on?", apparently the server company is switching a bunch of accounts on and off of the server for maintenance, and something went awry, accounting for the constant back and forth of the board messages here and at SFMB. Gamer has said that there may be one more 1-2 hour outage before all is back to normal. He has also said that if his company flakes out much more, he will switch so that we are no longer in old PPMB server territory. I suspect, the way things are going, that time might not be too far off.

Pages for Angelboy and cyke have been updated on SFMB.

CharlieGirl will be getting married one week from now.

At the PPMB:

Angelboy completed Chapter 1, Part 6 of "Dariatation".
Richard Lobinske completed Part 1 of "First Summer 4 - Driving Fear".
Richard Lobinske also completed Parts 2 and 3 of "Falling Into College 38 - Lane Closure".
Mike Xeno completed Part 10 of "Sarcasm at 1600".

Fan art: by nmorgendorffer.

Great. After three days, I'm finally ready to update the blog. And...PPMB is down. Which means SFMB is down, too.

I got nothin'. Except the following, which iS the roXXors.

Added to Fanfiction.net:

Chapter 17 of "Quiet Girl" by Sleepy Lotus
Chapter 12 of "The Tides Have Changed" by CharmedFan232 (Note: Author warns that she will not update if she receives negative reviews.)
Chapter 9 of "The Lawndale Factor" by FAH3.

Still in Kentucky. Had to hold off on visiting Kentucky for one day due to a massive leak on the second floor of our apartment building that threatened to flood our basement apartment.

Back tomorrow.

Regarding the Georgia Dariacon.

Date: Saturday, August 27, 2005
Time: Not yet fixed. We're thinking about 5 PM.
Attending: CINCGREEN, Ruthless Bunny, E. A. Smith, kaimelarfeylove

Apologies to nmorgendorffer, Father Martin, Dr. Mike, the Bug Guy, and medea42 (Di) for putting this together so quickly. However, we expect other Dariacons in the future and you'll get more notice. The open invite, however, still remains. (And I'll get the address to TAFKA sooner or later.)

Posting may be sporadic for the next three days as I'll be in Kentucky. Greybird is having computer problems and he might not be able to pick up the slack.

Kristen Bealer has finished her move.

Added to the PPMB:

sleepless completed Part 4 of "Broken Connections".
sleepless ALSO completed Chapter 32 of "Yuki-Onna".
Angelboy completed Chapters 4 and 5 of "Dariatation".

Added to the SFMB:

Roentgen completed Chapter 5.2 of "Legion of Lawndale Heroes".

I was very happy to meet Daria fan E. A. Smith yesterday. As a result of that meeting, my wife and I have decided to hold a mini-Dariacon in Atlanta, GA approximately two weeks from now. It will be on a Saturday, at our apartment. Time is yet to be determined. All are invited. For more information, contact cincgreen@yahoo.com. The current list of attendees are:

me (CINCGREEN)
my wife (Ruthless Bunny)
E. A. Smith

and we hope to have more. I don't know if we'll be able to meet the standard that ahmygoddess and Deref set in Georgia, but we'll definitely try to!

Diane Long dropped back in to visit the PPMB.

At the PPMB:

Angelboy completed Chapter 1, Parts 1 and 2 of "Dariatation".
Nemo Blank completed a new chapter of "Careful What You Wish For".
DJW completed Chapter 5 of "The Dammitall Run".

At the SFMB:

Napalm Kracken completed a new segment of "Daria Disenfranchised".

Screen shot: the Morgendorffer spare bedroom.

Just asking.

DJW completed Chapter 5 of "The Dammitall Run".

Added to Fanfiction.net:

Chapter 14 of "Quiet Girl" by SleepyLotus
Chapter 5 of "The Lawndale Factor" by FAH

Back from Vegas: however, since I was only able to check my mail one time, was unable to take the advice regarding blackjack. Then again, there's always 2006.

Outpost Daria updated August 12, 2005. Click here to see what's new.

Sick Sad World updated August 7, 2005. Click here to see what's new.

A list of the new moderators on PPMB:

nmorgendorffer: full moderator for PPMB and special moderator for the Spanish language forum.
Mr. Orange, TerraEsperZ: special moderators for the French language forum.

Newlyweds Kristen and Bryan are "on the move" today. Wish them luck.

The first part of E. A. Smith's interview with Steven Galloway has been posted.

A Dariacon is being planned for January 2006 at Los Angeles, California by Ms. Geek. Go here for details.

At the PPMB:

Kara Wild completed Episode 21 ("Into the Fire") of the "Driven Wild" Universe.
Richard Lobinske completed "John Lane 9 - Good Art Hunting".
The "Daria's Popular" fanfic continues here . It is a shared story where anyone can contribute.
cyke completed Part 6 of "New Masters of the Universe".
Scissors MacGillicutty completed Chapter 7, Part 6 of "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her?"
sleepless completed Part 3 of "Broken Connections".

At the SFMB:

Napalm Kracken completed more chapters of "Daria Disenfranchised".
Ray completed Part 19 of "Tyrant's Coronations".

Added to Fanfiction.net

"What Eye's Don't See" by bjorkChild
Chapter 4 of "The Lawndale Factor" by FAH3

Fan art: Quinn as a French maid. (Go here to DeviantArt.)

Off to Vegas today. Be back on Friday.

A new link has been added to the Daria Encyclopedia 1.0 at the left side. The old link wasn't working. [Monday evening: The link was changed again, per note posted in comments. Not yet tested. ~ Greybird]

At the PPMB:

The International Forums have now been opened. (Obviously, the Daria Fandom Blog won't be covering changes on those boards, je ne lis pas Francais.) [German may be another matter, one day ... ich spreche Deutsch. {g} ~ Greybird]

sleepless completed Part One of "Broken Connections".

Richard Lobinske completed Part 3 of "John Lane 9 - Good Art Hunting".

At the SFMB:

Napalm Kracken completed a new part of "Daria Disenfranchised".

Added to Fanfiction.net:

Chapter 2 of "The Lawndale Factor" by FAH3.

At the PPMB:

greystar completed Chapter 11 of "Daria 3059". (Heads up to The Angst Guy for catching the misattribution.)

Richard Lobinske completed Part 2 of "John Lane 9 - Good Art Hunting".

An interesting graph from thsutton of The Angst Guy's literary productivity.

Fan art -- by Richard Lobinske, of Daria as a waitress (I like the one before he corrected it, so I'll use the earlier one):

The framework for two International Daria Forums, one in Spanish and one in French, has been created at the PPMB. As soon as moderators are added, the forums will be activated.

E.A. Smith will be interviewing Steven Galloway about "Revelations" in the near future.

At the PPMB:

Scissors MacGillicutty completed Chapter 7, Part 5 of "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her?"

Richard Lobinske completed Part 1 of "John Lane 9 - Good Art Hunting".

Fan art -- by SRA:

Can you identify the man on the right - and was he the model for Trent Lane?

Reminders are up all over about sending in nominations for the Booties fan-works awards. Use the link at left to avoid the year-end rush and the vagaries of memory about the first half of the year ... after all, can't "Daria" fen do better than the Academy does with the early Oscar-worthy films?

Deref, in Australia, had his stomach surgery on Wednesday and hopes to be back on line well before the end of the week. With about two weeks to sit around and write Dariafic, he says, while sipping his (zero-proof!) liquid diet. Send him ideas and best wishes on the "Last Supper" thread at PPMB or the get-well thread at SFMB.

At PPMB:

~ TAG's "Darkness" serial has concluded its allusion-fest after 13 parts. Fan art of one of his characters has already been created by Ranger Thorne, as well.

~ Revived interest in a "Haiku by Daria" thread.

~ Gregor Samsa posted "A Means to an Endgame: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts." (Or: "Waiting for Quinnot." Funnier than Beckett's concoctions, certainly.)

~ Gregor has also found for us the "uncut" version of Daria's graduation speech, if you can endure it!

~ Scissors' "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her?" is up to Part 7.

~ A new Iron Chef crosses "Daria" with "The Incredibles." Ultra-sleeping powers, Jake?

~ New fan art for Greystar's "Daria: 3059" (by Ranchoth and RL, and I'll bet those ARE the same boots) and RLobinske's "Three" (by the author) has been posted.

~ A fairly intricate fan-art challenge asks for "Daria" cast to be interpreted as characters from the "Final Fantasy" hyperrealistic game series.

~ The Paperpusher site reached a milestone, of sorts, when it got a warning about having used 80 percent of its allotted amount of file traffic for July. Fortunately, this came on 30 July, so it still has some room to grow.

~ "The Ultimate 'Daria' Test," 30 questions about the series, has taken hold of dozens thus far. Personal ratings results, in five categories from clueless "Tiffany"s to informed "Daria"s, are posted in "Mass Distraction."

At SFMB:

~ Isa Yo-Jo has new art showing "Dhampir," a vampire in a fanfic by Sleepless.

~ Tafka's art challenges are generating considerable, sometimes heated, "side discussion."

~ Ranger Thorne designed a logo for his "Daria's Web" series.

And now, follow Daria's and Jane's lead to cool off in this heat. Wash some cars!



By Liliane Grenier, for "The Lost Seasons: All Washed Up"

To Daria fan Mr. Anonymous, whose father passed away today. Send his family your thoughts, and if you're a religious person, send them your prayers.