Author Archive | Mark A. Rayner

Idioms Explained


In 1910 NorskeRail implements a revolutionary electric rail system throughout the country, and puts itself at the forefront of world railroad technologies.

In 1911 they implement a plan to use low-frequency soundwaves to break up snowbanks, so power is not wasted. A generation of young musically inclined men join up in the heroic struggle against the snow. The entire country is soon horrified by the physics of high-impact tuba-snow collisions on human flesh, but in typical Nordic fashion they respond with black humor, telling a series “flatter than a Norwegian tuba” jokes.

Alltop sings flatter than a Norwegian tuba. Photo via Buzzfeed.

Fiction Fridays: The Skunk Incident

Skunk getting readyby John Sloan, TGCS

Two skunks converse, early Saturday morning outside a certain blogger’s house:
” So, the guy . . .”

“Yeah.”

“The guy on the porch”

“Yeah”

“He sees me there.”

“Uh huh.”

“And he starts waiving his elbows at me.”

“His what?”

“His elbows. You know. Where their arms bend.”

“I know what elbows are. What I don’t get is why he’d point them at you. They don’t do anything, well, other than make their arms bend.”

“Beats the hell out of me. I just kind of froze.”

“What he do next.”

“Came right at me with his elbows up.”

“He say anything?”

“Yeah, something like “see if you can get your jaws around this, evil beast.”

“Evil beast?”

“Go figure.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of weird.”

“And the elbows aren’t weird”

“Good point.”

“So what did he say?”

“Well it sounded like . . . ”

“Yeah?”

“It sounded like: “I’m Batman.”

“No shit.”

“Yeah.”

“They say the damndest things sometimes, eh.”

“Yeah.”

“So, did you do ’em.”

“Christ yeah.”

“Not much choice, eh?”

“Nope.”

The End

About the Author:

John Sloan exists in both cyberspace (where he is a “Thuder” Gott) and within standard space-time (where he is a “lead analyst“, writer, funny man, and keen observer of his idiot friends.) This story was inspired by a certain blogger, excessive alcohol intake at a meeting of The Emily Chesley Reading Circle, and the blogger’s recounting of a 70s-era Batman cartoon in which the Dark Knight defeats a panther (or maybe a jaguar) by shoving his elbow into its mouth and dislocating its jaw. This was somehow important to the blogger for some reason which is fuzzy now.

Alltop is skunk-proof because of its knees. Skunk photo by fieldsbh. Originally published April, 2007.

Ask General Kang: How do you choose a new leader?

Ask General KangWell, on my home planet of Neecknaw, this is a simple affair. The new leader chooses himself.

Or herself. But we haven’t had a female leader since the Gloomy Ages (the interstitial period between the Dark Ages and the Time of Light) when the orangutan giantess Slothia sat on the preceding and diminutive warlord, Marmostak the Mighty. (Marmostak the Mighty Small the followers of Slothia called him.)

But you’re probably asking because of the upcoming so-called “elections” you are holding in the “democracies” of the large landmass you call “North America”. I think the political theatre you have invented is quite fine, actually, though it lacks a certain martial elan that we on the Planet Neecknaw like to see in our leadership hopefuls.

So in that spirit, I would like to suggest that in lieu of your “elections”, you should have some kind of television show in which the leaders of your political “parties” eliminate one another in gruesome (and entertaining) ways. Because you humans value guile and low cunning as much as the simian population of Neecknaw, I’d recommend something that compensates for brute strength alone — I’m open to suggestions in the comments. (Otherwise, I’m pretty sure Elizabeth May will have an unfair advantage over the other sissified leaders of Canadian political parties, and this should also make the next US election more interesting to watch too, though they are already pretty bloody.)

Next time: In space, nobody can hear you scream, but if an alien is laying eggs in your Captain’s cranium, you’re still ABLE to scream, right?

An elimination match will now ensue between alltop and itself.

This would make BioShock even more tragic

First Person Shooter mod that humanizes the dead

One of the things I like about BioShock (both I & II) is the sad little human touches in the game, such as the story about Masha and her parents. (Whom you may find, dead, in their hotel room after they discover that Masha is a little sister.)

[bam] In Paris, once shared a bowl of soup (and its cook) with Ernest Hemingway

[bam] Prefers broccoli to cauliflower, but only on Wednesdays

[bam] Started splicing up because of peer pressure and his big ears

Something for the developers to consider as they work on BioShock III (they are, aren’t they?)

Alltop doesn’t know what a first person shooter [wiki] is, but it knows first person funnies.

Why are you feeling sad for the computer?

cartoon explaining why you shouldn't have your brain downloaded
That’s assuming it’s even possible to download our “brains” — i.e., consciousnesses. Given the state of modern software, I sure wouldn’t want to trust my existence to the process. What if the download goes wrong? What if the server goes offline while I’m in the middle of the download?

What if I’m using WINDOWS?

It’s just to scary to contemplate.

Alltop is a giant humor consciousness.

Humans invented tools for the convenience


just downloaded his brain

look what zog doMany believe the human species is the only one which uses tools. This is not true. There are many other species that have been identified as using tools, including: otters, chimps, bonobos, elephants, octopuses and ravens.

Humans are the first species to invent tools because we’re lazy. Initially, tool use was important for our survival. As noted in the cartoon to the right “… by Gary Larson, more complex inventions began to be developed. I must note that this cartoon is technically inaccurate. Spectacles had not been invented at that time, and would not be until just before the Renaissance, around the late 14th century CE.” [adam blatner]

Eventually, we got around to creating really great inventions of convenience, such as bows and arrows, soup and of course, the Internet. This marvelous invention helps maximize our convenience, but sometimes even that is not enough.

how many clicks to donate

Alltop is a convenient stop for humor, but there’s too much scrolling to find The Skwib.