May 01
In Vonda McIntyre’s novel Dreamsnake a herpetologist/healer (also, rather creatively, named Snake) on a post-apocalyptic Earth relies on Mist, an albino cobra, Sand, a rattlesnake, and Grass, an alien creature that resembles a snake, to cure the patients she meets. By feeding them different chemical concoctions, their venom becomes a means of healing rather …
Apr 16
I was lucky enough to visit Notre Dame cathedral as a child. It was August, the time when Parisians traditionally took their own vacations, and the city was quieter than it normally was. I went with my mom and dad. I remember it being shadowy and cool inside, the noises muffled. It seemed impossibly high. …
Mar 20
BIG NEWS from the whale world! A group of cetacean experts identified and took a DNA sample from a mysterious sub-group of killer whales living in the Southern Hemisphere. The mysterious whales, called Type D, have been photographed in recent years, but not studied. They are slightly smaller than genotype species and have a tiny, …
Mar 18
Jan 30
Pokemon (short for Poketto Monsuta, Japanese for Pocket Monsters) began life as a video game originally designated for the Nintendo Gameboy. Its creator, Satoshi Tajiri, was inspired by his childhood hobby of collecting insects. Throughout Pokemon’s tenure as a video game, trading card, manga, anime, and now, cell phone app, the theme of creature collection, …
Jan 07
Life on other planets follows rules we may not expect, like this filter-feeding leviathan-behemoth from the Cygnus 3 system.
Dec 30
Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea by Katherine Harmon Courage Current, Penguin Group, 2013 [Substitution: Challenge # 31: Nonfiction of any kind] I was having a lot of trouble finishing Undead Worlds, the collection of zombie short stories I intended as Challenge # 8, because it was only on my iPad and my …
Dec 26
There are the cheery, upbeat elves who help Santa in his workshop, then there are those other kind. The ones no one talks about. Both came from the same roots, yet one creature was sanitized, the other morphed into Krampus and the servants of Krampus. Here are some names for them. Santa’s Bad Elves …
Dec 24
Since the 18th century, when images of Santa Claus began to be disseminated through newspapers, books, and periodicals, his appearance has changed quite a bit. Often those earlier depictions are a tad grotesque, as much for what was considered appealing at the time as the skill of the artist and the means of reproduction. When …
Dec 19
Hard as it is to believe, Santa Claus did not always have elves for sidekicks. That tradition came from 19th century Scandinavia and drew on the deeper pagan roots of Northern Europe. Elves, pooka, fairies, and the like were all part of a greater folklore of diminuitive, humanlike creatures that lived alongside humans, often in …
