Clan ubik

I’m sure most of you know the graphic novel (if you don’t you need to read a copy now!)

With the film due for release next month, I though I would post up the trailer. Lets hope the film is as good as the trailer suggests. A bad film version of Watchmen would be like a bad version of ubik, and nobody wants that.

Here is an intersting page from the Darrouzet-Nardi book club, they are discussing the ideas in Philip K Dick’s novel “ubik”. If you have read ubik (I have just recently read it again) check out this page and revisit the novel through the book club discussion.

Here is the url: http://www.darrouzet-nardi.net/ubik.html

To quote Anthony:

“I finished Ubik. To be honest, I didn’t expect myself to finish so soon, but the closer I got to the end, the less I could put the book down because I was so curious as to what was going to happen. The book had a lot of interesting language and I thought I would share this Ubiktionary I assembled. These are vocabulary words that appeared in Ubik that I looked up. Perhaps this wordlist will be useful and at the very least, you learn some new words…

WORDS I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BUT DIDN’T!

stultify (p. 26) v:
1: prove to be of unsound mind or demonstrate someone’s incompetence
2: cause to appear foolish
3: deprive of strength or efficiency

somnambulate (p. 74) v: To walk in one’s sleep. Derivative: somnambulant

salacious (p. 77) adj: 1: characterized by lust

sallow (p. 78) adj: unhealthy looking

variegated (p. 93) adj: having a variety of colors

sedulous (p. 142) adj: marked by care and persistent effort

rococo (p. 163) adj: having excessive asymmetrical ornamentation

lithely (p. 173) adv: In a lithe, pliant, or flexible manner.

INTERESTING WORDS I WOULD NOT HAVE EXPECTED MYSELF TO KNOW

miasma (p. 25) n:
1: an unwholesome atmosphere
2: unhealthy vapors rising from the ground or other sources

taradiddle (p. 26) n:
1: a trivial lie
2: pretentious or silly talk or writing

numismatical (p. 88) adj:
1. of or pertaining to coins; relating to the science of coins
2. or medals.

atavism (p. 201) n: a reappearance of an earlier characteristic

vitalic (p. 79) adj: pertaining to life; vital. (I guess this is obvious, but still unusual)

WEIRD CLOTHING AND OBJECTS

cravat (p. 7) n: neckwear worn in a slipknot with long ends overlapping vertically in front

mantilla (p. 52) n:
1: a woman’s silk or lace scarf
2: short cape worn by women [syn: mantelet]

dirndl (p. 58)n:
1: a full skirt with a gathered waistband
2: a dress with a tight bodice and full skirt

snood (p. 58) n: an ornamental net in the shape of a bag that confines a woman’s hair; pins or ties at the back of the head

ingot (p. 172) n: a block of metal that is cast in a particular shape for convenient handling

spansule (p. 191) n: time-release capsule of a drug (definition scavenged from the net)

WORDS THAT AREN’T IN THE DICTIONARY!

blurple (p. 144) “The old Curtiss-Wright biplane blurpled on…”
I think Dick invented this as an onomatopoeia.

grunk (p. 50)
Term of derision (found only in the PKDictionary)

nurt (p. 59) Expletive: (found in PKDictionary, so these ones are probably coined slang. I wonder if Dick made them up or if he used them with people he knew)

monad turret (p. 81)
This is a weird one. I looked up monad:
monad n:
1: an atom having a valence of one
2: a singular metaphysical entity from which material properties are said to derive
So, perhaps this is some kind of machine that looks like a turret and functions kind of like a replicator in Star Trek?

swizer (p. 167)
bleh?

ergic (p. 195)
bleh? (interpretations welcome for these last two)

And I probably missed some. Enjoy the rest of Ubik. (Or maybe you guys are done too?)”

New ubik T's in stock now!

Post in  our general forums if you are interested in grabbing one of these great quality T’s. Stocks are limited, and as in every shirt run, this design will not be repeated. Clan members can post on the order thread in private chat.

Four Australian teenagers were charged Thursday with attacking an almost blind greater flamingo that is believed to be the oldest bird of its kind in the world, police and zoo officials said.The flamingo’s head and beak were injured and it was bleeding from an eye after the attack at Adelaide Zoo that left it in a critical condition, zoo staff said.

“The bird arrived at the zoo in 1933 and was a mature bird at that stage,” a spokeswoman for the zoo told AFP. “So although we don’t know it’s exact age it is at least 75 years old — much older than they grow in the wild.”

The zoo’s website describes the bird as “undoubtedly the oldest flamingo in the world,” adding that despite its great age its quality of life was very good.

Police said four men aged between 17 and 19 were charged with aggravated ill-treatment of an animal and released on bail to appear in court at a later date.

Several people at the zoo at the time of the attack had spoken about the incident with staff and officers wanted to interview them, a spokesman said.

The elderly bird, described as unafraid of humans, had a habit of coming close to the edge of his enclosure.

Known only as Flamingo One, he was sedated after the attack and was taken to the animal hospital where his condition was reported to be improving.

“He’s just an icon, he’s the oldest resident of the zoo, he’s just a symbol of the beauty of nature,” said the zoo’s chief executive Chris West.

Zoo officials said the shocking attack had left them concerned for the wellbeing of a second flamingo — the older bird’s only companion for more than 50 years.

Adelaide Zoo

Looks like us poor Aussie’s are going to have our internet censored.
What this meens to you is it will become difficult to view certain websites,and internet speeds as a whole will be slowed down.
Do visit http://nocleanfeed.com/ for more info and to see what you can do to stop this rubbish from coming into effect.