tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post8233652590544572202..comments2024-03-28T22:00:35.840-07:00Comments on Playing D&D With Porn Stars: Snakes Are BooksZak Sabbathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-15279439953254494022017-09-26T08:45:04.425-07:002017-09-26T08:45:04.425-07:00Necrocommenting here to say that this is just an a...Necrocommenting here to say that this is just an awesome idea. I'm a lifelong gamer with a bunch of pet snakes ... if/when I run a game again, this is SO going in my world.<br /><br />I wonder what a fossorial species like my Pueblan milk snake would be? A book on the secrets of the underworld? And corn snakes are bred in all sorts of color and pattern morphs. Would the more colorful ones be less cliched books? Or more commercial, like the endless riffs on some given popular thriller? Oh, I can totally run with this idea.<br /><br />This is a great concept because it's such a good gaming use for the common belief (well, in cultures that aren't ours) that snakes are guardians of secret wisdom. One aspect of my games has always been that things that people believe, but aren't actually real -- the existence of dragons, for instance -- *are* real in the game. So in-game versions of real-world beliefs. This is a perfect part of that.<br /><br />That Pueblan milk snake ... he's never hissed. (doesn't even want anyone to see him opening his mouth when he eats -- he takes his food into his hide box) Definitely a secret book of some sort, you'd have to read him to even know the title. I love it!Worldwalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11090197651433328167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-78947867387978315602011-06-03T07:56:18.376-07:002011-06-03T07:56:18.376-07:00This is one of the greatest things I've ever r...This is one of the greatest things I've ever read.<br /><br />That is all.Justin S. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14881276106170920830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-51867631184567824382010-07-05T23:16:44.943-07:002010-07-05T23:16:44.943-07:00Copperheads would be books about whiskey like;
Th...Copperheads would be books about whiskey like;<br /><br />The Art of Whiskey<br /><br />Collins pocket reference on Whiskey <br /><br />The Malt Whiskey Almanac<br /><br />The Complete guide to Whiskey<br /><br />The Original Malt Whiskey AlmanacMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02112589703613958246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-7803072054226857742010-06-01T18:43:25.338-07:002010-06-01T18:43:25.338-07:00Well, as usual a few days behind but I have say, t...Well, as usual a few days behind but I have say, this post is just dripping with the awesome sauce. Very nice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-53591253027286077612010-05-30T23:38:02.371-07:002010-05-30T23:38:02.371-07:00Interestingly, this blog post is the only Google h...Interestingly, this blog post is the only Google hit for 'ophdiobibliologists'.alficleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12910642925875529785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-19995061224797777302010-05-23T21:31:33.372-07:002010-05-23T21:31:33.372-07:00Why do snakes shed their skin? If every snake is a...Why do snakes shed their skin? If every snake is a book, every snake is also a palimpsest: a manuscript that is reused after it has been scraped clean. <br /><br />Also "palimpssessst" would be a creepy word to hiss in a snake voice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-29312415181877692642010-05-22T23:11:46.259-07:002010-05-22T23:11:46.259-07:00Legless lizards are those fake, hollow books used ...Legless lizards are those fake, hollow books used for hiding treasures, or secrets, or whisky (which sometimes comprises the former two).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630048361834274170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-34330002463695498832010-05-22T15:44:06.552-07:002010-05-22T15:44:06.552-07:00Ronson, wouldn't Nature know that the Earth wa...Ronson, wouldn't Nature know that the Earth was not flat? Or that the stars are suns and not beings? Truth, magic and even poetry require no further thought but the vast majority of books say as much about the author's incompetence as the subject at hand so Im wondering are there flawed minds behind the books. If not then is Nature lying or mischievous or condescending in its snake books?Kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165997449776226774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-65565219671113387792010-05-22T13:25:46.168-07:002010-05-22T13:25:46.168-07:00Kent, to say that snakes are books is not to say t...Kent, to say that snakes are books is not to say that they are accurate, comprehensive or complete in their descriptions of the world. If snakes are indeed Nature's monologue with itself, as Zak hypothesizes, then it follows that they represent an ever changing, self-contradictory flow of consciousness. As such, it is never complete or "true" in any absolute sense. (Many Librarians consider this notion to be blasphemy, but there you go.)Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923665112760189285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-6477143277780951702010-05-22T10:39:22.120-07:002010-05-22T10:39:22.120-07:00Thus St.Patrick was primarily about book burning a...Thus St.Patrick was primarily about book burning and destroying the old knowledge, through the removal of snakes and the increase in alcohol!Zzarchovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07714805545939725730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-65191736101107842752010-05-22T07:54:18.739-07:002010-05-22T07:54:18.739-07:00Interesting. Is there a mind or minds behind the w...Interesting. Is there a mind or minds behind the works of a species or is there some larger mystery here. Who actually traveled and studied landscapes for maps for the travelogue? Is the garter snake's cookbook in the local language, considerate of locally available foodstuffs and sensitive to the human palate? <br /><br />Taking natural philosophy as an example, Truth it is possible to imagine emerging from these biological factories and that would put an end to the question but science does not leap at the truth but presents increased understanding over time with much premature flawed speculation and competing theories. So if not simple truths how to account for the flaws? Who conducts the experiments?Kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165997449776226774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-67664116342619636972010-05-22T05:44:41.385-07:002010-05-22T05:44:41.385-07:00Snakes are books. As to why this is so, snakes the...Snakes are books. As to why this is so, snakes themselves consider the question meaningless. Snakes are books; this is a self-evident tautology, like "light is not dark" and "2+2=4". The only ones who give the matter any thought are rattlesnakes, who are infamous for producing lengthy treatises on trivial matters.<br /><br />Most snakes concur that it was reptiles who taught humans to use letters, indeed language, in the first place. Several major religions also teach that a serpent taught the first humans to think abstractly, thereby allowing them to separate signs from things signified, and thus making them able to choose between good and evil.Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923665112760189285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-45583295398575178182010-05-22T02:59:42.276-07:002010-05-22T02:59:42.276-07:00Snakes are, for the most part, literary perfection...Snakes are, for the most part, literary perfectionists. "Moulting" is their way of revising themselves. They are perfectly happy to let their discarded skins/drafts lie and rot on the ground, since it's just rubbish anyway. <br /><br />Some say owls are Nature's critics, killing snakes that they find lacking in literary quality.Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923665112760189285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-35424515817723254772010-05-21T18:42:39.908-07:002010-05-21T18:42:39.908-07:00If it were me, I would say each type of snake is a...If it were me, I would say each type of snake is a single book, so that each one can be sacred and powerful. The corn snake, too, has a secret wisdom.<br /><br />I would say that, because I am a fan of "The Writing of the God" by Jorge Luis Borges, where an imprisoned Aztec priest attempts to decipher a powerful message he comes to believe a god left in the labrynthine patterns of the jaguar's skin.<br /><br />"To say 'the jaguar' is to say all the jaguars that engendered it, the deer and the turtles it has devoured, the grass that fed the deer, the earth that was mother to the grass, the sky that gave light to the earth. I reflected that tin the language of a god every word would speak that infinite concatenation of events, and not implicitly but explicitly, and not linearly but instantaneously."Nick Novitskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08863651199447917923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-47990091517080132652010-05-21T16:38:16.192-07:002010-05-21T16:38:16.192-07:00With regard to the question of moulting, I'd g...With regard to the question of moulting, I'd guess that would be something like an editorial revision of the work. Also, as snakes grow continuously throughout their lives, I'd imagine that means their book would be ever longer as well. More volumes added, that kind of thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-137483351517714502010-05-21T15:31:51.610-07:002010-05-21T15:31:51.610-07:00Eberron's draconic prophecy takes on a whole n...Eberron's draconic prophecy takes on a whole new aspect. :)<br />-blargKevin Savagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09493766672847144512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-3604732727479397822010-05-21T14:49:13.283-07:002010-05-21T14:49:13.283-07:00Gene Wolfe, John Crowley, and Borges all wish they...Gene Wolfe, John Crowley, and Borges all wish they were you right now. Yes, I know that <br />Master Ultan died quite some time ago. No matter.Adam Thorntonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06368676086759298705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-39319670947448731542010-05-21T09:40:49.597-07:002010-05-21T09:40:49.597-07:00That's just freakin' brilliant! Wow.That's just freakin' brilliant! Wow.Christopher A. Huffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03293477685652366827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-74843109867127670452010-05-21T08:27:57.235-07:002010-05-21T08:27:57.235-07:00Neat. Check out these rattle-snakeskin boots of mi...Neat. Check out these rattle-snakeskin boots of mine btw. They tell the story of how the West was won. :)ze bulettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603716850479808633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-26162443930858108502010-05-21T07:40:48.123-07:002010-05-21T07:40:48.123-07:00Cool idea! Yoinked.Cool idea! Yoinked.Johnn Fourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01454767774433932567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-13424518752545411972010-05-21T06:12:41.500-07:002010-05-21T06:12:41.500-07:00i assume that an idea this intriguingly brilliant ...i assume that an idea this intriguingly brilliant must be true.<br /><br />in "real" life.<br /><br />i'm going to look for snakes now...brink.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11853174644865187939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-17896073945214439172010-05-21T05:45:00.771-07:002010-05-21T05:45:00.771-07:00I venture chimerae, cockatrice and similar mash-up...I venture chimerae, cockatrice and similar mash-ups are the Joyces and Pynchons of ophdiobibliography. Their reading requires effort and an open mind, but is rewarding for those brave enough to persevere.<br /><br />Cobras are fantastic and occasionally lurid tales of exotic locals where alliances shift with the sands, full of d'jinn... wait, too top-heavy, never mind.Chris Lowrancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14261681408965717414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-18863777132632572122010-05-21T04:25:31.460-07:002010-05-21T04:25:31.460-07:00What about chimerae?What about chimerae?Erin Palettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09984632637166408245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-25349189643462531722010-05-21T02:56:26.434-07:002010-05-21T02:56:26.434-07:00Consider this stolen... :-)Consider this stolen... :-)Bardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06020447449864895480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-21839815553977441662010-05-21T02:08:00.225-07:002010-05-21T02:08:00.225-07:00a great concept!
what about moulting though? do t...a great concept!<br /><br />what about moulting though? do they do it to share their lore? or is it a dicarded effort no longer valuable? is a shed skin still readable?<br /><br />and my most important question:<br />why are they books? gods? bio-engineering (who did it?)? evolution (like the backwards speaking gobbos)? conscious effort of "nature"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com