Eternal Sunshine #178

March 2024

By Douglas Kent - 911 Irene Drive, Mesquite, TX 75149

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/270968112943024/ or on the web at http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/. Follow on Twitter at @EternalSunshDip. Also be sure to visit the official Diplomacy World website at http://www.diplomacyworld.net.

Sign up for the Eternal Sunshine Mailing List at https://mailchi.mp/45376bbd05df/eternalsunshine

Check out my eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/dougsrarebooksandmore

Quote of The Month – “She’s dead. Wrapped in plastic.” – (Pete in “Twin Peaks”)

Welcome to Eternal Sunshine, the zine that most closely resembles a cockroach. Just when you think it is completely dead, it twitches its leg or waves its antenna to show it can still potentially crawl up your leg. Be afraid, be very afraid. And no, I am not even remotely suggesting that the zine isn’t folding. But you still need to squish it with a shoe and wipe up the explosion of guts.

Aside from this zine getting one month closer to folding, the big news for me has to do with my recent efforts with local theater. A friend has been trying to encourage me to get involved with some of the groups in the Dallas region, but until January I hadn’t done anything about it. One company has resumed their annual “10-minute Comedies” competition, and at her urging I volunteered to come to a table read where they were determining which of the finalists they’d be selecting for actual production. I had a pretty good time, and through my friend I was told that I “read well.”

With that in mind, I signed up to audition for the final group of 10-minute plays. They’re putting om eleven of the plays, and the audition process was much different than usual, with eight of the directors in one room all watching every audition (plus video recordings for the three who could not attend that day). I was asked to read for three parts, and while I wasn’t thrilled with how I did, I think there were some positives in my performances. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any of those roles, or any other ones. I was able to console myself with the knowledge that there really weren’t very many parts available for males of my age; most roles were for men under 40, or over 60. One of the parts I read for was actually a 30-something son, where I’d thought I might read for the father. In many respects I appear young for my age, so I guess it’s natural to try and cast me for slightly younger roles and avoid ones for those older than me. I made it a point to contact the three directors who had asked me to read o thank them for the opportunity (which was sincere; there were under no obligation to have me read, and one actually asked me to read the part twice). They all had kind things to say, which I choose to think were at least partially true.

I next set my sights on an audition in late March for an old-style English farce (originally written in the 1920’s). And after that, a much more modern play that I really want to get a role in…snagging that role will be difficult but it’s definitely the one I really am most interested in. But on President’s Day, I happened to see an audition notice for that evening at the local Mesquite playhouse for a play I’d never heard of. I’m sure they must have promoted this audition earlier, but I never saw it until that morning. On a lark I decided I’d read through the sides (the short passages they’d be asking people to perform) and sign up to audition. If nothing else, I figured it would be good experience; the more auditions, the better.

I expressed interest in being considered for any of the three male roles, and was told I’d be asked to read for two of them. I was the second person called in to read, and did the two sides for one of the characters. When I finished, I was told to wait out in the lobby and I’d be called back to read for another role. After about ten minutes someone came out and told me they were done with me and I could leave. I felt like I’d done well during my audition, so I admit this was a bit of a downer. At the very least I felt I’d earned a second read for one of the other roles. I shook it off, but the next morning I was still feeling negative but – after all – rejection is a huge part of it so I would just look ahead to the next audition and move on.

And then, while at work the following day, I get a voicemail on my phone (which is notorious for not ringing when I’m at the office…maybe the building is made of lead or something). I’d been offered the part of TJ (what is in effect the lead role), the one I read for before I was sent home. Of course, I accepted (I had to hurry, what if they realized their mistake hahahahaha?). And now, about four rehearsals in, I can actually see how things are going to take shape.

So, if you’re going to be in the Dallas area in April and want to come see me make an ass of myself, you can buy tickets to see Beer for Breakfast at the Mesquite Arts Theatre. Shows are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. You can get the details and buy tickets at: https://mesquiteartstheatre.org/

I guess that’s it from me for now. See you in April!

Game Openings

No game openings, as the zine will fold when the currently-running games are completed.

Standby List: Current standby list who are qualified to standby in More Than Ever: Harold Reynolds.

The Dining Dead – Eternal Sunshine Movie Reviews

With rehearsals and script reading, I haven’t had time to watch many movies. Even ones I’ve seen many times.

Older Movies Watched (that I’ve seen before, sometimes many times) – Red Rock West, To Die For, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Twin Peaks (the series), Lincoln, Anatomy of a Murder, Rosemary’s Baby.

Out of the WAY #66

by W. Andrew York

(wandrew88 of gmail.com)

Howdy!

Hangman is solved, Dane figures the word out (and the entire definition)! Which leads to him being the overall winner of Game 2, having solved all five words. Congrats!

So, games in here have concluded as Doug moves towards the end of his monthly publishing efforts. I do plan on submitted something each month until ES ends, so LOCs or other bits from the readers are welcome. I’ll still include book reviews (presuming I finish any – this was another month that no books were finished) and might even have bits and pieces of other things included.

If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts on the Hangman game, or for Facts in Five for that matter, I’d like to hear them. That way, if I do resurrect things in the future, I can consider incorporating potential improvements or in filing down some rough edges for future players.

Around here, Spring has arrived and with it the annual SXSW festival. I’m going to a couple small things this weekend and have signed up for a few day parties next week. However, I’m not planning to go to any of the big events or things that you need a wrist band (can be quiet pricy), and have no interest in late nights downtown with drunken music crowds. The festival is streaming some of the speeches and interviews, so may watch some of those. I’m also considering some film screenings being held outside of the downtown area

By the next issue, baseball will have started – looking forward to a great season for the Round Rock Express! There are big hopes that the Rangers will repeat as World Series Champions, but I think the Dodgers are the team to beat this year (and next, and, next, and…),

Plus, the eclipse will have happened. Expectations are that the visitors may double the size of the Austin area (which would be another million+). Counties are declaring Disaster Declarations already to be prepared to manage crowds, traffic and any emergency situations. One county north of here is recommending their residents to stock up on food and supplies beforehand to be prepared in the event travel becomes difficult or if stores’ inventories are bought up be visitors.

Did see Dune 2 last night, tried to go to the big IMAX screen but it was sold out. From talking to the folks selling the tickets, all IMAX screenings are sold out through the 16^th with some shows selling out within hours of going on sale. So, we went to a regular screening – still an impressive movie with a hook for at least one more in the series.

See ‘ya next month!

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Letter Column

(always welcome, send them in!)

(if something shouldn’t be included here, clearly mark it as a personal comment)

[Mark Nelson] – You wrote that "I’m still not a great fan of poetry and verse", which leads me to ask why you choice to read

Petrach? (Though, he is a famous poet). [WAY] – basically I read it because “it was there” and I’m always hoping to

gain a better appreciation of the art form. Usually, at least a few of the of the poems in a book I’ll enjoy, so I’m looking

for those rare gems. And, I generally tackle it by reading one poem a day so I don’t get too underwhelmed by it.

[MN] - It's unsurprising that you were imagery and references that do not make sense to the modern reader: we don't have the

same educational background as someone writing 700 years ago! [WAY] – Quite true!

[MN] - For most of my life I've also not been "a great fan of poetry and verse", though I started to warm up to it a few years

before COVID. (My warming up to poetry is something I intend writing about in the future). [WAY] – please do, I’d

like to see what your thoughts are on it.

[MN] - If the draw proposal occurs after Fall 1909 then I don't think the endgame statement should include the Winter 1909

supply centre charts. What would happen if a draw proposal passes but one of the players in the draw is eliminated if

you adjudicate Winter 1909? Or if a draw proposal passes, but someone wins?

Or did you mean that the drop proposal actually passes after Winter 1909? Then you should include the supply centre

chart. I don't remember what my house rules said about when draw proposals (or concessions) are voted on. [WAY] –

the draw proposal resolution occurs after the Winter the adjudication of the supply center charts (note – any “autumn”

retreats happen before the final center chart is established). Any player eliminated due to having no supply centers

wouldn’t have their draw votes counted as they are “out” of the game. If a player would have a solo-win due to supply

center control, there would be no vote as the game would be over at that point.

[MN] - I'm going to need the Swedish meatball quote (is that right?) from Babylon 5 for a future issue of Mathom. I assume

that I can find that by a search, but I also assume that you've already used it as one of your Babylon 5 quotes? Perhaps

one day you could collect all the quotes you've used? [WAY] – actually, I haven’t used that quote in OOTW that I can

recall, and it doesn’t seem to be in the B5 Quote book I use as a reference (I checked the G’kar heading only, it might be

elsewhere in a different themed section). I’ll see if I find the time to collect the quotes I’ve used for inclusion in the next

OOTW.

[MN] – [Later Note] "The Secular City" seemed like an interesting read until I got to the part "From there he’s extrapolating

how the next morph of the church may occur". That put me off reading it. A book that I have on my shelf, that I must

have read when I bought it (in 2000) is "The Changing Faces of Jesus". Unfortunately, I no longer remember if I enjoyed reading it, which perhaps suggests that it's time to reread it. I do have a really good book on the changing nature of the Christian Church over its history. Unfortunately, to use that word again, that book is a box that hasn't been unpacked since we moved in 2016 and I don't remember it's title. One message that I took from this book is that Church doctrine is similar to continental drift. There is very little change over short-time spans, but huge changes when looked at over sufficiently large time spans. [WAY] – that’s sort of the theme of The Secular City, how Christianity has adapted (probably a better word than morphed) to the ever-changing society and how it may adapt going forward. A good think piece overall, though a bit dated. I’ll keep an eye out for The Changing Faces of Jesus, thanks for the suggestion.

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Mini-Book Reviews

(finished since last issue)

<<haven’t finished one, though several are near…so next month?>>

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Babylon 5 Quote

In “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” – Londo: “Big concerns grow from small concerns. You plant them, water them

with tears, fertilize them with unconcern. If you ignore them, they grow. I

have ignored this problem long enough.”

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Game Section

Everyone Plays Games: None left

~~+++++++++++++++++++++~~

Hangman, By Definition

This is a five-round game, with each round consisting of a variable number of turns. The winner will be the person who wins the most rounds, with a tie breaker being fewest total number of turns in those winning rounds. Second tie breaker will be the greatest number of letters guessed (by total count revealed, not by individual letter).

Each round will consist of identifying a word of at least six letters. Along with each word will be the first definition given. All words and definitions will be identified by blank spaces. Words and definitions are verified in a dictionary that was my high school graduation gift (slight hint to those who might want to find the edition).

The goal is to guess the word in as few turns as possible. Each turn, all players will submit up to three different letters to be revealed. The letter submitted by the most players will be the letter revealed in the next turn. Ties will be broken by a randomized method. Additionally, each player should submit a guess for the word. Once the word is correctly identified (spelling is important), that round will end and a new round will begin. All players who guess the word in the same turn will share in the win for the round. If the word is not guessed by the end of six turns with no letter being revealed, no one will win the round.

Along with revealing letters in the word, letters will be revealed in the definition. There are no bonus points for guessing any part of the definition, it is only there to help players figure out the word. No guesses about parts of the definition will be confirmed or displayed except by the letter revealed in that round. The letters “E” and “S” can never be chosen as the letter to be revealed.

Game 2, Round Five, Turn 3:

Letter Vote: Doesn’t Matter – Word Guessed!

Words Guessed: (Firth) Brigadoon; (Galt) Emulation; (Howell) Enearing; (Kent) Beggardom;

(Lischett) Revealing; (Maslen) Husbandry; (Wilson) Gimballed

Solution:

Word: HUSBANDRY (9)

Definition: The (3) cultivation (11) of (2) plants (6) or (2) the (3) raising (7) of (2)

livestock (9); farming (7); agriculture (11)

Never Revealed: E, S Already Revealed: A, T

Words Previously Guessed in this Game: Aftermath, Ambulance, Blackbird, Buckyball, Dramatize, Homicidal, Majuscule,

Mezzanine, Obsessive, Parataxis, September, Zymolysis, Zymurgies

Game Words Correctly Guessed: Metamorphosis (Firth, Maslen, Smith, Wilson); Chromatic (Firth, Maslen, Smith);

Petroglyph (Maslen); Regalia (Howell, Maslen); Husbandry (Maslen)

Which leads to the end of this game (consists of five-word rounds). In the final tally of correct guesses, we have:

1 – Mark Firth, Dane Maslen, Richard Smith, Kevin Wilson

2 – Mark Firth, Dane Maslen, Richard Smith

3 – Dane Maslen

4 – Tom Howell, Dane Maslen

Leaving Dane Maslen, with a sweep, at the top of the leaderboard for Game 2 of Hangman

Player Comments:

Turn One

[Mark Firth] – Ruminations on definition: The Resolutions or Ending of the Process of Something Closure; Denouements.

Turn Three:

[Andy Lischett] – The Destination of plants in the…

[Dane Maslen] - At first I tried VENTILATORS and SHAFTS as the second and fourth words of the definition, but that got me

nowhere. Then I looked at the final word and discovered that AGRICULTURE was a possibility. That fitted with the

possibility of CULTIVATION as the second word. Switching from thinking of the third word as OR to OF made

PLANTS a plausible fourth word. Was I on to something? Then I tracked HUSBANDRY down as a possibility for the

word itself. Promising, but I couldn't seem to make the remainder of the definition match up with what I believed a

definition of HUSBANDRY should be. Then I noticed that FARMING could be the penultimate word, so the fit was

getting ever better…

THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS OR THE _A_____ OF _____T___; FARMING; AGRICULTURE

Later I'll see if I can fill in the gaps to convince myself that I have found the solution implausibly quickly.

This morning while I was laid in bed a couple of words occurred to me for the missing part of the definition, but I

had no idea if they fitted. I've now discovered that one of them does…

THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS OR THE RAISING OF _____T___; FARMING; AGRICULTURE

I suspect the other one does – I know it had nine letters – but frustratingly I can neither remember what it was nor

deduce it from the knowledge that I'm looking for something to do with animals, even though that was exactly what I

did just two hours ago.

[Later Note] - Ah, got it!

THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS OR THE RAISING OF LIVESTOCK; FARMING; AGRICULTURE

which makes me even more confident that HUSBANDRY is indeed the word.

As I've mentioned before, I have a Scrabble word list on my PC that I can search. 55 words matched the pattern A------T---, while 72 matched ---T--AT---. Spotting AGRICULTURE in the first list and CULTIVATION in the second prompted me to spend the time necessary to search through the list of 1208 words that matched ----A---- to find something appropriate.

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Deadline for the Next Issue of Out of the WAY:

April 10, 2024 at noon Central US Time Zone

See You Then!

Game entries, letters of comment and other material can be sent to:

wandrew88 at gmail.com; or by post to: W. Andrew York; POB 201117; Austin TX 78720-1117

Eternal Sunshine Game Section

Diplomacy, “More Than Ever”, 2021A, W 12/S 13

Austria: Andy Lischett – andy@lischett.com – Retreat F St Petersburg(sc) - Gulf of Bothnia..No builds,

plays 2 short..A Armenia Hold, F Black Sea – Ankara, F Constantinople - Aegean Sea, A Galicia – Warsaw,

F Gulf of Bothnia - Livonia (*Fails*), A Rumania – Ukraine, A Serbia – Trieste,

A Sevastopol Supports A Ukraine – Moscow, A Silesia Supports A Galicia – Warsaw, A Ukraine – Moscow,

A Venice Hold, A Vienna - Galicia.

France: Brad Wilson - fullfathomfive675@gmail.com – Build F Brest, A Paris, A Marseilles..A Belgium – Holland,

A Berlin - Prussia (*Bounce*), F Brest - English Channel, A Burgundy – Ruhr, A Denmark – Sweden,

F Edinburgh - Clyde (*Bounce*), F Helgoland Bight - North Sea, A Kiel – Denmark, A Marseilles Hold,

F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Western Mediterranean, A Munich Hold, F North Atlantic Ocean - Clyde (*Bounce*),

F North Sea – Norway, A Paris - Burgundy.

Germany: Andy York – wandrew88@gmail.com - Remove A Prussia..F Sweden - Skagerrak.

Russia: Graham Wilson - grahamaw@rogers.com – A Livonia Unordered, A Moscow - St Petersburg,

F Norway - Norwegian Sea, F St Petersburg(nc) - Barents Sea, ~~A Warsaw - Prussia~~ (*Disbanded*).

All Draw Proposals Fail

Now Proposed – A/F

Please vote. NVR=No

PRESS

PARIS: The nation is fortified. The expeditionary forces are moving. Another glass of Armagnac, please.

Deadline for F 13 is April 13^th at 7am My Time

Deadline for the next issue of Eternal Sunshine is: April 13^th, 2024 at 7am My Time (U.S. central time) –subzine deadline is earlier