GALACTICSLEUTH

The Old Man of the Lake is a log that floats around the lake. It is somewhat strange in that it floats vertically. It's roughly 30 feet tall, with only about 5 or so feet sticking out above the surface of the water. It was first 'offically' recorded in the early 20th century, though there are oral reports of it as far back as 1896 (and likely earlier still given the cultural importance of Crater Lake to the Klamath tribe of that area.

The Old Man should have rotted away long ago or at the very least become waterlogged and sank into the water fully, but nope. Over a hundred years, and there is this log still in the water just floating.

So y'know how I said the fact that it floats vertically was 'somewhat strange'? Let's get into some actual strange territory regarding the Old Man. It moves. Against the wind. It has been recorded moving in paths that do not make sense, never getting stuck on the shore of Wizard Island, nor the area of shore around the lake. Now that's strange.

So now let's get freaky: The free-floating Old Man posed a hazard to boats since it moves, and only a small portion of it was above water. (though personal boats are no longer allowed on the lake) Anyway, in 1988 a team was using a small submersible to explore the lake. The scientist figured it'd be a good idea to moor the Old Man near the coast of Wizard Island out of their way, for safety. So they tied some rope to it, to move the Old Man. As soon as they did so, the clear blue skies of a warm August day turned dark. The wind kicked up, bad, and it started to rain, then hail, then snow in the span of a few minutes...again in August. Now snow in that area is common, but not in the summer months. It gets super warm in that area in summer (like 70 to 90 degrees on average) So the scientists decided to nope the fuck out of the water, because of this freak storm. They unmoored the Old Man, preparing to get the fuck out of dodge of this summer snowstorm. As soon as the rope loosened and was in the water, as quickly as the storm had come on them, the darkened skies cleared and it was once more a fine sunny summer day.

"The Old Man floats vertically through the lake on a calm day"

"THE OLD MAN FLOATS. VERTICALLY. THROUGH THE LAKE ON A CALM DAY"

Holly: I’ll be the first to admit my opinion of Lili was reductive. I saw her as everyone else saw her, and resented her for it. As a woman, I should have known better. After returning from Hybras, Lili was the only person in the bullpen to ask me how I was coping, and sent me news articles from the past three years to get me caught up. That really meant a lot to me.

Lili: I’d always admired Holly, but she intimidated me. I knew I’d only barely passed Academy training, and Holly was top of the class. She was promoted to captain, and I’d be a desk jockey for the rest of my career. But as long as I was helping, I thought that was OK. Unfortunately, being the girly mascot for the LEP didn’t do the good I thought it would, and I was too afraid to try to make something for myself. When Holly came back from Hybras, I saw how lost she looked, and I empathized with her. And even better, I finally knew how to help.

Holly: Lili is actually amazing when it comes to PR, but no one higher up wanted to promote her beyond mascot. So when I became commodore, that’s the first thing I did.

Lili: I’m finally able to help others where I’m best suited.

Holly: And I finally have a female friend around the office.

DC Pride #1 - "Spaces" (2024)

Well, Amazon made the ebook of my new book live 12 days early so... happy Pride! Have a cast of superhero-adjacent queer teen disasters doing their best!

Please, take the quiz to find out which Second Sentinels character you are!

And if you'd like, you can check out Secondhand Origin Stories, which is is still free on Gumroad or Itch.io, or available in paperback or audiobook from the usual suspects.

And Names in Their Blood is over here, or from your local fav bookshop!

Ai Weiwei, “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn,” 1995

An astonishingly irreverent piece of work.  This triptych features the artist dropping a Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) in three photographs.  

When questioned about the work, he suggested that the piece was about industry: “[The urn] was industry then and is industry now.”  His statement, therefore, was that the urn was just a cheap pot two thousand years ago, and the reverence we feel toward it is artificial.  One critic wrote: “In other words, for all the aura of preciousness acquired by the accretion of time (and skillful marketing), this vessel is the Iron Age equivalent of a flower pot from K-Mart and if one were to smash the latter a few millennia from now, would it be an occasion for tears?”

How to Finish

Huh

Who had late Victorian Scooby Doo on their 2024 bingo card? Hmm?