unforum

[Seej]

I'm also reminded of Norse legend, particularly the story about Thor being tricked into trying to drain a cup that contained the sea - see here for the full story.

[Spankit]

[Leeravitz]

Well, indeed, these are pretty much the things ancient heroes and heroic gods go in for; there are plenty of parallels all over the place. In Greek myth alone, for instance, although Herakles was the only one with as many as 12 Tasks to get on with, there's lot of similar stuff - Theseus ,after all, had to navigate the labyrinth, kill the hideous Minotaur (maybe *he* just had some especially bad PR - eh?), and then get home safely without causing his anguished father to jump off a cliff, believing that he was dead (er...he didn't achieve that one actually...). And Jason had to do a fair bit of rescuing blind men from Harpies, and sowing dragon's teeth in fields while ploughing ridiculously lengthy bits of land (I'm not sure that they turned into animated skeletons in the original - that was Ray Harryhausen), and Perseus had to kill Medusa, resplendent in his magic boots and hat and with his mirror shield, before hooking up with a nice young lady who he'd rescued from a sea monster. And so on.

So what I say is, yes, it's good that Perplex City has someone who did a number of rather pointless things in the dawn days just in order to show those Perplexians that you can do anything if you set your mind to it. And I particularly like the idea of an apple - eating crocodile, because it appeals to my absurdist side.

I still say that there was never a better rendering of the heroic drive to compete seemingly 'impossible' tasks, however, than the bit in the '12 Tasks of Asterix' where that particular cartoon warrior had to undertake the task of getting a form filled out for him in an impenetrably buereaucratic hotel, which was just genius, and still is, as anyone who has had to go through customs at Chicago Airport will be able to appreciate.

[cassandra]

haven't had time to delve into my myth library, but in my mind Losik = Loki.

[yanka]

[Mikeyj]

[yanka|tage]

[Crane]

Love it. "They're water samples don't mention bacteria."

[chrome_halo]

Noh Tower

[Guest]

Unsure whether we knew this but it's from Alesandro Mere's automatic response when emailed. I did a search but couldn't find anything.

[Mosestrotsky]

Damn it - did it again

[Scott]

COOL! what is Alasandro's address?

[Mosestrotsky]

alasandro.mereSPLATascendancypoint.com

[sledgecallier]

Strange that the following...

[diddymac]

Ah, but what's the gradient? And how wide is it at the bottom?