Pretzalz looks around dazedly.  I could have sworn I was standing outside Infinity's antique store just a minute ago, I must be lost...

This seems to be the overlooked Hotel.

Who's the proprietor?

Coo-eee! [ding, ding, ding]

My goodness. People come and post so quickly here!

Anyway, welcome to the Underlook. You can log out, but you can never leave. muahahaha, etc.

Later, there will be much sophomoric lese majestie and silly fun (e.g., parodies of famous books and poems), but at the moment, I am so tickled to have a place to entertain new and old friends that I will simply say, thank you, simple words that never say enough, I find.

Must get back to work, but tonight, let the Masque begin (and the Red Pun Held Sway!)

    -- The Caretaker

markk wrote:

Later, there will be much sophomoric lese majestie and silly fun (e.g., parodies of famous books and poems), ...

Why not let "later" be now?  Having just poked my head in from my own place across the street, I happen to have an amusing parody to share:

This recently discovered folio edition of "Hamlet"
follows other known versions closely until Act V,
Scene II, where it begins to diverge at line 232,
as will be seen:

KING     ...`Now the king drinks to Hamlet.'
Come, begin, And you the judges, bear a wary eye.

Trumpets sound.  HAMLET and LAERTES take their
stations.

HAMLET:  Come on, sir.
LAERTES: Come, my lord.

Enter FRED, DAPHNE, VELMA, SHAGGY, AND SCOOBY.

DAPHNE:  Wait!
SHAGGY:  Stop the fight!

HAMLET and LAERTES put up their foils.

KING:    I like this not.  Say wherefore you do speak?
FRED:    Good lord, I pray thee, let thy anger wait.
For we, in seeking clues, have found the truth Behind
the strange events of latter days.
VELMA:   The first clue came from Elsinore's high
walls,
Where, so said Hamlet, Hamlet's ghost did walk.
Yet though the elder Hamlet met his death,
And perforce hath been buried in the ground,
'Tis yet true one would not expect a ghost
To carry mud upon his spectral boots. 
Yet mud didst Shaggy and his faithful hound
Espy, with footprints leading to a drop. This might,
at first, indeed bespeak a ghost...
Until, when I did seek for other answers, I found a
great, wide cloth of deepest black Discarded in the
moat of Elsinore.
'Tis clear, the "ghost" used this to
slow his fall While darkness rendered him invisible.
FRED:    The second clue we found, my lord, was this.
KING:    It seems to me a portrait of my brother
In staine'd glass, that sunlight may shine through.
FRED:    But see, my lord, when placed before a
lantern--
KING:    My brother's ghost!
HAMLET:  My father!
VELMA:   Nay, his image.
FRED:    In sooth, that image caught the Prince's eye
When he went to confront his lady mother.
Nor did his sword pierce poor Polonius.
For Hamlet's blade did mark the castle wall
Behind the rent made in the tapestry.
Polonius was murdered by another.
The knife which killed him entered from behind.
LAERTES: But who?
FRED:    Indeed my lords, that you shall see.
HAMLET:  And if this ghost was naught but light and
air,
Then what of that which I did touch and
speak to?

The GHOST enters.

GHOST:    Indeed, my son.
SHAGGY:   Zoinks!
DAPHNE:   Jenkies!
GHOST:    Mark them not.
Thou hast neglected duty far too long.
Shall this, my murderer, live on unharmed?
Must I remain forever unavenged?

SCOOBY and SHAGGY run away from the GHOST.
SCOOBY, looking backward, runs into a tapestry,
tearing it down.  As a result, tapestries around the
walls collapse, one surrounding the GHOST.

GHOST:    What?
FRED:     Good Osric, pray restrain that "ghost",
That we may reach the bottom of the matter.
Now let us see who truly walked tonight.
FRED removes the helm and the disguise from the
GHOST'S face.

ALL:      Tis Fortinbras!
FRED:     The valiant prince of Norway!
FORTINBRAS: Indeed it is, and curses on you all!
This Hamlet's father brought my own to death,
And cost me all my rightful heritage.
And so I killed this king, and hoped his son
Would prove no obstacle to Norway's crown.
Then Claudius bethought himself the killer
(As if one might be poisoned through the ear!)
The brother, not the son, took Denmark's throne,
And held to Norway with a tighter grip.
I swore an end to Denmark's royal house.
I spoke to Hamlet of his uncle's crimes.
Then killed Polonius to spark Laertes.
This day, with poison's aid, all might have died,
And Denmark might have come to me as well
As my beloved Norway and revenge.
My scheme blinded them all, as if by fog
But for these medd'ling kids and this their dog.
KING:     The villain stands confessed.  Now let us
go.
For much remains to us to be discussed
And suitable reward must needs be found
For these, our young detectives and their hound.

EXEUNT OMNES.

Cordially,

ElderTurtle (P.o.W.)

*LOL*  Great post, ET!

What Alastair Cookie, from Monsterpiece Theatre, thinks of Hamlet:

"Today, me incredibly proud to present one of best-loved classics in whole world. A play that explores feelings that bubble deep inside all of us. Yes, me proud to present Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. It not get classier than this."

"Me like Hamlet.  Him prince of Denmark.  That make him Danish.  Me LOVE danish!"

[ August 15, 2001: Message edited by: Rook ]

hlet hs never dounded so tasty before...

Finally, after a long day of herding commas (only slightly less frustrating then cats), I am home.

Firstly, shout outs to my topicii (hey, if David can do the "Oath of the Horatii" I can misuse Latin plurals for fun and no profit).

Thanks to Tad for breaking ground on the Underlook. Master of the Sig. Lord of the Mot Juste. This guy's got it all, with the exception of a dependable outside shot.

Pretzalz, the microbrewery is in the basement, next to the boiler. Speaking of which, you might check the thermostat while you're down there. I always space that out.

wikedtribe, I've always considered the Salmon of Correction as being Weary Willie's version of Excalibur.  In any case, welcome and well met!

djf, clearly, you are a Person Who Understands the Importance of Puns. Mi casa es Sue Casa and boy is it confused.

wikedtribe again, can't let that very clever quotation from Macbeth go by without comment. I believe the beginning of that quote says something about "if it were done...then well it were done quickly..."  Sly little tribe. I can see you will keep the Underlook Staff on its toes.

Elder Turtle!  That Hamlet bit was Excellent! It's just the sort of thing I love.  Plus, I always had a secret crush on Velma.  Ain't you cool. I hope to pop by your abode soon and do you a solid in return.

Jendaiya, nice to see ya, good giggle, should I take the Ozymandias sig personal, like? <g>

Rook, nice bit there. I have a very clear image of the Cookie Monster smoking a bubble pipe here.  Gracias.

Sahi, welcome to my place. I shall certainly offer up an introduction momentarily.  Just as soon as I finish dressing up the dust bunnies in tuxedos and teaching the tribbles the Company Song. Opening Day is always so hectic, y'know?

Libbette, thank you so much for the glitter. One can never have too many shiny bits.

Now, everyone properly greeted?  Good.  On with the Show, this is it....

So, who is this lowercase fellow with the miniscule number of posts and overabundance of information on lesser known Iron Man villains?

The name is Mark Kreighbaum. I'm a writer and have published a couple science fiction novels (both out of print at the moment, but as Mr. Burns might say, "the Wheel turns and soon Dame Fortune will smile upon me once again <evil chuckle>"

I've also published a bunch of short stories, both fantasy and science fiction. Probably, the best known one is in the Sandman anthology. There's some poetry, essays, movie reviews and suchlike out there, too.  My real claim to fame, however, is my multipart parody of the Lord of the Rings entitled "Lord of the Bat-Eared Things" and starring one of Tad's pets. If I can ever locate a copy of the thing, I'll post it here for your, well edification is not the right word, perhaps there is another term for inflicting silliness on the innocent.

Hi, footle. Thanks for stopping by. Please excuse the mess. A bit of advice: never hire hobbits when you have a deadline...elevenses are only cute when you read about them, as opposed to expecting Tooks to finish grouting nine hundred ninety nine bathrooms.

*peeks in*
*blinks*
*muzzy*
Hey Markk...just dropped by to say congrats...I can see this place is going to be a giggle....

*deposits pawn, stumbles off*

Now then, where was I?  Oh, yes, Introductions.

My interests span just about everything: annotated versions of The Intro and the Outro, proper pronunciation of Mr. Mxyzptlk, the suicide squeeze, Ezra Pound's Cantos, Lisa Simpson's saxophone solos, Benjamin Franklin's presbyopia, and so on and so forth.

In short, anything and everything. So, feel free to hold forth (or hold cobol, as you like).

For my part, I will endeavor to fill the Underlook with knick knacks and gedanken experiments to go with the puns and parodies.

Welcome!  Imperius Rex!  And so it goes...po te weet.

Shadows and Ice!  Now, the Underlook is official, a'pawn my word.

Miiru, ah, I've heard of that short Shakespeare piece. It sounds nifty. Have you ever seen the animated short that summarizes all the world's great operas in less than ten minutes? I saw it on PBS years ago and stupidly did not tape it. It's very very funny.