Random links collected from here and there about - well, anything, but there is much geek flavor to be had here. Current as of this posting, but as is the way of the internet, subject to disappear without warning.
- WikiPedia - List of South Park episodes - A big exhaustive list of South Park episodes, complete with trivia, and a plot synopsis. When the occasional South Park factoid would come in handy, here is the source.
- Rick Dakan is the author of a series of books about the exploits of the "Geek Mafia". I read the first one - and enjoyed it very much. His site gives links to Amazon for the purchase of the Dead Tree editions, and for those that might do some digital reading, he has also released the works in a variety of digital formats and under a Creative Commons License (2 books so far) at Manybooks.com - Geek Mafia Series. BTW - Manybooks is organized VERY well - I like how you can bookmark a series of books and as the series updates it will add to the list. Nice.
- Altered Books is a creative poetry project - from the site: "Cut the bindings off of books found at a used book store. Find poems in the pages by the process of obliteration. Put pages in the mail and send them all around the world. Lather, rinse, repeat."
=====>>> And now for something completely different...
- The Alternate Harry - while in a search for stuff to read on my mobile devices (Palm Pilot, Pocket PC, Game Boy) I came across a post in a mobile read forum that had a pointer to some Harry Potter FanFic. I had read all the cannon Harry series available at the time and decided I might like to see what this FanFic might be about. The books were posted serially, by chapter, so I had to CC&P them into a single file-per-book format (my preference) and then I read - and I enjoyed immensely.
The Psychic Serpent series of FanFics by Barb Purdom have such interesting plot twists and turns that it will keep you going. Fair warning - the stories are LONG - way longer than the original books, and of a bit more adult level - there is an "R" rating at Schnoogle that you will have to click through to get at the material, which occasionally depicting some teenage sexual exploration... IMHO nothing too graphic in nature, but your opinion may not be the same as mine. To sum it up - these stories are not for young Potter fans - you are warned.
So, onto the books.
Alternate Year 5 - Schnoogle - Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent by Barb Purdom - In Harry's fifth year he gets a snake with the Sight. Hermione's torn between Ron and Harry, who's torn between her and Ginny, who's torn between him and Draco Malfoy, who's torn between her and loyalty to his father. Plus: a Prophecy, Animagus training, a Dueling Club, Snape's Penseive, kilts, giants, house elf liberation and more!
Alternate Year 6 - Schnoogle - Harry Potter and the Time of Good Intentions by Barb Purdom - During his fifth year, Trelawney did a Tarot reading for Harry. She told him he would have to make a choice that could "change the world as we know it." At the beginning of his sixth year, Harry chooses, and the world does change. Does it change for the better? If he wants, can Harry change it back? Or is giving Harry exactly what he wants Voldemort's ultimate revenge?
Alternate Year 7 - Schnoogle - Harry Potter and the Triangle Prophecy by Barb Purdom - Harry's 7th and final year of school. In a time of uncertainty, the Muggle world has found a source of comfort and stability. Only Harry suspects that it isn't safe. Wizards are more concerned about themselves than Muggles since Voldemort's return, but are only Muggles at risk? Will anyone listen to Harry? He must decide whether to make a sacrifice that will change him--and the wizarding world-- forever.
Prequel - Schnoogle - The Lost Generation (1975-1982) by Barb Purdom - Bill Weasley begins his education at Hogwarts in 1975, in the middle of Voldemort's reign of terror. He never suspects that the Gryffindor prefects he looks up to, Lily Evans and James Potter, will eventually have a son who saves the wizarding world, nor that the Weasley family will eventually play an important role in the Dark Lord's fall. All he knows is that in a very scary wizarding world, Hogwarts is a safe haven where he has always longed to be--until, that is, there are whispers of vampires and werewolves, of Death Eaters and traitors, and a Seeress pronounces a Prophecy which will shake the wizarding world to its very foundations...
