Brithday links will follow; I just wanted to get this in on time.

http://sexy-salmon-loki.tumblr.com/post/37403593955/i-need-this-in-my-life-give-to-me-loki-black

(Which is to say: give 'em Elle, dungeonwriter!)

It may be a while before you're in a position to check this out, but I thought I'd share a beautifully executed fanvid for "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo, set to footage from Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride fro a Danny Elfman trifecta; this is one that I like to cite as a demonstration of how timing and the precise marriage of lyrics to imagery can make a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UbGtjnluyY

...to dferguson--biographer to Dillon, grandmaster of the grindhouse, and Writer of the Purple Prose!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VST2KKIYn50

To kosaginolegion in particular; as a Taoist, your big religious winter holiday foofaraw occurs at least a month after most of the others; I wish you health, prosperity, the favorable attention of publishers, and scallion cakes. (And today's sneak preview of an April wind and thunderstorm barrage seems to have gone overboard in underscring the symbolism.)

Some thematic images befitting the occasion:

Bending The Water Dragon by PeridotKitty.

Shiryu by Alfatico.

Water Dragon by Tiantian1008.

Year of the Dragon 2012 by Vijfentachtig.

And the real live Chinese Water Dragons who live under the care of one Tricia at BambooZoo.

dferguson: I seem to recall that you and the Missus had plans to retire to Florida in the near future, but so far you're still in the Big Apple, right?

dochermes: You're upstate, and (I hope) far enough inland to be reasonably out of harm's way; you don't seem to do much commenting on other blogs, but I'll take your continued posting as a sign that you're doing okay. (And this discussion, no doubt, will have developed an acutely personal relevance.)

dungeonwriter: You picked an excellent weekend to spend out of town; again, I'm hoping that the brunt of Irene's onslaught will be well east of where you're staying, and that all your loved ones in the area are safely bunkered down.

ETA: pfeffermuse: I hadn't realized that you live in that general area, too; your post on the subject seems to suggest that the farm is at a safe remove from the coast. The impression created by today's news coverage isn't boding well, but I hope your house in the city came through all right or is at least salvageable.

Take care of yourselves, everyone.

...to dochermes!

Have an eclectic grab bag of cybergleanings:

The Green Hornet meets the Amazing One-Man Orchestra.

When Japanese rice farmers get bored.

It's looking like a rainy Summer.

This guy deserves his own action serial.

This 2005 re-enactment cracked up people some of whose parents are too young to remember Ernie Kovacs.

You know it's a bad sign when they let the groundhog sleep in.

ETA: If you have difficulty finding the notice, that's because the folks in charge of the Boonshoft's website cleverly camouflaged it by (A) putting it at the top of the page in a tiny cadet-blue banner that barely contrasts with the lavender-blue background, and (B) printing it in mousetype barely discernable against the banner background.