5MV Update History

maintained by Zeke

November 2003

November 1

For the conclusion of our Hallowe'en event, here are my and IJD GAF's contributions:

• Alien, by IJD, bringing him up to the 47-fiver mark (congrats!). This is the first of multiple Alien fivers IJD plans to do. And....
• The Ring, by me. This was the most successful horror film in years, and it sure succeeded with me... I wrote the fiver partly to see if it'll make me less terrified of the darn thing. Hope you enjoy the result of that effort.

And that brings our little celebration to an end. I'll post some wrapup stuff tomorrow. Have a spooky night, all.

(PS: I forgot to pimp Nan's latest comic at Working Title yesterday. It's the first of a three-parter; go read it.)

[Comments]

November 2

That wrapup stuff I mentioned (mostly just filling in the blurbs for the new fivers) will have to wait till tomorrow after I hand in my honours project, which has been keeping me reeeeeal busy today. See you then -- and wish me luck for tomorrow.

November 3

Argh! The honours project has swamped me today too (I got a one-day postponement of the deadline). Come back tomorrow and I'll have actual content for you, not just the wrapup stuff.

November 4

I was wrong to make that promise yesterday with the honours project not actually done yet. Naturally, finishing it took way longer than I expected and left me completely wiped. But it's handed in now, so it can't take up any more of my time. I'll deliver the promised update tomorrow.

November 5

Okay, now the wrapup for the Hallowe'en event is done. It was just a matter of supplying blurbs, updating the "Latest addition" notes and such, and giving out a couple of links:

• The best Hallowe'en prank I saw this year was this one at the webcomic Loserz. Click if you dare.
• Another strip, Movie Comics, did a particularly funny Ring riff last week. It's a three-parter; the first part is here.
• There was a third item, but I forget what it is. Shoot.

(Oh, by the way, we've been getting some great hitcounts this week. Thanks!)

November 6

And here's the promised new content: DS9's "Civil Defense," a guest fiver by newcomer YXC.

[Comments]

November 7

No new content today, but I've got some links.

• T Campbell over at Fans!, one of my favourite webcomics, suggests that you Vote Smith.
• Tegan and Sara rocked last night. Here's their website.
• On another musical note, if you don't pick up the new Barenaked Ladies album, you're doing yourself a disservice.
• Two great webcomics just had birthdays: the artist of College Roomies From Hell had hers, and GPF just turned 6 (!).

November 8

Okay, so it'll be tomorrow. I was planning to give you a preview of the new Enterprise fivers, but that would require having started on them. (This has been a heavy school week for me, not just because of the honours project.) So while you're waiting, here are three links.

• IJD got me into Pokey the Penguin a while ago, and am I ever glad he did. This is simultaneously the worst strip on the Internet and one of the funniest I know of. It's easier to show what Pokey is than to explain it: here are two good examples. Sadly, Pokey seems to be on permanent hiatus, but the archives are still a very, very fun read.
• For all you Voyager fans, here's very possibly the creepiest thing ever.
• Finally, Nan is back from Vancouver and has posted the second of those Working Title Hallowe'en strips. I have a cameo in this one. (Those of you who don't like me will find it a particularly satisfying cameo....)

November 9

And here's the new content: "Fan coalition demands less complicated Enterprise." That's right, a new This Just In article! Weren't expecting that, were you? Actually, neither was I -- I haven't had a good TJI idea in months. (If, after reading it, you think I still haven't, please tell me so at the forums.)

[Comments]

November 10

Today's link: TripHammered.com, where evay has posted a slight... expansion of her quote in TJI #36 yesterday. It's also an awesome, unique Enterprise site I should have linked you guys to ages ago. (If I only had a real Links section....) Go have a ball. It won't be a water polo ball.

November 11

On this Remembrance Day, we at 5MV extend our gratitude to all those whose courage and sacrifice are the reason we can sit around writing silly parodies today.

Today's link: Monkee's Place. Mary "Monkee" Wiecek is one of the better-known online Trekkers; she's had work published in the Strange New Worlds series more than once, and she's well known for her Voyager fanfic and reviews. What you may not know is that she went on to review Enterprise, and is now in her third year of intelligent, interesting comments on the show. Monkee also writes the most downright pleasant reviews I know. She likes Trek and ENT and isn't afraid to say so, in spite of the basher-rich online climate. Poke around Monkee's site -- it's all worth reading, and I guarantee her fanfic "Birth of the Federation" will leave you in stitches.

November 12

Yesterday I linked you to one of my favourite Enterprise reviewers; today's link is my favourite Buffy/Angel reviewer. Loey is as big a fan of both shows as you'll ever see; she's reviewed every episode of Angel and most of BVS. Her reviews are always interesting and come with detailed synopses. Her Buffy page is here; her Angel page is here.

Sorry about the string of link days. This is a very busy time of year for us university types... IJD and I are being kept hopping, and don't get started on Kira. I'll make sure you folks get something by the end of the week, though.

November 13

Another Angel link today: this time it's Chivalry is Dead by Yahtzee, which hosts, without question, the best Angel fanfic I've ever read. It's in the running for best fanfic I've ever read, period. Even her slash is good. I particularly recommend "The Uninvited Guest" (the one I started with), "Splinter," and "A Stitch in Time," all of which are fiendishly clever stories with dead-on characterization. And if you want to look at one scene in Five-Minute "Shockwave II" a whole new way, read the hilarious short story "Them Mean Ol', Low-Down, Lando Calrissian Blues."

November 14

This Trek BBS thread is the best news I've had all week. Farscape fans must read it.

November 15

Continuing in the Buffy/Angel link trend, one of my favourite Buffyverse humour sites is Boils and Blinding Torment. (I like it so much, in fact, that one of the writers cameo'd in TJI #31.) These guys tore apart Buffy's seventh season utterly without mercy... and I just discovered while posting this that they're doing Angel now! Woohoo! So yeah, go visit.

Following up on yesterday's Farscape news, Kira pointed me to another source on the subject, this one over at Ain't It Cool News.

November 16

Kira here, bringing you today's somewhat-interesting-or-maybe-not link: SatireWire's Interview with the Search Engine, which has got to be among the funniest things I've ever read.

November 17

Content! No fooling! Derek Dean comes to the rescue of both our long fiverless string and the neglected Season 3 of DS9 to bring us "Prophet Motive." You are just not going to believe the puns Derek gets up to in this one....

While I'm here, a very happy second anniversary to Gluemeat, one of the most consistently funny webcomics around.

[Comments]

November 18

Time for a really obscure link. (I'm all about obscure.) Ever played any of the Mega Man X games? If so, you absolutely must read Fiber for the Irregular Hunter, DarkMoogle's humour column about the X series. It's hosted at The Megaman Network, one of the better MM sites out there (though not the best... maybe that'll be an upcoming link). Very funny stuff. Especially notable to readers of this site is the "X-A-Minute" column, which does the X series in fiver fashion.

November 19

Today I've got three links for y'all. The first is something IJD brought to my attention: Voyager is coming out on DVD starting on February 24. Man, if I had the money I'd be completely all over that.

Second, Nan has her own domain name now: I, Winterbourne. She's got it nicely set up with some new stuff.

Finally, Marc sent me this link to perpetual bubble wrap. It's fun and pointless.

November 20

Today what I have is not so much a link as a referral. If you have AIM, add "ZolaOnAol" to your contacts and say hi. The folks at AOL have set up this chat robot named Zola with the most hilariously primitive and yet sophisticated thought processes I've ever seen. I wrote a conversation bot in Commodore 64 BASIC when I was a kid, and Zola is on about the same level. Try chatting with it -- you'll find it hard to stop. It's like the AI equivalent of a car crash.

We'll have some new content in the next few days. I'm working on the last few Enterprises and a TJI, and there's other stuff. But I just watched "Similitude" and as a result I don't like anybody right now, so that's all for today.

November 21

Today at the math society I was talking to a friend I've known for over a year now, and it suddenly turned out he was a big Five-Minute Enterprise fan. (The subject of Klein bottles had come up.) You should have seen his expression when he found out I was the author. He was quoting my jokes for the rest of the evening.

Occasionally -- so, so occasionally -- life is just cool.

Today's link, suitably enough, is math-related. MathWorld is the most comprehensive source of mathematical knowledge I've ever seen. It covers every field from geometry to number theory and has pages and pages of text, pictures, formulas, and graphs for any topic you care to name. I've spent hours at MathWorld just poking around. If math interests you even a little bit, check this place out. (There are companion sites now for astronomy, biology, physics, and chemistry.)

November 22

New fiver today -- Marc Richard's "Genesis." It's a classic Marc fiver, replete with clever references. Enjoy.

Today's not actually required to be a link day since we have content, but I plan to have content again tomorrow, so here's a quick pair of links before I forget. First, I don't usually take those "What Kind of Animal Are You?" or "What Harry Potter Book Are You?" or whatever tests, but I figured I really ought to find out what Enterprise character I am. I got Captain Archer... I really have no idea how I feel about that. Second, the most original such test I've run into lately is the Which Class of Federation Starship Are You? test. I got Intrepid-class, which seems fitting.

Also notable is that Penny Arcade, without question one of the best webcomics online, is now 5 years old. Which makes me feel old, because I've been reading it for more than half of that time.

[Comments]

November 22 Supplemental

Okay, the files are actually there now.

November 23

Well, the TJI isn't done yet, but the first half is, and the quotes are usually the easier half. Look for that tomorrow. Meanwhile, have a link. Naomi Chana is another of my favourite Angel reviewers. She looks at the series from an intellectual perspective and always has comments worth reading. It was through her blog that I found Yahtzee (see below). The link is to her new LiveJournal; older reviews can be found among her blog posts at Baraita.

November 24

Here's the new TJI: "Jackson facing hobbit-molestation charges."

[Comments]

November 25

Pokey had a new strip yesterday! Hooray!

Today's link is SimonSphere by "iconic soup." I don't watch very much TV, especially outside sf, but The Guardian is the big exception: it's wonderfully well written and acted, and its complicated characters and twisted plotlines make me feel like I'm watching Angel. I've made a Guardian reference in a fiver once already, and it'll happen again. SimonSphere is probably the best Guardian site out there, with detailed transcripts, reviews, and other material.

November 26

There's lots of exciting new stuff coming up -- among other things, I've got an Original Series-related update that's going to knock your socks off. Today'll have to be a link day, though. Remember a few days ago when I alluded to the best Mega Man site online? That site is The Mega Man Home Page by Mandi Paugh. You'll find an insane wealth of information on every MM game to date, complete with screenshots, strategies, statistics, and some great hand-drawn art. There's even an original Mega Man fanfic series the size of VVS8. MMHP has the distinction of existing with Capcom's permission (would that I had Paramount's....), and it thoroughly shatters the belief that women aren't into the videogame website business. If you have any interest in Mega Man, or wish to acquire it, drop by and while away some time. I've spent many an hour browsing MMHP.

November 27

And here's that socks-knocking update I promised. Remember Five-Minute Star Trek: The Motion Picture? Tommy Kvarsvik of Star Trek Norge has actually done a comic adaptation of it! There are two versions: one in Norwegian at the aforementioned site, and one in English here at 5MV. Now available for your viewing pleasure: Five-Minute Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Comic Adaptation! (Be warned that the image files are large.)

[Comments]

November 28

Today's a link day because I have a concert tonight. Not one I'm going to, one I'm actually in: I play clarinet for Carleton's jazz orchestra. 'Twill be fun.

The link is to the blog of Jennifer-Oksana. Like Naomi Chana last week, Jenny comments on Angel, but more often and at much greater length. The discussions and speculation to be found in this blog are very interesting reading; there are spoilers, but posts that include them are clearly marked. Jenny also has a number of sites which can be found through her hub page, I'm Just Sayin'.

November 29

Today's link: Television Without Pity, because I wasted way too much time there today. Dammit.

Stay tuned for a new Enterprise fiver tomorrow. Here's a preview scene.
T'Pol: And what did your imaginary friend tell you this time?
Archer: Apparently Xindi have appeared on Earth in 2004. If we don't stop them, they'll do something really, really bad. Like stabbing the Statue of Liberty with the Washington Monument.
T'Pol: Shocking.
Archer: Yep. Daniels said I could bring one person, and Travis is getting his hair done, so that leaves you. You'll have to find something appropriate to wear....
T'Pol: Why? Catsuits are timeless, like togas.
Archer: No offense, but I'd rather not trust Vulcan fashion sense here.

November 30

Last day of November already... (heavy sigh). I don't have the Enterprise fiver done yet, but I've made good progress. Should be up tomorrow, with the others I've missed to follow.

Rather than a link today, I have something a little different: link buttons, courtesy of Nan. I haven't had official link graphics for 5MV in a while, so Nan made me the first five of these 88x31s. (The sixth is an old one Owen made way back when; I'd almost forgotten I had it.) Feel free to download and use them if you want to link to 5MV. I'll put them in a more permanent place on the site soon.

(The background of the first two is actually a screenshot of our front page, much reduced.)

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