Recent content by John Spangler

Years ago I wrote a few notes about a TL where Garibaldi's landing at Marsala fails. This led to the Two Sicilies staying independent and becoming the main power in the Italian peninsula. I never wrote the actual TL, and deleted the notes after realizing how awful it all was.

A line from "Dumb of the Dead", a 2007 movie born as a parody of the zombie genre. Despite the best intentions of the producers and director Barack Obama, the movie was a commercial failure. However, it must be pointed out that it came out around the same time as the long awaited Marvel Zombies...

Taken from History of the Middle East, by Abraham Long (professor of eastern history at Benedict Arnold University of Boston). Starting in the mid 2000s, the Republic of Palestine would adopt a series of new economic and military reforms heavily inspired by the US, thanks to its new president...

A short poem by Lord General Edward Churchill about the Rape of Manchester, a horrific episode of the British-Norse War in which the titular city was attacked by the Danish army and burned to the ground, its people either killed or taken as slaves. This prompted a rapid and angry response from...

King Robert V Bruce of Greater Ireland to the assembled lords of the realm. The 'tiny sloop' being a poor fisherman's boat that had accidentally been sent by a storm far beyond the established western routes, to an unknown land which would later be called Talbeah (land of the bears). This...

Happy New Year to all Comrade-Patriots!

Taken from "The King in the Mountain", a fantasy musical show from Tolkien and Lewis, two famous British comedians/actors/writers. It's the story of two friends of decide to explore the forest near their hometown in search of the mythological Mountain King. It's also considered one of the...

Wish you a full and fast recovery, Comrade-Patriot Napo!

From "Pixel Wonders", a 2010 documentary about the history of videogames. The above quote mentions the rise and fall of Nintendo. After the destruction of the company, the copies of Super Mario Bros that had already been sold became instant treasures for collectors all over the world, with a few...

A 2013 Disney Pixar CGI movie about Mary Moon, a orphan girl whose only friends are a dog named Waldo and a nerdy boy named Stewie, and who accidentally stumbles upon an ancient conspiracy by a secret cabal of immortal men (who look quite old and are therefore called Septuagenarians) who want to...

Thanks for giving us another amazing volume, Thande! See you soon!

A line from a 1999 show by Canadian stand-up comedian Jim Carrey. The show's title was "God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world", a religious themed satyre, and it was well received even by the pope. "Nobody expects the Italian Inquisition!"

An incident occurring in 1984 when Canadian PM William Shatner, during a diplomatic trip to the United States, asked American president Leonard Nimoy to try one of the famous New York hot dogs. While eating, he choked on one and died. Being a very popular PM, both at home and internationally, he...

Taken from the 1965 musical "It's always sunny in Manhattan", about the life and times of Erwin Schrodinger, archeologist and scholar. Scrodinger, thanks to his charisma and his escapades all around the world (most famous of all is when he managed to retrieve the Mona Lisa from the home of...

Except from a recording of a talk between US president Clifton Britt and vice president Angela White about Canadian ambassador Mercedes Grabowski, with whom president Britt had always been on particularly bad terms. "The Roosevelts were the greatest family of monster hunters ever. It's a shame...