Dog Day Fun  Molly the Editorial Kitty is growing. She's quite the teenager these days: annoying as heck unless she's sleeping. She bothers Lola the Doglet by wanting to wrestle, and she steals food and sunny spots from Buzzardina, the mean black cat. But they missed her the other day when she went for her shots and operation. Molly was uncharacteristically quiet when she came home, but the next day, she was back to her old tricks. We are very grateful to the local vets who offer reasonably-priced health care and spay-neuter clinics for our furry friends. Remember: take your buds to get their checkups and jabs, and support the feral capture-and-release programmes! Friends of the Earth Edition can do no less.
People are travelling this month. People are having fun. We expect reports and pics. This week, our Create Challenge focus is on la belle France. While travelling hopefully in Normandy, Superfrenchie observed the flax growing. See pictures. Minorvogonpoet also lives in France sometimes. She's shared the story of how her French home-owning adventures began in this week's issue. If you're intrigued, you may want to read the fictional version in her celebrated novel Dreaming in Stone, available from an online vendor near you.
How else can we entertain you? Let us count the ways:
- We have nature in all its unusualness. Willem's got a very rare arboreal monkey. How rare? It's only been known about since 2007. Wow. The lily from the Hoggetts' farm is pretty interesting, too: It's huge. Kitkat put her hand next to the bloom for scale. We think we compare favourably to NatGeo, especially as we stick to real geography instead of celebrity tapes.
- You want cinema. You need cinema. Whether you want this week's space opera is up to you, but Awix has the low-down on Luc Besson's latest. I told him the title of Valerian made me think of tea, and he remarked, 'Well, it does have a sedative effect. . . ' You are warned.
- You want to caption something, of course. This week, MMF offers us a rare find from the exotic environs of Kew Gardens. Do you remember that song that starts, 'I don't mind telling you, I took my girl to Kew…'? Of course you do. Anyway, caption this shirt that's travelling hopefully around the Greater London area.
- Bluebottle is back to amuse, entertain, instruct, and inspire. This week, he's up to the letter H in his Isle of Wight dictionary quiz. Guess along and learn. BB also has a report on the Flea Market. Stop scratching, it's not that kind of Flea Market. You need this information, and the Edited Guide needs you!
- You may be aware that next week, 21 August to be precise, will feature a solar eclipse, which unfortunately for the rest of the world is mainly visible in North America. If you weren't aware of this, you will be once you've read this issue. We have eclipse humour. We keep reminding you to wear your eclipse glasses. We mean this sincerely, it's dangerous not to. If you live in the US, your public library may have some from NASA. Ours didn't, so we went over to the local planetarium – we have one in town, about half a mile away – and watched the show. The docent over there was a kind astronomer who picked up a gross or so of eclipse shades for resale. Proceeds to go to the planetarium programme. We think they look très chic.
- Eclipse watching goes way back. In the Literary Corner, we dig up Mark Twain's old chestnut time-travel story with an eclipse in. We also make fun of Mark Twain. What he didn't know about time travel, UK history, and tropes fills volumes on the internet. But did you realise he'd created the perfect Mary Sue? Check it out while you wait for your eclipse glasses to arrive from Amazon.
- Speaking of writing, we have some advice you might want to read. We suspect it will give you a chuckle – and maybe, just maybe, encourage you to do some writing. We know you've got a thousand words just waiting to pour onto the virtual page on some subject that will make us sit up and take notice.
- Remember to set aside a dark and stormy night to catch up on the latest installment of the Ha'penny Dreadful. Things are getting spookier and spookier in there.
So there you have it. Lots to read, comment on, snark about, and draw inspiration from. More where that came from next week. In the meantime, take your cameras out for some fresh air, and send us pics. Also stories, articles, opinions, whatever you've got.
Robbie Stamp took this picture last Sunday. We think he was at a sporting event. It looked pretty exciting.
Enjoy your week, and don't forget to wear eclipse glasses when looking at the sun!
Dmitri Gheorgheni
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