Welcome to Les Pages aux Folles, a collection of satirical writings and comedic doodles. The most recently written articles can be found in the New section; two or three will appear each Sunday. I now also rotate two cartoons (My Toronto and/or Delicate Negotiations); while the latest will appear on this page every Sunday, recent cartoons can be found on the appropriate pages in the New section. Collections of older material (currently numbering 23: 18 books of prose and five of cartoons) appear in the Archive.

WARNING: This Web site contains words, images or concepts that may be offensive to some. While reading, please be sure that your inner child is otherwise engaged.

New

Public Appearance

Okay, so, like, I was in Boston the weekend of Friday the 13th to promote the short story anthology UnCONventional at the Arisia science fiction convention. It rocked beyond all rocking of rockingness. The reading was very entertaining and the launch party, which featured a cake with the cover of the book on, was delicious. Uhh, I mean well-attended and lots of tasty goodness. Fun. The, uhh, the cake was pretty good, too. The panels I was on were very well attended and everybody seemed to get a lot out of them. The panels I wasn't on but attended were informative. Then, there were the matters unexpected: the life-sized stormtrooper cake, for example, or the HAL 900 (that is not a misprint).

It was a month's worth of awesome crammed into four days!

I would like to thank Kate Kaynak and Trisha Woodbridge for putting together a wonderful book (unlike many anthologies, where some stories are obvious filler, there isn't a dud in this entire volume) and allowing me to be a part of it. I would also like to thank the other authors whose unique and entertaining visions make this book such a great read. It was...superlative (sorry, but I'm running out of superlatives) to meet those of you who could make the con.

You will find a link to my account of my Arisia adventures below. At the bottom of the page are almost 150 pictures that I took at the con. Enjoy.

Days of Future Cons Past

When I mentioned that I have taken a lot of photos at the science fiction conventions I have attended (many more than I have used in my articles on them), my Web Goddess, who is relentless in her pursuit of getting more visual elements on my Web site, suggested I post them to Flickr and link to the resulting albums on the appropriate pages. So, that is what I have done. If you would like to see photos from the 2011 Ad Astra, 2011 Con*Cept, 2011 Polaris or 2011 SFContario science fiction conventions, simply click on the links and look for them at the bottom of the page. If cool costumes and the occasional f&sf celebrity are your thing, you should check them out (especially the Polaris album, which is rather large).

This Week's New Columns

The Daily Me - Mel Mermelstein

The debate over the series Two Broke Gays rages on.

Headlines Shoot Dingoes On Sight

Weapons Give Latter The Decisive Edge

Ask Amritsar: Reach Out and Feel Up Somebody [ARNS]

The problem with long distance romance is that you can never be 100 per cent certain who is on the other end of the relationship. You think you're enjoying the amourous attentions of your boyfriend when you could actually be making love to your partner's evil twin (known as "Mirror, Mirror Syndrome"), a computer programme your partner has written so that he can spend less time with you and more time on his fantasy table hockey league (aka: "Demon Seed Syndrome"), or a gerbil who happened to be lying around the lab looking forlorn and lonely (sometimes referred to as: "That's So Sick There Isn't A Cultural Reference We Can Make To Anything Remotely Similar Syndrome!").

Naked and Strangely Lopsided: An Arisia Adventure

On the way out of the house, I forgot my black bag. This meant that I did not have: 600 American dollars (but, okay, that's why god created credit cards); the folder with my panel notes (okay, that's why god created...ad libbing); the pad on which I take notes for future writing (umm...that's why...somebody created...err, airport book shops?); all of the flight and hotel information (you can't travel to the US without naming a destination, so I stayed at the Holiday Inn...sshhh...), and; extra batteries for my camera (that's why god created not taking any more pictures).

Your Immortality Is Ensured! Sorta... More Or Less...

Ask Amritsar and Ask the Tech Answer Guy, the two advice columns produced by the Alternate Reality News Service, are now a weekly feature of Les Pages aux Folles. I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but it's nice to see the Web site continue to evolve. Now that the advice columns are a regular feature, I need reader input more than ever! If you have a grave concern or a passing wonderment that you think one of our advice columnists can answer, I want to hear from you. Simply submit your own questions to: questions@lespagesauxfolles.ca. It's your shot at immortality! And, it's my chance to fill another 700 word column!

Commentization...Or, Umm, Just Comments Happen

Web Goddess Gisela McKay toiled mightily to make Les Pages aux Folles more user friendly. As a result, what was once gray is now full of colours! (It's kind of like the transformation in The Wizard of Oz, but without the new car smell.) You will also notice that at the bottom of every page is a comment box. This is an experiment in reader input; I expect everybody to play nice.

Other Things Worth Knowing

Les Pages aux Folles Gets Social, baby!

You may have noticed that there are little colourful squares on each page on the Web site. That isn't a cheap way to get more graphics on my pages to please my Web Goddess. Well, not only that. Those graphics are actually links to various social networking and recommendation sites. If you like something you read here, please take a moment and tell people there.

Oh, and I am now on Twitter! If you're not following ARNSProprietor, well, why aren't you?

Alternate Reality News Service News

The Weight of Information: Episode One: The Realities Leak is now available on YouTube! This pilot for a radio series is based on stories out of the two Alternate Reality News Service Books, Alternate Reality Ain't What It Used To Be and What Were Once Miracles Are Now Children's Toys (or, as one online used bookstore has it, What Were Once Miracles Are Now Children - don't ask). Click on this link to listen to Part One and this link to listen to Part Two. Interdimensional travel has never been so...multidimensional!

ALSO: To celebrate the publication of What Were Once Miracles Are Now Children's Toys, the second Alternate Reality News Service book in print, I have created A Book Trailer Called "Book Trailer". It is four minutes and 12 seconds of...well, I'm not sure what, to be honest with you. Enjoy.

To download brief clips from The Weight of Information: Episode One: The Realities Leak, right click here and choose "save link as" or right click here and choose "save link as". To download previous weeks' clips from the show right click here and choose "save link as" or right click here and choose "save link as" or right click here and choose "save link as" or right click here and choose "save link as" or right click here and choose "save link as" or right click here and choose "save link as". Need I remind you that they are brief?

Other...Other Stuff

Les Pages aux Folles has a *STORE* where you can buy *MERCHANDISE*! (Sorry, I don't deal in "Merch:" it rhymes with Lurch, and that brings up childhood memories that are best left buried.) Because nothing says you love your readers more than trying to sell them something! Check it out!

As always, all praise to Gisela McKay of Pixcode for her assistance with Les Pages aux Folles since its inception. Not only has she donated space on her server for me to park the Web site, but she has withstood an onslaught of newbie questions that would have made a lesser woman run away screaming (not an uncommon reaction to me, I must admit). This Web site would not have been possible without her. Gisela is, truly, a tech goddess.

All material on this Web site is (c) copyright by Ira Nayman. For more on this fascinating subject, go to the Les Pages aux Folles Legal page.

| Share this!