From oracle-request@cs.indiana.edu Wed Mar 11 00:10:36 1998 Received: (from daemon@localhost) by sunos.cs.indiana.edu (8.8.7/8.8.7/IUCS_2.16) id AAA15280; Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:10:36 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:10:36 -0500 (EST) From: Internet Oracle Message-Id: <199803110510.AAA15280@sunos.cs.indiana.edu> To: oracle-list@cs.indiana.edu Subject: Internet Oracularities #993 Reply-To: oracle-vote@cs.indiana.edu X-Face: )/f9dPAX/dU$1Z!U(/?A PiIJvIOtcN@L.>6,2OKd."T#S7b*{feRf.Kns23^P9.Ak{GdWWv]0*1E}RJ)_idU:(5VkN*_+bB kyrnLfC12B>V/q=z32:05`EcAd.!z#3k]h)O!ZU^E"f`@),(2WT X-Planation: X-Face can be viewed with ftp.cs.indiana.edu:/pub/faces. === 993 ================================================================== Title: Internet Oracularities #993 Compiled-By: Steve Kinzler Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:10:36 -0500 (EST) To find out all about the Internet Oracle, including how to participate, send mail to oracle@cs.indiana.edu with the word "help" in the subject line. Let us know what you like! Send your ratings of these 10 Oracularities on an integer scale of 1 ("very poor") to 5 ("very good") with the volume number to oracle-vote@cs.indiana.edu (probably just reply to this message). For example: 993 2 1 3 4 3 5 3 3 4 1 988 94 votes iqpj6 7ikxg 8gpol 8hCla 7qBm2 biokl cuzh0 4cmuq 9gsqf 7hEo6 988 3.1 mean 2.7 3.4 3.4 3.1 2.9 3.2 2.6 3.7 3.2 3.1 --- 993-01 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: mchevalier@WELLESLEY.EDU The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Dear and wise oracle for which to find I travelled lots of kilograms! > > Please answer me this very simple question: > > Now that there's the posibillity of suitcase nukes being used by > terrorists - which city is going to be the first to be nuked? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Either Atlanta or Denver, since, thanks to the airlines, that's where } the suitcases are going to end up. } } You owe the Oracle 20,000 frequent flyer miles. --- 993-02 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Mark Lawrence The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Like, totally rad oracle. Like you have like the most bodacious ass, > like fer sure. Totally. > > Like, I'm a Val, ya know, and, like, things are like gag me with a > spoon down here. Like I'm sure. Like all the like surfer dudes like > totally aren't like surfin' no more. Fer sure, I mean, like, they all > started like thrashin' on their gnarly snow boards, ya know. So like > all that's left like here on the like beach are these like totally > gross me out like gag me with a spoon geeks and like there like isn't a > tubular one of them. > > So, like, my problem is this, like I can't wear my like tonar bikini on > the slope, 'cause it's like, I'm so sure, totally frigid up there, ya > know. But like there isn't like a single bodacious hunk like anywhere! > Like, I understand, like Lisa's your like squeeze and all, but like, I > kinda like heard like someone like reading one of these like question > thingies from this like dude Og, and like, he sounds totally rad. Fer > sure. Can you, like, see if Og like wants to like meet me? Like > please! It's like totally perfect. Fer sure. Like I'm a blonde, and > like, so I don't like read, and like use big words, but Og, I can get > like totally everything he says. Like totally totally. It's like so > awesome. And like, he kills these like totally tubular tigers and > stuff, so like, you gotta like know that he's buff. And, like, he has > the coolest way of like talking. And, like you just like know he is > totally cute. Oh please Orrie! Like fer sure I'd be so, like happy > and all, you know. Like totally. And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Og here. Og happy Val like Og, but Val look sick. Val just hides on } bones, like Ogwa-Ma, not strong and thick like Ogwa. } } Val get geeks to stop giving Val spoon; make geeks club deer. Val } eat, Val get fat, Og club geeks and Val and Og and Ogwa go live on } San-ta Mo-ni-ca Bou-le-vard. (All Og want do is have Og fun.) } } Val owe Og Bud. --- 993-03 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Mark Lawrence The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > My darling Oracle, What lovely honeycakes you have. I can't sleep at > night thinking of your muffins. Give me your sticky buns with Bavarian > cream. I want to bite your bundt cake. I adore you... Same time > tomorrow? > > Love and kisses, > your little fraulein, > Gisela And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Gisela! I told you never to email me at work. I'll have the scones for } you on Monday, but you must be discreet, else I'll never be able to } bake for you again. It's hard enough keeping it a secret that I cook. } } You owe the Oracle a new baking sheet. --- 993-04 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Mark Lawrence The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Oh Great Wonder of Delphi and Paragaon of Indiana, Superbly Wise and > Gainfully Magnificent Oracle: > > What the heck... ?!!? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Og here. O-ra-kul take ho-li-day. Og a-gree help O-ra-kul. Og look note } O-ra-kul. Og ask sup-li-kant what sup-li-kant ques-tion? } } > Erm, Oh Great Wonder of, erm, The Paleolithic Era, paragon of } > Southern Spain, Europe, and the Middle East, even though it's likely } > that there are still Neanderthal fossils to be found in large regions } > of the world. Superbly, erm, hirstute and gainfully, erm, armed with } > 'Big Spiky Club' Og, erm... } > } > Oh great Og, erm, how can I get laid? } } Og not know word 'laid'. Og re-mem-ber O-ra-kul say dic-tion-ary. Og } see en-try. Og know an-swer. } } Og say sup-li-kant re-move li-no floor. Spread glue sup-li-kant, lie } floor. Sup-li-kant laid. Og say 'next'. } } > Oh wise Oracle, to whom I am like a speck of fly-dirt left on the } > back of a smelly warthog, please spare one millionth of one millionth } > of ....... erm, am I in the wrong room? } } O-ra-kul a-way two week South France. Og here. Og help sup-li-kant. } Og want know sup-li-kant ques-tion. } } > Oh wise Og, to whom I am like a, erm, less hairy and with a bigger } > chin version of, erm, Og, please spare, erm, probably many times your } > intellectual effort for your entire life and answer my question. } > } > Og, I'm a musician. How can I become a big star? } } Og think. Og think many hour. Og re-mem-ber O-ra-kul say thing, look } en-clyo-c en-cy en-clyop big book. Og look big book, see 'star'. } } Og say star much burn. Og think sup-li-kant want become star, must set } fire sup-li-kant. Sup-li-kant much burn, much hot, sup-li-kant nu-clear } fu-sion, much hot, be-come big star. Og say 'next'. } } > Oracle, may I shuffle in on my knees, scraping my head on the floor } > to show my great respect for thy most honoured presence, Oracle, thou } > whose very nerves in thy big toe have more processing power than the } > entire of Einstein's brain, thou whom..... erm, Og? } } Og here. Og say, ask ques-tion. } } > Oh, erm, Og, may I walk in upright, not, erm, dragging my knuckles on } > the ground to show, erm, something, and see great, erm, Og who has } > more, erm blisters on thy feet than Einstein had on his, erm, } > eyelids, please hear this question from this most, erm, advanced } > supplicant not even worthy of, well, worthy of a number of things I } > suppose. } > } > Og, I was going to ask how The Oracle met Lisa, but now I feel that } > I should ask you how you met Ogwa. } } Og re-mem-ber. Og leave cave. Og smell strange smell. Og think, dead } mammoth near. Og think, hur-ry, get meat before eat hy-ena. Og run, not } find dead mammoth, find wo-man. Find Ogwa. Og bite. Ogwa alive, scream. } Live Ogwa, much tough, not bite, hurt teeth. Og think. Og think many } hour. Og think, take Ogwa cave, maybe Ogwa be-come soft. Og wait much } time, Ogwa not be soft. Ogwa tear meat mammoth bare hand. Ogwa kill } warthog en-ter cave. Og think Ogwa much use. Ogwa all wo-man. Ogwa } 'hard'. Og love Ogwa, not eat. Og say 'next'. } } > Doooooooood. Dooooood. Dooooood. } > } > Hey Doood. Dooood!!!!!! } > } >---------------------------------------------------------------------- } >You don't have to do anything to get free email. We're giving away } >email accounts free in exchange for three Hostess Twinkie Wrappers. } >We'll put free email accounts in your breakfast cereal box. We'll } >sell our grandmothers into slavery if you'll just use our free } >email server. Please, please, please use our free email server. } } Og not 'doooood' now. Og 'doooood' be-fore sit O-ra-kul throne. } O-ra-kul say Og doo doo throne, O-ra-kul much ZOT Og. Og scare ZOT. Og } dooood gar-den out-side pal-ace. Og say 'next'. } } > The Oracle has no questions to ask. } } Og not see sup-li-kant. Og won-der what do next. Og think. Og think, } fu-ture much good a-ni-mal skin. Og go search a-ni-mal skin Saks } Many Avenue shop. } } You owe The Oracle a recently dead mammoth carcass and a direction to } the nearest natural deposit of flint. --- 993-05 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Mark Lawrence The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > (There is a knock on the door, ABBY and MARTHA, two sweet, charming old > ladies, answer the door. ZADOC, a shabby, disheveled high priest of > The Internet Oracle, stands outside.) > > Abby: How do you do. > > Zadoc: I understand you have a room to rent. > > Abby: Of course, I'm Miss Brewster, and this is my sister, another > Miss Brewster. > > Martha: Hello. > > Zadoc: My name is Zadoc. > > Abby: Come in Mr. Zadoc. (ZADOC enters) Sit down, we want to get to > know you. > > Zadoc: That won't matter, if I don't like the room. > > Martha: Are your family Brooklyn people? > > Zadoc: I haven't got a family; I live with an Oracle, don't like it. > > Abby: All alone in the world? > > (ABBY and MARTHA exchange a look. MARTHA goes to the sideboard, and > takes out a bottle of wine, and a glass.) > > Zadoc: Well- > > Abby: Mr. Zadoc, why don't you try a glass of our wine? > > Zadoc: Never touch it, after this episode in Mexico... The room? > > (Enter TEDDY from the cellar, TEDDY is a large man, who bears an > uncanny resemblance to Theodore Roosevelt.) > > Teddy: I've just finished digging the new locks for the Canal, so, > Aunt Martha, Aunt Abby, if you don't mind, I'll retire. > > Martha: Thank you, Teddy. > > Teddy: (As he approaches the landing at the top of the stairs) > CHARGE!!! > > Zadoc: Who was that? > > Martha: One of our nephews, he thinks he's President Roosevelt. > > Zadoc: I see, and the reason he... > > Abby: The stairs are always San Juan Hill. Are you sure about the > wine? It's elderberry wine. We make it ourselves. > > Zadoc: Elderberry wine? I haven't had elderberry wine since I was a > boy. > > (ZADOC takes the offered glass, and raises it to his lips... And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } ... then stops and observes the glass suspiciously.) } } Zadoc: Wait a second, this wine has an unusual scent. } } Abby: (laughing nervously) Why, Mr. Zadoc, I assure you it's just } ordinary elderberry wine! } } Zadoc: (waving the glass slowly under his nose) Amusing, but with a } musky bouquet ... strong fruity ambience ... with a slight undertone of } ... aspen wood. } } Martha: Oh, my, a true wine connoiseur! } } (Zadoc rises and moves to the window, holding the wine up to the } sunlight.) } } Zadoc: Yes ... a most oblique body and cocquettish flow ... a rich } melodic hue with a light leafy character. } } Abby: How exciting! You must taste it now, Mr. Zadoc! } } Zadoc: Of course. } } (Zadoc briskly raises the glass to his lips again and swishes the wine } around his mouth, swallows it, then drains the glass.) } } Zadoc: How delicious! } } (Zadoc immediately crumples into the window seat, lifeless.) } } Abby: (in a strangely gruff, high-pitched voice) All right, let's drag } his sorry butt out of here. } } Martha: (in a similar voice) Hold on! We need to get his terminal } ready first. } } Abby: Fine, let's just hurry. } } (The two elderly ladies open the basement door and scurry downstairs. } As they vanish from sight, the front door opens, and the handsome, } dashing INTERNET ORACLE enters.) } } Oracle: Abby! Martha! It is I, your nephew, Orrie! } } (Silence.) } } Oracle: Hello? Martha? Abby? } } (The Oracle enters the room, looks around, and sees Zadoc's body } sprawled out in the window seat.) } } Oracle: Great Scott! It's Zadoc! And he's ... } } (Abby and Martha return from the basement, huffing and puffing.) } } Martha: Oh, hello, dear! } } Oracle: Abby! Martha! There's a dead man in your house! } } Abby: Yes, dear, we know ... Forget you ever saw the gentleman. We } never dreamed you'd peek! } } Oracle: That's no gentleman, that's my high priest, Zadoc! } } Martha: (beginning to shake profusely) Why, Orrie, dear, do you know } this man? He said the only person he knew was an Oracle. } } Oracle: All right, aunts, I must tell you. I, the one you know as } your sweet young nephew Orrie, am in reality The Internet Oracle. And } this man, Zadoc, is my high priest. } } Abby: (in a hoarse, choked whisper to Martha) You incredible } blockhead! I thought you checked this place out! } } Oracle: What? } } Abby: Nothing! Well, Orrie, you've caught us! Ha ha! We, uh ... we } do this as a charitable act! Yeah, that's the ticket! Charitable! } } Martha: Yeah! Ha ha! We find these pathetic loser types and make } them drink our homemade elderberry wine, which we've laced with -- } } Abby: Arsenic! } } Martha: Arsenic? } } Abby: (with a swift elbow to Martha's ribs) Yes, arsenic! Ha ha! We } kill them to put them out of their misery, then we give them a decent } burial. } } Martha: In the basement. } } (Abby decks Martha with a hard right.) } } Oracle: The basement? } } Abby: Um, yes, Teddy helps us ... dig graves! We tell him it's the } Panama canal. } } Oracle: You kill innocent people and bury them in your basement? } } Martha: Don't forget, they're pathetic losers. } } Oracle: (glancing at Zadoc's body) Well, I'll give you that one ... } } Abby: So you can see that everything's really okay, you can just run } along, and we'll take care of your friend Zadoc here. Goodbye. } } Oracle: (staring at the open basement door) What's that clicking } sound? } } Martha: There's no clicking sound. } } Abby: You don't hear a clicking sound. } } Martha: It's probably my stomach. } } (The Oracle moves to the basement door and peers down.) } } Oracle: No, I hear clicking, and ... and that was a modem! } } Martha: Cockroaches! } } Abby: Mice! } } (The Oracle starts down the basement stairs.) } } Martha: No! You can't go down there! } } (Martha and Abby grab the Oracle's sleeves, but the Oracle shakes them } off and marches down the stairs. Suddenly he sees a dimly lit hall } with tiny cubicles dug out of the floor. Row after row of pale, } zombie-like people sit staring into monochrome monitors, typing } endlessly on dirty keyboards. Aghast at the sight, the Oracle moves } closer to see what they are typing.) } } Zombie 1: How much wood would a -- } } Oracle: No! } } Zombie 2: woodchuck chuck if a -- } } Oracle: It can't be! } } Zombie 3: woodchuck could chuck wood? } } Oracle: No! The horror! } } (The Oracle runs from the basement screaming in terror.) } } Oracle: I can't believe it! My own family! My aunts! Responsible } for the unending torrent of w**dchuck questions! } } Martha: Oh no! He knows it all now! } } Abby: (with a cruel sneer) Get a grip, you simp. Oracle! You want } the truth? Here's the truth! We lure losers here, and we give them } elderberry wine. But it's not laced with arsenic. It's laced with } aspen wood! We drug them and make them our slaves! Night and day they } toil! We sign each one up with an ISP (You don't need to buy Internet } access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from } Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]) } and they send woodchuck question after woodchuck question until they } die! Ha ha ha ha ha! } } Oracle: (sobbing) My relatives, my own relatives ... Inanity runs in } my family! It practically gallops! } } Martha: But we're not your aunts. } } Oracle: What? } } Abby: Shut up, "Martha". } } Oracle: What did you say? } } Martha: (shaking again) Nothing. } } Oracle: You said you're not my aunts! } } (The Oracle walks menacingly toward the two old ladies.) } } Abby: Get back! } } (The Oracle lunges and grabs them by the hair. Suddenly their masks } fly off, revealing the two not to be Orrie's aunts Abby and Martha, but } two giant whimpering R.O.U.S. gang members [* See Ish #988-06 - Ed.]) } } Oracle: Marmots! } } Abby: All right, all right, now you know everything. We ditched the } old ladies and took over their operation. So sue us! } } Oracle: (in calm, measured tones) Lawsuits won't be necessary, boys. } In fact, you won't need any kind of suit at all! } } (sfx: Much screaming, zotting, and bloodshed ensues. The R.O.U.S. are } zotted soundly, as are all the pitiful zombies in the basement.) } } Oracle: (running out the front door, and calling for Lisa) Lisa! } Lisa, darling, can you hear me? I'm not the son of a w**dchuck! And } moreoveor, I've permanently solved the problems of w**dchuck questions, } Juno incarnations, and inanity! } } (As the Oracle leaves, Zadoc awakes and rubs his eyes.) } } Zadoc: I forgot what a hangover I get from elderberry wine. I need to } I need to go toss a two by four. } } ... You owe the Oracle a starring (and victorious) role in "Aspenwood } and Old Lace II: The Final Conflict". --- 993-06 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: clemenr@westminster.ac.uk (Ross Clement) The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Oh, non-bowl crowned One! > > Why do people pay money to have their hair cut when > it is so easy to do it oneself? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Some of us just aren't as skilled at cutting our own hair as you, } Mr. Savales. } } You owe the Oracle a lollipop, a collection of Kojak episodes, and a } Diner's Club card. --- 993-07 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: mchevalier@WELLESLEY.EDU The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Oracle you're great. Really. Now on with the question. > > It's courtney. She's great, she's wonderful. But it's the way she > looks, the way she acts. It's like she doesn't know anyone feels that > way about her. If only there was some way I could just tell her, > without the disasterous reprocussions I know it would have. Please help > me. And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Supplicant, you are nothing. Really. Now on with the answer. } } It's you. You are boring, you are stupid. But it's always the same } with questions like this. They are frequently asked. ('Oracle, how } can I make the girl go out with me?', 'Oracle, how can I get the } girl to fall in love with me?', ...) If only there was some way you } supplicants could realize that it is so easy. Talk to her and ask her. } If she says no, go away. If she says yes, be happy. } } You owe the oracle a less used question. --- 993-08 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Darkmage The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > You that never needs to stop and ask for directions and are thus > nine-hundred off-ramps ahead of us mortals, could you tell me > please: > > As far as I can tell the only thing Christopher Columbus and > Amelia Earhart did of note was get hopelessly lost. Are there > any other noteworthy examples of this known to you? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } Sorry to disillusion you, supplicant, but the easier question to answer } is, "Is there anybody, anybody at all, who didn't get famous while } *not* hopelessly lost?" } } Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in a fit of irritation after a wrong turn } in Macedonia caused him to miss his reservations in Carthage. Hannibal } may have crossed the Alps, but he was trying to get over the } Mediterrenean. Newton discovered gravity after he walked into an apple } tree while stumbling around in the dark. Every member of every royal } family in the past four hundred years has been lost due to severe } inbreeding. Crick and Watson claim to have gotten the idea that DNA was } a double helix from a sprial staircase; which is true, but they're } skipping over the four hours they spent walking up and down it trying } to find the journal section of the library. Ronald Reagan -- well, put } it this way: Reagan's probably not going to be buried in his own grave. } } In fact, there has been only one person of any note in history who was } not lost. And all Mercator did was invent the map. } } You owe the Oracle a map. --- 993-09 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Rich McGee The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Oracle, whose fore-sight is pristine and unclouded, > I have a question for you. > > As this century draws to a close, could you please tell me > what you see as the ten most amazing events to occur in the > -next- century will be? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } February 14, 2011 Elvis kicks come-back tour. (get your tix early) } } October 9, 2304 WWIII - U.S. Declares no fly zone for Mexican planes } attacking Canada. Mexico retaliates by bombing Los Angeles, however } noone notices after the Great Flee of 2246 when the Macarena came back } into vogue at West Coast weddings. } } April 7, 2450 I. Oracle (and Lisa) decide to select a different of one } of the seven available genders, traveling to Gardon 4 so that the } surgery can be performed and Zot staff recharged. } } May 11, 2560 First time in recorded history a whole day will pass } without a WOODCHUCK question. } } Oracle 4, 2600 Oracle declares that the Month of June will now be } called Oracle. } } March 7, 2601 Woodchucks will be placed on the endangered species list } and then removed as protections for the annoying creatures are not } enforced for some reason thus making them extinct. } } November 11, 2795 MS world domination plot complete, tragicly though } Bill Gates head (In a cryogenic state for almost 600 years) becomes } thawed and rots when Windows 2795 crashes disabling freezing mechanism. } } January 12, 2803 Lisa will finally drop those 10lbs from her hips and } therefore quit asking me if her butt looks fat. } } Oracle 14, 2862 United Nations finally passes world-wide declaration } declaring Esperanto a stupid idea in the first place. } } February 27, 2904 U.S. finally adopts the Metric System } } There you have it, the ten most amazing things coming in the next } Millenium. You owe the Oracle a pair of tickets to the Elvis concert, } printed in Esperanto, with the seats 2 meters from the stage, next to } Bill Gates head, and a tub of fat free popcorn for Lisa. --- 993-10 --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected-By: Otis Viles The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: } To answer your question, let's take a look at the archives, shall we? } } ----Begin extract from Internet Oracularities Digest #2---- } } > Og crawl on ground like snail! Og lick dirt! Og bash big rock on } > fingers! Og tie raw antelope haunch on back, run through wolf } > terr-i-to-ry! Og throw little rock at bear! Og-- } } All right, all right already! Boy, you must really want My attention } or something. I haven't seen this much grovelling in a while. What's } up? } } > Or-acle great! Or-acle smart! Or-acle good! Or-acle help Og many } > time! } } True, true, true, and true. Or-acle also very busy just now, so if you } wouldn't mind getting to the point... } } > Og got point! Og got pointy rock! Og make pointy rock, hit with } > other rock till get pointy. Og tie rock to stick, make spe-ar. Og } > go hunt with spe-ar, kill many antelope. Og happy. Og bring many } > antelope to cave. Ogwa not so happy, got cut up many antelope. Then } > Oglings all get eat big dinner, Oglings happy, stop cry, sleep. Now } > Ogwa happy. All happy. Og want make pic-ture, hunt with spe-ar, kill } > many antelope. } } Well, in order to represent the scope of the antelope hunt, I recommend } that you use the modified isometric perspective of the Lascaux style. } Red and yellow ochre for the highlights, and you'll probably want to } favor broad, sweeping strokes to represent the general fluid motion, } leaving the finer details to be inferred by the viewer. } } > That not problem! Og know that! Og got es-the-tics. Og problem, Og } > cave too small. North wall got pic-ture, Og hit bear with spikey } > club. South wall got pic-ture, Og hit snake with spikey club. West } > wall got pic-ture, Og hit big lizard with spikey club. Og got no } > more walls! } } Hmm. I see. (Of course I do; I am all-seeing, after all.) Discounting } the obvious solution of finding a new and larger cave to move into, } what you need is some extra walls. Make another pointy rock, but this } time make it a longer, flatter blade with a broad cutting edge. Use } this to cut down a big tree, then cut a flat smooth board from the } tree. Take it home and prop it up somewhere, and you've got an extra } wall to draw on. } } You owe the Oracle a framed original, for My colletion. } } ----End extract---- } } So, as you can see, lowly supplicant, before they invented drawing } boards, people went back to the Oracle. } } You owe the Oracle one year's premium for the insurance on My } collection of original art.