Smells Fresher 2013-02-08

[Fairportfan]

Odeysseus had to be tied to the mast to avoid following the sirens' call. I'm thinking it might be difficult for Katherine to put her foot down.

Paul has shown us in the Wapsiverse the old legends often miss the mark of what really happened. Maybe Odysseus just liked to be tied up.

Heh. Remember Robert DiNiro as the transvestite captain of a flying pirate ship in the film of Neil Gaiman's Stardust?

He only dresses in his cabin, but when some emergency happens, he dashes out in his women's clothing and does heroic things ... and then realises ...

Skinny Pirate: What's the problem?
Captain Shakespeare: It's my reputation.
Skinny Pirate: No. No. Don't be silly. Nonsense.
Old Pirate: It's all right, Captain. We always knowed you was a whoopsie.

[zachariah]

I'm thinking that they cause a wall of fire and run around the twisty maze of passages in trying to avoid it when they discover something like a pictograph of the dolls on one of the walls. I'm kind of surprised that there would be mines at Mesa Verde at all, it is a national park. Maybe the mines are somewhere just outside the park. I visited the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Park in New Mexico back in '98, great place to visit.

Or the mine could predate the establishment of the park and been unknown at the time the park was set up.

I'm guessing the exit from the Library put them somewhere in the San Juan Mountains, north and east of Mesa Verde in the Durango/Silverton area. Lots of abandoned mines up there. I've been to Mesa Verde and I don't think there were any mining efforts within the park area. Could be wrong, but that's what I think. Mesa Verde is an amazing place. My favorite area is the Petroglyph trail. And the scent of Pinon Pines along the mesa top part of the trail is pure perfume!

That entire area of the four corners was prospected extensively for gold and silver all during the 1800's and even earlier by the spanish. Once the gold and silver ran out they went looking for other metals and found them. There are still many active mines around there. SO anywhere within 20 miles of the park is bound to have something. From a small put or all the way up to a full tunnel. And there can be tunnels in the Park. It was only established in 1906 so it can very easily be from before that period.

[Hansontoons]

I'm guessing the exit from the Library put them somewhere in the San Juan Mountains, north and east of Mesa Verde in the Durango/Silverton area. Lots of abandoned mines up there. I've been to Mesa Verde and I don't think there were any mining efforts within the park area. Could be wrong, but that's what I think. Mesa Verde is an amazing place. My favorite area is the Petroglyph trail. And the scent of Pinon Pines along the mesa top part of the trail is pure perfume![/quote]

That entire area of the four corners was prospected extensively for gold and silver all during the 1800's and even earlier by the spanish. Once the gold and silver ran out they went looking for other metals and found them. There are still many active mines around there. SO anywhere within 20 miles of the park is bound to have something. From a small put or all the way up to a full tunnel. And there can be tunnels in the Park. It was only established in 1906 so it can very easily be from before that period.[/quote]

(Above quoted from zachariah post)

My reply:

A quick search of mining history in the Mesa Verde area indicates coal mining has taken place, didn't dig deep enough to see if any exist within park boundaries.

[jwhouk]

Wait, wait, wait - this place is in MEXICO, not NEW MEXICO.

[Fairportfan]

Wait, wait, wait - this place is in MEXICO, not NEW MEXICO.

Mesa Verde is in Colorado, not far from the NM border, though.

[jwhouk]

But the "dead zone" is in Mexico. Nowhere NEAR Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde was where the pilot started...

(wanders over to the confusion corner)

[Wapsi]

But the "dead zone" is in Mexico. Nowhere NEAR Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde was where the pilot started...

(wanders over to the confusion corner)

*bangs own head on desk* Katherine is looking for a connection between the Anasazi and the Mayans.

[MerchManDan]

But the "dead zone" is in Mexico.

If you mean the Mapimi Silent Zone, recall: Brandi discussed it with Pratt (and, I'm guessing, McBride). But so far as we've seen, Kath doesn't know about it. Her adventure seems to have little/nothing to do with it.

[jwhouk]

Ohhhh yes she does.

"In May of 1976, Orson Miller was flying his personal aircraft en route to Mesa Verde, while flying over the Mapimi Desert,... electronics fail,... crash landing,... Here! Miller found a stone with pictographs and odd symbols,... a small cave,... inside the cave he found seven dolls."

Second part:

"Miller's vehicle was found outside the Mapimi Desert, five miles away they found his backpack, and only one remaining doll. Dubbed 'ancestor baby' the carved doll is all that remains of Miller's tale."

Kath, to Atsali in the library:

"I'm here to find the exits to Earth's other library annexes, hopefully ones that can get me near the US Southwest and close to Northern Mexico. I'm on the trail of missing, possibly cursed kachina dolls, a connection between Mayans and the Anasazi, and the mystery of the Mapimi Desert."

Next comic... OH. Kath says to Atsali (who's hell-bent on adventure):

"I was thinking to start at Mesa Verde to look for any..."

Doofus little Siren plopped them down in an annex in Mesa Verde.

Which still begs the question: "Why the #### is there an annex entrance in Mesa Verde, in an abandoned mine???"

(Still sitting over in the confused corner for a bit)

[Atomic]

Gotta wonder. Why put a portal in the middle of nowhere? In Minneapolis the portal is in town for the convince of the users. Who is this one for?

That's a good question! I hadn't thought of it, but now that it's brought up I must suspect that there's something interesting outside the mine itself. Note that the Minneapolis annex is an empty building which is nonetheless conveniently located near a city center and a highway. Mines are similarly lacking in folks hanging around, but can be quite close to other things. We'll probably have a surprise when Katherine and Atsali get to the surface.

The Anasazi date back to soon after the Clovis people existed, perhaps concurrently. The presumption is their origins from the various waves of Siberian peoples across the Bering Strait land bridge of that Ice Age. Southern migration in turn led to founding the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations. Presuming, of course, there was no (significant) migration from Africa (Olmec, anyone?)

The Bibliothiki, of course, is Aeons older that any of those. It would be reasonable for a library annex/access point to exist in the middle of a flourishing, if remote, culture, to support those worthy of access to it. And, as has been pointed out, the entrance appears unremarkable to the locals by virtue of whatever disguise fits the region, and the era. Sacred cave? Yep -- got one right here. Mineshaft? Sure -- we can do that too!

[jwhouk]

After doing some looking at things, it'd be logical if this Miller guy was flying from, say, Mexico City to Mesa Verde, since the Mapimi Silent Zone is in the approximate flight path. The mine, however, is questionable - since most of Mesa Verde is off-limits to non-Native Americans.

[NOTDilbert]

I also notice that the White Sands Missile Range is on that flight path - which would probably be marked on Section charts as 'no fly,' military area. Curious, though.

[Graybeard]

I visited the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Park in New Mexico back in '98, great place to visit.

Thumbs-up to that! The Frey trail from the Juniper camping area is a great way to see the core of the park if you're up for a hike of about a mile and a half each way (this includes some cliff-side zigzagging). You get a great view of the canyon and dwellings which isn't available to those who simply drive the access road down to the Visitor Center. Bring water and snacks and a sun-hat.

Visiting Tsankawi (a separate area outside the main section of the park) is also very worthwhile... a good trail with some ladder-clambering, great views, and (when we've been there) very few visitors compared to the main park.

This is getting pretty off topic, but be aware that Bandelier had a hideous forest fire a couple of years ago that has affected tourism. For most of the year it's now necessary to drop your car at a visitor center in nearby White Rock and take a shuttle into Frijoles Canyon, which is fine if you're just visiting the main ruins but a real pain if you're planning any backcountry hiking. (During the off season you can still drive into the canyon, as the risk of flooding, which was a main reason for closing it during summer, is reduced.) Also, some trails have not re-opened due to fire damage. Sadly, the beautiful and fairly easy trail down to the Rio Grande past Upper and Lower Frijoles Falls is no more, and may never re-open. You can get as far as the Upper Falls and that's it. It's still a great place to visit, though, and Tsankawi was unaffected by the fire -- I was there last week.

Incidentally, if you do venture into the backcountry, buy the guide book, which will make you better informed and also benefit my inheritance; it was written by my mother-in-law.

[Wyvern]

The Anasazi date back to soon after the Clovis people existed... The Bibliothiki, of course, is Aeons older that any of those. It would be reasonable for a library annex/access point to exist in the middle of a flourishing, if remote, culture, to support those worthy of access to it...

Plausible...but the Anasazi didn't have writing, as far as we know. The Bibliothiki tunes in on the written word, not audio; the earliest New World annexes should have appeared around 600BC. That's real-world history, of course; in Wapsi Square there were literate Lanthians using 'Glyph' millennia earlier (and with an alphabet), so the Anasazi could have gotten some unexpected cultural infusions from someone.

[MerchManDan]

Ohhhh yes she does.

....oops. Definitely my mistake; somehow, I'd forgotten about all that entirely. Blame the Siren.

[Atomic]

I also notice that the White Sands Missile Range is on that flight path - which would probably be marked on Section charts as 'no fly,' military area. Curious, though.

Today, yes -- but in that era? Oh -- the flight was in 1976. Never mind.

The missile range restriction got started in the late 1940s at the earliest, though the Alamagordo area would have been restricted in the early 40s.

[Graybeard]

The Anasazi date back to soon after the Clovis people existed... The Bibliothiki, of course, is Aeons older that any of those. It would be reasonable for a library annex/access point to exist in the middle of a flourishing, if remote, culture, to support those worthy of access to it...

Plausible...but the Anasazi didn't have writing, as far as we know.

Not altogether correct, although there is still some uncertainty. Modern Puebloans claim that the petroglyphs (images incised into rock rather than painted on it) common in the American Southwest are written language of a sort, with enough consistency of form and continuity that some of them can still be "read" by the modern people. This claim is somewhat controversial but many people who study petroglyphs (my MIL, the one who wrote the book mentioned above, is among them) think there may be something to it.

It is accurate, however, to say that the Anasazi didn't have anything like paper and pen, or other man-made things to write on and with, that we know of.

[RunningBull]

I'm thinking that they find petroglypghs of the 6 or 7 dolls that was found in mexico etched on a cave wall near Mesa Verde. If there was something like that at the cliff dwellings, they would already be known, photographed and examined. This would have to be in an old tunnel or location which hasn't been explored in a very long time. This would be something that would "connect" the two places.

[Sphinx-Napped]

impending boom coming when lantern hits the ground

Perhaps not. Oil and air need to be mixed to become explosive. The lantern will probably break if it hits the ground; if the oil leaks out from the impact, we might be looking at a wall of flame...

I'm thinking it's likely that there are other flammable things in that tunnel...on the ground or around them...I'm voting for lots of flames in next week's strips (if not a boom).

thats the problem the fire can light the other flammable items, but if there methane in the air, all it will take is one spark from the metal regardless of how low the spark is and the heat generated from the fire if there is in fact other flammable items such as that "rope" you will get a boom, so basically if the explosion from the acid smelling air doesn't spark, the flames will set off the explosion..

so impending boom would suffice to say very well imminent due you looking at x3 things that can trigger a explosion and fires and the first one is acid smell and maybe methane which can lead to flashpoint explosion/fire, second the rope catching fire and the heat can burn off the methane but only if its not in confined area such as the mine.. and since there is fresh air that will also feed the fire/explosion that will be happening in flash unless one them and or siren has the ability to freeze time or phase each out the way of the chain reaction.

so with that said i will have drumstick and latte hold the demon sugar.

pays the punjar a silver Cesare dollar

[Boxilar]

BTW, no one seems to have questioned yesterday how they could see anything at all. If they are deep in a tunnel or mine, it would be totally dark. And they had just left a well lit area so their eyes would not yet have adjusted to night vision.

Artistic license is one explanation, so that we the readers can see what is going on while the characters are blind.

But then, they aren't. Both Kat and Atsalli could see at least a little bit in what should be a pitch black mine. The siren is easy to explain. She's not human, and may have good low light vision, or even a form of "dark vision". And Katherine may be the same. After all, she's a solitary person, and may never have been alone in the dark with anyone before. Her point of reference may be a bit off.

Kath: "It's a bit dim in here."
Normal human: "A bit dim? It's pitch black! I can't see at all!"