Fed II Star - January 8, 2006

CHRISTMAS PARADE
Wednesday December 21
by Catspaws

As Christmas came closer and closer, the Christmas spirit began to become more and more apparent in Fedspace. Santa's Grotto opened on Earth and we were all able to sit on Santa's lap and play with fun new toys. The Jolly Elf himself was around more and more, and naughty Fedders were suddenly perfect little angels.

One of the first major events for the holiday season was the Christmas parade, in which Fedders built their own floats to enter in the parade in the hopes of winning a precious slithy tove. This was also one of the first major events for the new role-playing team. Pressure? Nah!

As the time for the parade came closer and closer, the parade entrants began to gather on Magrathea. Some were nervous (the kitty), some were excited (everyone else). It was at this point, a few minutes before the parade, that Djentsch, one of the judges, decided he was going to be late!

It was close, but the kitty managed not to faint, or scream in frustration. She paced a rut on the shuttle pad on Magrathea, but she otherwise kept her cool, even as the minutes went by slower and slower.

Finally, just as she roped in Buddy to judge and moved the floats to Titan, Djentsch returned. So we had a full complement of judges and the floats sailed gracefully into Mars space where they were cheered by Cragon. The kitty led the parade with her float from Catseye, followed by Kalandra, Roselie, Hitman, Diamonique and Nolepaul, with Fancy and the Top Cat gang bringing up the rear.

From Mars we presented our floats to the judges who waited in Earth orbit with a crowd of spectators. The floats were perfection as each glided into view before the eager crowd. There were no major collisions, although Roselie's and Hitman's ships seemed to be quite cozy together.

The judges finally made their decisions, and selected the three top floats. Roselie, Diamonique, and Kalandra all won a slithy for their floats, and great fun was had by all.

This was definitely a fun event, one we plan to do again throughout the year. Thanks to everyone who participated, especially our noble judges.

Here are the winning floats:

#1:
Roselie's spaceship dips and weaves gently, swooping through the parade line in graceful arcs. The entire ship and wings are covered in red lights and artifully disguised wire so that it appears to be a giant crimson cardinal, wearing a garland of green holly and winking at the spectators. Yellow lights form the bright beak of the bird, in which it appears to be holding a perfect red rose. A green light garland of festive holly adorns the bird's neck and gracefully hangs like an evergreen scarf.

#2:
Diamonique's spaceship is on autopilot while Di stands in a knee deep pile of diamondust looking exactly like sparkly snow! There is a huge Christmas tree made out of slithy tovies! As the slithies slide to the ground, Di tosses them to the crowd! Little elves are made from silk blossoms of vibrant colors and there is even a little grinch hiding behind the tree. The grinch is made of coffee bulbs confiscated from Sumatra and looks like he wants the slithies for his own purposes! Twinkling lights reflect off the diamondust and you feel just like you are in a Winter Wonderland

#3:
Kalandra's spaceship appears to have started by being decorated in the usual holiday gear. Some tinsel, a garland or two and of course a Christmas tree. Kalandra has set a deco-droid to work and it is happily hanging lights. Her Christmas tree sways happily balanced on the top of the ship complete with piles of presents underneath it. The latest addition to the ship is the lighted sign that proclaims "Merry Christmas to all." Meanwhile the Droid merrily works on the decoration. Suddenly, the ship lists violently to the right before coming back to an upright position.
Kalandra's spaceship now appears that the ship is one giant mass of tinsel, holiday lights, and garlands hurtling through space leaving a holiday trail of tinsel in its wake. You might think it is littering but then you see the cleaning droid Kalandra has employed following behind to catch errant debris. She does seem to enjoy her ship although she seems oblivious to the havoc that follows her. seems to have the holiday tunes up to maximum volume inside her ship. You can just see through the portholes that Kalandra is rocking and bopping to something. Which song, you cannot tell due to the silence of the vaccuum of space.