Goodnight Dune

It is by will alone my teddy bear sets its mind in motion.

If you were an American kid at any point in the latter half of the 20th century, you probably have fond memories of reading the classic bedtime story, Goodnight Moon, before getting tucked in at night. Written in 1947 by the prolific children's book author, Margaret Wise Brown, this tale of sleepy bunnies, kittens and mittens has long been a staple of nighttime beddy-byes and has helped soothe countless little ones to sleep for years.

But there's always room for improvement,

isn't there?

Enter, Goodnight Dune, by Julia Yu. After stumbling upon a College Humor parody on Reddit about sci-fi children's books, Julia was inspired to create a mash-up of Brown's beloved bedtime story and David Lynch's eerily depicted world of Frank Herbert's Dune, as seen in the 1984 sci-fi epic. Got a geeky kid who loves sandworms and knows what a Gom Jabbar is? Then snuggle up with your little Quisach Haderach and a cup of hot cocoa (spiced, of course) and enjoy this excellent little tribute to two awesome American classics.

CLICK HERE TO READ "GOODNIGHT DUNE" BY JULIA YU

BONUS VIDEO: THE ORIGNAL GOODNIGHT MOON ANIMATED

Happy Towel Day!

“A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.” - Douglas Adams

BONUS VIDEO - THE 2005 HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE MOVIE TRAILER

Third Planet from Awesome

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books to kill time with was the children's science-fiction classic, Third Planet from Altair (1977) by Edward Packard. It wasn't an ordinary book that you read straight through from beginning to end, but rather an early example of children's literature which employed multiple-plot narratives – that is to say, the story was written in such a way that it allowed the reader to choose how the protagonist reacted in certain situations which invariably lead to new and unpredictable outcomes. This meant that you could read the book over and over again and never experience the exact same story twice. Needless to say, this innovative style, which was popularized by Packard himself, struck a note with young readers and ultimately became a significant influence on the development of the game-book genre in the 80s and 90s. Eventually, many other books by many other authors were added to the series, which became known as "Choose Your Own Adventure," and plenty of clones from other companies were introduced as well such as game-guru Steve Jackson's "Fighting Fantasy" and the "Find Your Fate" series, which featured James Bond and Indiana Jones. Well thanks to University of Maryland student, Greg Lord, we here in the future can now take a closer look into Third Planet from Altair utilizing a unique macro view that demonstrates how the pieces of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" plot all fit together. Along with a flow-chart that maps out the entire story and details each pitfall, Mr. Lord also provides an interesting and detailed analysis into the shaping and construction of such a story and even some insights as to how it relates to hypertext, the basis for all modern web pages.

You can check out his site HERE.

Now turn to page 6.