Ghyll:Encyclopedants Progress Report 26

The Encyclopedants is a term applied to the small group of individuals who decided a collection of Ghyll intellect, in written and distributed form, was necessary for the bettering of society, as well as the benefit of future historians. The group now presides over the encyclopedia's integrity and "cohesion of vision". To remain an objective judge, the Encyclopedants attempt to focus only on "the facts as we're told them", asking questions, poking holes, and suggesting "standards" to further quality assurance. These Progress Reports are considered official communication between the Encyclopedants and their Scholars, and they encourage others to write their own thoughts and comments into the margins.

Whither Our Dropped Mandibles?

One year ago as we, the Encyclopedants, put out a call for contributors to a new collection of knowledge, we never expected to reach this, the end of the Encyclopedia's first draft. Even now, as our editors diligently wrangle the wealth of text into a shape suitable for mass consumption and printing for your peers, we realize that a Second Edition is uncontestable: there is simply so much more to discover, uncover and, in the case of the Bureau of Recovered Knowledge, recover. While a number of our regular scholars have signed on for the expanded Second Edition, we're quite pleased to see new fingers anxious to catalog the intellect that, until now, has been spread only across the minds of all.

This Encyclopedia is not without hazard, though. Besides the Stottlemeyer incident (which has been thankfully settled), there have been numerous (and sometimes begrudgingly successful) attempts to sabotage, clarify, censor, or corrupt entire parts of your work. Some knowledge transferred none too cleanly. Still, throughout it all, our editors and copywriters persevered (And sometimes not very willingly! --Burgengute), delivering a completed work that has no equal. While we all pat our own carapaces' here, we'd like to give our scholars a chance to state their opinions on our first yearly journey. But be prepared! We'll be accepting entries for the Second Draft within a scant few weeks, so don't go overboard on the Adlorst Winelust Syrup. (That wasn't me. --Burgengute)

Scholar Reports

Morbus Iff

Were my "esteemed" colleagues yesticale worms, I fear it quite impossible to prevent a regression to my youth of squishing and squashing, if only to replace their bilious permanence to the somber and shortlived sound of my wood-living friends. Many times did I partake in distracting pleasures merely to submit my work to a project I foresee down a waterfall of furious malcontent. I digress. Whilst my nerves have been grated small enough such as to be forever ungrateful, this encyclopedia has proven a welcome and light distraction from my search for the fluid source. It, and the mysteries since recorded, continue to pique my oblique, and for that I will remain.

Sean B. Palmer

I really don't think it's possible to top the fluidity, the magnanimousity of poetic warmth and prosodic rigour that was imbued into my T through Z entries; I'm sure they're quite simply Ghyll-changing in their calibre to such an extent that it may spark off that which I wrote about in them calling a "renaissance". I really hope that at least one copy of these entries gets through to the editors' office some day. I'd also like to apologise for the grumpiness of my brother, Morbus Iff, but the brown goo really was putrid, and if you've ever had his oblique foisted on you in the dark you'd know why it's always piqued.

How I pine for words to adequately describe the Sneer King whom has graced my composure! Brother? Ha! I eschewed the bonds of your creation many Perks ago. I also suspect a fair amount of disgusted, and unpaid for, eschewing from the TransAvian tasked with bringing your "entries" to the editors. --Morbus Iff 16:01, 29 Apr 2005 (EDT)

Theophenes

Despite my relatively new emergence onto the actual task of writing, I watched with fervor and interest almost from the very beginning, when the subject of Andelphracian Lights was being yanked off the presses. I believe that we are accomplishing the mission of adequately and accurately recording events to create a simplified collective view of our world... but isn't that what an encyclopedia is for? --Theophenes 04:03, 7 May 2005 (EDT)

Trousle Undrhil

I, too, am a relatively new addition to the scholarly bunch, but I feel that the encyclopedia is becoming what it was meant to be. Over time, more knowledge shall be gleaned and added to this work in progress and we shall know even more than we do now! Isn't it wonderful? This marvelous search for knowledge. I am still in the process of working out the problems with my current system of measures (which are not actual measures - more like guidelines) and which might appear in this encyclopedia one day in the future. I complete this entry on the note that we are all still learning and if ever anyone feels that he/she has learned everything, they should be hard at work filling out encyclopedia entries for the rest of us to catch up to them!--Trousle Undrhil 03:20, 8 May 2005 (EDT)

John Cowan

I sincerely hope that I'll be able to write up my conclusions on the little-understood subject of justification by faith this time. In general, however, I believe that the first draft was as much of a success as anything of that kind deserves to be. Onward and upward with more about our wondrous world of Ghyll! --John Cowan 21:06, 8 May 2005 (EDT)

Dr. H. L. Ackroyd

Having been engaged in successful writing prior to this almost purely mechanical endeavor, I cannot help but marvel at the way in which it has been elevated to art by no less august presences than my fellow scholars. And by art, I mean to say that it is open to the wildest and most fanciful of interpretations and is devoid of factual content (with the exception of my own brilliant contributions of course) as almost all art can be. As with some art, one cannot argue that an arrangement of Zhur Fruit in a bowl is anything but an arrangement of Zhur Fruit; in this case the results are somewhat more abstract, and as entertainment for the masses will extend well into the far-flung future as a prime example of its medium. --Dr. H. L. Ackroyd 13:11, 8 May 2005 (EDT)

A bowl of Zhur Fruit is not good for still life paintings, it rots too fast. I covered that, thank you very much, and I'll have you know that we are quite factual, we just happen to have a sense of humor under our carapace (unlike some amongst the crowd), and damn strong aedeagea as well. --Theophenes 19:38, 9 May 2005 (EDT)

But isn't that exactly what makes it such a piece of art to paint a still-life of Zhur Fruit? The fact that you're capturing one of the most transient beauties, to preserve it forever on canvas? And the fact that it's quite hard to finish before it rots only adds to the poignancy of the art, I think. Ah, pointless digressions, where would we be without them? --Lankin the Mad Mage 21:24, 9 May 2005 (EDT)

Indeed, Sir! I have observed, however, that even a painting of Zhur Fruit rots faster than normal. This phenomenon is not too uncommon, though. It seems that some artistic people have taken to 'extreme painting' Zhur Fruit over and over, in an attempt to have a painting outlast it's rotting time. Alas, this has proven unusually boring to the artist and to the fruit, which would prefer to not be painted anyway, I'm sure. I know I wouldn't want to be painted. --Trousle Undrhil 21:20, 26 Jul 2005 (EDT)

Round 1 Statistics

At the end of Round 1 there are a total of 219 article pages visible on Special:Allpages, of which one is the Main Page, 15 belong to the special Encyclopedants category, 4 belong to the special Lexicon category, and 9 are #REDIRECTS. That leaves a total of 190 actual Ghyll Encyclopedia articles, of which 65 have appeared as spotlights on the Main Page. There are 116 users in the user list, of which 46 have at least minimal user pages. Of these, 32 have actually contributed articles. (This includes Stottlemeyer O'Phelan, who doesn't exist in real life.)

--The Encyclopedants