Starship Asterisk*

So now I've made 666 posts. That is the supposed number of someone I am not allowed to mention on these boards, but this is of little consequence since I regard this imaginary being as totally charmless and uninteresting. I much prefer beings who may, perhaps, be thought of as the sevants of number 666. I'm talking about the trolls. Here in Sweden, the word "troll" is slightly scary but also quite endearing, thanks to early 20th century Swedish artist John Bauer, who painted trolls so that you couldn't help liking them:
Mother troll and her child, by John Bauer.

I'll sing myself a Mother troll song to celebrate my 666 posts. It is an old Swedish lullaby. The lyrics go like this:

When Mother troll has put her eleven little trolls to bed
And tied them up by their tails,
Then she softly sings to her eleven little trolls
The most beautiful words she knows:
Ho I I I I buff
Ho I I I I buff
Ho I I I I buff buff
Ho I I I I buff.

Ann