Indiana Dad

You never know what to expect from children. I was up early this morning with Lil' Higgins and we were watching one of the morning shows on TV. Then, in the middle of his bottle, he sat up and yelled "Pup-pup!" and pointed at the television. I scanned the entertainment center. Perhaps my wife left one of his stuffed puppy-dogs on top of it. No, and there was no puppy on the program. So I carried Lil' Higgins over to where he was pointing. He was pointing at the program and he wasn't saying "Pup-pup". He was saying "Papa" - the term of endearment the kids use for my dad... their granddad.


It happened to be a case of mistaken identity because Diane Sawyer was interviewing none other than Harrison Ford.


That's awesome! So if my dad is Harrison Ford from Indiana Jones, I guess that makes me... Shia Leboeuf... damn it! Wait a minute... I guess I didn't think that out completely.

The Space Between...

Everyone knows that The Quad is a tightly knit group. We share everything... and I do mean everything! But every so often we come across a divergence of opinion. Such cognitive dissonance is almost always followed by copious amounts of cursing and death threats. But who can argue with Jamie Presley?

We all know Jamie Presley right? You probably remember her from her famous role as Joy Turner in the critically acclaimed series My Name is Earl.


Loyal fans will have also marveled at her death defying performance as Tina Armstrong in the movie DOA: Dead or Alive.



And the most ardent of fans will remember her turn as Jill in the blockbuster comedy The Adventures of Joe Dirt.



But what you may not know is that this accomplished thespian and gymnast of unlimited talent and unquestionable taste is also a fan of the Dave Matthews Band.

You will note the excerpt taken from a Entertainment Weekly interview some years ago:

Didn't you recently shoot a Dave Matthews video? Yeah, one of those weekends! I worked until 12:30 at night, then got on a plane and flew all night to shoot it in Orlando. It's for ''The Space Between.'' I'm a huge Dave Matthews fan.



I invite all Quad members to commence with borrowing and making copies of all my Dave Matthews Band CD's.

Let's Hear it for Math and Science!

Now this is what I call making practical use of all those college courses.

College Student Builds Tank!

The Benefit of Cigarettes

Perhaps the Marlboro Man didn't necessarily enjoy "tasting the adventure". Perhaps he only tolerated "Flavor Country". I'm guessing Mr. Marlboro simply had a severe allergic reaction to bees and wasps.

Yesterday evening the family was playing in the back yard together. While we were outside Lil' Higgins got stung by a bee. You could tell because he started screaming bloody murder out of the blue. We scooped him up and scanned for stingers. We found one on the tip of his finger and it was beginning to swell up and turn bright red. While Mrs. Cyber was in the kitchen getting ice I ran to the first aid kit and pulled out a packet of cigarettes.

"Do you really think that will help?" she asked me. She had heard the tale from my youth. I was stung by several bees during a summer job. One of my coworkers was a chain smoker and he said, "Just slap some nicotine on it. It'll suck that poison right out!" After I paused for a second to take in the absurdity of that comment he had already whipped out a cigarette, broken it in half, slapped it on my arm and covered it with a band-aid. What followed was the most bizarre feeling. I could literally feel the poison being drawn out of my body. It was as if the nicotine was a super sponge. Within a few minutes it was as if I hadn't been stung at all.

My response to my wife was, "Of course it will work!" I quickly followed the instructions I had been given seventeen years ago. I then sat and waited and hoped that my memory hadn't played tricks on me. I am happy to say that this home remedy works like a charm! Within half an hour Lil' Higgins was right as rain. I'm proud to say we keep a pack of Marlboro regulars in our home!

Good TV... Long Overdue!

Watching television this winter has made me feel like a member of the French foreign legion lost in the Sahara desert, with nothing more than a canteen that has a hole in the bottom: Endlessly agonizing.

But spring is finally here and so is some glorious new programming. Lost is on break but watching the new episodes from a few weeks back was like sweet crack cocaine in my veins. Torchwood gets better and better and I'm glad I've given the show time to mature. My Name is Earl was back on this week since January providing us with some classic white trash moments. I'm even enjoying the tired plots of Smallville. But it is the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica that I was most anticipating (next to Doctor Who coming out later this April).


Having had an infinitely long wait since the season 3 finale I've had plenty of time to digest the big reveal... the final 5 Cylons. Or is it? Perhaps it's the big reveal of only 4 of the final 5 Cylons. Can't we all agree that Starbuck is NOT a Cylon? It's too obvious. And aren't they missing out on some shock value to lump that big reveal in with the other 4 Cylons? To be honest I have a problem with Colonel Tigh, Tyrol, and Anders being Cylons, but I'll live. Really the only big Cylon reveal that I did like was the President's aid. This reveal is chock full of wonderful wrinkles that call into question the survival of the human race. Other than forcing the audience to say "Oh my gosh... not Colonel Tigh..." this choice only bogs down the continuity of the show and doesn't make me fear for the human race any more than the impact of the President's second in command being a Cylon. I guess I just like my heroes to stay heroes. I now fear some serious "moral of the story" moment on the horizon.


If the pervasive revelation that some of our best heroes turn out to be Cylons is some trite way of commenting on the nature of good and evil or an attempt to blur the lines of right and wrong... then I shall be well and truly pissed. Can't we just keep our social and political commentary to ourselves?

Perhaps this is the major flaw with Battlestar Galactica as a franchise. The entire mythology lives in this tight vacuum with one set of heroes and one set of villains and nowhere else to expand. They've done the best they could with what they had. They've brought into the story an impressive array of secondary characters and attempted to make them meaningful to the series. But perhaps the series is beginning to collapse in upon itself from the weight of its own expanding mythology. In an attempt to be innovative they are creating logic and continuity problems that begin to require the same kind of brain calisthenics that occurred when Lucas put out the turd-fest of Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars. The more mythology you overlay on a small group of characters the more problems you have with the rules of storytelling.

For me... Starbuck cannot be a Cylon. If she is it will ruin the series. I will stop watching. So happy Sci-Fi everyone!

Pissed Off - Grab Bag

I was standing over the sink last night washing dishes. You know... doing my little part to help out around the house. After a long hard day of bringing home the bacon I also try to clean that same bacon grease out of the pan that night. Anyway, I'm standing over the sink and I get to the part I hate the most. And when I say hate - I really can't understate how vile this is to me. Revulsion is not too strong a word. Loath is actually pretty spot on! I LOATH WOODEN F-ING SPOONS! The shit that get's caked onto those things is like a bond created at an atomic level! I know why you ladies like the wooden spoons for cooking... they don't scratch the pan; they don't conduct heat, blah - blah - blah! But trying to scrub dried egg, dried soup, or any other food filth off of those bloody things is an exercise in futility. I have to resort to using my own damn finger nails and - if I may peel back the curtain just a bit on my own inner psychosis - touching the food stained remains of dirty dishes is the essence of repulsive to me!


How about those stupid ass travel industry counter attendants? Perhaps it’s because I travel so much for my work but I've run across my fair share of these sons a bitches. In fact I had one a few weeks ago down in SoTex. When I travel I keep a tight schedule so I have very little patience for the out of ordinary delay! Anyway, I'm turning in a rental car. It's the end of a VERY long day and my frazzled wife and kids are waiting outside. I hand over the keys for the lady to provide me a receipt for the rental. She starts to tap on her counter key-board. Clickity, clack, clack, clackity, click, click. She pauses for a moment and then goes at it again for about five freakin’ minutes. More Clickity, clack, clack and Clackity, click, click. She stops and frowns before continuing for another impressive sonata. Mind you, she doesn't say a damn thing to me, but I can tell there’s a problem. So I wait and wonder when she's going to admit it. It goes on, and on, and on... until another five minutes go by and I have to say something.

Me: "Is there a problem?"

Lady: "Well I'm having trouble getting our rental out of the hold status."

Me: "How can it be in a hold status, I just rented it?"

Lady: "Well I upgraded you yesterday and I meant to take it off of hold but I couldn't."

Me: "So what about today made you think it would magically work?"

Lady: "Well I guess I just have to call regional and have them do it."

Me: "Do I really need to be here for this."

Lady: "Well, I assume you need a receipt."

Me: "Fax it to me... goodbye."


I have one final story for you today, and this is the pièce de résistance, the coup de grâce if you will. Dear heavenly Lord I almost throttled the woman in front of me in line at my local WalMart last week. I did my best to pick the line that might clear the fastest. It was late and I wanted to get home. As luck would have it there was a middle aged lady in a snappy blue blazer with about twenty items, so I jumped in line behind her. Little did I know she would stop the check-out girl for EVERY DAMN ITEM to inform she had a coupon. But wait! It gets better. You see she didn't have a stack of coupons. She had a stack of magazines. She had to flip through each one, page by page, find the coupon, extend her arms over the counter, without relinquishing the damn coupon, have the checker zap it, before placing the magazine back in her stack. She did this EVERY time! I almost had a fucking aneurism right then and there. But WAIT! It gets even better! Finally the checker rang up the total and this smartly dressed lady pulls out her check book. At this point I am scrutinizing ever move she makes so the fact that she writes the stinking check like it's calligraphy for a wedding invitation forces me to curse her under my breath. She deftly hands over the pristinely written check to the checker only to have the WalMart data base DECLINE the method of payment!!! Wonderful! Whip out that credit card and be done with it, right? Oh no... She proceeds to write another check. The checker objects but the woman insists this is a different method of payment... after all... it's a different damn check!!!!! It is taking every ounce of restraint I have to not knock this woman's block off. The checker stupidly accepts the 2nd check only for it to be declined as well. No shit, Sherlock Holmes! So what does the woman do? She leaves her groceries at the counter and tells her that she will return later with payment.

Dear sweet heavenly baby Jesus! Save me from a damn stroke!

Firing Blanks

Well, the deed is done. I went under the knife last week and my doc cut the main line... so to speak. I now join the ranks of G-Dog and Dagromm who no longer are able to spawn any more children. The only difference is that mine wasn't court mandated.

I have to say that the surgery itself wasn't terrible. There were only two moments of "make you want to jump up and slap that son of a bitch" pain. Following that, the recovery could have been much worse, but my old friend... I mean my new friend vicoden made all the difference in the world.

Now I'm back at my desk with a bottle of extra strength Tylenol. Only thing now left to do is empty the remainder of the clip. Apparently I'm still potent for a good three months. So watch out ladies!

Will Resume Normal Broadcasting...

Do I have some great blog-worthy topics to post for you people? Hell yeah! Why haven't I posted in two weeks? Because ever since my family got back from a trip to visit friends in SoTex, an annoying little virus has been running through the family. By the time it ran through my wife and kids the thing must have mutated into something quite deveastaing because it has had me on my ass for the last seven days.

Never mind the fact that I still hopped a plane for a three day work trip anyway. Never mind the fact that I also threw my back out so badly, I can now do a spot on impersonation of my great grandmother. Life must go on... Now to top it off, as my fever winds to a close and my back improves, I go under the knife for the big "snip-snip" tomorrow morning.

The hits just keep on coming!

But you can damn well expect some awesome blog action next week.

Anatomy of a Geek - Part 3

The main difference between going off to college and my last big move was that I was armed with better skills at making friends and I was determined to do so. But luck plays a role in these things and I happened to hit the jackpot. My very first friend was my freshman roommate, Gyuss Baaltar. The next day we met our immediate next door neighbor, Pokiman. These two as well as others mentioned on this blog such as Monkeywrench, Braveheart, Urban Cowboy, and Eagle Scout all became a tightly knit group of fast friends for four of the most fabulous years of my life. But no meeting would be more infamous in the annals of geek lore than that of Cyber D and Dagromm.


It was the fall of 1992 and Gyuss had just returned from dinner in the cafeteria and mentioned that he was about to go down and play this board game called Talisman with a bunch of the other freshman on the second floor. I hadn't heard of the game but when I learned it was fantasy based I was in. Dagromm and I met playing that game and we learned about of shared interest in Dungeons & Dragons. Following the holiday break Dagromm and I returned to campus and embarked upon, what I can only describe, as the most ambitious, creative, detailed, comprehensive, endeavor of a two year Dungeons & Dragons campaign. It started simply enough by recruiting players for the game. There were a few no-brainers like Gyuss and Pokiman, who had played before. But the vast majority of our friendship circle had no idea what an RPG was yet they condescended to give it a try. Because we were dealing with so many rookie players we realized we had an opportunity to do something very different. It was an opportunity to break the mold of traditional style gaming and bring something fresh to the experience. Our idea was to instill a gritty realism to a fantasy world that is typically lacking in fantasy games. So often game-masters focus solely on the mechanics of a game that the experience gets boiled down to a goal oriented arms race of who can accumulate more power faster than anyone else. This style leaves out so much of what makes RPG's great.


Consequently we identified three overarching aspects to bring to every adventure. The first was fear. We wanted the players to feel that the world around them was not this homogenous, friendly, by-the-book environment. In every adventure they would encounter prejudice, ignorance, betrayal, and an impoverished feudal society where trust was a more precious commodity than gold. The second was the school of hard knocks. Realistically the life of an adventurer would be a hard and thankless life. Most people would see you as nothing more than a mercenary and mercenaries are never to be trusted. We wanted to convey to the party that there was a reason why all the people in the world around them chose to be bartenders and blacksmiths… because adventuring was not always profitable but more importantly it was dangerous and deadly. This brings us to our third aspect that we wanted to instill into our mythology – Death. We made a conscious decision to make no allowances for the luck of the dice. If a character died based on the rules we did not change the outcome. Consequently many players started from scratch over and over and few players ever saw their characters advance.


Reading this you might wonder if our games were fun at all but I believe that our players shared an experience like no other. Because though the characters didn’t often reap the benefits of their adventures, we always tried to reward the players with something extra. From the beginning we provided a back story to the world around them, with a detailed mythology of original deities, information on how each race of creatures viewed the other, and ongoing information guides about new cities and cultures as they traveled the land. But the pinnacle of innovation was without a doubt our weekly newsletter. This precursor to every adventure was peppered with references from the characters recent encounters as well as littered with information that could help guide them on their upcoming task. Each newsletter built upon the last, rewarding loyal attendance and readership the same way a serialized television show might reward an astute and regular viewer with details only they can appreciate.


The Divine Messages as they were known became one of the most anticipated aspects of a two year campaign. But what was perhaps more amazing then anything related to the game itself was how the game brought different people together. To this day I doubt I will ever experience a more diverse cross section of individuals working together as a team towards a common goal. Of the nine regular players we had a theater major, a football jock, a Hispanic player, an African American player. We had mostly men, but the women represented too. We had straight A students and we had a player that eventually flunked out of school. We had business majors, English majors, psychology majors, economics majors and more. We had people who had grown up in small towns and those that grew up in the big city. We saw friendships develop that would have never exhisted prior to that shared experience. We spent hours of game time together but many have since spent infinitely more time outside the game. Some of my longest standing and dearest friends come from that experience and from a personal standpoint - I share a leadership experience with Dagromm that I am as proud of as any professional accomplishment.

We didn’t manage to play Dungeons & Dragons for all four years of school. Ultimately the multitude of other demands placed on any college student pulled us in different directions, but we all remained fast friends. Dagromm, Gyuss, Pokiman, and I continued to get together for a variety of different geek-fest activities but my last and best foray into Dungeons & Dragons will always hold a very special place in my memory. So for all you geeks out there in blog country… I salute you!

Anatomy of a Geek - Part 2

So there I was, a nervous thirteen year old kid in a new town with the daunting task of making new friends. I'd like to say it was easy but it wasn't. To make a long story short, my junior high years were a bit lonely for me but I found comfort in the escapism of storytelling. Unfortunately Dungeons & Dragons is a communal experience and that was in short supply, but I looked elsewhere for enjoyment and found it in Choose Your Own Adventure Books as well as my first attempts to write. I believe these years were the years that I learned the love of writing. At that time it was essentially the equivalent of playing an RPG for me. What I didn't realize was that writing is really the original RPG. If these activities weren't enough to solidify my geek credentials than my television habits surely sealed the deal.


Prior to leaving my childhood home I was introduced to the television show Doctor Who. My first exposure was in the form of an RPG (go figure). After playing D&D every day for years, my friends and I branched off into all variety of knock-off role playing game and the one we loved most was Doctor Who. I then learned it was based on the British television show and started watching from time to time. After moving away, Doctor Who went from being a "time to time" occurrence to a weekly occurrence of watching recording and cataloging episodes. I can't stress the geek importance of cataloging episodes because it was those in-between days when I made good use of my collection and thus spawned my penchant for collecting. Since that time I have collected all manner of geek item from videos, to metal soldiers, to collectible toys, and more. But I digress. I have friends that make fun of my love of Who, and I'm no dummy. I can see the wobbly sets, the over-acting, and the occasional flimsy story line, but I essentially forgive those things out of respect for what Doctor Who was for me at that time in my life and to a larger extant what Doctor Who did for the science fiction and fantasy genre as a whole. Like other kids, I have tremendously fond memories of watching each new story unfold before me, amazed at the never ending cornucopia of aliens, enemies, allies, and plot lines that dated back more than twenty years! That history and longevity was like a warm blanket of consistency for a child who was growing up and learning, like most other young people, that most things in life are fleeting.


Then came the summer of 1989 when my local PBS station stopped carrying the increasingly expensive Who serials. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed but timing is everything and it just so happened that my friendship circle widened to include two guys that I still call friends today. We grew up together between 10th grade and high school graduation. We learned how to drive cars, relate to girls, and formed strong bonds that I still cherish. I put aside Doctor Who, and Dungeons & Dragons, and Star Wars, and metal soldiers in exchange for the fast times of high school life. But unlike many of my peers, I never felt that I compromised my own personal set of values despite the avalanche of temptation to do so. I have no doubt in my mind that this was due to great parenting but also to a long-standing commitment of being true to myself, established early on by my unashamed love of my geekier side.

The fall of 1992 brought with it another big move as I embarked on my college years and an opportunity to fold together my every-man lifestyle with my inner geek.


To Be Concluded...

Anatomy of a Geek

So what is a geek really? I find the whole definition of geek to be terribly interesting because we come in so many different shapes and sizes. Is it someone obsessed and adept with technology? Some are, but that is not me. I do okay but I'm no IT professional. Some say a geek is someone who uses hard-core academics to live their real world lives, like using multivariate math to bake a cake. That's not me. I can't even tolerate reading instructions. Finally there are those people who have a devotion to something that sets them apart from the mainstream. Ahhhh... that sounds more like it. Yep, I'm a Doctor Who fan. I read Lord of the Rings and have even attended a Star Wars convention. And yet I didn't collect comics when I was a child, I actually had girlfriends in high school, and I've never... EVER... let my hair grow past the top of my ears. So even though I can lose myself in the crowd at the national republican convention, what sets me apart from the throngs of boring white people? The answer is my inner geek.

Or should I say my inner story teller? I had planned a post about my geek origins for some time and it seems like the death of Gary Gygax is fitting enough timing, partly because it was his influence that offered me my first look into a shared experience of creative story telling. You see it all started at the tender age of ten years old. My two best friends, who lived down the street, introduced me to the wonderful game of Dungeons & Dragons. I was immediately captivated by it. It was like my mind came alive with possibilities as I entered another universe where I could help to shape its outcome.


At that time in my life, I was like many young boys who loved cartoons, action figures, and pretty much anything that could delight and entertain. Ironically enough it is around this time that many children begin to see the perils of conformity looming ahead. Junior High was just around the corner and I had no idea the lengths to which society could go to squash a child's unbridled creativity. I am happy to say that I was one of the lucky ones. After being introduced to role playing games, when my two friends and I would get together, we would play nothing else for the next three years. It is hard to articulate that feeling of first being exposed to a game that literally required only a pencil, some paper, and your imagination. To this day I still have memories of those early adventures and the images that it evoked in my own mind. Those were formative times because it helped me appreciate and find the joy in creating something from nothing. In fact it was so rewarding that I refused to relinquish my grip on it.

The summer I turned thirteen I moved away from the only place I had ever known as home. I would see my two best friends from time to time over the next few years but I wouldn't play Dungeons and Dragons with any regularity for a very long time. I moved hundreds of miles away to a place where I knew no one. But I didn't let that squash my inner geek, because just prior to my move I had been introduced to a funky little British TV show called Doctor Who.


To Be Continued...

NBA eyes the Cyber Family

I am filled with pride as I address the media, blog country, and all NBA fans. Mrs. Cyber and I have weighed all the options and we are excited to announce that our son, Lil' Higgins will become NBA draft eligible this year. This of course will clear the way for him to become the number 1 pick overall in the draft. It was a difficult decision but you have to take these opportunities when they are in front of you. Of course we all know about him as a player. The great ball handling skills, knowledge of the game, and overall athleticism. But do you know about Lil' Higgins the toddler? He has a great courtside presence, and his leadership skills are unquestioned. He'll be a great addition to any team and will likely be the cornerstone around the franchise. My son will not be taking questions at this time as he only knows how to say the words "Apple" "Mommy" and "Dog". But I can tell you as his father, manager, and publicist, he is excited about the challenge. Finally, you can all anticipate a follow-up press conference as I finalize negotiations for endorsement contracts with Adidas, Gatorade, and Pampers. That will be all, thank you and goodnight.

Long Time No See

In the fall of 1992 I was a young lad venturing forth into the great unknown. I was headed off to college and the only other person I had even spoken with was Gyuss. We were to be freshmen roommates so we had called each other to talk about color patterns for linens and the appropriate scent of potpourri as well as our preference for antiques versus modern furniture. But other than that, I knew not a single soul on campus. Shortly after our arrival on campus Gyuss and I began to make friends.

College is such a great time for friendship - with almost no limitations. I don't think I ever pondered how many people I would be able to keep up with in the long run. You lived in the moment. Looking back there have been some that I wonder about and regret not keeping in better touch. You know those people in your life, don't you? Let's see... like the girl next door that ended up becoming an exotic dancer, the crazy nerd that ended up inventing the ipod, or the whacky dude that always cracked you up with his bizarre yet side-splitting sense of humor.

It just so happens that I've run into that "funny guy" again and he has his own blog... 4 blogs in fact! So go check out Robert's stuff at Too Much Time On My Hands. I don't want to oversell his comedic genius but reading his work was an instant reminder of his off-beat funn-ac-ity... is that a word?

Book Review: Webster's Way With Words

Last night The Wheel in Space hosted it's Cyber-Book-Club. We've all been reading a really compelling piece of work by Merriam Webster called The Dictionary. Today I'm happy to share with Blog-Country my review of this ground breaking work.

I have to say it is a dauntingly dense read, while at the same time rich with layered subtext. Webster demonstrates his powerful mastery of the English language by weaving into his story an elaborate vocabulary the likes of which I have rarely seen in other work. Webster also impresses with a fine grasp of structured story telling. Each of its 36 chapters are neatly organized, creating a natural flow to the overall work.

Admittedly, the attention to detail is, at times, tedious. While some have blamed Tolkien for taking a paragraph to describe a blade of grass. Webster actually takes paragraphs to describe the words blade, grass, and even the word of!

Still, the precision, creative use of language, and the near perfect specificity make it a gripping tale worthy of any personal library. In fact, more than 35 million people agree with me if the sales numbers have anything to say about it. In short, I highly recommend you go out and purchase a copy of The Dictionary. It is a real page-turner!

Next Month, the Cyber-Club is going to tackle another one of Merriam's great works. The Thesaurus.

Have a Big Dirty Valentine

So Valentines has come and gone once again. The roses have started to wilt and the chocolates have now turned to those unwanted extra pounds on your body. Like most, I love Valentines Day. So much so I was too busy getting busy with my woman to post about it on the actual day. But this morning I had a very troubling experience. You know who I'm talking about... that's right... Big Dirty.

This morning I was taking my garbage out the alley when I notice Big Dirty curled up on my back porch shivering in his sleep... or maybe it was a drunken stooper. He was wearing only a blue blazer, a pair of tighty-whities, and some pink bunny slippers.

I attempted to quietly step over him, hoping I could dump my trash and get back inside before he woke up. Unfortunately Big Dirty has the acute senses of a bald eagle and he stirred almost instantly. The following conversation followed.

Big Dirty: Of course I love you baby! (turns head from side to side groggy) Oh hey, CyberD.

Me: Oh, hey. I was just taking out my trash.

Big Dirty: That's cool... Sometimes you got to kick the chicks to the curb.

(He proceeds to cough uncontrollably as he stands up and dusts off his blazer, covered in all manner of unidentifiable grime).

Me: So what are you doing here?

Big Dirty: Me? Oh... you know, just hangin' out. You want to go do something?

Me: I'm kinda busy. Gotta go to work.

Big Dirty: That's cool, I'll just hang here until you're done. We can go grab an Old Milwaukie later.

Me: I thought you were spending time with your lady friend this weekend.

Big Dirty: Oh yeah, we totally partied last night, but I decided that she was gettin' too clingy, man. Big Dirty's got to roll free and unfettered, ya know.

Me: So you broke it off?

Big Dirty: Well not so much me as... er... um...

Me: Oh! Dude. Sorry man.

Big Dirty: Nah... that's okay. I got to keep it real and all.

Me: So what happened to your clothes?

Big Dirty: I had no idea how conniving high school girls can be.

Me: What?

Big Dirty: Well, I decided to hit the Valentines Dance down at the high school. Ya know how it is. So one minute I'm rockin' out with some hot babes and the next minute I'm tied to a tree with no pants.

Me: You know high school girls are underage right?

Big Dirty: And fucking thieves too!

Me: Well, okay... so I guess I'll talk to you later.

Big Dirty: Totally, man. Call me when you're ready to get that beer!

Shameless Plug

Does anyone need a refresher on how big a geek I am? No? Okay... So in addition to being a huge fan of things like Doctor Who, Farscape, Star Wars, and yada yada yada, I'm also a monstro-fan of this late 90's Disney cartoon called Gargoyles. It came out while I was in college and a group of my friends made it a point to sit down every afternoon at 3pm to catch the latest episode. UrbanCowboy and Gyuss had the foresight to record episodes on VHS and I was lucky enough to make copies of their collection. So every so often I pull out the old VHS tapes and watch a few episodes of this fantastic story. For those of you who have never watched Gargoyles, I highly recommend it.

Essentially the story is about a group of Gargoyles from medieval times who are frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years. They wake up after the spell is broken and find themselves living in Manhattan. They befriend a New York City cop and together attempt to resume life as protectors of the innocent. The writing is superb, the artwork is (at times) fantastic and the over-arching mythology is a growing tapestry of intrigue that will keep you entertained episode after episode. A few years ago the first season of Gargoyles came out on DVD. I snatched it up in a heartbeat and anxiously awaited season 2. Thankfully DVD sales were good so Disney released the first half of season 2. Unfortunately since that time it appears that DVD sales for the latest release were not as expected and there is a risk that season 2 - part 2 may not happen.

So if you are a fan of great storytelling, exquisite artwork, and edge of your seat adventure I encourage you to try out the Gargoyles series on DVD. Rent it, buy it, borrow it, but if you like it, consider adding it to your DVD library.

News Flash - Dagromm is a Jerk

These are the last four comments Dagromm has made on my blog:

Dagromm: I don't get this post. Please redo. (commenting on Slogan)

Dagromm: That picture is the second gayest picture that I've ever seen of you. (commenting on Big Fat Super Tuesday)

Dagromm: I saw this like forever ago. I thought about posting it then decided that it was lame just to post video clips. Don't get me wrong it's ok for the W.I.S. and everything, but people expect a little more from the H.O.D. (commenting on Simply Amazing)

Dagromm: I'm not into kids shows that teach them about animals. We live in the F'ing city. My kids aren't growing up to be zoo keepers shoveling elephant crap. I wish there were more shows for kids teaching them how to recognize a zone blitz or how to break down a cover 2. (commenting on Children's Television Potpourii)

Dags and I have known each other for some time so I don't know why I should expect anything different. In fact, his brand of comments are pretty typical for him, I guess it just stands out since he posts so infrequently now but MAN, I'd like to sneak up behind him and give him an atomic wedgie!

Slogan

So I've been trying out a new slogan for the year.

"Make it Great in 2008!"

But I'm finding that people feel it is a little over the top and somewhat annoying. I mean don't get me wrong, I love it! It has all the right ingrediants. It's positive, descriptive, and exuberant. What's not to love about it? But perhaps it does smack of sarcasim. Perhaps the world is just too jaded for such a slogan. In fact the last time I issued my slogan was to the check-out girl at my local grocery store. I could sware she rolled her eyes. Imagine the nerve!!!! And you wouldn't believe it but I'm pretty sure my neighbor gave me the finger after I told him to "Please rake your leaves and Make it Great in 2008!"

So it is with mixed emotions that I announce a new annual slogan. I've found something more fitting for the pesimistic and selfish times that we live in.

Enjoy:

Meandering Conversation

Have you ever had one of those circuitous conversations with a family member? It can be truely bizarre where those discussions can take you. This is a conversation I had with my sister while sitting at my desk during my lunch hour.

Ring Ring Ring

Me: Hello

Sis: Hey, Brother. How are you?

Me: Good, I'm just sitting here havig some lunch and surfing the net.

Sis: Really, what are you surfing?

Me: First off, never ask a man what he's surfing. Second, I'm checking out my old Yahoo Music radio station. I hadn't logged-on in over a year.

Sis: Point taken.

Me: Did you know that you can now watch music videos on Yahoo music?

Sis: No.

Me: Yeah, it's pretty cool. You learn something new everyday. Like take for example that Fergie song, Girls Don't Cry. I had no idea that the star of Heroes plays her boyfriend in the video. That's weird casting isn't it?

Sis: Who's Fergie?

Me: Come on, don't tell me you don't know Fergie. Being a new mom really does isolate you! Do I have to teach you everything?

Sis: Seriously. I don't know.

Me: You know... she used to be a part of the band The Black Eyed Peas. Now she's gone out on her own.

Sis: Oh yeah, she was on Oprah the other day. Actually, I think I may have known about Fergie longer than you.

Me: What do you mean?

Sis: I'll send you a link to YouTube so you can see for yourself.



Me: *Long Pause* Dear Lord... I had no idea...

Big Fat Super Tuesday

As the rest of the world watches with baited breath the unfolding primary results, The Wheel in Space is gearing up for Mardis Gras. That's right folks. We'll be celebrating in style here at the Wheel and our first shipment of beads has already hit the loading dock. We're firing up the grill, and putting the margarita mix on ice. So come one come all, especially the ladies!!! Let me hear from you if you've got a great Gras Story to share.