Episode XVI

POWER RANGERS

Okay, so a couple weeks ago i found myself reading an article on, "The Top 5 '80s Cartoons that Deserve a Movie". I know that at least M.A.S.K. and Silverhawks were mentioned.

M.A.S.K. intro

Silverhawks Intro

As you all know, YouTube then offers suggestions on what you should watch too. And one such video was from an old Power Rangers episode. So I watched one. Then another. And another. Until it became an obsession to get more. 

So I did a quick search and found two sites: http://www.rangerboard.com/ and http://www.rangercentral.com/database/. (The latter is a database of ALL the Americanized versions of Power Rangers, and their Japanese predecessors the Super Sentai.) Looking through most of it, made me feel less nerdy, as it appeared that others out there obsessed over these shows even more than myself. So I sighed some relief and read on. 

After some reading of the past versions of the Super Sentai I thought it would be a Grand Idea to find episodes online. I was able to locate one, the Zyurangers (episodes 1 thru 5); which was the footage used in the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Zyuranger Ep. 1 (This ain't no "Day of the Dumpster")

I was amazed, sort of, to see how vastly different the Japanese version was from the American. Obviously I knew there would be some differences, but as I discovered the storylines are totally different. To go straight to the point, the main thing that USA TV took from the Japs was the fight scenes, everything else was our attempt (quite successful attempt at that) of producing an entertaining show. The story of ordinary teens becoming superheroes hit the right keys with kids across America. Though I'm sure their target audience was the 5 to 12 group, I believe they also snagged a few early teens. 

I was in 6th or 7th grade when these guys first aired and I remember rushing home in hopes of catching the show. Sadly FOX kept changing the air time almost on a weekly basis. As I grew up I'd happen to catch an episode here and there, trying to follow the storyline as close a possible, but eventually I had to grow up and got away from the Fab 5 (or 6, or 7 or however many they come out with, with each new rendition). From season to season I'd hear about a new group of teens and catch an episode or two, but never got into the show as much as I did when I was younger. 

Now here I am at 30 years old finding myself watching the old shows once more. Why? Perhaps I'm just goofy like that, or this is one of those things I'll obsess over for a while before I get burned out.  I managed to get my hands on the first 3 seasons of the show, and have made it through to Season 2 (Tommy has just been announced as the White Ranger -- remember that episode?). I plan on watching all three seasons, and then go from there. If I can get my hands on Season 4 (Power Rangers Zeo) and Season 5 (Power Rangers Turbo) I may just watch them too. 

We'll see how long this obsession lasts. 20 seasons of Power Rangers would be a lot of TV time. At 20 minutes an episode, with 60 or so episodes for the first 3 seasons, then near 50 for the next few seasons, and then 30 plus for those following, that could be Power Ranger suicide. 

And you wanna know what's funny? One day you could be watching some random TV show and bang, there's an actor/actress who was on Power Rangers. You don't expect it, but I've scene one of them in  non-PR role. That's not to say other former Rangers haven't gone on to successful careers. Amy Jo Johnson, Kimberly from the first few seasons apparently has the best acting career of former morphers. While Jason David Frank, the Green and White Ranger for the first three seasons, is now a successful MMA champion. Go figure!

Amy Jo, you haven't changed

Only one word for this: DAMN! 

And if you thought a blog entry was bad enough, check out a couple of YouTube videos by hardcore fans:

Every series song in a montage of colorful costumes

A history lesson

My obsession has even crossed over into my gaming world (what doesn't?!). I'm currently working on a Savage Worlds version of Power Rangers. But more on that in my other blog.

Episdoe XV

TAPS - Part II

So just wanted to give an update on what's been going on with Courtney and Casper the friendly ghost.

Though she has only been feeling cold spots and seeing things out of the corner of her eyes, there has been no appearance of an apparition. Which I'm sort of glad over, but at the same time disappointed -- and I think Courtney is too. The TAPS family team in Rockville, MD has determined that the two of them should get together for an interview. Though she was hesitant at first -- she didn't want anyone to think she was crazy -- I think I pushed her enough to feel comfortable with talking with a knowledgeable person. I don't believe they have set up a time to chat, but at least when they do Courtney can talk about her past experiences as well.

This kind of reminds me about Jim Butcher's last Dresden novel, Ghost Story. **SPOILER** Where Harry, who's now a ghost, has to track down the person who had him killed. In doing so he finds a guy that can talk to ghosts (Ghost Whisperer anyone?). Perhaps this ghost just needs someone to talk to them. Let them know it's okay to go into the light. While Harry did end up 'catching' his killer, the end result was not exactly what he was hoping for (dead or alive). **END SPOILER**

While I would love to do an investigation myself, do i have the courage to stir up the spirits that are possibly here? Do I want to face the consequences of what ghost hunting might do to me, or my family? While my brain says, "Yes! Go for it!" My subconscious is saying, "No, you know you'll only half ass it. And if you do go through with it, you won't want to face the consequences." So I'm kind of torn. I see shows like Ghost Hunters, Paranormal Witness, Paranormal State, and Ghost Adventures and I think, "man that would be so cool." Just to know that there's something beyond life. Though some would say its a curse, but at least I could have hope in the beyond.

So again, if there are any brave souls that want to tackle a ghost hunt with me, we should totally give it a try. All we need is a digital recorder and a video recorder or two and we'd be set. Any takers?

Episode XIV

GHOSTS

So a strange thing happened last night to my wife while I was at work. According to her she saw an apparition of a child in our bedroom. She described it as being nearly three feet tall, but, as with many entities, was transparent with only minor details. The ghost was bending down to look at something on our floor and when it rose it turned at looked at my wife. She was unsure of what she was seeing at first, as she had only just been stirred from sleep by our cat. So, naturally, she was skeptical at what she was seeing. But as the seconds ticked by she came to realize that what she saw was real. She left the room and didn't return to it for the rest of the night.

At 3am the phone rings at my work and it's my wife. She tells me about what just happened. I want to believe that she did, but at when I cannot witness it for myself I'm skeptical. I tried to assure her that everything was going to be okay, but she felt differently. She was saying that she was terribly cold and couldn't get warm. Now if you've paid any attention to any paranormal investigation seen on TV investigators will experience cold spots. These cold spots are said to be an entity gathering energy from the surrounding space to manifest itself. I tired to assure her that everything was going to be okay, but she wouldn't believe it.

Needing further answers she wanted to call my mom. At 3 In The Morning! I quickly shot that down. Still, she insisted on talking to someone. So she turned to the only paranormal group she knew of: TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society). If you don't watch the SyFy channel, this group is out of New England who has gained a large following, and has "family" societies across the U.S.  Minutes later an email is sent to their main office and a copy is sent to a local chapter in Rockville.

This was her night. I don't know what to make of it, but I don't think she has anything to worry about. However, it does make me want to try my own investigation. All I need is a digital recorder and a video camera. Anyone interested in forming a paranormal team?

Episode XIII

2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS

Okay, so I know this event has now been a few days removed, I thought I'd give my two cents on what I thought of this event.

The first thing I would like to address is the event list. This year both baseball and softball were left off the docket. Why? Couldn't tell you, but I found it odd, regardless. Was it perhaps because the there are only four or five countries that take these sports seriously? Or was it because these four or five countries were the only ones who wanted to participate? In either case I can understand the IOC's decision to not have these sports included in the Olympics. Where's the thrill if only the same teams keep making the gold medal round? Sure there might be some variation from Olympiad to Olympiad, but the result is still the same: the lesser countries slowly drop out, until there's no choice but to drop the event.

However, if it's because of the players, then basketball should be the next sport to go from the summer games. In recent games, except 2008, the USA has dominated both the men's and women's divisions. With the NBA and WNBA being world-wide (just like the MLB), the competition on these levels is above what I believe the Olympics to be about. To me, the Olympics is about presenting sports that are NOT multi-billion dollar money makers. If this were the case then there should be American football and Rugby included in these world games.

This leads to my second thought: with baseball/softball and basketball both out of the Summer Games, then perhaps we could start seeing other events on prime time. Swimming, Gymnastics and Track & Field are getting the majority of the night time air. But, according to recent tracking, Archery increase viewership along with Volleyball (both beach and court) and Diving. These, plus many other sports need to get some of the lime light, rather than just a quick recap during prime time.

I would like to see all the martial arts and rifle matches get air time. Not that more well known sports don't shouldn't be shown during prime time, but how are other sports supposed to get support. Unless you know about the sport, or can catch it on some alternate channel, you many never know it exists. Like myself, I only get the main news channels, so NBC Sports, Universal NBC, etc. are all inaccessible to me, which means I cannot even watch these other sports online. So airing these lesser sports during the night would, at least to me, be exciting.

Not that I didn't enjoy this year's Summer Games, but after the first week I watched less and less of the Olympics. Perhaps this was because of what was aired and when, but I believe it to be due to the schedule of events. Track & Field can be exciting, but was just never my thing. The same goes with basketball. I feel that if they had offered some other sports I might have maintained interest in the games throughout its two week run. Maybe the games need to be expanding to a three or four week run. Sure the athletes may sit around longer, but maybe this would give the audience a chance to see more, rather than crunching it all down into a two week segment.

I'm glad to see that the US once again finished as one for the top five in the medal count. It goes to show how dedicated we are to our sports. Of course we have more funding than smaller countries, but that's beside the point! However, it would be cool to see that nearly ever country be able to fund equal size delegations. While I know this is not possible, but if it were, we would get a serious Olympic event.

I cannot wait until 2016 when the Olympics get to Rio, it should be exciting. But that will have to wait, as we have the 21014 Winter Games coming to Sochi, Russia.

As my mother-in-law once said, "I only wish the games were longer."

Episode XII

Minor Rant - iTunes

Okay. I'll admit this first: when it comes to technology I am behind on the times. Not that I'm years behind, but one of things I've only just got around to using has been around for a while now.  And that is iTunes.

I rarely, if ever, used this program to run music, movies, etc. The ONLY reason why I just started using it was because I listen to podcasts while at work. While the websites are blocked on our internet, iTunes is not, so I must resort to this program to enjoy these tunes. 

My rant about this program comes from my lack of experience using it, so please save the bashing for later.

iTunes has a nice function of allowing its user to easily find pretty much any music or movie with a simple search function. I knew this was there due to my occasional use of the program, but I didn't know its depth. So when I went to search for one of the podcasts I was stunned to see numerous hits on the name. But thankfully iTunes has a quick search option for podcasts alone, and allowed me to find what I was looking for quickly.

Where my problem lies is in this:
Once I finally found the episode I was looking for I'd start listening to it. But when I'd click on something to see other aspects of iTunes the episode would stop playing. Which means I had to go back and find the file again to get it to play. What kind of crap is that?! Plus, there is no pause button for this episode, which means every time I started over, I had to listen to everything over again. very frustrating.

When I click on something to play, it should play. Period. Just because I navigate to other parts of iTunes doesn't mean I want to stop listening to whatever. Keep playing. If I wanted to listen to something else, I'll let you know.

Again, I am a novice at using iTunes so if you have any helpful hints on how to use it, please let me know.

I did, by mistake, find out that I could download all the show's episodes, so I am doing that now. But I really didn't want to. However, I thought if I did, I might have an easier time listening to this show.

Episode XI

MOVIE REVIEWS

It's been a while since my last blog entry. Whether it was writer's block. Or Life, just getting in the way, I am back.  I recently saw two movies that I feel need additional comments. And those are The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises.

First, let me say I've only watched them once -- and if you haven't seen them yet STOP READING NOW. This post will contain spoilers!

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

I'll start with the one that I was the most disappointed in. 

First of all, I thought it was too soon to reboot this franchise.  Sure the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man had done well in the first two films, but after it's lackluster third film I thought that was the last we'd see of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man. But alas, here we are five years later, and a new actor steps into the red and blue webbed suit. 

Here is the synopsis that IMDB gives for this newest incantation: Peter Parker finds a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young. His path puts him on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner.

From that, and the few sneak peaks that I'd scene online, I was hopeful for a true origin story. Yet there we were, an hour into the movie and Peter Parker already had revealed his identity to the girl of his dreams. He'd also, as Spider-Man, managed to gain the ire of said girl's father (played well by Dennis Leary). who was also the police chief. And had amazingly discovered the key to Dr. Conner's research into genetic manipulation. 

So much for any hopes of an origin story. The 2002 version, I feel did a much better job at establishing Peter as Spider-Man. Sure the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man had a musical montage of him learning his abilities, I feel Tobey's version told Spidey's beginnings much better. Andrew's just felt rushed. Rather, everything in this movie felt rushed.

Then the action began. I applaud this movie for having Spidey do all the stunts. No CGI Spidey, as they did with Tobey. But after that it was all campy movie work in the fight scenes. Especially in the end when Spidey fights the Lizard form of Dr. Conner. It just looked, well, terrible. Instead of having a multi-million dollar effect, we got a B movie look, as Spidey got tossed around by this giant Lizard. Surely make-up artists could have made a real human being look lizard like. And not resort to a campy interaction between man and machine.

Finally, in the end for no reason at all, the cop father dies. Why?! There was absolutely no need for it. At least, not in the first movie. I'm sure in the comic books her father dies, but was it necessary here? No. There was not a lot of connection made between the character's for this to happen. And to make it even worse, the father tells Peter to not get Gwen involved. Um, Ok! I'll get right on that! 

And so the movie ends with Dr. Conner in prison, and Gwen and Peter are ... separated? If you stuck around for the end of the movie then you go to see Dr. Conner talking to someone in his prison cell. My guess is Green Goblin. With the story supposedly focusing on the death's of Peter's parents, I can only assume that the next movie will involved further members of the Sinister Six.  

Overall I thought the movie lacked the marvel (haha, get it) that Tobey Maguire and Co. brought to the table. It was campy at best and needed a better story to explore the death of Peter's parents. This is NOT a movie that I will be adding to my collection any time soon.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES 

I may be prejudice here, because I'm a Batman fan, but I really enjoyed this movie. Albeit, I wasn't wowed by it like I was with Batman Begins or Dark Knight, but this one was pretty good (definitely better than the aforementioned Spider-Man movie). 

This one completed the circle that had started in Batman Begins and added in some elements from several other Batman Sources. I won't go into too much detail with this one, as there was very little that I had a problem with.

Number One was Bane. In Knightfall, the book/comic where Batman had his back broken by Bane, Bruce steps aside and has Jean-Paul Valley take his place. Bruce realizes that Valley is not the same Batman he portrayed and goes on to recover from his injury and eventually take back the cowl. Valley then takes on the mantel of Azrael. Bane in that series was a hulking brute, with charisma (aka talking skills). In DKR Bane not only speaks, but has some sort of accent that, to me, takes away from his power presence. Secondly, the mask he wears is only partially explained (which I guess should be enough to keep the story moving, but still leaves us begging for details) -- it's also not the same as the one Bane wears in Knightfall. As Tim said on Ctrl+Alt+Del (a great comic btw) the mask covers the majority of Bane's face, leaving only the eyes to connect to, which isn't enough in this character driven story. Not that the mask took away from the image that was Bane, but it hampered the connection he had with the audience (while also making it tough to hear what he was saying). Perhaps, since he was a former member of the League of Shadows, he could have kept the cowl they gave him. Although I did like how they used the Knightfall storyline to tie everything together, that was a nice touch.

Number Two was that there was too many "players", too many storylines. First you had the fallout between Bruce and Alfred. Then there was the rushed romance between Bruce and Selina. Third was the Injury of Gordon. Fourth was Blake's involvement (and eventual take over as the credits were about to role). Fifth was Miranda's story (though well done, as we were all lead to believe her story was that of Bane's -- which it involved him, but was all about her). And finally there was the battle between Batman and Bane. That's a ton of stuff going on -- the length of the movie reflected that -- but c'mon. Oh, and let's not forget the storyline of Bane "freeing" Gotham (a la No Man's Land, yet another comic/book that deserved to be put on the big screen). Just too much going on. 

Despite these problems this was a good movie, fanboy status aside. It was a creative movie that brought in elements from two great comics (Knightfall  and No Man's Land) and had a decent twist at the end with Miranda. My hope is that, when they move to "reboot" the series that they give Joseph Gordon-Levitt a chance to dawn the cape and cowl. His portrayal of Blake was excellent. Should there be a spin-off of John "Robin" Blake, we may see the transformation of Robin to Nightwing. 

Overall I liked this movie. It's just tragic that a psycho had to ruin the premier in Colorado. If we could just take a moment of silence in remembrance of those who lost there lives . . . . . . . . . . thank you.

Did anyone else catch the the Killer Croc reference at the beginning of the movie, about giant alligators?

Story Time - Part 2

    Soft mutterings drifted down the hall to the ears of the sleeping mother and father. Exhausted from lifting and pushing moving boxes around their new home, Lee and Brooke had fallen into bed the previous night exhausted. Neither wanted to answer the call of their two year old daughter, Anne, but it had to be done. Blindly fumbling to look at the alarm clock Lee pulled the covers down from over his face to see that the time was only 6:50 am.  Groaning, he slipped out from under Brooke's arm, and slid onto the floor.
    It's too early, he thought, as he rubbed his eyes. It should be outlawed for a child to be up this early.
    Aching in places long forgotten, Lee pushed himself to his feet and quietly exited the room.  The hallway was overrun by boxes, forcing Lee to squeeze his husky frame down the narrow passageway. He nearly knocked over several boxes while attempting to step over the cat, Lana, who'd found the most inconvenient place to rest. Hissing and howling Lana sprang to her feet and ran off into some dark corner of the new house.
    "Sssssssssh!" came a call from the master bedroom. Followed by several thunderous steps and then a sharp closing of a door. If you asked Brooke, Lee was one of the noisiest people in the morning. "Always banging stuff around when I'm trying to sleep," she'd say. "I'm always quiet when you're trying to sleep," she'd complain. But Lee knew differently. Someone once told him that he missed his calling as a professional ninja. For a man his size he could walk around the office and no one would ever know. Sometimes startling co-workers so much, that they'd playful punch Lee and exclaim, "we need to put a cow bell around your neck so we know when you're coming!"
    Thankfully for Lee the new house was newly built, so he didn't have to contend with squeaking floor boards or worn out doors that would scream in protest ever time you opened or closed them. Easing open the door to Anne's bedroom, he found the young dirty blonde girl standing-up in her crib, playing the her musical mobile.
    "Daddy!" she cried, with a purple pacifier in her mouth. A huge smile was on her face and her eyes sparkled as Lee entered the room.  She bounced on her bed before falling onto her butt giggling. Grabbing a stuffed toy rabbit she held it aloft for her daddy to see. "Bunny!" she exclaimed; proud of herself that she knew the type of animal she held.
    "Yes baby, bunny." he replied trying to hide how tired he was. With a little less than five hours of sleep Lee picked up his daughter and took her down to their new living room.  The cable wasn't going to be ready for another couple days, so he leafed through several boxes to find Anne's collection of Disney DVDs. Luckily he didn't have to look long, as Anne started to call for her morning milk, and set the video play.
    Heading to the kitchen he picked up his cellphone to check if he'd received any further messages since last night. Two new messages had come in late last night. Ever since he'd received word that he would be the new Athletic Director at the high school, Lee had contacted everyone in the O.C. to let them know he'd be returning. Jay and Lori and been the first to respond, and then the flood gate of texts came roaring in. It had been well over five years since Lee had left Enchanted Oaks, but now he was back, and now he could get back into roleplaying regularly.
    Anne let out an impatient whine, calling for her milk again, as Lee searched another box of dishes for her drinking cups. Frustrated from not finding one he grabbed a regular glass and poured his daughter some milk. It will have to suffice for now, he thought to himself. I just hope she doesn't make a mess. Heading back out into the living room, Lee gave the milk to his daughter and then plopped down on the grey sofa to read the latest texts.
    "Nice 2 have u back. C u @ 10!" - Charles. Charles was Lee's best friend. When Lee came to Vandenburg Academy in his junior year of high school, he and Charles became good friends once Lee was introduced to the O.C. Smiling, Lee hit the arrow button to see the other message.
    "Bringing a new HF adventure to play. Make a 2nd level character. Bring snacks to share. Miguel will be there too. See you at Jay's." - Clark. During Lee's second semester at Vandenburg, Lee and Clark had become roommates. They had come to know each other in choir, and had befriended each other over a shared interest in Sci-Fi, mainly space operas -- in particular Trek Wars which, unbeknownst to Lee, was also a roleplaying game. Lee had never roleplayed before, but when Clark introduced lee to the O.C., Lee got hooked.
    School for Tools was playing on the TV, and Anne was calling out each of the character's names when they appeared. Unfortunately for Brooke and Lee, the TV had become a babysitter for them over the last couple months. With all their money going into their move they had little to spend on babysitting. Which left them leaving Anne in front of the picture box while they got chores and packing done around the house.So she had come to know the names of the many characters that populated her favorite rotation of semi-educational programs.
    The clock read 7:15 am, plenty of time to work on a character, he thought. Lee retrieved his 'gaming bag', pulled out some paper, dice and his copy of High Fantasy and began his ritualistic process of creating his character for today's game. He was fortunate that Brooke was letting him even play today. Monday he'd have to start his new job, and there was plenty of unpacking to be done. However, Lee had convinced her that before he left for game, he would at least unpack a couple of boxes.
    An hour later he was done. His dwarven swashbuckler, Redbeard MacMurray, was now complete. Anne had managed to finish all her milk without spilling too much on her or the new carpet, and was now asking for food. I guess it's time to start on my father and husbandry duties, he sighed, and set to feeding his daughter and get some boxes unpacked.
   By 9:30 Brooke and pulled her self from bed and took over watching Anne, while Lee got ready for a day of gaming.
   "How long are you going to be gone?" Brooke had asked as Lee grabbed up his game bag.
   "I don't know. I'll keep you informed though. Okay?" He knew this wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, but with her mother being nearby now, Brooke had somewhere else she could go. He kissed Brooke and Anne goodbye and headed out. At 9:50 he had arrived. It's time to game!

Story Time - Part 1

I'm going to divert from my regularly scheduled rantings to start on  a story that's been brewing in my head for some time. I began writing it some years ago, but as with everything else I do, I never follow through to finish it. So, here I am again, trying to start this story and hopefully, one day, complete it. There's no title for it yet, so I'm willing to consider suggestions from you, my loyal followers.

     Every Sunday was 'Game Day'. Not the same glorified day that many fans celebrated during football season, but rather a day in which some friends gathered around a table to roll dice and play a game of High Fantasy. This Sunday happened to be a special occasion as two old friends were finally rejoining the group after several years off.
     The sky that day was clear, the air was crisp, and the breeze was pleasant. It was a September morning in the small town of Enchanted Oaks and most of the businesses in town were closed for today's NFL game. In principle, weekends were reserved for sports. When the high school team played on Saturdays the town shut down to cheer on their squad, The Wolves. Sundays, on the other hand, made passerbys think that Enchanted Oaks was a ghost town. In reality, everyone was huddled around their televisions watching the home town hero, Jayson Lockley, play quarterback for one of the state's pro teams.
     However, not everyone in town watched football. This group of friends, who called themselves the "O.C.", otherwise known as the Outcasts, were gathering at the towns one and only game store, The Tolk Inn. It wasn't a great store, especially from the exterior, but the owner, a guy named Jay Gordon, kept it running for the past four years on little, to no revenue. He'd bought the solitary building cheap and renovated the interior. It was an old restaurant that had been shut down due to several health code violations, so there was still a fully operational kitchen in the rear of the establishment.
     When he bought the place Jay started to strip down the interior to its bare bones, but when he came into some hard times renovations ceased. Jay's intentions were to open this store as a multi-part business. Stage One was the game store, which has been successful, where game stores are concerned, but the large shadow of the past health code violations halted Stage Two. Which was to open up a restaurant and bar on the other half of the building, in a style similar to classical fantasy inns, where  it was part restaurant and part hotel. He had once toyed with the idea of adding boarding rooms in hopes of one day having a chain of establishments that were part store, part restaurant and part inn. In hindsight that was a pipe dream, now it was just a matter of keeping the shop open.
    Jay looked at his wrist watch checking it against his laptop's digital display. 9:45 am it read. With fifteen minutes before the crew was due to arrive Jay walked strolled out of his store to the rear of the building. Parked parallel to the building was an old Winnebago, its once white finish was now the color of sand and course to the touch. Paint was peeling off in small sections, and rust was slowly creeping out from several corners of the siding and roof. The best thing it had going for it was that it was a large camper. With plenty of room for Jay, his wife Lori, and their three cats: Sleepy, Sneezy & Dopey; Lori had a fascination with Snow White & The Seven Dwarves, which stemmed from her childhood when her family used to call her Snow, due to her love for winter, and the astonishing resemblance she had to Snow White.
    During their twenty-five year marriage they were never interested in having kids, but took to socially adopting the boys they monitored and guided during their stay at a boarding school in the northwest part of the state. Those boys in turn took to calling Lori 'mom' or 'Mrs. G', but never did they call Jay, 'dad', it was always 'Mr. G'. But as the boys got older and graduated they came to call the Gordon's by their first names. Only the closest ones ever kept in contact with Jay and Lori, and those happened to be the same boys that comprised the O.C.
    Small stones crunched under his feet as Jay walked across the graveled parking lot. A compressor kicked on as he passed by the rear door of the building; it bucked a couple times before it finally caught a rhythm and hummed loudly as it's blades spun. Jay opened the door to the trailer and was immediately greeted with a nuzzle from Dopey, a sneeze from Sneezy and a yawn from Sleepy. It never ceased to amaze him how spot on their names were. Dopey never meowed, never purred, but was the most affectionate of the three. Sleepy, well, slept all day, except to eat and poop; he was the largest of the three, and had earned the nickname Garfield for his love of anything pasta. Sneezy was the skinniest, and had a strict diet due in part to his veterinarian saying the cat was allergic to nearly every everything -- the sneezing was always a dead giveaway if he'd eaten something he shouldn't have. Petting each, he let the door slam behind him.
    "Has the game not started yet, Jay" hollered Lori from the rear of the cabin. Her Sunday ritual was to chat on the social networks and then play solitaire until lunch time. And hearing Jay come in had thrown her off slightly as any other Sunday he'd have waited in the store until game time.
    "Not yet, still early. But they should be arriving shortly." Jay responded as he grabbed a large thermal mug from a kitchen cabinet. The mug had seen better days, but it was one of Jay's favorites, and it just happened to the largest of his small collection. He filled it, draining the pot of freshly brewed coffee and sat down to read the newspaper that had gone unopened from this morning's delivery.
    "Looks like we're in for one last warm front before fall fully sets in hun." he called back to Lori as he flipped through the ad-heavy Sunday Gazette. He never fully read the paper. Sure he read an article or two here and there, but he was more interested in looking at the headlines and reading the comics.
    Minutes passed before a white tail flicked across his face. Jay flinched at the tail's sudden appearance, almost spitting out the swig of coffee he just took. Dopey had silently hopped up on the kitchen table, which was quite a feat as the table was old and rickety - you couldn't put an arm down without rattling the old piece of compressed wood and laminate. If Dopey had a character sheet, his statistic for Stealth would be god-like. The cat's blue eyes met Jay's frustrated look as if saying, "What?" And then without a second look Dopey gracefully leapt off the table and padded to the back to be with Lori. 
    Jay checked his watch again, 9:57 am, "Time to go hun," he called out, "see you in a couple hours!" He received a barely audible 'goodbye' in return and headed outside. A gust of wind whipped behind him, snatched the door out of his hand and slammed it closed. He turned his head to look towards the horizon. Some clouds were beginning to approaching from the west, but he saw no signs of any approaching storms or tornadoes. Having studied meteorology for two semesters at a community college he was certain of his prediction.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Comments, edits, are welcome

Episode X

Small Victories

One of the things I've recently learned as a parent is to celebrate the small victories in your child's life. Sure there are the major milestones: first step, learning to drive, graduating, etc. But there are other occasions that are just as exciting that deserve some celebration. This is especially important when your child had to struggle through the first few months of being alive, as mine did.

Back in December of 2010, only four plus months after she was born, my daughter had to have major surgery on her heart. This procedure was to close two holes in her heart, one in the upper chamber, and one in the lower chamber. For any child this is a HUGE deal, as they are struggling to survive, which means their focus is on breathing and not eating. And by not eating, they are loosing weight, which brings its own mess of problems.

At four months most children should have been in the mid to upper teens as far as weight, my daughter was hovering around nine pounds. We were having problems getting her to feed, which is what had driven us to the doctor's office in the first place. The doctor had also been monitoring her heart, as we knew when she was born that she had these holes in her heart. Their hope was that that holes would close themselves, but after four months she hadn't improved . It was therefore decided that she need to have surgery on her heart.

So there I was at work, wrapping up the day, when my wife calls me and tells me that "we need to go to Children's Medical Center in Washington DC, tonight." It caught me off-guard I must say, as I would have at least expected the doctor to give us a day or two to get our things together. But no, our daughter needed to get in quickly, so to patch the two holes.

Two weeks later, after some recovery time, and a successful operation, we all came home from the hospital. In the 18 months since then she has improved greatly. She's gained weight, though still lower than average, and has come along quite nicely -- seeing her today you'd never have expected that she was once in dire circumstances. The scar on her chest, however, is a constant reminder to us of what she once was. So we've come to celebrate the small victories that our daughter achieves.

Going from a helpless baby, to being able to roll onto her stomach, and then eventually crawl, then walk were very exciting moments for us, and her. Having her say her first word, which was "No" was joyful, yet laughable because she wanted to get into everything, and we kept telling her "No". Her first tooth meant she was getting prepared to enjoy a new array of foods -- including one that is a personal favorite, pizza. Learning characters' names on Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and Stargate SG-1 show that she's growing intellectually. She knows some numbers, letters, colors, shapes and other objects. It's all these small things that make us smile, and say, "she's getting so big."

Recently we started trying to potty train her. Though it's usually hit or miss, miss being the more correct course, there have been two instances in which we've had a "hit". Once was when my wife was home, and the other just happened the yesterday.  To some it may sound silly to celebrate such an occasion, but I look at that scar on her chest and it makes me realize how lucky we are to have her still be with us today. I cherish these small victories in her life; it's just another display of how determined she is to survive. And seeing her smile and laugh when we cheer for her warms my heart.

Sure, we'll celebrate the bigger milestones in her life with more bravado than some people, but it's because we love our daughter. We're glad she's around. We're glad she gets to experience life, and we get to watch her do so. We'll take pictures or even videos of the bigger events in her life, but the memories of the smaller victories in her life will always be in our hearts and minds. So laugh at me when I give her cheers for peeing in her potty, but it's well deserved, she's worked hard to get to that point and deserves our praise.

If I'm wrong ask your parents to tell of their fondest memories of you. I'm sure one of those moments won't be in a picture album, it'll be a moment that they hold near and dear to their heart. A small victory in your life that only a memory can preserve.

Three cheers for small victories!

Episode IX

First Kiss

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we.

Do you remember your first kiss? Do you remember where you were? Hopefully you remember who it was with. Do you remember the events that lead up to the kiss? There are two "first" kisses I would like to talk about today. The first one was, what I'd consider that true first kiss, and the second is when I first kissed my wife-to-be.

Some of you may disagree with me on this one, as you may feel that a true first kiss occurs when you start dating. Or at least start getting interested in the opposite sex. My first kiss was way back, probably years before many of you ever had your first kiss.When I had my first kiss it was during my early childhood, I'd say somewhere around pre-school. I know this for a fact, as Top Gun -- yes, that movie starring Tom Cruise who was a rogue Navy Aviator named Maverick -- was out on VHS (remember those? makes me chuckle just thinking about it).  If you've never seen the movie I won't spoil anything here, but there's a scene in which Maverick gets heavily involved with his female instructor "Charlie" (that was her call-sign), played by Kelly McGillis.

For a five year old that scene was practically porn. Though you never see any fully naked bodies you get a good minute or two of 'sexual content'. And when I mean sexual content, it was more like sweet caresses and kissing. Again, for a five year old though, that was porn -- and it was something I wanted to try. So I went back to pre-school sometime after seeing that movie, and because I was the "cool guy" in class, I was liked by at least two girls, that I can remember. What their names were has long since escaped my mind, and their faces are all but fuzzy outlines. But one thing stands clear in my mind, one got kissed and the other wanted to be kissed.

Looking back on it I wonder how in the hell I got away with it. The playground was surrounded by the school, so there was maybe one place to "hide" if you wanted to get away from people. And that place was the metal-tunnel -- you know, that six or eight foot aluminum tunnel that stood parallel to the ground, and you crawled through it. But that's where I went with the one girl to kiss her. Unfortunately I can't remember exactly how it all came about, but I'll do my best.

I believe it started with a tricycle ride around the playground. Our pre-school had several tricycles that were formed differently, one in particular was a tricycle taxi. And I remember speeding around the yard with a girl in the back seat. It was innocent fun. Yet somehow we ended up in the metal tube together. And I must have told her about Top Gun and encouraged her to attempt this kiss I saw in the movie. Since I'd seen the movie a couple times by that point I thought myself an expert, as I remember telling her how to kiss properly. At first it was just a kiss on the lips, but then I distinctly recall giving her a french kiss.

We may have done this a couple more times after that. Recess would be called and at some point during the break we'd meet up in the tube and kiss. It was close-quarters in there, so I doubt we were in there very long, especially with teachers on the prowl. Then one other girl, I'm guessing was told about this, and got me in the tube some time later. We may have been playing 'The Jackson Family' (yes, we were pretending to be Michael Jackson's family) and I was tagged as the father and she the mother. I recall sitting in the tube with her, but I never made a move, I just wasn't interested in her. After that, the 'kissing game' stopped.

After that it was many years before I kissed another girl -- I was a freshman in High School when that happened again. That relationship I think was more physical than social, as we never went on many dates (although, how could we, any time either of us wanted to do something the other was grounded). Needless to say that relationship went south within a couple months. Four more years slipped by until I kissed another girl, which eventually lead to me kissing my wife-to-be.

I'll spare the details on the events prior to the day of that kiss, but I will tell you that I knew when I went to see her that I was going to kiss her. I didn't know when it would happen, but I somehow knew that kissing her that day was meant to be. Turns out I was right.

It was a September day, and I had finally arranged for us to get together and go out on a first date. She told me to meet her at work, and then when she got done she could show me where she lived and then we could go out. When I pulled up to her work I was excited. It was one of those excited moments where you think you're walking around with blinders on. You're so focused, so pumped, so excited about this one thing that you can't concentrate on anything else.

So I get her work, and as soon as I saw her I was 100% certain that I was going to kiss her. I remember how her face lit up when I saw her that afternoon. The longer I thought about it, the more I knew that kiss was coming. It was just when would the opportunity present itself for the action to occur. Her shift finally ends and we head back to her place, and she invites me in while she goes and changes. Ding, ding, ding ding! Here's my chance. The opportunity has arrived for me to slip in and kiss her.

I gave her some lame excuse to want to see her home, "give me the nickel tour," I say. And she does. It's not a big place by any means, and only takes a couple minutes for her to show me all the rooms. But the opportunity to kiss her still hadn't come, some aspect, some alignment of the stars was still missing. And then I saw the porch. so I said, "what's out there?" Like, DUH, what else would be in the backyard. We went onto the porch and she turned her back on me, and it was like the whole world just dropped away. The moment had come. I put my arms around her, she turned and our lips met in a 'nothing else matters' kiss.

There's no way to truly describe this kiss. In The Princess Diaries -- I'll admit I've seen this movie more than once, my wife likes to watch it from time to time -- they called that one special kiss, the 'foot pop' kiss. Where the girl's one foot raises off the ground, as if she's about to take off into the clouds. Or, it could be described in a manner that only Hollywood could capture a kiss. Where the man plants a kiss on the girl and the world just sort of melts away and it's just the two of them. That's the kind of kiss we had.

First kisses can be tricky, as you don't know what to expect from the other end. Are they a good kisser? Will their lips be soft and moist, or hard and cracked? Will they try to slobber all over you with that first kiss, or will it be brief, just to see if it works? But when you find that perfect kiss, it will happen because it was meant to be. The sparks will fly and you will know that you have someone special in front of you.

Just don't go an argue over who made the first move like I did with one girlfriend. Take the kiss for what it's worth, an attempt to make a physical connection beyond mere a mere touch of the hand. Although, some older movies, like in Sleepless in Seattle, where Meg Ryan's character's mom claimed she knew her husband was the 'right one' when he helped her our of a car. But my feelings are, that a kiss will say it all. Either you'll get a spark or you won't. Cher and Aretha Franklin have it right, "it's in the kiss", the first kiss.

Episode VIII

ROAD TRIP & ON THE BORDER

This past Wednesday was a real treat. Though nothing had been planned I knew we weren't going to just sit around all day, on day in which both my wife and I had off. Originally I hadn't intended to do much more than hang around Frederick, but the road was calling and I needed to drive.

Road Trip
For most people a road trip is an adventure to explore new places, see new things, and maybe get somewhat lost in the process. It may also mean staying the night somewhere after a heavy day of driving, but not in all cases.

Unlike many people I know, I enjoy driving, and will venture down roads I've never been down. Does it matter where it leads? No, of course not, for I'm certain that I will be able to find my way back home. It's not that I can't get lost, but I have a decent sense of direction, being able to visualize roads and where they connect without looking at a map. For instance, when my mom and me lived in Wisconsin, there was a time when she got lost trying to get home. I was way to young to drive at the time, but my internal radar was spot on. According to her I was able to guide us home lickety-split.

As I mentioned above my original thought for the day was to walk around Frederick and call it a day. But a sudden meeting changed my perspective on the day. Prior to the meeting I had dropped off my wife at the mall, thinking that this meeting would take at least an hour. Thirty minutes later I was back at the mall, discussing our plans for the day with my wife.

She'd eaten a late breakfast so she wasn't really hungry, which meant a delay on food for me, since I'd been up since eight that morning. I could have grabbed some lunch at Red Robin, or one of the many surrounding restaurants that encompass the mall, but I wasn't going to waste money on lunch if not all of us were going to eat. So we headed for the car and our daughter was starting to get fussy. "We should just go home," my wife said. "We can put her to bed and then go out later."

I just don't do that. If I'm out and about, I want to stay out. If I have to go home I might as well stay home. I gear myself up for the day of being 'around town' and when I'm forced to go home early I get grumpy. So I insisted that we stay out, that I wanted to go for a drive, and we did. My mind immediately started compiling points of interest.

Baltimore has the Inner Harbor and Camden Yards; DC has the National Mall and museums, and Nationals Park; while Woodbridge, VA has On the Border and The Game Parlor. By the time I had collected my thoughts I was already driving south, so Baltimore was out. Sure, I could have crossed over some back roads to get us back on I-70 East, or I-95 North, but the day was drawing on and I wasn't going to spend all my time driving. I chirped about my POIs to my wife, and we decided, because it was too hot out, that we'd go to Woodbridge.

First it was time for lunch. And while my wife was wanting Chili's I wanted to one-up her. So I took her to On the Border, possibly THE BEST Tex-Mex Restaurant EVER!! (Now for a departure from our regularly schedule program ...)

On The Border
If you've never been to OTB then you're missing out on some of the best food in the United States. When it comes to Tex-Mex, OTB is where you need to be. It has been over two years since we were last at the OTB in Woodbridge, and we were both pleased to have made the choice to return.

I had first started going there with my parents when we lived in Woodbridge some fifteen years ago. At the time it was a new restaurant, and when we tried it, we got hooked. Service hasn't always been the best, but the food was great! We even got to know one of the bartenders, which I recommend to anyone who frequents any one restaurant. And now that we've moved away from the area, any chance we have at returning to Woodbridge, we make sure to visit OTB.

Their latest menu is packed full of delicious choices. So many in fact that I had a hard time choosing. My wife tried one a watermelon flavored drink, which she enjoyed, and had their grilled chicken salad (which she claims is still not as good as Chili's Quesadilla Salad). I had their Chimichanga, and ordered a side of Guacamole and Avocado Fries. Now, let me say, whoever invented the Avocado Fry should win an award. It's simple in design, but has an amazing flavor. Take avocado slice, deep fry them and sprinkle a zesty salt on top and ta-da, you have the Avocado Fry! Creamy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. And it comes with a chipotle ranch dressing, it's just fabulous! Oh, and the Chips and Salsa are better than anywhere else. If you like your salsa with a kick, OTB is where it's at!

I highly recommend OTB to anyone who has the chance to visit. (now back to our program ...)

Road Trip (continued)
After leaving OTB, with leftovers in hand, we tried to decide where to go next. We'd talked about going to The Game Parlor, but knew that if we went that we'd spend more money. And as it was getting into the main part of rush hour, I knew we needed to head for home.

If anyone has driven on I-95 or I-395 during rush hour, you know it can be a nightmare. And what should only take an hour or more to get home can turn into nearly a two hour commute. So I chose to take a longer route home, thinking that I could cut across some back roads and get home in just over an hour and a half. Well, that didn't turn out exactly as I planned.

Prince William Parkway takes you from Woodbridge and into Manasas, from which you can then get on I-66 West to pick up I-81 to Hagerstown, MD. By my estimations that drive would take just about two hours. But when you start taking detours that time increases. We left Woodbridge just after 4pm and didn't make it home until 7pm. So much for my clever detour.

But all was not lost. As I drove down I-66 I decided to get off on a side road that paralleled the interstate. It was a nice scenic route, but was 20 mph slower than the main route. And since we had already had a long trip down there (just over an hour and a half) my wife wanted to get home. Knowing that it was going to be at least thirty minutes before we got to Winchester I knew we needed to stop and stretch our legs.

A sign caught my eye and we made our way back to one of the many national parks in the area. It was a nice little park, and since it was off the main road it was nicely secluded in the hills of Frederick County. No one was there so we were able to walk freely about and give our daughter a chance to see the beautiful countryside. We walked about for maybe thirty minutes before making our way back. This little stop by the extended drive worth all the trouble.

Finally we made it home. Had I decided to just deal with the traffic I never would have found this quaint little park. It's now a place I am sure we will want to visit again. As they had several picnic areas and many walking trails. So you see, random road trips are worth every dollar spent in gas to  get there, because you never know what hidden jems you may find.

Episode VII

Live from your neighborhood friendly

WAL-MART

To say I hate Wal-Mart, is an understatement. I loathe Wal-Mart. Where this intense feeling first came from, or when it first started I cannot say, but the fact is this: I will not set foot in that hell hole unless I absolutely have no other choice. 

For instance:

My mother was in town last month and she wanted to buy my wife and me a new set of dishware. Our old set was the first set we bought when we got married, and has since seen better days. We still have the entire set of mugs, but our dinner plates, salad plates and bowls have since been dwindling in number. I like the set, but I have to admit, that it's just too bulky and heavy for our everyday needs. So my mother wanted to buy us a new set that was maybe more "user friendly". 

So we went and looked for some other options, but we just couldn't make up our mind as to which design or which brand we wanted. There's so many options it really is hard to choose one pattern, because then you have to live with it for the next several years.So finding something to replace our "oriental" themed dinnerware is a daunting task -- one that I'm afraid will take longer to decide on than it did for Enron to collapse. My mother didn't have that kind of time to wait, so she threw in the towel and asked us what else we needed. To which my wife and me decided that we'd be better off with a new stroller. 

Fast forward a month later and my mom calls telling us that we have a pick-up at Wal-Mart (duh duh duh duuuh). Rather than spend extra money on shipping and handling it made more sense for us just to pick the new stroller up, so guess who got volunteered. I knew the day before when my mother called that I would have to face the dark, stank dungeon that is Wally World, but knowing and going are two different things.

Let me first tell you that our Wal-Mart is THE busiest store on the East Coast. I don't think that one minute goes by that that Wally World isn't jammed packed with all matter of hicks, pricks, and dicks -- all shapes and colors too. It's a nightmare, really.

So I get up this afternoon knowing that I have to run in there to pick-up this stroller. My daughter is in tow and I rush in there. The door greeter is supposed to be a welcoming site, or so they say. And I realize they can't discriminate, but can't they at least get an average looking person to smile at you and welcome you to Wal-Mart?! No, instead they get the crotchety old person or the person who looks like their face blew-up to greet you into the store that has everything.

Once you're past that obstacle, then you have to bob and weave your way through crowded isles and cluttered walkways to make it to wherever it is you need to go. I tell you, this Wal-Mart has gone bad. No sooner am I five feet past the ghastly greeter, then I'm assaulted by yellow smiley specials and an assortment of hoo-hums who are waiting for gawd knows what.  

Then I finally make it into the store itself and face a maze of people and dollar store rejects. I don't know what it is with people today, but, "Put On Some Clothes!" I don't want to see your sixty year old titties, or your make-Shamu-jealous thunder thighs and blotted butt. Have some decency when you go out in public. I don't care how rich or how poor you are, you can dress in clothes that fit. Remember those days of "Sunday Clothes"? Or in the Brady Bunch were they dressed in their best clothes to go to Sears? Those standards need to apply today.  

After my daughter suffered the forever scarring terrors that are the customers of this place. We finally reach our intended target, the .Com receiving. Unfortunately this particular building, or maybe it's all stores, the receiving and the photo center are now one entity. I hand the lady my e-mail saying I have an order to pick-up, and she immediately asks, "what is this? is this for photos?" It's a bomb, lady! C'mon, read the paper. "Oh, did you bring a cart?" Um, no, shouldn't you have people to assist with things like this? "No, sorry; can I bring my car around back to pick it up?" I ask. Apparently not, so she gets kinda fussy and mutters something about needing to keep a cart at the counter for her 'stuff'. Okie-dokie. She goes back, and brings out the stroller. Finally, now I can leave.

So I zip back to the front of the store, dodging an old man who's taking up both sides of the isle, a couple of cluttered isle displays and break for daylight. I shake my self off, as I feel just nasty from those agonizing minutes in the store, and head to my car. If I wasn't feeling dirty from the hot and sticky day that was today's weather, then I was now. My daughter was even ready for a bath tonight, that's how bad that store makes me feel.

Just send me to Target next time and I'll be fine . . . 

Episode VI

SERIES

As I was writing down notes for my other blog my initial thoughts were about series: series of books, a TV series, and movie series. I noticed that thoughts were starting to focus on this topic rather than the original subject. And since "series" is a general topic, I thought I'd post it here for your enjoyment.

So what could I possibly talk about on such a broad topic? And it's this, I have a problem with watching or reading any series that is mid-way through it's story arc. For instance: my best friend Burger told me for years to watch House M.D., saying it was one of the best shows out there. I had watched an episode here or there and was never really impressed. But then I caught an episode somewhere in Season 5 or 6 and got hooked. But instead of waiting for the next episode, I went to the library and rented Season 1, then 2, and so on. I needed to know how the storyline and played out before hand. 

Did I really need to do this? No. I could have waited and then eventually watched some of the other episodes. But I can't. I become, well, obsessed, with making sure I've seen it all. Or read it all when it pertains to books. Fringe is another good example. I caught an episode in Season 2 or 3 and got roped in, and then had to watch every episode up to that point. Stargate SG-1 and Star Trek: The Next Generation have also fallen into this dreaded problem.

After SG-1 came out I started buying up the dvds, and at some point I got my wife hooked on watching it. Now mind you there are ten seasons to this show, with twenty plus episodes per season. So when I introduced it to here we started from Season 1, but at some point we stopped. Months or so later she wanted to pick-up where we left off, and I nearly flipped! "What?! Watch something part way through a series?! Are you serious?! Yes I know we only just began watching it a few months ago, but that was such a long time ago. We need to go back and watch it from the beginning!" Was basically what I said. But she wasn't gonna sit there again and watch it all over, so we watched a few more seasons, and stopped again. This time almost a year had passed since we'd seen an episodes. And yet again, she wanted to pick-up from where we left off. At some in the past five years since we've been married we actually finished the series. It bothered me each and every time when she wanted to pick-up from a mid-point, but I don't think we'd have ever finished watching the series if we'd have done it my way.

And this obsession of mine even goes to movie series like Star Trek and Star Wars. And each of those has it's own can of worms too. Star Trek, which spans two different casts (well, now three), has a linked movie, Star Trek: Generations. While it's not critical to watch the first six Star Trek movies, Generations does involve both crews, which to me signifies that I need to know what happened in the previous films (even though I've watched them numerous times). And because the Enterprise is destroyed in that film, when Star Trek: First Contact comes out, there's a new ship. So I can't skip Star Trek: Generations, and just watch First Contact, no, I need to watch Generations to see what happened to the Enterprise.  Which then means watching the original six movies. So you see it's a vicious cycle.

Until recently though Star Wars fell into this cycle as well. Though we (the Star Wars fans) knew George Lucas had changed things when he created the prequels I never thought much of it. That is, until just a couple weeks ago when I was watching the prequels with my daughter.

As a fan, you've got to decide at some point which of the six Star Wars movies you're going to let your child(ren) watch. Now my daughter's not even two yet, so she really won't be cognizant of any of the story for a couple more years. So I decided it had been a while since I last watched the prequels so I sat down with my daughter over a week and watched the trilogy. And as any good parent would do I taught her the names of the main characters. So far she's picked up, "Padme."  Score! Once the prequels were done I had to start the original trilogy.

Normally I would have watched the originals and thought nothing of it. The cycle would have been complete and I would have moved on to the next movie or TV series. But thing's started catching my attention. With the prequels still rather fresh in my mind I started counting all the things that Lucas had fucked up. And I was only through the first hour or so A New Hope. I began wondering how I would have written the prequels, because Episode 4 doesn't really fit with the story arc that's presented in the prequels. So I didn't even bother watching The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, I just couldn't bare the thought of sitting there and knit pick how the prequels weren't telling the same story that was already etched in stone by the originals. So thank you George Lucas for breaking my habit of watching things from the beginning . . . at least for Star Wars. But I have at least decided that the original trilogy will be watched first, as that is what is the purest story line.

However George, you failed to break me of my habit completely. I still feel the need to watch, or read things from the beginning.

Books are the same way as TV shows and movies. I need to read it from the beginning.

At one point I was at the book store on a weekly basis. My wife and I loved to browse the latest books and dvds, hoping to find something new. I had seen one series several times and saw that it's volumes were increasing every so often. While I never picked up one of the books to read what it was about I kept my eye on it. then one day the SyFy (then SciFi) Channel came out with a TV series of the same name as the books, The Dresden Files. I watched an episode or two and knew immediately that I had to read the books. I could have grabbed the latest release, but again, my mind doesn't work that way. And so I read books one through nine before finally catching up to book ten, Small Favor, which by then was out in paperback. there are now thirteen books in the series, with a fourteenth one on the way.

Though not as long, Harry Potter fell into this trap as well. I remember my mom was asking me to go see this film called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Who the fuck was Harry Potter? At that time I wasn't watching the news, nor was I very interested in reading. Little did I know, at that point, that Pottermania was taking off. So we go to see this movie. And I'm there thinking, "what the hell is this all about?" And then BAM! I get hooked. By that point I believe there were four books out with one on the way. Then, while on a trip to Pittsburgh I ended up buying the first four books. And each time a new book was released I went back and read the entire series again. As much as I was anticipating the newest novel I still had to go back and read the old books first. I guess to make sure I was up to speed on what was happening.

This infatuation with series is pretty evident in my apartment too. You'll notice that a majority of MY books and dvds are sets. For some reason I tend to lean, or rather only purchase a book or DVD if it's in a series. Why? Perhaps it's because I don't want to see the story end. And when I do purchase a book or DVD that's not in a series, I secretly hope that one day there will be a sequel. Like Top Gun. That movie came out in the early '80s and is just now getting a sequel.

In closing, yes my obsession of watching or reading a series from beginning to end is weird. But it stems from my desire to not see it end, and by needing to know what happened from the very beginning. I need to know!

Episode V

BE OUR GUEST

Some of you may know that I work in a hotel. I am the Night Auditor, which means I work that graveyard shift, 11pm to 7am, five days a week. I can hear you groaning already, but yes, I work while everyone sleeps, which has it's high and lows. What I'd like to concentrate on for this episode is the lows.

One of the hardest parts about working third shift is the fact that I am the hotel. Meaning, I'm the front desk agent, I'm the maid, I'm the maintenance man, I'm the manager. Sure I have help some nights for the houseman, but otherwise it's just me. And one of the biggest problems I face is dealing with uncooperative people.

"The Shirt"

Take last night for example. The shift went by just fine. There were no problems, no issues with guests, nothing. I was just about finished with my shift when a guest comes down to the lobby in just his shorts. No shoes (that I could tell) and no shirt. Being that we're a business-focused hotel, there are certain unwritten rules that people need to abide by. One of those rules is: when in the Lobby of the hotel, you should be properly clothed. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but in general, clothing is required. It is NOT optional!

So here's this guy standing by one of the wall of windows that we have in our lobby. It was early morning, so normally not many people are up at that hour, but it was different yesterday. He walks around into the main part of our lobby, and I said, "Excuse me sir, would you mind putting on a shirt?" It's not a question, it's a request. But apparently this guy took it as a question. To which he responds, "excuse me?" As if I had asked him some trivia question that he needed repeated.

I ask him again, "can you please put on a shirt." Which apparently was like I was asking him to set himself on fire. This simple statement set him off. He asked me again to repeat my request, so I did, "would you mind putting on a shirt." His response? "What if I do mind, what are you going to do about it?" Well, if you really want to get down to brass taxes I said, "I will call the police" (to which they would escort him to his room and then out the door). This was probably a little harsh, but I'm not going to have someone come into "my" hotel and do whatever they want. It ain't happenin'!

So he ends up calling me an asshole. Why? Who knows. I guess he's not the kind of guy that responds well to being told what to do. But yet, there I was, some lonely hotel worker, telling this guy to do something (that really is not even worth getting upset over -- put on a shirt, it's not hard; head goes in the middle, arms go out the sleeves, and ta-da, you're dressed!). He also said something along the lines of, "you're telling me to put on a shirt, after 'all the money I spent here this weekend'?"Yes, Yes I am. You need to put on a shirt if you are to come to the Lobby, regardless of how much money you spend here. If the President stayed here and came down in only a Speedo, I'd tell him to take his ass back upstairs and put on a shirt and pants.

Just because you spend money here doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want. We are granting you the privilege of staying here. We have the right to turn business away (not that we would, but we could). And since you were permitted to stay here you are thereby REQUIRED to follow the rules we set forth. So if I ask you to do something, like put on a shirt, you do it! Do you see anyone else not wearing a shirt? No. So why do you think you're Mr. Special that can go around shirtless? The answer is, you're not special. Sorry. Now go upstairs and put on a shirt.

So he continues to argue with me, and I just keep telling him to "put on a shirt". Eventually he takes up all our hotel business cards and threatens to send emails to all the managers telling them what an asshole I am. And all because I asked him to Put - On - a - Shirt. Oh - My - Gawd! Before he leaves for the morning he says, "you're going down." Right. Sure. Whatever! Do you honestly think they're going to fire me, just because YOU said so? I think not.

So that was yesterday. What a wonderful way to end a shift.

I hope I ruined your day sir, whoever you are, because you ruined mine. Asshole.

"Drinks All Around"

Another issue that continually comes up, especially during wedding season is alcohol. Maryland Law states that alcohol can only be consumed in public areas if it is purchased at that place of business. In other words, if we sell it to you, you can drink it practically anywhere in the hotel. You may bring in your own booze, but it must be consumed in your room. You may NOT bring it into our public areas and drink it. If you do, and the cops happen to come by and see it, we could loose our liquor license. 

I think that rule is pretty simple. But yet people insist on ignoring it. Are they warned? Yes. There are signs up in the Bar and Lobby, and the wedding groups are informed ahead of time (whether the info actually makes it to everyone is a different story). It's like, you wouldn't walk into a restaurant, like Ruby Tuesdays, and bring in your own beer or martini. No. You'd buy it at the bar and be content. So what makes you think you can get away with it in a hotel?

For instance. A week or two ago, there was a wedding group here, they had reserved the bar for an after party, and the bartender had already done Last Call. So this one guy comes down with a bag full of beer. It obviously wasn't ours, so I confronted him.

"Excuse me sir, you cannot have that down here, you'll need to take it upstairs."

"Well, we're part of the wedding group, so, I say it's okay.""

"I'm sorry sir, but Maryland laws prevents you from having it down here."

"Well, your bar is closed, so I think it's okay."

"Sir, please don't argue with me."

"I'm not arguing with you."

"Then take it upstairs." 

And he does. But it should have never have gotten to that point. When I tell you the first time, you smile, nod and DO IT. Don't think you can sit there and banter with me. I have the final say, not you.

This happens quite frequently. And it's because people just don't care. They think because they pay us a few dollars (not even full price, most the time these groups are getting a huge deduction in rate) that they can run the hotel. And that isn't how it works. Just do as I say and we'll get along just fine.

In closing, you're a GUEST, not the owner. No matter how much money you spend with Hilton, Marriott, or InterContinental hotels you'll never have the right to do whatever you want. There are rules. There is such a thing as etiquette. And all we ask is that you adhere to those things. It's not too much to ask, is it?

Episode IV

FRIENDS

So I may catch a lot a flack for this episode due to it's nature, but I don't care. It's a been on my mind for some time and I think it's time to address it.

If you don't have someone you can call a friend, then either you've been living under a rock all your life, or you are socially inept. I believe I have a decent group of people I call "friend", but sometimes I wonder what that title actually means. In other words, what are the expectations when you put the "friend" tag on someone?

According to Dictionary.com these are the definitions of the word "friend":

noun

1.a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

2.a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: friends of the Boston Symphony.

3.a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile: Who goes there? Friend or foe?

4.a member of the same nation, party, etc.

5.( initial capital letter ) a member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker.

verb (used with object)

7.Rare . to befriend.

8.to add (a person) to one's list of contacts on a social-networking Web site: I just friended a couple of guys in my class.

Idiom

9.make friends with, to enter into friendly relations with; become a friend to.

With today's technology, defining someone as a "friend" is more in line with definition #8. But to me this definition is more in line with the word acquaintance. You know each-other, but the likelihood that you'll hang out anytime soon is remote. The definition that I want to discuss is #1: "a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard."

If I listed off the people that I considered friend, I'm sure many of them would say, "yes, Salow is a friend". But what I think they mean is, "Salow's a good guy, and he's pleasant to be around." There's no emotional attachment, nor is their any real regard for who I am. They don't mind me being around, but they wouldn't go out of their way to do anything for me. So their definition of "friend" is more in line with #3. However, for me, labeling someone a "friend" is more emotional. And I just don't see that same feeling from most people.

Perhaps it's because of technology that the "friend" label is so loosely flung around, but I remember the days when you had a true core of friends, and maybe one or two "best friends". The earliest "best friend" I can remember having was back in elementary school. We hung out from time to time, and had a love for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There was another friend we hung out with, but when it came down to it, I believe the two of us were truly friends.  We had each others' backs. Unfortunately when I moved away we eventually lost contact with each other, and that friendship tag was lost. It wasn't until I finally got on Facebook that I reconnected with him. So are we friends? Maybe, we don't talk on FB, but I'd label him as a friend (definition #3).

My next "best friend" didn't come until late in high school. We met by chance, as his roommate was friends with my roommate and so via a friendship circle we became friends. Which blossomed into best friends when we realized we had many common interests. But as time has passed, though I'm sure we still label each other "best friends", the feelings behind being best friends has lessened. Why? We went to different colleges, (I dated and then married his ex-girlfriend), and careers took us in different directions. Though we still meet-up from time to time, it's nowhere near what our status was during high school.

It's these reasons that I believe determine one's friendship with another person. I'm married, have a young daughter, and work third shift Thursday through Monday.  So I have my obstacles in front of me that hamper any relationships I have with friends.

Being married, is a major factor, because now your time needs to be divided between your significant other and your friends (and her friends). You love being with your wife/husband, but you don't want to relinquish the friendships you once had. Those late nights out with friends now requires you to check-in or you'll have hell to pay when you return home. Those random trips up to see someone, now requires you to ask permission to leave. And what hurts your friendship even more is when your friends are single. They don't have the limitations like you do, so now they go out with their other single friends, and you (the married one) feels left out.

Then add in a child, and then watch your free-time dwindle. So now you're balancing schedules and begging for a chance to get away, when life doesn't interfere. You're responsibilities are not just to your wife/husband, but now you have a little one to tend to. They've got to be watched, like a hawk, every minute, for fear they may get into something they shouldn't. You need to spend time with them, so they get attached to you, because there's nothing more precious then a child's love. When you come home from a long day, their little eyes light-up with glee and they get excited to see you, and then they greet you with a hug and a kiss. It's amazing. But it changes the relationships you have with your friends, because family is now more important than friends.

Though they don't resent you for having a family, it complicates your friendship. They understand that life happens and things change. They say "we'll be here when you need us," but what that really means is, "call us when you've got the time." It's like the "don't call us, we'll call you" saying, but in reverse. Or at least, that's the way it seems. Your friends will be there, but knowing that you're life is (drastically) different they'll let you make contact with them.

So what I'm bitching at here is the expectations of the term "friend", regardless of life. The definitions listed above only scrape the surface on what I feel the word "friend" means. Am I confusing it with "best friend"? Probably. But I feel like I'm more emotionally involved with those I deem "friend", and I wonder why it's not reciprocated. I expect more from a friendship then what others are willing to give.  They have their own lives. They live their days without always wondering "what's Salow doing today?". However, in my mind, I'm always curious what others are doing. And if there's ever a chance for me to do something with a friend, I want to take advantage of it. But yet, the act is rarely returned.

Yes, I realize that friends have other friends. Yes, I know they have every right to do their own things. But would it hurt to at least inquire how I'm doing? Yeah, I need to make an effort to do the same. But c'mon, we're friends, right? Reach out to me too. Just because my life has changed, doesn't mean I have forgotten that you're my friend. I still want to hang out with you. It's just my time is limited. I'll let you know when I'm available, but every so often it would be nice if you'd contact me and at least see if I'm available.

They say "you get an A for Effort." And I feel I've earned at least a B, but if I were to grade some "friends" of mine, I'd give 'em a D. For "doesn't try hard enough."

Yes I'm bitching.  And I'm sure you'll look at me differently now, but how many of you would be truly willing to sit down with someone and discuss your friends status? Consider this our discussion and respond. I'd be happy to lay it all out there for you.