Check Out My Links

Hi All,

After several months of off-and-on maintenance of my blog, I've finally started to learn how to use this thing. Please check out some of the cool links I've added! I've tried to make them as "family friendly" as possible, but the link to the Book Scans are sets of covers from old 50's pulp fiction books (example shown here)-probably tame by today's standards, but a bit "lurid" for the younger viewer nevertheless-so beware! Otherwise, these are just a few links to some sites I personally think are pretty cool. I've mentioned one or two of these places in past blogs, so please take a look around, and I hope you enjoy them!

Better Than Awesome-Game from the Past!

Did you ever have a favorite toy or game as a child that you wished you could have again? That happened to me this year-I was strolling through an antique market (yeah I know, nothing more macho than "antiquing") and I saw an edition of a game I had and loved as a kid-it was called "Green Ghost"- a glow in the dark game that was so cool I practically wet myself each time I played it (or was that the bladder problem???). The game was played by up to four players on a raised, glow-in-the-dark board. Players could be either a black cat, a rat, a vulture or a bat. The goal of the game was to move around the board and pick up keys to "crypts" that contained little ghosts (now you understand why the board was raised!!). Players moved by spinning this uber-cool Green Ghost spinner, that made a really annoying "clatter" sound (this is pictured, with box and a feline interloper into the photo!!) There were twelve little ghosts to collect-once they are all collected, they are placed at the base of the annoy-o-matic Ghost spinner which is spun to select a ghost. If it's your ghost, you win! (in the instructions, "Green Ghost" is looking for his son, "Kelly"-all the little ghosts have names associated with the colour green).

Now I know what you're thinking, other than " a grown man likes "antiquing"? Isn't that what Principal Skinner does?" You're thinking This is so cool, but is it really "better than awesome?". Well, when you play the game, it's played in the dark, so all you can see is the glow-in-the-dark playing surface and the Green Ghost spinner. BUT....when you reach into each crypt to "blindly" grab a ghost, you also have to deal with the weird unseen goob you've just stuck your hand into! Priceless!!

In the original game, they supplied "creepy" things like "snakes" (little strips of rubber) "bones" (little bits of plastic) and "feathers" (feathers). I admit, when you're a kid the feathers were kind of creepy, but you really had to push it to be frightened by the broken elastic bands or bits of plastic. NOWADAYS, however, technology and the modern kitchen promises to make "Green Ghost" the uber-sensational game it always promised to be! Imagine switching the contents of the crypts throughout the game?? Toy stores sell some magnificent green ooze; cold spagetti in oil would make FANTASTIC snakes-the potential for Green Ghost to make a comeback is almost unparalleled!

The original game was made by a company called "Transogram", which I imagine doesn't exist any more. Is the copyright available out there somewhere?? Could this be the resurgance of Green Ghost?? If anyone has a little time and initiative, it could be the gooby little gold mine you've always wanted-Green Ghost- a game that is truly-"Better Than Awesome"

Rememberance Day

I cried this morning at 11am. That was when our nation observed a moment of silence for those killed and wounded in wars, past and present. I seem to be getting more and more emotional about this day each year, and to tell the truth, I was considering not putting myself through the emotional stress of watching aging veterans sadly recalling lost friends and terrifying ordeals, and hearing the plaintive strains of the "last post" played by a current member of the Armed Forces.

What made we watch, and inevitably cry, over the national Rememberance Day ceremony, was the desire to avoid falling into the trap that I fear is rapidly overtaking my country. The trap is believing that avoiding an issue can make it go away, and if the issue is unpleasant, avoidance becoming a virtue. It becomes a virtue if it is "spun" as diplomacy, or fairness, or righteousness.

There is no denying that war is a horrible thing, and absolutely should be avoided if at all possible. Citizens are always wise to question their leaders if they wish to take them into a war, and have the right to demand proof of the necessity of this decision. Citizens also have the responsibility, however, to be able to recognize when the only honorable decision to make, is to take on the horrible task of war. To avoid doing this, and indeed to try to depict the avoidance as some form of "courage", is worse than cowardace. I think the philosopher John Stewart Mill said it best:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest thing. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares about more than his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

Last week in Afghanistan, members of the Taliban detonated a bomb next to a school that was being visited by a government minister. Young children were torn to shreds, and many Afghan families were left to mourn the loss of innocent lives.

War is a horrible thing, that needs to be avoided, if at all possible. It is considered by many to be a "virtue" to believe that there is no such thing as a "just" war, and that combat needs to be avoided at all costs. To those people I ask-what part of this event, and many others like it, is acceptable to you? Why do you consider it "courageous" to not want to oppose this?

I admit, I am now probably too old and fat to risk military service myself, unless an aggresive force marches down the main street of my home town, and even then I probably wouldn't be much use in fighting them off. I haven't had a close relative or friend die in military conflict, though some have served in past wars, so I can't personally speak to the pain of losing a loved one in a war. I guess I am asking- as bad as war is, is there something even worse? Is the "trap" of personal comfort and emotional distance making us lose our ability to recognize that, ultimately, there is such a thing as "right" and "wrong"? Maybe that's why I decided to take the infinitely tiny step of watching the Rememberance Day service this morning, despite the fact I knew it would make me sad. I want to remember that there is such a thing as the right thing to do. Sure, I probably don't have much courage or resolve in most parts of my life, but at least I still have the desire to want to see some good in the world. I guess that's my mustard seed.

Super Friends

Remember the old cartoon the Super Friends? Earth's mightiest super heroes, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and flunky boy (ok, "Robin" to all the pureists) and Aquaman, all hung around the Hall of Justice, plucking loose change from the reflective pond, waiting for some "democratically elected" leader to call with the emergency of the day ("Super Friends, help, my goiter is threatening the entire city!").

Before you could say "what the...?", the Super Friends were off, with bass profundo voices boasting about how they must stop this evil goiter from spreading. There went Superman, who probably should have been able to take care of it himself, but felt obliged to include his "lame-o compared to Superman" buds in the action. There went Wonder Woman, flying in her invisible jet, never quite realizing that she was still visible inside the cockpit ("hey, just how does she fly in a seated position?", slack-jawed on-lookers would say) Batman and doofus would usually try some kind of technologically sophisticated way of dealing with the goiter from hell, usually by tossing bat-a-rangs in the general vicinity. And Aquaman. Ah, poor Aquaman. The show's writer's never seems to come up with underwater dangers, so bubbles had to keep busy by using his "telepathic fish control" to sort the denizens of the deep by size and colour until the episode was nearly over.

The show was incredibly poorly drawn and animated, probably so the kids watching would think "I've drawn Superman better in the margins of my math homework, I'll bet I could be an animator too!" Really, though, Supe's head seems to expand and contract at times, and Aquaman often looks like he broke his knees in a tragic slip-and-fall in the Hall of Justice potty.

What really agrivated were the "stories", which were written at the time when Saturday morning cartoons were being made "safe" for all the little moron children of North America. "Safe", of course, meant watered down and predictable, as legislators and censors thought that including drama or action in a kids show would detract from their desire to check out the latest toy or breakfast cereal commercials. What we ended up with were plot devices like this one.

Picture this, Lex Luthor, Superman's arch-nemesis, has used his evil genius power to trap nearly all the Super Friends. He has devised a handy portable device to electronicaly cage them, and he has suceeded beyond his wildest dreams. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman, other guy, even the "wonder twins", two lavender-clad aliens who did things like "form the shape of water" and "become a pelican", obstensively to make Aquaman look useful by comparison. The wonder twits also had some kind of space monkey, for whom the less said, the beter. All Lex has to to is trap Superman, who is off-planet in this episode enabling some other cosmic co-dependant. But does Lex just wait and trap Superman when he comes back??? Of course not! Not seeing Superman anywhere near by, he says "I guess I won't need this anymore, and tosses the handy device away!!!!

Of course anyone can predict the ending. Superman flies back, frees his friends and makes Was there some kind of lesson I missed? No-one could tell, as the final scene was always the Super Dudes back at the Hall of Justice, making some kind of crack at the space-monkey's expense. I guess he did have some kind of use after all.

Better than awesome elections

Remember when news anchor Kent Brockman said on The Simpsons, "I said it before and I'll say it again....democracy just doesn't work"? Funny stuff, for sure, but like all good humor, there's a ring of truth to it. Most philosophical types will happily admit that the weakness of any democratic system of government, is that the people who actually seek power are most often the type of people who you wouldn't want running a tilt-a-whirl ride at your local fair.

Then I was struck. Struck first by the cat, who thought it would be amusing to hear the sound I make when she jumps unannounced onto my groin (for the record, that sound is "hnnngh"). Then I was struck by the thought of conscripted democratic leadership. Why are we wasting money on elections for people no-one trusts, when we can just force some kind and wise person to lead us for four years? Oh sure, the milque-toasts out there will whine about how you can't impose on someone's "freedom of choice", but I say if someone is unlucky enough to be wise, calm and rational, they should suck it up and lead the country for a single, four-year term. They wouldn't have to worry about re-election because a) they were never elected in the first place and b) after four years they'll be replaced. Conscripted Democratic Leadership. Think about it.

Payback...Better than...??

It's the next week, and all I can say is...

Bombers 34
Riders 15

Go Blue!

Taking one on the chin-but there's still some awesomeness

If anyone reading this is a sports fan, then they know the "agony of defeat" can be pretty hard to digest, and especially hard to find something positive in the experience. This just happened to me last Sunday in Regina, Saskatchewan at the annual Labout Day weekend game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders (boooo!) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (huzzah!). The nature of their rivalry is entirely too long to go into right now. Needless to say, the passion that their fans feel for their teams, especially on Labour Day, is unsurpassed anywhere else in sports. Oh I know there are great college and professional rivalries, many of them as good as the Rider/Bomber rivalry, but unless you actually sit in the stands of either the Labour day Classic in Regina(aka to Bomber fans as "green hell"), or the re-match one week later in Winnipeg (aka the "Banjo Bowl"-more on that later), then you can't really appreciate the undercurrent of awesomeness that you experience.

Oh sure, there are wild fans in the stands. Plenty of face and body paint (Blue or Green, whichever team you are loyal too), costumes, signs, endless digs at the opposition team, city, province and parentage (T-shirt spotted on a group of Bomber fans..."I could have been a Rider fan....but my parents weren't related"-hence the re-match being called the "Banjo Bowl"). There's plenty of beer, food, loud music, bravado, and sauciness to go around. pretty much like many other sports events.

What makes this rivalry a little different these days, however, is the core of respect that the fans, for the most part, show to each other. Even though my team lost, and I had to endure a hot, stuffy, and boisterous bus ride away from the stadium, being the only person wearing the big blue "W" on his chest, no-one harassed me. Oh sure, there was plenty of drunken singing ("let's paint the world green, do ya know what I mean"...try listening to THAT for 45 minutes), hooting, dancing and assorted carryings-on, but not one Rider fan felt they had license to mock or insult me (let alone take a punch or tip and burn a car). I actually had a number of them comisserating over the close loss (in the last 6 seconds of the game...*sniff*), and admiring the fact that I was willing to stand up for my team win or lose.

So here's the Rider and Bomber fans who still haven't forgotten that you can love your team, and not need to tear down the other guy. That at the end of the day, the game is just a game, and that being a fan doesn't need to involve property damage. The true spirit of being a sports fan is... better than awesome

But we're still going to whup some Rider butt next week.

Better Than Awesome-hiking!

Hey, it's September! What better time to take directionless hikes through the woods, getting "in touch" with a nature that humanity has spent 11,000 years trying to avoid? Attached is a photo I just took today in Bird's Hill Park, which is a little north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. This particular view is along something called the "chickadee trail" (other choices were the "cedar bog" trail... "tell your kids you love them....drag them through a bog-today!" the "lime kiln" trail, and the "Bridle-path" trail). I have to admit I'd be hard-pressed to point out a "chickadee" in a police line-up, but the walk was rejuvenating (i.e., it left me wondering how I could get cramps in parts of my legs I didn't even know existed).However, I have no regrets. it was a great way to spend an afternoon, and I didn't have to feel guilty looking out at the lawn work that was being avoided.

So why not turn off the computer (after you read and responded to my other posts, of course....I'm trying to attract a sponsor), get out of the house and find a park to gambol through!

Better Than Awesome....Cranberries??

First of all, let me make it clear that I'm not using this particular blog to gloat about my own children, my friends' children, or any children I may have randomly come in contact with in my life. What I would like to do is point out a couple of pictures that easily fall into the category of "Better than Awesome".

Recently, my girlfriend and I had the opportunity to travel through Wisconsin (if you've read the previous posts, then you're already aware of that 'Better than Awesome" restaurant, the "Safe House"). Wisconsin in a marvelous state, full of beautiful lakes, forests, cheese factories and the greatest concentration of "big box" porn stores I've ever seen. I'm not one to frequent that type of establishment, but I admit we were sorely tempted to buy something, anything, to get a shopping bag that I could carry my lunch in to work ("what d'you have there, Bob's Boobie Barn??") Anyway, in our meanderings (if you look up the origin of the word "meander", you'll find it's a form of decoration on ancient Greek pottery. Drop THAT at your next cocktail party)

Anyway, in our travels we passed a sign advertising a place called the "Cranberry Discovery Center" (check out it's ultra-cool web site: www.discovercranberries.com). What is there to discover about Cranberries, you may ask? Did you know that Cranberries bounce when they're fresh (yes, just like some interns on Capitol Hill)? Did you know that Cranberry alarms will sound if the berries are in danger from ill temperature or, I imagine, a lack of vodka? The Cranberry Discovery Center has that, and a lot more!

What made the CDC (as no-one particularly calls it) "better than awesome", was it's collection of drawings that some local grade 4 kids drew, the best two I've reproduced at the top of the page. Our personal favorite is the "American Gothic" cranberries. Their expressions seem to say "help! we're supposed to take care of this farm, but we're just freakishly large Cranberries! I don't even know how this pitchfork got propped against the side of my body! Who's going to soudn the alarm?"

The other one, Elvis Cranberry, just doesn't need any explanation. Elvis, as any Renaissance person can tell you, can make anything cool. However, mixing the motifs of "the King" and "the Berry", was a stroke of genius from some plucky Grade 4 student in Wisconsin.

So here's to the highly creative, slightly demented school children of Wisconsin!! Easily....Better Than Awesome!!

Better Than Awesome Toys!

Growing up we probably all had one or two toys that we loved over and above anything else we had to play with. I'm going to come back to this topic again, because the world of toys tends to get under-rated and under-appreciated as we are told we have to "grow up". Then one day we wake up and wonder whatever happened to that thing that used to give you so much joy? It may have been a new pack of pencil crayons, the feel and smell of sharpening them for the first time, deliberately choosing colours for your first picture drawn with a new pack.

It could have been the new velvet "doodle art", with the felt pens that always ran out of ink just before you finished the childhood equivalent of a Jimmy Hendrix experience.

Maybe it was that slinky that you thought was so cool (hint: hold one end of a metal slinky to your ear and let the other end drop to the floor-you get the perfect "lazer beam" sound effect!!)

It could easily have been the box of lego that you would dearly love to have again to build an invincible wall around your cubicle at work to keep the number-crunching office dweebs from "motivating" you with empty babble like "work smarter, not harder" or "you can be replaced, you know".

For one childhood buddy, it was the talking G.I. Joe that he took into the bathtub with his bad self. After Joe was immersed, his selection of cool phrases ("Ok men, let's take that hill!!") was reduced to a crackling wheeze along the lines of "chscheeelrooschick-ick-ick-ick-awwwwwwww", transforming him into "sucking chest wound Joe", which was pretty cool in itself.

For me, one toy literally stood head-and shuolder above the rest, he would have to be...."Captain Action" (pictured above).

Don't let the Captain's perpetually dispepsic expression fool you, he was easily the coolest of the cool when it came to "action figures" (don't even think of calling them "dolls"....pu-leeze!! The Captain came to you as a superhero in his own right. He wore a somewhat dorky Captain's cap, but carried an awesomely-lethal-looking lightening sword and lazer pistol. His adversary with the bulgy-eyed "Dr. Evil" (sorry Mike Myers, though I suspect you had these guys yourself when you were a kid!!). Dr Evil flaunted his exposed brain and blue skin, and wore the coolest satin pajamas, sandals and mojo-amulet of any super villian. Alone, these two could wreak havoc across any bedroom, living room or rec room. No sister's Barbie was save fom Evil's clutches, no dog could go unridden by the Captain!

What made these guys the best of the best, however, was that you could buy extra costumes to turn Captain Action into WHATEVER HERO YOU WANTED!!!! Spiderman! Superman! The Green Hornet!!! All you needed was to nag your parents for a few extra bucks to get an ENTIRELY NEW ACTION FIGURE!! The "hand candy" included in each set was awesome as well-guns, swords, miniature laboratories, kryptonite, you name it, it was probably included in the set.

After it's initial release, the makers added the inevitable "sidekick" for the Captain (action boy? kid action? lugubrious lad? if anyone remembers, please post!), that could be dressed as "robin", "kato" etc. I never thoguht much of sidekicks, but I vagely remember having this one-I think he had a pet panther for some reason!!

The Captain never really gained the success of G.I. Joe or Johnny West, quite possibly due to his odd expression, or maybe his "logo" which looked mr like a pleas for recycling than a brave expression of heroism. Whatever, Captain Action will forever remain, in my mind, a toy that was Better Than Awesome!

Better Than Awesome Travel

I have what some people probably think is an unusual, perhaps strange, occasionally frightening travel philosophy. I like to find places that most people wouldn't consider travelling to, unless there was a wedding, funeral or individual special event they want to attend.

I'm not knocking the traditional travel hot-spots. I think Las Vegas is a blast, provided you go there with the proper attitude. "I'm going to win a fortune" is probably not the proper attitude, while "I'm probably going to be kidney-punched by that senior citizen if I even look at their penny slot machine" is more realistic.

Some vacation spots are, of course, going to be climate related. In the depths of a winter cold enough to render the heartiest brass monkey incomplete, finding a warm tropical beach with accompanying rum-based pacifier makes infinite sense. But when you're looking for a journey into the charming, unusual and unexpected, why not pick some place a little off the beaten track? You'll probably find the city or town you visit has some sort of unexpected charm that will have you smugly celebrating your "discovery" with everyone unfortunate enough to sit next to you on a city bus for the next six months. Anyone can go to the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa ("..it's smaller than I thought it would be, George..."), but how many people visit a Cranberry Interperative Center?

My first nomination for a "Better Than Awesome" destination is none other than the fine city of Minot, North Dakota!!!!

I can tell you're getting inspired, so I'll continue. As you check your maps,you'll see Minot is a compact city in North-central North Dakota. This little gem-on-the-prairies boasts not one, but two city slogans, "The Magic City" and the coyly clever "why-not Minot?". These are obviously superior to most civic slogans, which tend to run along the lethargic line of "it's great!" or "mostly honest". Minot is a pretty town, with more than it's fair share of fine restaurants, local festivals and Lewis & Clark related attractions. Please check out it's web site for specific details: http://www.visitminot.org/

The reason I choose to highlight the Magic City, however, is a personal one. On a trip to Minot a couple of years ago, my girlfriend and I were taking a cab to attend an event at a local hotel. Our Cabbie, who shall remain nameless due to the fact I can't remember his name, was a charming bloke, who started the trip by explaining the origin of a newly-painted mural on the wall behind a gas station (I believe it may have been of Lewis, or perhaps Clark). Our cabbie, as it turns out, was an amateur artist/photographer himself, with a specific fascination for the light-and-shadows under the highways he frequently drove. Our artist cabbie had some examples of his work, and what could have been a dreary cab ride turned out to be an Ingmar Bergman-esque journey through light, shadow and fog, with one brief stop at the "Kum & Go" on the Burdick Expressway. Art didn't just live, it flourished in the eyes and heart of our impressario from Minot City Cab.

Oh sure, there were other reasons to enjoy Minot. The pretty scenery, the friendly people, the great eats at Barry's Food & Fuel. But for me, the "magic" of Minot was seen in the back of that cab.

Try to experience that in Paris.

Better than Awesome Eats

I'd like to start off by saying, potatoes are simply the best food, ever. I realize for most people this fact is self evident. For the rest of you, get a clue. Potatoes are probably the most flexible, dynamic, nutritious, and simply soul-satisfying food-stuff ever placed on this great planet. Potatoes can be baked, fried, boiled or mashed, and STILL taste like a little slice of heaven with a side order of paradise! Potatoes are good hot, cold, or lukewarm, can be the main dish, side dish or snack, can be topped, chopped, and with gravy be sopped, and never cease to make discriminating biped mammals drool with giddy anticipation.

This being said, finding the "BEST" potatoes ever is a lifelong quest, happily accepted and gladly shared with friends and loved ones. My first nomination for one of the BEST potato experiences ever has to be when visiting that great Milwaukee landmark, the Safe House (logo pictured above).

If you've never been to the Safe House, drop whatever it is you planned to do after reading this blog and race there pronto. I'll need at least one or two more blogs to describe the Better Than Awesome ambience of the place, but for now, I'll have to focus mainly on....their crinkle fries.

Crinkle fries, as most scientists know, are among the best potato configurations for the maximum fry-to-ketchup ratio. Like the folds of the brain, crinkle fries create maximum surface area, combined with the overall stability and aerodymanic property of the linear "fry" shape. When done poorly, the crinkle fry may be a slightly amusing distraction, like a balloon animal or a "Marmaduke" cartoon. Done properly, however, the crinkle fry raises fried potato satisfaction to near divine status. I am pround and honored to say, that the wonderful spud technicians at the Safe House, have raised their crinkle fries to just that height. Crunchy on the outside, hot and mooshy on the inside, delightfully seasoned and presented as part of a number of "theme" meals, these crinkle fires, quite simply, kick ass.

So hail to the safe house and their crinkle fries-easily...Better Than Awesome!

Better Than Awesome Slang

Remember when slang was creative? You know, not just an endless litany of bodily functions and phonetic spellings, but really fun, creative, genuinely unintelligible-to-the-outsider slang? I'm talking about the slang that Hepsters used back in the 40's.

To be honest, I don't remember ever using this stuff myself. But several years ago I found an intreguing little booklet called the "Hepcats Jive Talk Dictionary" (pictured above). It came out in 1945, published by some group called "the T.W.O Charles Company of Derby Connecticut" (itself a hotbed of Jive, I'm sure). The book was published on a rather cheap newsprint, and illustrated with an assortment of poorly-cropped photos of sigers and musicians, which seem to have been culled from other magazines. The intro just inside the cover asks the reader "Are You Jive Wise?", and proceeds to describe how "Jive Talk" is here to stay (or as they quote, "Webster is Dead, Long Live the Hepster").

Well, unfortunately, Webster rose from the grave, leaving our poor Hespter banished to the trash heap of history. We do, however, have this great little reference to amuse and educate ourselves! I'm guessing that by the time this little gem came out, "Jive talk" was already waning as a trend, and our friends at T.W.O Charles were looking to cash in while there was still time.

I'm going to be sharing some of this dictionary from time to time, so keep checking back, and you'll improve your Jive lexicon. Let's start with a few geographical references. Class...button your zoot suits and repeat after me:

Lush Lamb from Alabam- a sucker
Noisy from Boise- a big mouth
Flooga from Chattanooga- a ne'er do well
Square from Delaware- what else? a square!!
Leery from Erie- a skeptic
Giver from Fall River- a miser
Sad Sacks from Halifax- Canadian Soldiers
Flersy from Jersey- a giddy, addled girl
Pill from Louisville- a doctor
Swing Sway from Mandalay- a "cooch dancer"-we'll look at that one again later!!
Bucket from Nantucket- a heavy drinker
O Ma from Omaha- a motherly woman
Wreck from Quebec- a weakling
Skunk from Podunk- an objectionable male
Chassis from Tallahassee- what do you think? also called a gal with a "coke frame"
Fuse from Vera Cruz- a hot jiver
Frails from Wales- any non-American female
Conkers from Yonkers-muggers

Richard Kiel-Better Than Awesome!

I think it's safe to say that actor Richard Kiel easily qualifies as being "Better Than Awesome!"

What can you say about a guy who's 7'2" and is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. This picture is from a recent horror movie conference (more on that later) where I met the big dude. He was happy to talk about his great career in movies and TV, sign autographs, and crush my head!

Movies are too dominated by cookie-cutter "beautiful" people who all look alike. me, I'd rather watch character actors who stand out from the crowd (and believe me, Richard Kiel has no problem standing out)! Thanks Richard! You make every movie or TV show you are in.....better than awesome!

Better Than Awesome!

Welcome to my Blog!

There's going to be a theme to this site. I'm going to post examples of what I think are people, places, things and events that are...."Better than Awesome"!!!

What constitutes "better than awesome?" Things that aren't necessarily famous, popular, well known or trendy, but which always make you feel like saying "damn....that was really awesome!"

"Better than Awesome" exists everywhere, but since I'm going to be working off of personal experience, you're going to read about stuff you'll find in north-central North America (how's that for non-specificity?)

I'll also suggest some of the "anti-awesome" that fouls our day to day life, and, of course, invite comments and suggestions.

That's about it. I hope you get a kick out of reading my blog. Let the awesome begin!

-Paul