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.