He won't be back this way 'til 2010…

You know you're getting old when the futuristic dates in the pop music you loved as a kid are just around the corner.



I probably thought this video was really cool back then. I do still like the song.

Merry Christmas…

…from Chiron Beta Prime

Fighting the Last War

I went into Home Depot today for 2 things: a can of turpentine (for thinning my oil paints, and cleaning my brushes), and a package of single-edge razor blades (for a variety of purposes, but right now, for helping to remove the labels from some empty wine bottles—I like to save the pretty ones).

I found a clerk on the floor, and asked him where I could find razor blades. He pointed me to a corner of the section, and told me he would me meet me over there in a minute. Confident that I could find them without additional assistance, I headed off towards the corner to find what I needed, only to discover the real reason why the clerk told me he would meet me there; the razor blades and related supplied were locked in a cage.

I can't imagine they were locked up for theft-prevention purposes, as, understandably, a store might do with their more expensive merchandise. (A package of 100 blades ran about $12.) They don't carry the blades to the register for you, and there is plenty of other merchandise of a similar size and cost that is unsecured on the shelf. The only feasible explanation that I can think of for locking them up is that the 9/11 terrorists used box cutters to take control.

When the clerk rejoined me, I pointed out what I wanted, and as he unlocked the cage, the following conversation took place:
"Do you have any ID?"
"Yes."
"Can I see it?"
"What will that prove?"
"That you have ID."

Satisfied that I did, in fact, have ID, by a cursory glance at my driver's license, which I did not bother to remove from my wallet, he retrieved my requested items from the cage, and I was off to find my can of turpentine (which, along with other highly flammable, was not similarly secured), and then to check out. I didn't bother to stop to show the door clerk my receipt.

A few thoughts:

• Mohammed Atta had ID. I wonder if he got it so he could shop at Home Depot
• I hope terrorists don't find out that you can buy razor blades in supermarkets
• Things are going to get a lot more inconvenient if MacGyver ever turns his back on his country

Thank you, Ron Moore

When I first started watching Battlestar Galactica, the dialogue reminded me of sitting in a church. Now, church services remind me of Battlestar Galactica, which has greatly improved my church experiences.

Hamburglar

How is it that the Hamburglar can manage to get hold of…
• A hamburger tie
• Red gloves
• A pimp hat
• Some nifty Converse All-Stars
• A domino mask*
• A cape*
…but he can't find new clothes to replace his conspicuous prison outfit?


*He and Robin must shop at the same store†:

†Assuming, of course, they're not the same person. I've never seen them together.

Buffy vs. Edward Cullen?

It could only end one way:

Brian Blessed as Odin?

Brian Blessed is rumored to have been cast as Odin in Kenneth Branagh's Thor. My initial reaction was "Well, duh, who else are you going to cast in the part?" No official word yet from Marvel. (Most of the web discussion of this casting lead back to blog Bleeding Cool as the origin of this info). But man, how cool would it be to see Brian Blessed's Odin and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury on screen yelling at each other.

Archie Is Getting Married?

When I first heard the news that Archie was finally going to choosing between Betty and Veronica, I was a bit shocked…to find that Archie was still being published. After 65 years, one would think that the stories about a lone normal teenager have pretty much been exhausted. Sure, there are characters (Superman, Batman, and others) that have been around longer, but mostly, those characters with a similar longevity are more identifiable as icons before they are as people. You can get away with tweaking the personalities of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent so they don't appear outdated to the reader, because their alter egos are timeless. The same doesn't hold true for teenagers. To keep up with the times, and have your main character appeal to the same demographic in a new generation, you would have to alter the core of your character so much that it would unidentifiable when compared to the original version. A quick glance at current Archie comics suggests that that has not been done. Which makes me wonder just who is reading Archie these days.