Remembering Scotty

I just read that James Doohan (Scotty from "Star Trek") died today. As you can probably guess from the accompanying pictures, I wasn't just a hopeless dork in junior high school, but a Trekkie as well.

I may as well have worn a T-shirt that said "Shun Me" on it.

I actually met Mr. Doohan once. He came to my hometown to promote the video release of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." My family and I headed to the video store where he was appearing. When we got there, I noticed the sweet Winnebago parked in the lot that said "Scotty" on it.

I waited in line with our newly purchased Trek movie and the recently purchased but already well-worn copy of "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise."

Mr. Doohan was extremely nice to every single person in line. He didn't rush them or balk when dorky 12-year-olds asked to take pictures with him. And it wasn't an act; he was genuinely kind, asking questions about where people were from and stuff like that.

With the exception of seeing former KFRC disc jockey Dr. Don Rose at Bayfair Mall when I was barely in school, Jimmy Doohan was the first celebrity I'd ever met.

I read his autobiography a while back and was amazed at what he'd done even before Star Trek. I knew that he'd lost a finger, but I didn't realize how he lost it. I'm not going to tell you; go read the book.

Despite my demeanor in the picture, I was thrilled to meet Jimmy. Please keep in mind that I was 12, I was a dork and this was the mid-80s. Nobody looked cool. My dad and my brother fare slightly better than I, but I am in full-bore geek mode.

I tip my hat to Mr. Doohan, who, in addition to everything else he did, was also a cool cat.

Moral dilemma

God help me, I'm actually considering going to see "The Dukes of Hazzard."

Even if Cooter says I shouldn't.

The ce-real world

I'm old enough to have stopped basing my choice of cereal on what prize is included in the box.

You have to send away for the good ones, anyway.

A dairy tragedy recently befell our household; we ran out of milk. So when I went to the store to get some more, I made my way to the dairy section by way of the cereal aisle. It really doesn't matter what I'm getting -- milk, bread, a Toyota -- I'll always try to hit the cereal aisle to see if there's anything new.

Much to my surprise, I saw Peanut Butter Cookie Crisp. Ignoring the almost $5 price (and no, I'm not going to complain about how cereal is so expensive it must contain some kind of rare earth element), I picked up a box to sample it.

It's my duty.

It's actually pretty good. It doesn't taste exactly like Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch. It's a little more like Reese's Puffs, but without the hint of chocolate. Perfect for snacking on while I'm at work, although you tend to accumulate peanut-buttery powder on your fingers after a dozen handfuls or so.

I like it better than regular Cookie Crisp. Unless I got a bad box or something, it tastes like they changed the flavor in it -- for the worse, alas.

But if you want to get right down to it, Cookie Crisp has been on a downward slide since they got rid of Cookie Jarvis. First they introduced the Cookie Crook, whose efforts were foiled by the cereal-shilling wizard. Then the wizard disappeared and Cookie Crook faced off against a Keystone Kops kind of police officer. A dog was added as a companion for Cookie Crook, and now, it seems, the dog is the main mascot now.

This strikes me a little funny, considering that Cookie Crisp used to be made by Ralston Purina, which was also responsible for Purina Dog Chow.

So feel free to chow down.