"I'm good for about twice a year."

My friend Karyne shared this with me the other day, and I just had to share with you. It has some NSFW language, so use your headphones.

And I'd hold off on watching this if you're planning on eating chocolate pudding any time soon. Watch it before it disappears.

Hug a copy editor today

Most of the time, you don't notice copy editors. A lot of people don't know what they even do. But I assure you, they're important. Not only do they try to keep all the L's in reference to Public Storage, but they also are responsible for finessing the copy; making it the best it can be.

And they have to do it in such a way that it doesn't look obvious to the reader (or to the writer). It's not a glorious job; that is to say, there's not a lot of attention paid to what they do.

So, given that I am both a copy editor and an incredible affection whore, I created a group on Facebook for copy editors and fans of copy editors. It's called Hug a Copy Editor. Like many Facebook groups, it's fairly pointless but fun to participate in anyway, so check it out.

As of this post, we've already got more than 30 members, and there's a burningly important question on the poll, as well as some copy-editing-related pictures.

Author, author

I've now been to two book signings. The last one was quite a while ago, when I saw Beverly Cleary. Today on my lunch break, I saw Brad Meltzer, whose latest book is Book of Lies. I held off buying it till today, just for the signing.

He talked about the book for a little bit and answered a few questions from the audience before getting to the actual signing. He seems like a cool cat; very mellow and self-deprecating. We talked for a little bit while he was signing my book, and I mentioned that it was nice to meet him in person, as we'd traded e-mails a few times.

"Oh, what's your e-mail address?"

I told him.

"Oh, you're Sparkman! Yeah, we e-mailed each other just a week or so ago."

So that was pretty cool. Plus, he's a Superman nerd like me, so we have that in common.

I haven't finished the book yet--I only got through 125 pages on the train ride home--but I'm digging it so far. Again, here's a little bit about the book. Check it out.

More reasons why Natalie Dee rawks

I mean, really, how can you not love Natalie Dee?


nataliedee.com

Seriously. Love.

Wharrgarbl.

 

This never fails to cheer me up. I offer it to you on the off chance you need a little cheer.

Head over heels for the Monkees

OK, so now Brody and I are working our way through various episodes of The Monkees. I'm working up to my favorite episode as a kid, "Monkees Get Out More Dirt," which guest-starred Julie Newmar.

I don't know how many of my fellow 5-year-olds back then developed a crush on her because of the one-two punch of this episode and various turns as Catwoman on Batman, but it sure worked on me.

And in other Monkees items, I found this while poking around on the Intarwebs. It's the Monkees' feature film Head. While it has gained a cult following, I can only imagine the puzzled looks from the young girls who loved the group when they saw this for the first time. It's odd, but it's got some cool tunes in it.

As for the movie's title, I heard a story (apocryphal, I assume)that it was named Head with thoughts of a possible sequel in mind so they could use the immortal tagline, "From the producers who gave you..."

You know, I think you can just do the math on this one for yourself. Enjoy.

If only it were always this easy...

"Hey Dad," my son said.

"What?"

"I wanna play the Indiana Jones game."

"This one?" I pointed to the PlayStation 2.

"Yeah."

I don't know why he wanted to, but I wasn't about to say no. Keep in mind that when he plays Lego Indiana Jones, that actually means I play it while he watches and provides a running commentary.

"That's Indiannie Jones!"

"You found a treasure chest!"

"You broked the man!"

And even more amazingly, he fell asleep watching. I think he just wanted to unwind, but it was fun for us to share the time. Even though he didn't have a controller in hand, he was telling me the story, so in a way, he was playing, too.

And he already told me that we have to get Lego Batman.

Soon. Very soon.

Hopefully he won't hold it against me

This morning I shared a show from my childhood with my son. I hadn't seen an actual episode since I was a kid, and it had aged even worse than I'd anticipated.

He seemed to like it okay, but he wasn't asking to watch more episodes, if you know what I mean. See what you think:


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Ace of Base rawks your face!

It's Friday, and the air is just right for having a good time. What better way to kick off your Friday night festivities than by enjoying a rendition of a popular song from the 1990s?

Arrrr.

I decided to be a day early in celebrating "Talk Like a Pirate Day" and said "Arrrrrrrrrr" for a really long time. I'm feeling better now, but while I recuperate, check out this creepy-ass toy.

The hole truth

The folks over at Nature.com have an interesting story about the history of the anus.

Yeah. You read that correctly.

I thought this was the most interesting part:

"So he and others have suggested that over time, the mouth elongated and then separated into a mouth and anus. Once the body included a gut with two ends, the anus could migrate to the far end of animal."

So now, I think, we have an explanation for the phrases "talking out of your ass" and "You know about real life like my ass chews bubblegum."

And while this article explains the origin of the anus, it still doesn't explain how so many of them end up in front of me on the freeway.

(via Monkeyfilter)

Isn't technology grand? If yes, go to Page 37.

My buddy Ken passed this along to me today, and I just thought it was slicker than snot on a doorknob.

All you fellow old people who have fond memories of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books will at the very least grin when you see this.

Yoicks and away!

I have some stuff to do, so in lieu of actual content, here is one of my (and my son's) favorite cartoons: Robin Hood Daffy.

Evil...like it's the fru-its of the dev-il

Somehow despite being a nerd of the highest order (we were first online with Q-Link, for crap's sake), I had not yet made my way into the wonderful world of MMORPGs.

How did this happen?

Well, I'm just about as socially inept in cyberspace as I am in meatspace. I'm getting better, though; building up eptness, I guess you could say.

Anyhow, I broke down and decided to try City of Villains, partly because if I was going to try an MMORPG, it would involve superheroes and supervillains, and partly because I found it at Big Lots for only $6.99 (with the first month free).

What can I say? I'm socially inept and cheap.

I've just barely started, but I'm kinda digging it so far. I tried not to spend too long creating my first villain, because I didn't want it to be like playing The Sims, where I'd spend so much time designing the house and furnishing it that when it came time to actually play, I was over it.

My villain has mostly electrical-based powers. I thought I had the perfect name: Sparkman. Alas, it was taken. As was damn near every vaguely electricity-related name I could think of in the span of a few minutes.

I eventually ended up calling him Con Edison.

Hey, at least it wasn't already taken.

You Goonie!

I went with friends to a showing of The Goonies out in Modesto. It was the first time I'd ever seen it on the big screen, so it was kinda cool. Plus, hey, it's The Goonies, so it was cool anyway.

Something I hadn't really thought of before that I noticed this time was how many times you see up Andy's skirt throughout the movie. I mean, I know I noticed when I was an adolescent, but still.

Not a complaint, mind you; just an observation.

As a bonus, here's a YouTube vid of the excised octopus scene:

Friday night video time

One thing I liked about vacations when I was a kid: different city = different TV offerings.

When visiting relatives once in Southern California, I scoured the TV Guide to see what different shows they had. We were leaving in an hour, and it was the first chance I had to check out the prime cartoon time.

I saw the listing for the Fantastic Four cartoon (the first one, not the one with the robot). At the time, I hadn't seen the show in ages. My favorite episode wasthe one that told the team's origin.

I turned the TV to the right channel and waited for the show to come back from the commercial. And then this came on. I felt like Babe Ruth calling a home run.

FIlling a programming hole

Japanese game shows are made of pure awesome. So I was curious to see how well this translated over here. You decide.





Me, I'd be curious to see if "Silent Library" would be as cool as the original.

Crossword puzzling

I picked up The Biggest Book of TV Guide Crossword Puzzles Ever recently, and while doing a puzzle yesterday, I had the distinct impression that I'd done it before.

Sure enough, I had. For this blog, no less.

But I noticed something weird. The clue for 31 down in the old TV Guide I had was "Adjective for Cher." The answer was "exotic."

In the reprinted version, the clue is "Possible adjective for Indian food."

I doubt many people aside from me would catch such a thing, but why did they make the change?

The wartful dodger

Wow, you just don't see advertisement for wart removers like this anymore (from 'Teen, Sept. 1972):



This ad is just begging for remixing with new dialogue...

Happy birthday, Star Trek

The first episode of Star Trek debuted on this date back in 1966, a full 8 years before my birth.

I know, I'm as amazed as you that the world existed before me.

So to honor the anniversary of one of my favorite shows, and because I played game on my Nintendo DS way too long since the kids went to sleep early, I'm rounding up some Star Trek-themed posts that have appeared here.

Remember, if you haven't read them, they're new to you:

I refuse to believe in the no-win scenario and end up buying a collectible book for a pittance.

Not only am I overlooked to participate in the Star Trek Experience at Universal Studios, but it gets worse.

Remembering James "Scotty" Doohan.