Category: Trivia

A Day Late is Right on Time

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Chris Mills points out that yesterday was Ed Wood Jr.‘s birthday. Wood was the director of such infamous movies as “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and “Bride of the Monster” [both of which, can be seen in the early morning hours this Saturday on Turner Movie Classics].

There’s something that’s just right about celebrating Ed Wood Jr.‘s birthday a day late. So with that in mind, here’s a fan tribute him.

Today We Die!

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My buddy, John Beatty, and I have been taking trips together since we were teenagers. So about 30 years ago, before we headed off on a short trip to Orlando, one of us looked at the other and said, “I really feel like we’re going to get in a wreck today.” Of course we didn’t, but that didn’t stop the creepy feeling that that simple statement gave us.It became a kind of joke with us. We’d be pulling out for a trip to Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, or any destination and one of us would say to the other “I really feel like we’re going to get in a wreck today.” Over the years the statement even occasionally changed to “I really feel like we’re going to be killed in a car wreck today.” Of course whoever is driving then has to make sure that the prediction doesn’t come true. So far I’m 100% and John is pretty close to that.

So in honor of a stupid statement that we continue to toss at each other [of course NEVER when my wife or kids are riding with us], I give you Today We Die!

Scary Funny [2006]

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When I was in college I worked at a Burger Chef. I was the “morning manager” and it was my job to go in at 5am and oversee breakfast preparations. I was the first one in and then two or three other employees would arrive as we got closer to opening. One morning, Denise [who was going to school to be a hair stylist] and I decided to play a prank on Phil. We took one of her wig “heads” and placed it in the ice machine. We then put ketchup around the head. When Phil arrived it was still dark out. Before he could even get out of his car, I was calling for him to hurry up and come in. He hustled over and in and I quickly locked the door. I told him that a police officer had been by to warn us that a killer was loose in the area. [And as I told the story, Denise played it up by looking quite frightened and nodding her head]. I said that the cop had told me that at least three people had been murdered with an axe! He said that we should be especially careful and report anything out of the norm.

Phil thought that maybe we shouldn’t open. I assured him that we were safe inside and that soon customers would arrive and it would be light out. I said as long as we stay inside everything will be fine. We all began prepping.

One of Phil’s jobs was to stock the soda bins with ice. He did his other duties, but you can be sure that when he was ready to get ice, Denise and I had positioned ourselves where we could see him. Phil went over, opened the ice machine, saw the “bloody head,” let out as scream and started to run backwards! LOL! Of course he realized that it was a mannequin almost as soon as the scream left his mouth… but by then it was too late. Denise and I were laughing so hard we couldn’t stand. Even Phil started laughing… of course for the next few weeks we all were on guard for pranks.

 

ALWAYS… Look Before You Leap

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Three armed robbers held up the Applebee’s in Orange City, Florida. They then made their getaway speeding down I-4 with the police in hot pursuit.

When their getaway car broke down on the St. John’s river bridge, the criminal masterminds decided to continue their escape by jumping off the bridge and swimming away.

They didn’t care that it was the middle of the night. They didn’t care that they were about 35 up. They didn’t care that they jumped over a section of bridge that wasn’t over water…

A Weekend Like The James’

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My buddy, The James, just got back from DragonCon.

DragonCon is a smorgasbord of fun… movie & TV celebs, directors, authors, artists, bands, professional wrestlers… well, you get the idea.

I’ve never been to a DragonCon, but if I went, I’d want a weekend like The James had. Yeah, that’s The James sitting with George “Night of the Living Dead” Romero. [And that wasn’t the highlight of his weekend.] Click here to find out what was.

 

Way of The James

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Regular ZONE readers will recognize that the picture above features James “The James” Howell, yours truly and John “Big” Beatty. ZONErs will also be happy to hear that “The James” has finally started his own blog, “Way of the James.”

Anyone who says, “if you took Athos, Keyser Souze, Snake Plissken, Zatoichi, Bill, Miyamoto Musashi, Josey Wales, Roland of Gilead, Odysseus, Tom Ripley, Bruce Campbell, and Gene Wilder…blended them together with an obsession for all things Batman — you’d get me” is worth a read.

And I’d say that even if I didn’t give “The James” his name.

Scanning the Day Away

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Yesterday, James Howell [top left], John Higashi [top right] and I [middle] spent the day at John Beatty‘s [not pictured – every time I tried to get a pciture, he shot a bird! LOL!] We get together every so often just to hang out, catch up and share a few laughs. We generally arrange a get-together after a comic book convention to scan in our new art acquisitions and to share “con stories” like this one. It’s always a blast and yesterday was no exception.

Of course Higashi was the first to arrive [just as he’s always first in line at conventions]. I arrived second and Beatty was already scanning away. Higashi has an unbelievable Star Wars art collection, but he doesn’t just limit himself to the realm of the Jedi. Yesterday John showed us two really nice Walt Kelly Pogo strips that he’d picked up, as well as a Stan Drake “Julliet Jones” strip.

Finally “The James” Howell rolled in. James needed to get some pieces for his Batman collection scanned. James is always entertaining and yesterday he had us nearly crying as he told us of his recent charity race. In the last several months James has dropped 70+ pounds through exercise, diet, working out and now jogging. He recently decided to enter a charity run, and not only did he finish, but he had an experience with “the runs” during the run. LOL! Luckily there were strategically placed port-o-potties along the way. James also had us dying as he told us about special preparations and clothes needed for longer races! The thought of James “lotioning up” is just not something you want burned in your mind. Then again, maybe it is.

We decided to go to the Ale House for lunch. Big Beatty has lost over 25 pounds and limits himself to a “sloppy meal” every week or so. He had the Chili-Burger with onion rings. The James, ever vigilant had a chicken breast sandwich with no condiments, steamed broccoli instead of fries and a side salad. I normally would have gone for some wings, but since I’ve been watching my diet, I opted for the Chef’s salad. Higashi, who doesn’t need to watch his weight, went for the Mushroom burger and fries.

The meal was a lot of laughs. I had to try to get Beatty to talk a bit quieter when he began to loudly share with us what to expect during a colonoscopy. Luckily our meals came and the conversation drifted. We only had one “near incident” and that was when Beatty asked our waitress if he could see her “tat” and I misunderstood his question… luckily she didn’t. ; )

After lunch we hit Circuit City. I picked up a couple of DVDs [Antz and the Thief: Special Edition], and Beatty picked up two DVDs [Big Trouble in Little China and Poolhall Junkies] and a cd. Then it was back to Beatty‘s for more scanning and nonsense.

The James, Beatty and I were cutting up when I looked over to see Higashi had nodded off. How he could do that with all the noise, not to mention funny stories, is beyond me. I’ve seen Higashi work all day [overtime even], drive through the night and then work [and I mean work] a convention and still have enough energy to stay up late into the night, only to rise before the crack of dawn and do it again. Yet, there he was catnapping! A sixth sense must have alerted him to the fact that our attention had turned to him and he snapped out of it and picked up the conversation as if nothing had happened.

Unfortunately, The James needed to get back to J-Ville, so the party broke up around 5pm. Still, as we were all leaving, we discussed plans to “do it again.”

You’re Only As Old As You Feel!

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Today’s my birthday. I’m 47. It’s hard to believe that I now easily fit into the category often described as “middle aged.” Truth be told, unless I live to be 94, I’m past my middle age.

It’s always a cliche when people say that “you’re only as young as you feel” or “I sure don’t feel ___.” But truthfully, I don’t FEEL 47. Well, not unless 47 feels like 27.

There was a guy I worked wih years ago. He was a few days older than me. When he turned 30 he freaked out. Really. He couldn’t stop talking about how depressed being 30 made him. For me 30 was just another birthday. So was 40. For some strange reason 45 seemed different. I wasn’t freaked out like my co-worker at 30, but 45 did seem like a milestone. How did I become 45 so fast?

Now I’m 47. I don’t feel older. Well, not THAT much older. I know that 47 seems old when you’re a teenager, or even if you’re in your 20’s. I’m here to tell you that 47 is the new 35!

At any rate, it is my birthday and I’ve got to tell you, “You’re only as young as you feel and I sure don’t feel 47.”

Time to Close Your Eyes

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This past weekend my wife, youngest son and I headed up to Tallahassee for Parents’ Weekend. We were able to spend some quality time with my oldest son. We saw the FSU circus, played some poker [for paperclips], hung out with friends, and attended the Florida State / Wake Forest game.

But that’s not what this post is about.

What it IS about is what happened before the game.

And what happened is this: after the National Anthem was sung a B-1B Lancer did a fly-over. This isn’t the first time that I’ve been at an event where a plane did a flyover. It’s always a cool experience. Sometimes you hear the plane first, then look up to see it zooming overhead, and at other times you see it growing larger and then it’s gone with the sound trailing behind.

That’s not what happened this time.

We were seated about 3/4 of the way up on an end zone side. Everyone knew that the plane was going to fly over and so as the National Anthem ended, all eyes were searching the skies for the plane.

Suddenly it was there. It just seemed to appear. It looked huge! The crazy thing was that it seemed to be REAL LOW. I mean REALLY LOW. And it seemed to be moving WAY TOO SLOW.

Too low and too slow is NOT a good combination for a jet.

I looked over at my wife and said, “That plane looks awfully low.” I looked back and the plane was still heading our way. My mind flashed on about a dozen thoughts: “The twin towers — a terrorist act — a problem with the plane — a problem with the pilot…” The plane was still heading our way. How could such a huge plane be going so slow?

And then the thought hit me… “If there’s really a problem with the plane, there’s nothing that we can do.” We couldn’t run. Or get out of the way. Or hide. We wouldn’t have time to do anything other than close or eyes in the last seconds before impact.

As these thoughts went through my head, the plane passed over us and the rest of the folks above us in the stadium. Then the thunderous roar of the engines hit us and most people covered their ears. When the sound died down, you could hear a lot of people commenting on how low the plane was and how cool the flyover was.

And it was.

But I just couldn’t shake the thought of what it must have felt like to have been in the twin towers and see the planes coming.