Have A Good Sandwich

Yeah, it's like that.

May 20

22 – Cheesy Inspiration

When I was working on the Comdex project of 1999 for one of my former employers, we were pulling crazy death march hours. I’m talking 20-30 hours at a stretch with 4-6 hours of sleep in between.

Anyway – in the darkest days of that project, our team lead played the scene above from Armageddeon (the first two minutes worth) in an effort to inspire us.

Now, as Michael Bay-cheesy as Armageddon is, I gotta tell you that it actually worked. We were all fired up and would even watch it again. As much as I don’t like elements of the picture… that scene always reminds me of that project and how we reached deep down to get things done and delivered on time.

Bonus: Check out the 3:15 mark. One of my favorite movie lines.

Mar 15

Top Middle School Slow Songs

Ancient History 5 Comments »

If I could do this post in my best Kasey Kasem voice, I would.

“Eternal Flame” – The Bangles

“Glory of Love” – Peter Cetera

“Heaven” – Bryan Adams

“Lady In Red” – Chris DeBurgh

“Could’ve Been” – Tiffany

“Angel” – Aerosmith

I make no endorsement as far as the quality of these tunes (albeit I do like some of them) but only can speak to their frequency and positioning as go-to slow songs in middle school. I also heard some of these while nearly suffering from second degree burns while sitting on the cafeteria radiator.

(Make up post for last Thursday)

Feb 26

A Crystal Clear Guilty Pleasure

Ancient History 10 Comments »

I have a confession to make. A post by Amy brought this small footnote of my life to full recollection. Yes, it’s true: I was one of the 100 people in America that loved Crystal Pepsi. Not only loved it but bough A LOT of it. I’d be horrified to know exactly how much I spent on it during the sixth month span I was really into it.

Every morning on my way to school during the my senior year driving through the early morning mists, I stopped at the APlus convenience store on the corner of Rt. 20 and 98. I forked over my $1.59 (if memory serves correctly) for both, and climbed into the S-10 blazer and picked up my high school girlfriend. She’d get in, and I’d hand a bottle to her for her lunch later in the day. At first, I think Jennie was concerned with my mania for it and it met with an initial Jonestown resistance. She eventually embraced it after she realized it wasn’t mind altering and it actually tasted pretty good. We had it at lunch nearly every day.

In the Spring, the vending machines in the Cafeteria got Crystal Pepsi as part of the standard offering. I don’t think I had spare change by the afternoon at any day during that last semester. Pretty much with every meal, every snack, every hint of thirst went hand-in-hand with my equivalent of transparent nicotine. My graduation was right around when Pepsi pulled the product from the shelves and with the sole exception of encountering a six-pack at Phar-Mor late in the summer, that was the end of my taste buds’ torrid affair with Crystal Pepsi.

The allure of it is really hard to articulate. Reports that you may read on the web that the transparent cola tasted “just like Pepsi” are erroneous. It tasted “like Pepsi” in the sense that Canadian football is “like American football.” There are some distinct similarities, but it had its own effervescent qualities. If your curiosity is insatiable and you have about $20 you too can find out what it tastes like! Nothing quite exemplifies disposable income and early 90’s nostalgia than 15-year old soft drinks in stasis on E-bay.

Tagged with: Crystal Pepsi • nostalgia

Nov 01

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Ancient History 5 Comments »

As I’ve written before, the power of smell to bring back memories is surprising and almost startling at times.

I was fixing a not-fixed-often-enough cup of tea, when I absently smelled the tea bag while waiting for the water to boil.

Little did I know that I created a time machine, and was whisked away to 1990 when my room was small and full of posters of Gulf War maps, military aircraft, and the schematic of a starship. I typed term papers (already written, mind you) for $5 per page in Word 2.0. I’d play the occasional game of F-117A Stealth Fighter, and would listen to my first set of CDs (12 for a dollar!) including The Cars Greatest Hits. “Drive” was my favorite song, for many reasons which I won’t go into now.

All the while, I was drinking my Earl Grey.

Times were simpler then, and these days I yearn for the simplicity of those times.

(Inspired by That Night, I hope this is the first of many posts during the month of November)

Tagged with: Earl Grey • military aircraft

Dec 18

Galan of Taa

Ancient History, Entertainment 3 Comments »

In and around the end of 7th grade, I went through a huge comic book phase. I started with one or two comic books like the Incredible Hulk and Fantastic Four, and quickly ramped up to collecting 20+ issues a month. Toward the end of that summer, it quickly became economically unfeasible for me to continue getting every comic that Marvel and DC were printing. I eventually just collected a few titles, including the Hulk, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four.

A title that I remember first picking up in the local Country Fair (of all places) was the Silver Surfer. When I first saw it, I instantly dismissed it as an absolutely ridiculous premise. Yeah, that’s even after you can get past that every comic book demands you suspend belief.

A metallic alien that rides around the universe on a surfboard? Ridiculous, I thought. Honestly.

Then I read the first three pages. After that, I was absolutely hooked. The Silver Surfer was an alien named Norrin Radd who was called into service by an incredibly powerful entity known as Galactus. An enormous humanoid clad in armor that controls his tremendous cosmic energy, Galactus’s M.O. was simple: Consume a planet every thirty days before he really, really gets pissed off.

Galactus is by far my favorite comic book character. The idea of a godlike creature being driven (and trapped) by the very primal need to feed on a regular basis is a tasty paradox. He shared a borderline infatuation with his later (and formerly human female) herald Nova, which told you that he might not entirely be above even simple emotions. His manner of his dialogue was something quite beyond overconfidence: he just existed and was a force in the universe. Everything else was simply irrelevant.

I bring him up now because I completed the Marvel Ultimate Alliance game where he had a significant role, and thought he was quite well done. Also, my Galactus figurine that I ordered off eBay will soon be adorning my office.

The new Fantastic Four movie is rumored to feature a cameo by Galactus. Who would play an incredibly tall humanoid who is always hungry? I’m not sure, but I think I actually might know someone in real life. I’d disclose his identity, but I’m afraid he might eat me in retaliation.

Technorati Tags: Galactus

Jul 29

The Smell of a Stairwell

Ancient History 8 Comments »

Today I journeyed downtown and ended up parking about four levels up in a parking garage off Penn Avenue. Instead of searching vainly for an elevator that I never ever manage to find, I decided to take the stairs down to ground level. I was assailed the moment I hit the stairwell with a scent that nearly overwhelmed me.

Surprisingly it was not of the urine, sewage, or cigarette smoke ilk.

The smell was exactly the same smell as my elementary school. I experienced a little vertigo because I had a kaleidoscope of memories hit me from that time in my life. Most of it was moments of walking through the halls, seeing friends, going to my locker, almost getting stuffed in said locker, etc.

It never ceases to amaze me how powerful the sense of smell is tied to memory. I always read stories or hear tales about how the odor of a freshly baked pie will harken back to a grandmother’s kitchen. Hell, I know when I get a whiff of a freshly mixed screwdriver that I think back to haphazardly making drinks of completely the wrong proportion with my good friend Plow King.

After the very brief flood of memories, I continued on. All the while, I realized I had a wry little smile on my face… remember back to when times were simpler and the school was your world.

Technorati Tags: elementary school, smells