All-time Favorite Realm Posts

Now that we’ve reached 400 posts, (Yay!) we’d like to take a little time to stop, smell the roses, and do something self-serving. The good news is that you get to help us realize this little narcissistic dream. (Yay again!).

We would like to put sidebar links to the all-time favorite Realm posts of all-time so that we can easily go back and as Tom Petty once put it, “revel in our abandon”.

Trouble is, (and I know this part is shocking) Rich and I can’t agree on which posts were the bestest of the best: the ones that were the most fun or the most meaningful, the most memorable or the cheesiest.

Pay attention now, because this is where your help will be very helpful. We want your opinions. We want you to choose.

Now I know you’re saying, “Wait a minute guys. Out of the 400 posts, I probably don’t have more than 263 of them memorized.” Well, that’s okey dokey, because we thought of that, and they don’t call us Potentates for nothin’.

We’ve picked a handful of candidates from the last 3 plus years and linked them below (in no particular order (unless alphabetical is particular)). Use this or the “Things We Tend to Bloviate About” topical index to jog back to the original post and refresh your memory. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and vote using the handy-dandy poll tool. IT’S THAT EASY.

And if some of your favorites are missing, just come back up to the comments section of this post and enter your write-in vote. We’ll add it to the poll just as soon as we can pull ourselves away from the excellent post assembly line.

Thanks and here’s to another 400 posts as great as these !!


An Open Letter Full of Tough Love (Intervention Attempt #2)
Changing Your Major
Cliches of the World
Dear, Dear Me (Intervention Attempt #1)
Do I Stand Alone On the Garden
Dream On
Gaining a Little Perspective
Giants in History
Good Cheese/ Bad Cheese – The 70’s
Haiku, Haiku Very Much
Happily Ever After
IV
Lately I’ve Been Moved
Legitimate Biblical Question #1
Life On Other Planets
More than you wanted to tell, but so what
Now as the Train Pulls Away
Offer
Poopy Doopy
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head Blog Game
Red Checks
Redemption in Elizabethtown
Something or Nothing #3
Soul Mates for Dummies
The Psychology of The Sandlot
The Wisdom of Ben Wade
Thirteenismic
Top Ten Christmas Specials
Versus
What if I’m Paranoid and Right?
“What is That? A PEZ Dispenser?”

And Now a Word From Our Sponsor

Word.

Oops! Just remembered, we don't have a sponsor.

Not that we're boycotting posting or anything, but once Ken wrote up the Realm All-Time Favorite list, which took hours and hours to find and link all those posts - no kidding - we wanted to give folks time to read over their favorite posts of our last 400 or so and vote accordingly, especially for those who haven't been here from the beginning - which, really, is most. Only a handful of people have voted so far, and we were hoping to garner a few more votes, so please vote if you have not yet. When "newbies" come to The Realm, it will give people a decent list to check out to find out some of our better, more thoughtful, more commented on, etc. posts -- a cover of sorts by which to judge the book.

After a day or so, I'll move this post down and put the All-Time Favorite post on top once more. After these few days of voting, our normal posting shall resume, for better or worse. What's more, I might bump the Raindrops post up to cherry pick a few more comments. Some of Ken's more recent posts have unexpectedly gathered a bunch of comments, and I can't have those lame ducks overtaking the classic Raindrops post. I apologize to everyone for that, because I'm just as guilty as anyone for driving up the numbers on those posts. But the buck stops here. Yes, I'm that small.

Okay, carry on, all. If you've already voted and come here looking for more content, we apologize. You're welcome to discuss anything that's come up in the world or your world in the comments of this post. If there's anything at all, we'll talk!

Thanks again for voting, everyone that has and will! Also, I want to personally thank Ken and tell him right here, with nothing but love, THANKS FOR WORKING UP THE ALL-TIME LIST, Bud! You're awesome! Very much appreciated!

Comments on the New Poll

If you haven't noticed, or just as likely, you're venturing into The Realm of Possibility for the first time (and if you're reading this post, WHAT A WAY TO START!!! I might add), our own Diabolical Genius, the author of fine, eclectic, and dare, I add, ingenious posts such as Poopy Doopy (post repealed and deleted), the Poopy Doopy Retraction, and Waterless Toilets among several others of similar quality, has laid out a new poll at the bottom of this page.

While these aforementioned posts are just the veritable tip o' the iceberg, as it were, in touching upon his undeniable aptitude, the poll he's constructed below involves just as much sagacity in aiding us build a more creative and engaging environment here at The Realm as those imaginative posts.

Not to intrude upon the brilliance of one such as he, but I did notice a few omissions in the poll I thought at least a trifle notable. Begging his pardon, I wished to use this post space to add those specific lapses:

When I visit the Realm, I'd like to see more...

• Posts about TV Shows and Movies


• Discussions/photos about the A-to-Z details of Ken in infancy through his toddler years


• Discussions/photos telling and illustrating the wonder years of Ken


• Discussions/photos regarding Ken's adolescent history and high school sports achievements


• Discussions/photos on Ken's rise to young adulthood including embarrassing collegiate and fanciful nuptial pictures


• Discussions/photos having to do with Ken's jobs since graduation


• Discussions/photos of Ken in the writing process, attending literary conferences, speaking at school engagements and other venues, etc.

Due to the poll's oversight, for which both of us apologize in hindsight, if you do wish for The Realm of Possibility to include one or more of the missing bullets listed above, please check "Other" in the poll, and then use the comments under this post to include which of the neglections you'd like to see here in The Realm of Possibility.

As always, we thank you for your patronage.

P.S. If you clicked the box regarding "Recipes", while I cannot speak for my counterpart, please allow me to say that what posts you'll receive there from me shall be 101 Ways to Fry Bacon and to Toast Toast and... that's about it.

All the same, if you have recipes you'd like to share, please e-mail them to realmsubmissions@gmail.com, as you would any post you'd like to extend to The Realm's audience. And perhaps, I don't know this to be true, but the chance exists, that perhaps, Ken has recipes.

Again, many thanks.

Bottom of the Page - Note Just to Ken (Please Move Along, Nothing to See Here)

Ken,

I noticed only two people have voted so far in the poll you set down at the bottom of the site. Now, I haven't voted - maybe you have, I don't know. Do you think it would be a good idea if I went and voted - can I vote more than once??? - so it looks like we have more traffic than we do? Or so I'd at least feel better? Maybe the masses of people that read our posts just don't ever make it down that far because they're all so caught up with the blog, they only need to read the top couple of posts. Ooooooooooorrrrrrrr, and far more likely as in about 101% to -1%, we only have two people reading the blog. That might help answer the question you posed. Not that I'm getting on Facebook --- that would have to be you. I'd always be rejecting "friends" and, even worse, be being rejected as a "friend", which you know tears me up, but my rejecting would still have to be done, and then that defeats the whole purpose. You're much more social than me - a sanguine you are. And though I'm continually hearing about it because sports figures are doing it, I really don't have that great of a concept of what Twitter even is. Stone Age me.

Thoughts?

Your pal,
Rich

Hay por aqui un buen restaurante?

Great Mexican food is definitely one of my weaknesses. So when I find a restaurant with especially tasty enchiladas, fajitas, or chile rellenos, I don't forget it. Here are my personal Top 5 Mexican places in this country, and I promise you can't go wrong with any of them.

And PLEASE, let me hear yours, too! Camarero!

Number One: El Meson, Chattanooga, TN -- No afterdinner belching or Mexi-mouth after a meal at El Meson. It's easy on the stomach and the palate. And their green chile salsa... Mmmm!

Number Two: Chope's, La Mesa, NM -- Pull up a chair in Chope's living room-turned-restaurant. It's a little bit of a drive from Las Cruces (when you cross the Rio Grande you're getting close), but it's worth it. Everything is good, but the chile rellenos melt in your mouth like a good dessert. Also, make sure that you don't confuse it with Chope's Bar which is nearby.

Number Three: Casa Blanca, Madison, AL -- To some around these parts it may seem as though Casa Blanca is taking over the world. They have a new location seemingly open every week. But for good reason. They have a nice atmosphere, a friendly waitstaff, and great food. The fajita taco salad is my favorite. And the pico de gallo is cilantro heaven.

Number Four: Cervantes, Albuquerque, NM -- I just have two words for you: Sopapilla.

Number Five: La Fogata, San Antonio, TX -- The food is fabulous, but to me it's the combination of lush patios, neon lights, bubbling fountains, and festive music that put it over the top. Definitely go near sunset to enjoy the best of the daytime and nighttime atmosphere.

Blank on a Blank

A coworker recently decided to get his jollies by having Samuel L. Jackson call people and tell them to go see the movie "Snakes on a Plane". Apparently you can do this pretty easily from the movie's website.

Anyway, it got a discussion started about how this movie may be breaking ground for a whole new genre of books and movies. The "Blank on/in/under/etc a Blank" genre. It's like million dollar Madlibs, and it's as easy as popping up a bag microwave popcorn to sell for 8 bucks.

Just pick two objects, your preposition of choice, add in a marginal acting talent, a smattering of extras, bake at 350, and then market the heck out of it.

Brilliant!! And there are so many potential combinations that you don't even have to worry about someone stealing your idea and beating you to the punch. And if they do, just swap out one of your three ingredients and you're golden again.

Some of our ideas so far:

Dingos in a Dirigible
Chiggers (Red Bugs for you non-southerners) in a Shopping Mall
Sabre-tooths at a Cheerleading Camp
Cheese with a Commode
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (doh! That one has been done)
Ferrets on a Ferris Wheel
Poop in a Punchbowl and a Swimming Pool
Post-hole diggers on a see-saw
Planes over a Snake

I'm sure that there are some obvious omissions. Give me yours (at least the PG-rated ones).

Who knows? Maybe Mark Hamill or Kevin Costner will be giving folks a ring to pimp your flick in two shakes of rattlesnake. Oooh! Snakes in a shake.

Silly Song Lyrics

Over at the Thinklings, they had a post about the Worst 111 songs. Since I can't leave well enough alone, I thought it might be fun to post some of the silliest lyrics that we've heard in songs that are supposed to be somewhat serious. Here were two I quoted over there:

Way down yonder on the Chattahoochie
It gets hotter than a hoochie coochie

-- Chattahoochie, Alan Jackson

and, from one of my fav bands of all time:

She’s so beautiful now,
She doesn’t wear her shoes

-- Let's Go, The Cars

Almost without exception, I love The Cars music. Great hooks, music well put together, excellent pop. But what in the world does someone not wearing shoes have to do with how beautiful they are? It's just a classic, "Huh?" headturner in an otherwise fantastic song. Likewise, in Jackson's Chattahoochie, are hoochie coochies hot? In fact, are hoochie coochies anything at all?

Welcome to the world of the musical senseless. Do you guys have examples of lyrics that just leave you dumbfounded in their idiocy when you listen to them? The list is long and plentiful, I'm quite certain. Give as many as you can.

Musical-Inclined

I love Broadway musicals. I'm just gonna post a lyric line or two from my favorite one. Maybe later, I'll post a few more from some of my other favoites. Anyone who wishes to join in, feel free. Else, there'll just end up being a handful of "rich" comments, and what fun is that?

Here's my starter:

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance?
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!

-- Do You Hear the People Sing, from Les Miserables

I've mentioned it before here, but I just love Les Miserables. The barricade scenes are my favorite in the musical. When I was a kid, I loved the story of the Alamo. The handful against the unbeatable enemy -- the knowing that you'll be a martyr but fighting for a cause -- just really strikes a chord with me. Helm's Deep, in LOTR, gives me much the same feeling, although in that, our heroes miraculously triumphed. Still, it's the knowing you're going to die and still fighting for a cause greater than yourself that stokes my fires. The barricade scenes in Les Miserables give that same feeling. (Of course, they're written very well in Victor Hugo's masterpiece as well.)

Be that as it may, what are some lines from songs in your favorite musicals? And other Les Miserables songs are welcome.

Close But No Cigar

You know, not everything goes together as well as peanut butter and jelly. And sometimes bad combinations can be made from things that sound similar. A few came to mind:

Driving Range and Driving Rain
Running Bear and Running Water
A Hot Date and a Hot Dog
Breaking Bread and Breaking Wind
Ken and Rich

Can you think of any others?

More Than You Wanted to Tell, But So What?

Another {chime music} "Getting to Know You" {end music} post since there seems to be a few more of us now (maybe it's just an optical illusion). Give your favorites and worsts... and this time I'm not making it multiple choice. It's open-ended. Ha! We'll see who's brave and who's not this time...

1) Favorite TV actor from a sit-com, any sit-com -- ever!
2) Favorite muppet
3) Favorite flavor of ice cream
4) Favorite Bible verse
5) Favorite Olympic moment
6) Favorite dinner entree
7) Favorite interjection (i.e. Ow! Darn! Rats! etc.)
8) Favorite scary movie (or, if you'd rather, favorite cheesy movie)
9) Favorite vacation place
10) Favorite 60s song
11) Favorite mouthwash
12) Favorite type of automobile

13) Worst place gone to or been taken on a date
14) Worst book you've ever read all the way thru
15) Worst college sports team
16) Worst holiday
17) Worst nervous habit you have
18) Worst President of the United States
19) Worst type of candy
20) Worst class you ever took in high school or middle school/junior high
21) Worst characteristic your mom or dad might nag you about yourself
22) Worst 80s pop/rock artist/band
23) Worst TV reality show
24) Worst Brady kid from the Brady Bunch

Of course, you can pass on any question you don't want to answer or don't know an answer to. Heck, most people will just pass on the whole post, so I'll take whatever I can get. But once you do answer, well then, we'll know every possible thing worth knowing about you. Joking!!!

But come on, spill your favs and least favs. Then, once I feel comfortable because enough people have played, maybe I'll answer one or two of the questions -- hm, maybe # 2 and # 22, those seem like good ones for me. But like I said, you go first.

Vocabu-Lysteria

It's been a while since we challenged the audience on cool vocabulary words. In fact, I think the last one was Ms. Wanda's idea, and the post was entitled Thirteenismic. In that one, we were trying to come up with tridecalogisms, or thirteen letter words. Harkening back to the opening days of The Realm of Possibility, there was the Six Pack of Cool Chat post, asking for each person to come up with the best list of six cool-sounding words. That's really the one I want to explore more now that we have a few more folks that come around.

What I'm looking for is cool-sounding words from the English language. Here are examples of some words that have been mentioned already in the Six-Pack post:

my original list: wanderlust, harbinger, subterfuge, effervescence, penultimate, quintessential (I later exchanged quintessential for effigies)
ken's comment: ellipses, chitterling, frisky, pugilist, dipthong, published (which is a cooler idea than word)
codepoke's (I think our first commenter) list: misogyny, prestidigitation, onomatopoeia, kathmandu, defenestration, crackback

Now, to be cool, a word doesn't have to have three jillion syllables. A word like "glade" can be cool. In my opinion, a word worthy of making the Vocabu-Lysteria list should be one that evokes images of what it might mean, even if you have no idea what it truly does. Sort of like the Balderdash game.

Now, I have to say, just from reading over past comments and posts/comments on his own blog, codepoke is predisposed to being very good at this game. Anyone who fires off words like "iconoclast" and "misogyny" in their regular speech patterns probably has a leg up on guys like me. So the challenge, more than anything, is to beat codepoke at this game.

The only rule is that the words are real, which would discount ones such as: "supercallifragilisticexpialidocious." For this post, it doesn't have to be six of them. It can be one word or eighty in the comments, or anything in between. And comment as frequently as you like when you come across a cool word. Nothing like expanding the ol' vocabulary to start off a Wednesday (or any other day).

Good fortune.

Best Living Songwriters

Paste Magazine has a contest going on their website asking for your favorite 20 living songwriters. To vote, click on the box on the right hand side of the site that reads "Contest: Vote! 100 Best Living Songwriters" (I've already voted and can't get back to the link, so you'll have to find it, but it's not difficult). They have a pretty comprehensive list so you just click your mouse in a box to make a check. You can write-in someone not listed if you'd like, they do give room for that at the end of their list. From everybody who enters Top 20 (or fewer if you mark less), they'll figure the top vote-getter and print it in the June-July edition of their magazine. Which, of course, I'll procure and give the answers on this site.

There's a lot of people on the list you'll know and probably a lot you won't. Dolly Parton, John Mellencamp, Beastie Boys, Alison Krauss, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and a host of other notables are on the ballot, and then there's names like Colin Meloy, Dan Penn/Spooner Olham, Jon Brion, names not as recognizable that are on the list. It's sort of fun just reading over all the names for a songwriter aficionado like myself.

A plug for Paste as well. Each magazine you buy (what is it, like $6.95?) comes with a sampler CD of generally around 21 full songs of various "Paste-y" type artists. The samplers are worth the price of the magazine in nearly every case.

Go on over there and vote. I'll give you my Top 20 if you give me yours.

Cinematic Side-splitters

What movies, when you first saw them, had parts in them so funny that you laughed so hard you cried (or something close to it)? Here's a short list for me, although I'm sure I'll think of more and list them in the comments if I do?

My Cousin Vinny
The Naked Gun
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Ruthless People

These aren't necessarily my favorite comedies, because if I was asking for that, I'd be listing other stuff like Fletch, Murder By Death (which is probably close to being on this list for me - sometimes, I'm just in a mood), and maybe even some romantic comedies that I'm not brave enough to name in public at this point.

SO!!!!! What are some movies that almost made you wet your pants they had scenes that were so hilarious?

Coming Up Sevens, and Then Some

Quiz time. Below I've listed the Seven Deadly Sins in no particular order. In Dante's The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio (the second of the epic poems in his masterpiece), he places each of these sins on a different level, the worst closer to Hell and the least bad closer to Paradise. Your job is to, without Googling or looking it up in any other way, guess the order of the sins, 1 being the closest to Hell and 7 being the nearest to Paradise. Of course if you've read The Divine Comedy then you may well know the order, and that's okay. However, you may have forgotten. If it's too easy for you, then you're probably pretty well read. Along with the sins - for education if nothing else - I've listed the corresponding virtue that goes with it and then given a description of the pairing that I got from whitestonejournal.com.

A) Vice: Avarice/Greed Virtue: Generosity
This is about more than money. Generosity means letting others get the credit or praise. It is giving without having expectations of the other person. Greed wants to get its "fair share" or a bit more.

B) Vice: Envy Virtue: Love
"Love is patient, love is kind…" Love actively seeks the good of others for their sake. Envy resents the good others receive or even might receive. Envy is almost indistinguishable from pride at times.

C) Vice: Lust Virtue: Self-control
Self control and self mastery prevent pleasure from killing the soul by suffocation. Legitimate pleasures are controlled in the same way an athlete's muscles are: for maximum efficiency without damage. Lust is the self-destructive drive for pleasure out of proportion to its worth. Sex, power, or image can be used well, but they tend to go out of control.

D) Vice: Pride Virtue: Humility
Seeing ourselves as we are and not comparing ourselves to others is humility. Pride and vanity are competitive. If someone else's pride really bothers you, you have a lot of pride.

E) Vice: Wrath/Anger Virtue: Kindness
Kindness means taking the tender approach, with patience and compassion. Anger is often our first reaction to the problems of others. Impatience with the faults of others is related to this.

F) Vice: Sloth Virtue: Zeal

Zeal is the energetic response of the heart to God's commands. The other sins work together to deaden the spiritual senses so we first become slow to respond to God and then drift completely into the sleep of complacency.

G) Vice: Gluttony Virtue: Faith and Temperance
Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. This does not pertain only to food, but to entertainment and other legitimate goods, and even the company of others.

Now, rank 'em like Dante did. I'll publish an update in a couple days with the correct answers.
------
Along with those seven, here's a longer list from VirtueScience.com. There's some overlap with a few, but I'm not convinced all these are truly virtues. Which of these would you categorize as true Virtues, and which of these would you say - "Definitely not"?

Acceptance: To consider circumstances, especially those that can not be changed, as satisfactory.
Bravery: A quality of spirit that enables you to face danger of pain without showing fear.
Caution: Avoidance of rashness, attention to safety.
Curiosity: A desire to find out and know things.
Defiance: Bold resistance.
Determination: Firmness of purpose.
Devotion: A great love or loyalty, enthusiastic zeal.
Discretion: Being discrete in ones speech, keeping secrets.
Flexibility: Adaptable, able to be changed to suit circumstances.
Focus: Concentrated awareness and effort.
Forgiveness: To cease to feel angry or bitter towards a person or about an offense.
Generosity: Giving or ready to give freely, free from meanness or prejudice.
Gentleness: Moderate; mild, quite; not rough or severe.
Gratitude: Being thankful.
Honesty: Truthful; sincere; not lieing or cheating.
Humbleness: Modest; not arrogant or boastful.
Humor: The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd.
Impartiality: Fair.
Industry: Diligent, hardworking.
Innocence: Guileless, not guilty.
Justice: Fair, impartial, giving a deserved response.
Kindness: Friendly, helpful, well meaning.
Love: A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
Loyalty: Steadfast in allegiance to one's homeland, government, or sovereign. Faithful to a person, ideal, custom, cause, or duty.
Majesty: Great and impressive dignity.
Moderation: The avoidance of extremes in one’s actions or opinions.
Obedience: Willingness to obey, to be controlled when necessary, to carry out orders.
Openness: Ready and willing to talk candidly.Unsecretive.
Patience: The ability to endure delay, trouble, pain or hardship.
Peace: Freedom from mental agitation; serenity.
Prudence: Wise or careful in conduct. Shrewd or thrifty in planning ahead.
Reliability: Can be trusted to do something.
Responsibility: Having control over and accountability for appropriate events.
Sensitivity: Heightened awareness of oneself and others within the context of social and personal relationships.
Simplicity: Straightforward; not complex or complicated. Unpretentious.
Sincerity: Free from pretense or deceit in manner or actions.
Sobriety: Serious, solemn and calm. Free from intoxication.
Spontaneity: Natural, not planned.
Steadfastness: Firm, resolute; determinedly unwavering.
Strength: Capable of exerting great force.
Toughness: Strong and durable; not easily damaged.
Tranquility: Serenely quite and peaceful; undisturbed.
Trust: Having confidence in others; lacking suspicion.
Trustworthiness: Able to be trusted or depended on; reliable.

Actually, I probably question a great many of these as true virtues - as opposed to nice or polite ideas - and some I seriously question are Strength and Toughness (as defined here), Majesty, Focus, Tranquility, Defiance, Spontaneity, and Curiosity. Not to say these aren't good qualities, but true Virtues? Not how I'd define them.

What do you think? [And don't forget your rankings of the sins!]

Holy Week

Just wanted to ask if anyone does anything during Holy Week to make it a little more special than the other 51 weeks of the year. I figure different denominations do different things, and those would be good to hear, but also on a personal level, do you do anything? The word "holy" means "to set apart."

I'm looking forward to Easter, but I love, each day of the week, reading through all the Gospels starting with Palm Sunday on what happened during that particular day of the week. Also, I'm bad at memorizing hymns, but I'd like to memorize the classic hymn "Old Rugged Cross" this year. We sang that in church yesterday, and it hit me like it hadn't before.

Anyway, have a great Easter week. Christ is Risen!

All-time Skating Rink Songs

I'm 38 years old. If anyone's close to that age, especially in colder weather climates (I lived in Colorado when I was 9-17 years old), maybe you did what we did when I was young. It was snowy and cold outside, so if we weren't shoveling snow, having snowball fights, or sledding then we were doing something indoors. Roller skating was Youth Activity # 1. I was never more than an okay skater but good enough to pass for competent. I was at least good enough that when the "Snow Ball" came -- where a slow song would play, and all the girls would line up on one end and the guys on the other, and then the guys (usually the guys) would skate across and ask a girl to skate with him -- I wasn't apt to be hit with a liability suit for helping a girl crash, cartwheel, and somersault landing wrong and breaking her neck. I could generally skate around the rink without falling, even holding a girl's hand. Yea me, right?

At the skating rink, songs that might have been cheesy elsewhere were really the fashion. If memory serves me correct, they weren't only the fashion, but they were cool.

The top five skating rink songs of my era, at least to me, were:

5) (tie) Waiting for a Girl Like You (Foreigner) / Whip It (Devo)
4) Dancing With Myself (Billy Idol)
3) Angel Is a Centerfold (J. Geils Band)
2) YMCA (Village People)
1) Hot Blooded (Foreigner)

Some honorable mentions: Everybody's Working for the Weekend (Loverboy), Another One Bites the Dust (Queen), and No One Is to Blame (Howard Jones). Oh! And I shouldn't leave out (Peaches & Herb's) Reunited.

Nowadays, I've been with my kids and I suppose the only song I really remember is Avril Lavigne's Skater Boy. Maybe you guys can help me out with the modern songs since I'm clueless there.

So! What are your favorite skating rink songs? And what am I missing?

Roller Skating
Skate Songs

One Potato, Two Potato…

Ran across this article about a recent “Rock, Paper, Scissors” game. (‘Course we called it Paper, Rock, Scissors), and it got me thinking, which is always a dangerous proposition.

In our neighborhood growing up, all us kids spent as much time as possible roaming around in the great outdoors. There were seldom any pre-arrangements by phone, few organized play dates, and besides Little League, no formal, adult-led activities. We just played.

"Hey, Mom. I’m going out to play!!"

No destination given, no time estimate, and no description of our intended pastime. Times were simpler then. But truth is, we didn’t know, anyway. You might find us in any backyard, frontyard, vacant lot, street, or the woods that ran behind the neighborhood houses.

If you could find any of the other guys, and generally you could with the shrill, shriek-like signal (which sounded something like a strangled rooster who’d been sucking helium out of a balloon) that we used, you played until it was too dark to see anymore.

And the games? Well, there was no shortage of Nerf football, baseball variations with tennis balls, wiffle balls, paper and tape balls, etc, driveway basketball, and even street hockey. But when nobody was in the mood for any of these more traditional games, it fell to me as the oldest (or maybe I just took over) to suggest some less familiar activity or invent something entirely new.

Some of these games never had names. Some of them had obtuse names like Piggy, Pickle, and 32. And some of them were just descriptions like "one guy gets a Frisbee and the other guy gets a basketball and we count to three and then throw them over the house at the same time and the first guy who catches three in a row…" Well, you get the point.

But coming up with games could be a lot of pressure, too. And so, through word of mouth, school library research, and the occasional TV program like Vic’s Vacant Lot, I attempted to collect a bag of games to have at the ready.

I hadn’t thought of many of these in quite some time, but found many listed at Games Kids Play. I’m sure many of you were kids once and have similar remembrances of classic games like kickball, dodgeball, Red Rover, Pitch-Up and Smear (sometimes known by other names), and others described at the link.

But just in case I get called upon once again to entertain the neighborhood kids with a new game, let me have the rules to your favorites, especially if they were unique to your old gang.

BTW, me and a few guys are thinking about getting up a kickball league. And we’re doing away with the maddening boy-girl-boy-girl rule that Mrs. Orme made us play by in P.E. class. Let me know if you’re interested in playing.


Kid's Games
Kickball

Wanna Go Parking?

I have a friend who applied to become a Disney imagineer. He didn’t get the job, but I admired his passion for their mission.

One day, I want to build the theme park of the future. I want to step outside the model that we now know and design a place where people are not only entertained, but interconnected. So that you leave with a full heart not just an empty wallet. Using the same creative process it takes to be an imagineer (or to write a novel for that matter) but taking it one step farther.

To do this, I’ll need to find the answer to the question "What were you looking for when you decided to go to a theme park?" I’m sure there will be some different answers. Thrills. Relaxation. Adventure. But you can get thrills driving down the highway really fast, relaxation by taking a nap, and adventure getting lost in the woods. All by yourself. And yet, most folks head to the theme park with a group or a special someone.

I think what people may really be interested in is having a shared experience outside the humdrum of everyday life without worrying for their safety. And for the promise of satisfying this desire, they’ll endure long drives, queue lines, hot sun, enormous crowds, and huge expense.

It must be a pretty important need.

And unfortunately things seem to often break down as soon as you burst through the turnstiles, grab a park map, and learn that everybody in your party has a different idea about which attractions will best meet this need. So, you’re left either heading your separate ways or choosing to ignore the whining.

I'm probably a snob about this, but there are some parks that have at least gotten part of the formula right. And I appreciate them for it. My three favorite (existing) theme parks so far, and we’ve visited quite a few, are:



Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, FL
Fantastic park theming. To me this is one of the pillars of a great park. I want to forget I’m in a park, forget I’ve got to go back to work in a few days, and immerse myself in the themed environment. From Seuss Landing to Marvel Superhero Island to the fabulous newspaper comic strip-themed Toon Lagoon, Islands of Adventure does a great job. The sights, sounds, and smells all cooperate to provide the atmosphere. Disney’s resorts do a great job of this, too, but they aren’t a park per se.

Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, VA
The theming is good here as well, but it’s their park engineering that wallops the competition. And that is my second pillar of a great park. Attraction ingress and egress, food and bathroom locations, plentiful shade, cleanliness, consideration of small children and those with special needs, park layout, etc, etc, etc. are top notch. And it’s amazing how the attitude of the visitors is so greatly improved.

Legoland, Carlsbad, CA
Thinking outside the box. My third pillar. Perhaps, it’s because of their foreign roots, but Legoland dared to step outside the traditional Disney or Six Flags park model. They have allowed their creativity to extend beyond what name to give the requisite log flume ride, tea cup rides, and bumper cars or what obscure record they can claim for their coaster. The attractions open the door to teamwork, interaction, and activity rather than wearing yourself out trekking across the park and standing in line and then collapsing into the passive attraction for a rest. There is something to be said for the familiar, but at theme park prices, I want something new and different.

Lastly, I will make a couple of admissions:

My favorite attraction is not located at any of these parks. It’s the combination coaster, dramatic dark ride, special effects extravaganza known as Revenge of the Mummy located at Universal Studios. I could do it a hundred times and come out grinning from ear to ear each time.

And it is definitely hard to top the romantic feeling of walking down Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom at 1 am when it’s barren and feels like Walt created his wonderful world just for you.

But enough about me, I want to hear about:

-- Your favorite park
-- Your favorite park attraction
-- Your worst park experience ever
-- What you look for in a theme park
-- Which park is most underrated in your opinion
-- Tips about little known parks or anything else theme park related.

Theme Parks

Second Question - Literary

Although sometimes this would be situational, but taken in general, if someone asked you for the three books (excluding the Bible or other main religious text - i.e. Koran, etc.) you'd recommend highest to them - fiction or non-fiction - what would those three books be? And plays count... like a Shakespeare play, for instance.

In other words, what are your very favorite three books? [And you can't pick a "complete works of," anthology, whole series, or chronicles or anything like that... just three books/plays.]

Favorite Books

Sweetness

Thought it was time for a softball, although admittedly, we haven't gone hardball in some time. Work's been rough lately, for both of us. Not sure I see a light at the end of the tunnel either. Worse, it affects our writing, but we keep pressing on ever-so-slowly. Anyway, here on the blog for right now, we'll go from the mundane to the absolute pointless. Here are the questions asking you your favorite sweets:

1) Favorite cookies?

2) Favorite cake?

3) Favorite frosting?

4) Favorite pie?

5) Favorite candy?

6) Favorite Little Debbie/Hostess-type of chemically sweetened, packaged delight?

7) Favorite foreign treat?

8) Favorite dessert of all-time?

My answers are:

1) Home-made oatmeal raisin
2) (tie) Yellow cake with chocolate frosting and NY-style cheesecake with cherry goop
3) Cream cheese frosting (like on red velvet cakes)
4) Key Lime
5) Gummy bears
6) Suzy Qs, of course
7) Are Napoleons foreign? Baklava is good, too
8) Mom's strawberry frappe ain't bad but neither are really, really good eclairs

Those are mine. Yours? Go ahead, rot your teeth out to some Turkish Delight!!!

desserts