Rick explains Ninja Assassin

I’ve told people for years that when Rick is on fire – Rick is ON FIRE.  In this video he is going at maybe 1/3 mast.  Maybe 1/4 mast.

Ricky’s a HUGE ninja enthusiast.  Although technically the date tomorrow is November 26th, for him it is absolutely Christmas.  I’ve been hearing about this Ninja Assassin movie for months and we’re going to the 10am showing tomorrow (Thanksgiving morning).

Nothing represents giving thanks more than a ninja movie!

Rick was just explaining to Ray and I what to expect in the film and I made him start over as I grabbed his cell phone to record his presentation.  Please enjoy the dissertation AND the quick retraction below:

Stalking you silently,

Kev

A RAW Worth Reviewing

So I’m about a third of the way through watching RAW last night when it hits me that I’m actually ENJOYING at and looking forward to the rest of the show!  So far we had Jesse Ventura come out as the night’s Host.  He was doing a fine job and told us that we’ve been seeing too many of the same faces in the Championship scene.  He set up a battle royal filled with wrestlers that have never had a title shot.  The winner of the battle royal will receive a shot at his brand’s championship at the next Pay Per View, “TLC” (Tables, Ladders and Chairs).

SWEET!  Somebody gets a chance to break through to the top of the scene!  As much as I love Shawn Michaels and Triple H, there’s only so many times I can get excited about seeing one of them fight in the main event, and goodness knows the world doesn’t need another Cena/Orton match.

Side note about Orton:  I’m really liking him!  I disliked him personally for a few years because he’s been pretty immature behind the scenes, but getting married and having a kid has done him good.  I can feel good about liking him again.

We got a pretty good Cena / CM Punk match.  My favorite part was before the match when Punk told Cena, “Through these sober eyes, I can see you.”  I’ve mentioned before how awesome I think Punk is, but I don’t think I’ve brought up how bored I am of Cena.  BORED.  Turn him bad and I’ll like him again, but I was pissed off when he pinned Punk.

CM Punk is Straight Edge. That means he's better than you.

I think the thing I was most excited about was the DX vs. Hart Dynasty match.  Here we have TJ Wilson and David Hart Smith (the son of the legendary British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith).  The Hart Foundation in the past had huge issues with DX (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) and this would be the first time in over TEN YEARS that DX would face members of the Hart Family.  There was so much history between the two factions and I couldn’t wait to see this explored!  You’ve got the legitimate screwing over of Bret Hart for the WWE title at the Survivor Series in 1997, you’ve got Shawn beating the British Bulldog for the European title in the UK after Bulldog dedicated the match to his dying sister, and so much more!

The Hart Foundation... coolest group ever (provided you disregard Davy Boy's fanny pack)

We get to the match.  NOT ONE WORD of the history between the two groups is mentioned.  You could have had TJ and Smith do an interview before the match and really tear into DX vowing revenge for all sorts of deeds.  Nothing.  DX wins a five minute match after a superkick from Shawn and a pedigree from Trips.

Fuck you guys.  Seriously.  Fuck you guys.

Then Chris Jericho came out and talked smack to DX.  Jericho is exactly what he says he is: the best in the world at what he does.

Jericho!

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and thankfully we all got to relive the Survivor Series moment from 1990 when the Gobblygooker was unleashed!  Back in ‘90 they had a big egg that Mean Gene promised us would hatch at the pay per view and every week speculated as to what could be in it.  I speculated as well!  I was sure that Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake was ready to return and would POUNCE out of that egg ready for action!  Some people thought that Ric Flair was coming in.  Instead we got this:

Yup.  This friggin’ turkey-or-what-have-you popped out of the egg, danced around the ring, did some gymnastics, then clucked off, not to be seen or heard from for many years until the fine folks at WWE realized it could be brought out as a joke to remind us of how goofy things were at one point.

SPEAKING OF GOOFY: there was a six woman tag match featuring the Pilgrims (the bad team) vs. the Indians (the good team).  Normally I fast forward through woman wrestling matches because it’s pretty much tna but I was watching the show live and didn’t have the option.  And it’s a good thing, because the entrance music used for the Indians was TATANKA’s old entrance music!!:

Oh, the hilarity!

So speaking of hilarity and golden moments from the past, it was decided that Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon would do commentary on the main event – just like they did in the ’80s!  Vince even put on his tuxedo with the red tie!  It was amazing and … well, just all sorts of amazing!

Now the main event itself?  The next challenger to John Cena’s championship is this guy:

If he wins the title at the ppv I’ll eat my hat.

I’ll purchase a hat, then eat it.  But best of luck to you, Sheamus.  Hopefully this gives you some credibility and is a jump start to a big career.  You’ve been handed the ball – how far can you run with it?  Personally I’m skeptical but keeping an open mind.

I had texted my friend Ray who was still at work and told him, “best RAW in years”.  I was clearly wrong, but was going off the potential of the night.  A fresh contender for the title?  A DX/Hart match?  Jesse and Vince on commentary (granted, that did pay off). 

This night should have ruled.  When the part of the night that got me most excited was a tie hearing Tatanka’s old music and seeing the Gobbledygooker… there’s trouble a’brewin’.

Well Enough is Enough, and it’s Time for a Change!

Kev

If I had a TARDIS…

I was in the shower at about 5:10 this morning, groggy as hell, and I thought back to growing up in St. Michael, Minnesota.  Specifically, I remember hanging out with my friend Tim at his barn.  Yes, they had a barn – and a big one at that!  On the top floor there was a rope hanging from the middle and there was a platform which we could swing off of.  It was a total blast and many afternoons after school were spent up there.  The bottom portion of the barn was considerably less open.  While they occasionally had a horse it was usually empty – but had different areas sectioned off where animals could be housed.

One night when we were about twelve years old, I stayed over at Tim’s place and we slept in a tent outside.  Of course, when you are twelve and sleeping outdoors you run around at night and we decided to investigate the barn.*  Now, the downstairs of the barn during the day was kind of creepy but nothing that would prevent us from playing in it.  But at night… at night it was PURE BLACK and the downstairs of the barn was TERRIFYING!  We dared ourselves to see if we could walk all the way through it.  We knew that place like the back of our hands during the day but only got about a third of the way through before turning back.  It was just super, super scary.

 

Back to the shower!

 

I’m in the shower thinking about that crazy adventure (and kind of wondering WHY I was thinking about it) when it hits me:  I know the very first thing I would do if I had a TARDIS (or ANY time machine): 

I would follow my timeline to that night exploring the barn.  I would get there ten minutes before Tim and I entered the barn.  I would put on a very scary costume.  I would wait until Little Kevin and Little Tim got well into the barn…

 

And I would chase the holy Hell out of young Tim and Kevin. 

PURE TERROR.

 

* it was as I was typing “decided to investigate the barn” when I realized exactly WHY I was thinking of this scary night as I showered.  It was due to the freaky dream I had.

 

In my dream last night I was staying at Tim’s house.  Nobody else (not even Tim) was there, but for some reason I was sleeping in his bed.  So I see myself sleeping in the bed when a ghost dressed in Ebeneezer Scrooge’s nightgown approached sleeping Kevin.  The ghost was played by this comedic actor from The Whitest Kids U Know:

- except he was very very tall and his face was completely white (even whiter than this picture!) …hmmm…white….Whitest Kids…  ANYWAY -

 

Trevor the Ghost is standing over my sleeping body, then turns to the Kevin watching the dream (the REAL me) and gives me the “Shhhhh” finger to the lips motion making no sound.  He then pretends to pull out a shotgun (in mime) and pretends to shoot one of my kneecaps.  He silently pantomimes a big laugh, “shushes” me, then shoots my other kneecap.  Laughs again, shushes again, then shoots “sleeping” me in the chest then head.  Each time looking REAL me in the eyes and shushing me and laughing.

 

It was fuckin’ weird.

 

I woke up in real life at about 4 in the morning pretty disturbed, but was able to go back to bed.

 

Oh, and the second thing I would do if I had a TARDIS would be to get tomorrow’s lottery numbers (you know that already). 

 

But the first thing would definitely be to terrorize my younger self and my friend.

 

Reversing the polarity of the neutron flow,

 

Kev

Kevin in the TARDIS

I hold on to the fun stuff.  There are parts of my childhood that I refuse to let go of.  There’s The Greatest American Hero.  There’s Star Trek.  There’s the wonderful world of professional wrestling.

And there’s sure as shit Doctor Who.

I started watching the show when I was about 13, maybe even younger.  I’ve looked back and tried to see exactly what it was that drew my in.  A big part of it is The Doctor himself: an action hero with great humor who – even with the odds against him – was able to save the Universe time and time again.  But one “character” that I was even more fascinated with than The Doctor was the TARDIS.  This is the ship that transported The Doctor through time and space.  As mentioned in a previous post, the outside is “disguised” as an ordinary 1960’s police box, but the inside is huge – some say infinite.  And the most important part of the TARDIS for me was the console.  This is where The Doctor piloted his craft.  The TARDIS console makes everything happen.

I’ve always wanted a TARDIS.  When I was a kid I tried making my own consoles.  They were very poorly and crudely done.  I would take apart telephones and various electronic gadgets found in the garage to get the buttons needed to make my time and space machine … on a card table.  In fact the very first time I met one of my lifelong friends Jake, another friend had led him into my bedroom where I was alone dressed in my overcoat and 16 foot Doctor Who scarf and I was TRAVELING THROUGH TIME AND SPACE at my TARDIS console.  That was the first image he had of me.  I’m still surprised he decided to hang out with me.

Even as recently as about four years ago, Rick helped me out with my passion and photoshopped me very well as the Ninth Doctor at the TARDIS console from 2005:

That's me as the Ninth Doctor - brilliantly photoshopped by Rick

In 1996, FOX put out a TV movie that was meant to reboot the series in America (shot in Vancouver).  Part of this reboot was making a new TARDIS console and interior (they kept the Police Box, it’s pretty iconic and us nerds would have rioted if they changed it).  It also had the 7th Doctor regenerate into the 8th Doctor.  Sadly the movie didn’t do so well ratings-wise and a new show never materialized.  Through a ridiculous set of circumstances that I don’t completely comprehend, a SAINT of a man named Paul was able to get a hold of the TARDIS console from the movie.  He got it shipped from Vancouver to where he lives in Burbank.

A publicity shot for the TV movie. The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) at the TARDIS console.

Burbank is just down the road from me.

Good ole Bob Mitsch made connections and arranged to have us visit this piece of history.  Along with Bob and I came Justin (who makes a pretty darned great 8th Doctor) and Scott, who is a friend and photographer.  Scott took a lot of great shots of Justin recreating shots of the movie with the console, and I was able to get several done as well.  It was a pretty sweet frickin’ day.  It was just thrilling to be at the ACTUAL console, flipping through controls on the same device that the 7th and 8th Doctors did on camera.

All photos are courtesy of Scott Sebring.  Most of them can also be viewed in their original size (they are so tiny here!) at my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62529181@N00/

 

Justin as the Eighth Doctor. Compare with the Eighth Doctor shot above - pretty cool!

My first shot in front of the console

 

Just a DAMN cool shot

Look at all those buttons lit up!

I had to include this because I'm not posing. I don't even know a picture is being taken, I'm just taking in the fact that this is the real TARDIS console

The proud owner of the TARDIS console: Paul!

Did I mention that there was a Dalek there as well?

With Justin, getting ready to shoot a wonderfully ridiculous guitar solo

Getting ready for takeoff!

This is pretty much as genuinely happy as I can get

I was able to take a small amount of video as well.  Short and corny, but fun.  Hopefully you can feel the very real joy that I was experiencing at this time.  Frustratingly, the video is rather washed out on my face but the idea is there.

Oh, and because fandom demanded it, here’s a clip of the Tenth Doctor (me) playing the guitar solo to Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” while the Eighth Doctor (Justin) calmly pilots the TARDIS.  You are welcome, world.  However, I’m not really a guitar player and it shows.  Sorry.

Many, MANY thanks to Paul, Bob and Justin for making this day a seriously memorable one.

Sooooo… we have access to a Police Box, a TARDIS console, and a couple of guys who could play a couple of Doctors.  We may have to write and shoot something.  It’s just a waste to have a REAL TARDIS console hanging out in a garage.  That’s gotta’ be SHOWCASED!

In the last month I’ve performed at the Comedy Store in Hollywood and operated a real TARDIS console.  I’m just going to put it out to the Universe that I would like to meet Bill Murray.

No wacky tagline this time.  Just… thankful and happy!

Kev

Comedy and Tragedy

Good thing for me I don’t get nervous anymore…

Last night I performed at The Comedy Store on Sunset with my improv group The LA Connection.  I’d been looking forward to this for several weeks, and only found out for sure about two weeks ago that I was definitely in the show.  This place is one of the most historic venues for comedy ever.  From Letterman, to Andy Kaufman, Chevy Chase, Garry Shandling, Sam Kinison, John Belushi, Richard Pryor, and so many other careers were launched from this stage and that sense of history was not lost on me.

Stepping back a bit, last Friday I finally performed for the first time in roughly a year at the LA Connection Theater in Sherman Oaks.  It was like riding a bike, in that it was so easy to step right back into and you really should wear a helmet.  After Friday’s performance I was more excited and confident than ever to rock The Comedy Store.

Then yesterday afternoon I was at work making and printing work orders and labels for Cold Case when I started feeling really low… I had a serious lack of energy.  I found it a little amusing, because I recognized this feeling.  Whenever I’m really excited about something that’s about to happen – usually a performance - that feeling shows up.  I really think it’s my body’s way of trying to counteract my natural excitement and balance myself out.  Instead of freaking out with excitement, my body is saying, “gosh I’m bored.  Just bored to all heck”.  When I realized this was happening I had my coworker David take a picture of me.  I think it’s fun to see myself emotionally unbalanced as I clearly was.

But then something new happened.  I actually started to freak out.  I panicked (breaking rule number one of this blog, for Pete’s sake!).  But I got up and walked around a bit.  Stepped outside on the patio and got some fresh air.  Everything was back to normal.

Cut to 6pm.  I’m driving down Ventura Boulevard towards Hollywood, and everytime I take that route I pass by Miceli’s restaurant.  I should have taken the freeway.  Miceli’s is where my soon to be ex-wife and I had our big “both sides of the family finally meet” dinner two nights before our wedding.  It was an incredibly wonderful night.  Now don’t get me wrong, I know that Laura and I shouldn’t be together.  It’s for the best and I’m darned ready to move on with my life, but driving past that place… I remembered us getting our picture taken with our families outside on the corner, and it put me back in a low mood.  A different kind of low mood than the one earlier.  This wasn’t my body trying to trick me into being bored, this was a low mood with a real punch.

I continue driving onto Highland and am just about to turn onto Sunset, still kind of thinking about Laura, when it hits me that the LAST time I was at the Comedy Store it was with Laura for our one year wedding anniversary.

This was not a good time for that revelation. 

I’m driving, feeling low, and suddenly realize… Am I about to friggin’ CRY?!  I haven’t cried about her (or anything) in many weeks!  But I let it happen.  Only a dry heave.  One syllable’s worth of a cry and no tears.  I really would have preferred to get it all out, but I don’t like to force those things and I WAS driving, for Pete’s sake.

Taking it all in - getting a feel for the place

Got to the shop about an hour early and checked out the backstage.  Rumor has it that the dressing room we used was built specifically for Richard Pryor.  In the middle of the room was a mirrored coffee table shaped like a piano that was clearly used for doing cocaine.  The whole room definitely screamed “1970’s showbiz”.

Where's that kid with my latte?

So, sitting in the dressing room with the rest of the cast and just feeling depressed as hell.  Kip comes up to me.  Kip knows.  We talked a bit and I just told him.  When I said the words out loud, “The last time I was here I was with my wife on our one year wedding anniversary” there was about one second of deep sadness, then it lifted.  Just saying the words out loud helped release that negative energy.  Within literally a minute I was ready to rock!

The actual show?  I did OK.  I didn’t knock it out of the park, but went out and had fun and the audience had fun, too.  I got to introduce the first improvisation and had direct interaction with the crowd (the place was about 4/5 full I’d say) which I really enjoyed.  20 minutes just flew by, and I was on stage for half the scenes.  I was lucky to be with other actors who were GREAT!  Thanks Brian, Jamira, Jake, Laurie, Dorrie, Brianne, and of course Kip for making the event so special.  And BART!  Thanks for guiding me through the night!  Again, it really flew by. 

I'm introducing our first Improv: The Do Run DIE!

Brian and I stumbling though the alphabet in London

Curtain Call

Afterwards I took a seat with my friend Dave, my sister Meagan, and brother in law Rick who showed up for me.  Later on, both Meagan and Rick (in seperate scenes) were audience volunteers!  Meagan didn’t really have an opportunity to showcase any skills except for being angry on cue – which she did very well in – but Rick got to provide sound effects for a scene and was pretty spectacular at it.

So that’s a hurdle cleared.  I’ve done The Comedy Store.  And the NEXT time I do the Comedy Store, I can remember the LAST time as an event that will likely remain unsoured.

Why did the paranoid chicken cross the road?

Kev

 

 

…relax, no chickens are crossing the road.  It’s all in your head.

Gluttony

A terrible vice of mine

 

Yesterday I relaxed a bit.  I was playing video games (Civilization) on my XBOX 360 for what seemed like hours.

It SEEMED like hours because it was, in fact, several hours.  When stuck in that activity I don’t want to move.  I don’t want to get up to go to the bathroom and I sure don’t want to get up and make a healthy breakfast or lunch.  I had planned on making some eggs (free range, or course) and toast, but was having a REAL difficult time beating the game as the British on Deity level (Deity is the hardest).  It got so bad that I switched to the French, which due to starting the game with a Cathedral helps expand your empire faster.  STILL couldn’t do it!  I later realized that I had completely forgotten to switch to a Monarchy which doubles the culture in your capital.

Civilization - so many ways to win and lose

ANYWAY, after scraping myself out of bed to use the restroom I used up the last of the soap and decided that I would do at least one productive thing this lovely Sunday.  I would go to Target and by soap.  Maybe while I was there… I might pick up a pizza.  I ended picking up soap, a Digiorno (it wasn’t delivery) Rising Crust cheese pizza… and a bag of chocolate Hostess Donettes.

I ate half the damn bag of Donettes when I got home while waiting for the pizza to cook.  Then I ate about 3/4 of the pizza.  It’s almost like I have to prove to myself that I’m over my divorce (yet still to officially begin, but definitely happening).  When Laura first moved out in March, I kind of / sort of starved myself for 3-4 months.  It was a conscious decision to do so with no practical rationale behind it.  It was pretty unhealthy, yet I joked to myself about it quite a bit.  It was weird.

But that time is clearly over!  It’s almost like I’m stuffing myself as if to say, “See, everybody!?  See how healthy I am?”

I wanted to expand the peripheral of my day beyond Target, so I called my good pal and writing partner Dave.  He hadn’t seen Zombieland yet and I went down to Hollywood to see it with him for my second time (still LOVED it, and Dave immediately said that he didn’t want to have to wait for the sequel).  I didn’t even realize, but Dave lives literally about two blocks from Runyon Canyon Park (and about a quarter mile from Mann’s Chinese Theater).  He brought up going for a hike and I agreed – and I was so glad we did!

Runyon Canyon Park (I did NOT take this)

We got a good hour’s worth of exercise done and yet I’m not even sore today.  Also – I took the Metro Train down there and each entrance comes out at a massive set of stairs.  The kid in me tells me that I must accept the challenge to run up all the stairs each time I take the train, and I DO!  No stopping – even when the stairs are broken up by even pavement.

The staircase at the base of the North Hollywood Metro station (I DID take this picture)

So I figure my sluglike activity and poor nutritional decisions have been balanced out by the Runyon Hike and the staircase challenge… but the day isn’t over yet.  I got home at about 8pm and starting making dinner.  It was a reasonable pasta/vegetable dish, but it was taking a while to cook.  While waiting and getting ready to watch Curb and Entourage, I heard the Donettes calling me.  I was hungry!  I calculated that I had nine minutes to go until my “healthy” dinner was done.  You know how when you’re trying to ration out how many sweets you should eat at any given time?  Most people would say, “OK, I’ll have just two donettes and that’s it”.

I decided to eat nine minutes worth of donettes.

The bag of donettes is empty and in the garbage, along with any semblance of self control I had.

I really don’t want my gut to get any bigger, but eating makes me feel…fuller?  At least I have Rick around to tell me I’m getting fat.  Good ol’ Rick.

Gotta’ figure it out (so to speak).

Are you gonna’ finish that?

Kev

Happy Birthday, Bill Murray!

Bill is my hero.

I want YOU to have a great birthday!

My favorite clip from Stripes:

The trailer for Ghost Busters (or is it Ghostbusters?):

Gunga Galunga… deep words to live by:

We don’t even have to have a reason!

I smell varmint poontang,

Kev

CM Punk is the best thing in wrestling right now.

So a couple of weeks ago CM Punk beat Jeff Hardy in a “Loser Leaves WWE” match.  The kids were heartbroken.  I’m actually disapointed he’s leaving as well.  He has matured greatly in the last year or so and has had some GREAT matches, but he needs some time off and I certainly don’t blame the guy for it.

Jeff Hardy as WWE Champion

Unfortunately, Jeff has

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STOP THE PRESSES!

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I do most [heck, all!] of my blogging at work.  I started writing this blog on Thursday, September 10th, but work has been so busy that I stopped exactly at that spot above and haven’t had a chance to continue it until now.  So – Thursday I am writing about how much he has matured in the past year…and Friday he gets arrested for steroids – BUNCHES of steroids, painkiller and cocaine possession.  The guy has a massive legal battle and very possibly jail time ahead of him.  This blog wasn’t really going to be about him, however, so I’ll continue more or less in the spirit I started in.                         – - – - – continuing

CM Punk came into WWE as a good guy.  In real life he lives a drug free lifestyle.  No drinking, no drugs.  His “Straight Edge” lifestyle had been briefly brought up in interviews but he didn’t really harp on it that much.  In the past few months they decided to turn him into a bad guy.  They did this by having him preach to us fans about our “hedonistic” and “drug hazed” lives.  Now with me not being a drug guy I loved it, but even if it wasn’t about drugs I would have thought he was awesome.  He has transistioned into a very memorable and confident bad guy.  The feud with Jeff Hardy was inevitable, as Jeff (in real life) has had two strikes against him with the WWE Wellness Policy, which has been widely thought to be (but never officially acknowledged) for recreational drug use.  Punk REALLY dug into Jeff over the last couple of months and it was highly entertaining.

Anyway, CM Punk beats Jeff Hardy in a “Loser Leaves WWE” match one Friday on Smackdown.  The following Friday, however, the show starts with Jeff Hardy’s music and his video on the big screens!  Has Jeff shown up regardless of his loss? 

CM Punk dressed as Jeff Hardy

When Punk came out, he looked so similar that it fooled a lot of the crowd.  He did the little dance  and hand gestures that Jeff would do when he came out.  ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS.  He even kept it up as he got in the ring and went to the corners and did Jeff’s pose, then walked around clapping as Hardy would do.  A lot of the young kids in the crowd went CRAZY!

"I can't believe he's going to be here!!" One of the kids is wearing Jeff's armbands.

But then…and this is where I start my path to hell…those kids realize it’s not him and EXTREME disappointment builds.

This poor kid realizes that it isn't Jeff Hardy in the ring, but rather his nemesis CM Punk.

This picture is too brilliant for words. Suffice to say, the kid is none too pleased with Mr. Punk.

I call this "Acceptance".

So, Punk is the Champ on Smackdown.  Here’s to a long reign for the man.  Hopefully he can last and headline Wrestlemania!

Your World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk

 

Since I’m talking wresting, here are some other random thoughts..

* Coming in as the SECOND best thing in wrestling right now is Chris Jericho.  I don’t know if there has ever been anybody as CONSISTENTLY awesome as this guy.

Chris Jericho

* I get a kick out of the way that Ted Dibiase (jr.) does his fist drops just like his father, The Million Dollar Man (more Like Father Like Son!).

Ted Dibiase and Ted Dibiase, Jr.

* I needs me more Santino!

Santin-Os - Breakfast of the Champions!

* William Regal is still a badass and I hope he wins the ECW Championship (sorry Christian – you are awesome as well!).

William Regal

* And finally ladies and gentlemen, the future of professional wrestling: John Morrison:

John Morrison

WHATCHA’ GONNA’ DO?!?!

Kev

Like Father Like Son

This is Tyler.

Tyler is nine years old and is the eldest son of Erin and Joe [Joe previously seen here]:

While playing Nazi zombies with Joe and the guys on XBOX live over the last few months I would frequently hear Joe say things like, “Hey Ty, wanna’ grab me a snack?” followed soon by, “Heeey, thanks, buddy!”  So we knew Tyler was watching his father play this incredibly violent video game – but it’s cool, Tyler’s a bright kid and isn’t going to be emotionally scarred by what he sees.

There are certain phrases that we get used to using while slaying the undead.  If we have a gun (the shotgun, for example) that is no longer effective, most of us will say, “I’m going to the box!” [The "box" is where we can trade and purchase other guns].  When Joe is done with his gun, his method of saying “I’m going to the box” is frequently “I’m going to get rid of this shotgun”.  When we play a game where things go awry, we all die super early, and we get sent back to the main menu, Joe will often let out a basic statement: “That sucked”.  Matter of factly.

A big part of the game is making sure you have the proper guns (My favorite is the MG42 – it’s AWESOME!).  The gun box distributes our weaponry randomly (I think?  We haven’t found a way to get the weapons we need on demand).  Anyway, when Joe gets a gun that he likes and the kid is nearby we will hear, “Look what I got, Ty!”

So Tyler got an XBOX 360 of his own in his room apparently, and I shot up some zombies with him yesterday.

I spent a healthy portion of my time laughing.

It was just Tyler and I as opposed to the ideal 4 person team.  We played the new board, “Der Riese” a few times.  The first time we played that we didn’t get past round three I heard:

Tyler [matter of factly]:  That sucked.

It’s almost as if he was the Pinnochio to Joe’s Geppetto.  It was ridiculous!  There was more.

Tyler:  I’m gonna’ get rid of this BAR [machine gun].

Now Tyler has a little brother Mason.  No, he didn’t ask Mason to get him a snack…yet, but I did hear:

Tyler:  Hey Ma[son], look what I got!  It’s the Browning.

We didn’t get farther than round eleven yesterday, but I need to get to at least round thirteen with him.  Somehow he and Jeremy got to round 12 and they both had friggin’ sniper rifles.  I must do better than Jeremy.  Tyler – we’re going to hit round 20, darnit.

The Cat’s in the Cradle with the PPSH,

Kev

Sweet, sweet nectar!

So – I did it!  I answered my own personal challenge and went with no soda for a full 365 days.  I decided to treat myself yesterday.

Please note that there are two clips in this video.

(by the way, thanks YOUTUBE for picking a stillshot that makes me look like a feeble-minded mouth breather)

Set me up,

Kev