Sitting around the lunch table at work the other day, some coworkers started talking about old 80’s shows. Of course the usual Thundercats, Smurfs, etc references came up. Bo-ring. One guy says “Do you remember the Snorks?” Come on, man. Who doesn’t remember the Snorks? You think that’s obscure? Please. How about the shows that never seem to come up during these conversations…

• Danger Mouse - Who doesn’t love an international spy, especially one who happens to be a mouse with an eyepatch? And who could forget the mini-episodes contained within each DM episode featuring Bananaman? Watch the intro
• Scooby Doo’s Laff-A-Lympics - Probably the ultimate collection of Hanna-Barbara characters ever brought together in one place. Three teams compete each episode in a variety of competitions. Technically this first aired in the late 70’s, but you could still watch the reruns in the early 80’s and any kid watching cartoons probably saw this. Watch the intro
• Turbo Teen - A kid who turns into a car and back into human form when touched with hot or cold water. In my mind this was a much bigger show than it was (I even had the lunchbox back in kindergarten!). If you want to talk about a show almost no one remembers… mention Turbo Teen. Watch the intro
• Photon - You don’t get much campier than a teen laser tag idol who gets recruited by space warriors to fight against the bad guys. Wait, this suddenly sounds exactly like the laser tag equivalent of ‘The Last Starfighter’. Live-action, which means all the clips of the space monster fights et al are just as quality as watching a battle in an episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. No, wait, this was worse. Essentially a huge marketing ploy for the Photon home laser tag toys.  Watch the beginning of an episode

Now we’re talking about some obscure 80’s shows.

One of the worst feelings in life has to be getting sick in the summer. Your head throbs, your nose is running, you can’t think straight… and it’s 95 frikkin’ degrees outside. If you don’t have Air Conditioning, you’re toast. If you do have Air Conditioning, you realize very quickly how uncomfortable you can still be despite having a controlled climate. You’re hot, then you’re frozen, then you’re sweating again so you crank the A/C up some more: what the heck do you mean it’s already 62 degrees in here, I’m broiling! 3 minutes later you’re under a blanket on the couch after donning a hoodie. But give it another 10 minutes, you’ll be wondering if the A/C is still working, because now you’re shedding all clothing down to your boxers and you’re once again covered in sweat.

Being sick always sucks, it’s not like being infirmed is some joyous event in any other season. Maybe it’s not only battling the outside heat but also just the feeling of true lost potential due to the fact that you’re sick when it’s summer. Let’s face it, while there admittedly is a lot you can do outside in the colder months there is much more that you can do when it’s nice out. In the winter, I’d probably be lying on my couch anyway since it’s so darn cold out there; I just wouldn’t be blowing my nose as much or have that tight feeling in my chest or have the raging headache. In the summer… I can’t even begin to list all the things you can do. On the perfect day, it almost seems like the possibilities are endless.

Recently I’ve been caught saying that the phrase “burning the candle at both ends” doesn’t nearly describe my activities as of late. It’s more like I stole the wicks off of a half-dozen menorahs, transplanted them all into the candle, and then lit all of them. I’m sure that now that I’m past the ACT my body is merely telling me that I’ve been pushing it too hard, and I’m not one to disagree. But I wish my body could be a little less obnoxious in its methods for getting the point across - maybe just a few days of “wow I’m tired, I need to go to bed early” would have done just fine.

Tournament this upcoming Sunday, fingers crossed I can kick this thing before then. I seem to already be on the upswing after only 48 hours, which is a good sign I think. Off to get another rare 8+ hours of sleep to continue on my road to recovery.

Every fan of the ABC show ‘Lost’ should read this theory. Right now.

There are a few things in the writer’s theory that I don’t completely agree with, or some things where I think he took a few too many creative liberties stretching what we know into an “answer” in the theory. But overall? I think there’s some really good stuff in there and if nothing else it makes for a good read. Make sure you also continue beyond the theory and read the Q&A as well as the Rebuttals for further explanations surrounding different points presented in the theory.

Season 4 is making good strides towards giving us some answers… or at least leading us down the path towards answers by finally beginning to address some of the core questions. I will be sad when the show finally comes off the air after Season 6, but at the same time I’ll be happy to have most of the questions behind us and know what the heck was really going on. Next week the show comes back from the writers-strike-induced midseason break, and from there on out it’s new episodes every week until the finale. I’m psyched.