Things You Just Found Out/Learned Recently?

Laundry balls dont disinfect your clothes.

I learned a new word: Macguffin

noun. Mac·​Guf·​fin. variants or McGuffin. mə-ˈgəf-ən. : something (as an object) in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance.

It’s very British.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov died of AIDS / HIV!

Asimov was one of the rare cases where he contracted the disease via a blood transfusion during a heart surgery.
Asimov was married twice and had 2 children.

My connections to Asimov:
At one point, during my high school years, my parents got me a subscription to Asimov's Science Fiction magazine.
I was thrilled to discover that Asimov served as a special science consultant on Star Trek the Motion Picture in 1979.
At one point, in the 80's, I got to hear Asimov speak live and in-person when he gave a lecture at North Brunswick high school in NJ!

I worked at the magazine (and for its sister publication, Analog Science Fiction and Fact) for about a year in the '90s. This was after Asimov's death, so I never met him, though I did exchange emails with Arthur C. Clarke once (very brief and anodyne, I'm afraid) and I fielded a phone call from Harlan Ellison (who had a rather ogreish reputation but was perfectly polite for the 15 seconds I spoke to him).

Of course, when I worked there Asimov's HIV status was not publicly known, so I learned about it years later after the revelation from his widow.

Ive recently learned I have wasted half of my life not obsessively listening to Cheap Trick

I just found out that they put you to sleep for a colonoscopy, so now that my wife has intercepted the mail, I may finally just bite the bullet.

I learned horror scream queen Caroline Williams (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) appeared as a Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She was the female of the Who couple who gets "carjacked" by the Grinch during his destruction after the Cheermeister award.

I also learned one of John Wick 3: Parabellum's villains, Mark Dacascos, appeared as a stunt ninja in the B-movie comedy Ninja Academy. I found him in a training montage where decked out in a white ninja costume, is grabbed by the lead actor then pushed back to training.

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It's All About the Movies
http://www.worldfilmgeek.com

I just learned that fact three days ago when I rewatched Star Trek the Motion Picture. I also learned that the studio didn't want to use the 'sentient machine planet' idea but would agree to it if Asimov said it was plausible. He concurred that it was plausible. Though he didn't like the idea of the warp imbalance causing a worm hole effect. He preferred the movie refer to it as a 'temporal tunnel'.

I just learned that you had a cool job. Did you enjoy working for the two sci fi mags? And what did you do there?

I just learned you have good taste in music. Unless you were being sarcastic and I'm too thick headed to realize it Love Cheap Trick, I should listen to some of their stuff again, if I only could motivate myself to get back on the treadmill.

I just learned your wife intercepts the mail? Seriously you don't need to be put to sleep for a colonoscopy, there are some concerns involved with being 'put to sleep'. Doctors and medical professionals who have a colonoscopy often opt not to be put to sleep. Though if you're squeamish or will panic during the procedure then it might be a good idea to be knocked out.

I did enjoy it! It was a good, if low-paying, entry-level job in publishing, and my first full-time job in NYC. I was never a big SF fan, though (I'm more into classical literature), so apart from the obvious folks, like Clarke or Ellison, I didn't know much about the people in the field.

But I'm being purposefully vague about what I did and exactly when I was there so as not to totally out myself. I can say I spent some time with Gardner Dozois and Stan Schmidt, who were both kind and easygoing folks.

Really, the best part about the job is that I indirectly met my wife through it. The first summer I was there we had an intern from a nearby college, and we started dating by the end of summer. We broke up after a couple of years, but my now-wife was a friend of hers at school and we re-met at a party in NYC. I somehow managed the rest.

Wouldn’t dream of doing this without being under. Trust me, you would want me deeply asleep before attempting this. Otherwise I will be the patient from hell.

The worst part by far is getting ready the day before with the dreadful stuff one has to drink. So so bad.

Just in case you want to skip straight to the final chapter of my biography Crumbsroom: A Life in the Arts


SPOILER ALERT


I have good taste in everything

Big fan of Cheap Trick. Seen 'em live twice. Their self-titled album and In Color are as good of places as any to start an obsession.

I also spotted Rick Nielsen on a street corner in Seattle and bought a Cameo from him as a Christmas gift, so he's practically family...well, sorta.

I liked a few songs as a child, but when I revisited them as an adult it quickly became one of those "buy 6-7 albums immediately / listen to nothing else for the foreseeable future" kind of obsession. So much good stuff beyond the hits.

This was about 20 years ago and I remember streaming a Quicktime video of "Oh Candy" hundreds of times. When dialup allowed me to, that is.

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Captain's Log
My Collection

I saw Cheap Trick live in 2004 - which is rare for me as I'm not a concert goer. It was at a place that was formerly a dance / night club.

I didn't realize that we are around the same age, I'm guessing

I also seen Cheap Trick twice and in Seattle at the old Seattle Coliseum. I can't remember which tours they were but I'm thinking 1981-82 and then again a couple years latter.

I was in diapers at the time, so probably not. I just have wide-ranging musical taste. At one point, Ozzy Osbourne was next to a CD of organ music from St. Paul's Cathedral in my collection!

I should have mentioned I've only seen them as opening acts. Hopefully, they're not too old to headline.

Ah, that makes sense then. But why did you see Cheap Trick as a toddler?

Haha, sorry for the confusion. I was one when you went to those shows. I saw them in the late 2000s and a few years ago. They're still going strong!