They Are Legend - Cliff Burton

Twenty Four years ago today Cliff Burton, bass player for Metallica died. He was 24 years old.

 The day Cliff died me and some friends had just pulled into the High school parking lot and someone asked us if we heard? We hadn't. We tuned our radio to the only rock station in Chicago at the time (Z- Rock) and they explained he died overnight and they were playing Metallica all day commercial free to honor Cliff. We immediatly got back in our cars and pooled our money together and bought a dozen donuts and a case of beer.. We drove to the woods and along with 8 or 10 other cars played Z-Rocks Metallica tribute loud and in sync while we ate donuts, drank beer, and tried not to cry.

Battle Cars

So i picked up these Battle Cars at Target weeks ago on clearance for .99 cents a piece. I have a couple of tactical car battle games akin to Road Warrior and thought i could fit these cars in somewhere. But first these cars would need a makeover.

They had potential but would apocalyptic cars really have nice paint jobs? And what was further troubling was the lack of protection of their tires. From a tactical standpoint you just shoot their tires out and then missile the shit out of them. So here's what i came up with.

I'm pretty happy with these. It's strange painting something that you want to look like shit? I haven't used these in a game yet but it would either be Car Wars or Battlecars. Go to these links and with a little snooping around you can print everything you need to start playing vehicular mayhem tabletop games! Look at some of the amazing stuff gamers have created for their games.

GAME ON!!!

Old Man Logan

I haven't been regularly reading comics in quite some years. Well as i write that i realize that's not entirely true. My son has a decent collection of old Hulk, Spidey, and G.I. Joe comics which i occasionally read to him. But baring that and my growing collection of vintage Marvel Star Wars comics i am not really up on the latest in the comic world. The last great series i  read was The Maxx in my opinion. Anyway, my friend Jeremy turned me on to a 6 or 7 issue mini series that was pretty old (it had Dark Knight ads in them ) called Old Man Logan.

The story is centered on Wolverine who now some 50 years older goes by the name Logan and hasn't popped his claws in as long. See 50 years ago all the villains teamed up in the marvel universe and attacked the heroes. With the odds 10 to 1 the heroes lost. Wolverine didn't die. The villains broke him. Broke him in a way that i will not reveal here but it was a jaw dropping moment in the books.

He takes a job that has him travel across the territories of the United States that have been divided between various Villain factions. I don't want to spoil to much but i can't recommend this series enough. Check it out the next time your at the comic store.

9-11

Over the weekend i watched a Documentary on the September 11th attacks on the History channel. The program showed the day through  the documentation of various people in various parts of the city, video taping the event be it with cell phone or video camera. It was powerful and done well with no voice overs or interviews etc. just minute by minute representation through the eyes of the various people recording and capturing the events that happened that day. Every person in America was affected by the attacks that day and every single one of us has a 9-11 story. Here's mine.

I was sleeping on the morning of September 11th, 2001. I normally slept until noon or so because i worked the second shift at Sears Tower as a Loading Dock Supervisor with security. Yep, I worked at the tallest building in the world on September 11th. I remember my phone ringing quite a few times before i picked it up. The first call i picked up was my girlfriend (and wife now) Kristina telling me about the first plane hitting the tower and how the media is saying its a terrorist attack. I groggily turned on the t.v. and i distinctly remember seeing the second plane hit the other tower and i remember thinking 'this is a dream.' The next call i picked up was my boss at the Tower asking me if i was coming to work that day and if i was, to report as early as i could. (i worked second shift 3pm - 11pm.) I said of course i would be at work. Kristina pleaded with me to not go in to work. But what could i do? I went not because I'm brave and not because I'm super patriotic. I had nothing else to do honestly. I sure didn't want to just sit home.

 I'll never forget the otherworldly feeling i had when i exited the subway to work. It was around noon if i remember correctly. Downtown was deserted. It was like out of a movie. No one was on the streets. No cars, no cabs, no pan handlers, no newspaper salesmen, no business people, no one. Our own building had been evacuated but they wanted security to remain there because we were supposed to be a target. When i got to work there were Federal Officers everywhere. Rumors and disinformation was the order of the day. Phantom cars and missing U.P.S. trucks. We received 13 bomb threats that day. I remember an older Indian man drive by the building slowly and laughing at us as we stood outside patrolling the building. I remember thinking the world will never be the same.

A few years later i quit. I was there 13 years.I haven't been back since i quit.

101 Books My Son Must Read

The Dirt
By Motley Crue

"Need to remove the smell of another girl from your penis? Fuck a burrito."