Can singing stop you peeing?

I am in Sales. Which means I am on the road in all kinds of weather; in and out of my car.   So after drinking a large Diet Coke, and the cold air hitting me, I had a typical reaction; in that I had to go pee. Bad. And like right now. So I hurriedly started to drive to a Quick Trip. I was seriously wondering if I was going to make it. So to take my mind off of my situation, I started to sing with a song on the radio. And wonders of wonder; I fought the urge. And yes, I made it in time.

Same day. The afternoon. Just had lunch, another big Diet Coke. Same thing, Cold air. Reaction. I jump in my car and off looking for a bathroom. I start to sing and again, I was able to control myself making it in time to get to a Casey's.

So I am wondering if there is some correlation to singing that you are able to control the pee urge or was it just my voice that forced everything to 'freeze' sorta speak. I don't know. But it helped me.

Yeah, I know. I'm strange.

Awkward & Greek and Kelsey Grammer's daughters...

Started watching "Awkward" an MTV series. I didn't think I'd like as much as I do. It was a bit slow at the beginning, but glad I gave it a chance. It also has one of Kelsey Grammer's daughters in it. I find it ironic that one of the daughters was in another young comedy called "Greek" about college life and this one is about high school life and has one it. But that's not the focus of this entry. In the third season the main female character is in a Creative Writing class and the teacher is Anthony Michael Hall.

That I find funny as he used to be the student in these kind of things; Breakfast Club, 16 Candles...Guess that just shows how old I am.

Like the saying, "It was the best of times it was the worst of times..." The era of my life is so that. My hero's and favorites are people like John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, John Belushi and the Not-ready-For-Prime-Time Players...Chevy Chase, Ackroyd, Pryor, Sam Kinison... Jim Croce, John Denver, Harry Chapin, Hank Jr..to have read.The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings before the movies... same with all the Trek books, before the franchise took off with TNG. The classic works of science fiction and fantasy, back when it wasn't main stream.

There will come a time in everyone young person's life when they will realize what the old folk meant about the best years of their lives. At least I hope they get that chance. And that they will still be young enough to make the memories that will sustain them through the cold parts of their lives.

Un-told memories that I have that few know...

Among the many things that suck when you are alone, and I mean that in the way of not having someone special in your life, is you can't share a memory. This weekend I was at a state conference for work. They had a  local VFW present the flag and a recorded national anthem. The recording was a modern rendition, nice-but not the 'official' way it is suppose to be played.

As I stood at attention with my hand over my heart, all I could think of was how many times I had played it and could still play it by memory on the tuba right now. But also how Bunch would hit that high note at the end. I can hear it right now and I can see Bunch playing. Hell I can see all of us playing it. Speidel on the trombone, Summers on the clarinet, Beck on drums. Also at the conference my boss gave me, what I consider a good compliment, in that he said I remembered my interaction with people (i.e. I remember why people said yes or no to my sales presentation). I wanted to say its because those times are stressful. And that makes an imprint. The times at Kemper were stressful and the best of my life. Of course I am going to remember them! From the way light reflects off brass, or the smell of certain foods or the sound of the National Anthem or the look of a grass field on a clear day. I remember. And as sweet as those times were-the sour is that I have no one I can tell them to. The people from Kemper know those times. The ones I went to school with, lived them with me. Others have similar stories.

But those times, were my times. And I have no one I can share them with. Those times are what make me who I am, so no one really knows the layers. I could have taken a friend to this event, but the significant others were the guests and no one fits in that category for me. Also, unless you are in the biz, it can get long since you have no idea what is going on or who these people are or why people are making so, much, noise.

Another thing; the Kansas City Chief cheerleaders were also there. Very attractive, very energetic, very smiling, very young ladies. A credit to that organization. And yet, all I could think of was the time at the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis, where the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders were also there. I remember riding in the elevator with Bernhardt and some of them. Nothing happen. No one spoke, there was absolutely zero interaction. And yet I remember Bernhardt standing next to me along with an elevator full of those cheerleaders. and when they walked out we followed. To say we were in a daze was understatement.

And lastly they had some men and women doing the hula and Hawaiian dancing. The big trip for meeting a certain goal is to go to Hawaii. I remember a May day;(actually more than one) that was hot. The smell of fresh cut grass. The crowd of people. And the scent of flowers from the leis that the island guys and girls got from their parents for graduation and commissioning. And the fact that I was made an honorary Hawaiian by them. Not a howley. I remember their smiles, the hugs and the strong handshakes. And their friendship, which to me is the most important thing in my life.Things like that. Moments like that.I keep; seemingly ready to burst forth at times; to explode on people unexpectedly. Too soon. Too soon.

To me Hell is not remembering. I guess that's why I went through what I did at the beginning of my life, as those memories help me through the last part of my life.

About Last Night the 1986 version

I watched "About Last Night" with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. I forgot how much I enjoyed this movie and the music. Lowe and Moore looked so young. But Lowe still looks young even today. Demi doesn't look like she was in '86 but she still looks good. 

They are remaking this in 2014. Its not exactly like it was in 86, but hey, neither am I. I also am looking at this through rose colored glasses and at that time in my life, it was Eden.

Still the story is good; Moore, Lowe, Belushi and Perkins are great. Boy meets girl. They immediately fall in love. They have problems. They split up. They get back together at the end. The music, as I said is definitely of that time. Belushi is the typical woman chasing character, but lovable never-the-less. I just love the ending where she is riding off into the sunset with Lowe chasing after her.

I know, I am sucker for a happy ending, and there was definitely chemistry between the two.

I miss that time in my life. But, we all grow. I am glad I have the chance to revisit those times through music and movies.

I love Kansas City!

I finally figured out why I love Kansas City so much.

Yes, it's a great town. Big city with a small town feel. The West! Bar-b-que, steak, cowboys. But for me, when I was a kid, we would travel to KC during the holidays. When I was at Kemper, we would come up for special events; parades, the American Royal, concerts, ball games. Things like that.

I remember my first concert; it was at the American Royal. I remember seeing Crystal Gail. I made it to near the stage when she sang "Don't it Make My Brown Eyes, Blue" and all the flash bulbs going off, her long hair and her voice. Not to mention before we had paraded in Kansas City and also presented the colors. I remember my friend Webb taking pictures of her and him giving me one. Then the long bus ride back.

Also the Shrine Circus and lights popping there also. Like miniature suns exploding in the darkness of night.

I remember seeing the Royals play the Texas Rangers.

I remember going to Worlds of Fun for senior night, and hanging with Miner. And meeting some girls that we hooked up with for the rest of the time there. The Scream Roller and the view of the skyline.

All of these and more; Christmas lights, Thanksgiving with family, the travel to and from the farm, stopping at Nickerson's Farm and then when I was old enough; for me to drive up here on my own. Quick Trip, which hadn't made it to Columbia was a big deal I thought. The different malls. Oak Park Mall. Blue Ridge Mall was still here and Crown Center was a still new. Leaving KCI for any trips-there was n o t h i n g out there at that time.

The radio stations which I could barely get in mid-Missouri. At that time AM was still big: 610 was WDAF, 710 was WHB and 810 was KCMO. The same for the TV stations. I always loved channel 41 KSHB and there was channel 5 and 9 which was KCMO I believe. And Dick Wilson. To me that man was Kansas City. Glad to hear him on 94.9 KCMO which plays the oldies, but at the time that was the music I loved and still do! Hope to eventually get an autographed picture of him someday, preferably me shaking his hand.

All of this and more make Kansas City very special to me. Those memories are some of the best times of my life. They add up to many reasons why I love Kansas City.

More than 30 years and a lifetime ago.

While at Kemper, in my officer years, I had access to my car. Since I knew many of the young teenagers in Boonville, and my reputation was solid (in that I could be trusted) I would haul them around. These were my 'little sisters' and I figured having me around kept some of the guys in check. 

Anyways, there was this diner; I remember going there for breakfast on the weekends. I also remember there was a waitress, cute, who I would playful give a hard time too. I guess I was flirting with her, but didn't think too much of it until one day, when I was riding with a friend and they got out to talk to some people. One of them was this girl. She leaned and looked at me and I looked back and we both said "YOU!"

She got in and we talked for a while. It was like out of a movie. I wish I had flirted more with her as she was cute. Found out later she was the daughter of the owner of the diner. 

Still, it's a memory that makes me smile. Both of the time in my life and of the girl.

The Most Dangerous Thing in the Universe is...

Well Gen Con has come and gone. I want to tell you a story about one of the last times I was at Gen Con when it was still in Milwaukee. If you've never been, go. As a gamer it’s a warm feeling knowing that everyone here is a gamer. Unlike Comic Con where you have no idea why some of them are there.

In any case, I had signed up for a Star Trek tournament using the FASA Star Trek system; one that I particularly love and use myself. And since I am also in STARFLEET International, I went in my uniform.  Getting to the table I discovered three things; I was the only one in a Star Trek uniform, the DM was this scenario’s author and he was wearing a KU Jayhawk hat.  That last item, let me explain. I graduated from the University of Missouri-Columba and Kansas University is our arch-rivals. Basically Orcs vs Elves. So I had to give him some playful crap about that.

The scenario was a two-parter. The best three players from two tables would advance to the 2^nd and final round. Also at the table I was playing at was a young man who said he had just received his commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army reserves through a 4-year ROTC program.  Ok, that’s something else I had to playful get on; see I attended a military school for 6 years. Unlike him, it was 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 9 months. I was glad for him as I know what he had to go through and I knew what he had to look forward too.  So the game started.

The first part had us as a Starfleet crew going to investigate the loss of a Federation starship that had slipped into the Mirror, Mirror universe.  At the end of this round, after the votes were tabulated, I didn't make the cut. That was ok with me, I had a good time, and to me that is what makes a good game. But the GM was impressed with me and said he wanted me in the 2^nd part as he had a special role for me to play…

So the 2^nd part starts. One of the people that had advanced was this new 2^nd lieutenant. This time the PCs were playing a Federation rescue team sent to rescue the Federation ship and any crew and get them back to Federation space, along with any information. I was playing the captain of the Federation ship that had slipped through. They were to rescue me as I was being tortured. Or so they thought.

I was in actuality my Mirror, Mirror counterpart. The real captain had already been killed and I was placed where I was as a set up so the PCs could rescue me, and I could in fact then present the PCs to my Mirror, Mirror superiors.

Now this group of PCs was paranoid. It took them 2 ½ hours to get to where I was being ‘tortured.’ They get to the control booth and were cautiously and quietly and s l o w l y trying to figure out what to do.  The GM, the creator of this scenario had finally had enough and snapped. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something on it and gave it to the PCs. When they asked what it was he replied, “It’s a pass for the Clue Bus; get a clue!” He then grabbed the paper back and scribbled some more and thrust it back at them saying “Here, I even gave you a transfer!”  All the time I had been sitting quietly waiting to be rescued. They finally rescued me and we got aboard their ship and was making our escape.

The ship was taking fire. And the direction we were heading had us going by the original Federation ship, mine supposedly, so we decided to beam over and use that ship to escape. The only problem was the shields were up. No problem. I’m the captain, so I have the command over-ride. Nooooo, I don’t. I figured I was about to give myself away.  The Communication’s Officer PC, who was the one who would send the code, was basically described as a ‘MacGiver’. I made up some numbers and gave it to him figuring I could fast talk my way out it when it didn't work. He rolled in front of all us. The only way he could screw up if he rolled like a 95 and above. Guess what? He rolled double zero. In this case, that was not good, so it didn't work. So we figured we would go through the captain’s launch on the ship to access the computer and then use my voice over ride to lower the shields and we would beam over and take the ship.

Another aspect of this; all this time, this new 2^nd lieutenant had been the rescue party leader. But when we stepped aboard the ship and got it under control, I assumed command. The new 2^nd looey did not like that. My argument was simple; for the rescue he had been the leader but aboard MY ship, I am the captain. He didn't like it and the other PCs were caught in the middle. Well the MacGiver had scrambled the command codes so the enemy couldn't do what we just did. You could see this guy looking between us; me, still in my movie Trek uniform and a brand new 2^nd lieutenant. He said that he wrote down the code, cleared it from his screen and gave the paper with the command override for the ship to… me.

I tried not to be smug when I thanked him and ordered us to the rift in space between our two universes so we could go ‘home.’  What the PCs didn’t know was that the Mirror, Mirror universe was set to invade the Federation. So we get there, and there are all these ships. We are hailed; there is a final attack briefing and since my ship is the one to lead the attack, I had to attend. So I and my Chief of Security are going to take a shuttle across.

As we land, there are guards to arrest the PC. About this time the Admiral comes down and congratulates me on capturing all the invaders. (We had left the table and were outside everyone else’s hearing while all of this was going on.) I thank him and then say, “Oh by the way sir; here are the command overrides so you might want to shut everything down before they get a chance to do anything.”  It wasn’t until that time that I realized that the GM had forgotten I had them. He literally broke up laughing and almost fell on the floor when he realized I had totally done something he had never thought would happen. It was something that he wasn’t prepared for; and as we know, DMs don’t like that.

Back at the table, the rest of the PCs are told what is going on as their shields are lowered and shuttles are landing. Well the 2^nd lieutenant runs to the engineering room and sets up a switch so he can mix matter and anti-matter thereby destroying the ship. He wasn’t going to be taken alive.  Three times he was asked to surrender; there was no shame he was told. The rest of the PCs decided that discretion is the better part of valor and surrendered.  The lieutenant gave everyone a chance to get off the ship before he blew it up. Even after everyone left he was given one last chance to surrender. He didn’t and blew the ship up.

What I didn’t know until after that happened was that there was a resistant movement that raised its head and stopped the invasion by detonating a photon torpedo in the rift, thereby closing it. Had the lieutenant only surrendered, he would have been alive to see it.  As I think back on it, I don’t know if I would want to be a part of this brand new lieutenant’s unit. In real life In a game, he took it a bit too seriously.

The GM also wanted a certain outcome; and made it that way. The GM said that every other time he ran it, everyone lived and succeeded in getting away and collapsing the rift. Except this one.

But I’m not done yet!

Since I had been to Gen Con a number of times, and this was his first time there, and I had a great time playing with him, I invited him to come and try some of the local hang outs that the thirty-thousand plus gamers went to when they weren’t locked in gaming. I took him to The Safe House.

You are not cleared to receive all the information about the location (it is a great place-themed in spy motif. I highly recommend if you are anywhere near Milwaukee, check it out).

Once we made it in, we ordered the house special called “Spy’s Demise’. You get the drink in a themed glass; the drink is then discounted and you get to take the glass with you. The drink looks like Kool-Aid. Trust me, it’s not.

My Jayhawk friend walked around, checking things out, seeing people he knew and generally exploring. I had been there before so I stayed closed to the table. And since we were both having the same thing, I thought I would be a good friend and friendly opponent, and give him some of my drink-often. He never saw me do it, and could never quite figure out why his drink was always more full than mine.

After awhile we decided to grab something to eat, so we moved from the bar to a table. As we sat down, he had just gotten a fresh drink. He said that he was going to the bathroom and for me not to touch it. I replied I had no idea what he was talking about. As he stood to go he looked at a large table filled with people next to us; people we had no idea who they were, and said, “Make sure that he,” meaning me, “doesn’t mess with me drink.” He then left.

Right after he was out of sight, I took his drink and poured all of it into mine. The people at the table just watched me. He then came back and immediately asked what happened to his drink. I stated that I didn’t know what he was talking about as he drank all his drink before he left. He said he hadn’t. A woman at the table behind him piped up and said that I taken his drink. He turned back after she was done and said that I had been messing with him and his drinks all night. As he berated me the woman who had spoken up got up and left. He concluded his rant stating that he even had a woman who had seen me mess with his drink.

I looked at him and asked, “What woman?”

“That woman right there at that table!” He turned around and saw an empty chair where she had been. He then asked the table what had happened to the woman that had been sitting there.

This table, full of people we had never met or seen before looked at him with blank stares. One man said, with a perfectly straight face, “What woman?”

I wonder if that guy was from K-State?