Macaulay Culkin Book Cover

This is a weird nostalgic memory I have. When I was in elementary school they were handing out book covers/protectors (I’m not sure what they are called, but thick paper that you could wrap around textbooks to protect the surface). The book cover they gave use was two sided, on one side was Macaulay Culkin, on the other side was MC Hammer. It was also themed with this “Who’s Cool” and “Who’s Hot” text.

There were also little biographies for the characters with different “vital” stats. I remember for MC Hammer it said: “Dropped MC: Because he was tired of explaining what it stood for” and that he did “200 pushups” before going on stage. I don’t remember any of the Macaulay Culkin vital stats, and in fact I didn’t even know who he was because I had not yet seen Home Alone. In any case I put it on this copy of “One Fat Summer” by Robert Lipsyte that I had which was too small a book for it since it was meant for textbooks, so most of Macaulay’s face was cut off.

I don’t have it anymore, but I think about it from time to time and I can’t find any evidence that it existed. I still have the copy of “One Fat Summer” but not that cover.

Interesting Article on Schizophrenia

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2800139/

Profound Thoughts on Viewing the Earth From Space

At about 39 minutes in: https://www.npr.org/2013/10/30/241830872/astronaut-chris-hadfield-brings-lessons-from-space-down-to-earth

Our First Games

My family got a used Nintendo when I was young and all the games the previous owner had were included. The games were: Cabal, Major League Baseball, Platoon, Punch-Out!!, Silent Service, Super Mario/Duck Hunt, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Top Player Tennis.

Some early games we got for NES included 1942, 1943, Contra, Dick Tracey, Excite Bike, Fester’s Quest, Little Nemo, Mega Man 6, Might and Magic, Star Trek 25th Anniversary, Super Mario 2, Super Mario 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, and Wizards and Warriors 3.

First Computer

My family’s first computer was a Packard Bell Legend 2430. It had a 75Mhz Intel Pentium processor, 8MB RAM, 1MB video memory (integrated into motherboard), 4X CD-Rom Drive, 3.5 Floppy, 600MB Hard Drive (yes 600MB). It ran on Packard Bell’s own PB640 Mainboard.

I still sort of have that computer, though the only actual part from it is the PB640 Mainboard. It now has the following specs: 200Mhz Intel Pentium processor, 128MB RAM, ATI Xpert 128 video card (16MB video memory, I think), 8GB hard drive, 8X CD-Rom, 3.5 Floppy, and PB640 Mainboard. I still boot up the computer from time to time. Mostly for nostalgia, but also to run the occasional software that only worked on Windows 98 or earlier.

It was the computer I wrote the original QBasic version of Castle on.

Quotes

My Uncle Dick once said, Why would I get married and make one woman unhappy when I can stay single and make one hundred women happy.

Really funny nickname that I guy that worked with another guy had for an awkward programmer: Lester the Code Molester.

There’s a funny dialog in Rankin and Bass’ Pinocchio’s Christmas where the Maestro says My card, to which Pinocchio replies There’s nothing written on it. The Maestro says That’s okay, you can’t read. Hilarious.

Funny Joke from Norm MacDonald has a show. The most disturbing thing about Disneyland is seeing all of those smiling people walking around wearing Mickey Mouses’ severed scalp.

One of the Monks in Yesterday Origins said “Science is the study of divine creation. How could it be at odds with faith?”

Nostalgia

  • I once had a copy of Ticks & Tricks magazine that featured Supreme Warrior and the cheat code for Rings of Power. I wish I could see a copy of that magazine again. Found it: Tips and Tricks July 1995.

Iowa

One thing I don’t talk about much is the time I lived in Iowa. For those of us not from Iowa, that were there, we liked to make fun of it. Here are some acronyms made up. The first one is very commonly known, the others were made up by friends of mine.

  • Idiots Out Walking Around (Also, Idiots Out Wandering Around).
  • I’m On Welfare, Already.
  • I Owe the World an Apology.

A native Iowan I met, also gave this acronym for AIDS: Another Iowan Discovered Sex.

Formal Grammar

You liked my post!
I liked that you liked my post!
You liked that I liked that you liked my post!
I liked that you liked that I liked that you liked my post!

Or, more infinitely:

Let: [PREFIX] –> [PREFIX] I liked that you liked that
Then: [PREFIX] I liked that you liked my post.