Beyond the Pillars of Hercules

Nearly 2400 years ago, Plato wrote in his work Timaeus of the lost utopian city which lie beyond the Pillars of Hercules.  Atlantis, an advanced civilization and rival to ancient Greece that ultimately fell out of favor with the gods and sank into the ocean.

Though out the ages and even to this very day there are those who believe that Plato invented Atlantis to teach philosophy to his students, while others believed that the accounts of Atlantis were based on historical fact and still search the realms under the sea in search of the ruins of this lost civilization.

Regardless whether myth or legend, Atlantis still captures the hearts of young and old a like. There have been countless books written on the matter as well as a couple T.V. series, movies, and a few cartoons. Most of these depict a highly advanced civilization with technology which surpasses our wildest imaginations, that to the ancient Greek surely would have been accounted to the magic of the gods.

If Atlantis actually did exist, where would it be located? Plato wrote "beyond the Pillars of Hercules", so beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. Well if you've ever looked at a map, you know there is A LOT which lies in that direction! So where did it sink, if it really did? Did it maybe FLY away, as some wild stories claim? or did it even exist anywhere other than in Plato's mind?

I, myself, am still on the fence when it comes to Atlantis, simply because so much that we hold to be true changes from day to day with new discoveries being made which alter our perception of that what we hold to be true only yesterday. But I will admit to you that the idea of an ancient advanced culture with amazing mind-boggling technology fascinates me. For me Atlantis lives, even if only in fiction.

So, what do you think, was Atlantis just some fantastic made up bedtime story, a real sunken city which the stories have grown far beyond its true dimensions, was it really an alien technological city, or was it something altogether different?

Let me know in the comments below, and please remember to recommend!    

The Ballad of Deadeye Dick

It was a time of change, the dawn of the new millennium was approaching fast. There was a sense of anxiety and fear in the air. Fear causes even smart people to do stupid things.

Taking my time navigating the backside of the hill tops, stopping on occasion to make sure I was not being stalked, or seen by a wandering patrol; I closed in on the rendezvous point. Sancho was probably already there waiting. He’d been in the squad for quite a while now and I was only recently recruited.

I managed to avoid detection and was finally in position. It was a heavily wooded hill top which over looked the encampment below where our target was supposedly hiding. To my surprise, Sancho was nowhere to be seen. Grinning with pride, I couldn’t believe it, had I really made it there before him?

A sickening feeling came over me. What if he got caught? What if I had to carry out the mission on my own? But my thoughts were broken by the sound of gunfire below in the camp. I unshouldered Gemma, my trusty Barrett light fifty, and started to scope the camp which at this point was crawling with enemy combatants. In the middle of this mess, there was Sancho hunkered behind an old APC (armored personnel carrier) as hell broke out on all sides.

I saw a hostile skirting the APC trying to flank Sancho, so I let Gemma sing. One shot center mass did the trick, but also alerted the others to my position. So I slowly shimmied back to look for another position.  

At that moment I noticed the text box pop up at the bottom of the screen:


Sancho: Welcome to the party, Deadeye Dick! What kept you!


Oh? You knew I was talking about a computer game, right?

The game was Delta Force, it released on the PC in 1998. At the time, I worked shift in a factory and a couple of my co-workers told me about the game, and how they played after the night shift to wind down before going to bed. I’d played other first person shooters before, but mainly Star Wars related. This was the first time I was actually playing online with and sometimes against another human player.

The graphics were nowhere near as good as they are today, but for its time DF was really impressive. We’d usually play for about an hour. Even my boss got in on the games, and before long we had 10 of us all online trying to kill one another. Of course this was all part of the fun, and I got to shoot my boss every once in a while too. (I think for my boss there was probably the same appeal, as he shot me several times as well ;) ) We played for a couple months until people either lost interest or didn’t have time.

When DF2 came out we tried it, the graphics were better, but because the computer were not the newest or the internet connection was too slow, we suffered a lot of lag time. And I developed motion sickness as the resolution of the games improved making it absolutely no fun to play.
When I see my son playing on the gaming consoles with his friends, I sometimes think back to those days and remember Sancho singing the ballad of Deadeye Dick.

Did you every get into PC or online gaming? Half-Life? Counter-strike? Delta Force? Ghost Recon? Day of Defeat? Medal of Honor?

Or did you have other team building activities with your co-workers?

Let me know in the comments below.

And as always, please be sure to recommend!

Anubis’s Dorky Delights (Shortbread cookies)

For years my wife and I tried to find a recipe for Scottish Shortbread cookies in the internet that taste similar to the big name ones you can buy in the store. You can find plenty of recipes, but none really gave me what I was expecting. Some were too dry, some too hard, not crisp enough, or just not buttery enough. So we experimented with the recipes, combining ideas from one or the other, using different types of flour, more salt, less salt until we found something that was actually better (in my less-than-humble opinion) because we knew exactly what went into these cookies. No additives or preservatives.

I’m sure you can modify this recipe to your personal preferences, but this is the way we like them:

Anubis’s Dorky Delights (Shortbread cookies)

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup fine semolina flour

4 tbsp. raw White Sugar

1/8 tsp. Sea Salt

1/2 Cup Butter – NOT softened! (For better results use instead 1 tbsp. Lard and 7 tbsp. Butter)


1. Knead all ingredients in a large bowl until mixed thoroughly. The dough will likely be crumbly, that is okay.

2. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 2 hours.

3. After the two hours have pasted check to see how the dough looks. The dough should be similar to pie dough. If the dough is too sticky add a little flour, if it’s too dry, sprinkle with a little water.

4. Depending on your preference, the dough can be rolled out until 1/8 inch thick can cut out with a cookie cutter. Or you can form 1/8 inch thick discs.

5. In pre-heated oven, bake at 325°F for approx. xx minutes. You may want to bake 2 cookies first to see if the dough is okay, in case you need to adjust your dough you still can (add flour if dough too fatty).

These are pretty easy to make when you get a feel for how the dough is supposed to be and you don’t need a lot of ingredients to do it. (The fine semolina flour is really good for helping regulate the moisture.) Give them a try and let me know how they turn out for you in the comments below.

Enjoy!

Please be sure to recommend!

The West is the Best... Get Here and We'll Do the Rest

In September 1984 Marvel Comics published the first episode of the four part miniseries "West Coast Avengers".  The storyline was pretty basic, Hawkeye wanted to expand the influence of the Avengers by creating a separate team in sunny California. The team consisted of Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Tigra, and Iron Man (James "Rhodey" Rhodes, not Tony Stark).

I was never really an Avengers fan; I mean, sure I knew most of the characters and some of their back stories. But to be honest with you, I only bought the comic because ROM was on the cover, so imagine my disappointment when I discovered he was not even in the darn thing.

The comic book did have some appeal though. It introduced me to some of the second string heroes such as Mockingbird, who later appeared in the T.V. series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Portrayed by Adrianne Palicki), and it was in California! Being from the boondocks of northwestern Pennsylvania, California just sounded like paradise... Not so much anymore.

A year after the miniseries completed Marvel released a full series which ran until 1994. I never really got into it though, but maybe because I wasn't really an Avengers fan. More recently, in 2018 they tried to reboot the series, but this only ran for ten issues before it was cancelled. Maybe it wasn't just me.

So I'd  pretty much forgotten all about the Avengers until Marvel started producing their own movies on the big screen. Over the last 12 years and 23 movies later, I've got to admit, I've really become a fan of the Avengers at least the way they have been brought to the big screen. I mean who wants to see an alcoholic Tony Stark or a wife beater Hank Pym?? (Hey, I saw that! Put your hand down, you sicko!)

When Avengers: Endgame completed the Infinity stone/Thanos story plot, I really didn't know where they were going to go from there with Tony Stark dead, Captain America old, Thor Lebowski, and Hulk neutered. I kind of hoped that they would dust off the old "West Coast Avengers" idea. But it appears they have another direction in mind.

I've read some of the upcoming movies Marvel is making and I have to say I don't see anything I could really get into. It would appear they are following a direction which branches way too far from my taste. But if that's what they think sells, more power to them. I'll save my money.

Are you an Avengers fan? Comics or movies? 

How do you think the MCU handled your favorite character?

Have you ever even heard of the "West Coast Avengers"?

What do you think of the upcoming MCU movies?

Let me know in the comments below.

And remember as always to recommend!

Going (Poem)

Going

My back is turned away

And I’m standing in the door

Listen to the howlin’ wind

What the hell we fighting for?

Trying hard not to take that step

‘cause I know I ain’t coming back

We’ve tried and fail and tried some more

And seen our dreams all fade to black

I know you’ve given me your best

But I’ll never be that man you need

Our scars run long and deep now

And old wounds tend to often bleed

I know that you’re hurtin’ now

But believe me, it is better this way

‘cause this love will only break our hearts

And I’d make it worse if I would stay

I’m sorry I just can’t do it anymore

Our world has been just a lie

And it’s time for me to end this now

It’s time to say “Good-bye”.

Tales from the Dorkside Episode IV: "You don’t mess with Emil Smith"

Oh, the days of summer! I remember how I used to count the hours until I could finally get out of that stuffy classroom and catch some rays (raise a little hell) with my friends.

When I wasn’t busy working as a dishwasher and busboy down at the local diner, my friends and I would be out on the lake fishing or swimming. Most of the time just checking out the girls in their tight swim outfits. We rode around in my buddy’s “beater”. Where most people saw a rust bucket 1981 Ford Mustang, we saw freedom.


I lived out in the boondocks, like most of my friends, so you really needed some way to get around. And believe it or not, cruising on a 10 speed is not cool if you’re trying to impress chicks. Not to say that the old rusty bucket was a head turned or anything, but it sure as hell was a giant step up. Not to mention that crossing the causeway into Ohio could be pretty dangerous on a bicycle after dark.

Living on the border did have an advantage. In Pennsylvania the legal drinking age was (and is) 21, but in Ohio it was only 19 for beer. So we knew a few bars that usually didn’t card teens who bought beer, if they looked old enough. And with his Italian/Hungarian genes, Franco sure did.  “Frank” was sporting a Magnum P.I. mustache already at age 14. Since we were still too young to drink even in Ohio, we always sent Frank in alone. And most of the time he delivered, though there were rare occasions when they turned him away or asked him for his ID which he conveniently forgot in the car and we’d have to find a new source.


When nightfall came, we’d sneak on over to Ohio and get supplies, cross back to PA and head to the city to cruise the diamond or hang out at “Mickey D’s” with Whitesnake blaring out the window. We never went looking for trouble, but damned if trouble didn’t find us. Flirting with the wrong girl was usually the way it started, and in the end we’d get run out of there by some older punks. Hey these were big guys! We were crazy, not stupid.

So we’d head back out to the countryside, and look for something to do.  We’d snatch all of the garden dwarfs from an entire neighborhood and relocate them in some old lady’s yard – all facing her picture window staring in at her. We’d relocate bus shanties from one side of the street to the other. We even rearranged the street signs showing the direction to the highway in a way that anyone following them would end up driving in a big circle. (But never, ever touching or removing a Stop sign. Crazy, but not stupid.)


I honestly can’t remember whose idea it was, but the topic came up “Mailbox Baseball”. We were buzzing pretty well at the time so it sounded like fun. There was a teacher who lived not too far from where we were. Mr. Emil Smith, real mean ornery SOB, the kids called him “Evil Emil” behind his back. And with that, we knew where the game was going to take place. “Play Ball!”


We wanted to be sure that nobody knew we were targeting him directly, so we started hitting mailboxes down the street from him. As we got closer, we noticed some of the mail boxes had already been hit. Apparently somebody else had the same idea already. We were getting ready for disappointment, figuring that the Smith’s mailbox had already been hit, but we were completely surprised to see that out target was still intact. As we got closer, Frank slowed down and I took aim. POW! Direct hit! And then shock after shock…  

When the bat hit the mail box, the vibrations rang through my arm as if I hit a steel wall. I thought I’d dropped the bat at that point, but I didn’t and instead of going through the mail box as intended, it bounced back smashing Frank’s back window! We got out of there as fast as we could, and when we did stop I was still howling about my broken arm (It wasn’t, but it sure felt like it was) And Frank, he was hysterically trying to figure out what he was going to tell his parents. I still don’t, to this day, know what he told them. I can tell you that “Evil Emil” got tired of having his mail box destroyed and filled that dang thing with concrete.



I don’t get back that way often, but when I do and I’m driving down the road past the old Smith residence, I can’t help but smile thinking about how “Evil Emil” got his revenge on the punks who kept destroying his mail box. I’m sure I was not the only one who found out the hard way, you don’t mess with Emil Smith.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode of "Tales from the Dorkside".  

Be sure to recommend, if you did.

Thank you

Happy Memorial Day

Let me take a moment to wish everyone out there a safe and happy Memorial Day.

As a lot of my friends on Disqus know, I've been in Germany for a very long time. I have seen a lot of places here in Europe, but one place I have not yet visited but had been on my list for a while was the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer in northwestern France. My youngest son is now at an age that I think it is important to understand his father's heritage and culture and the sacrifices made to protect that culture and its freedoms.

 Last year, I told myself this would be the year, but unfortunately something came up, as it always does. So I wanted to try again in 2020, but I think you can guess why this hasn't been possible. ;)

As this may very well be my last year abroad, I may never find that opportunity.   

Still, I want to thank all who have served before me, all that have served after me, all that are still serving, and most importantly all who are still missing or have lost their lives in that service to make America the greatest country on Earth. (And it really is, no matter what anyone tries to convince you otherwise of.)

God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America!

We Could Be Heroes

Imagine if you will for a moment something so fantastic, so incredible, that it could change the way you look at yourself and the world around you forever. An undiscovered power within each of us, which lies dormant, just waiting for us to realize our true potential. But are we ready to finally understand that we are more than we have been told that we are?

We have seen works of fiction describe this many times. Examples such as Luke Skywalker discovering the Force or the X-Men's powers emerging through traumatic experiences. Would we be met with wonder and acceptance by those who have not yet reached their potential? Or would we be feared and hunted? How would you react if you saw the scene in the above picture in a park or at your local playground? Be honest with yourself.

And if we did have such supernatural powers, would we use them to better the world, or would we use them only for our own gain? I recently watched a series about questionable "heroes" called The Boys. The series showed a group of superheroes completely corrupted by their powers, using them for their own egotistical gains. Again, I must ask, is this how we would be?

 In the latest stand-alone Superman movie The Man of Steel, Superman was portrayed more Human than we have seen before. I remember watching the movie and coming out of it with such a negative feeling. Was it because Superman actually killed somebody; or that he was so bogged down with human faults; or simply the whole dark tone of the movie? For me, Superman was always a positive, optimistic character. He is better than us, and gives us something to strive for.

We may not be able to access "super powers", but we all have the potential to be the heroes the world needs; to be the role models for future generations to look up to. We see amazing people doing the greatest of things, helping others. Thank the veterans who fought for our freedoms and those who died (Not only on Memorial Day), thank the farmers who grew the food we put on our plates, thank the firemen and medical professionals who rescue us in times of need, and thank the police officers who protect our Constitutional rights. And you, thank you if you are a shining beacon of hope and inspiration for the children. Remember, we can be heroes...

As I'm finishing this article, I realize that it may be a bit too serious. I don't really want to leave you like that. So a couple lighter questions:

If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?  

Let me know in the comments below, and remember to recommend!

You Can't Win, Darth...

Anyone who's been following my blog over the last couple weeks knows that I am a big Star Wars fan. (Not so much of the Disney Star Wars stuff). Anybody new to my blog, well that's your warning ;)

In 1997 Trivial Pursuit released the "Star Wars Classic Trilogy Collector's Edition" The subject categories were as follows:

BLUE       = Characters

PURPLE   = Weapons & Vehicles

ORANGE = History

YELLOW = Geography

PINK        = Droids, Creatures, & Aliens

GREEN    = Wild Card

Instead of dice, it had a little electronic R2-D2 with a panel on the front which randomly showed you a number between 1 and 6 when you pushed down R2's head.

Some of the cards had visual hints on the back side, which was great when playing with someone who had seen Star Wars once or twice but wasn't strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark.

It also had "hyperspace" fields, if you landed on one of these, you could place your piece anywhere on the board.

The only problem I had was with some of the questions, you would be right, but the card said you were wrong. Obi-Wan was right. "Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." The thing was, depending on which version of the movies you had seen, you maybe right. But the game was also right, because it was not the answer they were looking for, move along, move along. (Han Solo DID shoot first! In fact he was the only one who got a shot off.)

Sometimes when we have friends visiting for the first time and they see the game, they are eager to play it. Reluctantly, I agree to it. I try to hold back, but it's difficult, I've seen the trilogy like a gazillion times, know most of the quotes, the actors, the ships, the planets; so they rarely have a chance. I do have a few friends who can keep up with me, but unfortunately they are no longer on this side of the pond. My son, is slowly catching up to me, another year or two his trivial knowledge of Star Wars will rival my own.

The game was a limited edition version, but you can still find new or used games in places like E-Bay or Amazon for between 50 and 150 bucks.

With that I'll leave you with a little trivia question:

What four words uttered by Anthony Daniels's character formed the first spoken line in Star Wars?

Don't Google it. Don't cheat :) Let me know the answer down in the comments below, and may the Force be with you.

Dreary Weather Penguin Muffins

Now don't go calling PETA on me now, no penguins were injured to bring you this recipe. (I'm a Dork, not a monster!).  The original recipe called them something bland like "Black and White muffins", but after doing a bit of tweaking on the recipe I figured the name needed to be cooler, may be ice cold, or even "chilly". Well, penguins and chocolate always make me smile ;)
So without further ado...



Dreary Weather Penguin Muffins


Ingredients: 

filling:

8 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp. Milk
2 tbsp. raw White Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Corn starch

muffin base:

1 5/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Corn starch
2 1/2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

2/3 cup packed dark brown Muscovado sugar 
1 Egg (Large)
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/3 cup Vegetable oil

1 cup Buttermilk
Dark chocolate candy bar chopped in chunks 2.6 oz. (73g)


1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease the muffin form with butter, lard, or if it has to be shortening :)

2. In a large bowl, mix softened cream cheese, vanilla extract, white sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. corn starch and milk.  Mix until creamy (Clump free). and set aside.

3. In a second bowl mix flour, 1/3 cup corn starch, sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda and mix thoroughly. and set aside.

4. In a third bowl, beat with an electric mixer the Muscovado sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, egg, and oil. Increase speed and continue to beat until fluffy. 
Reduce speed and add buttermilk. When the buttermilk has been mixed in well, add the flour/cocoa mix. 
Increase the speed gradually until thoroughly mixed. With a wooden spoon, stir in about 2/3 of the chocolate chunks to the mixture.

5. Fill the muffin form cups with the muffin base mixture about 3/4 full. Add 1 tbsp. from the cream cheese filling to each cup. Distribute the rest of the chocolate chunks on top of the cream cheese mixture.

6. Bake for about  20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.


In my opinion, these are perfect muffins to make on those dark dreary days as a pick-me-up. But don't take my word for it, give them a try yourself :)

Enjoy!

Please be sure to recommend!

ROM of Galador

In the early 80's, I was completely fascinated by robots, droids, and cyborgs. Star Wars opened that door to me with the droids like C-3P0 and R2-D2 and the evil cyborg, Darth Vader. I had already been exposed to cyborgs in T.V. with The Six Million Dollar Man, but I never really thought of him that way - he was just bionic (whatever that meant -  hey, I could still show you my age with 2 hands.)

So most of the cyborgs I had known were evil like the Terminator, that is until a friend of mine introduced me to ROM - Spaceknight. Completely covered in shiny silver armor, with red glowing eyes, and a sense of chivalry of knights of old. He looked like a robot, but he actually still had organic components under his shell. And he was a hero.

ROM was not from Earth. He came from the planet Galador, which was attacked by a shapeshifting race called the Dire Wraiths. Galador called out for volunteers from their people to be transformed into cyborgs to combat the Dire Wraiths, with the promise that they could be restored to full humanity when the enemy was defeated. ROM was the first volunteer, 999 other followed forming the Spaceknights.

The Dire Wraiths were chased from Galador, back to their home world. Knowing they had no chance to make a stand they used black magic to trick ROM and scatter across the galaxy. ROM bound by his honor, swore not to reclaim his humanity until the Dire Wraiths were defeated.

Two Hundred years later, ROM arrives on Earth. The people are frightened by the 7 foot "robot" who shoots everybody with a "ray gun" that strangely did no harm (This was the Analyzer, to show ROM who was human and who was Dire Wraith). And with the second ray gun, turned some of the unlucky people to ash! (This was the Neutralizer, which banished the Dire Wraith into a dimensional portal called "Limbo" - but it sure looked like he was disintegrating people!)

These misunderstandings caused a lot of confrontations by Marvel's heroes, such as the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Eventually ROM is able to banish all Dire Wraiths from Earth.

Now if any of you know ROM, then you know I left out a lot, like ROM's love interest and his fate after banishing the Dire Wraiths, but there's just too much to be said there.

It was only later that I learned that the ROM comic book was written to promote a toy that Parker Brothers manufactured in 1979. My buddy actually had a ROM action figure buried in his garage, the shell was still for the most part intact, but the electronics were long dead. It looked terribly cheap, nothing like the cool Spaceknight I knew from the comics, a real disappointment. Heck, I don't even think the arms and legs moved.

Needless to say, the comic book outlived the toy, and Marvel continued to publish the comic book until 1986 when the license expired. Unfortunately this is why I don't expect to see ROM on the big screen anytime soon mingling with the heroes of the MCU. Though I had heard they were talking about adding him to the Hasbro movie universe with G.I. Joe and Transformers. But since they've been talking about that since 2015, I doubt we'll see that. Besides, ROM would be so much cooler in the MCU.


Were you already familiar with ROM Spaceknight? (The comic book or the toy)

Would you like to see him in movies? (MCU or Hasbro movies)

Do you know other instances where the "promotional material" became bigger than the actual product?

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

And as always, be sure to recommend!

Forgive Me (poem)

Forgive Me

When you look into your heart

Can you find a love we once had?

For when I look into your eyes

The empty expression is more than sad

If I could turn back the hands of time

If I could undo all the wrongs I’ve done

I’d bring you joy like we never had

And we, together forever, two hearts as one

But I have been a fool for so long

Who has stolen, cheated, and lied

Have I no chance at all to be saved?

Or am I more the fool to have tried?

And should ever you find that love we had

And were willing to give us a new start

Then look deep within my eyes

And know nothing shall ever tear us apart

Tales from the Dorkside Episode III : “By the Dashboard Light”

“I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday.”  These are the opening lines from the song “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” from Meatloaf’s 1977 album “Bat out of Hell”.


It’s funny, life that is… how it sometimes imitates art. That a decade later I would find myself in that situation, as if the song were about me and the experience I was going through. Those of you who know the song and its lyrics know exactly where I was and what I was doing or trying to do. ;)


That’s right, I was parking with my girlfriend by the lake. Well where else were we to go? We couldn’t make out in my room. Are you kidding? I had 3 brothers, a little privacy please?? And in her room was completely out of the question. Her mother was the kind of Christian who would damn me straight to Hell if she had an inkling of what I wanted to do to her daughter. And her father, well, let’s just say he was an ex-Marine, a Korea War Vet, and that man had a rather impressive collection of rifles…

So, as I was saying, "It was a hot summer night" down by that lake and we were finally alone. 

Things progressed as I'm sure you can imagine, I rounded first, slid into second and was really trying hard for third. And just when I thought I was going to make it... I thought we were "glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife." Turns out it was a headlight coming down the lane, and a four-wheeler went booking down past us. We looked at each other and started to giggle. Of course what we didn't know was the four wheeler was being pursued by a police car.

Realizing that his prey had eluded him, he took notice of the parked car with the hazy windows. Panic overcame me, not that I was afraid of the officer, not that I was afraid because "we were barely 17 and we were barely dressed". Oh no, I just saw death, and it's face was that of an old leatherneck and the business end of one of his fine hand guns.

Quickly, we scrambled to find something to cover ourselves. She draped my shirt across her lap, and I sat there bare-chested as I slowly rolled down the window to greet the flashlight in my face. It was blatantly obvious that the windows were steamed up and not smokey at that point, but the officer carried on. He wanted my girlfriend to show him she had nothing under the shirt on her lap. I think he was just checking how far I got ;). He ask us for ID and realized that we were both minors. He started talking about statutory rape and such but I was still scared stiff with visons of that jar head. It wasn't until he said something about if he should take us to our parents.

Now listen,  I'm not the kind of guy that gets all weepy or over sensitive. I mean I always considered my self tough. But in this moment, in the face of imminent death, my eyes started to well up. And I ask, ah yeah, mm, no; I begged the cop to give me a break. I promised him I wouldn't do anything like this again, I promised him my first born, and to this day I still cannot tell you everything I promised this man not to condemn me to death. Finally he told us to get out of there, and that he didn't want to catch us there again.

How that night had started out with such promise, could end with such a promise, I'll never know.

"But it was long ago and it was far away
Oh God it seems so very far
And if life is just a highway - then the soul is just a car
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are."

I hope you've enjoyed this episode of "Tales from the Dorkside".  

Be sure to recommend, if you did.

Thank you

A Lone Crusader in a Dangerous World

I first learned about Artificial Intelligence in the early 80's. And it's name was K.I.T.T. - short for the Knight Industries Two Thousand. A nearly indestructible talking car and best friend to it's driver, Michael Knight.

Now to be completely honest, this was not really the first time I had seen AI portrayed on T.V. or on the big screen. I saw the droids in Star Wars and I had seen "K.I.T.T.'s cousins" the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, but these were so far out, science fiction, I could not see them in the real world. But here we had a black 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am with an advance computer system that could drive, think, and talk all by itself. And it was NOW.

My father was a great car enthusiast, but he liked car like the late 60's & early 70's muscle cars such as the Chevy Nova, the Chevy Chevelle Super Sport, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass  Supreme. Now if K.I.T.T. was one of those cars, he may have had more interest.

I had always dreamed of having a car like K.I.T.T. and swore that one day I would...

It took me nearly 2 decades to realize my dream of having my very own K.I.T.T.  Yes, okay, it wasn't a nearly indestructible 1982 Trans-Am nor did it have an AI computer on board ( closest I came to that is when somebody had "Siri" on their phone and they rode with me). 

Heck, it wasn't even a Trans-Am, it was a  '90 Firebird. But it was fun to drive and it was a real head turner. In Germany at the time, you really didn't see many of these on the road unless you were near a military installation. The car wasn't new, so I had to have a lot of maintenance done to keep it on the road. The price of gasoline in Germany was over 3 times the price I paid in the States, and even though the car only had a V6, it was a gas-guzzler. I was able to keep it for about 5 years until the costs just got out of hand. 

But I kept that promise to my younger self and it was fun while it lasted. I now drive a small compact car, sure is easier to find a parking spot and gets better mileage, but it's not nearly as fun to drive as the "Dorkmobile" was. And as they say, "It's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

Do you have any old T.V. series or movies which inspired wishes that you carried from your childhood into real life? Were you able to realize them (more or less)? Or are you still working towards obtaining them?

Or maybe you'd like to share your take on the Knight Rider?

Let me know in the comments below.

And as always recommend!

(This is especially important, as Disqus is having issues with notifications still.)

I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

The Old Crowley Mansion

This tale that I weave is one of great sorrow. Over a century and a half has passed, but something eerie sting lingers on the shores of the great lake.

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, the Crowley family became on of the richest families in North-Western Pennsylvania through their lucrative investments backing Col. Drake's ventures in black gold. But as they say, money cannot buy happiness...

 Soon after the family mansion was built, the misfortunes began to amass. Some attributed this simply to bad luck, but others say that it was a curse brought on the family by the evil deeds performed by the family during the war.

The patriarch, Miles passed away in his sleep, through rumors abounded of treachery... of poison. His two sons, Virgil and Lloyd fought constantly about who should lead the family, how and where they would invest, and on other matters of even less importance. The squabbles escalated to the point of no return and the older son, Lloyd, challenged his brother to a duel to settle matters once and for all. During the duel, Lloyd's pistol did not fire and Virgil shot his brother in the leg to end it. But Lloyd's wounds became infected and he died. 

Lloyd's widow, Maria, gave birth to their son just months later. As expected of him, Virgil married Maria, though there was no love between them. One evening, Virgil went to check on the child and found him unresponsive and not breathing. When Maria saw Virgil holding the dead baby, she was convinced that Virgil had suffocated it. A short time later, Virgil was found dead as well. Many suspected that Maria had poisoned him, but there was no proof.

Most of the towns people avoided Maria, not only because some thought she was a murderer, but even those who thought she was innocent. Maria would often complain that her late husband still walked the hall of the mansion late at night trying to drive her mad. In the years that followed, she became more isolated never leaving the mansion.

No one know how long her corpse lie undiscovered in the mansion, but it bore the petrified look on it's face that it had at the time of her death. The doctors said she died of a heart attack, those many believe it was Virgil's ghost which she saw as she drew her last breath. 

The mansion no longer stands. Upon Maria's death, the property reverted to the city. No one dared to buy it and it fell to decay. In the mid 40's, the mansion was eventually torn down. Today there is nothing but a empty plot of land.

Every year around Halloween, my friends and I used to seek out the places where stories of ghosts were told in "Eerie Erie". Of all the places we visited, none have chilled me more to the bone than the site where the old Crowley mansion used to stand.

For those who cast doubt on my story know this: Everything I told you was the truth (Everything I told you was a lie). You decide :)

I hope you enjoyed my story. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever seen a ghost? Or do you have your own tale you wish to share?

And of course, as always, please recommend!

Are you ready for the summer?

I remember watching movies about kids spending their summers at a summer camp, such as "Meatballs" or "Up the Creek". I always wondered what Summer Camp would be like. Was it all fun and games, would I find new friends, or maybe... just maybe... was there a summer fling waiting for me?

As it turns out there was no summer camp around my area at all. Our local town park did offer a place where parents could drop their kids in the morning, for fun and social activities under guidance, and then pick them up in the afternoon. It was unfortunately nothing like in the movies. There was a playground, they had activities you could do sitting at a picnic table, and you already knew all the kids there. It was a complete disappointment.

Well, maybe not complete... I did find something there, though it wasn't the love of my life, it was "Stratego".   A board game. Strange, right? Well, you see, I was never really into board games. I tried to play with my brothers, but when you got an entire group of poor losers (and poor winners), it takes the fun right out of it. I belonged to the former. But playing Stratego was different, this game was fun for me on a different level. The little Napoleonic pictures on the pieces, the marshals, and other officers, the spy, and bombs! Hide and seek on the game board. It was the only thing I really looked forward to at this "camp". 

Years had passed, and I had forgotten all about my favorite board game. That was, until my son was at an age where he had taken an interest in board games. (Fortunately he is a much better sport than I was at his age.) So I decided to buy him the game which I had wasted so many hours on as a kid in those summer days. I was not able to find it in Germany, so I asked my mom to send me a one. I was a little surprised when the package arrived, because this was not the same game I remembered so fondly. Over the years they must have decided to modernize it into a "space version". The basic rules were the same, and it was the same game, the only thing that was missing for me was the nostalgia.

I still was able to waste a few hours playing the game from my childhood; but more importantly, I was able to make new fond memories of playing my favorite game with my son. He's older now, and into more digital games; but sometimes he'll let me break out the old Stratego for a couple rounds.

Do you have any fond memories of summer camp?

Are you into board gaming?

Or would you just like to share a bit of summer nostalgia?

Let me know in the comments below.

And please be sure to recommend :)