Tokyo Rumble

Part WWF, part Lucha Libre but 40 stories taller and 250 tons heavier
Kaiju is monster wrestling, literally.

Kaiju is the art of giant monsters wrestling in a city like format. Kind of like going to watch Godzilla versus Mothra; it’s Rage in the Cage except with bridges, buildings and toy tanks instead of folding chairs and ladders.

Contestants with names like The Silver Potato, Eargermon, Multimoog, Call-Me-Kevin, and Kung Fu Chicken Noodle don monster outfits and fight in cages on tour throughout the US.

It’s the ultimate battle between good an evil on an epic scale.

Going for the Gold

A friend of mine at work has a brother in the Maricopa Sheriff’s Department. For some reason we were talking about drug arrests and how on occasion his brother will occasionally find a homeless person sprawled out on a grassy median face up to the sky with a gold smile.


It turns out that huffing paint is back and that the authorities are seeing more and more people abusing chemical inhalants. After all, it’s cheap and relatively easy to get. Unless you try to go back into the hardware store immediately after you huff a can of Krylon.

The process is simple; the user sprays the paint into a plastic bag, cups the bag around their mouth and breathes in the sprayed mist that is in the bag.
No roach clip, lighter, spoons, elastic band or other accoutrements needed.

The difference here is when someone is abusing chemicals through huffing there are some tell tale signs:

• Drunk or disoriented appearance

• Paint or other stains on face, hands, or clothing

• Hidden empty spray paint or solvent containers and chemical-soaked rags or clothing

• Slurred speech

• Strong chemical odors on breath or clothing

• Nausea or loss of appetite

• Red or runny nose

• Sores or rash around the nose or mouth

It turns out that Gold and Silver paint contains a higher amount of toluene in the mix that yields a maximum high. Unfortunately the user ends up with the telltale signature gold circle imprint from where they had the bag around their mouths.

Whereas an alcoholic or smoker may be able to temporarily hide their addiction with a box of Altoids a huffer would need a can of acetone. “Honey, you smell like acetone. Have you been huffing again?”

I’ll stick to beer.

A Tale of Two iPods

As soon as I opened my birthday present two years ago Aimee had commandeered my iPod mini no sooner than I had uploaded all of the songs from iTunes onto it. About a week after that she began to pine for her very own iPod.

Should a kid, age 7 mind you have their very own iPod?

“I have the money!” Aimee exclaimed.

“How do you figure?” I asked.

It turned out that after many years of birthdays and various holidays that the multiple relatives and the tooth fairy had managed to give bits of money here and there. Aimee as it turned out had amassed quite a bit of cash. The wood barrel bank that was once mine as a child was stuffed with one’s and five’s, there was even a twenty, enough to buy her own iPod shuffle.

In a way I was glad to let Aimee have her own iPod in that I am able to see what she is listening to. I know that everything is rated G on her play list

Because I am the keeper of the music I have both the entire library of music and Aimee’s music on my computer and on my iPod.

So on any given trip that we take Aimee can be seen ditty bopping to the sounds of the Cheetah Girls or Britney Spears in the car or on the plane.

Even before we got the iPods, I had amassed quite a bit of music not only from the pre-band of illegal music that I had acquired, but from ripping existing CD’s and “storing” music for friends.

The great thing about the iPod is that it serves as a jukebox of sorts. It enables the user to have whatever they want on it. The music that they want is always with them whether they are driving, working out or just hanging out at home.

On occasion when my team is performing well, I’ll bring in the iPod and mini speakers to play Rock n Roll Part 2 or We Are the Champions in the background as I read off the week’s performance statistics. I once made everyone cringe by letting The Hampster Dance Song (the dance mix) blaze as everyone returned to their daily tasks. I was asked to not bring the iPod back.