Now, if they'd only release all of "The Comic Strip Presents" shows on DVD, I'd be set!

In this case, though, His Lo-ness Industries extends the sincerest of congratulations and best of luck (you're going to need it, John!;) to Outlaw Studios!

May pigs fly, Bro!

This is our elevator this morning.  Not sure what the hell happened last night, and no one is talking.  I can't tell if someone was trying to get in, or trying to get out, but either way, they were intent ;)

Ritual?  We have the best, ...Chef Loewecke!

Lisa stayed late last night and cooked eggs, bacon, and pancakes for the entire Elite Forces II Team and whatever stragglers still at the office, ...that's like 30 some odd people.  She started at 6:30pm.  I came to the kitchen at 9:30pm for the last serving.

Yummy stuff, Lisa, thanks!  (Notice the subtle product placement, BTW?  We have already heard the rumors of a combo cable television show hosted by Lisa, ..."Spackling with Bisquick, It's Not Just a Breakfast Fare".)

I will always remember, back in those Duke Days when he was here in America, taking him to Subway and hearing him yell out "Theees is not bread!  This eees sheeet!" right in the middle of the restaurant.  Having been to France, I could not agree with him more.

I bring all this up because I was just talking with someone who had been to Paris last week.  He had all the normal complaints about the French attitude towards Americans.

I do remember, my first experience in France, feeling antagonized.  A girl friend and I were touring the continent.  We stopped at a three-star hotel in Nice.  I remember thinking, "Nice is not nice!".  We arrived at the front desk and I spent the next hour trying to get a room from a guy that could not speak a word of English.  My girl friend was studying French, but that didn't help much.

What was aggravating was that after this hour-long ordeal, the phone rang, a woman answered, called for this guy for some help, and he then turned around and spoke fluent English with the woman.

Anyways, although I was put-off at first, I must say that I love the French and their "attitude".

One more thing, ...Americans often counter the French by saying "If it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking German right now!".

We should remember that if it weren't for the French, we'd be speaking English right now!

City officials in Santa Cruz giving out medical marijuana to protest against federal raids? 

...are we getting closer to the day his Lo-ness can go to the local liquor store and ask Claire for a bottle of Potato Juice AND some good Californian Salad?

...well, I'm not holding my breath, ...at least not for legalization ;)

...although maybe a good fight with Sad-I'm-Insane would get the Navy rolling again!

So many days I have to re-arrange these action figures, ...and so many mornings I come in to find them all twisted up in these strange positions.

I sure don't remember G.I. Joe or Major Matt Mason doing stuff like this!

The kid in the picture?  My brother.

The guy taking the picture?  My dad.

The building they're standing on? 2 World Trade Center.

All three?  Unbelievably gone forever!

I'm posting this update a day early because I will be home tomorrow.  I'm taking the day off not out of fear, or even in mourning.  I just feel like taking tomorrow off and staying home to watch television with some good food and a soothing cigar.

...here in the United States, we are starting to see the videos of the planes slamming into the WTC buildings, and their subsequent collapse and the lose of life.  I don't know about the rest of the world, but here we sort of decided not to show the events of last year for a while.  I think I've seen small clips of the videos maybe two or three times in the entire past year, but nothing else.  Now, there is a slew of coverage and specials.  I am glad we waited, and I am glad we are now rehashing.

I think it's time for a little closure and contemplation.  This event is much like a family member dieing in that it is taking a long time to really sink into my brain.  I see these videos now and an utter and deeply horrible sense of shock overwhelms me.  I sit, I watch, and I am stunned.

The day it happened?  ...last year?  ...we let everyone go home immediately.  I actually fell asleep for four hours in the afternoon that day.  Hard to imagine now, and I'm almost afraid to admit it because I fear I will appear inexcusably insensitive or something shamefully selfish.  That's not it, though.  I think, like a child that didn't have the capacity to comprehend what actually was happening, I simply could not accept it all.  I don't think I will ever fully grasp what happened that day and I think I will take every September 11th as a day to be at home.

For what it's worth, I'd like to say again that we do not pay our Police, Fire Fighters, EMS, and teachers enough money!