Leaguers, RHPT.com has posted that he does not ever get free schwag from his many readers. I do, upon occasion, receive items, but I try to keep it an even exchange.

But it's getting to be a bit dull here at League of Melbotis HQ. So you all know what that means: Contest time.

New Contest: A present for Randy!

We at The League all like RHPT.com and enjoy his frequent postings, and so we, at The League, have decided that we will buy Randy a present and send it to him. However, we also strongly suspect Randy makes more money than The League, so what to buy him...?



Here are the rules:

1) The League is not made out of money. Limit gift cost to a reasonable amount unless you wish to foot the bill.
2) Suggestion must not be obscene. Unless particularly funny and easy to find.
3) Must not require League to give credit card number to shady and anonymous source.
4) Entries must include at least one complete sentence explaining why Randy needs the gift you name.

I'm not going to put a fixed price on the gift suggestion. But let's not go nuts here. And let's try to give Randy something to look forward to. Do not send entries you do not want to see printed like "Let's give Randy a punch in the eye, because he's a bastard." That one will come back to haunt you. I promise.

Send entries to: Melbotis buys Randy a cheap gift.

Viva la Randy.

Oh, winners get, say... I don't know. We'll figure it out later.

I've actually had this problem when I've been on video shoots. The sound is REALLY annoying. And I wasn't mixing audio for the President. Essentially, the problem is that two wireless mics starting interfering with each other's signal, creating an odd feedback loop. It's difficult to deal with, and the first time it happened, I had no idea it was happening. Totally sucked.

what's new in fashion.... Seriously.

Too bad most people don't own the mineral rights under their houses.

My most important news is that Killer Croc showed up yesterday in the mail. Folks, if you ever question the fact that Jim Dedman is a good egg, you may look no further than the Killer Croc action figure which I now have in my possession.

I got home last night, and the box was sitting on the couch. Whomever Jim procured the figure from knew his card rated gradings for action toys. Because the box was really exceptionally large, and it was so filled with foam, i had to dig around to find the toy.

Jamie was doing her exercise routine when I opened the box, so she missed the grand unveiling.
"Where's Killer Croc?"
"He's in my office. On the stool. In the package."
She toddled off.
"He looks like Godzilla!"
"Indeed."
now, I wanted to take digital photos and post them up, but we recently bought a new computer, and our now archaic digital camera does not jive with Windows XP. I've been working with Camedia and Olympus to revive the thing, but it may be of no use.
Nontheless, I want to show Croc in all his glory, so he hasn't made it out of the "blister" packaging yet. As soon as I can take some photos, i will. I need to put Croc into context and truly reveal that which is the Fortress of Nerditude.

That, and I was insane crazy tired when I got home last night, and I was in bed by 9:00.

Here is a photo I found online of the Killer Croc figure.

Tonight I go to see David Bowie here in Phoenix. It's been an extraordinarily long time since I've gone to a show. Almost two years, I think. I had tickets to both Peter Gabriel and Beck, and on both occasions, other matters came up and I couldn't go. Which was expensive and irritating.

I saw Bowie around the fall of 1995. It was my controversial first date with Jamie, which she still claims was not a date. Which i understand.

a) I was seeing someone else at the time
b) My brother invited himself along without asking if it were okay

My brother called me a few hours before I was to go to the show to see what I was up to. I explained I was going to see Bowie, and that Nine Inch Nails was to be the first band to play. He knew full well they were playing at South Park Meadows in Austin, which has no real capacity. Plus, he asked who I was going with.
"Jamie."
Look, I knew about three or four Jamie's at the time, so he assumed it was a different Jamie, which is okay. But then said, "Okay. Well, i'm going to get a ticket, and we'll go down there together."
Which was probably good.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing Bowie once again under less awkward circumstances and from a much closer proximity. I think Macy Gray is opening for him, a singer who I think is okay, but who I only think about when she pops up for a few seconds in Spider-Man.

Usually articles on prisoner abuse aren't that funny, but I liked this line:

"They assumed it wasn't a big deal. It was a big deal," Walker said, explaining that officers and deputies also practiced using the Taser on one another to "experience the incapacitating voltage it administers."

Okay. Now, I'm no expert on electiricity, but I used to fix the ski-ball machines during my tenure at Chuck E. Cheese (circa 1990). I can tell you this: it hurts like a bastard when you get electrified by the ski-ball machine. it's all tingly and weird. And it creeps up on you. You may not even notice it at first until you're like "hey, my heart stopped!" Anyway, again, I'm no expert on electrity, nor am I a law-enforcement officer, but who wouldn't pay $5.00 to watch a bunch of corrections officers hitting each other with 50,000 volts? We're missing out on a real opportunity for syndicated TV here.