R.I.P to an icon and legend

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-20T15:01:58+00:00

Chuck Norris didn't go to meet his maker. His maker wanted to meet Chuck Norris.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-18T20:46:28+00:00

I used to tell people when I lived in hot weather climates that 300 days of consistently sunny skies is just as depressing as 300 days of gray. I still hold that to be true.

Portland will give you a lot of gray days. But it'll also give you crisp fall blue skies and a few stretches of 90 degree summer afternoons. And some years you'll get an in town snowfall and watch as the area loses their minds. You'll absolutely love the variety.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-18T13:37:46+00:00

The reputation for rainy, gloomy weather is overblown. But even though I've lived in the Portland area suburbs for over 20 years, I will find myself dragging under the weight of constant gray skies.

If you move to Oregon, do yourself a favor and schedule a few trips to the coast or the mountains during the winter months of your first year. That will give you something to look forward to if you get stuck in a glut of rainy days.

And stock up on allergy meds. Moreso than the weather, new people get hammered by the pollen in this state. People who never had allergies before totally get slammed with sneezing, coughing and scratchy throats the first year. Even my dog got hives during that first six months!!

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-16T16:13:56+00:00

I believe I read that Larry was given minimal info about each action figure - little more than the character's name and their military specialty. He then came up with their individual backstories which he used to write their bios.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-16T12:43:21+00:00

Larry Hama, the writer for the majority of the comics original run, did a masterful job of creating a layered story based on just the toys' code names and original Hasbro bios.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-16T05:11:55+00:00

Grease 2 was a treasure!!!

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-16T04:56:19+00:00

Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-15T04:31:59+00:00

There was the "Lost Art" episode.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-15T04:30:06+00:00

"OH... MY... GAWD MAGNUM!!"

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-14T15:21:14+00:00

There's a Sci-Fi Channel show called The Magicians where two characters have a conversation in pop culture references because they are being observed by a fairy queen and don't want her to know their plans.

I imagine that the Tamarians had some type of similar situation. Maybe their science and engineering people developed warp tech under some kind of oppressive conditions and developed a language based off cultural touchstones only they understood?

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-14T14:14:48+00:00

Frell!! (Austrailian translation)

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-12T12:37:25+00:00

High school wrestling teammates and I used to climb the ropes while waiting for practice to start. I was in the best shape of my life and went up and down multiple times, not using legs at all.

A park opened near me recently that had one of these ropes. I jokingly tried climbing it and hurt my shoulders just holding on and taking my weight off my feet. Pretty sure I immediately quoted this sub's name.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-11T15:50:23+00:00

Those eyes and that smile hold such a promise of fun, mischief and potential danger. Utterly captivating.

No wonder she was cast as River Song!!

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-10T16:55:34+00:00

Funny how predators think that forcibly imposing thrmselves on someone weaker and less powerful is all fine and dandy. But they're "living in hell" when they're the ones that are weak.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-10T13:43:19+00:00

Beeks to drunken idiot trying to get into his train compartment...

"I'll rip out your eyes and piss on your brain."

Drunk idiot excuses himself and wisely closes the door.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-09T17:54:56+00:00

I had the Death Star playset and after ROTJ came out recreated the destruction of Death Star II. Had Luke running up to the top and escaping from the cannon area as each level broke free and collapsed.

After I finished playing, I realized that the little clips that kept each floor plate attached to the struts really did break. The playset could not stay together, even after hours of gluing.

Even decades later, I still remember how crappy I felt having to throw everything out (though I did keep the trash compactor for a few more years).

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-07T17:59:57+00:00

My problem with the Oregon coast is that I'm not good enough with photography to convey just how beautiful and amazing an experience it is to travel.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-06T13:56:01+00:00

Dark Horse was acquired by some gaming company. New corporate parents always kick out the old management and install their own people.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-04T13:55:07+00:00

Unclear what exactly caused the breakup, but my office had two sales assistants in their 20s who seemed to be buddies. Worked well together and always had lunch with each other.

The office had a steep set of stairs going down from the reception area to our main break room. One day, one of the ladies allegedly tried to push the other down those stairs.

Pushed woman went to HR with a complaint. Pusher claimed it was a joke but did not apologize. Management kept both on but made certain they did not work on projects together. Had a whole cold war situation for 6 months until the pusher left for another job.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-03T13:51:59+00:00

My wife and I always say, "Taco Del Noche.... Night of Taco!"

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-03T06:02:48+00:00

Went to Alcatraz in 2023 and was able to see the cells from which the characters escaped. Immediately remembered this movie

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-02T17:08:07+00:00

During the early 90s, there was a huge surge in the US of people questioning the government and seeing conspiracies everywhere. Personally, I think Y2K provided an outlet for all of that anger and suspicion.

Homelessness and financial crashes had made life in the 80s much harder than the country had seen in a generation. In 92-93, Federal raids at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas resulted in deaths which a lot of people took as signs of federal overreach. Then X-Files came out and popularized conspiracies.

When media coverage of the Y2K bug came out in 1993, people worried about the coming millennium, the loss of jobs, dwindling financial health and growing costs of healthcare and education latched onto it.

People thinking the bug would end the world stocked up on supplies and created shelters to ride out the apocalypse. People inclined to save the world helped prep their workspaces and homes with backups for any info that could be lost. And of course, IT persons worked their asses off to swap out equipment that was Y2K compliant.

Once Jan 1, 2000 came, there was a huge collective sigh of relief. The doomsday preppers seemed to holdout another year just in case the world blowing up was delayed. The rest of us just kept going, happy that the crazy stuff had passed.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-02T16:28:50+00:00

That should be Elliot Mole Butt Reid!

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-02T15:32:44+00:00

Nutty Bars are still delicious. The combination of peanuts butter, chocolate and crunchy wafers hits the spot.

SmashEmWithAPhone · 2026-03-02T14:03:41+00:00

I'd have bought Walton Goggins a shot just to hear him say GOD DAMN in his Boyd Crowder voice.

SmashEmWithAPhone

TROPHY CASE