Out of the fridge, and into the freakin' freezer.

I have returned, gentle reader, from the land of Oklahoma; back to the wilds of North Dakota. And, if you believe National Geographic, the slowly emptying prairie.

Looks pretty full to me.
But I've always been a "Prairie Half Full" kind of guy.

When I left for Oklahoma City on Tuesday morning, it was pleasant in both places. When I GOT to OKC, the weather took a turn; though not as badly as everybody anticipated, it did get a little cold and wet. When I returned to ND, it was "colder than a mother-in-laws heart" as somebody in the airport so quaintly put it.

Oklahoma City is a city I don't mind going back to from time to time, because I get to see some folks I would normally only be able to write to/about. For me, it's ZELDA'S TOWN.

Kind of makes it sound like something out of BEYOND THUNDERDOME.
"Who run Zeldatown?"
"MasterBlaster run Zeldatown."

Can anybody see that I'm suffering from a little sleep deprivation?

Anyway, I had the always delightful opportunity to have dinner with my good friend, former roommate, and fellow sword-wielder on Tuesday evening. The conversation flowed, and so did the tomato sauce, as we dined Italian and walked together hand-in-hand down memory lane. We have a friendship forged in the heat of touring children's theatre.

Okay. It's not the beach at Normandy.
But if you've ever faced 600 K through 4's at 8 am dressed as an eagle, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Crap.

I realize I just probably insulted every vet of WWII, by comparing FOR A GOOD TIME THEATRE with D-DAY.
I'm sorry.
Come on, Simply Sleep (tm)! Kick in! Daddy need a new EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP!

In other news:

According to reports, legendary Chess Master and beloved lunatic Bobby Fisher died yesterday of Kidney failure in Iceland, where he has been living since playing a series of games against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992. Because our country was really mad at Yugoslavia at the time, Fisher was banned from playing his game and when he DID....well, he wound up in Iceland.

For those of you too young to remember, Bobby Fisher was the Soviet killer about eight years before the Miracle On Ice. He took on Spassky in the World Chess Championship, and this young, brash, arrogant punk kicked the living hell out of him.
He was considered at the time to be the greatest chess players ever.

For those of you theatrically inclined, the American in CHESS is based upon Bobby Fisher.
For those of you telvisionally inclined, the character played by Robert Carradine in an episode of LAW AND ORDER: CI is based upon Bobby Fisher.*

Sadly, he seemed to be a little off his nut at times, and they stripped him of his title after he refused to defend his crown. Apparently, he had a list of demands for the tournament....everything from where it should be played, how long the games should go during the day, and what kind of wood the board should be made of. As time progressed, mental illness seemed to be his sole heir; ranting against this and that; and it's sad to think that people will forget the brilliant gamesman in the wake of the poor, sick soul he became.

But truly; in 1972, more school kids were sitting behind chess boards because of him. And let THAT be his legacy.

Okay......the edge is coming off now, and I can visualize the pillow.
Good night, you Princes and Princesses of Maine, you Kings and Queens of New England.


*If you're interested, the CI episode is entitled GONE, and was orginally broadcast in 2005.