As a kid there were many cartoons I considered to be part of a well balanced animation diet. These included shows like Transformers, G.I. Joe, Scooby Doo, G-Force (aka Battle of the Planets or Gatchaman), Voltron, Thunder Cats, Dungeons & Dragons, Spiderman & His Amazing Friends, Robotech, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Superfriends (aka Justice League) as well as many other short lived shows that came on during the afternoon cartoon hours after school. However, over the years, there was one show that became my favorite. This was the show that I watched the very most. This was the show for which I owned the most action figures. This was the show that I considered to be the best bit of cartooning of all time (at the time). And this week I made an awesome discovery! It was completely by accident but it very well may change my evening tv habits for good…

Since the switch to digital signal this past year, there is a new “kids” channel called Qubo. This channel is designed specifically for kids and tends to show the cheaper range of cartoons and kids programming. Most of the shows they broadcast are the rejects from Sunday morning pbs, but recently I found that they have started a “Night Owl” session akin to Cartoon Networks “Adult Swim”. The Qubo version is much less adult, but they are catering towards a more adult crowd with their selection of programming. And this brings me back to the greatest cartoon of all time. It seems that Qubo has obtained the rights to the Filmation library and along with Brave Star and The Ghostbusters (not to be confused with The Real Ghostbusters), they have begun showing He-man and the Masters of the Universe. It’s truly an awesome thing!

It’s always interesting to go back and watch shows again that you enjoyed as a kid to see if you can try to figure out why you liked them so much, but with He-Man the answer is obvious. He’s a friggin’ barbarian with a magic sword that kicks the crap out of bad guys during every episode. Not to mention the fact that all the women on the show are of the “Amazonian” type that share the ability of bad guy butt kicking and all while wearing rather skimpy armor. There’s no question that the show is a bit cheesy, but unlike other cartoons from my childhood, I find myself enjoying the nostalgia of it. And the funny thing is, my kids love it too. I must admit that it’s kinda fun to share one of my favorite childhood shows with my kids and watch them get just as much enjoyment from it as I did when I was their age. I guess a good thing never goes out of style. So if you’ve got a hankerin’ for some good old fashioned Eternian barbarian butt kickin’, tune into Qubo around 10:30pm and enjoy.

I HAVE THE POWER!!!

During a moment of what might be referred to as “incredible stupidity”, I agreed to take part in the annual Wasatch Front leg of the Ragnar Relay, otherwise known as the Wasatch Back. Upon first glance this may seem like an excellent way to get in shape for the summer, but after further inspection you’ll find that it’s most likely a death sentence for a lazy slug like myself. Considering the fact that the last real endurance training I’ve done was about 15 years ago, I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me. And as if that wasn’t enough, I had to go and drag my wife into this mess as well. I suppose this way we can at least die together though.

For those who are unfamiliar (don’t worry, I had no idea what this thing was when I agreed to it), it’s basically a race that makes you pray there will be someone waiting at the finish line with a gun for you to shoot yourself with. The race begins in Logan and then winds 190 miles up the backside of the Wasatch to end somewhere round about Park City (Course Map). The race takes the better part of 2 days and we’ll be running straight through the night. Each of the 12 team members gets 3 legs of the race for a total of around 15-20 miles and spends all of their non-running time packed into a couple minivans which follow whomever the current runner happens to be. Basically it’ll be 2 days of tired, cramped, smelly hell. Fun, huh?

This is a happy pre-death picture

Anyway, the main point of this post is to solicit support from our dear beloved readers. Emily and I have joined up with several friends from my new job to be on one of two “Cancer Teams” that will be running the race. The main difference between a regular team and a “Cancer Team” is that all of our entry fees will be going to the American Cancer Society. The only downside to this is that the entry fees/donations for the Cancer Teams are much steeper than are those of the regular teams and this is where you, my dear readers, come into the picture. Emily and I are humbly asking for your monetary support in the way of donations to the American Cancer Society as we train for this brutal ordeal. Please feel free to donate as much or as little as you can and be assured that all donations will go to the ACS in the form of one lump sum donation that will be put together by the members of our team. Emily and I will need to come up with $700 for our part of the donation so every little bit helps. The only thing we can offer in thanks is the hard work we’ll put into trying to survive this thing as well as a promise to have someone post pictures of our limp and lifeless bodies located wherever we happen to collapse between Logan and Park City. Thanks in advance for your support and prayers for our survival. We’ll need em.

Donate for Mike

Donate for Emily

Bus to Beelzebub Team Donation

Or you can donate via PayPal below and we will include your portion with our team donation.

This obviously isn’t me, but I wish it was. This guy is amazing! This has nothing to do with our family other than the fact that I thought it was cool.

So it’s been over a month since a posted last. Not because there hasn’t been anything happening, but because I’ve been lazy about posting. I’m not sure why it’s been so hard to post lately, but hopefully this will break my streak and get my butt back in gear. I’ve got some pictures and adventures that I’ll be posting over the next couple days so stay tuned.

So I had to have surgery on an infected tooth this week. The infection was the result of a root canal that took place some time ago, but the point of this post is that this is only the second time I’ve ever been “put under” and I’ve decided I don’t like it. This is mainly due to the fact that there are gaps in my memory where I know I was awake enough to be mobile, but I don’t remember anything about them. At the risk of sounding to presumptuous, I have to think that this must be what it’s like in the early stages of Alzheimer’s (I just watched an episode of Scientific American Frontiers about memory loss the other day, hence the reference).

It’s just weird to think that my brain was working enough to get me from the Doctors office to the car, but I honestly can’t remember getting to the car or even getting home for that matter. I do remember talking to the nurse briefly as I woke up after the surgery. She asked me if I felt ok and if I was prone to puking. I told her I felt fine and that I don’t puke too often. Then she helped me stand up to move to the recovery room, but I don’t remember walking down the hall. I only vaguely remember laying down on the bed, but then I don’t remember anything until Emily got out of the car to get the kids from my mom. After that, the next thing I remember was laying on the couch at home. I don’t really even remember getting out of the car and into the house. It’s quite disturbing to think that I was up and interacting with people, but that I’m unable to recall most of it.

Anyway, the surgery went ok and aside from a little swelling I feel pretty good. My jaw aches a little, but for the most part there hasn’t even been any pain. I just hope the fix sticks and I don’t have to have that tooth worked on ever again.