The Essential MCF: 2K6-2K7

Cloakfest 2K7 continues! Last year I chose highlights from my second season, and now, hard to believe, the Nexus has existed for THREE years! Over 10 hours and four days, I've gone through a year's worth of posts, summing up and linking to the most important ones. If you're just joining me, or missed a few episodes, now's a good time to get caught up:


OCTOBER, 2006

Two at a Time
A simple thing like a stairwell brings back memories of youth.

Sound of the ‘90s
I examine my top ten bands in the decade I discovered my musical taste.

If My Life Were An Action Movie...
...I wouldn't have time to reread a year's worth of posts...

Continuing Rey's Story...
I think I wound up killing the story, but it was fun reliving collaborative storytelling while it lasted.

Digging to China
We've all tried it. It's how kids learn which endeavors are foolish, and which ones might not be as foolish as people might think.

Flawed Theologic
Some people have trouble understanding how a person can have any kind of faith. I'm baffled by people who don't believe in anything.

What I Can't Do.
Kids today have no respect and no boundaries, as my dad learned after calling the cops on some local skater punks.

Six Words Sci Fi and Fantasy
I tell tales in six words.

Not everyone loves Halloween...
...but I do. A wig wasn't enough for people to guess my latest cloaked identity.


NOVEMBER, 2006

PBW: Quiet Nod
I'm Silent about my 2006 Halloween identity.

Do You Believe in Ghosts?
I've never seen one, but I wonder if there were times I sensed one.

The Wrong Direction
On my birthday, I struggle with the start of the “snackin'-est” time of year.

Mudslinging
Political ads are more and more about personal attacks, and less about the issues, as I demonstrate.

Small Screen Shades and Dreams
It's the top ten television characters I most related to or wanted to be, a list that will probably grow in the future.

Raise The Roof
I start my day fighting with my folks, continue it with an exhausting amount of work, and end it with an awesome belated birthday celebration at a bar in Manhattan. Even geeky Cloaked types need to raise the roof once in a while.

Honest Review: The Bible Archive
I give an honest review of a good friend's site.

TFTM 20th
When my favorite animated movie from my childhood gets a 20th anniversary DVD, I regress 20 years and embrace the origins of my geekhood.

MCF vs. Change
I have trouble with change. I don't make a big change and buy a house, but I do manage a small one that gets me out the door a little more quickly in the morning.(It didn't last)

Words About Bond: Part VIII
I finally finish a series covering 24 movies about the world's greatest fictitious British spy.

PBW: Montauk Heroes
I team up with B13 and we take our cameras as far East as possible by car.

Thanksgiving Begins Royale
I'm grateful for things both material and immaterial.

More Dream Casting
As I've done before, I take two cartoons, and list which actors I'd like to see appear in a live action version.

My Punishment
My punishment for buying a bad comic book movie, albeit one on sale, is having to watch a bad comic book movie.

Let's Go to 100 Movies!
I'd only seen 83 of The Top 100 Movies of All Time, though I'd soon remedy that.

MCF's Perilous!
It's the landmark first “episode” of the most popular game I came up with last year!

HottieZ
Which actress do I find the most attractive? Um...all of them?


DECEMBER, 2006

From Etiquette to a Stakeout.
My parents argue etiquette while I stake out an empty lot at night for trespassers. Both events demonstrate that I inherited my common sense from my father.

Reality vs. Expectation
Though I didn't know it at the time, this would be the last Christmas party I'd attend at my old company. It's a good thing then that I was partially caught on a digital camera, to document the occasion.

Two Much in One
My uncle moves, my mom loots, and our house begins to get crowded.

Far Too Soon
Cancer claims the life of a former co-worker far too soon, leaving a little girl without a mother and a husband without a wife.

Beta Blocker
After putting off change as long as possible, especially while my archives needed tweaking from a redesign, I finally upgrade the Nexus.

newuniversal
A comic book subdivision from the late ‘80s gets a fresh new treatment. I still have to pick up a trade paperback of that...

Phantasmic Links 12.18.06
Sarcasmo, a fellow blogger and a source of great links, is taken from her family and her readers suddenly by a pulmonary embolism.

I blame Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin...show killer?

Creative Surge
Sometimes I discover creativity in adversity, in feeling pressure to prove myself.

MCF's Year in Review 2K6
I choose my favorite shows, posts, and more from 2006.

MCF's 2006
I take one last look back at my 2006, the goals I set, and the things I accomplished. I also made this fate-challenging comment: ”I started my current job at the very beginning of the year 2000, so as of now I've survived for SEVEN years. It hardly seems that long, and at the end of every [year] I'm aware that, maybe for better or maybe for worse, I'm still employed.” 2007 read that line and thought, “O RLY? lol111!”


JANUARY, 2007

PBW: DisOriented
A solo road trip out East leads to a remarkable grounded discovery. You never know what you're going to see when you glance over while waiting at a traffic light.

The Art of Getting Rich
Some people turn online hobbies into their main source of income; others write about those people.

Dead Mouse Tale
A dead mouse brings quite a scare when I'm not sure if the problem is something more serious. It does get me to think about a back up hard drive, though months would pass before I made that purchase.

Who Am MCF?
“I am me.”

Sweet Sorrow
My mom didn't keep all of her family's old things when my uncle moved, but I understand how hard it was for her to decide which things to sell. In another 30 years, I'll probably go through the same thing.

In Case Anyone Careys...
I check on the whereabouts from the cast of one of my favorite sitcoms.

A Karaoke Adventure
A reunion with an old high school buddy leads to my triumphant return to karaoke.

Revisiting 202 Movies
After about 2 months, I caught up with the movies I missed on that Top 100, only to remember another 102 Essential Movies. Even with overlap between the two lists, I had a ways to go on that second one, and I still do. There just aren't enough free hours in the day...

I'm a Mac.
Why do I use the computers I use?

Hitting the Ceiling
After a mediocre annual performance review, I struggle with the assessment that just doing my job isn't enough. My boss told me I needed to do more and make 2007 “special”. I really did try, and after many extra hours and extra (uncredited) projects, the lesson I would learn months later is that when you've done all you can and there's no place left to go, it's time to go someplace else. Even though everything worked out great, I probably should have been the one deciding when I left...

The Light is a Train
The process of clearing out my uncle's house seems unending, especially when my mom starts bringing home sentimental rocks...


FEBRUARY, 2007

Belated Sequels
The shortest month of the year begins with a hypothetical look at the sequels that might have been, or might yet be...

He-Men and Mooninites
A cartoon from my youth doesn't stand the test of time, and a present day cartoon leads to a bomb scare.

Like Riding a Bike
I reminisce about my lost pastime of bicycle riding, because we're still cleaning out my uncle's house and come across a bike.

PBW: A Fair Day
There's a lot of landmarks in New York I've passed but never visited, and I finally take my camera to one of the more glaringly missed nearby attractions.

Sending Out
The brain processes thoughts by a series of electrical impulses. Can we send these impulses out and connect with others? Does some kind of spark actually transfer during eye contact? And most importantly, ”Do joo boat?”

A store that Ruehls.
At the mall, a store cleverly resembling a New York City apartment, exterior and interior, draws my attention.

Belated Spinoffs
In the spirit of Belated Sequels, I look at potential spinoffs for old television series.

Pillow Made of Concrete
I complain about the ice and snow, about being one of the few people to work a full day and having to chisel my way into my car. I leave my keys in the car with it running. I realize I shouldn't complain, because there are people with worse hardships, especially on such days.

Blobs
I visit classic movies about all-consuming amorphous shapes terrorizing cities. Some are better than others.

Each Day
Chipping ice leads to a swollen elbow, and an arm that wouldn't straighten out for days. Fortunately my unprecedented condition struck me over a weekend.

2006 Myclofigs
I predict which movies will win awards, even though I had yet to see all of them. I'm still catching up on some of these; for example, I only saw Pan's Labyrinth last week. Again, there aren't enough hours...

PBW: Sunday at the Con
I walk away from the New York ComiCon with some great photos and video, and some Incredible prizes!


MARCH, 2007

Nothing Trumps Blogging
Will a new video game cut into my writing time? Only if the game actually works...

Exercise in the Weird
Among the weird: a DVD arrives that's not what I expected, and at a birthday party, work friends discover my secret identity as a drunken singing fool.

Mighty Weapons
I choose ten weapons I'd love to wield from the pages of my favorite comic books.

This is SPARTA!
I'll give you 300 guesses as to which movie I'm referring to with that title.

Band Back Together
It's the start of a new band season! See you in October, weekends!

Bumper Cars and Stuff
In a dream, I take a date for a ride on bumper cars made of melting ice. What's the deal with my brain?

MCF's Visual DNA
It's graphic, but not like that, and gives a pretty accurate portrait of who I am.

Evil Lord Villifarous
I decide to take up drawing again, with lukewarm results. Someday I'll try again.

Hidden Places
The discovery of a hidden diner in the vicinity of a job where I'd spent over 7 years prompts memories of other hidden discoveries.

"Kick 'im to the Side!"
I list my favorite sidekicks.

The Ultimate To-Do List
I have a lot left to accomplish in my life, and I list the majority of things, notably “finish updating my resume”, because while I had a job at the time, I started to hear rumors to the contrary.

MCF Might Know
I always answer people's questions, and when I don't have answers, I always try to find them, both to be helpful and to gain knowledge for myself. I tried turning it into a regular feature, but thus far have only written one post under that theme.

Welker vs. Weaving
When a celebrity lands a voice role for a character in a live-action cartoon adaptation instead of the original voice actor, I ponder what impact it will have. Would the movie still be good? I need not have worried.


APRIL, 2007

Baby Steps
I realize that the best way to succeed with any goal is to break it down into a series of much smaller goals. It's a great technique and it works.

PBW: Guns 'n' Gulls 'n' Ridin'
“This isn't dangerous.”

When I Cry
I'm man enough to admit which movies put something in my eye, and why.

Belated Sequels Balboa
It's the inevitable sequel to a post about fake sequels, and does about as well as any of those sequels would do in the theater.

A Week of Family
A relative visits from out of state, and leaves an impression on one of our neighbors.

Blogroll Villains.
Blogroll Villains: Gang Two
Blogroll Villains: Gang Three
In 2006 I reimagined my fellow bloggers as comic book Heroes. In 2007 I explored their dark sides.

Risks
It's an exercise in risk management as I survive another round of paintball only to encounter a very animate metal rod on the expressway.

A Quiet Kid
A loner with guns and a college campus collide in senseless tragedy. A few weeks ago someone was apprehended with a rifle at my old school, thankfully before something like this happened again.

PBW: Stand by MCF
A trip to a dog show with B13 inevitably leads to deserted trails, bullet holes, carcasses, and farm animals.

The Calls
My old school really wants me to send them another $20. I'd be more sympathetic if the persistent phone calls weren't so obnoxious.

Nobodies
I relate to a double feature of films chronicling underground comic book professionals.


MAY, 2007

VOTE MCF
I attempt to bribe readers with promises of my real face in exchange for winning a blog award. I never came close to winning.

First Black Costume
The first place I saw one of my favorite heroes in his black costume probably wasn't the first place most people did.

Spidey 3
I see Spider-man 3 and get to see a live version of that aforementioned black costume.

Blogroll Villains: Gang Four
Blogroll Villains: Gang Five
Blogroll Villains: Gang Six
I conclude my series, begun a month prior, depicting fellow bloggers as comic book villains.

Underdogs
I go through my five favorite underdogs, and while it does seem like I did a lot of memes last year, I'd like to think I was selective and picked topics that gave readers more insight into their host. As a self-proclaimed underdog, it's important for me to see how people rise above limitations.

In the Hospital
My mom comes down with pneumonia, and begins a week-long stay in the hospital.

Sugar Water
As my mom remains in the hospital, my dad and I feel her absence.

PBW: Nebulous
In what would become my last fringe benefit at my old job, I attend an exclusive science fiction awards dinner as a guest of my editors.

The Inevitable Eight
Whether you needed to know them or not, I reveal 8 random facts about myself.

Casting MCF
If they were to make a television show about me, which actor would get the lead role? The answer changes depending on the genre.

For a Friend.
To save a furry friend, I run barefoot into the night.

Change, it has to come...
After learning my position was to be eliminated at the end of three months, I wrestled with the idea of putting blogging on hold while I searched for a new job. Then I saw how close I was to 1,000 consecutive posts, and knew I couldn't stop. ...”if I seem to be slacking off with my posts, hopefully it means I'm devoting more time to becoming awesome in another area of my life.” I would soon take some important steps in my career, though I couldn't write about any of it at the time.

PBW: Another Air Show
If it's May, I must be at an air show! I continue an annual tradition for the third time, and get great photos to remember the experience. Meanwhile, my sunblock wore off and between the shade of an umbrella and my sneakers, my ankles were exposed. Six months later and the burn is still fading.

ReRocked.
I lost my job. I severely burned my ankles. My mom landed in the hospital. 2007 wasn't off to a great start, but when a New York radio station returned to playing rock music again and abandoned a foolish all-talk format, I knew I was at a turning point.


JUNE, 2007

Sharkcicles
Futuristic worlds and cryogenically preserved sea life prove my dreams occasionally outdo all the movies I watch.

Getting Hot in Here.
Is the world getting hotter, or have modern conveniences like air conditioning lowered our tolerance for the heat?

A Perfect Fit
”After seven and a half years, I decided to update my portfolio.” I left out the reason why I was doing so at the time, and instead focused on all the pieces I needed to put together. I lucked out with the replacement sheets for my binder, but it would take two tries to get the right RAM to upgrade my computer, also crucial in my situation.

Exchanging Words
I get the right RAM, upgrade my machine, then relax by upgrading my vocabulary.

Strate Troo
One of the band leaders I work for hails from Brooklyn, and sounds like it. With traffic, I can't always drive “strate troo” to a job.

Revisiting Akira
Once I watched a poor quality VHS version, but I finally saw one of the greatest works of Japanese animation properly, on DVD. It's even better without static.

That Sort of Thing
A Summer sequel to a superhero team movie might not make everyone's list, but even with a few minor criticisms I found it fun.

Shining Flight
Lorna brings back her creative Blog Party theme: armed with 20 words, I incorporate them into a story of my own design.

TV Dads
My dad rocks, and I examine some equally qualified fathers from television shows.

Phantasmic Links 6.25.07
Before posting the weekly links, I bid farewell to another weekly staple as my pastor says his final mass before moving to a new parish.

Live Easy
I live a pretty easy life when you compare it to how my daily rituals would play out in a big budget Summer action extravaganza

Timing is Everything
I work late on a Friday, and walk into an empty gym when they close early due to Summer hours. A few days later, I drive a coworker whose car is in the shop, and he returns the favor by urging me to leave work and get to the gym on time, later sharing an anecdote I'd never heard about some of my father's mechanic friends.


JULY, 2007

I have to say...
An interesting weekend includes a movie, a first birthday celebration for a friend's little girl, a pair of ride moochers, a gig, and a severed pig's head, not necessarily in that order.

How Was Your Fourth?
A national holiday brings a parade, fireworks, and a “slow” friend.

Whorenelli for President
On my landmark 1,000th Post, I declare my campaign for President of My Corner of the Blogosphere. Empty promises work for only for real politicians.

Cloverfield Viral
The mere mention of a mysterious trailer in one of my videos yields an unexpected plethora of hits.

Mental Deception
Our mind can often fool our senses.

Summer Travels
I get hooked on a short-lived Summer series.

Hey There Delilah
Write a song about her and win her heart, right? Wrong. Even rock stars don't always get the girl.

Curt Blogger and the Order of the Phoenix
Curt would write more if he weren't so busy making movies...

Busiest Weekend
By mid-July, many people lounge on beaches and relax in air conditioned movie theaters. For this musician, it's the time I work the most.

Phantasmic Links 7.16.07
Busy though I may be, I feel a moral obligation to alert the world to the Worst Bus Driver Ever before posting my weekly links.

Flood of Patience
Long Island gets hit with an insane amount of rain. The hour commute I faced was nothing compared to those who took up to five hours, or those who didn't make it in at all. With cars under water, and part of one building flooded, I was in the minority of people who got any work done.

Fat Penguin; Sad Pigeon
A cute conversation starter is useless in a tight parking space, and a suicidal pigeon gets a second chance.

You Can't Stay Here
Most people finish their service to my company a month before I did, and while I expect their last day to invoke a bigger happy hour, I'm bummed out when everyone takes off ridiculously early. With the sun still shining, I head home to type out my thoughts and feelings.

Sights and Sounds
Twice a year, I take three trains to play Italian songs in New Jersey. The July gig is shorter than the one in September, but it's still a long, tiring day.

My Dentist Rocks
I'd like to think three cavities in 32 years isn't bad, but it was nice being cavity-free for over 25 years. With the dentist I have, my third filling is nothing to worry about.


AUGUST, 2007

One of these things....
...Is Not Like the Other
A popular segment from a childhood show inspires a similar game. In each group of four, one does not belong.

Statue of Limitations
People at a religious gathering are surprisingly, sadly, pushy and selfish.

MCF's COMMON I
A variation on that game of four yields yet another regular feature for the Nexus. Now I ask readers to guess what the items in each quartet have in common.

I'm a Winner
When B13 names me as the winner of a “Courageous Blogger Award, I have no choice but to hand out some awards and honorable mentions to some of my favorite fellow bloggers.

Happystance
Knowing from experience that rough times give way eventually to better ones, I felt ready to face an impending job change, even as a friend starting another job a week before I was had anxiety already. Happiness isn't about what we have or don't have; it's simply our attitude about the way things are.

Are Cartoons for Kids?
Animated DVDs are aimed at me, unlike the majority of animation on television today.

Bad Advice
I have some fun making up bad advice. I live by the exact opposite of #9, I unfortunately really do heed #6, and if I'd followed #5 I wouldn't be where I am today.

After 5 AM
I end my longest run with any company, 7.5 years, with several consecutive happy hours. A British girl teaches a smooth friend of mine a thing or two about foreign tongues, and I'm just happy hanging out with people until the sun comes up.

Career Tracks 6: Live Free or Balboa
If you didn't know me in real life, you'd have to have really read between the lines to know that I'd lost my job. Between bands, blogging, and continuing to work full time thanks to a generous three month's notice from my former employer, I somehow managed to get my act together and find a new job. It wasn't until I officially made the transition that I could write about any of it, playing it safe even though I'd never mention my name nor the name of any company I worked for. Things are getting busier now that I've been there almost two months, but it's going very well. That's as much as I'll say about that.

Plague
Maybe I partied too hard, or stopped exercising too abruptly. Maybe it was just the change of season, or something was going around. Maybe some girls from England brought a bug with them. Whatever the cause, after a long healthy streak I found myself with a bad cold.

Waspinators
It doesn't seem that long ago that giant wasps were killing locusts and burying them in huge holes on our front lawn. Now leaves are falling, birds are flying South, and I barely remember the last time I saw a wasp or touched a lawnmower.

Rey's College Observations
In cleaning out my cubicle, I find 120 observations a good friend typed up back in college, and immediately put them on the internet.

I Knew Everything
One of my favorite actors, seemingly a happy and carefree character, nearly kills himself. Along with many people, I wonder why someone would do something like that.


SEPTEMBER, 2007

MCF's Random Observations
Inspired by Rey's college observation, I spend a week keeping track of 50 observations of my own.

Lunch Quest
My biggest concern about starting a new job in a new town is where I'm going to eat lunch each day.

Roll Over Whorenelli
Before I can even BEGIN the process of rolling my funds into a new 401K plan, I have to endure a long and humorous process of proving my identity.

At the Sound of the Beep
I love my answering machine, and before heading to New Jersey for a whole day, I reminisce about my experiences with this great device.

Father of the Year
When my band leader's son turns his back once more on a son he hadn't acknowledged for nine years, I'm baffled, sad, and a little angry.

Out of Shape
Without my old company's gym, I begin to revert to my pudgy ways.

The Right Track
An astonishingly accurate test shows that I'm doing what I'm suited to do, career-wise.

Screw This
The process of hanging a new gate takes up an entire weekend when the rotted stump of a post proves impossible to dig out completely. At least the rusty nail I scratched my arm with repeatedly didn't cause any serious problems.

Closed Door Genesis
Thanks to a DVD special feature, I finally learn the chain of events that led to the death of one of the world's most popular super heroes.

Lunch Rewards
In the same month I wrote about looking for new places to eat and worrying about gaining weight, I apparently also wrote about all the food places I found. In hindsight I see patterns.

Cloakfest 2K7
I announce the biggest Cloakfest yet, and we're right in the middle of it!

24: The MCFiles
24 hours of my life are mostly dull between sleep and office work, but a visit to the city after hours is a lot more interesting, especially when people I know do things I never thought I'd see.

Blogroll Hero Logos
The newest Nexus feature lets me play with type while imagining my favorite blogs with comic book logo treatments.

Stick With It
When I feel like giving up, I draw inspiration from those much older than me. When that doesn't work, I depend on my trusty list to keep my forward momentum, even when I store it on shaky software.


OCTOBER, 2007

PBW: Puppy Power
I'll may always be a cat person, but a friend's litter of 10 puppies reminds me that every animal is cute when it's small.

Not So Bad
My dad wakes me up at 9:30 AM on a Saturday for a parade at noon, but our band leader wakes his family up at 3:30 AM for that same job. I have nothing to complain about.

PBW: Revelations III
In the third most revealing post in Nexus history, I (sort of) reveal where I used to work, (sort of) what I look like, and in reading my very first post, (sort of) what I sound like. The fun is just starting!


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Cloakfest 2K7 continues tomorrow when I guess the COMMON bonds of (hopefully) reader-submitted lists of 4, and concludes Saturday when I explore the outcome of last year's predictions and debut the lightning fast OmniPerilous!