T.I.L.T. Things I've Learned Thursday III

Things I've Learned Thursday returns for a third time! This feature collects a series of arbitrary information, mostly trivial, that's come to my attention recently.

* A truck for Big Brothers Big Sisters is apparently not obligated to come to a full stop at a stop sign, at least not for a tubby 33-year-old pedestrian desperately racing for the safety of the opposite curb. If I was a wayward youth perhaps the driver would have stopped.

* I always thought Warren Worthington III, the Angel, was one of the weaker Marvel mutants. With light bones, exceptional eyesight, and wings on his back, he was basically a man with the proportionate abilities of a bird. When he'd try to blend in with normal humans he'd have to strap the wings to his body or wear a giant backpack with an open lining. The character went through a radical redesign when Louise and Walt Simonson were writing and drawing the original X-Factor. His friends and teammates thought he perished in a plane explosion, but his death was actually faked by the villain Apocalypse. Angel was transformed into Death, one of Apocalypse's horseman, his skin turned blue and his wings replaced with razor sharp metal ones. His feathers, laced with a paralyzing toxin, could be hurled like blades. His offensive capabilities were greatly increased as was his coolness factor, and once he shook off Apocalypse's brainwashing he eventually rejoined his friends as Archangel. For some reason a few years later, subsequent writers would revert Warren to his original appearance and abilities. I think the reason why Ben Foster has played a freak and/or sociopath in every role I've seen him in since X-Men: The Last Stand is to make people forget his wussy turn as the Angel. Apparently comic book creators came to a similar realization, and Archangel is finally BACK. Comic book stories tend to be cyclical, a fact that made it easier for me to quit after 8 years collecting. I still like to peek in to that world from the sidelines of the internet to find out about developments like this.

* I find it very challenging to summarize, often supplying more information than necessary. Brevity is the soul of everyone who isn't me.

* When I was a little boy and my mom controlled the radio, we'd often listen to an AM station that played a lot of Sinatra, Dorsey, Darin, and the like. Between that and the songs I'd go on to play with concert bands in school, I developed a secret love for jazz and big band music that wasn't fully suppressed until I reached high school and first heard Nirvana's Nevermind and Metallica's Black Album. Those albums and Pink Floyd: The Wall greatly shaped my musical taste, which would be rounded out with a sprinkle of rap and hip hop when I reached college. These days, I'm predominantly a K-Rock listener, but a Glenn Miller CD that I got from one of my band friends has reminded me of my musical roots. Besides putting me in a calm and clear state of mind behind the wheel, I found myself humming Chattanooga Choo Choo, Moonlight Serenade and Little Brown Jug throughout the day, and couldn't be more WHITE. I may need to dig up my Enter the Wu for my next commute, just to restore balance.

* To avoid getting something nasty with your meal, consider that fast food workers are always right. Also, deviating from the numbered meals and ordering items individually seems to universally create chaos akin to crossing the streams of a proton pack.

* That skittering sound you hear in your room in the dark of night? That's not Mr. Marbles.

* Casey Affleck can act. I'd say it runs in the family, but...you know.

* One of my favorite delis has added burgers to their menu. Ordering a bacon swiss cheeseburger with curly fries from a deli probably isn't healthier than ordering that anywhere else, but it is fun trying to get all that plus a bottle of Arizona tea from the counter to a table without a tray.

* The gym alongside the road leading to my office must be some kind of TARDIS, larger on the inside than it is on the outside. It's been nearly a year since I changed jobs, and I've tried to compensate in vain for the lack of a company gym in my new office. I gave up running in place after work after two weeks. I looked at treadmills and realized there was absolutely no room in my house for anything that size. Finally, when I developed a general sense of malaise from poor eating habits and lack of exercise, I started walking on my lunch hour and cut down drastically on my fast food intake. As the thermometer rises, I'm lucky if I can get from my car to the office without turning into a greasy ball of sweat. So, on the recommendation of one of my friends at work, I stopped by the gym on Wednesday night. It's an amazing facility, with individual televisions mounted on every cardio machine, every weight imaginable, a sauna, a juice bar, personal trainers, a black lit spin class room, and even a day care facility. $65 a month is about $40 more than my old gym cost, but that place was a fraction of the size with a fraction of the equipment, and the convenience was the main selling point there. The price is reasonable compared to other facilities, plus I believe our health plan offers a year-end reimbursement if we prove that we go to the gym regularly. Soon I'll be back on a treadmill, and I'll learn what nearly 10 months of inactivity has done to my endurance. Wish me luck...

Tune in next Thursday for the secrets or minutia of the universe!