Phantasmic Links 8.30.10

This was a rough weekend. The guy who bought the warehouse next door to my dad's lot refused multiple times to remove or replace his crumbling fence, even though it was put up by the previous owner and not us. When my dad was eventually forced to have a code enforcer make him take it down or risk a fine, the guy struck back twice, first with the same code enforcer sending us a citation for excess vegetation, then with a summons regarding a retaining wall that's failing. Mind you, this wall is a stack of 3 railroad ties that flank both sides of the driveway to the warehouse, and are clearly on his property, but he's saying the wall on our side is our responsibility. So now my folks are looking into having a survey done, which will then allow a lawyer to defend us once it proves the wall isn't on our side. Meanwhile, not wanting to risk further escalation, both my folks and I spent a total of over ten hours doing major weeding, filling dozens of bags. The place looks pretty clean now, certainly better than the dumpsters and landscaper trucks parked in this guy's driveway.

I did escape my labors for a few hours on Saturday night to watch some UFC matches with my friends at a Hooters, which was an interesting experience. Flatscreen televisions all over the place aired the fights, while one friend got an extremely positive reception from our waitress. He's a professor at our old college, and she turned out to be one of our students. After she jumped up and down shrieking, I casually asked my friend if he knew her or if that was a standard practice. I of course knew of the chain, but never actually ate at one. The beer was good, the nachos were good, the waitresses were attractive, and I don't know what meat was on the nachos but it wasn't steak. So the experience was mostly positive. Occasionally, things happened to remind me of how old I am, like when the waitress told us she couldn't drink while working and wasn't 21 yet anyway. Also, she mentioned at one point that they did have an “old” waitress who was 30 but she was still hot. It was said with such incredulity, like anyone over 30 was instantly a senior citizen. I remember thinking that way, and in a sobering moment realized that my friends and I may have reached the same age that a lot of our professors were back when they taught us. Getting old is rough, although as I struggled on Sunday on 3 or 4 hours sleep to continue my landscaping responsibilities, I had to admire my parents. Sure, they were feeling the heat, but they were working a lot harder than I was. Someday, the waitresses of Hooters might realize that three old guys in a booth watching some fights weren't as old as they thought. That day will come fifteen years from now, and those 15 years will fly. None of us think that far ahead though, at least I don't, so I'm not even thinking about my 40s or people who are 40 and over now. I'm thinking about PHANTASMIC LINKS, and about the major sunburn I got while doing yardwork. But mostly about the links:

(1) A Texas state fair served fried....BEER?! Urge to overcome resistance to travel...rising.

(2) This just in: People don't really like unselfish colleagues. Hmm....

(3) ”Hot Nerds Reading Comics” is exactly what it sounds like.

(4) Nike may be making the Air-Mag sneaker featured in Back to the Future II. That's all well and good, but I'm still waiting for someone to invent a working hoverboard. The future is NOW, people!

(5) Here is an excellent response to a political ad which implies reading comics is a negative side effect that could result in a loss of teachers.

(6) Meanwhile, I totally missed Read Comics in Public Day! It's a good thing those uneducated kids were there....

(7) Together is a peaceful little journey through the stratosphere, to the depths of the ocean, to space, to anywhere this couple can fly. Collect hearts; avoid the beast....

(8) I'm sure everyone has seen the Bed Intruder Song which remixed a serious newscast in hilarious and awesome ways, but I don't think I ever linked to it, so here it is.

(9) Jamie Roberts is an artist with a pretty excellent take on superheroes, using vector art.

(10) You knew it had to happen: Robot Wants Fishy! I would think this is the last in a trilogy, but I haven't played this one through to the end yet...

Have a link to a game, movie, article, or anything else you think might be “phantasmic”? E-mail me and it just might appear in an upcoming PHANTASMIC LINKS!