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Khee! Yeah, many of y’all out there know that the story known pretty much as K5 (or as I call it, K5 Through Infinity) has been in progress now for well over two years. It’s been quite an experience on both sides of the blue and black line. As Brian explained, there’s no pre-planning, no conferencing, no outlining. We just let the characters out and chaos reins supreme. For myself it’s been a rewarding challenge and a great opportunity to watch some new “blue” characters grow.

Speaking of “blue” characters, y’all may recognize that Atlanta skyline photo in Brian’s blog as the same that was used in a wallpaper design I made that was influenced by Jack.

I say K5 Through Infinity because I think we can easily make it K5, K6 and probably even K7. Maybe even a K8. Yeah, the thing is that freakin’ huge.  Even with writing around jobs and various responsibilities, we’ve churned out a respectable length of manuscript. And y’all would probably appreciate the story broken up into manageable pieces!

Of course, part of the reason for the length is because I got all these cops, Feds, cops, district attorneys, cops, gangsters, cops, assassins, cops, Feds and cops runnin’ around in this thing that the ratio of good guys to bad guys has gotta be, I dunno, three to one? And the story threads just keep going and going and going. Where Brian is at a rare moment of indecision, I’m amazed by the fact that I’ve been able to keep things straight this far into the game and tie a lot of this stuff together. He says I have skill. I appreciate the praise, tho’ I’m more apt to call it dumb luck. Heh!

Meantime, since I managed to cause Brian to vapor lock on what he should do next in the story (and no, we’re not exactly near the end quite yet – maybe in a couple more years. Khee!), I expect the potshots on the blogs here will continue. C’mon, cousin, hit me with yer best shot…

Max…well?

This is in response to Brian’s blog from August 5th.

I dunno who’s blog he could be referring to with the potential name change, but Brian is notorious for his coffee and cigarette habits. I’m not sure what brand of coffee and cigarettes he prefers but to go with the Maxwell House coffee displayed on his blog, I think I’ve found the perfect brand of cigarettes…

Light ‘em if you got ‘em…

I was screen capping some stuff for the Rockford Files awhile back and happened to catch this scene from the episode “The Dark and Bloody Ground.” Jim’s in the blue car that’s making the turn (he’s supposed to be in Arizona). What caught my eye was the gas prices at the Union76 station behind him.

 Wow huh? Fifty-seven freakin’ cents! And that was 1974…during the first oil/fuel crisis following the OPEC embargo of ’73.  Of course, the difference between then and now is that it wasn’t so much that gas was outrageously expensive, it’s that it was in extremely short supply. We have yet to experience the 2008 version of gas rationing and waiting in line at the gas station to fill up on even or odd days only based on your license plate number. I ain’t sure which is worse, the $4 a gallon gas we pay now, or having to endure a true fuel shortage and I’m not sure I want to experience the shortage to find out.

Also interesting to note that, given my previous Screen Cap O’ The Week featured Bill Maxwell from The Greatest American Hero, the street that Jim is turning onto is…Palmdale Ave.

So I’m reading my Sunday morning newspaper this morning and mixed in with the usual stories of human misery and suffering was this uplifting announcement:

“Settlement Will Reduce Carcinogens in Potato Chips.”

Okay, let’s agree on something right now. ALL food is bad for us. In fact, here’s a sobering statistic: 100% of all people who eat food will die.

Now we got that out of the way, here’s a tip on living dangerously. Eat potato chips. They contain a chemical which can cause cancer.

Yes, cancer.

Crap. I never knew this and never would have guessed in a million years that an innocent little potato chip would be exposing me to cancer. I’ve been eating this junk for years! Currently, I probably have a serving or so of chips 4 or 5 times a week between lunches and suppers. There was no warning of this on my bag of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips. All I ever read was how they use sunflower oil and have no trans fat. All happy stuff.

Great, just when I was feeling good about not increasing my risk of dying from some kind of cardiac ailment I’ve instead been exposing myself to a cancer causing agent for probably the last, oh I dunno….25 years?!

This article, unfortunately, does not say how many bags of chips you would have to eat to basically give yourself cancer, so as the consumer we’re left to wonder if it’s 27 chips or 27 bags. The cancer causing chemical, Acrylamide, forms naturally when starchy foods are baked or fried. As the article states, the chemical also has an industrial use and has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals and contribute to nerve damage to workers who were exposed to high levels.

What exactly would be considered a high level of exposure in regards to potato chips, the article doesn’t state. Thus, the next time I open a bag of chips I’ll be left to wonder and will pause for a moment to relish in my moment of living dangerously.

*crunch* Mmm…I didn’t know cancer could taste so good.