I got a new hero

So a couple of trips to New YAWK ago my Gilfriend Teresa's oldest child, her son Thomas, was browsing YOUTUBE for World of Warcraft videos and he came upon one that made everyone in the house laugh like gibbering boobs for hours. The song was CODE MONKEY by a guy I never heard of.

Now you have to understand that I have been accused of being a NERD or a GEEK on occasion. When I was growing up (back when we rode dinosaurs to school) being called such a thing was an insult, a taunt, a gybe. It was grounds for running out and hiding behind the backstop for a jolly good cry.

(OK I was a SENSITIVE KID as well, a combination that made it simpler for all involved for me to carry around a rubber hammer for the other kids to smack me with. I was also considerate...or stupid)

Anyway with the advent of the digital age...(I hate using buzzwords so let me get a grip for a sec)...it was inevitable that I wound up working in computers. I mean hell, my Mom was a UNIVAC programmer and I was the only kid in the third grade with a pocket protector (which was still cool back then). When I was starting out as an artist in science fiction fandom it naturally followed that I wound up hanging out with engineers and scientists.

Yes...in a word of Nerds I naturally hung out with the ALPHA NERDS. I have strong herd instincts. This was helped along by meeting my life long PAL Gordon Garb, one of the most intelligent and mysterious people I have ever known. It also led to sleeping on a CRAY computer, getting called out of a KILLER Thair meal so Garb could wade knee deep in muck to clear the filter of a shipping ontainer that had been converted to part of the air conditioning unit of said CRAY. It led to conversations with Robert Foreward about containing Fusion Plasma in bottles of crystalized Hydrogen molecules (he was funded to study that, I complemented him on the quality of his waistcoat as it was the closest I get to sounding like we were in the same conversation). The thing is that I have had all these REALLY COOL incidents in my life and my earlier playground instincts (re: being a NERD) have kept me from rolling in them like a dog in wet grass.

That is why I have to thank Jonathan Colton for supplying me with an anthem in CODE MONKEY. It helped me through the horror of my last gig with Mattel toys and discovering his work (and reading about his taking control of his life to become what HE wanted to be rather than what he had happened upon). He has made it hip to be a nerd. His music is folky at times and at other times...it's not. He writes love songs to Fractals and Christmas Cards from the enslaved minions of Robot Overlords (I mean protectors).

To all of you who have ever worked in CUBICLE WORLD, I defy you to NOT identify with Tom in RE: Your Brains . Personally I can see a former producer speaking those words, usually on a Friday night just before I am suppose to get into my Subaru for the 3 hour commute home through San Francisco.

...or maybe he was just asking me to work that weekend? Oh well, same thing I guess.