I have a bird living in my mailbox. It's home isn't in the actual box but in the little newspaper chute below the box that no one ever uses. At first it was kind of cute. Not so much anymore.

Retrieving the mail now results in two scenarios. Usually the bird will fly out just as I'm opening the mailbox causing me to jump three feet in the air. No matter how hard I prepare myself having something fly out at me kind of freaks me out. The second and less appealing situation has the bird already out of the box as I approach, which decides I'm getting a little too close for comfort and starts diving at my head. In either case I'm sure my neighbors find my antics highly amusing.

cravipat escaped the blue labyrinth long enough to write this.

2 adventurers found their way to the golden castle.

Words uncovered in the catacombs : oddities

The human brain is an amazing tool. It's capable of solving the most complex problems or creating beautiful works of art or any other number of wondrous feats. I use mine to catalog old commercials. Truthfully I was unaware of this special ability until recently when a toy dinosaur managed to unleash a flood of Little Caesars, a now (mostly) defunct pizza chain, commercials from my mind's dark depths.

Like Wendy's "Where's The Beef?" commercials from a few years earlier, Little Caesars ran a bunch of spots that instead of focusing on promoting their own product made fun of the competition. The ads usually featured a bland looking pizza store who's deals didn't match up to the two for one deal the little guy in the toga was always chanting about ("pizza, pizza"). One of the ads in particular stands out.

A customer comes in and asks the person behind the counter if he can get two pizzas for the price of one. The clerk responds that he can get a pizza and a box. The confused customer asks what he's supposed to do with a box. The clerk asks if he's ever heard of origami. There's another shot of the even more confused customer while the sounds of a box being folded are heard. We cut back to the clerk who is now holding some sort of cardboard bird. "What's that," the customer asks. "It's a pterodactyl," is the cheerful response. The part that makes the spot so great are the sounds the clerk makes when he's playing with the dinosaur while the customer makes his escape. Rawh, rawh.

There were quite a few spots staring the drab pizza place, but that one is probably my favorite. This is the point where I'd direct you to someplace where you could download the ad for yourself. Unfortunately even with the power of the internet at my disposal I still haven't uncovered it. Until then I'll just have to depend on the catalog in my head.

cravipat escaped the blue labyrinth long enough to write this.

3 adventurers found their way to the golden castle.

Words uncovered in the catacombs : commercials, food

The landscape of children's literature has changed a lot since I've read about a feline in headgear. A large portion of it still feels familiar but those old friends have been joined by some new and somewhat strange neighbors, such as Pirates! With a title like that and being shaped like an actual pirate, my curiosity couldn't resist a quick peek.

The title is a pretty good summary. It's a book about pirates, I mean, pirates! It contains all the information a toddler may need if they have to write a report on pirates(!). Why they need to write a report and who assigned it is anyone's guess. I on the other hand learned that pirates kept cats on their ships to kill rats and one of their weapons of choice was a cutlass. In addition the invention of the steam engine forced them all to find new jobs, I believe as used car dealers or telemarketers.

In summary it seems no topic is too far fetched for a children's book. I can't wait for the sequel, Ninjas!

cravipat escaped the blue labyrinth long enough to write this.

4 adventurers found their way to the golden castle.

Words uncovered in the catacombs : books

When two of your favorite things come together it should be a magical moment, like those old Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups commercials, so I'm not really sure what to think when I read something like this.

While I'd find it hard to argue that more of Jason Lee is a bad thing, my inner child is a bit wary of having one of its fond memories brought back to life as a live action movie. Mix the two together and I'm starting to have a bad feeling about the whole thing. That may be because I keep picturing Underdog saying, "Sometimes - not often, but sometimes - I like the idea of a chick with a horse."

P.S. My last name is not Lee.

cravipat escaped the blue labyrinth long enough to write this.

2 adventurers found their way to the golden castle.

Words uncovered in the catacombs : movies