Big hair & bigger kudos...

I want to personally thank JLR2 for growing the big hair and giving me something fun to draw without the need to hark back to old memories from the 80's. Kudos to you, Jer. Kudos to your hair!

~S

ps - My oldest daughter saw the photo of me and Jeremy and said, "It looks like you and mommy." No joke.

Four Guys in a Garage do not Make a Band

Who were these four guys?

Avengers, please edit and expand on this.

Brooke, not technically an Avenger, was the "cool" Porsche-driving older brother who played the guitar. Of course now, he's just another adult. But he could play, and is worth mentioning.

Derek rocked on the drums. He is probably the only band member with rhythm.

Ralph played the bass, or did he? We went to the music store and bought him a bass, and I remember him getting a quick lesson from Brooke, but did he actually play it in a garage session? I don't recall.

Jeremy occasionally played along on his horn.

Joel played keyboards, which at the time was an organ that was out of tune. But loud. Very loud.

The last known time the Avengers played together was around 92, at Derek and Joel's church in Sturgis, Michigan. Derek and Joel teamed up on the drums and keyboards to lead worship. Joel still plays today, and released a CD in the summer of 2006. It's unknown whether or not Derek plays drums, Jeremy plays trumpet (he's more into keyboards these days), or Brooke plays guitar.

JLR2

The last time I spoke with Aaron, he seemed displeased that I found pleasure only in sketching JRL3. While on vactation in the Smoky Mountains last week, I broke form and actually sketched somebody else.

North Cove Avengers

I know I've already drawn more pictures of JLR3 than I have anyone else, but I just can't seem to lay off sketching him. He's so...fun to draw.

That's too bad for all you people who are boring to draw.

Maybe if your foreheads were more well-defined and your eyebrows were more wispy, you'd get more doodle-time too.


...oh! And has anyone noticed how thinly chiseled his lips are? I wonder if he has trouble using a straw?

;)

Ideas for church web-portal

Avengers,

Our church has set up a web-portal as a communications tool for members to use. It uses a framework called "DotNetNuke" that allows for a lot of customization by people (like me) with very little technical know-how.

I've been asked to come up with some ideas to make the portal as useful (and fun) as possible (but without a lot of maintenance).

What sort of functions would cause you to visit your church's web portal on a weekly basis?

Verse of the week?
Question of the week?
Deep thoughts?
Prayer request lists?
Recipe sharing?

Please let me know what would interest you.

~S

Size does matter...

http://www.merzo.net/index.html

This site absolutely rocks. It takes a while to load on dial-up, but it's worth it.

Don't you wish we had a resource like this 20 years ago?

~S

Characters Wanted!

Ok...here is the challenge:

Name at least one of your characters in the following games:

Adventure -

Champions -

Top Secret -

Traveller -

Toon -

Boot Hill -

Twilight: 2000 -

Paranoia -

If you get all of them then you are a way better gamer than I!

Word Association

What comes to mind when I mention the following:

Precious

The Building

Karmai

Aaron's Basement

Kudos

An Avenger tends to answer these questions far differently than the general population.

Combined Career Expertise

You know...I was just thinking about how each of us works in different careers and what it would be like to combine all of our knowledge into something useful. I think we could come up with some awesome ideas!

I could locate a great vehicle (Transportation)...
Joel could upgrade the systems in it (Business Services/Computer stuff)...
Shawn could make it look intimidating... (Graphic Artist)
and last but not least...Aaron could arm it....and then drive it!!! (Weapons System Specialist/Forklift driver from Hell-o)

Unless of course you all have a better idea? ;)

Buttwheat

Buttwheat - I remember her well. A gleaming gold 1977 Dodge Charger with 360 cubic inches under her hood. It was my second car in less than a year after I turned 16. (Does anyone remember what my first car was?) Not long after I got her, the upgrades took place.

First were the chrome 15" rims with matching Goodyear wide tires. Mind you, I only put them on the back. I left the stock rims and tires on the front for a good reason. I like to think that I was a bit of a non-conformer back then, but we all know that the real reason was that I spent the rest of my money on Domino's pizzas and silly trinkets for the ladies. (BB, MS, SM - can you name at least one?)

Anyway...back to the car. Not long after the manueverability upgrade came the powerplant. A Holley 650 four-barrel carb was added atop a Eidelbrock aluminum intake manifold to produce a heart stopping 5 horsepower increase! Well at least she sounded smooth with the modified exhaust system (headers and glass packs). I used to love slipping her in neutral underneath the freeway on Upton (where - in the wee hours of the night - many a car was pelted by the flying pyrotechnics of AJB, DCP and some guy named Jon Stewart), thereby scaring the bejeebers out of the otherwise unknowing passers by.

She was a good car she was...and she parked so beautifully on the tarmac of (CCA) - Sylvania, OH. She took the NCA on many missions, including the (Moons Shine Brightly Over Toledo) which resulted in a confiscated BB gun and a good talking to by the Ohio State Police. Does anyone remember the list of passengers that fateful night? Who came up with the name of Buttwheat anyway?

From the North Cove Dictionary: North Cove

North Cove (north-kov): A street in Toledo, OH, location of Derek's house, a major North Cove Avengers headquarters, from whence is derived the group's name. See the map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=north+cove+blvd,+toledo,+oh&btnG=Search&ll=41.675893,-83.581495&spn=0.013174,0.042915

You can see that North Cove passes in front of a section of Jermain Park, where war games and excercises in stealth and subterfuge took place (see vietnam.) The North Cove hideout was accessible by bike or by car (see Buttwheat.) In early NCA history, bikes were the preferred mode of transportation, since few if any of the Avengers could drive. The preferred approach was not to drive around North Cove to the front of the house, but to take side streets from the north, maneuver behind the house via a back alley, then park in the rear driveway.

The North Cove hideout was perfectly situated as a staging area for forays (by bike or on foot) into environs surrounding Jermain and Ottawa parks. The basement proved adequate enough to sleep a large number of teenage guys.

Avengers, maybe this brief description will trigger some other memories of North Cove in particular. Maybe you'd like to fill in some details, or define some of the above terms. (Vietnam, for example, as I wasn't present for the BB gun wars...)

Some trivia (answers below):

1. Which avenger lived the furthest north?
2. Which avenger lived the furthest south?

(1 - Shawn, in Michigan. 2 - Derek, on North Cove.)

Thanks, Joel. You rock.

Does anybody remember exactly how the name "North Cove Avengers" came out? I remember. I just want to see if anybody else has the same recollection that I do.

The Beginning

A long time ago, but not that long ago doggone it, there were a bunch of guys that hung out together. Though totally and radically different from each other, this band of brothers had a great time playing games, devouring pizza, jamming in the garage, writing strange poetry, cruising the town, and other activities that are better left unmentioned. They called themselves the North Cove Avengers. Those days are gone now, but the legend continues.

These are their stories.