This Month At Dontmindme.com — March 2002

Song of the Month: I'm going to the obscure here. I willing to bet that few people remember the band Eight Seconds, but I bet that people will remember their only hit single "Kiss You (When It's Dangerous)" off their first (of only two) full (and with a rather interesting cover) album, Almacantar. Well, maybe not remember specifically, but it might sound familiar, in particular the recurrent synth section following the refrain. Sure, it's schmaltzy 80s pop, but it's enjoyable schmaltzy 80s pop, so it's all good.

Album of the Month: I'm going to do something I don't usually do. No, I'm not going to run out into the street and yell "My brain is exploding! My brain is exploding!" although I could, but it's cold out there, so I won't. I'm going to feature as album of the month an album that I not only do not own, but I have never listened to it. I'm only familiar with one song on the album, but the cover is so stereotypical '80s that I just had to feature it. The album is the above mentioned Almacantar by Eight Seconds, and that's the cover to the left. How '80s is that?

Book of the Month: You'll not that this is book of the month, not literature of the month. This month's book isn't literature, but that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile. It's Calvin and Hobbes Sunday Pages 1985-1995 by Bill Watterson. It contains 36 Sunday editions of Calvin and Hobbes, all handpicked and commented on by the author.

Chemical Element of the Month: What does everyone think? Is this a worthwhile category? Does anyone care about this category at all? This would be a good thing to use the message board to tell me about. That said, this month's element is potassium, mainly because it burns like mad when you drop it in water, and I recall it making for a cool demonstration in grade 8 science. It's one of the most reactive elements, and should not be handled, since it will react to any moisture on your skin. Oh, the symbol for it is K. How cool is that?

Game of the Month: THPS 3 is coming out this month, but I've been playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 for the last couple weeks now. I'm not remotely into skateboarding, I have about as much balance as a three legged mule that's high on painkillers, so I'd make a truly terrible boarder. In THPS2, though, I can do a perfect 720 stalefish with a varial kickflip, and when I mess it up I'm up and doing tricks again in a few seconds, instead of taking a trip to the ER. This game is a blast, even for non-boarders like me.

Fun Link of the Month: I like comics, but sometimes I don't completely understand them. Not often, I should point out, but sometimes. And I'm not the only one. Case in point: Comics I Don't Understand. Every week there are comics posted that the site owner doesn't understand. Check it out.

Fun Fact of the Month: The liquid in young coconuts can be used as a substitute for human blood plasma. How exactly this was discovered is something I don't want to know.

Useful Link of the Month: Sometimes when you're writing something you need to know how many words you've written, but the program you're using (perhaps your email software, or web editor) doesn't have a word counter. Well, here's a solution, an online word counter. Just copy and paste your text into the counter, click on the button, and instant word count. Very handy.

Quote of the Month: "Ignore the bird. Follow the river." The high Aldwin in the move Willow.

Prank of the Month: This is the last winter prank for this year, since winter is running out. It's a dorm prank, but I suppose if you got keys to someone's house it would work. You need to know when the victim will be out for an hour or two, and you need to have snowball making snow. Get a few people together, and make a snowball that's just big enough to fit through the victim's door. Roll it through the door and put it somewhere nice and central. Open the windows and turn down the heat so it doesn't melt too soon. If you're feeling ambitious make three big snowballs and construct an indoor snowman.

Joke of the Month: This Newfie decides to go icefishing, so he gets together his fishing gear and heads out. He parks himself in the middle of the ice and starts drilling a hole when he hears a booming voice announce from somewhere above him "There are no fish under the ice!"

He stops and looks around, but he doesn't see anyone. He shrugs and starts drilling again.
"There are no fish under the ice!" the voice says again.
Again, he sees no one. "Maybe I shouldn't have had that half bottle of screech before going fishing," the Newfie says to himself before picking up the drill once more."
"I told you, there are no fish under that ice!" the voice says, this time in rather annoyed tone."
"Who's there?" the Newfie calls out. "Are you God?"
"No, I'm not God," the voice answers "I'm the arena manager."

DVD of the Month: The studios have been making a few dollars by bringing archive movies out on DVD, and here's one that I'm surprised took as long as it did. Willow is a classic example of the sword and sorcery genre, and now it's available on DVD, and it comes with enough special features to make it a worthwhile buy.