The BIG Present, My Wife's Kitty, and "Loose Shoes"

Merry Christmas to you ALL! Thanks for all the nice comments and e-mails I received about my "Christmas Miracle" story. I'm thinking I'll have to add a few more details and expand the piece for The Cheers after hearing how the stupid little story affected some of you.

A couple of days ago I mentioned that my wife had been planning on getting me a BIG gift and that I was sad because I couldn't bring on "the goods" for her this year. Well she did in fact give me one helluva great present! This one is so good, the fine folks at SciFiDaily just might stand up and salute. OK, maybe not...no Shatner. But they will be impressed!


This photo is of the big gift. To folks who are not into science fiction shows or collectibles and such this will mean nothing to you. Please feel free to read on past all this nonsense. Mind you, I'm not a major science fiction person, but I used to be WAY into Doctor Who. I'm still a fan, but I really don't go all out for the shows and the memorabilia anymore. That being said, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY when I opened up this VERY RARE treasure.

What you are looking at is a poster from the 1984 Chicago Doctor Who convention, TARDIS 21. While there are still a few of these original posters available, none is quite as special as this one. This one has been signed by no fewer than SEVENTEEN cast members, writers, and other members of the Doctor Whoniverse. I'll list them for the geek fan-boys out there.

In attendance at the convention and represented in signature were...

Doctors Who #2, 3, 5, & 6

Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison & Colin Baker

Companions, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Peri, Turlough, & BOTH Ramonas

Elisabeth Sladen, Janet Fielding, Nicola Bryant, Mark Strickson, Mary Tamm & Lalla Ward

U.N.I.T. Personnel, The Brigadier, Capt.. Mike Yates, Sgt.. Benton, & Harry Sullivan

Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin, John Levene, Ian Marter

Arch Villain, The Master!

Anthony Ainley

Executive Producer & Director

John Nathan-Turner

Noted Author & Script Writer

Terrance Dicks

I'd seen this poster at the Doctor Who Store when we stumbled upon the place last year sometime. Quite honestly I was in awe of the thing and since there was no price tag to be found it was generally assumed that this was a show piece and not for sale. We briefly discussed the thing with the owner but never got any inkling that it was available for purchase. We thought it was there to show the world just how damn cool the store was. Hell, it made me buy stuff. LOL!

Anyway, April found out it was in fact for sale earlier this year when buying me another cool gift for my birthday and started putting cash down on layaway so I could have it by Christmas. We'd even been in the store a few weeks back and she had to pretend that she hadn't been in the place in about as long a time as I, just so I wouldn't catch on.

Needless to say, this is an amazing present! It really brings me back to my younger days and it makes me feel good just looking at the thing. I remember when this convention was going on and wishing I could go to the darned thing. The Chicago convention is probably the biggest in the world and that year in particular was unusually special because of the above listed guests. What a fine gift! She likely spent WAY too much, but I probably spent too much on her. April is a great gal and I'll never deserve her.

Speaking of April, while I'd rather post a photo of her that shows off her most AMAZING beauty and...uh...assets, I thought I'd post a photo of her happily tormenting her cat, Phil. The glamour shots that show off da bod will have to come later!

Phil is an unusual beast. I cannot ever claim to love this cat but he does amuse me. He is not a cat that plays much but upon occasion he'll get all kitten-crazy with us. He does some very cool things that endear him to me. He never begs for food unless you are eating deli meat. He enjoys my cigars and will sit on my lap while I'm smoking. He has a private litter box under the cabinet in the bathroom and opens the door himself when nature calls. He even opens his own Christmas presents which are catnip toys wrapped in holiday paper. He does some awful things too, but I won't talk of them now. Posting this photo is punishment enough for his sins.

April has never been much of a dress-your-pet person. But we have had our fun at Phil's expense from time to time (often at Christmas). This year, while buying the catnip toys, she found some ridiculous reindeer antlers for cats. No they did not stay on the cat for long. Yes it was hysterical to watch him wearing them. Phil was kind enough to smile for the camera. That is one other little thing I like about Phil; he will look at the camera ANYTIME you're in a snapshot mood. Sorry, Phil.

Lastly, I need to tell you about a film we just finished watching, "Loose Shoes". I'm sure this film is known to folks with even more time on their hand than myself but I'll tell you a little bit about it anyway.

One FUNNY-ASS FILM! It was made back in 1977 and released in 1980. It is a series of comedy parodies of movie previews and it is reminiscent of other flicks like "Kentucky Fried Movie" and "Amazon Women on the Moon". While some bits are just plain stupid, many are quite hysterical. Among the "unknowns" who are in the film, Bill Murray, Howard Hessman, Harry Shearer, and some very small appearances by John Candy, Betty Thomas (nekkid!) and Ed Lauter, among others.

I'll get more into the nuts and bolts of this flick later. It is getting late and I SHOULD get some sleep. For now let me say that finding this comedic gem on DVD for the low, low price of FOUR DOLLARS topped off a most excellent Christmas Day!