Upwards of 20g

My good friend Uncle Manhattan edits a little section of Popular Science that every month instructs curious single men on how to void the warranties on their favorite gadgets. As much as we would like to contribute more directly to his efforts, the best some of the curious married men in his circle can do is forward him inspiration from web pages like this: www.gutterslide.com/boomboxpc.

I'm fascinated by guys (no offense, but just show me the gals) who turn old Macintoshes into aquariums and drop Cadillac V-8 engines into Chevettes and such. What fascinates me is not that they can do these things at all -- heck, if I leave him unattended by the grill supplies my two-year-old can turn a Fisher Price bubble mower into a self-propelled rolling flame-thrower -- but that they find the *time* to do them. That's the true blending of art and science: altering the space-time continuum such that your efforts to construct a life-sized replica of a medieval catapult or a glowing Tron costume interfere with neither your job nor your family life.

We all have our distractions, I suppose, and they interfere or don't just to the degree our employers or spouses or pets are inclined to let them. One of mine is a compulsion to Google interesting snippets of text out of context to see what results. If you're curious, the phrase "upwards of 20g" delivers on a single page information about the Touchscreen BoomboxPC (natch), counting the carbs in sugar alcohols, the high cost of college tuition, postal rates in Ireland, and an assortment of products that include "20g" in their model numbers.

Thinking about these things, I remember that a couple years ago I looked into buying the domain name stjohnshoops.com, but it was taken. The registration has lapsed and it's available again, but I just can't pull the trigger. I think we can all see where that would lead. [Ed note: I wrote that in May 2004. In fact, we now can see where it led.]

Please allow me to lead you to hoops tonight, however. We tip off at 6:30 p.m. sharp at your favorite little St. Paul gym. Please let me know if you will or will not be there. I'm bringing my 1/30th scale model of the court to show off. Wait 'til you see the little papier-mache Ian.

Last week's attendance: 9