6455 Memory Fragment, Z-squad, Money, archive

Old gang I put together for Z-squad, years ago.

The “Top 5”

Five Teens in the early 60s, at an abandoned radio station during a freak lightening storm… the place is hit, and they’re transported forward in time to the modern world, and acquire metahuman abilities from the process. A gadgeteer gets them to perform crimes in return for the promise of a return trip home. Ultimately, they’re caught during a caper, and are taken to prison.

Members –

  • Johnny Angel (Winged Martial artist 50’s style – sunglasses/ leather jacket / DA haircut, Leader)
  • Run-Around Sue (Speedster with a lasso, for some reason – could stick to any surface if she kept moving. atop water, up the side of a building, etc) – Poodle Skirt & the point of the background Johnny’s Girl, Heart of the Group “Bones”)
  • Wolfman Jack (Multiform- Big hairy guy to bigger hairier guy- DJ /wild man)
  • Long, Tall Sally (Stretching, Serious / educated / on the ball “Velma meets reed Richards” #2 in charge, the “Spock” to Johnny’s Kirk)
  • Who was #5? I can’t recall now. Another male… oh, I remember. Cathy’s Clown (Sort of an Acrobat / Ralph Mouth guy. Confetti Flash bombs, cream pies, Groucho nose glasses.)

I played Sue, for a change of pace.. I normally don’t play female characters, but it was interesting to try. I forget who she teamed up with… Maybe it was a variation on Katt’s Ghost-character? It was only a one-shot, but I remembered the ease with which the history came together.

I haven’t thought about Z-squad since 8pm of 2001Site Meter, and even then it was Grenouielle / Weasel / Ice Gal, not these guys.


Downloaded a bunch of old Laurel & Hardy videos, and they’re some of the funniest things that I’ve seen in a long time. I’ve not seen many of these, and the ones I have seen, it’s easily been twenty years or more since the last time. (They’d come on early in the morning before school, but after Robotech.)


No word from big Kahuna. I’ve called twice now. I hope everything is ok… Rhode Island wasn’t home, either. Not Getting together with the Bro, because he found a last minute paying gig.[update- BK is beat after doing all the press up north this week. No Ren-time. just as well…I think I’ll take a little walk in the cool weather, and have a nice calm Sunday. Until Later, dear journal]


Random Money factoids, after looking to see why paper money is oblong –

  • In 625 B.C., metal coins were introduced in Greece. They replaced grain – usually barley – as the medium of exchange. Stamped with a likeness of an ear of wheat, the new coins were lighter and easier to transport than grain, and did not get moldy.
  • Until 1929 currency measured 7.42 x 3.13 inches. Since then it has remained at its present size of 6.14 x 2.61 inches–an easier size to handle and store. Since that size requires less paper, it is also less expensive to produce.
  • Silver certificates were first issued in exchange for silver dollars in 1878. They offered many varieties of design and subject matter including inventors, military heroes, a Sioux Indian, and the famous Educational series of 1896. An 1886 $1 silver certificate is also the only piece of U.S. paper currency to bear the portrait of a woman–Martha Washington.
  • More than half of a dollar bill is considered legal tender, and only the front of a dollar bill is valuable. If you could separate the front of a bill from the back, only the front half would be considered “money.”
  • The first paper notes printed in the United States were in denominations of 1 cent, 5 cents, 25 cents, and 50 cents. The U.S. Department of the Treasury first issued paper U.S. currency in 1862 to make up for the shortage of coins and to finance the U.S. Civil War.
  • When using the first pay telephone, a caller did not deposit coins in the machine. He or she gave them to an attendant who stood next to the telephone. Coin telephones did not appear until 1899.

one year ago – playing with palm-modem, dream of hot applesauce vendor & snuggling up at a basketball game.

two years ago – bro hit on his bike by a cop, bibles in hotels, walkies, FMM lost use of the Net during working hours, Talk about Chupa / small hands, tiffany in playboy.

three years ago – 100 monkeys debunked, FMM sold Tampa, fending off the end of a flu (history repeats itself, I guess!), Suzy’s crappy computer


current mood: “And then, a butterfly landed on the gun, and changed the settings from kill to Loooove, baby…” – Barry from Angry Beavers.

current music: Best of Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy – The Musicbox – On WinDVD

6453 Residence / Faire / 'Zilla / Shapes

I’ve got at least two condos to look at on Monday. One is very inexpensive but needs some minor work to move in… paint, new vanity, cabinets. The other has a utility room with a washer and dryer nearby. Could be a mixed blessing. more foot traffic, but I can do my gear close to my HQ. I’ll know more on Monday how suitable they are, neighborhood-wise.


Debating if I should beg off the Ren faire and just sit tight at home today. Going would be a god idea politically, and probably pretty fun, but I’m feeling the laziness. I’ll probably go for just a little bit.


Watched my new Godzilla movieSite Meter last night… Pretty keen that Big G is fifty years old. A pretty different vibe than most of the movies. (He’s definitely something else, this go ’round. Read the linked review for spoilers.) Odd seeing King Ghidorah as the good guy, too. Mothra is pretty standard, as is Baragon (I’ve always had a weakness for digger-mole monsters) . It’s funny how they just sort of pick and choose what elements from earlier movies to use, and what to ignore….I can respect the revised history for the sake of a story. I’ve never been much of a continuity cop for this or comic books…. just keep some fundamentals so we can tell who is who… As long as Godzilla is a giant lizard with radioactive breath, I’m pretty easy… but I think he’s odd to look at with no pupils. Better Reasoning as to why he keeps heading to Tokyo, and a lot of squishy-humans.

A lot of people in this movie (the women in particular) had really bad teeth.

Overall, I liked it, both despite and because of the differences. It’s nice to be able to toggle Japanese with English subs, to an English dub on movies… That, and having all the other goodies are really what makes DVDs worth having.

Unusual line/belief in the movie – “If spirits are a form of electricity, maybe they can be stored in stone, since stones are basically like CDs.”


It occurs to me that most of my birthday presents were on circles or rectangles. Dinner plates & bowls, Game CDs, Movie DVDs. and Gift cards, folding currency, and a book. I didn’t get many gifts in other shapes… no triangles or hexagons at all.

I wonder about the shape of money. Coins are circular, different sizes. Is it so that corners don’t catch on pockets? Economy of metal?

Why isn’t American paper money square, rather than oblong?