Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

I recently added the last of the three Wonder Woman DVD box sets to our DVD collection, completing our collection of all things Wonder Woman. I am a huge Wonder Woman fan (especially the Lynda Carter TV series) and am one of the few people that actually taped the “Wonder Woman” movie from 1974 starring Cathy Lee Crosby as Wonder Woman when WTBS showed it in the mid 1980s. It’s painful to watch, but I still treasure that video tape to this day. I actually transferred it from a BetaMax tape to VHS in order to be able to keep on enjoying it! What gay man of my generation hasn’t spun himself around in the living room hoping to turn into some fabulous superhero, complete with flash, thunderclap and orchestral accompaniment.

While I am the rabid Wonder Woman fan, and a Xena worshipper as well, the superheroine I really dig is ISIS.

“Oh Zephyr Winds which blow on high, lift me now so I can fly!”

For those that are superhero impaired, a brief explanation is in order. In 1976, Saturday morning cartoons were accompanied by some live action shows. On ABC, you had “The Krofft Supershow” featuring Captain Kool and the Kongs and ElectraWoman (featuring Diedre Hall!) and DynaGirl. On CBS, it was the second season of “The Shazam / Isis Hour”. Shazam! featured the stories of young Billy Batson, roaming the streets and highways of southern California in a big white Winnebago with an older man named Mentor looking for those that needed help from falling rocks, stupid decisions, etc. Endowed with the powers of Soloman, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury, Billy would yell “Shazam!” and turn into Captain Marvel, played by an older and much more muscular man. It was kind of like Bill Bixby turning into Lou Ferrigno but without the green and nowhere near as menacing.

Anyways, after Shazam! came “The Secrets of Isis”, featuring Joanna Cameron as science teacher Andrea Thomas. Andrea was on an archeological dig in Egypt and came across an ancient amulet. After reading the scrolls enclosed, she found that she was a decscendent of the goddess Isis and was endowed with the ability to control the elements when she posessed that amulet. She would sneak off to a hidden place when someone was in trouble, pull out this amulet necklace and say “Oh Mighty Isis”. She then would be engulfed in smoke, a few ancient drawings would fly by, the glare of the sun and whoosh, there she was… Isis! Much like Wonder Woman’s Diana Price alter-ego, Andrea kept her hair in a ponytail and wore glasses. No one could tell that Andrea was actually Isis, including co-teacher Rick Mason or students Cindy Lee and Rennie Carroll.

Anyways, even though I lusted after Captain Marvel (especially the second one, John Davey, he was quite hot), I was absolutely mezmorized by Joanna Cameron as Isis. To this day I find that she has one of the most beautiful female voices I have ever heard in my life. It is so even, so calm, so soothing. Small wonder that she once held the Guinness Book of World Records for doing the most television commercials of any performer. And I always found her portrayal of Isis so endearing. Some student may have driven a car off a cliff after hitting a nail in the road or accidently shot a hole in a gas tank near a burning building with the gun he had borrowed from his father, but Isis just did her thing and brought the fool to safety. She usually was creative, using the rain to quench the flames of a menancing fire or the winds to bring a broken-down motor boat back to safety ahead of the typhoon. One of the cool things about Isis is that when she flew (like Captain Marvel or Superman did), her arms and hands were held behind and to her side, so ladylike, instead of in front her like the guys do. Kind of like the way Samantha always side-saddled the broomstick in Bewitched.

Here’s a couple of video clips from the show. They are in RealMedia format.
Andrea turning to Isis for the first time
Another clip of Andrea turning Into Isis
Isis Taking Flight

It’s easy to tell that winter is just around the corner here in Upstate N.Y. Everyone’s driving skills have gone from “asshat” to “unbelievable asshat”. Now mind you, it’s not snowing or hailing or anything like that today. It’s raining. While not a torrential downpour, the rain is steady and does warrant some extra caution on the road.

That does not mean slowing down to 35 MPH in the middle of the freeway.

I find it remarkable that some people drive around in a light drizzle with their windshield wipers set to “hysterical”. There’s maybe 50 rain drops on their windshield and their wipers are whipping back and forth as if they’re trying to flag down a funnel cloud or something. It’s crazy. I have noticed that the bigger the vehicle, the more apt the wipers are to be hysterical, so maybe there’s a correlation between small genitalia and fast windshield wipers. After all, the bigger the car, the smaller the dick.

I am not a perfect driver by any stretch of the imagination. However, I am a confident driver. I know what I am capable of and I know what my car is capable of. Regardless of the vehicle I am driving, I consider it an extension of my own body and awareness. It’s not a difficult thing to do; just feel the road and be aware of your surroundings and you’ll be good to go.

And while I’m on a rant, I think the “lights on when windshield wipers are on” law is stupid. The government has no business trying to legislate common sense. However, turning your lights on when your windshield wipers are on is good sense, since its usually darker when its raining outside. If you have to squint to see your speedometer, it’s too dark to be running around with your lights off. If people would think for themselves, the government wouldn’t have to do it for them.

So drive carefully today, regardless of the weather. And more importantly, be confident and drive sensibly.

Thank goodness it’s the weekend. I’ve been in the mood for it since Monday and now it’s finally here. Earl and I are headed to Buffalo in the morning for the monthly bear night. We’re looking forward to meeting up with our friends Tim and Steve. I think there’s a diner stop in Rochester on the way out there too.

I just received my copy of Motion 2 so that I can get snazzy with my little video projects. I’m really enjoying this creative outlet. I hope I don’t wear out my PowerBook G4. That would mean I need to buy another computer! The horrors!

# # #

Here’s a hottie for your weekend enjoyment. It’s comedian Zach Galifianakis. I haven’t heard his standup, I’ve been too busy finding his pictures on the internet. He’s not on the team but not bad to look at nonetheless.