Author: James McNally

We Want Widescreen Wonka!

Stop the insanity! Warner Bros. has changed its mind and is now threatening to release the DVD for Willy Wonka (the classic film starring Gene Wilder based on Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) in a full-screen only (ie. “pan and scan”) version as opposed to the original widescreen aspect ratio. Hurry now and join almost 5,000 others in signing this petition to get Warner to reconsider.

Let’s Go: San Francisco

I’ve been rare of late, I know. I spent most of the past two weeks moving, and I’m finally (mostly) unpacked and back online. I have just over a week to prepare for my California excursion, and am really getting excited. Today I bought Let’s Go: San Francisco. I’ve never gone wrong with Let’s Go over the years, starting back in the 80s when I went to Europe. Keep those SF travel tips coming, folks!

California Couch Crash

Well, it’s official. The Consolation Champs California Couch Crash™ will take place from Saturday August 11 until Monday August 20. I’m taking suggestions for cool things to do in SF. That is, in addition to visiting with interesting blogfolk. I know all the major things I have to do (Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, Ghirardelli, Chinatown, cable cars), and now I’m looking for less obvious delights, along the lines of the quirky Musee Mechanique (thanks for the suggestion, Cory.) Any ideas?

Consolation Champs? Huh?

Every so often someone will stop me on the street and ask me about the name of this weblog. How did I come up with “Consolation Champs”? It is, after all, a silly name. Well, gentle reader, my answer is that originally it was a name I wanted to use for a band. Most of us walk around with half a dozen or so band names in our heads. Here are a few more that I’ve pondered for many years, although none were ever considered for the name of a web site:

  • Robot Pope (eerily close to Robot Wisdom)
  • Black Jello
  • The Part-Time Jobs (pronounced like the biblical character Job. You can see why this one wasn’t as funny in print as it was out loud)
  • Assface (still one of the funniest putdowns I know)
  • Fish Pants

Let’s hear some of yours…