Little did I know, as I sauntered into the wooden booths of our local watering hole that there was a new libation jittering at the tip of a tap. I didn't have to think twice about ordering a pint after reading the name: Too Much Coffee Man Stout.

This potable combines three great things. 1) Local beer, 2) Stumptown coffee, and 3) the under-appreciated indie comic entitled Too Much Coffee Man. I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't ordered it, the rend to the space-time continuum would be so drastic that dinosaurs would have toppled the pub before I was able to eat a single french fry.

But wait, there's more. The beer was brewed in honor of the extremely-short-run opera that is playing based on the afore-mentioned comic. That's right. There's even Too Much Coffee Man: The Opera.

Here's the Oregonian's summary:
Created by Shannon Wheeler, the chamber opera details the tragedy of Too Much Coffee Man, a caffeine-addled Everyman who's in love with his barista. Trouble brews when Espresso Guy, a cynical opportunist, also makes a play for the ambitious but frustrated young barista. The characters must resolve the age-old dilemma: Can coffee and relationships co-exist?

And here's a preview of one of the arias.

Unfortunately, the only plausible time that we could see it conflicts with the Rose City Rollers finals. We're just crossing our fingers that it gets held over for a fifth show.

A phone call interrupted last night's game of Ms. Pac-Man. As I passed the joystick off so my unfinished game wouldn't lose meaning, I was informed about a secret show later that evening. The band? Portland's indie darlings -- The Decemberists.

I called another friend and got to Acme two hours early to see "The December Brides." After a couple games of Doctor Who pinball and a couple pints of Miller High Life, the last person was let into the small venue. There was still over an hour to go before the first guitar string was plucked. A line began to form outside.

Since the show had no re-entry, every time somebody departed, somebody from the line would enter. The line continued to grow. It soon grew to a small crowd outside peering in through the large windows like it was the beginning of a department store Labor Day sale. Apparently, the secret got out.

As people bought the band drinks and passed them up to the front through the crowd, the Decemberists (who have their first major label album due out in a couple weeks) strummed and opined in the catchy way that they do. There's something about small venues that makes music better and when you have a band like this that makes for a very, very good show.

We recently set up our old Atari in our son's playroom. He immediately gravitated to it like a Space Invader on the invasion of Earth.

With other gaming consoles, we have a limited number of gaming options that we can play in front of him. Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto are out. We Love Katamari and LEGO Star Wars are in. That's not the case with Atari. Moving blocks around on the screen without zombie blood splattering or hookers getting run over is what retro gaming is all about.

Watching him smile and laugh while he pushes that little red button, I realized that there is much to learn from playing Atari games other than hand-eye coordination. And, because I enjoy doing so, I made a list.

Top 5 Atari Life Lessons

1) Even mundane, monotonous tasks can be fun and rewarding.

Things like data entry and mowing the lawn are arduous and dull, but they are part of life and must be done at some point. After playing games like Pitfall, where one does the same thing over and over (and over) again, one learns the value of patience and belated rewards. "Nice work jumping over that rolling log. Just do it 1,000 more times and you'll beat the high score!"

2) Just because something isn't super hi-tech doesn't mean it's not enjoyable.

In an age when iPods out-popularize beer in college student requirements, it's hard not to think that the higher the tech, the bigger the enjoyment. It's just simply not true. I can't tell you how sucked in I get moving a block around and shooting lines at a couple other blocks. It's not the technology that makes something cool, it's the challenge and enjoyment you derive from it.

3) There's always a trick.

When starting Pitfall, run to the left. That way you're running with the logs instead of against them. When playing 2-player Fishing Derby, always be the player on the left. The most valuable fish in the game rarely swims over the right side. There's always a trick. It's a simple philosophy but it got me through college and it helps me be a better programmer on a daily basis.

4) Timing is everything.

It's true about comedy, it's true about love, and it's true about Missile Command. Timing those shots to blow those interplanetary ballistic missiles is tough. Once you master that, comedy and love are a piece of cake.

5) Never hyperspace.

This really just applies to Asteroids, but seriously, never hyperspace. It may be a quick fix for the current situation, but it's just trouble in the long run.

Back in my childhood, Lucas was great. I need not mention the deity status he attained for the holy trinity of "Star Wars." Indiana Jones was almost as cool as Han Solo, my fantasy genre needs were satiated with "Willow," and even the made-for-TV Ewok movies were watched over and over again by my wide little eyes. I recently enjoyed "Radioland Murders" again and decided that I need to own that movie because it is great on so many levels.

It was as if he was writing all of his movies for me. Sure, there was "Howard the Duck" (a movie I actually enjoyed when it came out because of my youth) and "The Star Wars Holiday Special," but we all make mistakes.

Lucas was able to capture something wonderful back then. The reality is that people change. They age, their hair grays, and they start voting Republican. It just happens. The Lucas of today doesn't write movies for me any longer. In fact, he hasn't done much for me in quite a while.

I've been a big defender of the prequel Star Wars trilogy not because they were the greatest movies ever, but because I enjoy watching Jedi Knights and lightsabers and droids and all the other stuff that makes Star Wars great. That stuff makes me happy. They were movies written for a different generation of Star Wars fans -- not me.

What doesn't make me happy is what Lucas did to the original trilogy. Not only did he change the beloved cannon of celluloid that made my childhood wonderful, but he stopped allowing people to get the originals. Uncool.

Tomorrow, I can smile again. The theatrical versions of the original trilogy hit DVD. I'll probably get mine at Best Buy because they have an exclusive collector's DVD tin. Lucas has changed and he is no longer my hero, but his heroic deeds of yore live on in three, limited edition, silver discs.

Grammar Graffing
From the Echo-7 flickr collection.

I love this. What's next? Turf wars decided by spelling bees?