Star Wednesday: Happy Father’s Day Sign

Star Wars is just about the last movie people should associate with Father’s Day. Young Anakin Skywalker didn’t even have a father (unless you count midichlorians). In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin attacked and mortally wounded his pregnant wife, Padme. Later, as Darth Vader, he attempted to kill his children (Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa) on multiple occasions. Leia’s son, Ben Solo (aka Kylo Ren), murdered his own father, Han Solo, in cold blood. Which makes this hand-painted sign from my daughter so much more enjoyable. The least interesting items in my Star Wars collection are the things without… (read more)

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Here We Go Again: The All New Atari VCS

What’s old is new again. This time it’s the Atari VCS, a new game console aimed directly at the nostalgic hearts of those of us who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s playing the Atari 2600. If you’re wondering what the Atari VCS is, what it does, how it compares to the Atari Flashback, and whether or not it’s worth buying, read on. Those who were there (and any retrogamer worth their weight in buried E.T. cartridges) knows that Atari’s original console released back in 1977 was also known as the Atari VCS. It wasn’t until the… (read more)

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Roller Skating and Urban Exploring

Rob O'Hara in a dark retro arcade.

I have a memory of going to the state fair as a little child. I couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old at the time. My family and I were standing in line for something — snow cones, I think. The lines were disorganized, and we were standing shoulder to shoulder with all the other sweaty people at the fair, waiting for our turn to order food. The summer heat continued to rise, and soon so many people had crowded around us that I couldn’t see anything but people. That day I remember wishing that we were… (read more)

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Star Wednesday: Scout Walker/AT-ST

Vintage Star Wars AT-ST/Scout Walker from Kenner. Photo by Rob O'Hara

Sometimes it’s hard to believe I didn’t own every single Star Wars toy produced by Kenner as a kid. I suppose it had to do with the finite number of birthdays and Christmases that fell between 1978 and 1985. Truth be told, as early as 1983 I was already beginning to lose interest in the Kenner toys, which narrows that window even further. The AT-ST, which goes by several names, is one of those vintage toys I didn’t own. AT-ST stands for All Terrain Scout Transport, but the original box identified it a Scout Walker. Colloquially, most people know the… (read more)

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Solo Adventures with the Family (Spoiler Free)

Susan, the kids, and I made a whirlwind trip to Denver this weekend to attend a wedding. Due to the timing I didn’t expect to be able to see Solo: A Star Wars Story until we got back, which would have broken my streak of seeing every Star Wars film since 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back opening day. Due to a a stroke of luck (or was it the Force?) the house we rented for the weekend was right down the street from an Alamo Drafthouse movie theater, and, somehow, Susan was able to obtain four tickets for a Saturday… (read more)

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House Hunting: The Camera Never Lies, Except Every Time

They say cameras never lie, but we all know they do, almost every single time. And I’m not just talking about PhotoShop. Everybody knows that cameras “add 10 pounds.” Different lenses produce vastly different images. By the age of ten, or probably younger, kids know what selfie angles are the most flattering. There are people who make a living by convincing cameras to lie — those who photograph models, for example, or those who capture the colors of a sunset many of us never see in real life. But there’s another master of the lens; people who can capture the… (read more)

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Adios to the Last Man on Earth

In the pilot episode of Fox’s quirky sitcom The Last Man on Earth, Phil “Tandy” Miller (Will Forte), the seemingly sole survivor of a deadly global virus, crisscrosses the country in a Winnebago searching of survivors. After finding none, he leaves his calling card — the words “ALIVE IN TUCSON” spray painted on billboards — before returning to Arizona. Back home, he moves out of his studio apartment and into a nearby mansion, decorating it with amenities such as paintings by Monet and Van Gogh, a T-Rex skull (no doubt “Sue” from Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry) and a… (read more)

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A Long Journey Ends

When I get really stressed out, the pressure manifests itself in the form of back pain. Cramps form in both my lower and upper back, and spread until they meet somewhere in the middle. By 8 a.m. last Saturday, I had already taken one round of Ibuprofen, and had a second round of pills stashed in my pocket for later. I’ve never been one to count my chickens before they hatch. Even though I had already successfully defended my graduate project the week before and seen my grades posted online, I refused to admit I had graduated until I had… (read more)

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Framing and Hanging Vinyl Albums

Rob O'Hara - vinyl album picture frames

Last week my mom decided to pare down her old vinyl record collection, and gave me a chance to dig through the pile before the pile before they were sold or donated. I had a good time digging through the stack of records and found several that I had nostalgic connections with. Surprisingly, Morgan found a few she wanted as well — not to listen to, but to display in her room. Morgan has taken quite a liking to John Lennon and The Beatles, so it was no surprise to me that those were two of the three albums she… (read more)

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Winning Two Jackpots

In the fall of 2017 I began work on my grad project, a novel titled The Human Library. On April 19, I delivered copies to the three members of my graduate committee. Two weeks later on May 4, I returned to the University of Oklahoma to defend my work. I spent those two weeks preparing. I wrote an outline of my novel. I made lists of all my characters. I noted every problem with my novel, and came up with ways to improve it. I went through the hundreds of handouts I’ve received and notes I’d taken over the past… (read more)

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