This e-mail reached us a little late for this month, but you might want to mark your calendar for March:
Hi Richard,
We're hoping you help us get the word out about the local Star Wars fan club, Fountain City Force.Net. We meet every 2nd Sunday at the Columbus Library on Macon Rd at 3pm. We also have a 'fun' night out. Activities include: trivia, costuming, games, swaps, collecting, dinners, and many others.
Appreciate it.
Cathy Bowden, City Rep
Fountain City Force.Net
Thanks for the notice, Cathy - but I'm wondering something. Since it's a "Star Wars" club, couldn't you go back and have the January meeting next Sunday? You know, sort of like Episode I....
This blog e-mail is different for several reasons. For one thing, I saw "Fountain City Force" and immediately thought of the Columbus Police Department.
Hey, you know what - why NOT change the name of the Columbus Police to the Fountain City Force? It sounds a lot more hip. And criminals who come down from Atlanta thinking it's related to arena football's Georgia Force will get a big surprise.
The Star Wars fan club is meeting on second Sundays - the same afternoon that Oxbow Meadows has its monthly nature programs. So this sets up a difficult choice: something out of this world, or deep-down in it.
It probably would be interesting to visit the Columbus Library on second Sundays, to see what sort of people belong to the Fountain City Force.Net - and see if all the stereotypes are true:
+ Do they sit in line outside the front door starting at sunrise, to remind them of those long waits for midnight premiere tickets?
+ Do they wave laser swords at the front door - not realizing it opens automatically through another means?
+ Do they take a collection at every meeting - and put money in the Jar Jar?
+ Does anyone go up to the third floor of the library, and pretend to be a "Sky-walker?"
+ Does anyone from a Star TREK fan club show up, and call everyone ripoff artists?
I'm not sure how many members the Fountain City Force.Net has. But does a Star Wars fan club have growth potential, considering no more Star Wars movies are planned? Besides, the Carrie Fisher hairdo really hasn't come back into style in 30 years....
Whether you attend Fountain City Force.Net (don't forget that .net, now) is up to you. But I probably wouldn't feel comfortable there, because I've never watched any of the Star Wars movies - not one of them. I think that makes me even nerdier than the nerds who love R2D2.
Why have I missed the Star Wars phenomenon? Because I'm simply not a fan of science fiction in general. The journalist in me prefers facts. The Midwesterner in me likes things down-to-earth. And the hard-rock image of Jefferson Starship years ago didn't help....
YOUR UNBELIEVABLY SUPERIOR LOCAL BLOG WINTER OLYMPIC COVERAGE: No one from Columbus competed in the Winter Olympics Monday. And I'm concerned about these U.S. gold medals in "half-pipe snowboarding."
Does this encourage tobacco addiction?
Since we can't show Olympic highlights here without getting sued by NBC-38, let's check other news from Monday:
+ The Georgia Senate passed a bill requiring schools to use "biodiesel" fuel for two percent of their vehicles by 2010. How many superintendents heard this news and said: "Biodiesel? Buy a new fleet, probably!"
+ WXTX "News at Ten" tested a new, supposedly romance-improving drink called "Turn On." But some of us really wanted to see Roszell Gadson and Deborah Singer drink it live on the set....
(A different Columbus couple tried "Turn On," but they said their love life did NOT improve after drinking it. So apparently a better name might be "Turn In" -- as in go to sleep for the evening.)
+ Columbus State won in men's basketball over Lander 77-67, in a game WDAK announcer Scott Miller called "lackluster" during the second half. So many fouls were called that it seemed like the referees had a monthly quota to meet.
+ Instant Message to Tires First on Miller Road: Do you do anything second? I never hear you mention that....
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