One of my childhood heroes, Mister Rogers, has died. I loved him when I was a kid. I would sit in front of the TV and watch “Mister Mister” and sing along with the songs.

He’ll be missed. More than ever the world needs Mister Rogers. We are hurtling towards this stupid, selfish war against Iraq as fast as we can, and we need Mister Rogers to keep us in check.

He was a good guy. One of the greats.

Here’s something my friend Dave wrote which I think is really great:

As you may have heard this morning, Fred Rogers, host of
public television’s “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” died last
night at the age of 74.

“Mister Rogers” was one of the first programs that I can
remember watching. I was, of course, part of the show’s target
demographic back then. I can’t recall much from my preschool
years, but I do know that I loved the trolley, I loved the
neighborhood and I loved Fred Rogers.

Like many early loves, it faded with age and distance. I moved
on to programs intended for older kids: flashier, action-
oriented, violent in the ways that caregivers and watchdogs
lament and children adore. For the most part, I forgot about Fred
and his neighborhood, reminded only on occasion by the parodies
that proliferated in the ’80s as yesterday’s innocents grew into
sarcasm and despair.

Let’s face it, it was easy to mock Fred Rogers. He had a
simple style and a cadence that invited imitation. He stubbornly
retained old-fashioned production values in an era of hydraulic-
powered Muppets and computer-generated dinosaurs. Furthermore,
one could assign all sorts of hidden motivations to his soft-
spoken manner and his devotion to children. Comedians, fools and
cynics wondered aloud whether a beast lurked within such a
seemingly humble man of God.

Mister Rogers reentered my life once I began my career in
public television. I worked as a master control operator for WYIN
in Merrillville, Indiana in the late ’80s. One day, working the
afternoon shift, all heck broke loose: the transmitter was down,
the chief engineer and the program director were shouting and
frantically hitting buttons. I was still very new, and very
nervous about keeping my first broadcasting job. As my anxiety
mounted, I focused on the eye of the storm, the oasis of calm,
the 17-inch screen in front of me: the one on which Fred Rogers
offered words of quiet reassurance. It was a moment that I hope
I’ll never forget.

Over the years, I became fascinated with the program,
deconstructing its messages and marvelling at the bizarre flights
of fantasy that often emerged from the Neighborhood of Make-
Believe. Mister Rogers had a way of tying together everything,
making connections that defied adult logic. A segment on
silverware inspired an opera about a trip to Spoon Mountain. In
Fred’s world, your friend might be a Purple Panda from Planet
Purple, and your king might sing “Row, Row Your Boat” in the most
complicated manner possible.

Several years ago, Mister Rogers made the keynote address at
the PBS Annual Meeting in Miami, Florida. As always, he spoke of
simple, but important ideas: acts of caring, the need to love and
to be loved. When the speech and the conference concluded, many
ran to catch their planes and to return to their worlds of adult
responsibilities. But a great many lined up for the opportunity
to spend a few moments with the kind, old man who had greeted
them each morning so many years ago. Grown men and women were
moved to tears as they hugged their childhood friend.

For his part, Fred waited patiently, shaking hands, posing for photos,
signing conference program books and giving each person all the time that
they needed to express their feelings. He stayed for at least an hour, long
enough for me to get through the line, then to run to my hotel room and
fetch my wife so that she could hug and cry as well. People have
subsequently asked me, “Is he really the way he acts on TV?” My response has
always been, “He’s exactly what you see on TV.”

That’s what I remember most about Fred Rogers. He was a man
who could temporarily wipe away years of bitterness with a few
words reminding us that We Are Special, each in our own way. Fred
would probably reject this notion, but I feel that he was perhaps
the most special of all of us. The world needs more people like
Mister Rogers. There can never be enough love, acceptance and
affirmation.

David Thiel
Program Director / WILL-TV
Champaign, IL

The day we knew would come eventually is here at last, more or less. Becky has gotten two job offers - one from Iona College in New Rochelle, New York (about 15 miles from NYC) and the other from Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota. We now have to decide which to take. It might seem obvious, but it won’t be an easy decision. To make matters even more complicated, she left today for Springfield College in Massachusettes, so that may be a third option. Huzzah for her!

Whatever we go with, one thing is certain - our time in Champaign is now limited. I’ve told my boss that we’ll be moving, and there’s a possibility that I may be able to keep my job and work remotely, but it’s a slim chance. But now the task of getting rid of a bunch of stuff in the house begins. I’ve already started targeting items that I have no intention of moving. Look for some serious eBay action from me soon.

Dave T. and I went to Egyptian Campaign this past weekend, which is a small gaming convention in southern Illinois. I wrote up a con report featuring the tale of the worst RPG ever. You can’t afford not to read it.

I’m back on the gaming tip with a vengeance now. In addition to the ongoing Arnheim campaign, I’m now finally getting around to reading the d20 Modern book. Also, the folks I game with are talking about running games of their own. Hopefully I can get a lot of this in before we move, especially if we end up in South Dakota. Speaking of RPGs and d20, those wondering what happened to the Fallout d20 project will be happy to know that I am starting to think about that again. In addition to d20 Modern, I picked up some other post-apocalyptic goodies at Egyptian Campaign, so I’ll be hitting that project again soon.

Our trip to England is coming up soon as well, and we’re looking forward to that, even if Becky may be too exhausted to walk at that point. We’re taking requests for souveniers.

I’d better get going. Beebo got into Becky’s bag last night and ate a number of items, including some Advil and some Chapstick, so I’m sure his tummy is not happy at the moment.

It’s been icy cold here and they’re predicting an ice storm tonight, but the cockles of my heart are warm as ever, as is the heart of…never mind. Love is in the air, gentle reader, as well as terror and alarm. The country may be on orange alert, but my heart is always at green. I may not have bottled water, plastic sheeting, or duct tape on hand, but I do have a new Apples in Stereo CD which is pretty cool.

What’s news? Becky got an on-campus interview at that college in Massachusettes, which is very cool. My D&D campaign, complete with snazzy web page, is going well, and I’m still playing Morrowind, which is a lot of fun. I snagged the ‘Tribunal’ add-on for it. Also, we saw the movie Chicago, which you may have heard of. It was a lot of fun, and the songs were very catchy.

Speaking of movies, I just can’t make myself give a damn about the Daredevil movie. The character doesn’t do anything at all for me. I’ll be passing on that one unless I hear really good things about it, which I’m not.

Well as long as I’m geeking out here, I may as well go whole hog. Thank you, Wal-Mart, for putting so many Legos on deep clearance. Hot diggity but I’ve been loading up on all kinds of stuff for dirt cheap. That’s a sale! Why can’t you be more like them, Best Buy? Would it kill you to give out a coupon that could be used on ANY day of the year?

What a lame entry. Hopefully the graphic makes up for it.

First off, many thanks to Kurt and Anna, who not only generously provide me with hosting for this cavalcade of delight, but who successfully upgraded the server on which it was hosted without any ill effects. Rock on!

Congratulations also go to Becky, who leaves tomorrow for her second on-campus interview, this one at Iona College in New York. Send her good clicks! She also had a phone interview for a college in Massachusettes and has one in South Dakota.

I am officially gaming again! Woooooo! Last weekend was the first real session of my Arnheim campaign, a third edition D&D campaign taking place in the Theives’ Guild of a large city. You can read more than you could imagine anyone wanting to know about it by clicking on the link.

Also, plans are in place for Becky and I to take a trip to England, in honor of our upcoming tenth anniversary. We’re going in March, and plan to hit mostly London and the area around Bath. We’ve got the usual sites scheduled: The British Museum, the Tower of London, Stonehenge, but we’re also going to check out some medieval sites and a Doctor Who exhibition. We’re both really looking forward to this.

The other day, Dave T. was griping about a current Disney video release: “First there was 101 Dalmatians, which was animated. Then they made a live-action version. Then they did a sequel to the live-action one, called 102 Dalmatians. Now there’s a sequel to the animated one called 101 Dalmatians 2.” I suggested that perhaps he had misread the title and it was actually 101 Dalmatians² which, by my reckoning, would be 10,201 Dalmatians.