MXC stands for Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, a spoof that ran on Spike TV from 2003 to 2007.MXC's creators took footage from a Japanese game show, Takashi's Castle, and looped a new, English soundtrack over the action.The show appeals to that lowest common denominator - sexual innuendo, fart jokes and peop

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are abuse, cramp and hatred. Something quick and dirty.Luncheonette for the Possessed“There is goodness in you, even though you can’t see it,” she says.
The fork is halfway to his mouth, which is open for

OneWord is an interesting writers’ prompt. Click the button, get the word, write for 60 seconds. The idea is not to freeze up, just let your mind – and fingers – go.Today’s word is strung.She uses heavy nylon cord, the kind they use with parachutes so you don’t g

It’s Monday, time for a Fiction in 58.ReunionThe note was scribbled on a piece of notebook paper, college rule, the light blue lines just a suggestion for the scrawl. She folded it in halfs, until it was a snug package.She dropped it in her clutch, along with the .38 missing its serial number.

Garasamo "Gary" Maccagnone opens his newest short fiction anthology, "My Dog Tim And Other Stories" with the very enjoyable and very real "St. John of the Midfield." It is

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are bait, jump and victim.SnareI work through the growing dusk to set and bait the traps.A dozen in all, set strategically along traditional migration paths.Simple snares really, nothing that’s going to tr

She considered in an affliction.The boys would come to call, and while she loved the attention, she could never just accept their sweaty fumblings on her porch on warm evenings, bugs swarming over the single-bulb light her father insisted stay on when callers were present.Many had tried, but everyone failed. She

Jake Johannsen is one of my favorite comedians. He was born in Iowa and has this quirky delivery. He's one of David Letterman's favorite performers, having been on Letterman more than 35 times.Let's keep this light. Comedy from Jake Johannsen, your Video Friday.

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are gentle, praise and vulgar.NinjaI wake to the sound of muffled grunts, heavy breathing.I go to the window and in the muted mustard light of a summer moon, I see a figure dressed in black, expertly swinging a pa

Yeah, I know. There should be a Three Word Wednesday contribution here. I’m working on it. Work projects, long writing pieces for the paper, have to come first.For now, please enjoy this Fiction in 58PestI’m a bug.One of those nearly invisibl

Time for a OneWord prompt. That's a word, a timer and 60 seconds. The word is "forgoten."Eggs congealing on the good China, coffee cold, breakfast forgotten.A trail of clothing like directional breadcrumbs marks a path from the front door to the bedroom. A second, with less articles, flows from the sunny k

This Video Friday is dedicated to my buddy Steve, who is learning how to dance for his daughter's wedding.It's nearly the weekend, go dance, because that's your Video Friday:David Bowie, "Let's Dance"Martha & the Vandellas, "Dancing in the Steets"Los Campesinoes, "Yo

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are acrid, bane and tepid. The idea was sound, a bit of noir, but I’m unsure about the outcome. Criticism is most welcome.He’s In SalesHe rolled a dozen Tramadol tablets in his right hand, his one good hand, and figured the drugs couldn’t help, but they certainl

I’m working on a 3WW piece, but got bogged down. Figured a good way to open up was with OneWord – 60 second time limit and a single word.ChaosIt wasn’t his theory, but felt like scientists came up with it especially for him. One thing leads to another, and first there’s a wink in a bar and the vibr

I got some new ink.It's an old typewriter font called Adler."scribe' is more about who and what I am.

Mad TV is an American sketch comedy show that debuted on FOX in 1995.The show produced probably my favorite mash-up of a children's classic, turning Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer into "Raging Rudolph," a salute to Good Fellas.YEah, we've looked at Mad TV before. But hey, we're going into a long weekend. Here's

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are hassle, inject and wealth. I'm late. I'm in the middle of a huge writing project at work.MetamorphosisI’m looking at the injection point with the assistance of my little sister’s Snow White brush-and-mirror set, the silly pink plastic full of green flecks of g

No back story, just something I was thinking about.FirefliesThe evening is sultry, making most movements painfully slow. Thunderheads gather in the distance, and it’s a sign, a promise to break in the heat, but the rising clouds carry the potential for destruction.Families spill out onto porches in

Time for a Fiction in 58. That’s 58 words, no more, no less.SpatThe flat is filled with scents: burnt toast, coffee, candles, a faint whiff of her favorite cologne.He approaches the bedroom and detects trails of lotion, musk – sex. His heartbeat rises. His heart sinks.He bursts in; she’s

Formed in 1977, Stiff Little Fingers is an Irish punk band from Belfast, Northern Ireland.Jake Burns is the lead singer - they're still touring - and they took their name from a Vibrators song.They put out four albums and broke up. But they re-formed in 1987. Suppose

Sixty seconds and one word. That word? BeachEvery couple of steps, she drags her toes across the hard-pack sand, on the outer edge from where the waves could erase everything in one foamy lick. She walks toe-heel, toe-heel, so the tracks look more animal than human. The long pauses from the drag marks adds myste

The words over at Three word Wednesday are feign, imply and virtue.ImperfectionsShe walks by like she always does, feigning interest as I cut the grass in a pair of shorts and a grungy pair of high-top sneakers.The sun has baked my skin kinda coppery, much better than the fish-belly-white of the long

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are erase, meadow and trace. Yeah, I'm a little late.BurialHe closes his eyes and listens.The rush of a summer’s breeze blows through field grass, tall and lush and green, and makes a sizzling noise, which is soothing.He’s climbed a hill that overlooks

Someone go tell Mary Hart to wake up her husband and tell him to make more television.Yes, the perky TV host's husband in none other than Bert Sugarman, creator and executive producer of The Midnight Special.The Midnight Special ran from 1973 through 1981. It was 90 minutes of goodness that followed Johnny Carso

The Factor says that to me, every time we don't speak for a time.Maintain Radio Contact.Starting Sunday, I'll be on the road, covering the Tour de Kota bike ride in SoDak. The days will be long and the Interweb connections will be sketchy.So, I will Maintain Radio Contact.Things are liable to be a li

The Cure were formed in 1976 by Robert Smith and were a staple of 80s MTV (back when MTV actually played music).When they started, the band was post-punk, New Wave. But they hit their stride in the 80s, playing dark, tormented music that helped usher in gothic rock.Some days

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are budge, nimble and theory.Vendibles
It was Ellis who discovered it; and as much as I wanted to punch him in the nuts for keeping it a secret for so long – from me anyway – you had to admit, Ellis was the one gu

A poem for the NaiSaiKu Challenge:beached, a sea of rustling grass,sun’s rays warm freckle-kissed skin,young lovers stretch cat-like, lazy,PICNIC RENDEZVOUSyoung lovers stretch cat-like, lazy,sun’s rays warm freckle-kissed skin,beached, a sea of rustling grass

Time for a Fiction in 58.FeederBy day, he’s the guy you gaze at in the subway and look through.By night, he hunts.He feeds.The transformation happens by his own free will, he accepts what it is, thinks it’s a gift, but won’t say so out loud.He understands spray patterns. He’

So I caught the first look at the CBS sitcom, "Shit My Dad Says" (meh) and got to thinking about finding fame and fortune on the Interwebs. A friend emailed me the link to the sitcom promo, then launched into why she's pissed at Justin, the 29-year-old who lit up Twitter last year by posting funny shit his 74-year-old fathe

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are abandon, gradual and precise.AnniversaryThe old wooden bar has been wiped down, leaving a sour-smelling trail of wetness where the bartender sets up shot glasses in front of one guy

The NaiSaiKu Challenge is poetry, but just for fun. So many things to think about.in the cool darkness, cautionhovers a moist hand across heartswhile reckless abandon callsDECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONSwhile reckless abandon callsa moist

Just some spontaneous writing, for the prompt site, OneWord.They sat on the roof, an old quilt spread across asphalt shingles, and he had hauled up a backpack filled with a liter of Kool-Aid in a hard plastic bottle and some cheeses and crackers. Despite his care in packing, the

It takes a lot for someone who professes that she can't write to send a story my way.But J has a remarkable talent that I think needs to be explored.So in that vein, I made an edit to her latest, and asked if I could post it on The Tension. She agreed.(Now if I could just get her to explore her talents on

Being down with bronchitis all week - the doc said I was thisclose to pneumonia - I relied much on music to fill the hours when I was lucid.Much of that consisted of Ska.Ska started in Jamaica in the 50s and spread to England. It's said to have three distinct periods: The First Wave in Jamaica, the Second Wave c

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are dread, grasp and pacify.Objets d'artIt wasn’t Thanksgiving, no far, far from it, but that didn’t stop him from dialing up a Thanksgiving feast from the replicator, including feeding in the recipe for lefse to reflect his Norwegian heritage he’d never quite u

I have bronchitis. I’ve time for a Fiction in 58, before I pass out again.That water in the bath is warm, and is just deep enough that when he submerges, he can breathe through his nose.Air bubbles escape his ear cavities, ticklish, and the world is mute. He’s aware of the stereo, the street noise, but

What's the surprise, you ask? Read and see.EnoughToes dug into the cool, wet sand.She feels the ocean spray on her face, mingled with the slight fragrance of cocoa butter on her body. In the distance, gulls circle a barge, its loud, obnoxious horn intrusive and unrelenting.Her back is to the su

Henry Rollins is coming to SoDak on his Frequent Flyer spoken word tour (ticket information here).While his music career has slowed - he was the lead singer of Black Flag, arguably the world's first hardcore pun

OneWord is a prompt site I like very much. Sixty seconds to write about one owrd. In this case, it's wealth.If you hard it all, what would you do with it?He rode the bus to a place of business he hated, seething silent as menial tasks were completed for bosses who did

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are fear, ignore and weightless.ConjoinedBetta traced the distance between raindrops on the cool glass with her index finger, idle and child-like, her view of the world on soft-focus.An echo of her own soft voice mentioned casually from the next room that she th

Crowd ControlIt is that time in the in-between, just after sex and right before they turn to their favorite sleeping positions and fall into blissful rest. She twirls a finger in his chest hair, circling the gray ones, and tosses her leg over his thigh and lets out a contented sigh into the crook of his still sweaty n

Time for a Fiction in 58. That's (hopefully) a story in 58 words.6 TrainThe other riders are uncomfortable, so what. The talking draws stares, but the tears, well that’s another matter. It renders him invisible. He grips the steel, body swaying with the train, and sobs.Better they know his pain, to

OneWord is a writers prompt that speaks to brevity. One word - in this case, trial - and 60 seconds. I'm shocked this all poured out in that time.(of course I do a quick edit when time's up.)SerialCourtrooms bored him. The polished wood, the uncomfortable chairs, all

I'm finally getting around to editing some photos of NYC I took with my new Canon G11 camera. Frankly, I took way too many photos with my phone and not with the G11.I didn't want to look like a tourista.Anyway, here's a slight tour of the city, from my perspective:

This day just seemed right for a little Red Hot Chili Peppers, the California band founded in 1983 by Anthony Kiedis, Flea Balzary, Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons. Slovak dies of a drug overdose, Irons left, was replaced for a brief time by Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro and the band now features Josh Klinghoffer and Chad

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are escape, hum and vibrant.TrajectoryThe kernel for his escape began as she raked her hand across his three-day stubble, fingers shrunken and cold like parchment, in the wake of her struggle to lean her lips near to his ear and whispered, “Let me go.”He ran

There are decisions to be made.Go bold.Play it safe.Listen to your heart.Listen to your head.“It was just a vacation,” she says, the one who has played it safe for so many years that she’s insulated from what it would really be like to just jump from the curb and land in the puddle. Drenc