Who knew that a journey of a thousand miles begins with seeing a kid with a raygun?

Last week I saw this little tyke at the park and he had one of those old fashioned clear plastic rayguns. You know with the little thing inside that makes the sparks and that obnoxious grinding sound.

I had one of these as a kid and brought it along on a cross country trip to Yellowstone. Imagine driving from Kansas City to Yellowstone Park with a 5 year old and a raygun. Oddly that toy went missing on that trip. Hmm, you don’t figure….Nahh!

Friday I went to Walmart looking for a raygun. No gun but found the new Indiana Jones action figures. Today I went to Target. Again no raygun but I did bond with a fellow Indy Geek. Yep, two guys in their 40s drooling in the toy department at Target. I gave him a card with info about the 12 step program I’m in.

Came home today and starting looking about on the Web for rayguns. At some point my ADD kicked in and I got distracted with related searches. Apparently I have a passing interest in something called Steampunk. This would explain my fascination with stuff like novels by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne,Phil Pullman and Neil Stephenson. Leather flight helmets,goggles dirigibles,pith helmets and alethiometers. It also might explain why I’ve worked in the printing industry for however long its been. Most print shops look like the lab of some Victorian Mad Scientist. Full of etching solutions,micro-meters,rubber aprons,gears,triple beam scales, arc welders,guillotine paper cutters and oh printing presses. Here is another interesting Steampunk site called Brass Goggles Who knew?

Also came across the term Neo-Victorian. Again, this might explain the pocket watchs that I never carry,fountain pens and sealing wax on letters. Hell, I just thought I was odd. Who knew there was a name for it?

The Rayguns and no, not Ron and Nancy. Check these out,beautiful. Made by Weta, the guys that did all the armor and swords for Lord of the Rings. And all for the low, low price of $700. Feel free to contact me and I’ll provide my Paypal info where you can donate.