I am sick, people.  Sick.  My weekend in NYC was marred by this illness, and I have been forced to call in sick to work for the past two days as well... congestion, a wicked cough, and all the trimmings... I can hardly think straight.

I appreciate all the kind words people have sent me in the last few days about the show, and I'm sorry the COCKTAILS episode of TWSS is so late.  I don't know WHEN I am going to be able to get back into gear.

Sorry.

As I said on the last podcast, I will be in NYC this weekend for the Second Annual New York Comic-Con, being hosted in the Jacob Javits Center.  The NYCC has set up a "Podcasters Arena" and invited a lot of the big names in comicbook podcasting to attend with free passes. 

As some of you know, I got my start in "comics" podcasting, first with AROUND COMICS, and later with COMIC TIMING (the host, Ian L., is an occasional contributor to the TWSS blogpage).  Thanks to "the other Ian" (as TWSS's own Ian Casselberry calls him), I'm getting a free pass and a chance to meet many of the friends I've met and made in the comic community over the last few years.

If you're going to be attending the con, stop by and see me (if I'm there, I'll be at the COMIC TIMING table).  If you live in the area and want to participate in some sort of meet-up, let me know as well.

So what does this matter to the average TWSS listener?  Not much, except for the fact that being gone will delay the release of episode #18 of TWSS.  Ian and I probably won't be able to record until Tuesday night at the earliest.  But look at it this way-- instead of a rerun of The Office next week, you can look forward to us! Just as good... right? 

right?

ah well.

So... This is the big Joss Whedon directed episode tonight, and it looks to have at least three different plot threads running through it.  I can only imagine Ryan invited Michael to his class in order to mock him (or let Michael mock himself), and the Dwight Vs. The Bat thing... well, I hope it's funnier than it sounds.  I am most interested in the Pam has an art show story-- I wanna know just how sexy that art is!

NBC describes it thusly:

BUSINESS SCHOOL

8:30/7:30c TV14 02.15.2007

MICHAEL GOES TO BUSINESS SCHOOL WITH RYAN - Ryan (B.J. Novak) invites Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) to be a guest speaker at his business school. Meanwhile, Dwight battles a bat that gets loose in the office while Pam (Jenna Fischer) invites co-workers to her first art show. Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Melora Hardin, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Paul Lieberstein, and Mindy Kaling also star.

Let the commenting begin!

Oh, BTW-- JOIN IAN AND I IN THE TWSS CHATROOM AFTER THE SHOW (9:00e/8:00c).  Not sure how many people can fit in the room, but we're willing to find out!

HERE COMES THE BRIDE - Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) regrets giving Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) an important job at her wedding after several embarrassing moments. Pam (Jenna Fischer) has flashbacks of her own wedding planning when she sees Phyllis's decorations. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) is determined to catch wedding crashers. John Krasinski, B.J. Novak, Melora Hardin, David Denman, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Phyllis Smith, Paul Lieberstein, and Mindy Kaling also star.

Racine, WI-- the place I grew up and where I am currently living-- used to be a pretty amazing center of industry.  CASE tractors, In-Sink-Erator, Johnson's Wax, Horlick's Malted Milk, and Western Publishing (to name a few) all made their start here. 

During my senior year in High School, a representative from Western contacted our theater teacher and said they were looking for a group of kids to try out and be voices for a new board game they were putting together.  Being a drama dork (among other things), I tried out and got accepted as part of the crew.

We had to drive up to Milwaukee to a professional recording studio, and spent the afternoon reading goofy situations from a script-- situations dealing with a guy calling a girl on the phone, and either getting lucky or striking out. 

The game?  A little thing called GIRL TALK DATE LINE.  In the game, you had to move around the board and take two character tiles (a guy and a girl), match them together and jam them into a tiny portable speaker box thingy you'd have hooked up to your cassette deck.  The tape would then play one of the conversations mentioned above.  If you got a "good" one, you were successful.  If you got shot down... well, better luck next time. 

I got paid a few hundred dollars for my efforts, I remember... all of which went towards paying my bills for the senior prom.  I never really knew what kind of impact this game had, or whether it was popular or whatever, but apparently it won 6th place in the 1991 Deutscher Spiele Preis.  After doing the game, I briefly considered trying to work in the voice acting arena, but like a lot of things when you're 18, it got swept under the rug.

A mere 24 hours or so away from the next chapter in our little saga-- BEN FRANKLIN.  The episode description goes a little something like this:

Michael celebrates Phyllis' wedding shower by bringing two adult performers into the office, a stripper and Ben Franklin. Meanwhile, Karen confronts Pam about her past history with Jim.

Ben Franklin has an obvious Pennsylvania connection, and in fact they have a big "Franklin-impersonator" that walks around Philly doing appearances and such.  I gotta say, though, that I can only imaging what is going to happen in this episode... it sounds so... ODD.  But then again, there ain't no shower like a Scranton shower, 'cause a Scranton shower don't stop!

Bring it on, boys.