Paging Wesley Crusher...

When I was a kid Wesley Crusher, a character on Star Trek:The Next Generation, was my hero. He was living my dream! Not only did he get to live on a galaxy-class federation starship, he got to be an acting ensign!! I realize that, by now, this blog post has largely alienated many of my blog-reading public. "wesley who?" some are asking.."Star Trek? we thought Jerry was cool!" others say.

Well, okay maybe they aren't saying that.

anyway, while watching season one of ST:TNG yesterday I was inspired. What had become of the boy genius we, as young nerds, had so thoroughly idolized? The only contemporary work I could remember involving Wil Wheaton (the actor who portrayed the young ensign crusher) was a brief cameo on an episode of the abc hit CSI in which he portrayed a mentally challenged and possibly homicidal homeless man named Walter. Hardly the future I had envisioned for the enterprising (pun very intended) young ensign. I decided to dig deeper and contacted two of my most reliable sources...google and Wikipedia.

As it turns out Wil Wheaton is doing rather well for himself and, oddly enough, seems like a pretty cool guy. How do I know this? well...I hit up wikipedia, read all the bio crap on imdb.com (which revealed such career highlights as a Jell-O commercial opposite Bill Cosby and, of course, his role in the film adaptation Stephen Kings classic "Stand by Me") and pursued a few sites created by dedicated (if not downright insane) fans. I learned facts, I read about roles on TV shows and in video games, learned about frequent contributions to slashdot.org, and then finally stumbled upon Wil's personal, and frequently updated, blog.

After reading a few entries I was surprised by how normal this former child star seemed....nowhere to be found were the torrid tales of three-week-long coke binges with Corey Feldman. Nor any mention of a "special" relationship with masked, unigloved global pop stars. I read on and, somewhere between an amusing account of a failed attempt to make a grilled cheese sandwich and his choice of Death Cab for Cuties "Transatlanticism" as one of his musical favorites, I almost forgot that I wasn't reading one of my friends blogs. It was, however, this quote in response to what movie he would make if he had unlimited funding that made up my mind about Mr. Wheaton:

my dream is Watchmen as twelve two hour episodes: the first 90 minutes would be the main story, and the last 30 minutes would be Hollis Mason's book, and Tales of the Black Freighter

(if you have not read the graphic novel "The Watchmen" you are seriously missing out. go buy, borrow, or steal it. you won't be sorry...unless you go for the "steal" option and get caught...then you might regret it a little...you know what? I digress...)

Shit yes.

And yes, I was supposed to be working. Deal with it.

Now, those of you that know me know that I generally don't give two shit about the lives and careers of celebrities or TV personalities. This is because, on the general whole, the bloated "cool kids" clique that is American celebrity is just as vapid and self-involved as the aforementioned example was when we were in high school. I am also not some weird, Trek obsessed fan boy...well, not all the time anyway.

So, why am I mentioning this? What is the point? Well, aside from the weird internet day dream that someday Wil might google him name, stumble upon this blog, and send me some kind of E-High Five...

Well..none, really. I guess I just think it is cool that someone that I was impressed by as a kid turns out to actually be a decent, intelligent person.

Way to go Mr. Wheaton. Maybe someday I can buy you a beer.

Kansky out.

[also I have a new Photoblog that I send pictures to pretty much all damn day due to my obsession with this new-fangled phone. check it out if you have a sec. okay..later]