I’ll jump right in — in the spirit of Johnny Stryker. When i was just a puppy my parents took the entire family out to a restaurant named King’s Ransom (at least I think that was the name) in Midland Park (at least I think that was the town), New Jersey. Well … some of us did not want to finish the piles of food we had ordered so my Dad directed our attention to a wood carving head high up on the wall — almost a sort of indoor gargoyle that would be more appropriate on a Renaissance cathedral in in Europe … Notre Dame, perhaps. He told us then and there that the face was that of “Bongo” — a terrible creature who he knew personally and who would wreak havoc upon anyone who misbehaved or, even worse, failed to finish their meal (I’ll get into the implications for the development of childhood obesity at some later date). All my Dad had to do was ask Bongo to come down off the wall and deal with us in his own way — an ambiguous reference designed let us use our imaginations to picture the most hideous tortures imaginable. Needless to say, we all finished our dinner and slept well knowing that we had avoided Bongo.

What none of us had realized was that my Dad also happened to have Bongo’s personal phone number — and he could be summoned up at a moment’s notice. So, whenever we misbehaved or had a less than gluttonous appetite we were threatened with a phone call to his good friend Bongo. Certainly an interesting method for keeping the masses in line.

Let me finish by pointing out two important things. I LOVE the fact that my father, in an instant, created this magnificent creature. Bongo became a part of our childhood and as we got older and realized he did not actually exist, it didn’t matter. He was a part of the family and remains so to this very day. Secondly, I choose Bongo as my alter ego for this blog because it seems to be in accord with the spirit of “Johnny Stryker” — but also because he will not hesitate to wreak havoc upon anyone who presents an idea here. Sure, he’ll be playful and helpful — but he his job is to keep you honest, make sure you’re not misbehavin’, make absolutely certain that you’re finishing your vegetables.

Tally Ho!