Bakugan!!

Four days ago I had never heard the term Bakugan, but suddenly I find myself not only knowing what they are but I also know how to play the game with which they are associated – Battle Brawl.  Some might call it good parenting but I know that it’s just dumb luck.

At first I noticed groups of boys playing with what I thought were marbles. However, these marbles morph into bizarre creatures when they roll across any metallic surface. Well, actually they pop open to reveal hidden innards that form dragons, serpents and monsters.

The game you play with these creatures is similar to the game of marbles in that you roll the Bakugan over a target area with the intention of scoring points and capturing your opponents Bakugan. There’s a bit more to it than a simple game of marble, but essentially the two games are distant cousins.  But none of this is really very important. What is important is that the Bakugan craze has reached a frenzied level reminiscent of the Gas Panic of 2008. My children have been asking, begging, pleading and demanding that I go and find them some Bakugan so that they can be cool like all of their friends at school whose parents were nice enough to go out and buy them a package of Bakugan.

I have tried. The problem is that everywhere I go they are sold out of Bakugan. The clerks tell me the same story at every store – as soon as the Bakugan come in, the crowds of consumers carry them them out. Some parents have had minor arguments in the isles of ToysRUs due to limited quantities of Bakugan. Well I don’t want to get involved in all of this but what choice do I have? I’m a Dad who loves games & toys. I love to see the looks on my kids faces when they open up a new toy. And so I will continue my search for the elusive Bakugan and as the Christmas Season gets nearer I may have to resort to underhanded tactics in department store parking lots to obtain the toy that my children seek.

Gas Panic 2008

There was no gas, or little to be had in Nashville this weekend. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Ike and Gustave there was a slight slow down in gas supplies to our region. The local news media took this information and fanned the flames of panic by urging everyone to run out and fill up every car they owned before the weekend or there would be no gas to buy.

It was a self fulfilling prophecy. The news media created a gas buying frenzy which depleted petrol supplies in all of Davidson County and into outlying counties. On Friday last, the entire metro Nashville area descended upon every gas station within a fifty mile radius and filled up their hungry vehicles, gas cans, pickle jars and lawnmowers.  This doesn’t usually happen on a Friday afternoon. In fact, most people will only purchase one tank of gas per week, but this week desperate people were scrambling to fill up even though they had three quarters of a tank. There were fights in gas station parking lots. There were threats of violence.

A friend of mine waited in line for gas for one hour. Just as he moved up to the gas pump a guy on a motorcycle zipped in from out of nowhere and cut him off for the pump.

“You can’t do that!” my friend shouted.

“What are you gonna do” asked the biker, “call the police?”

“Yes” said my friend as he got out his cell phone and dialed the non-emergency number.

Ironically, the biker couldn’t get his credit card to work so he had to pull away from the pump with his tail between his legs and curses being hurled at him from those still waiting in line for gas.

Things are starting to get back to normal; however, there are still gas stations with no gas to sell and most that do have it only have regular. This limited supply has also driven the price up to as high as $4.69 per gallon.  I think a hybrid vehicle is defintely in the future for this blogger.