The Futurist Group Tales of Adventure
These are true stories! We couldn't possibly make this up!
The TFG adventures. A listing of some unique happenings for various members of TFG, both singly and in groups. Read, laugh, and enjoy! We certainly did!
The TFG Adventures 1: The Large Tin Dinosaur
The TFG Adventures 2: Conventions
The TFG Adventures 3: Zipped lips
The TFG Adventures 4: The Videos
The TFG Adventures 5: The Game
The TFG Adventures 6: The Bonfire
Hit the BACK button on your browser, or click below:
Adventure 1: The Large Tin Dinosaur
"The Large Tin Dinosaur" was a rather bulky vehicle. Copper-colored, V-8, full of chrome (and a few James Bond-type accessories in the end), it was one of Detroit’s final worthy tributes to the musclecars of old.
** The car was found lurking on a used lot in the fall of 1988. To the casual passerby, it stuck out as though a sore thumb, with it’s massive size and various imperfections. For its future owner, though, it would be love at first sight.
The car provided many years of faithful service to the owner, and to the group. The car didn't sit still very long, for there was so much to do, from getting snacks, to getting some friends to go chasing. There were the frequent trips out of town, for everything from movies, to conventions, to just wanting to get to the beach for some fun in the sun. As always, the car brought everyone safely home.
The car was more than mere transportation: It was a symbol that reflected the hard work, dedication, and personality of the owner, as well as of his friends, since they had a hand in its breakdowns over the years, be it the brakes (used often, replaced as often), the tires, or a fender.
** There was the time we loaded up the car, and went "mud bogging". Fully loaded car, 5 foot deep mud, and our car flying thru it like a bat out of hell. To this day, we still have no idea why we didn't get the car completely stuck in the mud (although the car has never run quite the same since...). We also can't get all the mud out of it, even though the car has been taken completely apart a number of times for other repairs.
**
The car has been in 18 accidents to date.
Accident #1 was wrapping the door around a pole while trying to fit it into one of the newer car washes. Accident #3, was the time that it was backed up into the only other car in a parking lot, much to the delight of the onlookers, who hated the owner of the other car. Accident #17 was crunching in the rear quarter panel trying to back it out of a garage.
** Alas, sadly, the car is no longer in use. The owner had the vehicle restored to its "original" condition and placed in permanent storage. It is taken out once a year to blow the dust out, and to relive fond memories.
If it interests people, then they'll be a convention for it! Hats off to fans of StarTrek, who organized the very first convention so many years ago. It's been the model for other groups ever since. ** TFG has members, those members have interests. And those interests mean conventions! We've been attending them evey year for 10 years now! Pile us into the biggest vehicle we had, and drive 80 miles to see our favorites. Tv and movie personalities, or pioneers of technology, it made no difference: we were there! In person. Not to mention the merchandicing everywhere! A truly unique experience, no matter which one you attend. And they get bigger and better every year! ** So, what do we go and see? Technology conventions, for some, although they should be called Sci-fi conventions, considering all the star-trek-thinking types there! Many of us go to GenCon and BotCon, which is held at a different location every year!
I'm certianly not going to write this one yet; I have been asked to wait until the perpetrators are safely married before anything is committed to this page. If you are a Charter Member, you already know the stories. If you are not, and would like to know, too bad!
The VideoShoot, as I call it, was actually a series of videoshoots spanning 1990 thru 1996. When I say series, I mean that all the videos, in some way or another, related to at least one other video we made, thus creating a sort of a patchwork quilt of 'sequel' movies. There were many other scripts written, but, as time goes on, there is less of an interest to do them....However, we are currently in the process of reviving the series. More details as they become available...
What were the stories about? Well, in brief, they were action flicks starring the members of TFG, and of course the car. We had spys to thwart, deliveries of top-secret plans to make, and car chases to run. Odd how thin the line between truth and fiction...
Someday soon, I plan to write the stories out as a novel, adding in the scripts of the ones not done, to create a more enjoyable, uniform series. I will even put them here for you to read. Don't click on it yet! This will take years to write! That link doesn't really go anywhere. I was just using it as an example of where you should look for it. Geez, be careful!
What made these videoshoots different from someone just playing with a camera? Well for one, we had a complete cast of characters, a full script, and some cheesy props. And man, it was fun! We simply had more creativity, and resources at our disposal than many others, which made this so special and so successful.
What I find ironic is that, now that we aren't currently shooting videos, we end up having everything we could have ever dreamed of: a state of the art digital editing bay. A large pool of trained actors willing to do it for free. Now, all we need is time, desire, and a new script. Truely, the adventure continues...
The StarTrek game, to be specific. Memories of youth die hard, especially when it was one of the longest-lasting games in TFG. It ran for eight years straight.
I've recently finished compiling the complete rulebook here. Assuming I uploded it yet. Otherwise, read on!
Why is the game gone? Long story. Number one, after years of this game, everyone but myself, and the keeper of the game, were sick of it. And why can I no longer play? Well, number two, the keeper of the game is no longer with us. He was the only one who could consistantly defeat me in it. I suspect that this was because he created the underlying mathematical structure, and so had the advantage...
What is StarTrek, the game? The most complicated non-DM'd game on the face of the planet. Armed with a rulebook and a calculator, the players would be in control of a Starship. The object? To win, of course.
What were you trying to win? Control of the Galaxy. Points. Money. The respect of your friends. We would spend nearly every day of every week down in a friend's basement, playing that game. Turn on some tunes, load up a snack tray, and spend the next 6 hours trying to rule the galaxy. Man. Those were the days.
The World's Largest Controlled Fire. Take 400 wooden pallets, 9 large cable spools, and build a pyrimid, stretching 28 feet high, and 60 feet wide. Then light it. We couldn't go near the area until the next day.....and thanks to the amazing composition of wood, (I hear it's made from trees) only a small pile of ash remained.
Adventure 7: Sports (game on!)
Had we known how many people in TFG came just for the sporting events, we would have had them sooner! It started with the Annual TFG Golf Tourney, now several years running. We are on our upteenth year of football. Softball started a few years back, and there are other plans in the works as well according to the President. Stay tuned!