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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Grateful For The Name

A friend of mine contacted via email today to tell me he was out driving and saw a this bumper sticker:



Aware that my website is called Play-Dead and also knowing that I had been a "dead-head" at one time, my friend was curious if there was any connection.

Actually, yes and no. It is true that back in the early 1980's, I became a part-time Dead Head - I did see the Grateful Dead about 10 times and traveled out to Colorado for a 3 night stint at Red Rocks, but I was not a full time Dead Head. Full time would be traveling all over the country and following them on tour. I only did it when I had the time and money.

Anyway, about the Play Dead bumper sticker. No I did not choose the name based on an Homage to the Grateful Dead. Actually, I was cutting the grass one afternoon and can't help but have 'grass cutting thoughts' (which is something like daydreaming in productive way) Anyway, I had been trying to think of a a good name for my Murder Mystery Script website. I was pushing the lawnmower around the yard, I recalled back when I was a kid and my dog would leave little presents for me in the grass. (yes Dog poop) I remembered, no matter how careful I was, I always managed to step in it. As I thought about my dog and her trick of leaving surprises for me, I thought of other tricks that dogs learn. Such as roll over, get down off the couch, stop eating that and of course playing dead. A light bulb goes off and illuminates the section of my brain that was thinking about good web site names and it hooked up with the other side that was thinking about dog tricks and "PLAY DEAD" was born.

I put the lawnmower away, wiped off my shoes, (no dog poop this time) and ran to the computer to see if I could purchase the Domain Name. I checked "Playdead" and I learned that "playdead.com" was taken. Dang deal! I thought for a second and then I remembered my friend Bob Baker and how he couldn't get his own name for a domain, Bobbaker.com. (It was taken by a car dealership or something) So he used a hyphen in his name and got Bob-Baker.com. So, I tried it with a hyphen; "Play-dead.com" - and that name was available. I grabbed it.

Out of curiosity, I checked on the website "Playdead" -without the hyphen and it was (maybe still is) a Grateful Dead site dedicated to learning and playing songs by the Dead. Wow. Cool.

So, no my site had nothing to do with the band. Even though they were a big part of my life, it was not a nod to Jerry, Bob and the boys. Instead, Play-dead was actually a nod to stepping in dog poop while cutting the grass.

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