There are moments in life that feel more surreal fantasy than actual reality. One briefly surreal moment occurred many years ago as I watched my son, Scott, playing Halo with Chris Foreman’s* son, Felix. I was on Skype with Chris and commented on how odd it was that my childhood music hero’s kid (in England) and my kid (in America) were connected over an ocean and a continent playing a live video game while the two plotted ways to murder other players residing on three additional continents. I think I also told Chris the Maxwell House commerical was still playing in the colonies, because Chris is keen on milking Our House to a dried out cow-shape husk.

Had you told my 13 year old self this upcoming scenario I would have stolen the idea, busted out a screenplay, sold it to Paul Verhoven (retaining the merch rights), and retired super rich at the age of 15. It’s such a fantastical scifi premise that in the 80s it would’ve fit in easily with Robocop, Back to the Future, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Ghostbusters, and Star Wars.

So that happened. That was a surreal moment.

*Chris is the guitarist of Madness. He co-wrote the hit tune “Our House.”