About

Who is “P.C. Shannon”?

In my youth, I was obsessed with being a cowboy. In the way that 5-year-old boys do, I sincerely thought I was one. (Around the same time, I also referred to myself as “Speedy Gonzales,” so what are you gonna do?) “P. C. Shannon” was the name of my cowboy persona. He had a whole cowboy outfit complete with a really sweet sheriff’s star. He was a big fan of Bob Wills. P.C. (as his friends called him) lived on a ranch and had a talk show—with Dad on camera and Mom as interview subject/props girl. One day, Mom missed her cue, and P.C., in the way that 5-year-old boys do, threw a gigantic hissy fit. Dad, ever the dutiful cameraman, continued rolling despite repeated calls from the produced/director/star to “turn the camera off, Dad!”

Years later, my father very reasonably decided that this was not quite embarassing enough. No, he must also show it to my junior high girlfriend. And her best friend. Twice. Because otherwise being 15 would just be too easy.

I named this site in honor of my 5-year-old self, to take back P.C. Shannon from being a huge, painful embarassment to something I was proud of. And because there’s still a five-year-old boy inside me, along with several other ages.

Okay, so who are you?

My name is Phil. I work as a technical advisor in the patent group of a law firm in the Washington, DC area. I’m also pursuing a PhD in Molecular Biology at The University of Texas (in absentia), specializing in bioinformatics and computational biology. My main hobby at this time seems to be working on this website, much to my wife’s dismay. I also watch a lot of TV and movies, thanks to TiVo and Netflix, respectively.

What do you write about?

I used to try to focus on a few things, but now I’ve opened it up to “whatever.” This is a vanity project after all (and it can’t get more vain than me making up “frequently” asked questions and interviewing myself). The only thing I try to stay away from is politics, at least directly. There are plenty of other people who do it much better than me.

How often do you post?

Asides go up all the time, but I’m trying to do at least one major post a week. I’d like to do more, but there are a lot of constraints on my time at the moment.

What’s up with your tagline?

The central skit of Kentucky Fried Movie is a Bruce Lee-spoof that features a villain called Dr. Claw, who is frequently referred to as “building a fighting force of extra-ordinary magnitude.” Not extraordinary. Extra-ordinary. I just think that’s funny.