Hello, I’m David Thiel, writing from Champaign, Illinois. Thiel-a-Vision is my personal blog, through which I cover such topics as television, films, sci-fi, comics and toys, as well as whatever else catches my fancy. As such, it’s deliberately loose in focus and updated only as my time permits. I blog first and foremost for my own amusement and to practice my writing/web skills. If anyone else reads it, that’s cool. Welcome.

You may have noticed that there are no comments, forums or other feedback mechanisms. That’s by design. My job requires me to listen patiently to the thoughts and criticisms of others, no matter how wrongheaded I think they may be, so I like having a place where my opinion isn’t just the only one that matters, it’s the only one that exists. If you want to express your own, there’s a whole internet available for your use. That said, you’re certainly welcome to drop me a note; my e-mail address is displayed in the sidebar.

A Thiel family portrait: my wife Vicky, our youngest cat Hobbes, and our daughter Elizabeth.

(Okay, really it’s an alien lizard baby prop from the TV show V. But I still call her Elizabeth.)

About Me

I was born July 27, 1964 in Gary, Indiana, USA, but I spent most of my first 21 years in nearby Hobart. (This did not make me happy.) I graduated from Hobart High School in 1982. In 1986, I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunications (TV/Radio/Film) from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana–the same place that gave late-night talk show legend David Letterman his start.

Afterwards, I moved to Hollywood where I briefly interned at Stephen J. Cannell Productions, producers of The A-Team and other action TV series. I also worked as a production assistant on a pair of low-budget science-fiction films.

Returning to Indiana in 1987, I took a job as a master control operator at public broadcaster WYIN-TV in Merrillville. In 1989, I was hired as the traffic manager at WILL-TV in Urbana, Illinois. In 1997, I was promoted to program director, heading the programming department, managing an $800,000+ budget and responsible for screening/scheduling shows that are seen throughout East Central Illinois.

I met my wife Vicky through work; she was the traffic manager at nearby WTVP-TV in Peoria. We used to trade videotapes for broadcast on our respective stations. One thing led to another, and we were married on October 3, 1992. We live in Champaign, Illinois with one cat and no kids.

Our house as seen from spaaaaaace!

My hobbies include playing board games, wargames such as Monsterpocalypse and Warhammer 40K, as well as computer games. I’m on the WILL bowling team, but unfortunately the championship gene did not pass down from my dad. I love building Lego models, and have been collecting Star Wars toys since 1978.

The Inevitable Cat Photos

Left to right: Tigger, Hobbes and Cupid.

Cupid was our first cat. She got her name at the animal shelter, but given that she was born close to the day of our wedding, it seemed appropriate. She passed away after a brief illness in July 2007.	Tigger came second. She was shy, but had a wonderful purr. Despite a history of illness, she proved quite resilient. She remained happy and mostly healthy until she passed away in October 2008.	Tigger believed that she could hide from us atop the kitchen cabinets at pill-taking time. She was wrong.
We adopted Hobbes because Vicky had wanted a Maine Coon. He’s very much a people cat, if not exactly a cat cat.	A rare image of Hobbes in mid-flight.	Hobbes continually gets into mischief. It’s hard to stay mad at him, though. He can be awfully cute.