Connect Four:

This was one of the few games that my folks and I could agree on. Nobody in our house didn't like playing it. Once in awhile you'd play with a poor loser and just as you're about to drop the winning checker the loser would move the trap bar so all the checkers would fall out so you couldn't actually claim victory. Of course, I never did that...

Goodbye Robert Hegyes:

Marco just emailed me to let me know he passed away.

Random find:

I like the hood ornament.. and basically that's all I like about it... ..

Question:

Does anyone remember the episode of Gilligan's Island when Gilligan suggests a beauty contest to decide which of the three female castaways will become "Ms. Castaway"? And Mr. Howell really wants his wife to win, so he spreads glue on the stage before mary Ann's dance routine, and shot spit-wads at Ginger while she performed?? Then the Professor distorted the music when it was Mrs. Howell's turn??? Then when all three competed Gilligan had to decide the winner???? And I believe he chose a chimpanzee instead????? Well, neither did I. I cheated for this post (although, in my defense I did remember Gilligan choosing the chimp). I found it all HERE.

Did you know:

The Carpenters weren't the first to record "Top Of The World". Lynn Anderson recorded it a year or two before. I heard it for the first time a few days ago on a country oldies station. It was just as good as The Carpenters' version - I almost like it a little better. Lynn's an old favorite of mine. I loved her voice and a few of her old hits. I wonder what she's been up to lately.

Gnip Gnop:

I had this game but I didn't like it because I wasn't any good at it and I always lost. I've always been somewhat of a poor loser.. okay an incredibly poor loser. I'm surprised anybody played anything with me back in the day.....

Misc. Remembrance:

I really hate shopping, especially clothes shopping. Even more so when I was a kid and mom would take me clothes shopping for back to school, etc. I couldn't wait to get out of those stores. Basically the conversation would go something like the following:

Mom: "How about this shirt? It'd look great on you."

Me: "Fine. I'll take it. Let's go."

Mom: "And how about these pants??? They'd go great with that shirt."

Me: "Fine. Great. Let's go."

Mom: "Oh and look at these great shoes, they're just perfect for that outfit."

Me: "Okay already. Let's go."

Mom: "Oh and look at this rack over here, I didn't see that before. Here honey, take these 4 shirts into the dressing room and try them all on."

Me: "I like 'em all. Let's go"...

Random observance:

Women say they'd like men to be comfortable enough to be able to cry once in a while, but I don't think they really mean it...

Random Find:

Remember these? I've posted about Herbal Essence and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific, but I'd forgotten about the others. I can still hear the Faberge commercial: "You'll tell your friends and they'll tell their friends and they'll tell their friends too". That's gonna be stuck in my head all day now..

If you liked Wacky Packs:

http://lostwackys.com

Three is a magic number, Yes it is, it's a magic number. Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity You get three as a magic number.

A man and a woman had a little baby,

Yes they did.

They had three in the family,

And that's a magic number.

So how many of you out there had...

... Spirograph? I did but it was never really my "thing". Alot of kids loved it, though. Sometimes friends would come over and we'd use it but mostly it just sat in the box. I much preferred Lite Brite than Spirograph, but that's just me. I never had the multi-color pen, btw, but then again you can't have everything...

Random fact:

I never really cared for Chef Boyardee, but I always loved ravioli.

Did you know...

... that the set of the Brady's house was used in an episode of Mannix?? You can find it here.

Random find:

Mego Corporation's 1975 game: Ball Buster. I'm not making this up, people..

Question:

So did anyone out there actually enter the sweepstakes? And did anyone out there actually win anything?? And was anyone out there who entered naive enough to actually think you were going to win anything???

Um, okay...

I found the above pic when I did a Google image search for "Mr. Green Jeans" from the old Kaptain Kangaroo show. I must say I had no idea he was that popular..

Back in 1974 (or was it '73???)..

.. I used to watch Villa Alegre on PBS. I was fascinated by the model village they showed at the opening and closing of the show. And how the word "Villa Alegre" would light up over the village like fireworks. I wanted to live there. I didn't learn any Spanish, but still I liked the show.

A little "creative marketing" from Madison Avenue:

What was advertised:

What you got:

Random find:

While the summer of '67 was "The Summer Of Love", apparantly the summer of '76 was "The Summer Of Fun". Somehow I missed out on both; not to say that I didn't have a great summer in '76, it just wasn't Kool-Aid-themed.

Question:

Does Tony Orlando look like he's totally wasted, or is it just me???

For the record:

While I admit that I loved Tony Orlando and Dawn, 30 million people might've watched The Tony Orlando And Dawn Show back in July of 1974 but our family wasn't one of them. I loved them, but my folks didn't. And since it was their house and we only had one TV at the time, I was over-ruled 2 to 1.

Non - '70s Post:

I'm not sure if I posted this before, but I'm rather short on ideas lately so if I did, you're gonna hear it again anyway: I have this re-ocurring dream where I show up at a restaurant with my date really late, like just before closing time. The waiter begrudgingly seats us, and my date excuses herself to go to the ladies' room. As I'm waiting for her to return, I fall asleep at the table. The waiter comes over and shakes my shoulder to wake me up and says "I'm sorry sir, we're closing now." My date has ditched me, and when I go out into the parking lot my car is gone.

"Santa Maria" by Trooper:

With only fear and good judgement holding us back, we sailed out on the Northern Sea with a boatload of crazy people (including the shotgun and me). "Does anybody know how to drive this thing?", yelled the Captain as he fell to his knees, "I think I mighta had a little too much today, take me to my cabin please". Cruisin' on a sardine boat loaded with crazy people. And we shall be the Santa Maria looking for a brave new world. The First Mate shouted from the crow's nest: "I think I might see land out there". Nobody moved from where they were laying, 'cause nobody really cared. Cruisin' on a sardine boat loaded with crazy people. And we shall be the Santa Maria looking for a brave new world.

"That's funny, Frank never has a second cup at home..."

Does anyone remember the coffee commercials (I think it was Folgers) where a married couple is having coffee with Mrs. Olsen and the husband asks for a second cup of coffee while the wife looks on in disbelief that her husband actually wants a second cup because he doesn't ask for a second cup at home. And she seems to get a sort of inferiority complex because she can't seem to make a decent cup of coffee to satisfy her man?? Then she asks Mrs. Olsen what her secret is, and I believe it's the "flavor crystals" that makes Mrs. Olsen's coffee better than the wife's. So Mrs. Olsen tells the wife her secret and probably saves their marriage??? It was an ad campaign that ran pretty much throughout the decade. I'm guessing Mrs. Olsen isn't with us anymore; it's been almost 30 years.

It's a new day and a new year:

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

The Lincoln Park Round-Up:

I went to the Lincoln Park amusement park in North Dartmouth Massachusettes quite a few times in the mid to late '70s. One time I went, I rode The Round-Up. 8 times in a row. I got SO sick...

Misc. Remembrance:

In the late '70s we had a neighbor named Dick Q. In the summertime he used to get drunk on beer on Sunday mornings then mow his lawn while playing loud Irish music. I don't know why that was his "thing", but whatever..

Irene Goodnight, Irene goodnight. Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene, we'll see you in our dreams:

Sometimes she sleeps in pajamas
Sometimes she sleeps in a gown;
But when they're both in the laundry,
Irene is the talk of the town.
Irene never goes off to Dreamland
'Til she's combed every hair on her head;
She puts it in neat little curlers,
Then she hangs it on the post of the bed.
A burglar broke in Irene's bedroom,
The dear girl was sleeping in peace.
Then Irene she fought like a tiger,
'til the burglar called the police..
Irene goodnight,
Irene goodnight.
Goodnight Irene,
Goodnight Irene,
Well see you in our dreams.

I remember an episode of Little House On The Prairie...

... when Nellie Olsen fell in love with the son of a pig farmer. Mrs. Olsen was less than thrilled. So Nellie invites the boy over to the house for dinner and he shows up wearing no shoes. Then they decide to elope and get married by a justice of the peace, and as they're in the town's only hotel in their room about to consumate the marriage, Mrs. Olsen barges into the room with a shotgun and starts shooting and the kid runs out of the room in his longjohns. I'm not sure if the marriage got annulled or how it dissolved, but needless to say it didn't last..

Misc.:

This was Mary's step-up kitchen. I always liked the stained-glass roll-up window/partition and the brick wall. Of course, if someone shut me in there I'd panic from claustrophobia, but still it wasn't a bad setup.

Misc. Remembrance:

When I was around 4 years old, one of the rooms in our house was my playroom where all my toys were kept and that's where I'd hang out. I found a plastic spoon, and since I didn't have anything else to do I decided to see what would happen if I stuck it into one of the electrical outlets. I ended up on my ass. If you're tempted to try it I'd advise against it..

The good scissors:

In our house we always had an "everything drawer". That's where my folks kept the note pads, pens, pencils, tape, playing cards, etc. Also there were 2 pairs of scissors: the regular scissors, and "the good scissors". I was not allowed to use "the good scissors". Only mom could use "the good scissors", dad wasn't even allowed to use "the good scissors". If I had to use scissors, mom would always remind me not to use "the good scissors". Then as I was in the process of cutting, she'd call out: "You're not using the good scissors, are you???!!!?!". Then she'd find an excuse to come into the room just to make sure I wasn't using "the good scissors". I think she's past that stage now..

A 1969 Christmas:

So did anyone else get Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots that year? And were any of you an only child like me?? Receiving a game that was meant for two??? Does anyone else see the irony in this????

Merry Christmas to all:

"For God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17

Their favorite foods:

Walter Findlay liked Gatorade because "it made him feel like a jock". Jan Brady liked peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. Marcia Brady liked spaghetti. JJ Evans liked his mom's sweet potato pie. Gilligan liked Mary Ann's coconut cream pie. Fred Flintstone liked brontosaurus burgers. Archie Bunker liked having a Twinkie in his lunch bucket and a beer when he came home from work. Alice Hyatt liked anything with chocolate. Laverne Defazio liked milk and Pepsi. Shirley Feeney liked Fudgesicles (pronounced fudge sicles, not fudgicles. She was very particular about that...)

Random:

I've been wondering what Peter Billingsley looked like now.

1974:

I'm not sure what you were doing on December 19th 1974, but I'm pretty sure I was probably reading the Sears Wishbook. Over and over. And over. And over. And over....

Misc. remembrance:

When I was a kid, my birthday was always celebrated a week before the actual day, because our family would host Christmas Eve for the whole extended family and a birthday party just would've been too much. My friends were rather jealous that I got to open my birthday gifts a week before. Above is, I believe, either 1970 or 1971.

Back in the day, my Great Grandmother (Bachi) loved The Bobby Vinton Show. She was a huge fan because he spoke and sang fluent Polish. My Great Grandmother came to the United States from Poland back in '39, and lived in Taunton Massachusetts 'til her passing. I'm sure she missed her homeland terribly, and Bobby sort of "eased the pain", so to speak. She and my Grandmother lived in a 2-apartment house on Meadow Street down by the Reed & Barton factory. My Great Grandmother lived in the second story apartment, and my Grandmother lived on the first floor apartment. My grandmother also spoke fluent Polish, and every now and then they'd argue together in Polish because nobody could understand them, and it used to drive me crazy not knowing what they were saying. How rude..

Back in the day:

Seems like everyone liked hanging out at Mr. Hooper's.

Random:

When I was a kid we did things as a family, but we never went on a picnic. I also didn't grow up near a nuclear plant, either..

Random fact:

When I was a kid I never was never in the habit of playing with my food.

Aunt Jenny turned 100 this year:

My grandmother's sister Jenny turned 100 years old this year (I don't know her exact birthday). My grandmother passed away in '86, and everyone else from that generation passed on, but Jenny's still going strong. She apparantly took after her mother, because my great grandmother lived to be 92 (she probably would've lived longer if she hadn't broken her hip). Jenny lives in Raynham Massachusetts with her daughter, and was just awarded with an "Oldest Person In Raynham" award, but between you and me that doesn't seem to be an award I'd wanna brag about. Or show people...

I was just thinking about...

... Fannie Flagg. She was a regular on various game shows back in the day. She was also on Candid Camera. Once they set her up as a lady working in an information booth in a mall, and she didn't know anything. It was hillarious watching people get exasperated with her, she was funny as hell. I think she's an author now. She's one classy lady.