Random:

Back in '78, some people felt that if Mork could pull off the rainbow suspenders look, they could too. They were wrong, btw.Very, Very wrong..

We All Live In A Capital I.

We all live in a capital I, In the middle of the desert, In the center of the sky. And all day long we polish on the I, To keep it clean and shiny So it brightens up the sky.
Rubbing it here And scrubbing it there, Polishing the I So high in the air.
As we work we sing a lively tune "It is great to be so happy on a busy afternoon." And when we're through with the day's only chore, We go into the I And we close the door.
Capital I, capital I, capital I, capital I

For Fred Flintstone, every day off was a good day.

Misc. remembrance:

Back in Junior High, everyone was walking around wearing this tee. Pink Floyd couldn't have paid for better advertising.

Linda Blair:

I was recently thinking of Linda Blair, after having done the Exorcist post. She was such a cute kid back then.

The Exorcist:

I'm one of the few who did not find this movie scary, because of 3 reasons:
1. I didn't see it in '73 when it came out at the movies because I was only 5.
2. I read the book in the early 80's when I was in my teens, so that pretty much spoiled any surprise or shock-value that the movie might hold.
3. I finally saw it after that on television, and by then the delivery was already becoming out-dated (although, to be fair to the flick, and to all who participated in its making, I'm sure if I'd seen it at the movies it would've been different).
I believe the book was written by Shirley Maclaine's (sp?) brother, at least that's what I read somewhere.

Misc. Remembrance:

When I was about 4, 'til about 8 years of age (ca. '72 to '76), my folks used to play cards with a couple named Pat and Eddie. We'd go over their house and the adults would play cards while I played with their kids: Lori and Teddy. Pat was a nurse. Eddie had previously undergone colon surgery (or something like that), and whenever he'd reach for a snack and it was something he really shouldn't be eating, Pat would say, rather sternly: "Now Eddie, remember your bowels". Mortified, he'd say (under his breath) "Shut up, Pat". Then his kids would chime in: "Remember your bowels, Eddie! Remember your bowels!"...
I've since lost touch with them all. I really miss those days.

My ghost story (I was going to wait 'til Halloween, but I'm kind of short on ideas lately):

There's a church I used to attend in South Wellfleet, Mass., right on the corner of Route 6 and Lieutenant Island Road, across from Rookies restaurant. It's not an old church, it was built sometime around 1970. The basement of the building is a huge banquet hall, with a large kitchen off to the side, with several small classrooms at the other end of the building. One day I was sitting upstairs in the church by myself, and I started to hear talking downstairs. It was muffled, and i couldn't really make out what was being said, but there was also laughter and the clanking of dishes, the sound of people walking around, etc. It got louder and louder, but I still couldn't make out what was being said, so I decided to go down and see who was there. I assumed some of the ladies of the church were cleaning up in the kitchen.

I got downstairs and nobody was there. Dead quiet. Not a sound. the voices stopped as soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs, like I just walked in on a conversation they didn't want me to hear.

I went back upstairs. A few minutes later it started again. It got louder, and louder, and louder, and louder, so I went back down, thinking I had just missed them.

Nothing.

Whenever I'd go back upstairs it would start, and whenever I went downstairs it would stop.

It happened several times, and on several different occasions. I thought it was just me, but finally i asked somebody about it, and they experienced the same thing. Several people had the experience, not just me. And whenever I was downstairs in the dark, I could sense I was not alone. I could literally feel it. There are several classrooms with windows, but they always keep the doors shut, so in the hall it's pitch black.

It's really creepy.

Sometimes that woman was no darn fun.

When I was about 8, I read an illustrated book of old Chinese folk tales in my school's library. It was there that I discovered the queue. I wanted to grow one, but basically mom said "No way, over my dead body". For the life of me, I couldn't understand why she was being so unreasonable...

Just lookin' out of the window - watching the asphalt grow:

Good Times: Any time you meet a payment. Good Times: Any time you meet a friend. Good Times: Any time you’re out from under. Not getting hassled, not getting hustled. Keepin’ your head above water, Making a wave when you can.
Temporary lay offs. - Good Times. Easy credit and rip offs. - Good Times. Scratchin’ and surviving. - Good Times. Hangin in a chow line - Good Times. Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em - Good Times.

I watched this show every week until John Amos got written off. Then it just wasn't the same. On another note, I was always in awe about how big John's nostrils were. They were huge..

The Jaws game:

Between you and me, I think mom really bought this game for herself. She'd make me play it with her. It was embarrassing, really. Basically, it would be:
"Come on, Joe, we're gonna play Jaws".
"Not again...".
"Just one game".
"But we just played it yesterday!!"
When we moved, I "accidentally" lost it. Funny how that happened..

I see trees of green, red roses too. I see 'em bloom, for me and for you. And I think to myself: what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue, clouds of white. Bright blessed days, dark sacred nights. And I think to myself: what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow.....so pretty in the sky, Are also on the faces of people going by. I see friends shaking hands, sayin' how do you do? Theyre really sayin' "I love you".
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow (theyll learn much more than Ill never know). And I think to myself: what a wonderful world. Yes, I think to myself: what a wonderful world.

Random:

My local radio station has been playing "YMCA" alot lately. I miss these guys, as well as the disco days.

I was just thinking about:

Vertibird. I had a blast with this game. Mine broke not long after I got it, so I don't have many memories to post. It was great playing it with someone else, but just as fun alone. Pictured is a current eBay auction: Item# 220477348050.

In my opinion:

Nobody could twirl an umbrella wearing a sundress quite like Marlo Thomas.

Sunfish sailboats:

These things were everywhere ca. 1974/75/76/77. When we'd go to Hardings Beach in Chatham (which, btw, is closed this weekend due to Great White Shark sightings, 4 of them to be exact), there were always at least half a dozen of these things either in the water or on the beach. I wanted to try one, but no one in my family owned a sunfish.

I knew it:

I'm old enough to remember the original Gordon on Sesame Street. For the longest time I thought the current Gordon was a replacement, but wasn't sure, until I saw a pic of the first actor on Wikipedia (above).
Yes, once again, I was right.....

Going for coffee:

In the early 70's, it wasn't uncommon for mom to say "Come on Joe, we're heading to so-and-so's house for coffee". Then we'd go to their house where she and mom would have coffee and talk (sometimes several moms), while us kids would go off and play. Sometimes they'd come to our place, but mostly we'd go over to their house. Those were fun and simple times. I think that's a lost custom, however, especially now that the majority of women aren't stay-at-home moms.

1976's Car Wash:

I'm not sure which came first: the song or the movie. Personally, I preferred the song. However I will watch snippets of this movie once in awhile just to marvel at that one character's (the guy in the circular pic with the chick, and on the left in the "R") afro.. I'm still in awe of it..

The church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald:

"Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours? The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er. They might have split up or they might have capsized; they may have broke deep and took water. And all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters."



The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975. When the song came out in '76, it kind of scared me. I also remember feeling sad for the surviving family members. You can read more here.
(On a side-note, I never had the urge to scuba dive and check out old shipwrecks. It just looks so cold and dark down there...)

1979 Entex Handheld 1 or 2 player Baseball Game:

This was a great game. For 1 player, you'd switch to auto function, and the pitches came automatically. For 2-player play, you'd switch to manual play, and the person pitching can remove the top portion, which is connected by 26" cord inside, and select from 5 pitches...curve, slider, fastball, change-up, and knuckler. I have to 'fess up that I'm copying the description from an ebay listing, but I did have this game and played it for a long time. The ebay listing is here.

Molly Ringwald:

Back in '79, Molly Ringwald was a nobody. She didn't even make it to the second season of "The Facts Of Life". No one had any idea how large a star she'd become in the 80's. When Sixteen Candles came out in '84, people were saying: "Wasn't she that Facts Of Life kid?". I don't know what she's doing now, but in the mid-80's she had quite the career. Sixteen Candles is one of my all-time favorites.