Annual ritual:

I always looked forward to the seasonal Peanuts Specials. I don't know who I felt the most sorry for: Charlie Brown for getting rocks in his bag, or Sally wasting her whole night in the pumpkin patch with Linus. One of the things I liked about the stories were the fact that the parents were never around. Unlike mine.....

Random:

All afternoon I've been in a bad mood. It's just been "one of those days"...

I was going to wait 'til Halloween to post this, but I really didn't have anything else to post today...

Dynamite Magazine had several deluxe editions. I've only since learned about them by doing image searches for pics to post here on my site. I had two: The Dynamite Club Handbook and The Year-Round Catalog Of Hot Stuff. There were about a half-dozen more that I hadn't heard about (like the above). Maybe they were only sold in book stores because I don't ever remember seeing them on the Scholastic order forms in school. I guess back in the day these only cost $1.50, but I'm sure if you found a complete unused edition on ebay you'd end up paying at least 20 bucks. Then again you don't often find them on today's secondary market, either they were used extensively and didn't survive, or nobody knew about them (like me) and therefore not many were sold. Who knows.

M*A*S*H:

Mash was always a favorite of mine. But back in the day, my folks hated it so I couldn't watch it (the days when every house had only one television set). When I was around 13, I finally got a TV in my room, so I watched it then. I'd love to watch the re-runs, but I don't have a television (haven't had one for years), and whenever I'm at a place that has one I can't watch it either because no matter who I'm with, they can't stand the show. Maybe someday I'll see it again. BTW, red never was very complimentary on Klinger. Lavender really would've accentuated his complexion much better.

She's blood, flesh and bone No tucks or silicone She's touch, smell, sight, taste and sound..

... But somehow I can't believe That anything should happen (I know where I belong And nothing's gonna happen) Yeah, yeah 'Cause she's so high - High above me, she's so lovely. She's so high Like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite; She's so high, high above me. First class and fancy free, She's high society, She's got the best of everything. What could a guy like me Ever really offer? She's perfect as she can be, Why should I even bother? 'Cause she's so high, High above me, she's so lovely. She's so high, Like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite She's so high, high above me. She comes to speak to me I freeze immediately 'Cause what she says sounds so unreal, But somehow I can't believe That anything should happen (I know where I belong And nothing's gonna happen) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah 'Cause she's so high - High above me, she's so lovely She's so high Like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite; She's so high, high above me.

What a difference 20 years makes:

In my early 20's I used to fantasize about just living in a VW camper and bouncing around aimlessly from place to place. Now when I think about just living in a VW camper and bouncing around aimlessly from place to place, it all seems kind of depressing....

Mel's Char Palace:

Mel.....Dan Aykroyd

Mrs. Mel.....Gilda Radner
Mel: Hi! I'm Mel, for Mel's Char Palace! Where you find your own cow! You cut your own steaks! You select your cow from over 200 head! You stun it! You cut it! You charbroil it! You.. cut.. your own steaks! We give you the saw! You cut your own sirloins, tips, blades, and roasts! You find it! You stun it! You cut it! As big and as thick as you want it! Only at Mel's Char Palace! Our saws are light! Here's Mrs. Mel! [ Mrs. Mel walks up gripping a chainsaw ] Show 'em how to work the saw! [ Mrs. Mel lets the chainsaw rip ] Yeah, she does it, you can, too, at Mel's Char Palace, 217 Paramus!

In my opinion:

Of all of Jaws' victim's, I think the greatest loss was Charlie's wife's holiday roast. Between having to get "the missus" a replacement roast, plus the cost of re-building the dock, I'm sure in hindsight Charlie would've passed on the whole thing that night.

Goodbye Chrissy Snow, helloooo Lana Shields:

On Three's Company, a year or two after Chrissy was eliminated from the cast, Lana was introduced. Lana was probably my favorite character. When Chrissy left I was extremely bummed out, but after Lana came on the scene I totally forgot about what's-her-name...

My how things change:

The Pioneer M6500. Back in '77, this was so high-tech, nobody ever could have imagined that one day it would be obsolete. It was probably rather pricey in its day, but if any still exist I bet you could pick one up at a yard sale for a couple of bucks.

Bizarre '70s toys:

The 1978 Marla Gibbs doll. Complete with disco evening wear. I don't know how many children wanted to role play as a sarcastic, insubordinate black maid / disco queen, but I'm guessing not many.

Back in the day:

Circa 1973, dad used to drink Schlitz beer. But unlike the above ad, if he wanted a beer he'd have to get it himself (my mom wasn't no at-home waitress). I'm not sure if they sell it any more. I never drank the stuff myself (being 5 years old at the time), but I've heard it was pretty bad.

Between you and me:

I would love to have that blue car.

Random:

Christmas 1974 my folks gave me a Howdy Doodie ventriloquist dummy. It was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen. I never tried ventriloquism with it, instead I used to throw him down the stairs. Finally I threw him a little hard and his head came off. He got thrown out that day. There's not really much more to tell..

"And I would've made it too if it weren't for you meddling kids"

Every episode ended the same way, with the guy pretending to be a ghost getting caught then saying the above. In fact, all the story lines were virtually unchanged - the only thing that changed were the settings and the villians (they didn't think I'd notice, but I did). I have to say my least fave was Shaggy, and actually I never cared for the show that much. But yet I watched it every week.. even after they introduced that more-annoying-than-Shaggy Scrappy Doo. I hated that dog..

Bubblegum pop:

Bubblegum pop (also known as bubblegum rock, bubblegum music, or simply bubblegum) is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers. Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972. The second wave of bubblegum started two years later and ran until 1977 when disco took over and punk rock emerged (some critics have claimed bubblegum influenced punk). The genre was predominantly a singles phenomenon rather than an album-oriented one, the presumption being that teenagers and pre-teens had less money to spend on records and were thus more likely to buy singles than albums. Also, because many acts were manufactured in the studio using session musicians, a large number of bubblegum songs were by one-hit wonders. Among the best-known acts of bubblegum's golden era are 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Ohio Express and The Archies, an animated group which had the most successful bubblegum song with Sugar, Sugar, Billboard Magazine's #1 single for 1969. Singer Tommy Roe, arguably, had the most bubblegum hits of any artist during this period. The previous wordage was copied from Wikipedia. You can read the rest of the article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubblegum_pop

Random:

Back in the day, I never missed an episode of Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids, although in retrospect I find their band to be a little disturbing...

The wind is in from Africa, last night I couldn't sleep..

... Oh you know it sure is hard to leave here Carey,

but it's really not my home.

My fingernails are filthy,

I've got beach tar on my feet,

and I miss my clean white linen

and my fancy French cologne.

Come on Carey get out your cane,

and I'll put on some silver.

Oh you're a mean old daddy but I like you

Come on down to the Mermaid Cafe

and I will buy you a bottle of wine

and we'll laugh and toast to nothing and toss our empty glasses down.

Let's have a round for these freaks

and these soldiers,

a round for these friends of mine.

Let's have another round for the bright red devil

that keeps me in this tourist town.

Come on Carey get out your cane,

And I'll put on some silver.

Oh you're a mean old daddy

but I like you.

The Bermuda Triangle game:

In the mid '70s, The Bermuda Triangle was a hot topic. There were several TV specials on the subject. "In Search Of" did an episode on the subject. I really didn't know what it was at the time, and quite frankly I'm still a little vague on the whole thing, but whatever. In '75 they even came out with a game about it. A neighbor had it and I played it once, but mostly we'd just set up the ships on the board and have the cloud devour them. Sometimes I found board games are the most fun when you make up your own rules...

I was just thinking about..

... Buck Owens (pictured above with Roy Clark). I only remember him from Hee Haw. My folks watched that show but I don't really remember it too well. I liked Buck more than Roy for some reason, although I can't really say why - they were both great. I remember watching Hee Haw on Saturday nights (or was it Friday nights) while mom and dad got ready to go out for the night and get together and play cards with some friends of theirs. I saw some old clips of Hee Haw a couple of years ago and it was still funny. I wish I'd been older at the time to remember it more than I do now. I don't think you could re-create the show again, though. Maybe they'll come up with another show like it one of these days, but I doubt it. There'll never be another Hee Haw. I think Buck passed away a few years ago, I'm not sure about Roy. All the good ones that had their heyday back then are leaving us. It's sad to see them go.

I tumble out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen...

... pour myself a cup of ambition and yawn and stretch and try to come to life. Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin', out on the street the traffic starts jumpin' with folks like me on the job from 9 to 5. Workin' nine to five What a way to make a livin' - Barely gettin' by, It's all takin' and no givin'. They just use your mind, And they never give you credit, It's enough to drive you Crazy if you let it. Nine to five, for service and devotion You would think that I Would deserve a fair promotion. Want to move ahead But the boss won't seem to let me, I swear sometimes that man is out to get me. They let your dream Just a' watch 'em shatter, You're just a step On the boss man's ladder But you got dreams he'll never take away. In the same boat with a lot of your friends, Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in, And the tide's gonna turn And it's all gonna roll your way.

Stuff I didn't have:

I got tons of stuff when I was a kid, and there wasn't much I didn't have, but the above was one of them. Well 4 of them. Whatever. I kind of wanted to get a set, but I wasn't really into Kiss except for "Beth", and quite frankly Gene Simmons scared the hell out of me, and I found their stage personas to be a little on the disturbing side. Plus, I was 10 and a little old for, well, dolls... These sell for quite a bit of money on ebay. A few years ago I considered purchasing a set, but personally I can think of a few better ways to spend a thousand bucks.

Fisher Price little people:

I had a few dozen back in the day, as well as the schoolhouse, the castle, the airplane, and the farmhouse. I didn't have the garage, even though my folks keep telling me I did. Well they're wrong, I didn't. Most of the little people I had were wood, until around '74 when they switched to plastic. They often ended up in my mouth, and for some reason I had a habit of chewing the little girls' pigtails off. None of my girls managed to keep their pigtails. I don't know why. Just one of those habits, I guess..

Erma Bombeck:

I'm not sure when the above came out but I'm guessing mid '70s. My folks had the above. I liked the cover because of the cherries, and the fact that the dog looked like the woman. I never read any of Erma's books back in the day because I was too young to appreciate her humor. In the mid '90s I read her book "When You Start To Look Like Your Passport Photo It's Time To Go Home" and I loved it. I remember one passage where she wrote something like: "Before one of our trips to Africa, I spent a month shopping for the right blouse to wear to church, only to end up in a village where women attend topless". I think Erma passed away a few years ago, which is a shame. Seems the good ones are always taken from us too soon.