Misc. Remembrance:

In the mid-'70s, my cousin Karen used to raise guinea pigs. In '75, one of her females had a litter of pups (I don't know what you call a baby guinea pig) so she gave me one. She told me she had to keep it for a little while until it was a few weeks old, then I could have it. The second day I went to her house to see my new pet, and she told me that while she was cleaning out the cage her cat got a hold of my guinea pig and ate it. The second day. That damn cat had to eat my guinea pig and left Karen's alone. I didn't even get to name it. I was devastated, but then again I knew deep down that mom would never allow me to bring it home. She never did like those things.

Sneaker Roller Skates:

In 1978, I had a pair of sneaker roller skates. In fact, I had the above models: blue satin sides, blue suede toe and heal, 4 white stripes on each side, yellow wheels and stopper, and yellow laces. I practiced roller skating in dad's basement. I was able to turn around as I skated so I was skating backward, but for some reason wasn't able to turn back around so once I started skating backward I had to stay backward until I stopped. I remember the roller skating rinks wouldn't allow you to wear these in their facilities; they said it ruined the surface of the rink, but really it was so that you'd have to rent theirs. I haven't roller skated since around '83, and the older I get the less likely it is that I'll start again. I loved roller skating as a kid.

Not quite what I was looking for, but it'll do:

I was doing a Google image search for "'70s Pixy Stix" and found the above ad from '64. I don't really remember "Lick 'M Aid", but I was addicted to Pixy Stix (especially the giant ones that were, like, 3 feet long. When you're only about 4 feet tall, they seem really huge). My folks didn't get them often for me, since by the time I finished one I was off-the-wall-hyper for the rest of the day, because basically Pixy Stix was like speed for kids. Or crack. I would've posted a pic of an actual Pixy Stix, but none from the '70s showed up. All I could find were pics of the newer ones. Once when I was about 5, I got on mom's bad side and she threw my Pixy Stix out the car window before I could eat it, and I got grounded for the rest of the day. I'm not sure what I did to deserve that, but mom was pretty easy going so I'm sure it was pretty bad..

Misc. Remembrance:

In the early '70s, when my grandmother used to take me to the beach, she'd give me some change and have me go to the concession stand and get us each a frozen Milky Way bar. Do you have any idea how impossible it is to eat a frozen Milky Way bar? It was like trying to gnaw my way through a block of wood. It took me 15 minutes to not even get through half of it, and by then I'd give up and bury the other half in the sand while she wasn't looking.

Stuff I didn't have:

As far as I can recall, Inchworm came out around '76. I didn't have an Inchworm, but my cousins did. I tried it once, but it was never really my thing; I was into my 1974 Huffy Pro Thunder bicycle. Apparantly, it wasn't really their thing either because it ended up in their barn in a pile with all the other stuff they had that they didn't use. Still, I think it was a pretty popular toy back in the day. Alot of kids had them. When I was doing the image search for the above pics, I noticed that Inchworm was re-issued. I wonder if it ever caught on with today's kids the way it did back in the day.

You probably think this song is about you. Don't you.

"Well you had me several years ago when I was still quite naive; when you said that we'd make such a pretty pair and that you would never leave. Well you gave away the things you loved, and one of them was me. I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee."

Much speculation's been given as to whom Carly is actually singing about in her song "You're So Vain". I believe she said that it's a real person, but she also said in an interview that "If you think you know, you don't". I've often wondered if Carly's actually singing about herself; especially in the above verse. It seems to suggest that fame and success changed her and made her into someone whom she swore that she never would become, and didn't recognize anymore. And when she says "You probably think this song is about you" is her subconsciously talking to herself. Alas, we may never know, as Carly's probably never going to tell us, but it's just my theory.

1970 Pebbles and Bamm Bamm sip.along cups:

Had the Pebbles one, because I liked her yellow shirt with black triangles (plus, Bamm Bamm having white hair kind of freaked me out back then. White hair seems a little unnatural for an infant). I don't believe it was 1970 though, because I was only 2 years old then, and who really remembers anything when they were 2.... but it might've been '72. Basically, when you drank from the cup, somehow the beverage got sucked up Pebbles' and Bamm Bamm's straws at the same time, like you were drinking together, which totally makes sense because who really likes to drink alone...

1978 Cheryl Tiegs poster:

These came out a couple of years after the famous Farrah Fawcett poster, but wasn't quite as popular or iconic as Farrah's. Still they sold hundreds of thousands. Alot of boys had Cheryl tacked on to their walls (or on their celings over their beds...). I remember back in the day looking at the poster and thinking what a long body she had, like an otter's. Cheryl's aged pretty well, I saw a pic of her on the internet recently and she still looks good.

Random fact:

In 1975 I ate a Milk-Bone dog biscuit... okay, so I ate two..

Do you like the things that life is showing you?

Never cared for the movie, but to this day I still love that song.

So how many of you had...

... a Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture kit?? Nobody I knew had this one. I don't remember the exact date, but I'm pretty sure it was mid-'70s. I was going to ask for a set back in the day, but it all seemed a little weird; plus, I heard that the smell was unbearable so I knew that my folks would say no (and, quite frankly, I couldn't think of anything you could do with them.. how on earth do you play with a shrunken head?). Between you and I, I have to say the pic of Vincent Price playing with his shrunken heads is a bit on the disturbing side.. he looks a little old for that.

Random Fact:

I hate spiders.

Trix cereal scratch 'n sniff premium stickers:

These came out in '76. They were about 6 inches tall and 4 inches wide. I didn't have the above, instead I had the strawberry ice cream soda sticker. It smelled so good, I was on a strawberry ice cream soda kick for a year. I think there were about 6 different stickers. I loved scratch 'n sniff stuff when I was a kid.

Random:

Today I drove to the nearby town of Saranac Lake, NY, with a buddy of mine. Since we were on the road we decided to go to McDonald's for lunch. I ordered a Quarter Pounder with cheese, no onions (even though I'd specified no onions, and even though it was printed on the receipt as having no onions, I still got onions; nobody ever listens to me). If this had been 1974, it would've come in the above carton. I know this is a totally lame post, but whatever....