have a nice day

What is it about this guy? I first remember seeing the Happy Face (his close friends call him Smiley) all over the place back in the very early seventies. His big grin was everywhere, on t-shirts, purses, lunchboxes - you name it. I don't think this guy will ever grow old or go away. There was a time in the mid seventies through the early nineties that he seemed to have semi-retired. It seems the Internet called him back to work sometime in the 1990's. When he came back, he didn't seem to have aged a bit. Smiley is once again all over the place. My younger sister Cindy has always been a big fan. I remember her having jewelry, clothing - anything with that big yellow smiling face on it back in the early days. She's still loves the guy.

One Step Beyond

I picked up a DVD set of One Step Beyond (1959-1961) from the $5.00 bin at WalMart a few months ago. It's a television series that preceded the more famous Twilight Zone.

There are a lot of similarities between the two shows. One Step Beyond supposedly based it's stories on true paranormal events. I get the feeling that most were based on urban legends. They are well written and packaged much like the Twilight Zone - or should I say Twilight Zone was packaged much like One Step Beyond. There is a difference twixt the two - Rod Serling created his show to make social commentary using fiction as his medium. Serling shows are more memorable with good reason.

When I bought the One Step Beyond collection, I was familiar only with it in name only. It was not a show that I remember seeing in reruns. I was only an infant when it originally aired. I guess there are about 40 episodes in this DVD set. They are low resolution, but I been enjoying them nevertheless.

Gina and I have been watching a few together when we can. We've seen all the Twilight Zones and One Step Beyond is new to us.

frozen fish sticks

I was one of a family of eight. I had a dad and a mom - one brother and four sisters. That's a lot of mouths to feed. I remember frozen TV dinners. My favorite of all the frozen foods of that time were fish sticks. It was a simple dinner that usually consisted of fish sticks, early green peas, and a slice of buttered white bread. There was always a bottle of ketchup on the table when fish sticks were served.

Sometime mom would prep fried oysters for dad. At first dad had the oysters all to himself. Then after time, some of the kids started to acquiring more of a taste for oysters over fish sticks. There came a time when dad didn't have all those oysters to himself. He didn't need them - there were after all already six little mouths to feed.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - CNR

Boomerville...this relates...trust me.

familiar?

This picture should make most baby-boomers feel kind of old.

how high the moon

Heaven's got a new guitar player. Here's Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Les Paul is gone

big sound of a low tech world

The last 8-track tapes I bought were from Woolco (Rainbow Plaza, Rainbow City, AL) before they closed back in the early 1980's. More people were buying cassette tapes back then. By the late 80's the 8-track cartridge was on it's way out. I was stocking up on them because I still had a player and the cartridges were going for fifty cents each at Woolco.

I don't know what it is about those clunky things. You'd be listening to the music and there would be a pause right square kadab in the middle of the song and 'CLUNKITY'. The track would change and the listener had a few moments to ponder the meaning of the lyrics he'd just heard before the rest of the song eventually came along.

Even so - I liked 8 track tape format for all it's flaws. I remember my brother Brooky had an 8-track player installed in his MGB with plug in for head phones. I remember a certain trip to Florida we made together with the top down, shirts off, and head phones on. Driving down narrow roads and through small towns listening to The Who, Linda Ronstadt, Moody Blues and Pink Floyd as the road unwound before us.

I had a portable 8-track player that my Uncle Pat gave me that I used to listen to through head phones. I'd sit beneath the shade of the eaves of my old home listening to the music of Cat Stevens, Harry Nilsson, and Randy Newman It was so compact and portable for that day that it was like carrying around a bagel toaster

There came a day when 8-tracks were no more. Even little cassettes are a rarity. Today people have wee-sleek little MP3 players that fit into a pocket that store hours upon hours of music. With all this new cleaner sounding streamlined tiny technology - why do you suppose we baby-boomers remember the 8-track with so much fondness?

those aren't pillows

John Hughes died last week on August 6. He was a household name back in the eighties. Hughes had a long string of blockbuster hits throughout the eighties - from SIXTEEN CANDLES to HOME ALONE movies. My favorite movies of his are FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, UNCLE BUCK and TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES. There are many comedies that he wrote and or directed that were excellent comedies. There are so few funny comedies out today that are truly funny. John brought us so many laughs.

By the time the nineties rolled around, John Hughes had pretty much left the director's chair. His most recent work was in DRILL BIT TAYLOR in which he wrote the story. A movie that I have yet to see. I have to be kind of picky with the movies I go to the cinema to watch these days. It's kind of expensive and I have to be picky. Back in the day, I would go watch any movie that John Hughes produced. I'm sure each of you have a favorite Hughes film.

Ronald Reagan

The Gipper speaks out against socialized medicine.