No, this isn't the real thing...it's a spoof.

Creepy cartoon with human mouths!

Clutch Cargo with his pal Spinner and dog Paddlefoot. I used to watch this show all the time. I don't know why. There was also another show called Space Angel produced by the same company. It was animation on a shoestring. It's probably where Conan Obrian got the idea for his shtick.

1975 JC Penney catalog page

Back in the day, the JC Penney catalog sold virtually everything you could dream of....and hallucinate with.

band of brothers

Mother called early yesterday morning to tell me that my cousin Eric Chunn was going to be in town. I hadn't seen Eric in well over 12 years. We spent a lot of time of our youth together...a lot of time. Eric is two years younger than I am and he looked up to me. Two years was a big difference in age back then. We spent many many days together playing Army in the woods, playing with our G.I. Joes, little green army men, or reading Sgt. Rock or Sgt. Fury comic books. We shared the same interests. We both fought Nazi's - from full scale imaginary combat to 12" action figure combat - to 1.5" scale little green army men scale combat. Our time together was spent continuing the fight that was won decades before.

It was great seeing Eric again. We shared a lot of memories - talking like kids as if childhood were not that long ago. We talked about politics. We talked about life. We talked about God and where He has brought us safe thus far.

I realized yesterday while coming home from our reunion that Eric isn't just a cousin - but my brother.  I realized that Eric and I share so much together in this life - that we are closer akin than I previously had thought.

Driving homeward down Rainbow Drive - I was thinking about all my brothers that I share through the blood DNA of Jesus Christ. I have a larger family than I had previously thought. I have many brothers that I have come to know and love like brothers born of the same womb. Thank you God for my comrades, my friends, this band of brothers.

Thank you God for Jose'. Jose' was there amid the hardest years of my life. God used this man to reach out to me to keep my spirit from being broken. Thank you God for Jerry - all the laughter through every season. All those days I spent with Dan - sharing poetry, song, and all the laughter - tears of laughter. Laughter is good medicine. Michael is my brother that never seemed to mind my rough edges. He too was there to laugh, soar high above me with his guitar, sing harmony to my awkward early attempts. Doug Moore is my brother that I rarely see. We can easily pick up the conversation after years of not seeing one another other. Yes, Bruce is a brother that I love to worship along beside, he gave me the opportunity to first lead in freedom. Donnie is my brother. He was my neighbor in Bowling Green and I still miss him being my neighbor. We had such a great time together. Brook is my brother. I appreciate all that you are. We have the longest history together. Arnie and Jim are gone - but I still love them and tear up thinking about them.

I don't see brothers as much as I'd like. I am here for each one of you nevertheless. I promise to love and give you cover as you have loved and given me cover down through the years. You are each special to me - and words fail to express my thankfulness that I have for these kind men in my life.

I am so very blessed.

A friend loves at all times, a brother is born from adversity.
Proverbs 17:17

my sea sled

Here's a functional submersible toy that I had as a kid. My on-line pal Scott Van Sant (whose father served with Uncle Pat aboard USS LST 312 during the war) posted about this on facebook today. This is the G.I. Joe Sea-sled that really did work. Again, this toy might have worked, but the closest thing I had to the sea was my bathtub. This toy accommodated at 12" action figure and so this toy too didn't travel very far in the tub. This toy, like the Life Guard boat I had as a kid, had batteries in the hull. The tanks on the side would fill with water and this toy really ran deep...at least as deep as a bathtub would allow. The propellers churned the scuba diver to the other side of the tub in a matter of a half a second...big thrill.

I was disappointed at the time that the sled didn't come with a joe inside the box. I was always wanting to recruit new joes into my ranks. The sled did come with complete scuba diving gear. It was orange and didn't quite suit my uses for blowing up Nazi ships and subs. What commander would be so stupid as to send a G.I. Joe to blow up something dressing in bright orange wet suit? I wanted a black suit. I don't recall using the wet suit that much because it was so hard getting it on and off the figure. I'd just get a joe to take off his shirt and put the tanks on...wear the fins and masks. Sure the sea was frigid cold but he was tough - he could TAKE IT!!! Scott's little post today brought back some fragments of childhood memories.

I believe I once read where the G.I. Joe Seasled was only available through J.C. Penney back around 1966. I got a lot of my G.I. Joe stuff from Penney back in the day. The store used to be downtown before they relocated to the mall in 1974. There wasn't a toy department at J.C. Penney - mostly clothing. You could however order anything from the catalog and go down to the store and pick it up after a two or three weeks. I remember several times earning enough money for something I saw in the catalogue and thinking it a big deal to place the order by myself. The anticipation of waiting for the order to come in was agonizing.

I can still easily remember what that store looked like back then. Remember the huge old portraits hanging on the wall? Later, when I became a Boy Scout, J.C. Penney was where we'd go to get out official Boy Scout gear. The Boy Scout section was against the back wall.