I'm really enjoying a Gawker offshoot, Gizmodo '79, and I hope they keep it up beyond this "week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born." They just did a post about Mattel's Football, one of the "popular standalone handheld games of the late '70s." I spent sooo much time playing this game. It's amazing how mesmerizing those tiny red dots of light could be on that little screen. Those games are probably responsible for many people my age being able to pick up on current, similar technology with relative ease and irritation. But what a "trip" it is to think about these again!
Jezebel has an amusing and entertaining look at the spring, 1972 Sears catalog's children's clothing section. This reminded me of how every winter during the 1970s, I anticipated, and then consumed (at least the toy section) the annual Sears Wish Books. I look at examples of them now, and the amount and clarity of sensory memories I receive is almost too much to bear. As I scrolled down the Jezebel post, I saw just this, and thought it seemed vaguely familiar:
An odd sense of déjà vu continued, and then, this:
My parents got my sister and me sets like the red one with chaps, for what must have been the Christmas of 1972. I had a green version, and she had the red one. They came with a hat, frilly, plastic-like gloves, chaps, pants, a belt, a bandanna, and a matching checkered shirt. I remember going to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo the following February (probably in the Astrodome) with my parents, and my sister and I wore them (of course!). My little sister got kicked by a calf, behind which she had unfortunately stood, so her memories of that day may not be all that good. For whatever reason, my parents held on to those little Sears cowboy outfits, and a couple of years ago, they had them framed. Here's what was left of my sister's (the picture I took of mine was blurry, so I deleted it):
One of the more creative and inventive pop culture bloggers out there, Gilligan, provided many of us this past weekend with even more ways to kill time, thanks to Obamicon.Me. The one he has done with the classic The Exorcist subliminal/guaranteed nightmare inducer, Pazuzu, had me in stitches. Mine you see above.
Keith at The Dino Lounge has come up with a pretty cool meme. Says Keith:
This is called the 20 Men I Admire Meme. The title pretty much says it all. I decided to pick entertainers of the past (some of these men are still living), but other bloggers could pick men of any era.
Make sure you post these rules when you participate in this meme. Here are the rules:
B. Link back to the originator of this meme, which is The Dino Lounge.
C. Create your own list of 20 men that you admire and post them on your blog.
D. Tag 5 other people to particpate in this meme.
E. If you like, please let The Dino Lounge know that you've participated in this meme so he can check out your posting and comment on it. Thanks.
I'll tag the following individuals, all of whom will meet with varying degrees of bad luck should they break the chain choose to not participate. Actually, I'm tagging a few sites that don't do this type of post, so I do not expect them to follow up.
1. He who tagged me, the hardest working pop culture blogger in show business, Gilligan at Retrospace. Little buddy has done some of the most original posts in existence. If you think you have a unique idea for a post, forget about - he's already done it!
2. Mr. Dante Fontana at PCL LinkDump, an inspiration to pop culture bloggers around the world, and one of the first.
3. Rich at fourfour. He is a talented writer with an amazing work ethic, who is also maddeningly creative and funny as hell. He was an early inspiration for me to try my hand at doing a blog, and one of the first "big blogs" to link to me.
4. Cathy at cityrag. Again, an inspiration to begin a blog of my own. My original "vision" for this blog was an East Texas cityrag. I just couldn't live up to it. Two of the greatest experiences I've had being a blogger occurred on two separate occasions when she linked to my Ocean's 11 and Tony Rome posts. I was surprised I could fit my head through the door the morning after those days.
5. Finally, Gunnar and Sherry at Eccentric Roadside, who share my love of "the road," and all the cool things awaiting discovery out there, upon it.
And now, the 20 Men I Admire, not so much ordered as they are categorized:
gilligan at retrospace has selected this blog to be awarded the coveted Arte y Pico Award. "Arte y Pico" roughly translates (from Spanish to English) as "The Best Art," so that's a good thing. To show my appreciation for this esteemed acknowledgment, I now bestow the same honor upon five blogs I like, similarly worthy of the award (I could have listed all of my linkers):
Should these bloggers choose to participate, they are obliged to abide by the following (or else):
Rules:
1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
From Shorpy (The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog) comes this whimsical photograph by Russell Lee of a man for whom every second counted. I love how he has that block of ice there, ready for the next customer (who'd better hurry!). Shorpy's caption:
February 1939. "Ice for sale. Harlingen, Texas." View full size. Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. Here we have a very concise study in what you need for an ice business: Telephone, cash register, tongs, ice pick and a big block of you-know-what. Not to mention plenty of twine.
"These are indeed lonely, but in a beautiful way. Gorgeous images of small town Texas life. Good stuff if you’re missing the small town you left to come here to the big city. Check it out here.
And remember, these sites all have excellent links sections to allow you to spend even more time at work looking at pretty pictures that aren’t porn. Enjoy!"
the Soho Journal discovered my photo blog through a link from Frank Jump's awesome Fading Ad Blog. Thanks, Frank! And thanks, Soho Journal!
My first, stumbling (in hindsite embarassing) attempts at blogging were devoted to the few autographs I received when I was 11-13. I wanted to be a "blogger," but wasn't sure what it was I would "blog," exactly. My autographs were exclusively mine, so I thought that would be a good start. Nowhere else on the Web could they be found(!). Isn't that what it means to blog -- present something that is unique enough to merit visitors? So EBIN began with these:
A treasure. It is framed and hanging on a wall. I apparently sent Gene Roddenberry a drawing I'd done (no doubt of the Enterprise), and poured out my 11-year-old's love for his creation onto my Star Trek stationary. How cool is it to have Gene Roddenberry wish someone luck in thefuture. Alas, "the future" has not meant being Captain Kirk......I've always wondered why my last name (Adams) was left off of the inside address. Perhaps my handwriting was illegible when I wrote it. Either way, surely he recognized that my first and middle names were the names of the first two (other than Captain Robert April) captains of the Enterprise -- Christopher Pike and James T. Kirk. I have so much love for Roddenberry because he did this:
When I was around 12, I began I hobby where I'd cut pictures out of magazines like Starlog, andmail them in a S.A.S.E. to the person pictured with a request for an autograph. Most would respond with something like this from Anthony Daniels. This is a picture from The Empire Strikes Back, so I received it around 1980:
The imprints and holes caused by the tacks I used to pin this one on a wall in my room are evident on my Billy Dee Williams:
I seem to recall sending Dave Prowse a picture I'd cut out of Darth Vader, but this was just as good(!):
Harrison Ford paused for a moment while making either Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) or Blade Runner (1982), presumably, to do this for me:
February 1940. The main street in Iowa City during a snowstorm. Businesses in this view include Bremer's, the Capitol Cafe and Princess No. 2. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. (Shorpy caption)
Waffle Whiffer has the lowdown on a childhood favorite - Hostess ® Ding Dongs ® (drool). I wish I could still eat that kind of junk and not feel bad about it! Having a Ding Dong was like a decadent luxury when I was a kid. And twinkies? Fuggedabout it.
I remember this Ding Dongs commercial from the early '70s:
"This must be King Ding Dong's castle!" "Look at all those Ding Dongs!"
First there was "the Beaver letter." Now Shorpy has revealed the contents of the document Jim is highlighting during the opening credits of "The Office" (click on pic): You might think it would have something to do with the Dunder Mifflin paper company's Scranton branch, but actually it's a Los Angeles Department of City Planning (zoning) document showing revisions to the L.A. Municipal Code. Specifically, Section 12.22.C.20(f).
After seeing "the Beaver letter," I intended to do a similar thing by getting a screencap of whatever insane things Creed writes at his "blog," "Creed Thoughts" (www.creedthoughts.gov.www/creedthoughts). Shorpy has already done that, as well (I was the "Anonymous Tipster" who asked Dave about it in the comments, and he came through!):
A new compilation from Chris from Ultra Swank! The other three he did have been a bright spot in my life for the last couple of months and the soundtracks to several of my "small town" road trips.
Here is the rundown from Ultra Swank:
Here it is, my latest compilation "Voices from a Photograph". I have been working on this compilation for quite some time now, almost a year in the making. Took a long time to find songs that fitted the mood and title of the compilation. The basic theme of it is mood music for rainy Sundays, melancholic, dreamy vocal pop mixed with instrumental music and songs from movies from the late 1960s up to the mid 1970s. I am sure you will recognize some of them, especially if you are a movie buff (like me). The compilation clocks in at about 60 minutes and is available to download from the links below. Enjoy, and please give me feedback if you like it!
01. Scott Walker - It's Raining Today 02. Nick de Caro & Orchestra - I'm Gonna Make You Love Me 03. Dominic Frontiere - When Were Your Dreams Worth Remembering 04. Dino, Desi & Billy - Thru Spray Colored Glasses 05. Elmer Bernstein - Nearing East Proctor 06. The Velvet Underground & Nico - Sunday Morning 07. Michel Legrand - Theme From The Thomas Crown Affair 08. The Hollyridge Strings - Scarborough Fair 09. Scott Walker - Rosemary 10. Henry Mancini - Natasha In Venice 11. The Cyrkle - It's a Lovely Game Louise 12. Michael Legrand - Main Title from Pretty Polly 13. Jerry Goldsmith - Claudie's Stockings 14. Brian Bennett - Thoughtful 15. The Free Design - My Brother Woody 16. The Velvet Underground & Nico - Femme Fatale 17. John Barry - The Man on a Scooter 18. Quincy Jones - On Days Like These 19. Scott Walker - Copenhagen 20. Richard R. Bennett - Anya 21. Marvin Hamlisch - Lovely Hair 22. Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent - Gotta Get Away 23. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning 24. Dennis Farnon - Lonely Promenade
PCL LinkDump has a post about Pete Seeger and a regional TV show he hosted in the U.S. during the mid-60s called Rainbow Quest. 38 episodes were produced. Folk and country music legends (including Johnny Cash and Judy Collins) were guests on the show. Episode 23 featured an amazing 12-string guitar player/blues and gospel singer named Reverend Gary Davis. Here he performs "Oh Glory, How Happy I Am":
Keith at Malls of America has this video some guy made, in which he pays tribute to the video arcade of the mid-80s: "Arcade '84 is my attempt at recreating the atmosphere of the classic arcades. It's a 3-minute+ trip through an imaginary arcade circa 1984 entirely rendered in 3D computer graphics."
Pete Townshend has a blog. And of all things, it's a blogspot blog. He actually has two, one being more of the random thought kind, and the other focusing on an autobiography he is in the process of writing. I find this hard to believe. But it's true. He doesn't appear to have a site meter, Technorati account, or anything, so I doubt he'll ever see I've linked to his blog in this post. It would be interesting to know what thoughts, if any, he might have about this blog's name. I'm a huge fan of Townshend and The Who. The walls of my room during high school were covered with pictures of "St. Pete" I'd cut out of Musician, Creem, Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, etc., etc. I guess the thought of a childhood idol, and one time "conscience of rock and roll," communicating via something as mundane and everyday as a blogspot.com blog to be sort of surreal. Although it is very cool he and I have this in common!
As some proof of my fandom, I present this:
In the picture are some things that were called record albums and cassette tapes. Note that I have bought All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes on vinyl, cassette, and compact disc. It has meant that much to me. Also, I have a Who Came First album. Maybe that isn't a big deal to you, but when I bought that back in 1983 (in Galveston), it was not an easy album to find! For that matter, neither was Rough Mix. There wasn't an Amazon or eBay back in those days.
But the point of this post (and the way I stumbled upon Townshend's blog), are his recent comments about Britney Spears I discovered via a link at Drudge. In a post titled "Britney and a Purple Dress," Mr. Townshend says:
"Dedicated Man In A Purple Dress to Britney in Long Beach. I said, 'Let's not be too quick to judge'. Roger said 'Britney? Britney who?' Like, Roger! Pullease...... read the paper.
Just heard she's gone back into rehab. Pray for the babe. This is a tough business when you have a down period - she sometimes has over one hundred cars following her, every one with a camera geek in it."
Townshend's sentiments are echoed by SamuraiFrog at Electronic Cerebrectomy. While I'm not sure I completely agree with SamuraiFrog's argument that "we've destroyed Britney Spears" (I would like to believe the whole head-shaving thing is just a big publicity stunt designed to keep her in the public eye), I do admire the fact he has taken a higher road, and not done that which is easy - kicking a person when they (apparently) are down.
She has to get better (if she is in fact "sick") soon, so she can go back to making videos like my all time favorite (I lovethe song, too!):
I'm really enjoying a Gawker offshoot, Gizmodo '79, and I hope they keep it up beyond this "week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born." They just did a post about Mattel's Football, one of the "popular standalone handheld games of the late '70s." I spent sooo much time playing this game. It's amazing how mesmerizing those tiny red dots of light could be on that little screen. Those games are probably responsible for many people my age being able to pick up on current, similar technology with relative ease and irritation. But what a "trip" it is to think about these again!
