Back Talk

I was pulling Dandy Lions out of my lawn the other day. To be quite honest, I was somewhat ambivalent about the process. I know they are classified as a weed, but they aren’t that bad looking. I know my wife pays some pretty good money for stuff in our garden that isn’t half as attractive, but what do I know.

I remember as a child I thought they were a nice flower worthy of my mother. I don’t know how many times I would pick one and proudly present it to my mom. It always ended up in a small glass or Dixie cup on the kitchen window sill. She never once let on that it was a weed. This was your classic it’s the thought that counts situation.

I think I just figured out how to get this years Mother’s Day gift on the cheap. Don’t the rest of you go stealing my idea. We wouldn’t want there to be a great Dandy Lion shortage.

Several years ago at Blast From The Past we were selling a current version of the old electric football game. For those of you unfamiliar with the toy, and I’m sure there are many, let me describe it for you. It was basically a tin football field underneath which sat an electric motor which caused the surface to vibrate. You would place upon this little plastic football players all lined up with offense and defense on opposing sides. My first encounter with this toy was when our next door neighbor brought one over to play. So, after spending ten minutes lining up your teams, you would then flip the switch and the vibrating board would send the players into action. Now, theoretically there were tiny little “fingers” on each player base that would determine the direction of the figure, so that some players would block each other while the ball carrier could run down the field. In reality once the field started to shake it more or less resembled one big mosh pit, except for the one player that would inevitably drift into one corner of the end zone and spin madly about. This of course would produce hysterics and cause us to forget that we were supposed to be trying to score a touchdown.

In all fairness, if you were careful about setting your players and adjusting the bases you could replicate some sort of football action, but that was never as fun as the whirling dervish routine in the end zone. Well, back to the point of my story. One day a father was browsing the store and picked up the electric football game and told his twelve year old son that he had the toy when he was a child. No word of a lie, the boy looked up at his dad and exclaimed, “boy, you had everything!” My wife and I couldn’t help but chuckle. In an age with realistic 3D video games, this boy was impressed by such a basic toy that had been around since the 1950’s. Though, more likely than not, he probably was just thinking that his dad probably had more than he did, which we all too often feel that we don’t have enough. I’m also guilty as charged. For some reason, I don’t think I ever felt that as a youngster.

We never had everything, but we had everything we needed. Today it is just the opposite. Kids seem to have everything except what they really need, which is electric football. Quick, someone build an i-phone app!

No, this isn’t a debate about which cola is better. The title refers to a famous line from a “Saturday Night Live” sketch in which diner proprietor John Belushi only served Cheeseburgers, chips and no Coke, Pepsi. Of course there were almost too many catch phrases to recall from that program over the years. In fact, it seems that catch phrases were the norm in all of television going as far back as I can remember. I’m guessing that most were contrived with the intent of becoming part of the lingo of the moment, but I’m sure others were more organic and burst onto the scene unexpectedly. Don’t ask me how to tell which were which.

Here are just a few that come to mind. “To the moon Alice” spoken by Ralph Kramden as played by Jackie Gleason in the Honeymooners. “Lucy, you have some explaining to do”, from I Love Lucy. This is possibly one of those that was not actually spoken that often, but with the passage of time has grown into an actual catch phrase.

Insults were always great for making their way into our daily speak. “up your nose with a rubber hose”, from Welcome Back Kotter was always a winner with my friends and I.      Of course, Happy Days graced us with “Sit on it!” Sit on what would be the question. Nonsensical phrases such as “Nanu, Nanu” from the comic genius, Robin Williams as Mork from Ork in Mork and Mindy were always good for a laugh.

Let’s not leave out comic book characters. My favorite was always, “it’s clobberin’ time!” courtesy of the Thing from Fantastic Four, though, “spider sense tingling” had a nice ring to it.

I won’t try to list every classic line that comes to mind. I’ll leave you to make your own list, but I can’t think of anything in recent years from film or television that has worked its way into the common vernacular. Maybe I’m out of touch, or it just doesn’t happen anymore.

I miss the fun of having that shared experience when a simple phrase would connect you and others to your mutual appreciation of some form of entertainment. Perhaps with the full onslaught of media in the digital age, nothing has time to stick, so everything has a  moment but not even as lasting as Andy Warhol’s “fifteen minutes of fame” prediction.

Well, I’ll sit here and wait until it happens and I’ll keep you posted. When the next catch phrase hits, I’m sure it will be all over the internet. That will be Bloggerific. (note to self: trademark Bloggerific)

Building a skeleton with a vampire sure was wholesome fun!

I did not own the above game, but my best friend did. I don’t know how many of you had a best friend growing up, but for those that did, you know how important it was. Sure, we could discuss the benefits of having a constant companion, co-conspirator and confident, but the most important thing about a best friend was all the extra toys to play with.

For me, every year, it was like having Christmas twice. I’d get all my presents and then the next day I’d get to see all his loot. So, not only was there someone to play all the games with, there were a lot more of them. Strangely enough, each year we got radically different gifts. There was never any duplication.

I could have chosen photos of a lot of toys to make my point, but with the impending big screen adaptation of “Dark Shadows”, I thought this one was appropriate. Take a look at the box cover. That is the real Barnabas Collins. Sorry Johnny Depp

Not exactly a high tech toy, but it kept me amused

I’ve been re-living my childhood via ebay recently. If I had the money, I would purchase every toy I had as a child. It seems like everyone of them is there. I often wonder how some people manage to hold onto these things. We had five kids and a lot of toys around, but nothing survived.

I have been picking up little odds and ends that seem to put a smile on my face. Running a business called Blast From The Past is probably a good tip off that I like the “old days”. I am still quite aware of the present day and do enjoy modern things. In fact, I hear those moving picture shows even have sound now.

I’ll bet that’s quite the thing to see!