Nyet! Michael Knight

Jenn is on her way to Moscow right now. I forgot to tell her to say hi to Putin for me. Me and Puts (that's what I call him) go way back. Anyway, I'm flying solo here for a while. That's why I'm sitting here in front of a keyboard instead of next to her on the couch. Wait, I can watch whatever I want now! What am I doing here?

Speaking of doing things, do you know what I did the other day? I watched the Knight Rider pilot movie thing. Why? I don't know. I had some time to kill and it popped on on Netflix so I thought I'd check out where it all started since I couldn't remember. I remembered that Michael Knight was not always his name and he was basically brought back from the dead, but that was it.

So I watched the two-parter "Knight of the Phoenix." Clever, no? I realized that the pilot was quite a bit darker than I remembered the show. The thing that threw me at first was the guy playing Michale in the beginning was not Hasselhoff at first, but they dubbed in his voice. Which I found interesting. Then, after being betrayed by a girl (isn't that always the way) she shoots him in the head! Ouch. Why not the chest or something?  Man, what a bitch!

Anyway, he's rescued by some dude that appears out of nowhere with a helicopter and is rescued. I just watched this the other day and I don't remember them saying why this guy came to find Michael and his Trans Am in the desert. Was he following him? Did he just happen to be flying over the desert looking for a special person to help him solve crimes?

Anyway, Michael wakes up and is pissed about having a new face. Dude, you are the man now, why so pissed?  Is basically what Devon and Mr. Knight say. Oh, and can you help us out? Oh, and none other than Oscar Goldman was the doctor who saved him. Yes, that guy from Six Million Dollar Man. It turns out Michael was saved by a metal plate in is head that ricocheted the bullet back out of his face. Ouch, again!

So, eventually he gets out the the garage and finds a car there. It's his Trans Am! Yes, KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand, which sounds much cooler back in the 80's) was his car. They rebuilt it. They made it better, faster, stronger...I think you get where I'm going. I didn't remember that KITT was his car reinCARnated. (Okay, I'll stop.) The best line of the show is when Michael gets in the car and gestures toward the dashboard saying, "What's all this? It looks like Darth Vader's bathroom." Actually, he's kind of right.

Basically, he goes on to find the people who tried to kill him (evil computer geniuses) and saves the day and learns to get along with KITT, who is not so annoying and grumpy in the pilot.

After I watched the pilot I watched two other episodes to see the changes. The first real episode is odd in many ways. For one thing, Bonnie, the lady mechanic (crazy, I know!) is all of a sudden in the show like she was there in the pilot. I'm guessing there was some delay between these two so they'd assume people forgot. We TV watchers aren't so bright you know.

Also, he helps a young female lieutenant (crazy again!) out when her car conks out on the road. He drives her to the base where she is due to report to her CO who happens to be her dad. Several odd things happen in the very beginning of the episode. Like when Michael brings her to the base he comes all the way into the office with her where she is meeting her dad. Why? If I gave someone a ride, especially to a military base of some sort, I'd just drop them at the front door, or gate, or whatever.

Then, when she finds out her dad is dead, they cut to his funeral and Michael is there! What the hell? He doesn't know anyone there so why go to the funeral? Obviously, he isn't going to get anything from her now? Give it up dude. So, yeah, he ends up foiling some big arms theft ring after taking on many missiles. The end.  

The last thing I watched was the second season two-part premiere. I don't know why either, but when I saw there was an Evil Michael Knight in the episode and a giant truck made out of the same material as KITT, I knew I had to watch. The best parts of this episode was the beard that Hasselhoff to wear when he was the Evil version of himself who just happened to be the real son of the guy who saved him back in the pilot. Oh, he was sent to prison in Africa and never expected to get out. So, I guess that's why Mr. Knight made Michael look like his son? I think the guy needed therapy. He had the money to get a great shrink.

Awesome! (photo from Whatculture!)

So, this guy gets the former Mr. Knight's wife to drug some of the foundation members to get the formula for the molecular structure of KITT's outer shell. It must be more complicated than that Magic Shell stuff, I guess. 

So, they gut this stuff and build a semi-tractor with this stuff. I guess they are going to plow through a militaryKITT gets whacked hard. He's smashed and upside down and Garth keeps driving? Where they heck is he going? He doesn't go in for the kill? Somehow after Michael gets KITT upright and driving through the desert all the people are gone that come to see Garth wipe out KITT and Michael. Where did they all go? Nobody thought to check and see if they were really dead? What kind of crap revenge is this? 

Anyway, Bonnie outfits KITT with some awesome laser, they have another showdown and KITT wins, or something. YAY! 

My final thoughts? The show definitely took a lighter turn after the pilot. Somehow KITT was turned into an old woman and Michael became a himbo. (Do people still say that?) 

Next up, I go back and watch The Greatest American Hero! (No, I don't. I don't want to ruin that for younger me.) 

Ha! I forgot I wrote about the "NEW" Knight Rider a long time ago. 

Parents, this is why you don't give your kids clothes for Christmas

Actually, I'm not sure if this is from Christmas or my birthday since the back of the photo just says 1980. Also, since my birthday is in February, it is usually still cold so the fireplace would be going then too. But, just look at this picture, you can tell I'm loving this gift.

Jenn and I were trying to figure out if the shirt is made from terry cloth or velour. It's hard to tell from the photo and the color doesn't help. If it was a nice blue or red you'd see the shine that velour gives off. Now, the shirt I'm wearing in the picture is definitely velour. I actually remember that shirt. I wore it a lot, as I did with a lot of clothes back then that I liked. Hell, I do the same thing now.

How about that watch? I remember I really wanted a watch with those flexible metal bands when I was younger. I didn't think so at the time, but isn't that a girl's watch? Look at the size of the face. I think I got it from my dad, if I'm not mistaken, he probably got me the smaller one since they didn't have a kids version. It's not like he wanted me to wear something meant for girls. At least I don't think so.

Now look at my hair. Believe me when I say I could care less about my hair, I go to Hair Cuttery for Pete's sake, but what is with the sideburns? If you can call them that. Maybe it was just longer on the sides. But how do my ears show? We won't even go into the front of my hair. I have many cowlicks in my hair so it always looks funky if it is too long or tow short. Basically, I have one day of good hair. That is why where baseball caps as often as possible. It's so much easier.

My grandmother seems happy with the gift. Well, knowing how she was, she was probably laughing at me. She was always laughing. She was a lot of fun. My sister, who is ten years older than me, used to go out with her on the weekends sometimes. She was a hoot, as they say.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this awesome photo that Jenn found. You're welcome.

Remember when your TV was a piece of furniture?

Do you remember when your TV was a piece of furniture and the size of a freezer chest?

Behold!

Please note the paneling, the little bit of the orange shag carpet you can see by the fireplace and the fact that the TV had two tuning knobs. See, back in the day kids, we got two different kids of channels; VHF and UHF. Those were exciting times, I tell you. Of course, we only got a few channels on each, but that's all we needed.

Also, notice me sitting and full six inches away from the TV. Hey, I couldn't sit closer, I didn't want to ruin my eyes. Oh, maybe this is why I have worn glasses since 5th grade. My parents were right. Damn it!

I wish I could tell what I was watching. It seems the guys are all wearing tuxedoes on whatever show it is. Was it an awards show? A talk show? A Dean Martin Celebrity Roast? I want to

know.

I remember this TV very well. The Ca-Chunk as you turned the knob to switch through the channels, waiting for ten minutes for the picture to come on after turning it on, and trying to see how fast I could go from channel 32 to channel 44. Channel 44 had Speed Racer, I had to switch quickly to that, it was my favorite show.

I wonder if I could have hooked up a TiVo to that thing? Imagine how big that would have been!

I used to be a star

Yes, more old pictures. Aren't you glad we bought a scanner a few months ago? Here's me, back in fifth grade as Jim McShay, host of the White Whirl of Sorts. At least I think that's what it was called. It was a long time ago you know.

How did I get this awesome gig? Was it my rugged good looks? Charisma? Nope. It was my memorization skills. Seriously. I remember my teacher saying he needed someone who could memorize a lot of dialouge so they could act as the host of the show. So, I got my big (only) acting break because of my ability to memorize a lot of words. Yeah.

Actually, I don't think he really meant it that way and I certainly didn't take it that way at the time. I don't think I have every been so nervous and excited all at the same time. Do you know what is a bad idea before a big show like this? A pot luck dinner. I really though I was going to toss up the cucumber salad in the locker room as I got dressing in my sport jacket. I was a fake sport show host, I had to wear a sport jacket.

I don't remember everything about this show (again, long time ago), but I do remember one part clearly. See, the teacher, Mr. Ford, came up with the idea to make an 'Applause' sign for the bit where we ran into technical difficulties and had to have someone come out to tell jokes. By the way, the technical difficulties bit killed. Anyway, it was going great, the silly jokes were working; then it happened. I don't remember the joke but the punchline included the word delicatessen and the other kid couldn't remember how to say it. So, instead of bringing the crowd to it's knees by flashing the 'Applause' sign, I panicked and tried to help him remember the word. Nobody in the audience knew about the sign so they didn't notice my failure, but I did. But,after a few bourbons, I got over it. (Ha, kidding. It was scotch).

Overall, the show was a lot of fun. At least as much as I can remember. Which is kind of funny since I got the part due to my memorization skills. I was also the wizard in The Wizard of Oz and got to ride bicycle built for two on around the gym during a talent show on two different shows over the course of my junior high years.

So, yes, I used to do theater stuff, but only in grade school. I had a lot of fun, but never did anything after that. Well, except when I was an extra in Lucas. But I've already talked about that.

I hope these old photos and stories aren't getting old. I've been enjoying going through this old stuff and talking about them.

Mork calling Orson. Come in, Orson.

Yes, I was a big fan of Mork and Mindy as a kid. What was not to like? There was an alien who cracked me up (I was only 10), A wise cracking grandma (again, 10) and Pam Dawber. Yes, I may have had a little crush on her. Anyway I found this picture of me dressed as Mork for halloween back in 1979.

Cute, no? My mom worked hard on that outfit. I think it took a couple of tries for the dye in the long underwear to come out the right color. I couldn't go as a pink Mork! The gloves and boots were spray painted silver so there was probably a lot of lead in them. That would explain a lot. I'm not sure what big triangle was made out of, probably some kind of silver fabric. I'm sure you could get something like that. Not that I would know, we've never made a costume for the kids. Neither Jenn nor I have the skills required to do so.

Here's me trying to do the Na-Nu Na-Nu thing. Either that, or I was flashing some Orkin (Orken?) gang signs. It's hard to tell.

Why am I sharing these? I don't know, I found them at my mom's today and it cracked me up. I've never forgotten wearing this costume. I thought it was cool at the time. That's all that matters.

Mr. Goodwrench was kind of a dweeb back in the day

Back to the 1976 newspaper clippings:

Here I found an ad from a Chevy dealer that is still in existence. Check out Mr. Goodwrench. He looks a little dweeby to be working on cars, doesn't he?

Don't we all expect some burly guy to come out from the back of the shop, wiping his greasy hands while explaining to you why you really need to have your transmission replaced. I used to work in a repair shop a while back, nobody there looked this wussy. Not even the female mechanic.

But, as Wikipedia explains, this was all in an effort to show they were helpful and could fix whatever was wrong with your Chevy. And, if you were as unlucky as my sister who had one of the lovely Vega you see pictured here, you really needed somebody like Mr. Goodwrench Actually, what you really needed was somebody like the Rusty Jones character who would ride on the top of the car as you drove around so he could fix your piece of junk at every stop light. By the way, was Rusty Jones a national rustproofing chain? Does anyone know the commercials I'm talking about?

Take a look at the Mr. Goodwrench site today. These are the kind of people you want working on your car, right? They look like they have the know-how to fix your newfangled, computerized car.

Like I said before, this dealer is still around, so I just want to say I'm making fun of this tag line from over 30 years ago, okay IF i remember correctly we bought a few cars from them over several years and we were happy with them. Well, except for the Vega, but that was GM's fault for building a miserable car. Anyway, who thought this made sense:

Come in and see why our friends say -- When other dealers can't Hos'kins

I understand why they are putting there name in it, and what they are trying to do I guess, but...what? Even if it did make sense, it doesn't really roll off the tongue. You know?

That's all for today. Coming soon, gauchos and a former president!

Weekend Assignment #267: 30 years ago

Karen and her husband are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this week. Congrats, Karen! So, she wants to know what the rest of us were doing 30 years ago. 

Weekend Assignment #267: On Tuesday, John and I will have been married to 30 years. If you're old enough to remember the late 1970s, please tell us what you were up to way back then. If not, pretend I asked about the late 1980s. If you're too young to that, I'll be very surprised, but go ahead and tell me about your life in the late 1990s!

After doing a little math, I figured out I was in 4th grade 30 years ago. It wasn't my best year in school. Not that I remember a whole lot, I just know that I got screwed with my teacher. 

My brother is three years older than me, and when he was in fourth grade he loved his teacher. I guess she was really nice and helpful. So I was looking forward to it over the summer. Then the bad news came. That teacher left, but that wasn't the worst part. The replacement was my old nemesis from kindergarten. 

I know what you're thinking (a little Magnum PI reference there for ya), how could I have a nemesis in kindergarten, let alone one who is a teacher. Let me just tell you, her and I didn't see eye to eye. We never got along. I don't know why, or what I did. She just had little patience for me, and, believe me, you needed patience with me. Actually, you still do. 

I can't remember everything, but I do remember an incident involving a giant plastic egg, little bits of paper and glue. Then glue, everywhere. Then the teacher finishing my project for me. I guess I was too klutzy for her. 

So, yeah, it wasn't the best thing for that year. I don't recall any major problems in fourth grade with the teacher, though. I just remember the dread I felt when I learned who the teacher was going to be. 

If I may, let me skip ahead to later in 1979. The beginning of fifth grade was the exact opposite. I heard stories of the mean teacher from fifth grade. It wasn't looking good. I was terrified. But, I got lucky, as a new teacher came in that year, too. 

It was a great set-up. He was just out of school, and not jaded and tired of kids yet. I think it was one of my favorite years of school. Really. 

First off, he got us all to buy enough books through the Scholastic Book Club to get an 8-track player for the room. For you young ones out there, and 8-track was similar to a cassette, only much bigger and always had the best song on the album split up right in the middle. Seriously, the song would fade out, the player would change tracks, and it would fade back in. It was great! We listened to a lot of music during lunchtime. I brought in my sister's Cheap Trick At Budokan tape and my teacher really liked it. 

Oh, and second, I set up my teacher with my older sister. What a matchmaker I was! I swear I didn't do it for a better grade. I was just being nice. Really! 

Okay, I've gone off track enough. More stories about fifth grade later. Remind me to tell you about the kid who always wanted to give me a quarter to be his friend. 

Extra Credit: What, in your opinion, was the best thing about the 1970s, if anything?

Um...bell bottoms? Feathered hair? Oh, I know, those giant combs that people used to carry in their back pockets. That was in the 70's, right? 

So, what were you doing in 1979? 

 

Things don't really change that much

I haven't been around here much this week since Spring Break is going on. I'm home with the kids all day, which, in itself, doesn't allow for much blogging time, not to mention the fact that I'm too tired to do it later. I'm not a Spring chicken anymore, you know.

This past weekend we had some of our old friends from college over to the house. Some of which we had not seen since we left school. One couple we see every few years, and one that we see all the time. This all came about through the magic of the Internet. We found a few friends through various social media sites, and we all decided it was about time we got together.

I was wondering how the night would go. Seventeen years is a long time. People change. Families grow. We get old. But, you know, after the first few moments the years melted away. I'm sure the beer and wine helped a bit.

We talked about some of the crazy people we used to know from the dorms. The strange things that should have gotten people arrested. (No, not me! Who do you think I am?) We laughed a lot. I think that helped more than anything. Laughing about your childish behavior, or stupidity, does a lot to bridge the gap of many years.

We talked a lot about music, too. You know how the perfect soundtrack can really bring a movie to life? I think it does the same thing with memories. A lot of our stories revolved around concerts we went to while in college, since graduating, and what we still listen to now. One of my friends told me to make a playlist of all the songs from our college years. I didn't do that, but I made sure to skip through iTunes to find the right songs. I think it worked out well.

So after way too many beers (for me anyway), way too much food (for anyone), our friends had to leave. Most to get kids, or themselves, to bed. I think Jenn and I were in bed by midnight, which would have been unheard of in college. The parties would just be getting started at 10:30! But, we are all older now. That's not such a bad thing.

I hope we do it again soon.

The big 4-0(h, boy)

Well, it's official; I'm old. No longer can I pretend that college wasn't all that long ago, or that maybe the high school kids I see walking around won't think I'm an old man, or I still have enough time to get better at golf to join the PGA tour. (I still might have time for The Champions Tour). Time to put away the Rollerblades so I don't break a hip. I have to remember not to try the kid's skateboards when the get a little older. I can't expect to drink a lot of beer and not feel miserable for the next day or two.

Now is the time to update my iTunes library. I need to get rid of Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Queensryche and Swap in some Lawrence Welk and Glen Miller. Okay, maybe I'm going a little too far. They guys in the bands I listed are older than me, so I guess I'm fine there.

Do I feel any different? No, but when I was a kid I never thought I'd get here. Remember when you were in grade school, and how old all your teachers seemed? Most of them weren't 40 and they seemed old. Then you'd have one or two teachers that were in there 50's and they seemed ancient. Now, that is me. It's funny, many times when I go pick up the kids at school I feel like I'm too young to be there; too young to have kids in school. Then I look around and notice most of the parents are younger than me. Heck, the principal just had his birthday and he is only 20 years older than me. A principal should be at least 40 years older than me, or so it seems. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't feel old. That's a good thing, right?

I was thinking of old birthday memories the other day. I was telling my son how I had the chicken pox on (I think) my eight birthday. He asked me what I did for my birthday and he seemed disappointed that I just had the neighbor kids over for some pizza and watched some movies. I didn't tell them the movies were on a projector and screen. I didn't want to blow his mind with the ancient-ness of that technology.

My 16th was kind of interesting. My mom and step-dad were divorced, or in the process of getting divorced, so I wasn't really expecting anything. After school my friend, who was a grade behind me, asked if I could come over to help him with some math homework. So, being the good guy I was, I went to help him out. Then we went back to my house for dinner. (We had dinner at each other's house quite a bit). When I got there, about five other friends were there to surprise me. I really didn't expect it. I don't remember much else about the party, except that I got Journey Frontiers on cassette. I listened to that a lot back then.

My next big birthday was my 21st. Do we really want to talk about it? It's kind of blurry anyway. I remember going out with some friends to a bar (duh), cracking my head on a small table by the dart boards, having a shot called a Gorilla Fart, almost losing it after that shot, and going around to people's rooms asking for Pepto-Bismol. Somewhere in there I was recorded by my friends as they asked me where Jimmy Hoffa was buried, and while I played harmonica in the hallway at around 2am. Good times.

I think the last time I got together with friends was for my 30th. I think we all met at my house and went to the bar up the street to see a Rush tribute band. Speaking of which, I see they still play around here, though it doesn't seem anybody that was in the band when I saw them is still in the band.

Still, I think my 40th has been the best so far. Sure, I'm working today, but I got to go out to San Diego with Jenn and have a fun, relaxing time. That's the kind of thing us 40 year-olds need. Am I right? Another thing we need is this:

My daughter picked this out for me. She is either going to be in advertising, or be one of those ladies that has a ton of junk in there house. She can recite almost any commercial. Sigh, she is just like me. I feel sorry for her.

I think iTunes has been reading my post. Some songs it has chosen: Creeping Death, Rest in Piece, My Last Words, Among the Living. No, I'm not kidding.

Now, If you will excuse me, I need to go to Walgreen's to buy the reading glasses that are a requirement to be in the 40 and over club.

(Edit to add): I almost forgot, I wanted to say Happy Birthday to Maurissa. Jenn used to work with her and I think she still reads this.

We were much heartier back then

Tomorrow will be the second day that school is closed due to cold weather. It's about -11F out there right now, going down to about -16F or so overnight. Maybe a bit lower. When I was a kid, back in the old days, we were never off of school because it was too cold. We walked 2 miles to school with paper bags on our feet, socks on our hands, through waist deep snow; even when it was below zero. And we liked it. Nobody cared if you lost a finger to frostbite, or a nose, or most any other appendage. (I did say most!)

Funny story about waist deep snow. Back in high school we would walk to school because the bus trip was longer than the walk and, in my opinion, any time off the bus was much better, no matter how cold. Anyway, we used to walk through this field to cut out about 1/4 of the distance to the school. At some time in late fall some construction was starting up in that open field, but it was covered up by snow for the most part. Well, one day walking home one of the guys happened to step into a foundation of one of this buildings that was covered in snow. He sunk up to his waist in snow and was pretty much trapped. We laughed at him a while before helping him out. So, yes, we did walk through waist deep snow. I wasn't lying. Well, at least one of us did.

I wonder; if I stayed outside in the cold without any gloves long enough, then I took my hand and whacked it against the car, would it shatter? You know, like that scene in Terminator 2 where the Robert Patrick terminator is in liquid nitrogen then he breaks into a million pieces? That would be kind of neat. I would be without a hand, but I'd have a nice scary story to tell the kids so they make sure to wear their gloves outside. Too much?

So, what's the point of this post? I'm not sure. But I wish work would be closed due to it being too cold outside.

Stop me if I've told this story about cold already. (I searched through the blog, but I couldn't find a reference to it.) Back in the mid-80's we had a really cold Christmas. I don't remember exactly what year it was, but my sister had an '84 Trans Am at that time. We were at my dad's house for Christmas and it was brutally cold out. It was one of those days you were afraid to kick the tire on accident, just in case it could shatter. I want to say the wind chill index was down around 50 degrees below zero. I could be wrong, and they changed the measurements for wind chill anyway, but it was close to that. What I remember most is it being so cold that my sister's car door locks wouldn't work. The key would go in, but that was it. But, somehow we were able to get the hatchback open. So, I had to climb through that to open the doors. It was fun. I felt a little bit like MacGuyver. Though he would have found a way to open the car door with some gum and a toothpick.

So, yeah, it's cold. It's winter. When do I leave for San Diego again?

Finding old friends

In a bit of weirdness this week, I managed to connect to a few old friends. They were different levels of connection, but connections nonetheless.

Two friends my wife and I found while looking around on LinkedIn. They were both college friends that we lost touch with shortly after graduation. I actually talked to one of them, Scott, on the phone a short time ago. We haven't talked in 17 years, or so, but we were able to pick up were we left off for the most part. We are going to try to get some of the people together for a mini-reunion. I'll let you know how it goes.

The other two were from grade school. Yes, a long, long time ago. Back from the days when we took dinosaurs to school, and worked by candlelight. Those I found through Facebook (Yes, I know). Actually, they found me since I signed up and added a mutual former grade school friend that I am already in touch with. Not that we talked about much, but it is still kind of neat. As you know from reading this, I do have a thing for nostalgia.

I guess there is a good purpose to the Internet and all it's information. More so than just having a place to quickly look up quotes for stupid movies. Or the lyrics to Run Joey Run.

These past few weeks have been busy so I haven't been posting a whole bunch. I think things may calm down a little bit now that Christmas break is done, but my son's birthday is coming up, then we go to LaJolla, CA soon after that. So, maybe not!

On the New Year's Resolution front, not that I made any, I did sign up to run the Shamrock Shuffle and the Soldier Field 10 mile. Jenn talked me in to the 10 miler. I'm a little scared. See, I've been a total sloth these past few months. It started after I finished the Walter Payton run. I had no other races on my schedule so I slacked a little on the running, then I tweaked something in my hip so I backed off even more on the running. Then, well, it got cold. Yes, I do belong to a gym with and indoor track, what's your point? Now that I have some motivation, I'm hoping I get off my butt.

Wish me luck! I need to go find a snack. All this talking about running is making me hungry.

Favorite Books of My Childhood

There are three books I remember that really got me into reading for pleasure, and the set the tone for the types of books I'd continue reading. I'm a genre guy, specifically a science fiction and horror guy, and I'm okay with that. At least I read. Isn't that the most important thing?

I'm not sure which book came first, so I will talk about them in random order. I hope that is okay with everybody.

The first is The Hero from Otherwhere, by Jay Williams. This is actually a fantasy book, which I don't normally read, but I loved it as a kid. I can't remember all of the story, it was over 25 years ago, but I remember what really clicked with me; the magic bowls. These two boys that were in this magical land were given two bowls, anything they wanted to eat would magically appear in them when the tapped them. As an added bonus the bowls cleaned themselves as well. As I young boy that was enough to get me hooked and keep me reading. I imagined all the cool food I could eat as I walked around my own little town. I didn't want to go to the magical landthey were in, it was a little scary.

Of course, being a young adult book, there was a message. From what I remember, the two boys were not friends by any means, but they had to learn to work together to get back home. This was accomplished by coming up with the perfect magical words to get two stone pieces to magically become one. From what I see on Amazon, it looks my memory is pretty good. See, it did stick with me!

The second book really got me stuck on science fiction. It was a series of books actually, the Lucky Starr series, by Isaac Asimov. I found the first one in the library at our grade school and ended up devouring the whole series. It was perfect for me, a series of books about a space ranger who fights crime on different planets in our solar system. So not only did I learn that crime didn't pay, but I learned about our tiny piece of the galaxy.

After reading that series I read science fiction books all the way through high school and into college. My advanced reading teacher in high school was kind enough to let me continue the trend, and even offered up some other suggestions. That's for a different post.

The last book was The Gismo from Outer Space, by Keo Felker Lazaruas. See the trend yet? I'm not sure where this fell in the timing of my "Big Three", all I know is I read this book a lot. I think I would pull it out and read it twice a year. It's not like I forgot what happened, I just enjoyed it that much.

In the book, two boys find a weird little gismo (that's how it is spelled in the book), and they have no idea what it is for. On a whim, one of the kids hooks into into his crystal radio set (the books is from the early 70's) and the end up communicating with somebody. After a while they realize they are talking to aliens who dropped this piece off of one of their spaceships. Eventually they meet the aliens and that is all I can remember. I think they keep the piece and can talk to them for a while, but I could be wrong. I'm pretty sure the book is in our garage; I may search for it. If I find it I will pass along the ending. I know you are on the edge of your seat.

So, those were the three books that got me into reading and I haven't stopped yet. If you have kids I recommend any one, or all, of these to get them to enjoy reading. Maybe you could try them out, too. If you do, let me know what you think.

This post was inspired by the Bookworm Carnival. This month's theme was young adult books and is being hosted by Florinda. She is going to post links to some posts on the same topic. Go check it out.

A good thing about the new Speed Racer movie

Now that the Speed Racer movie is out it is easy to find Speed Racer merchandise. I found this site the other day at work. It has all kinds of cool Speed Racer gear from the original show, the new movie, and even the new animated show that is on now.

All I really care about is stuff from the original show, though. I loved that show as a kid. I remember I had to be home by four in order to see it on our UHF channel. Yes, I'm talking before we had cable TV. This was back in the mid-70's I think. I watched it all the time. Back then I didn't think that they were slightly weird with all their "oh's" and "ah's," I just liked the Mach 5. What kind of boy wouldn't like a car that is incredibly fast and had saw blades that come out of the front? Sure, the jacks were cool, it could make the car jump, but these saw blades we so sharp they could cut giant trees down while the car traveled over 200 miles per hour!

I think my favorite episode was the one with the Mammoth car. It was a three part-er if I remember correctly, I could check the DVD downstairs, too. The car was, well mammoth, but somehow incredibly fast. And, Speed was in danger, of course. I think the mammoth car was stealing gold, or some precious medal. You would think I'd remember exactly if it was my favorite episode, but I haven't watched in a while. Most of the animation we get to watch now is Pixar related. Not that it is a bad thing, it just leaves less time for my shows.

Wait, can I change my favorite episode? It's The Most Dangerous Race, yeah, they weren't good on the title thing. I loved this one because it is so outrageous, and dangerous of course. The race was actually the Alpine Race, which probably should be the title, and at one point in the race they have to cross an abyss by jumping their cars onto these pillars of rock. Well, Speed doesn't quite make it. He almost does, and with his special snow tires and 5000 horsepower (!) you think he is going to make it, but alas, he slides down into the abyss. And, that is the end of the episode. You had to wait until the next day to find out if her survived!

So, you race home to see if Speed is alive. He is, but he is not in good shape. For some reason he can't see. I'm not sure what caused the blindness, maybe it is hysterical blindness, either way he is stuck. Until Racer X (whoisreallyhislonglostbrotherRexRacerwhocrashedhisdad'scargotpissedooffandleft) finds Speed and since Racer X can't use his legs (he's lying) and Speed can't see, the devise a brilliant plan. Speed will drive the race car while Racer X tells him where to go. It's pretty awesome to see Speed driving 250mph and Racer X telling him to turn 45 degrees to the left around the hairpin turn on the cliff that drops off 5,000 feet. I can't remember if they win. They probably do.

Anyway, I may sound like I'm making fun, and I am a little, but I still love the show. It may seem cheesy now, but it will always remind me of good times in my childhood. So, what should I buy in the store?

Oh, I should probably say I'm not sure if I am going to see the movie. It looks like it might make me nauseous. I might rent it though. If you see it let me know what it is like.

Embarrassing music

I've been thinking about some of my music choices over the years, then I saw Wil Wheaton posted about his iTunes list and Florinda at 3 R's posted about 80's music on the "oldies"station, and I figured now is a good a time as any. (That should probably be 2 or 3 sentences, but we'll leave it alone).

Before I go on I'll say one thing; these are embarrassing to me, you might like the songs or albums I list. I expect some people will. Also, I'll admit, when I hear these songs today they bring a smile to my face. It reminds me of a simpler time, when people grew their own food and buffalo roamed through the plains.

I'm not proud of some of my music choices. I think my first album was ABBA's Voulez-Vous, I'm pretty sure I saw a commecial for an ABBA album on TV and I bought that one. Actually, I'm sure my parents bought it for me; I was probably about eight. (I just looked up the date of release. I was ten. That makes it worse!) I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I wanted the album because it had two "girls" in the band. Really, that is the only good excuse I can make at this time.

I know I had some bad 45's, too. I had Hall and Oates' "Private Eyes." The song might be about a stalker, but I'm not positive. Another good one was "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors. I don't think the song title is very politically correct and probably would be changed if it were released today. I had ELO's "All Over the World" that, I believe, had "Xanadu" on the B-side. It was from that great Olivia Newton-John movie by the same name.

Lastly, I had several of the K-Tel Starburst records in the late 70's and early 80's. Nearly every song on those was embarrassing, and I liked them. I remember and Andy Gibb song, "(Love is) Thicker Than Water. " I can still hear that song in my head. Get it out!

My most embarrassing memory? Well that would be roller skating in my friend's basement with the song "Undercover Angel" blasting on the radio. Ugh.

So, what embarrassing music did you own?

This is Iron Eagle

I watched some of Iron Eagle the other night. Wow. That was not a good movie. I'm sure kids who live with their families on military bases might get away with some things, but stealing an airplane full of ammunition. Really?!

Here's a quick recap. A pilot is shot down and held by some generic Middle Eastern country. The US Air Force can't go in and get him, so the pilot's 16 year old son and his friends devise a plan to get him out. They talk a Colonel into helping them with their plan, and Doug, the son, and the Colonel, Chappy, set off in stolen planes to get Doug's dad back. Yes, of course they succeed, but not until after Chappy gets shot down and Doug must do most of it on his own. No, he has not had formal Air Force training, but does he really need it? He's going against some little country in the Middle East, how hard could it be?

Oh, I almost for got to mention that Doug had some contraption strapped to his leg that allowed him to play his Walkman in the cockpit. It worked so well that somehow, after playing a Queen song, they gained seven minutes on their flight time. I knew Queen was a good band, but I didn't realize they could slow the flow of time.

I liked the fact that the country that Doug Masters and "Chappy" had to attack was so lame that they only had one airbase. They knocked out the single runway that the base had with two missiles and crippled their entire air force. It's not like the country couldn't afford more, Doug blew up an oil field supposedly worth 100 million dollars (say that in Dr. Evil's voice and it is funnier).

Why did I watch it? Well, sometimes it is fun to watch bad movies, the bad acting, the horrible dialogue, and the bad special effects. When these planes were shot out of the sky there was no flame, spark, or explosion of any kind. They just broke apart like the wood mock-ups that they were. Not very exciting.

Now, I will say that I liked the movie when it first came out. I was about 16 and my sister took me to see it. It was hard not to get sucked in when I was about the same age as the kid flying around in the F-16.

This was one of many movies that my sister took me to back in the day. Some she probably should not have taken me to. I remember her getting in trouble for taking my brother and I to see Hooper when I was about eight years old. She was babysitting us while our parents were out on the town. The problem was we couldn't get into the normal show time since it was sold out. I think we got home close to midnight and our parents were either waiting for us or got home at the same time. I'm not sure what got her in more trouble, the time or the movie.

M&M update: I have not had any since Fat Tuesday. I did have some raisinets today, but they are good for me. It says so right on the package!