You gotta check this out...

To begin with - I was out on sick leave the past week (read "near-death-with-a-terribly-infected-leg-but-it's-almost-all-better-now") - so I apologize for being away for a bit.  The injury I sustained while back-packing last summer, I found out, is now a weak spot in my body.  So - I'm susceptible to recurring infection there, and that's what happened. Missed a week of work... slept for 24 hours straight...  on three different anti-biotic drugs...

I'm doing much better now, but it was a bit of a rough patch there.

Today I'm going to brag on my daughter.  I'm right-brained - artistically inclined - and I'm so amazed and delighted to see how she has taken after me in this way.  I love to take pictures.  I was one of the first in my family to get anything other than an instamatic.  A Pentax K1000 SLR.  Bought a lot of lenses, filters, etc. over the years and took a lot of pictures and did pretty well at it.  Then - As the years went on - and for a lot of varied reasons, photography took a backseat to the rest of life and my other hobbies / interests.

My daughter got the photo bug at about age 18.  She has continually upgraded her camera, read up on techniques and methods, and has taken thousands and thousands and thousands of pictures - an advantage she has in digital photography that we couldn't have begun to imagine in the '70s and '80s.  She now has a really nice camera, a Facebook page for her photography, and is close to setting up a website and trying to start a business.

She's really good and is naturally talented.  She's mainly into landscape photography and has a great eye for subject matter and composition and does a excellent job of capturing it all with the lens.  These are just a few examples of he work.  I encourage you all to take a look - click on them for much larger images - her pictures are for sale!  you can check them out on Facebook!

Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/kainicolephotography

Troll Dolls

So - I'm sure that I probably at least made mention of some of the toys that I grew up with here in my blog at one time or another, but I was just reminded of a certain one the other day.

Jimmy Fallon had Kyra Sedgwick on his show and she got to talking about how much loved those little Troll dolls.  And Jimmy loved them, too!  You remember them...the little yellow/fleshy skinned guys with huge frizzy wild colored hair and the funny little grin?!?

Notice the gemstone-less belly button!

Well, it turns out that there is quite a history behind these things.  The Troll dolls were originally known as Leprechauns, and were also known as Dam dolls, Gonks, Wishniks, Treasure Trolls and Norfins.  We only ever called them Trolls.  They were a huge fad from 1963 through 1965.  Their popularity faded out for awhile, but surged again for brief periods in the '70s, '80s and '90s and were made by a bunch of different manufacturers.

They were originally created in 1959 by a Danish fisherman and woodcutter named Thomas Dam - Hence the "Dam dolls" name.  He couldn't afford a Christmas gift for his youngest daughter and so he carved the doll from his imagination.  How cool is that?  These dolls that we all grew up with all came from him making a toy for his daughter!

Some of the clothes that the Troll dolls wore

We used to play with them - somehow it was ok for us boys to playing with "dolls" since they were Troll dolls!  We had clothes for them... we brushed their wild and colorful hair... we really did play with them.  Kind of weird now that I think about it.  But - it was a part of my growing up, it was a cool thing of the '70s (although I think I really did this more in the late '60s); and it's neat to look back on them now!

A boy Troll and girl Troll - It was all determined by colors

It seems like I couldn't find many pictures of the older ones.  The newer ones have gemstones in their belly buttons. Did you all have Troll dolls growing up?

Invinvcible

One of the good things about satellite TV is the hundreds of channels that are available.  And... one of the bad things about satellite TV... is the hundreds of channels are available.  You know how it is...

But the other night, there I was, surfing up in the 200's and I saw a great movie.  I'd seen it before - but I watched it again and it was really good.

  It's called "Invincible" and it stars Mark Wahlberg.  It's a great, heartwarming story about a guy who was a walk-on on the 1976 Eagles and did great on the team.  It's based on a true story and has a "Rocky" type feel to it.

The REALLY cool thing is that it's set in '76 and is super well done as a period piece. It's chock full of clothes, cars, incredible music, actions, attitudes and everything from that era.  The movie is great already, but the '70s eye candy makes it all the better. If you've never seen the movie, I highly recommend it.  I think that you'll enjoy it, and I know you'll enjoy the trip to the '70s.  Since the Superbowl is tomorrow, this is a good after-the-game movie - whether your team wins or loses.