Halloween

(well - better later than never...)

So - As I was reminiscing about what this holiday was like back in the '70s, there were a couple of things that I remembered so vividly.

The first was making Halloween drawings and cutouts.  Piles of orange and black construction paper and our imagination.  Witches, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, old dead trees, tombstones, bats, etc.  We would spend hours making all of these things.  We would decorate the windows and the walls and anything else mom would let us tape to.

The other things was candy.  My brother, cousin and I would go out together and we would draw out maps of our neighborhood and plan our routes.  We would start as early as we could and stay out a late as possible for maximum candy!

One other thing - a friend of mine and I made a little haunted house.  Our big thing was wet pieces of string hanging down that felt like sticky cobwebs.

It was fun - I hope kids still have as much fun today doing handmade stuff as we did back in the day!

 So - starting tomorrow we get to see all the new shows for the season... what are they calling it... season premier week?  It's pretty cool to see the Charlie's Angels coming back, and of course - Hawaii 5-0 is still a big hit and going strong!

Throw in the new show, Pan Am, which appears to be set in the '70s, and Playboy - which I will NOT be watching (I have too much respect for my wife to do that), and it looks like we'll have plenty of nostalgia on the tube.

It will be interesting to see how the new shows do.  Gotta love the '70s!

I am still here... honest :)

I have been so incredibly busy!  I know, I know – that’s no excuse, I should still be able to throw up a blog posting at LEAST once a week.  I’ll try to get better, really, I will.

Work has been very busy and we just had 14 of our 60 person department let go due to budget cuts, so I am working hard to stay busy and valuable there!  I have seniority (almost 20 years) and am pretty secure in my position, but let me tell you, I was relieved that I found out about the whole layoff thing through an office email explaining what had happened, as opposed to being one of the unfortunate ones who was let go.

In my side business, I have a beautiful new home that I’m in the middle of designing.  Right now it’s at 4,500 SF and is located on the top of a local mountain with an incredibly commanding view of the surrounding area.  Here are a couple of sketchup views of it.  Click on them to see the pics at full size...  We’re still in the midst of design, but this is a fun challenge.  Even though it’s a huge home, the clients are trying to give it a “small cottage in the forest” feel – think Thomas Kinkade.

On top of this, I’m trying to at least put in a front yard on our 3½ acres this summer so we don’t have a muddy mess for the second year in a row this winter.  The “little” front yard is 3000 SF.  This will at least get us started.

My ‘70s comment today – I’ve seen and, of course, LOVED “Super 8” when it was in the theaters awhile back.  I told my friends that JJ Abrams was incredibly successful in that as I watched the movie, I felt like I was watching a movie that was MADE back in 1979.  The ONLY issue I had with it is that I don’t think kids carried backpacks back then… at least I didn’t in ’77 when I graduated.  Maybe I’m wrong – maybe they became the thing within 2 years of my having left the high school scene.  Actually – it’s hard to imagine that they would have gotten that wrong, so I’m probably off.

'70s Cars Now

The Fast and the Furious

Well - In my book I spend some time talking about how awesome the muscle cars from the '70 were.  It's weird, but some of these vehicles are so HOT that it makes me just really want them.  I am so amazed that they use so many of these incredible cars on TV shows and movies today.  I have pulled a few pics off the web and I show them here with labels of the movies they're from.  And - to me - the only cars that compare with these iconic muscle cars are the retro versions of them that they are re-creating and getting out on the market today.

Death Proof

Does make me wish that I had never sold my '73 Camaro... although at the time I didn't really have an option.  There we were - a young married couple, new baby on the way... an '85 Accord made a lot more sense than a big 2-door sporty car.  Of course, now that the kids are all grown up and I'm looking for a mid-life celebration (not crisis) toy - Ive got my eyes on a new Corvette, or a new Camaro.   Donations are welcome! :)

The Fast and Furious

Faster

Gone in 60 Seconds

Death Proof

Gone in 60 Seconds

 

Nash Bridges

Burn Notice

The Fast and Furious