Dishing up the FUN!

I wanna give a big shout out to my man, Darrin, over at Dad’s Dish Retro Blog! This guy is just plain funny! His little sub-title on his blog says it all: “Stuck in the past and living my life… no matter how much it embarrasses the kids”. He and I are a kindred spirit when it comes to all of this fun ‘70s stuff.

One of my favorite posts of his a bit ago was when he ran down with a list of some of his favorite catch phrases that were solidified in pop culture. Reading through the list he wrote, along with all those added by others, really sends you down memory lane. TV shows, movies, commercials, etc. – they all gave us some of the greatest one-liners.

He was also kind enough to just write a review of my book – he even recommended it! You gotta check out his blog, it’s a great time! Click the link on the right of my page under My Blog List.

And the ‘70s thought I have to throw out for you all to ponder today: what’s your favorite TV sitcom from the ‘70s? No dramas, variety shows or afternoon shows allowed (we’ll save those for another day). My vote – try to keep it just one or two – would have to be Mork and Mindy. The brilliance of the young Robin Williams, his goofiness really revealed for the first time, and cute Pam Dawber all made for a great show!

And – catch phrase + sitcom = Nanoo-Nanoo!

Back when SNL was good...

I watched Saturday Night Live this last weekend – it wasn’t funny. I watched it the week before – Taylor Swift’s monologue was great – but the rest of it wasn’t funny.

I am amazed how the show is so not good anymore. I mean SO not good. I would venture a guess, from what I’ve watched, 90% of it is crude and inappropriate… and not funny.

I grew up with the original not-ready-for primetime players, John Belushi, Da Akroyd, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtain, Lorraine Newman and Gilda Radner. And, of course, Bill Murray – after Chevy Chase left in 1977.

Back then, SNL was funny. Those of us who grew up watching it remember all the great skits that came out of those shows. And – in contrast to the shows today – it was 90% clean. And what was “dirty” was SO tame. The original cast was extremely funny, extremely talented and very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time.

Some of the great ones I remember: Killer Bees, Cheesburger, Cheesburger, Rosanne Rosannadanna, Coneheads, Star Wars – give me those Star Wars, Landshark, Baba Wawa, Father Guido Sarducci, so many more…

I did find one skit on the web (they’re a little hard to find…)

What were your favorite skits?

Fun '70s Commercials

Commercials were a lot different when I grew up. Here are a few I found that I remember watching in the day:

Who can forget the pampered bird on Western Airlines?

I remember when cigarette ads were banned. The weeks leading up to those last ones were FILLED with them:

...and I loved the Benson & Hedges theme - I could only find this one in French:

and here was the bane of every '70s American housewife:

and fast food ads were a bit more, how do I sayw it, cheesy...


So - I could post a ton of them, but I won't. Go look up some of your favorites, it'll take you back to those old days...

They Just Don't Write Them Like That Anymore!

We have an awesome new radio station that has just come on the air in the last couple of months here. It’s better than all the other oldies stations combined! They play all the hits that I grew up with, and they play so many more than the other stations.


I heard this song the other day, and I think it’s been at LEAST 20 years since I heard it. And you know what’s so awesome? I could sing along with 90% of the words right away! And – in an instant I was taken back to my high school days. I’m sure the same thing would happen to any of you.

Now here’s where the technology that I did NOT grow up with is so great. Instead of trying to write the words and describe the song in a feeble attempt for you to remember it, I’ll just post a link to one of the many versions of it on youtube.


It’s very true that “they don’t write them like that anymore.” I can't figure out how to embed it, but I will post the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8QeT-xe2Ys&feature=related

Enjoy!

Color TV

It's easy to work on the computer and watch TV – especially professional sports.
Being a Washingtonian and former Seattleite, I follow the Seahawks and the Mariners. The Seahawks are performing less than dismal this year, and the Mariners came nowhere near making the playoffs.

So – I’ve ended up following the MLB playoffs and am right now watching the Phillies and Yankees go at it in game 5. It’s said that you either love or hate the Yankees, and as for me, well, go Phillies!

They just showed a montage of the 1950 World Series where these same two teams had met. Watching the footage it was apparent just how far television coverage has advanced over the years. We are so spoiled! Without a doubt, you see the game better when you watch it on TV, although you don’t get that “being there” experience, and going to a game these days is an experience in itself.

The reason I share all this is because I heard or read a comment recently that was extremely poignant. It was made by a guy who was a kid in the ‘60s. He said “I’ll never forget the first baseball game that I went to because it was the first time I’d ever seen one in color!” That concept blew me away. And – if you’ve ever heard the broadcasts from back then, I believe they also went to great lengths to describe everything about the players, the stadium and the whole feeling of the day because it was so poorly captured on camera. This helped me understand even more why a little kid’s first trip to the ballpark would have truly been such a magical experience and would make such a lasting impression on him.

I grew up with black and white TV, and I certainly remember when color first came out and how awesome it was! We take it all for granted now, but there was a time when the only mental image we had of anything we’d never seen in person was a black and white image. Try to get your kids to wrap their minds around that!