While en route to Richland for a football game, this gravel truck was spotted. Screw Qanon, the real conspiracy is Senator Mendoza running an illegal drug-smuggling operation for years!
OK, it’s just goofiness since I’ve been watching The Simpsons on Disney+ in chronological order and mocking those formulaic maverick cop movies is too fun.
Holy cow! This crap was still being made‽ (Been a while since I’ve used an interrobang.) I figured it had faded away by the Aughts with the dominance of Diet Coke and Coke Zero. Then again, how often do you see King Vitamin or Quisp in the cereal isle at the grocery store? Yeah, gonna’ make you look!
It was definitely a revolutionary idea in 1960, diet soda back when people didn’t drink the amount of soft drinks they do today. As if people were that worried then.
Growing up in the Seventies, I remembered all the commercials with the slogan, “A beautiful drink for beautiful people,” often accompanied with women in swimsuits. I had no idea what diet necessarily meant. So one evening at Ponderosa, I asked for a Tab as my choice of drink just see what the fuss was about. BLECCCCCHHH! It tasted like furniture polish, had I known and survived to find out this type of poison. My parents responded, what the hell did you think it was going to taste like stupid? I had to endure it because this before the days of unlimited refills via HFC.
By the Eighties, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet 7-Up, etc. made their inroads and I’d say they’re pretty common choices. Being somewhat overweight and addicted to the caffeine fuel they provide, I’ve managed to endure their horrible, horrible taste and Tab paved the way (or weigh?) for those obsessed pioneers I grew up watching.
Good riddance to Tab, not a victim of the Pandemic, just tougher taste buds.
This billboard was oddly rented in a predominantly Hispanic part of Houston, not exactly Orange Foolius country. Many accolades to the brave people who succeeded in not getting caught nor arrested in this act of resistance to fascism/monarchy. It counters all the racist and false billboards the MAGAts and rednecks have throughout Texas still demanding a birth certificate.
Somebody posted this on Twitter. It’s probably from a probe with functioning cameras. The three bright dots in the Martian sky are Venus, Earth and Jupiter. Given that Mars’ atmosphere is one percent the density of ours, it’s probably easier to see planets in the sky with the naked eye. I listed the planets in the order I did as an educated guess along with the time. Venus and Earth are closer to the Sun so they’d only be visible at sunrise or sunset and they can’t get very high in the sky due to their orbits. Mercury and Venus do the same thing in Earth’s sky. Jupiter has to be the highest planet plus it must be incredibly bright at other times in the Martian year because it could only be 180° from Mars to be in the same picture as Venus and Earth. What a view. I hope another human being will safely get this opportunity as the probe within my lifetime.
Initially, this appears cute but given that Testuggine is only a few weeks old, she might be ready to pluck my eyeballs out instead of attacking my beard (her favorite toy). She and her siblings are progressing. They no longer need to be weighed daily as they work toward the goal of two pounds so they can be neutered. Soon they will be able to eat solid/canned food exclusively and get adopted to their forever homes. I’ll miss this crazy tortie the most. Jennifer said I made a monster because I dote on her.
Well, this was something I didn’t notice in the two teaser trailers for The Mandalorian. I would’ve bought it if the little green “yodas” were petrified marshmallows. Not to humble-brag but even as a kid, I never liked those so-called marshmallows in Lucky Charms, Count Chocula or Frankenberry. Blech! Not sure how long this stuff had been out at my local HEB but I don’t think it’s moving well.
I had to get on the bandwagon mocking Pence being oblivious to a fly landing on his head and staying there for two minutes. Westworld jokes must be passé too since I’m the only one I know to bother making the reference. However, this composite (or whatever) is a demonstration of my amateur PhotoShop skills. Obviously I need to learn how to fix the lighting (Pence is “too bright”), scale (the tech is a tad too big) and resolution (the photo of Pence had a much higher dpi than the tech). On the other hand, it looks pretty decent on my retina display so I think this would’ve passed muster to be used on Daily Show, The Onion or Colbert. With how quickly I whipped it together, maybe I could get a job as a graphic artist there!
Prince has the right idea on how to spend the weekend. It’s good to see him progressing since he was the most problematic in the litter but Jennifer was persistent in getting him on the right track. This entailed forced feeding with a tube going all the way down into his tummy and water injected into the skin (allegedly, cats can absorb it). How Prince fought and squealed back. His weight remains about 100 grams behind the others yet the most important thing is the adopting mother (Roxy) is nursing him now and he runs around, doing the kitten thing with his sister (Piper) and step-siblings (Pascal, Pegasus and Testuggine). Being an orange or ginger kitty, Prince won’t have any difficulty finding his forever home in a month.
Anything is possible but he’d still be an asshole like the Republican Vampire character Andy French had to deal with on Mission Hill.
After a couple months of waiting and waiting and other crap I don’t want to talk about, Crow finally arrived. He needed a little assembling which was really easy but I guarantee you, this puppet is 99% like the one from the show. According to Joel Hodgson, the show was constantly building new Crows due to wear and tear plus they needed modified versions of him for a joke. I plan to use him as part of my Halloween costume. Fear not, he’s very heavy, he’s more on the bulky, awkward side. I need more practice on timing his mouth movements too. This Crow (or I might dub him, Crow’s evil twin Corvus with the expected goatee) needs a better voice than my nasally one. Auditions will always be open!
This revelation is a week late because I’m not always on top of cartoon history but I thank The Guardian for having a thoughtful article about this watershed anniversary.
By the time I was born, The Flintstones was syndicated and shown daily on Channel 3 (WCIA, Champaign, IL). I think it ran forever alongside several weak spinoffs: Pebbles & Bam Bam as teenagers, the Flintstones as kids and the Flintstones working with Captain Caveman to solve crimes. Being a kid, I didn’t “get it” like my parents did; The Honeymooners as cavemen. To me, it was a cartoon, Fred getting smacked on the head was the point.
However, in the early Sixties, Hanna-Barbera making a prime-time show for network TV wasn’t risky. Feature-length films via Disney were enjoyed by all and Americans born before the Sixties saw at least a couple cartoons alongside a newsreel and a serial before the main attraction in theaters. Cartoons didn’t get demoted to “kids stuff” until the Seventies through the Saturday-morning trope I grew up with became a constant. Somewhere along the way cartoons as mainstream entertain got poo poo’d.
Anyway, back to 1960!
Since network executives from the Big Three liked the pilot, I’m just surprised the winning bid came from ABC. Until their roaring success initiated by Happy Days, much of ABC’s programming frequently placed a distant third in the ratings. Either way it paid off, The Flintstones aired for about six years and was the longest-running American, prime-time show until The Simpsons beat it around 1996. Hanna-Barbera’s follow-ups: The Jetsons, The Roman Holidays, Top Cat and Wait Until Your Father Gets Home weren’t as lucky. Yet through syndication and the Cartoon Network, other generations were influenced by everyone’s favorite pre-Historic Family to create new animated families: The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, American Dad, Family Guy, F is for Family, The Cleveland Show, Bless the Harts, Oblongs and Duncanville. I didn’t say they were all good.
This year just won’t let up on the crappy news will it? However, in 2020’s defense, Eddie had been in poor health for some time given his years of hard drinking and drugs which was mandatory when Van Halen ruled the world. Still doesn’t make the pain any easier, he was such well-loved musician.
Van Halen really came to my attention around 1981 with their appearance on the syndicated show Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Quite a lineup that episode too, Adam Ant and Van Halen videos with a David Lee Roth interview. I might of heard earlier material when WLS played “harder” stuff at night but the cover of “Pretty Woman” put them permanently into my brain thanks to WDBR and a classmate who liked to play “And the Cradle Will Rock” at recess. When we moved to Houston KLOL introduced me to the larger catalog. Despite leaning more toward New Wave stuff, Van Halen didn’t bother me until 1984, which got played ad nauseum for 18 months. My brother had it on vinyl.
I regained some respect for Eddie when Sammy Hagar replaced David. I thought, he doesn’t feel threatened to have another skilled guitar player in the band and maybe the songwriting will improve, be less juvenile (my teen self would’ve used the word “burnout” instead). I had to admit 5150 demonstrated that the personnel change was a good thing unlike INXS getting somebody who sounded too similar to Michael Hutchence.
Half-way through Marquette, I got the opportunity to see Van Halen live at the (now gone) Bradley Center for the OU812 tour. Again, not my go-to genre but I wanted to grow old and say to my descendants, “I saw Van Halen once and they tore the roof off!” Eddie’s guitar playing didn’t disappoint. He was also a generous performer because he let Sammy perform a couple solo hits. The only one I remember was “Eagles Fly.”
Then the Nineties happened. The hits were fewer, tastes changed and Van Halen’s audience aged and got saddled with adult responsibilities. At least Paul and Helen played “When Love Walks In” at their reception when they were introduced as newlyweds. A few years later, Sammy bailed and the replacement dude from Extreme just didn’t connect. Later, Michael Anthony left to join Sammy in Chickenfoot.
Yet Eddie remained a guitar/musical hero to many artists across genres, years and continents. Weezer imitated their logo. Billy Corgan interviewed Eddie for Guitar magazine with such worship. Nerf Herder has a song literally called “Van Halen” which details a person’s love of their albums. The Bird & The Bee did a whole cover album of the band’s hits. Van Halen was one of the few acts to get a video game featuring their stuff. So they thankfully didn’t disappear completely, preventing the reunion tours to reek of desperation…hey Generation Jones and X, remember us? Regardless of the fame, Eddie was somebody who just loved to perform and you could see it in his face.
Thanks Eddie. For everything. Your music. Your contributions. The inspiration you gave to my favorite artists. And especially your trademark smile. The Eighties wouldn’t have been the same without you. I also hope that if there’s an afterlife, you’re a better air hockey player than Hendrix, I’ve heard Ben Franklin needs to be taken down a peg.
Now we can all play at home to see which sycophants from the inner circle got infected since they didn’t wear a mask and think Jesus will protect them from reality.
These two singers and actors were staples for me growing up in the Seventies. It’s a shame they’re both gone and on the same day.
Helen was more like Vicki Lawrence for me, an actress that sang but it was really the other way around. I feel stupid too. I can only remember “I Am Woman,” since there other hits on the radio. She was a great guest on The Muppet Show and on during Christmas, there was this syndicated break starring celebrities explaining how they celebrated the holiday. Helen explained how it was Summer in Australia so she had fond memories of going to the beach. I was like, dang! Presents and swimming! Lastly, she co-starred in the original version of Pete’s Dragon. Oh wait, Helen did appear on The Carol Burnett Show to promote the movie. Then the Eighties happened. Other Aussie pop stars displaced her alongside the Bee Gees and sadly, her hit anthem became an object of ridicule; the song was something a super-bossy woman would play before going to her job. There’s a bigger story to the stereotype, ask me in person and no, it’s not something I made up nor agree with. What was funnier was a bit SCTV did involving Helen Reddy being played by Catherine O’Hara on the show’s music showcase parody.
Mac fell into the same category as Helen in my mind. I don’t recall his TV show since practically everybody had one in the Seventies. He was really funny on The Muppet Show as he performed his hit “It’s Hard to be Humble” with them. I think I’d hear it on WMAQ while dad drove us to grade school too. Not sure what anyone was thinking by putting him into a sequel of The Sting and I vaguely recalled his comedy Cheaper to Keep Her, like a trailer on TV. Good fortune smiled on Mac more though, he continued to have work with bit parts on sitcoms/dramas as the guest/villain of the week. Could’ve sworn he was the traveling softball pitcher on King of the Hill, but I was wrong, he was usually the voice of Sports Jock on the local Arlen radio station.
Thank you Helen and Mac for all you did to contribute to my childhood. May your music live on and to Helen, I hope your upcoming bio movie is a success.
When Jennifer told the news yesterday morning, I cheered. I don’t care about this high road bullshit. The South cheered when Lincoln was murdered. The Reagans and their friends threw a party when JFK was murdered. Sen. Turkey Waddle immediately announced his plan to install a Federalist Society Cultist on to SCOTUS right after Justice Ginsburg died. So don’t lecture me because Orange Foolius and his defective offspring will not be going to prison for their wrongdoing even if Sen. Foot-in-Mouth wins the election. This is Amerika, the rich get away with everything while the middle and lower classes get buckwheats. Ergo, it’s only fitting the fat, comb-over sporting bastard dies a painful and well-deserved death. CV-19 failed to kill two other assholes who deserved it (UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, their equivalent of Dubious Bush and Brazil’s dictator-in-the wings Bolsanaro).
My point? Well, should the forces of greed, racism and sexism still win. At least they’ll be fewer of them to attend the inaugural celebration. So don’t bring a knife to a gunfight unless you want to be a slave.
