I'll see your "Opening Sequence" and raise you one Google Search!

Ok. I'm 39. I admit I'm middle-aged... but I am not senile, nor do I have alzheimers. I remember.

So, my friend Raleigh - whom I haven't seen in about 5 years or so has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged me on my walk down memory lane. Thus I present the following:

http://www.toontracker.com/waittil/waittil.htm

"Wait 'til Your Father Gets Home" was indeed an animated series. A cartoon.

car·toon Pronunciation: kär-'tün
Function: noun Usage: often attributiveEtymology: Italian cartone pasteboard, cartoon, augmentative of carta leaf of paper
1 : a preparatory design, drawing, or painting (as for a fresco)
2 : a drawing intended as satire, caricature, or humor

Raleigh, you may be remembering it as the introductory segment of "Love American Style" before it got its own time slot. Similar to our beloved Simpsons and the Tracy Ulman show.

But hey... it's great to hear from you!!! For those of you who don't know, Raleigh is the one who really got me into computers back in 1989. Hard to believe that was 17 years ago!

I remember... part 2

And who could possibly forget the "Ty-D-Bowl Man"???

Who the hell thought up that ad gimmick? I remember thinking as a child "what happens to him when they flush the toilet?"

For those of you who don't know, the "Tidy Bowl Man" was this guy in a mini-yacht who floated around in toilets promoting "Ty-D-Bowl" toilet cleaner.

Picture if you will, a man floating gently on the subtly rocking waves of an inland sea, star gazing, with a direct upward view of Uranus waxing full. Suddenly the weather sours and a horrible acid rain pours in a torrent over the inland sea disturbing the waters and drenching the poor man in his tiny yacht. Without warning the night is shaken as airborn explosions rips through the sky followed by some unspeakable monstronsity falling from on high to smash the boat into pieces. The poor man survives. Stunned and barely coherent, he clings desperately to the flotsam which remains of his vessel - now covered in some horrifying gooey smears of space debri - swimming against the buffeting waves which remain from the impact. Desperate and dehumaized he cry's out, "Why me? Why oh why me?" when suddenly he feels a tow of the current and realizes the mass that fell from the sky must have shattered the ocean floor as wave upon wave rises from below, and crashes into him on his perilous perch. It begins as gentle flow, building to a roaring crescendo, spining and twirling him around with the remains of his craft. Desperately he paddles and kicks to escape, though he is indeed drawn inexorably closer to the gaping maw of a birthing Charybdis. His last thought on his way to the bottom and vanishing into some submarin hell is "My life, my world, my investment in that beautiful boat, sucked right down the drain!" and with a loud **blurrurururb** he's gone.

These are the thoughts that went through my head everytime I saw that guy in the little boat, floating around in the bottom of the toilet bowl. And people who lifted the lid always seemed so happy to see the little pervert!

What kind of sicko thinks of putting some guy in toilet to stare up at people taking a... well... you know. ??? Yuck!

I remember…

My friend Memphis Steve does this on a regular basis so I'm stealing his idea, but giving him credit. I've tried to stick with the 70's as much as possible in this one. More than toys, I'm trying to stick to U.S. events, cultural icons, media, etc. So, here's my first installment of Remembrance Tuesday...

I remember Walter Cronkite saying “and that’s the way it is”

I remember Gerald Ford taking the Oath of Office.

I remember CBS news starting with the archaic teleticker sounds in their opening

I remember when weathermen used map boards with the big red and blue lines for weather fronts, then switched to using erasable markers and drew on the maps to point out details.

I remember when pickup trucks cost less than cars because they were “low-class” (I always liked pickups though)

I remember when there was no such thing as an SUV

I remember full-service gas stations where they would pump your gas, clean your windshield, and check your oil all in about 5 minutes, and gas was only $0.25 per gallon!

I remember sticking playing cards in the spokes of my bicycle tires to make that clackety-clackety sound

I remember when bikes only had one speed and stomping backward on the pedals was your brake

I remember cartoons like “Speed Buggy”, “Spirit of ‘76”, “The Archies” and “Wait ‘til your father gets home”

I remember when comics cost less than $0.25, Batman and Superman were bosom buddies (blech!), and DC comics ruled!

I remember when women wore short shorts and Naired for short shorts. (loved thos commercials)

I remember the "Gee your hair smells terrific" shampoo commercials

I remember the beer shampoo (but not what it was called)... I wonder if any idiots tried to drink it?

I remember when Calgon could take you away

I remember Madge soaking ladies hands in Palmolive dish soap and telling them it was good for them.

I remember Rosie with the Brawny paper towels... "The quicker picker upper"

I remember Mr. Whipple yelling at the ladies who were squeezing the Charmin tissue

I remember the Maytag repairman being bored and sleepy

I remember when Sears had "& Roebuck" as part of the name

I remember Muppets and Fraggle Rock

I remember the Dr. Demento Show on the radio introducing me to Monty Python

I remember Hogan's Heroes (though the series started in the 60's it finished in the 70's)

I remember when hornrim glasses were things your grandmother wore… now they are considered fashionable?!

I remember when McDonalds didn’t have a drive-thru or serve chicken

I remember our Ford Pinto not exploding

I remember as a kid waiting in hour-long lines to buy gas in the mid-late 70’s when we lived in L.A.

I remember helping Woodsy spread the word not to be a dirty bird (anti-litter campaign) "Give a hoot, don't pollute!"

I remember Smokey the Bear saying “Only you!”

I remember Chief Iron Eyes Cody with his one tear in that national “Keep America Beautiful” anti-litter campaign… and that it worked! (who knew he was actually Italian!!!)

I remember Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal when the Globetrotters came to my hometown!

I remember Pan-Am and TWA

I remember the Apple-Dumpling Gang

I remember that movie The Doberman Gang with the dogs taught to rob banks

I remember when Dungeons & Dragons first came out

I remember when cereal companies would put those music single 45’s on the boxes and you could cut them out and actually play them! Like the Jackson 5, and the Osmond Family.

I also remember:

• The Partridge Family
• Family Affair with Buffy, Jody, and Mr. French
• The Courtship of Eddies Father (Bill Bixby)
• The Magician (also Bill Bixby)
• The Incredible Hulk (also Bill Bixby) FYI... I was in a crowd scene in a couple episodes when they filmed at Pasedena Polytechnic campus which was down the road from our apartment. That was 6th grade so I was around 12 at the time. :-)
• Disney's "Witch Mountain" movies (very cool)
• Sigmund and the Seamonster
• The Greatest American Hero
• Night Court (still in love with Markie Post!)
• One Day at a Time (Valerie Bertinelli = big crush)
• Buck Rogers (with that little robot Tweegy, and Erin Grey in skintight flightsuit)
• Happy Days (before Chachi)
• The Waltons
• The Love Boat
• Fantasy Island
• 3’s Company
• 8 is Enough
• Land of the Lost

  

(am I the only one who sees the amazing similarities between Holly in Land of the Lost, and Lex of Jurassic Park?)

Well, I think that's enough for this round. Gotta save some for next time. :-)

Outside Looking Inside

Hmm... Well, to answer Kelly's question. I did post/blog about my trip to H'patch and seeing everyone. It was a really long post. It never showed up on the site... I don't know why.

So, let me just say now it was worth the 32 hours of travel time with an infant and a toddler in tow and then a 12 hour drive from Virginia just to see all of you again. I had a blast.

Hope we can do it again soon!

Oh, and since I didn't have my camera with me... here's a substitute pic. This one's for Memphis Steve...

Shakira

'nuff said?

Just like 1985

Wow! Holy Crap am I tired! I'm back in Thailand now. Kids are asleep. I've unpacked the essentials (toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.), showered, and at 4am I'm ready for some well deserved shuteye!

The vacation back to the USA was too damn short. Only two weeks, and the first week the kids and I all had a nasty stomach flu. (sorry Mom). Then week 2 at Dad's we had a good time.

Seeing all (well almost all) my good friends from way back when (and a few new ones too) was an absolute blast. I can't believe it's been 20 years since I'd seen some of you last. Other than the gray hair and bigger beltlines it was as if we'd never been away. I hope we can all do that again, and not in another 20 years!!!

Siren... sorry I missed you this time around.
Steve... hope your Pop gets better soon!
JY, Kelly, Sam, Neal, Mike, Pam, Cheryl: What can I say except that I'm really glad we were able to plan this together!

Can't wait to see the pics on everyone's blogs!

C'ya! :-)