I know I haven't posted for awhile. So let me be the first to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving

Only two weeks away and they're already palying Christmas music on Oldies103 and WROR!

Go figure.

I promise to write soon.

mystery reader, that's my name...

Behold it's another blog by me...ta-dah! But what to write? It's been so long. Oh well, plenty of time...on vacation this week and nothing on but Men in Black II (yikes!) altho the Michael Jackson joke was funny (and where else would he learn the moon walk?! Lol!)

I am having more fun with my son this year! Last Tuesday I was the mystery reader; no one, not even Bump knew. Book of choice: The School Nurse From the Black Lagoon. What a book and what a great time I had. I was so demonstrative and hammy (big suprise there) and the kids loved it. If you have a child of 8 or 9 or even if you're a child at heart you and they will love this book. If asked back I am going to read the School Librarian from the Black Lagoon.

Why?

I am also a volunteer librarian at the school every other week. Signing out books, hearing about the latest Pokeman (pokemon? You'd think I'd know), hearing about the latest book report.

I smile alot!

Went to my son's soccer game today...boy was I proud. He really got in there and passed the ball like a pro! The one day I didn't bring the camera. It was raining, the ground was wet and soggy and nothing but nothing would stop these kids...they had so much fun, with the score being 1-1 by the time it was over. Then the kids would run accross the wet field and slide on their stomachs! My kid's grin said it all...and so did mine!

He is already signed up for basket ball come November. He is good at the game and even if he weren't I would still be proud of him and his eager attitude. Can't wait for this year's Challengers!

What else has been going on? Just read "UFOs, JFK and Elvis" by RIchard Belzer, the guy from SVU and Homicide. This is probably the third go-around on this book, one of my favorites. After my first read I immediately purchased two books "Crossfire" and "Alien Agenda" by Jim Marrs, JFK conspiracy and Alien conspiracy books. Am I a conspiracy nut? IThis I cannot tell you or the Men In Black may try to hunt me down...and if you believe a friend of mine an organization is already reading my every key-stroke. Nuff said.

Speaking of Belzer I started reading his first novel "I Am Not a Cop"; a little dry but will give it another go...God knows I have about 156 hours left on my vacation (tick tick tick...) If time permits, maybe when I have 90 hours left (lol) I may actually sit down and read one of my old Mod Squad books, my Partridge Family book or hunt down The Brady Bunch "Adventure on the High Seas" (reminder to self: call Second Look Books in Plainville)

And about UFOs: check out this link http://www.ufoevidence.org/, something I happened to Google. If you're even remotely interested in the subject this may be of interest.

And what else on my vacation? Work on the bath room, the rec room and the ham shack...in that order. I have my marching orders, honey-do list, whatever, but will also be doing some radio work and reading. After all it is vacation.

Tick tick tick...

trying again and will succeed

After 30 years I am quitting smoking...again.

In the immortal words of Bullwinkle "This time for sure".

Wish me luck.

Update one: I didn't make it totally but managed to cut down to two packs a week. Vacation coming, will try again.

mary travers peter, paul and mary

Mary Travers died yesterday. When I heard the news I had to pull my car over it was that upsetting. I have literaly grown up with the group Peter Paul and Mary, the group being formed in 1961. Altho I have always enjoyed the group, growing up with "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Leaving on a Jet Plane", never have I truly loved the group more than their 25th anniversary reunion concert; the group was as great and together as always but Mary's voice shone so bright and was so controlled and powerful it reached from one end of the theatre to the other...it was incredible and I found not only new respect for the group but starting purchasing their albums in earnest. With computer I even would check their website from time to time.

Mary Travers suffered in the last years from leukemia and through this she still remained strong and performed when she was able. Last evening she finally lost her fight with cancer but was brave to the end. She, as well as Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey, stood at the forefront of the civil rights movement and their performances of "If I had a Hammer" and especially "Blwin' in the Wind" stand as a testament to that time. They were instrumental in bringing the likes of John Denver, Laura Nyro and Bob Dylan to a new audience and it is also a testament to the group itself to have lasted almost 50 years and at least 3 generations, possibly 4.

A voice has been stilled but a spirit has not...Mary Travers may you rest in peace and your voice still be strong in the choir eternal.

Snackbar Confidential

I was fortunate to find that another one of my favorite fanzines now has a blog. Snackbar Confidential is a cut-and-paste/xerox operation I found through the pages of (the now defunct) Psychotronic magazine and have been enjoying for a few years. Lance Laurie is an artist by trade and has been self-publishing this fanzine using old newspaper clippings; sometimes the clippings have comments by the author, sometimes they stand alone, but the finsihed product says something about our past and our culture, no matter how odd or memorable (or both!) This magazine is not for everyone but I must say I enjoy seeing ads from my past, everything from drive-ins to old snack-pack ads to funny face drink mix to, dare I say, Vicki Lawrence! An enjoyable and often funny trip down memory lane and the comments are very often funny, sort of sub-concious freudian slips.

Check out http://snackbar-confidential.blogspot.com/ for the blog

Seems everyone is using Blogspot now-adays (to hell with Facebook and Twiter, down with Myspace!) Check this one out: http://jedaniels-adventures.blogspot.com/, new information to me from my friends in the Yesteryearland Yahoo Group and another site about animation, cartoons and nostalgia

It's been awhile since I last posted, at least a couple weeks (today being Aug 1). Better than my usual track record I suppose.
Recently found two blogs that are really interesting:
http://jedaniels-adventures.blogspot.com/, a site for old cartoons and nostalgia
http://hungovergourmet.blogspot.com/, blog written by the author of the hungover gormet site and fanzine. I first heard about the fanzine through Michael Weldon's (now-gone >sniff<) Psychotronic Video magazine. Great little digest zine that unfortunately is now ending it's run. I implore you to check out the blog as well as http://www.hungovergourmet.com/, both great.

I have also jumped back on the health bandwagon, sort of. I have limited my breads and am eating more veg and whole foods, I have started walking again (15-20min to start), I have limited my smoking (hey, it's a start!) and I have opened a new yahoo mailbox to join a freecycle group. This is a great idea if you are looking to rid yourself of useful items you no longer want. I have always believed in giving back to the community and have taght Bumper the same thing. Since starting on the rec room (yes, again) I have taked several trips to the Salvation Army and listed items on Freecycle - the rewards are tremendous!. You have a feeling of accoplishement and, if you're like me, you may be able to pick up useful items in return (we now have a crock pot and a vegetable serving dish from freecycle and I picked up Men in Black, Matrix and a Four Lads cassette from the "army").

Beware, freecycle can be addicting and is worse than E-Bay because it's FREE!

See Ya Soon.

just more pics from plymouth

Just more pics from Plymouth. The landscape pics in the previous posting as well as 2 pics here were taken by Bump - I think the best thing ever invented for a child like my son is the digital camera. Because he sometimes has a hard time focusing through the small lens in a basic camera the digiatal cameras with the screen are much easier for him to operate.

Sometimes progress is wonderful.

some pics from plymouth

Though an upload mistake in my previous post I found more than one pic can be uploaded.

I find this a great benefit as I cannot find a suitable host site for online pictures, one secure enough to use or easy enough to link to my contacts - my contacts already know the problem I had with msn (altho not msn's fault)

The above pics were taken by Bumper and I in Plymouth on 070709. I like the pic of the post; it says "May peace Prevail On Earth" in several languages.

sad news

Sad news.

It was reported this morning through Yesterdayland that the voice of Gumby and Archie Andrews, that Riverdale teenager who's cartoons were popular on Saturday mornings, has passed away. Dallas McKennon, who also voiced several cartoon characters for Disney, Walter Lantz (Buzz Buzzard) and who also acted on the Daniel Boone series, passed away at 89, "just shy of his 90th birthday".

As one of my fellow group members stated: "For many of us the various voices that Mr McKennon gave us are part of our childhood, the voices we grew up on and, despite his passing, those voices will never fade".

I say "Thank you Mr McKEnnon - RIP"

http://www.examiner.com/x-10719-Disney-Theme-Parks-Examiner~y2009m7d14-Disney-voice-actor-Dallas-McKennon-dies-at-89

new fave radio station

A new favorite to add to my long list of favorite radio stations:

http://www.wupe.com/home.php

Playing music from the 50s, 60s and 70s with a decided preference toward the 70s; I have already listened to ELO, Rupert Holmes ("Him", not that yech "Pina Colada" rubbish) and Andrew Gold...talk about childhood memories!

For more radio stations, check out Radio-Locator and search for stations in any genre

http://www.radio-locator.com/

update 071609:

Still listening...this and WARE have become my favorite streaming radio stations

(also check out http://www.realoldies1250.net/)

favorite blogs

One thing about belonging to a group such as Yesteryearland is the sharing a common interests.

I am posting a few blog sites of interest (at least to me lol) and a few of them come from this groups' conversations.

http://childrensrecordsandmore.blogspot.com/2008/04/jon-over-at-randomactsofgeekery-sent-me.html (nostalgia)

http://allthingsger.blogspot.com/ (nostalgia)

http://offbeateats.blogspot.com/ (food and diners)

http://dinerhistory.blogspot.com/ (same)

http://www.bloggerforum.com/modules/wordpress/2007/10/16/a-history-of-diner-culture/

http://dinersdrive-insanddives.blogspot.com/ (same - based on the food network show)

The following url was posted in the group due to a discussion about the program Love, American Style. This blog deals with a lot of movies and is more of a psychotronic site, meaning that it deals with many genres of movies and programs (biker movies, horor movies, et al); enjoyable but not for everyone

http://vinnierattolle.blogspot.com/

all-american diner

Bump and I visited Plymouth yesterday and had to make our usual stop in to the All-American Diner. This is the place to go when visiting Plymouth MA the prices are ecomomical and the food and the atmosphere is worth it.

And they treat kids really well!

http://www.allamericandiner.biz/menu.html

bumpy's diner

My son is now cooking.

The only thing we do for him is spray the "Pam".

He woke me this morning (615!) and told me he was cooking a beakfast buffet. We had bagels with cream cheese, cheese and ham omelets, coffee (me) and juice. All made by the Bumper.

I really think he will be a success in the cooking field - has his mom's and great-grandmothers' genes (and he and I both started cooking at the same age)

This is going to be a great week with Bumper...cannot wait.

on vacation

I am on vacation this week.
What are my plans? Working around the house on things I've had to put off due to work and time.
And enjoy the week with my son.
Today he has swimming lessons and then it's shopping then working on the house.
More soon.

michael jackson

Michael Jackson has died this evening.

I am old enough to have heard the Jackson 5; one of my favorite songs when I was a kid was "ABC" and remember singing it with a cousin on my grand-parents back steps.

I was 5 or 6 when the Jackson Five cartoon originally aired and have a couple retrospective cds.

No matter what you may think of Jackson and his later life he was definitely talented (as were his brothers and sister Janet) and "Thriller" is still the biggest selling album of all time, a testament to his talent.

He was 50...young in this day and age.

He will be missed.

jon and kate plus 8

I was a fan of Jon and Kate plus 8; then all the madness started.

The headlines and the drama.

Anyone with half the brain of a cantaloupe would have stopped producing the show once it was interfering with their life and marriage.

Yes the money for the college educations is nice and the perks for the family is great as well. I figure the cost of a small house multiplied by 8 would be a lot for school as well as the costs for trips for the family.

But what of the cost to the relationship? Jon minus Kate? Radiopapa minus Bakelady? I would destroy the contract before the destruction of my marriage and the toll it would take on the Bumpster.

One hopes that these two (or 10) realize riches are not just counted in dollars.

father's day part two

Page two of the card Bumper made me.

And, yes, I do look like that.

Happy Father's Day to all.

father's day

Happy Father's day

from the card Bumper made me this year

radio station ware

http://www.realoldies1250.net/index.cfm?cfid=7096965&cftoken=50119363

local oldies station ware from ware ma online...excellent music, plaing instrumentals right now. only failing is that they do not list what the're playing. just know i'm enjoying it.

for those baby boomers (ie old people like me!)

Recently brought to our attention at yesterdayland:
http://www.youtube.com/user/seventiesnsaturdays
This site has tons of video from the seventies. I was watching "Tabitha" with Lisa Hartman and Robert Urich...corny but great memories.

You want corn? Kiss appearance followed by Paul Lynde singing "Disco Baby" on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxwiG4Qy8lU&feature=channel_page

If you haven't already, check out the Yahoo group Yesterdayland. This group focuses on 60s and 70s memories and nostalgia and has over 200 members. There is always something of interest.

Take care, be well, talk soon.

The Challengers

I had posted a long and thought out but boring account of my son's first year of little league which ended today.
It has been deleted.
Now for the supposed inspired stuff: Bumper had the time of his life playing for Phillies, a team that's part of the Challengers league. We marched in a parade on opening day, parents rooted and applauded for not only their own children but all the other team members. It wasn't until the last two games that I joined my son in the field covering first base or outfield or wherever he played but I was always one of those screaming parents with a smile on their face and a sense of pride in their heart. I wish I had been out there sooner but learning is what this league is all about.
All the members of the teams were given trophies and donuts. I cannot wait to see the picture of my son, trophy in his hand and chocolate frosting on his face. Great fun and great times, all the team members will be missed.
You can bet we'll be out there next year, Bump and me, with Bakelady screaming on the sidelines and clapping.
And I cannot wait.

A new home for Thena3

A new home for the old man.

Yahoo360 has become too difficult to use, especially for my "on-the-go" style of writing, the old stream of conciousness, man with the zip-log brain type of rambling.

So it's off to a new home for Radiopapa, Bakelady, Bumper and a return to my once-rambling ways about diners, drive-ins, dives and all things unrelated.

Hope you enjoy and hope to see you soon.