janradder

So teach your children to fear the home and all it contains.


I still remember being creeped out by the sick children, holding their stomachs in pain. Of course, I also thought they were morons for eating Spic and Span or whatever else it was they'd decided to ingest.

I totally went to school with the Duran Duran fan, and chances are, if you went to high school in the 80's, you did to. The ad's not as good as the Black Flag radio spots documented on Everything Went Black (you listen to them here if you've never heard them before and are interested. The ads start at 1:49 on the clip), but still -- it's a Black Flag TV spot!? I guess when you live near"SCENIC DOWNTOWN DETROIT" you get to see Black Flag on local TV.

Mixing the heavy sounds of Deep Purple, the keyboard wizardry of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and the stage moves of a family of spazzes, let me present to you the one and only Osmonds!



Seriously, I loved this song when I was a kid, but what the hell is up with the dancing? I mean, really, now.

Over the past few days, the boys and I have been watching The Mighty Thor, the cartoon from 1966 that was part of The Marvel Super Heroes.  Inspired by the Thunder God's exploits, Arie has fashioned his very own Mjolnir with which to smite the wicked and defend the just:

So , instead, here's a Chris Elliot Guy Under the Seats routine.  To me, they were always one of the highlights of the old Letterman show.

What can I say about Fat Albert except that this was my absolute favorite Saturday morning cartoon for years.  Just hearing that theme brings me back to six or seven years old and sitting in front of that TV just waiting for Bill Cosby and the Cosby kids.

Favorite Russell put down?  "Rudy?  You're like school on a summer day -- no class!"

I have been a huge Dr. Strange fan since I was about six and I picked up a Giant Size collection of Dr. Strange stories from a newsstand in Milford, CT when my family was visiting friends.  The only reason I'd gotten it was because my mother had told me I could buy a comic book and this was one of the few places that carried the Giant Size comics.  That day there were only two -- a Captain America I already had and a Dr. Strange.  Reluctantly, I got the comic and let it sit for about a year.  Every now and then I'd look into it but the pictures were usually too frightening (especially Nightmare) or the stories to weird to follow.  Eventually, though, I overcame my fear and figured out what was going on and Dr. Strange became my absolute favorite comic book hero.

In 1978, I saw in the TV guide that there was going to be a movie on Friday night (CBS, maybe?) called Dr. Strange.  I would hunt the weekly TV guide regularly to find anything that resembled a super hero movie.  Often, I'd be burned (I still remember seeing Letterman and being brutally disappointed that it was a talk show -- this was when Dave was on in the morning) but sometimes, I'd hit the jackpot.  There was no description with Dr. Strange and for all I knew it was a hospital drama but I asked my mother if I could stay up to watch it (it was late) on the off chance that this was the Dr. Strange.  She said no and I badgered here for the next few days.  Friday came and still the answer was no.  I remember sitting in front of the TV as the beginning started and then being sent off to bed.

"It'll be on again," my mother said.

The next day at baseball practice, I asked my comics friend, John Lucas, if he'd seen it.  He said yes and then he told me it was actually the comic book Dr. Strange and it was cool and awesome and spectacular and he'd loved it a lot.  I scoured the TV guide looking for a rerun of that movie for years but it was never on again.  And I've scoured the internet looking for anything about it but came up with nothing but a short scene posted on YouTube until today.

Today I found out that someone has recently posted the entire movie to YouTube.  I am in disbelief.  Finally, after all these years, I have found my Dr. Strange Holy Grail!  But that's not all, because I also found that a Dr. Strange feature film has been announced for 2010 directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by Neil Gaiman.  I feel like I've hit the jackpot!

When I was in fourth grade I looked forward to five o'clock.  That's because The Carol Burnett Show was on. Each day, I'd grab a bottle of my favorite soda, Dr. Pepper (which I'd only recently discovered), sit down on the couch, and watch my favorite television show.  Though I liked Tim Conway best, Harvey Korman came in a close second, if only because I loved the Ed and Eunice skits (and I always thought it was hilarious when Korman would lose it it during Conway's antics).  Harvey Korman played such a great ass  -- either a small minded twit or someone so full of himself no one could stand to be around him -- which made it hard for him to ever be a star in his own right.  I'd sit on that couch drinking my soda and laughing so hard my stomach hurt.  Ah, Harvey, we'll always have our Dr. Pepper.

There was a time in the early '80's when I could not remove this Carvel jingle from my head.  I'd be at swimming practice and it would just go on and on and on and on.  Oh, Hug-me the Bear, how could I forget about you?