I haven’t discovered wild strawberries growing underfoot since I was a kid. (And, man, wasn’t that a thrill for a group of wandering ten-year-olds.)
UPDATE: I’ve been told by multiple parties that these are possibly “snakeberries” or “fake strawberries.”
Well … a far more responsible young person is feeding and watering the cat, in our mutual friend’s absence. It is my job to pet her and make sure she doesn’t get too lonely.
The moral of the story is this — I can’t be trusted with basic tasks, yet I am nevertheless beloved of all living creatures.
So people still remember this 1986 ad as the “Gallo wines commercial with the classical music” that they loved but could never identify.
Well … it sounds like classical music. But the composer for the pretty piece is none other than Vangelis. (If you’re anybody who’s anybody in my particular corner of sci-fi nerd-dom, then you know that Vangelis was responsible for 1982’s legendary “Blade Runner” soundtrack.)
The name of the piece is “Hymne,” and it was originally released on Vangelis’ 1979 album, “Opera Sauvage.” The original song, which differs a bit from the version in the commercial, can be found right here.
I only learned while writing this that Vangelis wasn’t really “a group.” It was a single Greek composer — Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou — who passed away in 2022.
I needed to consult the pharmacist yesterday about aloe WITHOUT making a pun out of it.
No “Aloe, there,” no “Aloe, is the price?” no “I am at aloe point with this skin irritation.” Nothing.
I DID it! I might have trembled like a junkie in need of a fix, but I DID it!
Ah, the halcyon days of yore — when the unhealthiest food you could eat was also the cheapest. (Nowadays, you’ve got to be fairly RICH to harden your arteries properly.) Another reason why the 1990’s were the goddam AWESOMEST decade.
I was a big fan of McDoubles back in the day. I’d buy five or six at a time, eat two, and throw the remainder into the fridge for later. Dollar-sundaes were kinda nice too.
Taco Bell was another fast food chain with some super-low prices. I remember rolling out of the dorm half-asleep on a Sunday morning, and riding along with another hungry student to the “Taco Hell” on Route 1 in Fredericksburg (just before Falmouth Bridge.)
Beef Meximelts were $1.50 a piece, if memory serves. And we don’t have those at ALL, today — they were discontinued!
It occurs to me only as I write this that this entire post is really just today’s version of our parents’ nostalgia in the 1980’s. (Do any other GenXers remember them talking about how candy and soda and double-feature matinee once cost … I dunno, a fifty cents or something?)
Spillwords Press today published my poem “Accident Allison” — about a certain accident-prone lady who means the world to me.
And their artist’s rendering captures her perfectly!
For those of you playing along at home, I also saw a catbird on Sunday.
Next spring, we should all start out with a bingo card or something.
They’re the hornets of the plant kingdom, people.
Zero Stars.
Spring is here, summer is coming. These are the critters I’ve spotted so far:
UPDATE!!!!! I just saw a Peregrine falcon chomping down in its prey!!!
This catchy jingle comes to you courtesy of the grand old year of 1985. (Actually, it was the deftmahatma Youtube channel.)
Unlike the New Coke debacle that very same year, Cherry Coke caught on. I had one just yesterday, despite my dentist’s sage counsel. (It’s the acidity that’s bad for your teeth — not the sugar.) I think we can all agree that Cherry Coke is super-god-damned good.
By the way, nobody can tell me that 80’s fashion isn’t due for a revival.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 