Tag Archives: Eric Robert Nolan

Throwback Thursday: “Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Monster,” 1975!

This was was one of my favorite books from early childhood.  It was written by Jean Lewis and illustrated by Ralph Canady.  (I also had two other titles that you see on the back cover below  — “Hong Kong Phooey” and “Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Doghouse.”)

But this was the one that rocked my imagination.  Scoob and the gang follow some “monster” footprints to discover nothing less than a rampaging wooly mammoth.  (The big reveal is that it is a malfunctioning robot created by a friendly scientist.  If memory serves, he had a little preserve of robotic extinct animals in his backyard.) 

My fondest dream as a five-year-old was to somehow “create” miniature dinosaurs that I could keep as tiny pets in a little corral beside my house’s chimney, like an equally misguided pre-school John Hammond or something.  (I won’t embarrass myself further here by describing my modus operandi.  Suffice to say that no actual dinosaurs resulted from my efforts.)  So the idea of ice-age-beast machines was pretty magical to me.  (Hell, in the 1970’s, there were always a couple of anachronistic wooly mammoths or saber-tooth tigers thrown into a set of plastic dinosaurs.)

Believe it or not, I think I can actually remember my mother buying this book for me.  I remember a long, tidy, below-street-level bookstore on a New York City block, and being told that I could pick out two books.  The other was definitely a nonfiction dinosaur book.  (I want to say it was Jane Werner Watson’s “Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles.”)

Good times.



scooby doo

cover

Source: Scoobypedia


Better Living Through Lethargy

Pro tip — if you clean your house without your glasses on, it takes half the time, because most stuff looks clean enough already.

I swear this works.



“The Unsuccessful Skygazer (Night 2!) Rhyming Couplet”

Again the skies incur my spite —

I still can’t see the northern lights!



“The Unsuccessful Skygazer Rhyming Couplet”

Damn the sparing heavens and their promises of green!
First a hidden eclipse and now the northern lights unseen!



damn

Throwback Thursday: this 1985 ad for Kronoform watches!

I had the jet plane!  It was rad.

(I am linking here to the RetroStatic Youtube channel.)



C’mon. This joke deserves a big Han.

Pro tip — if you missed the opportunity to celebrate “Star Wars” Day yesterday, May 5th is Cinco de Cryo.

(Follow me for more life hacks involving 80’s movie puns.)




S

I call this haircut “The Polite Suburban Dad.”

Because of COURSE I will come to your bake sale, Neighbor.



PS - Copy

Throwback Thursday: the Roller Rink!

I remember.  For us, it was Skate Grove in Middle Island, New York.

This meme actually fails to convey  three elements that were key to the experience — flashing lights, crowds of kids and The J. Geils Band blasting on the speakers.



who remembers

Source: “I Love the 80’s” on Facebook

Throwback Thursday: this 1983 Washington Post article about Mary Washington College.

If you’re one of my alumni and you’re looking for a smile today, check out this this 1983 WaPo piece about campus life at Mary Washington College. It was written by Mary Battiata on the school’s 75th anniversary.

It sounds like even kids back then took a pretty dour attitude about how Mary Wash’s social life compared with that of other schools.  And this was a full seven years before our graduating class even arrived as freshmen.



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They could even call it “Footlose.”

You know you have truly arrived when you start getting messages from Kelvin Bacon.

If there isn’t a store-brand “Footloose” knockoff connected with this person, I’m going to be very disappointed.