When I was a little boy, “Highlights” was the only thing even remotely fun about going to the doctor’s office. And because that was the only place I ever saw it, I thought that it was a special magazine that you could only get to see at the doctor.
Tag Archives: Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday: the most 70’s-tastic screenshot ever!
How’s this for a pop-culture artifact? It was shared recently on Facebook by my friend Conrad.
This is a screenshot from 1977’s “CHiPs,” that weekly, family-friendly, primetime police dramedy in which a pair of affable California Highway Patrolmen would never even draw their sidearms over the course of an hour-long episode.
And, yes, the period marquee in the background is indeed advertising the original “Star Wars.”
Even at the age of five or six, CHiPs was too goofy for me — despite the fact that Shawn Degnan, my best friend next door, frequently recommended it. Shawn and I did agree on the show’s contemporary, however — “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” (1979-1981).
Throwback Thursday: the McDLT
Why on earth did MacDonald’s discontinue the McDLT? Sure, it had a stupid gimmick. And it seemed to have so much lettuce and tomato that I used to think of it as “the saladburger.”
But it was good. Hey, it takes a lot to get a guy like me to order anything resembling a salad.
I have no idea why the commercial below features George Costanza singing and dancing like he’s in a Michael Jackson video. The 80’s were a weird time.
Throwback Thursday: “The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones” comic books
No, I’m not talking about the Marvel Comics adaptation of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981); I’ve written about that separately here at the blog. This was a regular ongoing comic book title between January 1983 and March 1986.
And every issue of it was a mind-boggling pleasure for a fourth grader whose favorite hero was Indiana Jones. I remember issues one and two waiting for me after school one day, displayed upright on the kitchen table. My Dad had picked them up for me. (He was constantly trying to help me with a problem that had plagued my childhood — I simply never owned enough comic books.) These were a departure from the “Sgt. Rock” comics that my father usually bought for me, but damn if they weren’t a thousand times better. I was stunned by the very concept of them. “Raiders” was a … COMIC BOOK now!?
Of course the plots were derivative of the film. Ninety percent of the places Indy went, an ancient artifact or temple held a terrifying secret, often unleashing a power that could control or destroy the world. And only Indy’s superior knowledge of archeology — or just his sheer pluck — would allow him to employ it to vanquish the bad guys. [Spoiler warning for “Raiders,” by the way.] The writing was damn good, as far as I can remember. And we got to see Marion, Sallah, Marcus Brody and even Captain Katanga again.
You see that cover where Indy is on the wing of a plane? That bad guy just might be one of the Hovitos … I can’t remember well enough to be sure. At one point this adversary steals Indy’s whip and tries to use it against him. (It doesn’t turn out well for him.) In fact …I think it was the scene you see on the cover. I’m not sure why the artist depicted a grappling hook instead. I remember the villain’s line being, “It would be fitting for such a man to die by the sting of his own weapon.” I have no idea why I remember that dialogue after 35 years (and little else about the issue). The mind is a funny thing.
All of the covers were damn cool. I happen to love that final one you see at the bottom. That was Indy’s adventure at Stonehenge. But the first two covers you see are the ones that I would eventually like to get framed, someday after fame brings me opulence — those were the ones waiting for me on the kitchen table that day in 1981.
Throwback Thursday: Balsa Wood Gliders
This meme says the “THE 70’S,” but I encountered a little boy playing with something kind of like a balsa wood glider yesterday! I told him how much I loved these when I was his age.
His was a bit fancier — it might have been made of thin plastic. The gliders that I received from visiting aunts and grandparents were like the mostly unadorned balsa wood jobby that you see below. It came in a long plastic sleeve like the one pictured, and you had to assemble it yourself. (It wasn’t quite as high tech as the X-Box.)
Loop-de-loops were damn fun. It was slightly less fun seeing it snap off a wing or fin after a nosedive. Note to any well meaning aunts or uncles who might spy a balsa wood glider, if they’re still around: buy a couple of them for that kid in your life — these things break easily.
Throwback Thursday: T.S.S. in Middle Island, NY
This “Throwback Thursday” post is one to which only my longtime fellow Long Islanders might relate. And it’s really more of a bittersweet news item … I signed onto Facebook the night before last only to see this message from a great old friend from the neighborhood:
“They tore down the old T.S.S. today.”
Yes — that’s “T.S.S.,” as in Times Squares Stores, even though nobody ever called it the latter. And “T.S.S.” is an appellation that only the 40-and-up-ish crowd would recognize, I think. Everyone else thinks of it as “the old K-Mart.” But in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it was a sprawling local family discount store.
I and other Longwood High School kids have a hell of a lot of memories from there. I remember accompanying my parents there during their shopping expeditions when I was .. maybe the age from Kindergarten through the third grade?
“Warehouse”-type club stores weren’t really a thing back then. T.S.S.’ immense space was truly impressive to a little boy; it seemed like a world unto itself. We all remember the toy section — that was where I browsed wistfully through the very first Star Wars figures — I’m talking the original toys released in connection with the 1978 and 1980 films. I still remember them arrayed along the racks in their original packaging — Lord only knows how much those racks of unopened original toys would be worth today. I’m also pretty sure that’s where my parents picked up those Micronauts figures I got for Christmas one year. Come to think of it … I’ll bet the majority of my Christmas presents were bought there.
I also vividly remember the bedding department, for some reason. I think it’s because I really took a liking to some Charlie Brown bedsheets I saw displayed there.
But more than anything else, I remember the weird entranceway — they sold concession-style drinks and snacks on both sides, the better to appeal to children to beseech their parents.
There’s a neat little blog entry, complete with the store’s original TV commercials, right here at LongIsland70skid.com:
http://www.longisland70skid.com/tss/
T.S.S. was such a vivid, memorable part of my early childhood that it was pretty damned depressing for me Tuesday to discover its eventual fate. I’m not talking about the sprawling space being razed. I’m talking about the goddam dystopian state of disrepair into which the entire commercial property fell.
After some long intervening years during which the space became a K-Mart, the building just went to hell after that doomed chain went as defunct as T.S.S. Tuesday’s Newsday article, below, should give you the rundown.
And the rundown isn’t pretty. Over the past decade, it seems that the “hulking eyesore” of a building was the site of squatters, drug users, and encroaching wild plantlife. If you have fond childhood memories of the store, then do not perform a Google image search for the location, as I did. It’ll show you a massive, vacant monolith of a building on a vast, overgrown, dangerous looking lot. It looks frikkin’ postapocalyptic. And it’ll make you sad.
And if that weren’t enough, a murder victim was found this past Saturday in the woods just next to the site:
“Middle Island vacant K-Mart demolished days after body found,” by Carl MacGowan, Newsday, 4/5/16
They say you can never go home again, huh?
“You see, I’m Irish — but I’m not a leprechaun!”
“You wanna fight? Then step up and we’ll get it on!”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
And Happy Throwback Thursday, too. House of Pain’s “Top O’ The Mornin’ To Ya” dates from 1992. It actually has a pretty nifty “Return of the Jedi” reference, for you Star Wars fans who currently rule this little thing called the Internet.
And the song is memorable to this comic book fan for being a great intro track for Colin Farrell’s Bullseye in 2003’s “Daredevil.” I actually am the rare (or possibly unique) individual who really likes that movie. I bought it on DVD, and I’ve seen it more times than I care to publicly admit, given its ignominy.
Throwback Thursday: 90’s music
I found this puzzle floating around Facebook; I don’t know it’s author.
How many bands can you name? I count 8 … maybe 9.
Throwback Thursday: Run-D.M.C. Covers Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”
I remember being thrilled when this played on the MTV countdown in 1986.
It was a golden age. Not only did reality TV shows not appear on MTV, reality TV shows didn’t exist.
Check out “File 770.”
I discovered something rather nice today — one of my recent “Throwback Thursday” blog posts got a nice mention over at “File 770,” Mike Glyer’s Hugo Award-winning science fiction fan newzine.
The post excerpted was about the offbeat late-1970’s “Planet of the Apes” merchandise I remembered from my early childhood. It was referenced on January 26th in Mr. Glyer’s regular “Pixel Scroll” feature, which highlights news, opinions and links from science fiction fandom around the web:
I’m flattered to be mentioned there, as the prestigious File 770 received the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine no fewer than six times, most recently in 2008. (Mr. Glyer is a three-time Hugo recipient for Best Fan Writer.)
The site is a hell of a lot of fun too — particularly for longtime genre fans who want to take a look at what other fans are reading and viewing. Check it out today; you won’t be disappointed.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 