Not necessarily in that order. Last weekend I took him to a few yards sales, and was really intrigued by the things I saw at them. A few observations:
You could safely sum up 99% of the electronics that you’ll find at any yard/rummage/tag sale as “stuff that’s been replaced by smart phones.” Digital cameras are a dime a dozen (sometimes literally). Cassette recorders. Mini-cassette recorders. Micro-cassette recorders.
P.T. Barnum said “there’s a sucker born every minute” and apparently every one of those suckers bought a fondue set in the 70s.
Yard sales are where officially over-the-hill kids TV show characters go to die. Barney now truly knows what it means to be a “dinosaur.”
Some folks have never heard about the switch to digital TV. Or flat screens. Or even cable.
How lazy do you have to be to not be able to flip through ties?
But our rummaging wasn’t all in vain. We went to the sale at the nearby Catholic grade school and got a couple of old school desks for $5 a pop.
(Unfortunately they didn’t come with a guarantee that my kids will study. I’d have paid another $5 for that feature.)
That school sale was also trying to unload this sweet Sprite backboard from back in the “lymon” era:
I would’ve bought it except for the warning:
Sorry, I’ve still got hops and was going to go all Darryl Dawkins on it.
Don’t ask me why, but this morning I was thinking about how the most interesting dog food brands from my youth are now defunct. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but I’m doing a pretty good job of it so far.)
My favorite commercial was for Chuck Wagon, with a pooch chasing a Ray Harryhausen-style Conestoga wagon through the house.
And I was always intrigued by Gaines*burgers dog food too, because of their hamburger shape. Love how the TV ad tout and the package both tout the fact that Gaines*burgers are “made with REAL MEAT”.
Notice they don’t say what type of animal the meat came from. Just sayin’.
My three sons (not these three) and I went to my company’s summer picnic at the Cincinnati Zoo yesterday. My youngest (he’s 10) had just been to Zoo Camp the week prior, so going through the exhibits with him was like being with a miniature Marlin Perkins/Steve Irwin/Thane Maynard. I was amazed at how much he knew about the animals and their habitats… including the fact that one of the large birds in the Wings of the World exhibit (it has nothing to do with Paul McCartney) figured out how to open the automatic doors so they had to put it behind a net to keep it from escaping again.
Our kids don’t go to a lot of summer camps, but I’m sure as heck signing up my son – and probably my daughter – for Zoo Camp again next year. Best investment we’ve made in years.
And mentioning Marlin Perkins gives me an excuse to feature this video:
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t throw in this oldie but goodie:
Clearly marketers have run out of decent names for frozen “slushy” beverages. Here’s proof, from a window poster at a downtown Cincinnati newstand/mini-market:
A “Siberian Chill”? Really? Whoever named this beverage nailed the “cold” part of the equation, but they had a major FAIL on the “refreshing” part of it.
“Yes, being exiled to a gulag sounds delightful… please sir, may I have another?”
The “thrill of ice-o-lation” tagline doesn’t help matters any either. Who makes this stuff – Putin Industries?
Saw Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell and Dwight Yoakam in concert a week ago. Dwight and his band are top-notch, but the highlight for me was Jason Isbell. Loved his 2013 album Southeastern, and still do. But the song from his set list that gave me the most goose bumps was “Dress Blues” – a tribute to a fallen soldier from Jason’s Alabama hometown. The song is from Jason’s 2007 debut solo album Sirens of the Ditch and was written for Marine Matthew Conley, who was killed by an IED in Iraq at age 21, just weeks before he was to go home and be reunited with his wife, who was pregnant with their first child. The song deftly and beautifully pays tribute to the young man while questioning the decisions that caused his death.
There’s red, white and blue in the rafters
And there’s silent old men from the Corps
What did they say when they shipped you away
To fight somebody’s Hollywood war?
Nobody here could forget you
You showed us what we had to lose
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleepin’ in your dress blues
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleepin’ in your dress blues
Damian on The Grateful Alive: “You’re the one who tipped me off to the Grateful Living Word of the Day, Phil, so you started the…” May 1, 22:12
Susan Jackson on The Grateful Alive: “I’m grateful that you joined us AND shared about it on your blog. ❤️” May 1, 10:22
Phil on The Grateful Alive: “I loved seeing this Damian. Love knowing that it is occurring. The gratefulness spreads.” May 1, 09:12
Susan Jackson on Grateful for the Chance…: “You make a difference just by being you. (Yes, that sounds like a Mr. Rogers quote, probably because he’s my…” Apr 9, 10:48
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