THE SECRET CULT OF THE COLLIE

1974 RAZZLE-DAZZLE SHOW INTRO

This is why I miss the 70's!

VINTAGE PATTERNS FROM ENVELOPE LININGS

Vintage envelope linings found in an old box of miscellaneous paper. I scanned and cropped ‘em for your viewing pleasure. Patterns are cool!













Among the group was only one envelope with a 1930 postmark. Nice to know these throwaway items were once special to someone enough to save them. With patterns and colors like these I can see why they were kept.

MOVIE PASS POSTCARD FROM BETTY GRABLE

Here is a nifty postcard that doubled as a free movie pass to local theaters. This is the only one that I’ve seen, but I wonder if Fox printed other cards with different actors.


This card was to be used at the Colonial Theater in Pittsburg, Kansas. Good thing the lady that received the pass decided to keep it as a memento instead of using it at her local theater. Of course one doesn't get a postcard everyday from the lovely Betty Grable. She made the right choice.


Just a few years after this card was mailed the Colonial Theater would change its name to the Fox Theater in 1959. The Colonial has survived and is now being restored. I wonder if they would let me in free if I used this card? Oops - I see that it expired back on Nov. 15, 1955.

Here's a link to a current photo of the Colonial and the link to their official website. Looks like the site is still under construction.

AH, MAN SOMEONE SCRIBBLED IN MY NEW FRED HEMBECK BOOK

Last week The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus arrived in the mail. This book is massive and I’m afraid my poor mailman got a hernia carrying it up to the door. His sacrifice was worth it as I’m glad to add this to my library.

The Omnibus is a must for any comic fan and Hembeck's crazy comics are as fun to read today as they were back in the day. It not only has his vintage toons but goes all the way up to present day covering material from his popular website including some of those fab commissions that he does so well.

If you order direct from Fred, he’ll send you a signed copy with a free Fred head sketch. For an extra fee (same price as a DC Archive) he’ll draw your favorite character on the first page of the book. This second option is the way to go and that’s what I ordered.

Don't worry you won't get a quicky stick figure drawing from Fred, but instead you get a nice piece of original art that looks ready for the publisher. Spidey was my choice and as alway Fred did an amazing job. Thanks Fred!


Here’s the link to order your very own copy of The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus.

PROF. HACKER'S DINOSAUR CANYON GOLF

Hidden away in the farthest reaches of the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri is a canyon that’s been frozen in time. This is a place where giants still roam the land and tourist try to putt-putt a hole-in-one. I’m talking about one of the coolest mini-golf courses in the Ozarks - Prof. Hacker’s Dinosaur Canyon.














This attraction is just a couple of years old, but it has the feel of a vintage course with some modern touches. Some of the dinosaurs actually lived somewhere else before they migrated to Branson. Originally they were part of Jim Sidwell’s Jolly Golf in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. After Jolly Golf became extinct some of the dinosaurs were saved and landed here at Prof. Hackers.

You can read more about Jim Sidwell’s miniature golf courses and theme parks in Tim Hollis’ in-depth book called The Land of the Smokies Great Mountain Memories. More of Jim Sidwell's dinosaur handy work can be seen at Dinosaur Land in White Post, Virginia.

THE RETURN OF THE BANANA SPLITS SHOW

Yowza! The Banana Splits are back on TV and they look great for their age! That’s right the ultra mod and hip kids show from 1968 and stuck in rerunville into the early 80's has been revamped for a new generation. Kudos to the producers of the new show for staying faithful to the look and feel of the original.

The show premiers on Cartoon Network on September 2. Be sure to visit bananasplits.com, a new spiffy website based on the new show. Also, read this Variety article about the new Banana Splits show and here's another article from the Wall Street Journal.

Thanks Tim for sending me the good news!

EVERYTHING WAS STAR WARS IN 7TH GRADE CRAFTS CLASS

Two items I thought were thrown out and forgotten forever were recently unearthed by my mom. Both items were created in junior high crafts class when I was twelve years old. It seems that every craft assignment that was given out I made something related to Star Wars.


This first piece might look like a primitive ancient bowl, but when you flip it over you’ll see the year 1982 with my name inscribed on the bottom. This pathetic piece of pottery has the Star Wars title wrapped around the bowl and Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter etched on the side.



The next item, a Star Wars belt was almost a disaster. All I had to do was hammer letters and shapes into the leather. Most kids hammered their names into their belts but I stamped Star Wars in mine or at least that’s what I thought.


My belt was almost finished as I had the letters STAR WA and was ready for the letter R. A classmate offered to help and asked what letter I needed. I asked for the R and unbeknownst to me he gave me the S. I could’ve died after I hammered that S into my belt. My belt read STAR WAS. Terrible, terrible I just knew I would get a bad grade. Glad we had a cool teacher who worked a miracle and smoothed out that S until it was barely noticeable. Naturally I never wore my Star Was belt and it was lost in my closet until recently.



If you click on the above image you'll see that I used the Masonic Square & Compass symbol for a design. We didn't have many shapes to choose from and I thought two Masonic symbols put together sort of resembled an X-Wing.

Don’t forget to check out the flickr group Growing Up Star Wars where you can see hundreds of vintage photos, kid drawings and crafts from back in the day. If you have any images from 1977 - 1985 feel free to post them to the group and take part in the fun! All you need to do is join flickr and that's free.

THE MAYOR IS BACK IN TOWN

Hi ya kids! Did you miss me? Sorry for the lack of posts, but I was too busy sorting thru my collection of moist towelletts and watching old reruns of Flipper.

I guess it’s time I get back to doing regular Mayor duties and take care of this kooky little town that I rule, uh. . . take care of. The first order of business was to spruce up the place and that’s just what I did. I added a spiffy new banner and cluttered up the sidebar with a bunch of stuff. Yay for more stuff!!!

The second order of business was to create another blog for the freaky folks that live on Weird Hollow - a spooky street at the edge of town.


To my chagrin I took the time and slapped one together. If you dare to visit - just click on the odd man with the tiny purple hat in the sidebar. I did park the past two Halloween countdowns over there and Weird Hollow will be the new home for future Halloween countdowns.

I hope the folks who live on Pirate Alley won’t expect me to create a special blog for their street. I just can’t do that for every street in Neato Coolville. I just don’t have the time.

Be sure to tune in this Monday as I have some new posts planned for the week and hopefully beyond. Maybe I’ll get organized and keep a better schedule. Yeah, right - and maybe they’ll make a sequel to the movie Tron.

A big thanks to everyone who stops by and visits this little imaginary town. All the imaginary people applaud you and that includes me. I wonder if I’m imaginary?

Some banners that I made up that didn't make the cut. The first one was a bit too much and the billboard on the second one is kind of boring. I like the idea of a billboard, so maybe I'll use it for something else.

TWENTY YEARS ALREADY? ZOINKS! IT’S MY 20TH HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

“Everything is different, but the same. . . things are more moderner than before. . . bigger, and yet smaller. . . it’s computers - SanDimasHighSchoolfootball rules!”

This prophetic dialog is from one of the greatest movies of our time - Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Hard to believe this movie hit theater screens almost twenty years ago and it’s hard for me to believe that I gradutaded, oops, graduated from Camdenton High School little over twenty years ago.


Yep. My twenty-year high school reunion is this weekend. Yep. I’m going. I should say “we’re” going as I married my prom date. It must’ve been her feathered hair and powder blue dress that did it for me. (I wanted to post a pic, but I also want to stay married, so there's no prom photo for this post.)

Anyway, it should be fun to catch up with old friends and old acquaintances, especially since we missed our ten-year reunion. I do wish a few people from the class of ‘89 could be there. Some of our best friends were from that class. We even bequeathed some important parts of our high school selves to some of our best underclassman friends. (Hey Brenda, can I borrow my wipeout laugh back? My nephews would like to hear it!)


I’ve been feeling nostalgic about my school days so I dusted off an old box from twenty years ago. This box has mementos from my high school years.

Inside are newspaper clippings from when our school’s football team won state, (I was a band nerd.)


Graduation cards from family and friends.


Hey, it’s my old lucky rubber chicken key chain from my first car!


An official senior tour of '88 T-shirt inspired by Def Leppard's 1987 compact disc Hysteria and signed by the graduating class. If you look close, you’ll find multiple signatures of a bonafide movie star. Tho he wasn’t known for his acting skills.


Two magazine cutouts that once decorated the inside of my locker.


Locker #12 was adorned with monsters, zombies, hot rods, mini-movie posters and a pic or two of Weird Al. Since anything lewd, crude or almost nude wasn’t allowed I didn’t have any cutouts of Elle MacPherson or Cindy Crawford taped inside my locker. I do remember I got one pass the risque picture police, with Raquel Welch from One Million Years B.C. I guess since it was vintage it passed inspection.


Also found in the box of memories - some California Raisins, my diploma, some letters, a bunch of pencils and a photo of a slightly scared goofy looking kid.


Looking at this photo I can almost hear my thoughts from back then, “Golly, you mean I have to go and grow up now?” Twenty years later I’m still working on that and I’m thankful that I’m still laughing, having fun and acting goofy just like I did back then. Maybe I’ll grow up before the fifty-year reunion.

I leave you with more wisdom from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure - “All we are is dust in the wind, dude. Yes, like sands of the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”

UPDATE -
The reunion was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed seeing people that we haven't seen in years. I do need to apologize if the apocalypse happens in the next few days, because this non-dancer no rhythm type of guy actually ended up on the dance floor. I’m not talking about an easy slow dance, but a get crazy to some funky type of song dance. I can guarantee it was the scariest moment of the night.

After seeing everyone and feeling reflective - I’m glad I went to school with a good bunch of kids even though I might not have thought that back then.

PLAZA THEATER LAMAR, MISSOURI

Lamar’s other move theater is just a few miles from the Barco Drive-In. You can find the Plaza Theater in downtown Lamar and this movie theater is more of a movie palace.


The Plaza is one of the cleanest and nicest theaters in Missouri and they have the best popcorn I’ve ever tasted in a theater. The community of Lamar restored the Plaza in the 1990's and the love and affection shows. The stained glass outside was recreated by a Lamar resident from one surviving window that was found stored in the theater. Scott the man that runs the theater is fun to visit with and has a wealth of knowledge about the theater’s history.






Even though Lamar is about a two hour drive I might be making a few extra trips for a matinee once in awhile.