Flashback Fridays

Flashback Friday: “Ich bin Dein Gummib

~ lobablanca

You know, I had a completely different Flashback Friday planned for today…and then it happened. While sitting in a client meeting today, a tune popped into my head. One of those infective infernal tunes that you can’t stop, can’t turn down, can’t change. It just plays in the background on continuous loop, worse than what you imagine the muzak in Hell’s elevator must be like.

Ask Angel. He would know.

Hmm.

I don’t even know what prompted the sudden uprising of this tune. I hadn’t thought of it for many months. Hell, I haven’t even had any gummy bears recently to remind me of its existence! But there it was, playing in the back of my brain while I sat, trying to pitch ideas to a roomful of clients in as professional manner as possible…while listening to a green gummy bear in yellow skivvies and shaking his gummy tuchus sing this song. Loudly. In my head.

And, yes, he was singing the German version:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/o3v4lGkHacE

Yes, denizens, it was an exciting Friday, indeed, for Loba. I suspect gummy nightmares are in my imminent future…

Flashback Friday: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

~ lobablanca

Seems that there’s a bit of a revival in interest when it comes to our beloved Snow White. With the release of the Julia Roberts-helmed Mirror Mirror back in March of this year, and this weekend’s opening of Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, and Chris Hemsworth, seems what we want to see now is our young fairytale heroine as less helpless princess and more warrior queen. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with this take. Contrary to popular opinion, I do enjoy a bit of revision, if it’s done properly. And not done by J.J. Abrams.

I’ve not seen either of these modern takes on the Snow White story so I can’t say whether they’re successful or not in their reinvention. However, all the talk about this latest movie has left me feeling reminiscent about the very first cinematic Snow White (at least that I can recall). Hers was the name that launched the animated movie empire of Walt Disney himself.

It was 1937 when Disney released his very first feature-length animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And it was gorgeous. Even today, 75 years later, it stands as a testament to the visionary aesthetic that Disney possessed in such ample supply. His animators created a world of timeless beauty, inhabited by characters that, even if oddly diminutive or four-footed, were believable and sympathetic.

Or scary as hell. Yeah, Evil Queen, I’m looking at you.

This movie also holds a special place in my memory as being the very first movie I ever saw in a movie theater. See, once upon a time, Disney used to re-release their classic animated movies for limited theater viewings. This usually corresponded with the impending limited-time release of said classic movie onto VHS tape. Remember the limited-time release? It was such a bizarre concept, but obviously also a concept orchestrated to make maximum money for the Disney Empire. After all, who wouldn’t pay top dollar to get their very own copy of their favorite Disney movie before it was returned once more to the “Disney Vault”?

I was seven years old when Disney chose Snow White as its latest limited release. It was a Thanksgiving release that year; I know this because we went to a theater in Myrtle Beach while visiting my grandparents for Turkey Day festivities. I remember sitting between my parents in the theater, waiting impatiently for the movie to begin. When the lights dimmed and that screen lit up with that larger-than-life technicolor world, I remember being stunned into silence. It was completely new, completely overwhelming, and completely Gremlin-free.

Oh, please, someone get my geeky Gizmo humor.

Seems like lifetimes ago, that unjaded little wolf, wide-eyed in the darkness of a movie theater for the very first time. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen Snow White since that trip…at least not all the way through. We never got the movie on VHS when I was little; by the time my mom bought a copy, I was thoroughly enmeshed in the surly insouciance of teendom. Surly teens don’t watch Snow White.

Surly adults do. Mayhaps I’ll give it a go next time I visit my dad. Until then, here’s an awesome Snow White-inspired video remix done by Pogo. It’s called “Wishery,” and it’s simply amazing:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs1bG6BIYlo&w=640&h=360]

Flashback Friday: Sid and Marty Krofft

~ lobablanca

There’s nothing worse than getting a Krofft Entertainment theme song stuck in your head. Don’t believe me?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmNqaxpk-jw&w=640&h=480]

Yeah. I can’t say that I’ve seen all the shows that popped up in this video, but I’ve seen enough of them to know that Sid and Marty Krofft were two seriously trippy cats. Sadly, though, three of the Krofft shows with which I’m most familiar aren’t even in this clip. First, there was Sigmund & the Sea Monsters:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXZ3pOBX6Jo&w=640&h=480]

And, yes, that would be Margaret “Wicked Witch of the West” Hamilton listed in the credits, thank you very much. Then there were The Bugaloos:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha_g7PeHe90&w=640&h=480]

I don’t know why, but it was practically impossible to find this theme song on YouTube. Of all the things over which to be proprietary…but check Martha Raye! Although I know that she had quite an impressive career outside of this, I am a child of the 70s and 80s. Therefore, Martha Raye means two things to me: Benita Bizarre…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veepUdDk9F0&w=640&h=480]

…and Polident’s “Freshmouth”:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGPnXEGkFL8&w=640&h=480]

Ah! Lily Munster, too!

Finally, from the Krofft family of theme songs that I sometimes cannot shake from my brain? H.R. Pufnstuf:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5e9yCB-hiw&w=640&h=480]

Oh, but wait! As a bonus, try shaking this theme from your brain. It’s from The Banana Splits, which was a Hanna-Barbera show, with costume and sets designed by Krofft Entertainment:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjS1nrsJhTQ&w=640&h=480]

Good grief. No wonder my generation is so screwy.

Photo Fun Friday: Twister

~ lobablanca

Someone really should take away my PhotoShop access when I’m in moods like this…

So, today saw the release of a movie based on the board game Battleship. You know, as in “You sank my battleship!” The game was all about strategy and intellect and cunning. The movie is apparently all about aliens and splosions.

Viva la…whatever. I never really was a Battleship fan. Connect Four was more my kind of game. But today’s movie release got me thinking: What will the next board game-based piffle will they think up next? Someone already beat me to the movie/board game crossover that I was initially going to do. Really, though, this one is simply perfect, and perfectly hilarious.

So I went with another of those perennial sleepover favorites, Twister! I actually used to love to play Twister. That sexy PVC smell will still take me right back, either to opening up the Twister box or the black vampire cape from my favorite Halloween costume. I’m by no means bendy like a pretzel, but I could keep up with the demands of that little cardboard and plastic spinner, regardless of the bizarre combinations it would come up with.

But what would a movie based on the game be like? Honestly, I’ve no clue, denizens. Then again, I couldn’t really imagine what a movie based on Battleship would be about either. Those Hollywood folk are just way sharper than I’ll ever be.

I could, however, envision what the poster would look like. It would have to be a horror movie, of course. With a name like Twister, it would only be a horror movie or a stupid action movie based on a meteorological event, complete with CGI cows being blown around. Who’d want to watch that?

Hmm.

Anyway, it was…interesting try to come up with the components for this latest PhotoShop trickery. First thing I learned? Do not type in “dead body” into Google Image Search. Just don’t. Best bet for a dead body-type image? Look for people who have passed out. Preferably from alcohol consumption. Second thing? It’s really hard to find a photo of a Twister mat without people standing on it! Stupid narcissists!

If any of you is particularly inspired by this image and has a brilliant idea for a story line, by all means, go for it! If it’s clever enough, I’ll let you use my poster idea. If it’s not clever, please don’t blame me. I just come up with the warped imagery…I can’t be held accountable for what you all do with it once it’s out there…

Photo Fun Friday: Community Coffee House

~ LobaBlanca

Other than being re-sized for posting, this photo is completely unaltered in any way:

A rarity, indeed, denizens. Typically, I always do something to my photos before posting them, whether it be something simple like cropping it in a certain way or tweaking the color levels, or something…a bit more dramatic.

I can’t help myself. I am a PhotoShop devotee, to the very depth of my CMYK/RGB soul.

That being said, the moment I saw this photo, I loved it just as it was, without one plea. We’d gone out walking early on Sunday morning, our last full day in New Orleans (in case you were wondering, that’s part of the reason I barely made it to the lair in April…prep work followed by onsite support for a conference in the Big Easy, after which I played tourist for a few days).

It was already in the mid-70s and the sun was just reaching the point where it could cast its light down into the magnificent maze of the French Quarter. We were already heading to a place for breakfast, but I couldn’t resist stopping and filling my lungs with the scent of coffee wafting from this corner Community Coffee House.

As I stood, watching the light cast shadows of street lamps and signage against the wall, I was struck by how so many of the aspects of New Orleans that I love were right there in front of me: the cast-iron quaintness of the lamp posts; the bilingual street signs, each pointing us deeper into the tangle of delights that the Quarter willingly offers up to everyone who wanders through; the local brew house, churning out yet another delicious aroma to cancel out Bourbon Street’s unseemlier smells; the strong glow of sunlight, pouring down on it all, bright and bounteous.

The entire tableau made me so happy that I couldn’t resist snapping a shot before moving along to our breakfast destination. I didn’t even review the shot after taking it…simply slung the camera back over my shoulder and ambled on down the Rue Royale, thoughts of coffee and fried green tomatoes and biscuits and gravy taking precedence once more.

Imagine my surprise when I finally saw the shot.

True, the longer I look at it, the more ideas flood my mind regarding what I could do with it in PhotoShop…age it, fade it, bolster the color, crack it, rip it…the temptation is engulfing. However, for this post, I give it to you in its simplest, truest form.

Flashback Friday: Capsela

~ lobablanca

I’m sure you can tell that things are a bit crazy at the moment for the White Wolf. It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness takes its toll.

But listen closely…because it’s Flashback Friday time!

(What? Did you really think I was about to Time Warp for you? Loba don’t dance…I don’t rock and roll either.)

So you know that whole “nature versus nurture” argument about…well, about everything pertaining to what makes us who we are? Well, in regard to geekery, I think it’s a fair argument to say that my dad played a very nurturing role in turning me into the geek who blogs before you today. Among his many nerderific influences was this delightful…well, I’m not really sure what to call it. It wasn’t a game. I don’t even think it’s fair to call it a toy. I suppose it was an educational toy.

It was Capsela. Like Lego on steroids.

The kit came with these strange spherical pieces that were designed to interconnect. Some were hollow, some contained gears, some contained little motors that you could power through battery packs. You also had wheels, belts, propellers, flotation balls, even a little light. I spent hours piecing together all the various components, creating fantastical ships, vehicles that spun in never-ending circles, lighthouses, or even a fan for my desk in the hot summer months.

Capsela gave me an enhanced level of confidence when it came to understanding the mechanics of things…a confidence that I still rely on whenever I’m faced with trying to figure out how to fix something. I think it’s a shame that they no longer make Capsela, because I think that having a stronger mechanical aptitude is important for anyone, but especially for girls. It’s bogus that this commercial that I found on YouTube is so blatantly geared toward boys.

Of course, if they had decided to market Capsela for girls, it would have come in hot pink plastic and had instructions for how to build a makeup case for Barbie. Maybe it’s better that they stuck with the boys in the marketing campaign. Nothing is more indecent than hot pink anything…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXfla5LU8gc&w=640&h=480]

Flashback Friday: Magical Musical Thing

~ LobaBlanca

Stand back, denizens! It’s another one of those toys from the 80s loved by wacky suburban White kids!

Actually, the Magical Musical Thing hit the market in the late 1970s. It was, quite possibly, one of the silliest things I can remember from my childhood…and that’s saying a lot since I did have Strolling Bowling (and willingly admit to still having it stored in my closet).

The Magical Musical Thing was a long plastic stick, Smurf blue and trimmed in white (at least mine was). Along the spine were rows of pressure-sensitive pads, little color-coded rounded rectangles whose coloring always reminded me of billiard balls. Maybe this was the root of my future fascination with that game…who’s to say, really.

I remember going through the little music book that was included with the Magical Musical Thing, tapping out stilted renditions of classics such as “Oh, Susanna!” or “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” for a little while before growing bored and rubbing the Magical Musical Thing against the top of my head to make it make a noise not dissimilar to someone trying to cram a synthesizer up an android’s bum.

I had mad skillz when it came to the Magical Musical Thing, denizens.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywz7vN0GF_Y&w=640&h=480]

Flashback Friday: Roger Hargreaves

~ lobablanca

Goodness gracious! She still does Flashback Fridays?! We were beginning to wonder…

Yes, dear denizens, Loba has been a tad bit derailed as of late. Troubled, tumultuous waters surround us here at the lair. But rest easy; we’re safe inside. We’ve got rum and coffee and action figures and books and comics and DVDs of wonderful shows and movies for the geeky at heart.

And tonight we’ve got Roger Hargreaves.

I chose the author rather than his books because I realized that my little wolf library included quite a few offerings from his Mr. Men and Little Miss series. Oh, I loved these books. I wish I’d had more of them. I wish I still had the ones I owned. They were delightful little tales, full of whimsy while still getting across a poignant message in a childlike (though not patronizingly childish) way. Going through the list on the Mr. Men Web site, I’m actually surprised by how many of these books I owned. I was going to list out some of my favorites, but each page of the list I peruse brings back a new wave of happy as I remember how much I loved these stories. I can’t pick one or two. I can’t even narrow it down to two per page. They were all so delightful.

Last August 10 marked the 40th anniversary of Hargreaves’ Mr. Men and Little Misses. It looks like a couple of anthologies were released, but nothing in a price range that I can justify purchasing for someone almost as old as the series itself. Still, whenever I see these books in a store (which is admittedly not often; I don’t think they retained their popularity very long here in the States), I’m overcome by this pervasive sense of glee. And, no, no one is singing and Jane Lynch is never anywhere nearby when this happens.

Ba-dum-tsh.

A while ago, I discovered that there are a few Web site selling Mr. Men and Little Miss characters on T-shirts, including this rather extensive Zazzle collection. I’ve never purchased one as I have the same problem with the shirts as I do with the books: I simply can’t narrow down my choices. However, if you’re ever so inclined to buy one for me, I’ll let you decide which one best suits my personality.

And I’ve really set myself up on that one, haven’t I?

Flashback Friday: “I Hate Myself for Loving You”

~ lobablanca

I waxed poetic about Joan Jett before when I wrote my Poster Pick review of The Runaways. As I mentioned there, I knew the Blackhearts version of Jett well before I knew she was a Runaway. In fact, it was during her Blackhearts fame that I first fell in love with her. Seriously, though, how can you not love that voice? Or that hair? Or all that leather?

Discovering Jett was a turning point in my adolescence for many reasons, least of which was my realization that I craved music that was heavy on guitar. And hairspray. Jett and her Blackhearts were in many ways the gateway band that led me ever deeper into the tangles of Hair Metal Nirvana…an ironic statement if you consider that Nirvana was what would inevitably ring the death knell of Hair Metal’s Reign.

Ha.

There’s another reason why I’m posting Jett here as this week’s Flashback Friday entry. But I guess you’re just going to have to wait for that reason. Don’t worry though, denizens. I’ll take your heart, but I promise I won’t take your pride away…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPkTGm4RtVM&w=640&h=360]