Reading this story about "Thong Man" reminds me of lifeguarding in college. I only saw him once, but others saw him more. And by more, I think you know what I mean. His "swimming" involved the sidestroke. Keep in mind he was ambidextrous, and liked to face us when swimming. Most of the time he wore a white thong (and we all know what happens to white suits in water), but one day he must have forgot it, just as this "Thongman" must have. Ahhh...the memories
Recently in Nostalgia Category
Heather's pictures reminded me of family vacations to Great America and Walt Disney World. My brothers and I would be dressed all the same, thus making it easier for my parents to discern us from the other knee-high children running from Goofey to Mickey to Minnie with reckless abandon. Somehow, though, I always seemed to get myself lost, following a pair of legs I swore that looked like my mom’s.
Halloween at our house was always too much fun. We had "ghost" stuffed full of crumpled newspaper that slid down a rope to scare the kids. In later years, it dropped directly in front of you from above. (much scarier). One year, my dad dressed in a mechanics jumpsuit, donned a mask and hid in the bushes with the electric hedge clippers.
In this century, it seems like it's all about technology and the ludwig house is the place to go to learn more.
Part of my preparation for the wedding is looking backward to look forward. The decorations will be made from old pictures, which, when reviewing, automatically leads to funny stories or fond feelings about the picture. Last weekend, as part of the reminiscence, we decided to pull out some old videos of the family. The most popular is my Dad's infamous quote "Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-Peddle-" to my sister as he ran along holding her bike upright, stopping only when she fell off. No matter when it's said, it always garners a laugh.
Part of the trip down memory lane was unexpected. The videos made me realize that all my memories of my brother have unfortunately decayed to still-life representations from pictures. I remember some of his quotes, but the vocalization of him saying it gets lost quickly. The videos brought back the tone in his voice, which carried his care-free attitude and the lingo of the decade. It was also beneficial to sit in a third person position, to see him make the down and out move, and to see myself react and toss a wounded duck ten feet short of the end of his route. (I didn't have a good arm in 1986.) It's hard not to extrapolate what life would be like now with him around. The ever unanswerable 'what if' comes up way too often.
However, the old videos have recreated the need for new, modern video recording, and I hope we'll be able to capture the new events, and update the original, precious memories digitally to save for another walk into the past.
Almost every year growing up, my family spent spring break at Cocoa Beach Florida, in the Wakulla Motel. Most years, the main attraction were the sun, sand and waves and which t-shirt design to choose from Ron Jon Surf Shop. But one year, there was a 'space shuttle' that was going to launch in the wee hours of the morning. That meant little ole me had to wake up at 2am for us to get the the launch site and nearby Johnson Space Center. After a few hours of travel, we were stuck in queue for a toll booth, when someone walked by saying that we weren't going to go anywhere. Dad made the u-turn across the median with the station wagon and we headed back to a clearing on the water that had a great view of the launch site. We waited and wondered what was going to happen, and then suddenly out from a gigantic ball of smoke, a shuttle atop a flaming candle rose steadily to the stratosphere. From what I remember that was the first launch of the Columbia, but I could be wrong. I can still remember my Dad saying to me that I might one day get to fly into space. With the rise of space tourism, I feel that one day I may get a chance. (I just need $20 million.) Anyway through technology, I can still enjoy the launches from my home computer. (But I would rather be on the beaches at Cocoa Beach.)
The Screen Savers tonight asked the question if arcades are dead. I could remember them in all the malls. Just recently, the last true arcade in town was replaced by Petite Sophisticate. Way back when, every visit to my grandmother's we would always go shopping. To spare us (and them) from our whining, she gave each of us a dollar to spend at the mall arcade. I sucked and my dollar was quickly spent.
Tilt! was the name of the arcade at the local mall that we frequented. It was right next to the movie theater, and captured a few of my quarters (and Nana's)every now and again. Unique about Tilt! was that every game they had was for sale. I remember Tempest was $250, and Centipede was a little bit more. But Star Castle was only $30. After much begging and pleading, the parents said yes, and my brothers and me pitched in $5 each, my dad filled in the remaining $15, and the game was soon in our basement.
As with every distraction from school, there would be strict discipline placed on the time spent playing the game. My Dad locked the game and tried to hide the key. That was found within a day. While in possession of the key, Mike came up with a brilliant idea. In order to provide your credit, there was a lever on the inside of the machine that was activated when your quarter passed through. The genius was the string he tied to that lever, and hid in the change return. Simply push the change return gate in, pull on the string a few times, and just like that, you had your evening (days) entertainment.
Not that Star Castle was challenging. You had your ship, and there was a mother ship surrounded by three force fields. Once you penetrated those force fields, you could blow the mother ship up, but he could fire these mammoth fire balls back at you. Like all other video games, I sucked. But it sure was fun.
Nick-at-Night started a week long marathon of The Cosby Show tonight. I can remember way back when it was new, my entire family would stop everything and watch the show. I mean everything, the phone wasn't answered, dishes stopped getting washed, and the table clearing was halted. It's very nice to see the old shows. I can remember each and every episode like it was yesterday. Ohhh, the memories.
Until we were teenagers, my grandmother would make us Advent Calendars with little presents for each day. Since then, my mom has continued the tradition with more simple calendars. Last year, it was a Legos set; really cool. This year, it's a card with friendly directives. Here's today's: "Fill the day with happy thoughts." There you go. Good luck with your day.