I took my family on vacation this past week, and on the drive out of town the first morning, my mind started wandering while I was driving. The sun was up in the blue sky on a warm summer day, and I was headed down the highway. So my mind wandered back to many of the trips I took as a kid with my dad.
I’ve probably explained before but my dad traveled a lot when I was young, and in the summer, I would go on trips with him if he was only going to be gone for a couple of days. There was nothing quite like climbing into the front seat of his truck and pulling out on a sunny summer morning and hitting the road for the day.
It was the trips where we headed north that I really enjoyed, and that’s because we’d always stop at McDonald’s for breakfast. Now back in the mid to late 80s, the closest McDonald’s was 40 miles up the highway. While we had a McDonald’s just 12 miles south of us, we never stopped at it when we’d go south. But when going north we’d always stop. Can you imagine in today’s world not having a McDonald’s closer than 40 miles away?
The ad above represents the breakfast I remember from those days. Back then, they didn’t have biscuits on the menu yet, only the English muffins. I remember getting the Big Breakfast and enjoying the toasted English muffin with grape jelly. And I remember sitting there with my dad talking about the things we’d see along the route of the trip and feeling a lot bigger than I was. After breakfast was over I’d grab an extra coffee stirrer to play with in the truck, and we’d climb back in, push the Willie Nelson tape into the 8-track player, and hit the road again, with smiles on our faces.
Breakfast at McDonald’s always feels special to me. Even if I’m just hitting the drive-thru on my way to work in the mornings, there’s still a little magic in it thanks to those special stops years ago. And those are the memories that came back to me as we were rolling down the highway on vacation last week.
I’ll give you one guess as to where we stopped for breakfast.
When Backdraft originally debuted back in 1991, I desperately wanted to see it. As I’ve explained before though, my parents weren’t the movie theater type. And as I was only 13 at the time of its release, I wasn’t going to be going by myself. The closest I got to it was having to hear my brother talk about how great it was after he and his friends saw it. But a year later, it was on HBO and other channels like it all the time so I got to see it finally thanks to the cable descrambler we had. My brother and I probably watched in a dozen time that summer it debuted on PPV and HBO.
It’s about a group of Chicago firefighters on the trail of a serial arsonist who is targeting various victims who are contractors who are connected to each other and a high-ranking city official.
Stephen McCaffrey (Russell) is the Lueinent of Engine Company 17, and his younger brother Brian (Baldwin) is a probationary fireman assigned to the company after graduation from the academy. The two brothers are the sons of a legendary Chicago firefighter who lost his life battling a blaze while young Brian watched on. As the movie reveals, the two brothers have never been close, and are at odds with each other more than on the same page.
After several firehouses are shut down due to budget cuts, the arsonist starts taking out the decision-makers behind those cuts by setting deadly “backdraft’ fires to murder them. Company 17 finds itself as the company that ends up fighting those fires, while Inspector Donald Rimdale (DeNiro) is the one tasked with finding the arsonist behind the attacks. It all climaxes at a large fire at a chemical plant where the killer is revealed and the McCaffrey brothers must stop him once and for all. All while battling the huge blaze.
Growing up in the ’80s with a Dad who was the local fire department chief, I was always fascinated by firemen and firefighting in general. Now while I was never a fireman myself, I do know more about it than most others who were not. And what you see in Backdraft is pretty close to how things are. The camaraderie displayed between the firemen in the film feels real and on point. And the firefighting sequences are top-notch. The arson investigation is pretty straightforward, but you can’t really guess who is behind it until near the end of the film when everything comes together. The writers did a pretty good job though of trying to lead you to one conclusion of who the killer is before revealing the true villain.
Backdraft was a blockbuster in the truest sense of the word, and everything about the movie was well executed. The story arc of Kurt Russell’s Stephen McCaffrey may be the best thing about the film. From being the overprotective brother to being the ultimate badass fireman, right through to the final confrontation and climax, Stephen “Bull” McCaffrey was a story well told. Kurt Russell was more than the commander of Engine Company 17…he also carried a commanding presence in his performance.
Backdraft was a blockbuster in its time for a reason and is still a yearly summer re-watch for me even now. It was a “big” movie with a big cast who were hitting on all cylinders at the time, and it lived up to the hype with its special effects and storytelling. There’s not much more that you could ask from a movie like this.
Garfield in Paradise is a half-hour animated special that debuted in 1986. It was the fifth animated Garfield special and ran as a special presentation in primetime in the summers for a few years. I would scour the latest TV Guide every week in the summer looking for an air date until it would finally show up. It was appointment television for me every year. Why I never made a VHS recording of it I have no idea.
Now for me, no other Garfield special tops the Christmas one, but Garfield in Paradise was a close second for a very long time. It may still hold that spot. I’d have to sit and think on it for a bit to confirm that though. But since we are now in the heart of summer, I thought it would be a great time to watch it again. Here it is in all its glory for you to enjoy. But if you’d rather watch it on some large screen, I believe it’s available on Pluto TV.
Last month MeTV announced they were launching MeTV Toons, a new 24/7 cartoon network full of classic cartoons. MeTV Toons has now announced its full schedule for when it launches on June 25, 2024, as the only TV network destination dedicated exclusively to classic animation.
The best part is unlike many classic TV channels that run long blocks of the same show over and over, MeTV Toons will launch with a diverse lineup of programs.
During weekday primetime it will offer classics like “The Flintstones,” “Bugs Bunny & Friends,” and “Cartoon All-Stars” with “Mr. Magoo” and “Tom and Jerry.” And during the day you will find programs like “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons,” and “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” You can view the full schedule below.
Hey ramblers, I wanted to take a minute to let you all know about an exciting new project I’m working on. It’s a new newsletter/magazine called This Nostalgic Life that I’ve started alongside my good friend Eric Vardeman. A lot of you longtime visitors will remember Eric from his time posting content here at Retro Ramblings.
This Nostalgic Life is a weekly multi-media publication where we’re going back in time to tell the stories of our lives. Through personal stories and memories, we hope to entertain you and stir fond memories of your own.
Each issue of This Nostalgic Life will be overflowing with retro and nostalgic goodness and will contain special features such as Eric and/or I sharing tales from our youth. There will also be rotating sections such as Nostalgia Nuggets…short stories that aren’t quite feature length, Do You Remember articles looking back at the best of all things pop culture, short series, and more. And if you enjoy my Weekend Reading posts where I share a list of curated links every week, you’ll certainly want to check it out as that will now be the exclusive home of those Recommended Reading links every week. There are also plans to release a new podcast series, as well as audio versions of the features we present every week so you can listen to them on the go instead of reading them!
If you’re a subscriber here (and a lot of you are) or just a regular visitor and you like the things I post, then this newsletter is for you. There will be less “articles” about things, as the focus is more on the storytelling of events of our lives. There will still be plenty of things discussed like toys, junk food, comic books, video games, music, and movies…but with a lot more personal memories attached.
Eric and I both have a lot of stories to tell, and we feel that this is the medium best suited for doing so. The best part of all is that it is completely free for you the reader. And the second best part is that you can have it delivered directly to your inbox every time a new issue drops! All you have to do is click on the subscribe button below to be taken to the sign-up page.
Even if you somehow miss an issue in your inbox, you can go to the site and read them at your leisure. As a matter of fact, you should go check out the first two issues. For a sampling of what we’re doing, check out what’s appeared in the first two issues:
How I Almost Died at a Holiday Inn Holidome – by Mickey
Do You Remember? Stuckey’s
An acknowledgement of The Retro Network’s 5th Anniversary
Recommended Reading with a lot of summer nostalgia links
So if all of this sounds good to you…personal stories, special features, recommended reading, podcasts, audio posts, being free, and being delivered straight to your inbox, then please consider subscribing. We promise to try and make it worth your ten minutes to consume every week.
Every weekend, I like to share a curated list of retro, geek, & nostalgia-themed articles, stories, and posts that I’ve come across in the last week. It gives you a chance to escape the daily grind, and just sit back and pass the time reading about what I call the good old days. So with that in mind, here are some things I wanted to share with you.
I didn’t grow up a Star Wars fan. While I knew of the series’ existence, was familiar with how popular all of the movies were, and had even seen a little bit of Return of the Jedi at a birthday party in the mid-80s, I had just never searched out the movies out to watch them. I even played with my brother’s hand-me-down toys. I enjoyed playing with the action figures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Storm Trooper, Tuken Raider and more, along with the Ewok’s treehouse and the Millenium Falcon. But I still didn’t fell the need to try and watch the movies.
Then sometime around late 1992 or early 1993, USA was showing Star Wars on a Friday night, and I decided to make it my entertainment for that night. I really enjoyed it, but they didn’t show the other two. But in the late spring or early summer of 1993, they showed all three movies on consecutive nights from Tuesday through Thursday, and I made it a point to watch all three. Over the course of those three nights, I became a fan. I even watched all three again the following Sunday when USA ran them back-to-back-to-back throughout the afternoon and evening.
Later on, I picked up a few of the Dark Horse comic book series to be able to experience more of the universe, but that was as far as I went with my fandom. But in early 1999, I became aware that a new prequel series would be dropping, and I was excited. Not like true blue Star Wars fanboys, but I was excited nonetheless.
My local theater was relatively new having only opened two years earlier, so the technology there was still top-notch. As a matter of fact, they were one of the first theaters in the world to install the Lucas-designed surround sound system ahead of The Phantom Menace being released. Add in the fact that they would be offering the first showing of the new release at 12:01 AM that fateful Friday, and the fact that they would be playing it in multiple theaters around the clock earned it the designation of the number one place in the world to see the new Star Wars movie.
While I didn’t go to the 12:01 AM showing, I did reserve tickets for the 7:00 PM showing on opening night and bought ten tickets so that any of my friends interested in going would have seats. I found no shortage of people who wanted to go that night. The crowd roared its approval as the familiar Star Wars “crawl” rolled up the screen and we all settled in to enjoy the unique experience together.
Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace features Obi-Wan Kenobi as a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn; Anakin Skywalker, who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a 9-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter. Along the way they meet the underwater race of the Gungans, discover a new Sith apprentice is after them, and have to help free the Naboo from the Trade Federation and battle the Sith apprentice known as Darth Maul.
Now in the years since the film was released, the prequel has caught a lot of crap. But for someone like me who was never a serious fanboy, I had no issues with the prequels in general, or The Phantom Menace in particular. I thought it was an amazingly fun film and a great experience in the theater.
Having watched the movie another dozen times since that initial viewing, I still feel the same way. What Lucas and team was able to put on screen was beautiful and captivating. While I never cared much for the character of Jar Jar Binks, I’m not overly annoyed with him like most of the fanbase. I really don’t care either way.
The cinematography is top-notch in The Phantom Menace, with every shot being epic and beautiful. The story filled in some gaps and questions from the original trilogy, and you couldn’t really ask for much more action than the film provided.
The initial battle scene between the Jedi and the Trade Federation droids, the underwater chase scene, the pod race, the big battle on Naboo between the Gungans and the Droids, the fighter battle in space, and the fantastic final showdown between the Jedi and Darth Maul were all packed with excitement.
So while a lot of serious Star Wars fans pick nits with the film, as a casual fan, I think it’s great, and recommend it to anyone who has never seen it, and urge those who have to give it another look and appreciate what was accomplished by the filmmakers.
Dazed and Confused hit the silver screen in 1993, but somehow I didn’t notice at the time. It took another couple of years for me to become aware of its existence. I was sitting in English class one day and one of my friends was quoting it. I had no idea what he was talking about, so he clued me in and stressed that I needed to see this movie. It still took me a couple of years to get around to it, but when I finally did, I was an instant fan.
Dazed and Confused tells the story of the last night of school for a group of high schoolers and junior high schoolers. A party is planned, a party is busted, and another party is planned to replace the first one. In between all of this, the many characters of the film weave in and out of each other’s storylines and spend their night cruising around, hanging out at the local game room, drinking, getting high, and thinking about the next phases of their lives. It’s hard to imagine how you could pack so many characters and storylines into a movie about a single night, but Dazed and Confused pulls it off perfectly without it seeming like too much is going on.
The movie is a good interpretation of a night in the life of a teenager in the late ’70s. In those days before the internet when people had “nothing to do”, so they spent their time hanging out with and talking with each other. What a novel concept. The fashion, the cars, and especially the soundtrack combine for an amazing cinematic experience. And the actors all pull off their characters well, and some shine as bright as the sun in theirs. Personally, Matthew McConaughey’s “Wooderson” is not only my favorite character in this movie but is one of my favorite movie characters of all time.
I was a teenager in the ’90s just before the big boom of the internet, and some of my fondest memories of those times is doing exactly what the kids in this film did to kill time. Cruising around town, hanging out with friends, and talking about everything that mattered to us, even if those things didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. This movie brings those times back to mind every time I watch it, and I connect with it on a nostalgic level.
But you don’t have to have that kind of connection to Dazed and Confused to enjoy it. It’s a great coming-of-age comedy with a fantastic soundtrack that just breezes by while you watch it.
4.0 stars for the movie thanks to the whole vibe it puts off, and the nostalgia connected to it.
Anytime I’m down or feeling blue, nothing picks me up quite like watching the wrestlers of the WWF from the 1985-ish era singing “Land of 1000 Dances”. Not just for the silliness of the song, but also for the exagerrated actions of the wrestlers in the video.
If you’re having a bad day, this should lift you a little. If you’re already having a good day, this will make it a little better. And yes, that’s Meatloaf playing the drums. Your day is already a little better because of that last sentence.
Those little Keebler elves have made a lot of tasty treats in their day. Unfortunately, a lot of them left the shelves far too quickly. O’Boisies, for me, is the primary example of this. They hit the market in the mid-late ’80s and were gone by the early ’90s.
Keebler always tried to claim that O’Boisie’s weren’t a “chip”. I’m not sure what they thought they were, but they were the finest example of a potato chip that I can think of. The flavor in these things packed quite a punch. It seemed like they had a higher salt content than other chips, and their main feature was little pockets of air baked into them. This made them one of the crunchier chips I can recall….and when it comes to potato chips, I want them crunchy!
You could get O’Boisies in Original, Sour Cream & Onion, and BBQ flavors. I’ve never been a fan of BBQ chips, but I was all in on the other two flavors. You could always find these chips in our pantry for an after-school snack, or a Saturday afternoon pick-me-up while playing Nintendo. But my favorite memory of them is that my Mother and I would sit at night snacking on them while watching Nick at Nite when my Dad was out of town and my brother was at work. And in recent years, she and I would mention them to one another and reflect back on those good times.
A random memory flashed through my head earlier today, and I had to make sure I cleared time in my schedule this evening to share it with you. That memory was of Hit Stix.
Now while I don’t remember very much about this toy, I DO remember being super pumped when I saw the commercials. The producers did a very good job at making these things sound incredible. Supposedly, you could walk around playing “air drums” but actually produce drum sounds. Pretty cool concept.
They were a combo of fluorescent orange and yellow, a pretty extreme and eye-catching color combination back in the early ’90s. Each stick had a thin cord running from it to a sound box that you wore on a belt. All you had to do was make a striking motion in the air like you would while playing actual drums, and the sticks registered this “hit” and sent a signal to the soundbox that emitted a sound as if you had just rapped a snare drum.
I wanted these things so much. I would lay around and daydream about being the coolest kid in school if I had those things. Walking through the halls, playing a radical solo, with lots of girls following me and talking about how cool I was. I even joined the school band and chose to play percussion, just in the hope that the band director would let me play Hit Stix instead of an actual snare drum. Sigh. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess.
With Wrestlemania 40 about to kick off this weekend, I’ve been thinking back on some of my favorite memories of the yearly event that launched way back in 1985. And my earliest memory of Wrestlemania is watching the Wrestlemania 2 VHS tape with my cousin Tim.
I wasn’t into wrestling yet when the first Wrestlemania took place in 1985. And I was just starting to get into the WWF when Wrestlemania 2 rolled around a year later. I became aware of their existence during the buildup to the event. But when the VHS hit our local video store, Tim and I couldn’t wait to watch it and we weren’t disappointed.
The cage match main event between WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy was a big draw for us, as was the 20-Man Over the Top Battle Royal that featured stars of the NFL mixing it up with WWF grapplers. A third match was of particular interest to me as one of my favorites of the time, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat would be in action.
Tim and I watched that tape twice when we rented it and loved every second of it. Even today I go back and watch the whole event about once every two years. Wrestlemania 2 usually isn’t high on fans lists of best Wrestlemanias, but the nostalgia I have for the event has kept it solidly in my top ten.
But that $39.95 price tag in 1986 though, holy cow, how did people afford these things back then?!?
