The object of the Trix Rabbit's desire

The Trix Rabbit, on the other hand, desperately wants the cereal confection, but it denied at every turn. I'm torn with this. Seeing the way Sonny is enabled by his support group to get the object of his desire, his downfall. Sonny is denied, perhaps because the kids have seen how he gets when hopped up on the Trix. Maybe he can handle it. Maybe he just wants it and the kids are greedy and selfish. I wonder if local supermarkets have a picture of the Trix Rabbit behind the counter with "don't sell to this rabbit" scrawled on it. He can obviously afford disguises and in the above case, an amplifier and guitar. You'd think he could buy his own.

I guess they're just for kids, ask your vet if Trix is right for your rabbit.

Insanity runs rampant in the land of the cereal icons

Everyone knows Sonny is coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs. Alas, this condition has persisted for decades without intervention. Does he have no loved ones, no dear friends who are sensitive to his plight? On the contrary, those he keeps company with taunt him endlessly with large bowls of his sweet, chocolaty Achilles heel. They've never had to deal with him the next day. They've never had to be the ones holding his feathers back from his beak as he vomits cocoa almost endlessly. They've never had to deal with the constant shaking, the tearful promises of 'never again'.




Even in the old days, when his addiction was just beginning to grow, his support group could best be described as enablers. See how they taunt him, knowing full well his weakness for that chocolatey treat. It makes me sad.

Dreamy...

In 1983, I was smack-dab in the middle of my Duran Duran worship phase, and was also quite into taping the videos on late-night shows such as Night Tracks and Friday Night Videos. As luck would have it, one night, while recording Night Tracks, a very rare D2 video, Save a Prayer, aired. To say that I was in heaven would be a complete understatement -- the adolescent girl hormones were raging. I was well aware of the song, having played the album Rio ad nauseum, but the song had not yet been released as a single -- when it was, the video released was a concert video that had shots of the original Russell Mulcahy-directed video on the big screen. Not nearly as cool. I had never seen it the video, and I wouldn't again, without renting Duran Duran's VCH collection, anyway...

Then my world was shattered when my brother, Dave, taped over the beloved and rare Save a Prayer Video. He thought the newly saved program was more worthy of the spot on the tape, and it was really good: An episode of Late Night with David Letterman where the entire show was dedicated to the show's audio assistant -- regular guy Bob Rooney. Given three wishes, Rooney asked for a beer, a submarine sandwich -- and another beer. We had seen it before and were greatly amused, so when it re-aired, taping was in order. Had I been there at the time, I would have agreed with taping it, but not over Save a Prayer. No way.

I got him back by taping something over Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds -- a movie he was quite excited to have caught on video. I'm not sure what I taped over it, but I'm sure it wasn't nearly as good as either Bob Rooney night or The Birds.

25 years later (excuse me while go take my Geritol and fetch my walker), I can see Save a Prayer all I want on YouTube. No such luck with Bob Rooney night -- but we do still have the video tape around here -- maybe some of Bob Rooney night will find it's spot on YouTube one of these days.


Ah, those were the days...


And as an added bonus, here's the opening for Night Tracks.

Radio Shacktastic Christmas!

It's so dreamy, and ten whole numbers? Call your girlfriends!

I Want a Pop!

In case you'd forgotten just how cheesy the '80s were, here's a reminder.

I didn't have very specific memories about this commercial -- I had even forgotten about the "singer's" toothy grin, but every so often, I'd get the tune going through my head. This time, I thought to check out YouTube, and of course, there it was.

Finnish Fun!

This little piece of cheese has been circulating around the web for a while, but I just recently came upon it via a YouTube search for Joy Division videos.

Billed as "The Worst Video Ever", this is actually a segment from a variety show that aired in Finland circa 1978. Danny and Armi are the performers, and Danny's still in the biz and has a website, where you can find out all about the Danny and Armi years (and I'm sure you'll want to).

So, why did I find this while searching for Joy Division?


Someone thought it would be funny to edit this video and put the JD song No Love Lost under it -- and it is funny! This is definitely the preferred version. There are several other versions, including one with Crazy Train.

Aaah, summertime

When I could stay home and watch television without the interruption of social interaction or education. Suffice it to say this commercial was so full of gratuitous sexual innuendo that it soundly carbonated my young, tormented libido.




This next one appealed to my nerdish side. I played a bunch of Atari, and was always interested in more games. Most of all M-Network employed a dreadfully catchy jingle. Still get it going through my head on summer days like this.



I never owned any M-Network games. They seemed pretty lame. Hell, most Atari games are woefully inadequate by today's standard. You can freakin' save a game now days!!! I can't tell you the number of games I forfeited due to bladder issues. High Scores were a matter of hearsay. Sure I turned over Asteroids, but does any one believe me? Where's the proof?

Brokeback Potter

In honor of Harry Potter Month, let's drag out this fairly amusing clip and put on some Cher records.

BTW -- If you haven't read the book yet, don't go to the comments (or to any comments regarding Harry Potter videos) people are posting spoilers -- maybe fake ones, but still...

Armourcote II

Nearly every line from the copy on this ad is etched in my brain forevermore. The "Now how much would you pay" thing is still something I say (all too often, I fear). I can't say if Armourcote II was any good, but this commercial and its like ran all the time on WGN at all hours... and I'd watch at all hours unless there was a Cubs game. I watched Dick VanDyke, Leave it to Beaver, the Munsters, Twilight Zone, you name it. I could wile away the summer in front of the boob tube, only occasionally turned out into the harsh cruel outdoors by my sadistic parents. I think they liked having me around, especially when my sisters discovered friends and other useless frivolities.

Matt the White

I was looking for those obnoxious "Feelin' 7-Up" commercials, but couldn't immediately find one. I did, however find this:



Which led me to this:


Obviously Matt did a bit of commercial work before he became that lovable Joey on TV's Friends. At this point, I'm thinkin' the '80s were rife with Matt LeBlanc softdrink ads.

Ketchup isn't a soft drink, but it Matt LeBlanc had his way, the sidewalks of New York would be stained with rotting dollops of thick, delicious Ketchup.

Now that is complete hooey. Not only did the ketchup bottle drip a smaller dollop than hit the dog, but the angle is all wrong. He would have gotten ketchup all over his swell Member's Only jacket. I know, it's not really a Member's Only jacket, but I don't care. It is in my mind.

Oh, and I did finally come across:


Nothing sells a crisp, refreshing soft drink quite like seething, unspoken threats of extreme violence in front of children. It's not quite the version I was hoping for, but it'll do.

I'd better stop. I'm feeling 7-up and should take something for it.

Sneak Previews

I've always hated Sundays. They just rub me the wrong way. Part of the flavoring of Sundays in my childhood was Sneak Previews, the show Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert put on before they did At the Movies and Siskel & Ebert & the Movies. The intro makes me feel a bit nervous even now. At the time it meant that only a half an hour remained before bed time and school the next day.

This clip could use some editing. It's the intro I want you to see. The cups coming out of the machine kitty-wumpus makes me crazy. I'm glad they don't widely use machines like those any more. Enjoy! Hell, save me a seat in the balcony! Get well soon, Roger. I miss your work.

Steve's Playing for the Kids Again

Steve Burns, the preferred host of Blues Clues around here (sorry Joe, you do fine, but Steve just had that special something), is once again playing to the kids...

Here's Steve, along with Steven Drozd of Flaming Lips, in a video that started playing on Noggin around Groundhog Day 2007.


Here's an older clip of Steve, fresh off the Blues Clues gig and doing his own thing, although I think the Flaming Lips were involved in this one, too.

Bart Simpson and The White Stripes

Here's the Simpsons' spoof of The Hardest Button to Button, complete with an appearance from Jack and Meg. The episode originally aired earlier this season, but the rerun played this last Sunday, to the enjoyment of all around here.


And here's the actual video.

Happy Easter!

Even as a sullen teenager, I had to admit to being amused by this cute commercial. There's just something about a bunny clucking like a chicken. Topping it off, the one-of-a-kind voiceover provided by my good pal Mason Adams.

Lost

Back before the wizards at ABC brought us Lost, Saturday mornings plunged us into a world of dinosaurs, monkey-guys and sleestaks. I still love it.

I Heart The Beat

Fueled by a repeat viewing of Bands Reunited: The English Beat, I submit these classic Beat videos. In 1995, E and I immensely enjoyed a General Public live show. Dave Wakeling still tours, and if he ever gets near our area, we're there! I'd highly recommend catching him. Anyway, enjoy the videos!


Save It For Later


Too Nice to Talk To


I Confess


Doors of Your Heart

The "Keep Norah Happy" Collection

Our Norah, who will be three in March, occasionally has her diva-esque moments and needs cheering up, or in come cases, distraction. Cat videos will often do the trick. Here are some of her favorites:


How does that cat crawl under the door?


This one has so many good moments, particularly that of the possessed cat. Our boy thinks it's saying "lunch lunch lunch". Why not -- I suppose it isn't really saying "Oh long Johnson".


This was a really fun one to come upon -- cute cat and fun, catchy tune.

Eat them up, yum!

Long ago when MTV was desperate for musical content... ANY musical content, they played Barnes and Barnes' Fish Heads plenty.
Keep your eyes peeled for Bill Mumy of Lost in Space fame (Danger Will Robinson!), and Bill Paxton who also directed this gem. At the beginning you'll find the beautiful Pan Pacific Auditorium, once used in the film Xanadu, but unfortunately lost to fire in 1989. Also of note is Dr. Demento (Barry Hansen) in the role of Homeless Man.

How 'bout a burger, baby?!!

I'm surprised I haven't posted this totally awesome video to the ol' blog before now. Rewind back to 1999 - yes 1999, not the 80s. I was hugely pregnant with our son, and was captive in a hospital bed for two days, then two weeks later, for another two days. In that first stint (prior to the actual birth), there was a lot of TV watching, and I kept seeing this weird, bad Subway ad. It looked so 80s -- all sorts of neon and grids, and of course, the woman with the huge hair and sparkly 80s dress. I found it repellent, yet I was compelled; was it supposed to be a nostalgia thing? The timing didn't seem quite right for 80s nostalgia -- not yet, anyway.

Much to my surprise, the ad started running again last spring. We made sure to catch it on the Tivo™, and found there were a few other bloggers out there scratching their heads. I'm going to post an article that originally appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer press, which pretty much explains the whole thing (why it was running), but in order to not take up too much real estate here, I'm going to post it as a comment to this post.

Oh, and another thing -- I swear, in the shot of the two girls who sing "don't want my dinner from a big machine", the one on the right is Ione Skye. Eric doesn't believe me, but it has to be. The St. Paul Pioneer press reporter addresses rumors that the girl was, in fact, Parker Posey. She, like, totally missed the mark.

My Pretty Coney/Little Pony

This Pale Force Action Figures mock commercial from Late Night with Conan O'Brien was a huge hit at our house -- the kids particularly liked the "pee in the pants action". But the highest entertainment value is provided by "My Pretty Coney" -- who wouldn't pay good money to get one of those? Watch it, and find yourself singing the song over and over and over... Which brings us to:



Eric pointed out the similarity of the My Pretty Coney and My Little Pony songs, so of course, we had to find some My Little Pony commercials, much to the delight of our pony loving nearly-three-year-old girl. Now both tunes are being heard around the house -- scary.