Plastic Who?

Knowing I am a big comic book fan fellow blogger Booksteve has recently sent me a link to a blog where a man said that he called into a talk show one day where the question was asked who was your favorite superhero when you were growing up? His answer was Plastic Man. To his surprise they had never heard of him. From what I read he would not have thought anything of it if they were younger then him but they were about his age. So why haven't they ever heard of him? He had a hit show on Saturday mornings. While he hasn't had a hit comic book in years he has had attempts and mini-series. He was recently even a member of the Justice League. He was a long overdue addition I might add. I always wondered why they went with Ralph Dibney and not Plastic Man. Back then Plas was better known then Ralph. Ralph's addition increased his popularity as Plastic Man sank into obscurity. With so much entertainment competing for our attention this trend may continue. Some people in their 20's don't know anything that happened before they were born. They may know the Monkees produced music but are surprised that they had a sit-com. They may think that Paul McCartney has always been a solo artist and are surprised to find he was the leader of Wings or a member of the Beatles. Lets hope that this doesn't spread to other areas like world history. As the old saying goes "Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it." Can you imagine what would happen if the world forgot about Hitler? We could have another one on our hands. Perhaps our increasing need for vast amounts of entertainment may be what brings about the rise of the Anti-Christ. I know I made a huge leap with this one but who knows it might be true.

When I was a kid I drank soft drinks like they were going out of style. I was even worse in the summer. While I have cut back since then it isn't hard to understand that these commercials strike a certain cord with me. Swimming, comic books, soft drinks and bike riding mean summer to me. They always came together to make a good day in the summer.

YMCA Summer Camp Commercial

Summer is almost here and starting today and through out the weekend I will feature videos that remind me of Summer. I never went to summer camp but some people I know did. Here is a commercial from Camp Ernst that was the camp they attended. Almost makes me wish I did go to camp.

Pepsi Commercial

Here is a Pepsi Commercial I have never seen. It has Jimmy Fallon and Parker Posey in it.

1970's Mountain Dew Commercial

Here is another Mountain Dew Commercial from 1970's.

Mountain Dew...It'll Tickle Your Innards!

I was talking to some co-workers recently and some how, I don't recall how, but we started talking about the soft drink Mountain Dew. We'd already solved the problems of the world so we moved on to lighter stuff. Well at least one of them didn't know that Mountain Dew was really a nickname for moonshine and that a hillbilly was the logo for a long time. She sort of rolled her eyes and said "Whatever!" when I said their slogan was "It'll Tickle Your Innards!"
Anyway for others like her that aren't aware here are two commercials from the 60's that showcased their roots.

Americathon: We Have Arrived

Anyone remember the movie Americathon? It came out in 1979 and the star was John Ritter as the President and Harvey Korman as a television star. The energy crisis had gotten out of control and the President order that Harvey host a telethon to raise money to get America out of debt. Gas cost so much that most people were not driving anymore. They lived in their cars and either walked, jogged, skated, or rode a bike to where they were going. Well that movie took place in the future. We must have arrived at that point as I am always hearing of people riding bikes to work. Yesterday I walked to work. It took a half an hour but I saved gas. I even walked to church this morning. Why waste gas if it is within walking distance?
I wanted to show a video of the movie here but couldn't find one. I did find a video of a Beach Boys song from the soundtrack album. It is called "It's A Beautiful Day." Why this wasn't a hit for them I may never know. It has one of the best vocals Mike Love has ever sung.

OOPS! That wasn't Mike Love singing the parts I liked best. It was Al Jardine. Man! They should have let him sing more often.

Hulk TV Movie Poster

I was searching for something else when I came across this on the net. It seems to be a German movie poster of the Bill Bixby TV pilot film of the Hulk.

CBG on DVD

The Comic Buyer's Guide is now on DVD. At least 2 years worth of reading of one of your favorite hobbies has now entered the 21st century. Nothing wrong with still publishing it the old way and actually having it in your hands to read but this way is cheaper. According to them this is $140 worth of content for $24.95. You can order CBG on DVD if you click here.
Also from CBG you can get Retroviews Roundup. For $19.95 you get more then 2,000 reviews on past comics. A complete run of Amazing Spider-Man up to #538 and Dell, DC and Marvel complete run of Tarzan. Also, reviews from respected CBG writers including Craig "Mr. Silver Age" Shutt, Jim Johnson, Michelle Nolan, and Brent Frankenhoff. Order Retroview Round up by clicking here.

The Monkees and the Head Soundtrack

It was a little over a month ago that I told what other songs on the first five of the Monkees albums should have been released as singles. Each of those songs could have been major hits for the Monkees. That trend of not releasing good solid material for them as singles continued for them on the rest of the albums released until 1970. Actually by this time the Monkees were viewed as teenybopper music and even if the greatest song of all time had been produced by them it still may have flopped. Still they did the best with what they had.
Let's start with Head. This was the soundtrack to the only major film that the Monkees created. As 1960's movies and rock operas go it wasn't as bad as most remember. This is not to talk about the movie but the soundtrack. The soundtrack was very good. The dialogue of the actors in the movie between songs should be forgotten. You would have to see the movie to understand what they are talking about. The major song release from the album was the Porpoise Song and some DJ's and fans got it and knew they guys were trying to mature their musical productions.
Can You Dig It should have been a single. It was written by Peter Tork and is on the CD twice. Once with Micky as lead and the other with Peter. Either one could have done well on the charts but I prefer Micky's version.
The Carole King/Toni Stern penned song As We Go Along is beautiful and should have been an A side on a 45. It was released as the B side of the Porpoise Song which Carole King also co-wrote. The Porpoise Song was played on radio and if those DJ's had just flipped it over As We Go Along may have charted higher then the real A side.
Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again was the closing theme to the film and it was also written by Peter who sang lead. He did a great job and this should have been his first A side 45 with him as the solo lead. I think the song would have done well and perhaps Peter would have stayed long with the group seeing that his efforts were appreciated.
Now I haven't mentioned Circle Sky by Mike Nesmith. The reason for that is while I like the song I don't think it had what radio listeners were looking for back then. I don't think it would have done well on the charts but I could be wrong.
Sometime later I plan to have a posting about the other lesser known albums of the Monkees.

Con Ad

Here is an ad I got in the mail of more affordable comic cons to attend if you are in the area. So far I won't be but who knows.

The Defenders Fansite

Before you see the Hulk's new movie you need to go this new site. It is called The Defenders Fansite and it is about the comic book supergroup that the Hulk was one of its core members. Yes he was a founding member of the Avengers and will most likely be in the movie of that team. However, he soon quit the Avengers and years later helped to found the Defenders. He was on a more friendly basis with them so he stayed for quite awhile.

Fireproof

For those of you who liked the movies Flywheel and Facing the Giants here is the movie Fireproof from Sherwood Pictures. It stars Kirk Cameron. You can view the trailer below.

It seems that not much time can go by without me finding or thinking of something to post about the Monkees. I was reading an old magazine from Entertainment Weekly from 2000 and I saw this ad for the VH1 movie about them. The pose is from the cover of their Headquarters Album but the real Monkees weren't dressed that way. Thought you would like to see this if like me you missed it before.

Free Comic Book Day

Last year or maybe it was two years ago I can't recall but I wondered if Free Comic Book Day was helping to spread the hobby. Well after being there today I have to say that it is. Everyone at Comicbook World was buying something along with the free books and figures that the store was supplied. I was there to get some for myself and my young cousin who was not able to go with me this year. I was grabbing two of everything till I heard Mark, one of the stores employees, tell someone it was only 5 books per person. I showed him that I must have had over 20 books. Since they knew I was trying to get some for my cousin he said they might let me get 10. I decided not to violate their rules, well not too much as you will soon see, so I put most of them back. My cousin likes Star Wars and Iron Man so I got him the figures. He also likes Transformers and NASCAR so he got the comic books related to those hobbies. For myself I got an Iron Man figure as well as Archie comics Jughead, Dynamite's Devil and Justice League from DC. Now I also wanted something from Marvel but with the books I was already at the limit of 5. I decided to see if they would say anything about me having a 6th book so I chose Marvel Adventures with Hulk, IronMan and Spider-Man. Also, so I didn't seem like a freeloader, I bought a back issue of Marvel Team-Up #90. All in all it looked like a good free comicbook day at Comicbook World.
Also, in case someone links up to this posting since it is about Free Comic Book Day, please visit my other comic book sites Comic Book Letterheads Museum and Mail It To Team Up also Plastic Man Platitudes.

Happy 30th To SPAM

On May 3,1978 Marketer Gary Thuerk sent the first e-mail of what would come to be called SPAM over the Arpanet. The Arpanet would eventually become the internet. If you go to Templetons.com you can read the sales pitch he gave and the angry reactions that he got. So you know Spam hasn't been around so long because it was greeted with open arms. Also Brad
Templeton has a link there that takes you to an interview that he did with Mr. Thuerk about his accidental invention of SPAM. If you can't wait to read it then here it is just below.

DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T. THE
DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE. BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T AND 2020T OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM.
THE DECSYSTEM-2060 IS AN UPWARD EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT DECSYSTEM 2040 AND 2050 FAMILY. THE DECSYSTEM-2020 IS A NEW LOW END MEMBER OF THE
DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AND FULLY SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OF THE OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 MODELS.

WE INVITE YOU TO COME SEE THE 2020 AND HEAR ABOUT THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AT THE TWO PRODUCT PRESENTATIONS WE WILL BE GIVING IN CALIFORNIA THIS MONTH. THE LOCATIONS WILL BE:

TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1978 - 2 PM
HYATT HOUSE (NEAR THE L.A. AIRPORT)
LOS ANGELES, CA

THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1978 - 2 PM
DUNFEY'S ROYAL COACH
SAN MATEO, CA
(4 MILES SOUTH OF S.F. AIRPORT AT BAYSHORE, RT 101 AND RT 92)

A 2020 WILL BE THERE FOR YOU TO VIEW. ALSO TERMINALS ON-LINE TO OTHER
DECSYSTEM-20 SYSTEMS THROUGH THE ARPANET. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND,
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT THE NEAREST DEC OFFICE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXCITING DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY.

Iron Man Trailer

Here is the trailer for the Iron Man game to come out along with the movie. I can't see the movie this weekend but I will see it soon. You can go see it now to make it a hit. That way it will make sure it is still there for me to see when I have the time.

TV Show Openings

Here are some TV show openings that will bring back some memories. The first two I have never heard of. The first one stars a young actor from back then whose recent claim to fame has been dancing with the stars. Check it out and enjoy.

Good Bye Old Friend

Well I got some sad news today, I guess I should say yesterday since I am post dating this, it is that Showcase Cinemas was closed down today in Erlanger, Ky. I have lived in this town since I was 13 years old. It is sad as to me when I was a teenager and even into my adulthood it was like a second home. I was an Usher there in my high school years and kept going there when I could afford to see a movie. Each time I went I saw the crowds grow smaller and smaller. Today they closed to make room for a new and more expensive theater in Florence, Ky. The last movie I saw there was Fantastic Four:Rise of the Silver Surfer so you know I did my best to be a faithful former Usher of the staff. I hope Erlanger gets a new first run movie theater soon. I don't like fighting traffic near the Mall where the Florence Theater will soon be.

The first time I saw Star Wars with there with my cousin Steve. I had many dates there with the girls I dated. I become friends with people there that I would not have met anyplace else. For a short while my cousin Randy and I both worked there. The movie Harper Valley PTA with Barbara Eden had the world premiere there. I wasn't working that night as I had a school function to go to but later I was able to get me and a couple of friends in. The only world premiere that I ever was able to attend. Barbara wasn't there but Ronny Cox and Nanette Fabray were. When my date Linda and I were bored at a school dance we left to see Star Wars as she had not seen it yet. For me it was the 6th or 7th time and while I was getting tired of it I didn't mind taking her. When I quit to take another job my cousin Randy and I went to get my paycheck. We wanted to see the movie Rocky II but had no money. The manager on duty said I was still on the pay roll till tomorrow so I could still see the movie free as an employee. My last free movie at that theater. Not long ago when one of the new Star Wars movies came out I took my cousin and her son Josh to see it and he was thrilled as he had never seen a Star Wars movie on the big screen. I went there with my cousin Jeff and his family to see Toy Story 2 and with my cousin Jo to see the first Scooby Doo movie. The above picture is of the brightly lite marquee from a couple of years ago that I found on the internet. It is funny as is shows the new King Kong with Jack Black and the first movie I ever saw there was with my Dad was the King Kong version with Jeff Bridges. Goodbye to my second home and an old friend. Your lights may never shine so bright again but they will always be with me in my heart and in my memory. sniff!

I Love Woodburning

Those of you who visit me on Mail It To Team-Up have already seen this but I wanted to let as many people know as possible about the site I Love Woodburning. I am fascinated by people who have the ability to create works of art. Especially when they are so good at it that people are willing to pay them to do it. As you can see this person is good. So get some work for your business or perhaps birthday and Christmas gifts at I Love Woodburning.