Author: 610rrandtr

‘That Car Was the One I would be remiss without mentioning 60’s cars. Daddy saw cars as a way to show people how successful he was–classic ‘my dick is bigger than yours.’ He flipped cars every 3-4 years, just ’cause he could. When he still had friends on the block, he’d park the shiny vehicle… Continue reading Let’s talk about cars

Six Finger and Vac-U-Form, etc It’s crazy the useless stuff we made parents buy!! I remember a cardboard ‘city’ that had cars you drove around on it. The cars had a magnet under them and you moved them by using a wand with a magnet under the board. See the problem? The board had to… Continue reading Toys 3: Useless crap

Listen to the children of the night, how sweet is their music When we last left our hero, he was naked and sweltering in his upstairs room, occasionally sleeping half naked on sofa pillows in the living room, near a monstrous air conditioner. Earlier, I alluded to our female neighbor, Mrs. Overstreet. One summer evening,… Continue reading Neighbor enlists Nature for Revenge, Film at 11

It’s Vengeance She said, That’s the law By fifth grade, we’ve had to deal with her ego-eccentric behavior for 5 years and 8+ programs for the adults. I remember one had us crooning about scientific things, like rocks, evaporation, and the colors of the rainbow; oh joy. Another was a sing along show with songs… Continue reading Music Class: The Worm Turns

or, ‘Teacher Leave those kids alone’ When it comes to the worst teacher I had, it’s no contest. The Music Teacher. Which is odd, cause I’ve been collecting rock and jazz music for over 50 years. Mrs. H had a long horse face, a third-eye cheek mole and a frozen hair perm. She favored blouses… Continue reading Music Class–A Tale of Revenge in 2 Acts

Who, me? It was such a big deal. Newspapers wrote about it, parents debated it. Latch key children: a fancy media term for kids who had their own house key after school. Elementary schools, as a matter of policy, always found ways to hold on to kids after 3:30, for a half hour or so.… Continue reading Latch-Key Children

Let’s call this mess “Lessons in tactile sensations” So you ask: ‘WTF does that 50-cent word have to do with anything?’ Well, companies seemed to delight in making crap that had no use but to be handled. case in point: Silly Putty” The flesh-colored goo had the consistency of tacky caulk, or semi-hard Tootsie Rolls.… Continue reading Toys! (Part two)

Figuratively and Literally Our beloved playground was going to open on Memorial Day. Construction on the road began in the fall. Our huge fifth grade windows opened right onto the vista of the construction. Things were bad enough for that poor bastard who taught us. Paper airplanes in the hanging lights. Boys making rude noises,… Continue reading Concentration goes out the Window

I love the smell of Charcoal in the morning, smells like roadkill When charcoal took hold in the sixties, it was like a wave. Overnight, it seemed everybody bought an outdoor grill and started cooking. You could ride your bike down the street between 4 and 6 PM and the smell chased you home. We… Continue reading The Wonderful World of Charcoal

‘Return with me to when times were best’ As we started our journey, I told you guys my room was upstairs, far from mom and dad; I guess sleeping was more important. Home Air conditioning was in its infancy in the 50’s. So all my windows were open at night and the bedroom across the… Continue reading Nights of Heaven, Nights of Hell