Rubber Ducky, You're the One

Sometimes I really do feel like I've been in a coma the past 20 years and I just woke up.

I went shopping this afternoon to pick up a couple of gifts -- one for my youngest niece and one for my nephew -- both of whom I'll be visiting in a few days. As I mentioned not long ago, my nephew was born recently.

As a single, 40-something year-old guy, I have no idea what I'm doing when I enter the toy aisle or baby area in a store. When I do so to buy something for somebody else's child, I must look the part of the lost guy, because usually a mother will offer me a little guidance. Today, no mothers came to my aid. I did see a long-haired guy who was a clueless as I am.

"What in the world do you buy kids these days?" he asked.

Oh boy. He's asking me?

"I have no idea," I said.

"I just want something cheap and something they'll use. What exactly will they use?" he said.

"I have no idea," I said again.

We both shook our heads and moved on.

I spotted a doll that shares the same name as my niece. It was part of the "Bratz" line. I have never seen dolls like these before. They were wearing the shortest mini-skirts possible with long boots (pictured on the right). I passed. Then I saw Barbie (pictured on the left). I passed on her too and bought my niece a Hannah Montana pillow case. The only risk I run is that my niece has moved on from her Hannah Montana phase. Hopefully she hasn't.

Next up was my nephew. I stumbled across rubber duckies. Perfect! Except, rubber duckies are more than rubber duckies these days. This particular one (pictured above) actually has a built in temperature gauge of some sort that alerts parents when the water is too hot to place the baby in. You just place the rubber ducky into the water, and after a certain amount of time you pick it up and flip it over. If it says "hot," then it's too hot for the baby.

What a great idea. You could have locked me into a room with a rubber ducky and told me I had to come up with a new idea for the rubber ducky or you wouldn't let me out and I would have been in there 20 years and still not come up with a temperature sensitive one. Probably because I'm still partial to this one:

The Passing of George Blanda

I can mark most of my teenage years by looking at old baseball or football cards. When I heard George Blanda, 83, died this week, I recalled his 1971 card (pictured). I was only five when it was released, but since he played up into the mid-70s, I remember seeing him play.

I was astounded he could play both quarterback and kicker. His 1971 card even showed both positions. That's what made it valuable to me. This was before I realized card collecting was a business, which caused my view of the hobby to be skewed.

The funny thing is, I was never a Raiders fan. I was, and remain, a Steelers fan -- so that made me a Raider hater. But I still always respected Blanda. I was only 9 when he retired, but he reminded me of the way my friends and I played football at the park. We played multiple positions and rarely left the field. As I was reading some of the tributes to Blanda since his passing, I read a line from an article written by Peter Richmond on the Sports Illustrated website that nailed the way I felt:

"Blanda was the old-world guy, with one foot back in the days of the Decatur Staleys [the original name for the Chicago Bears in 1920-21], an athlete who would pass for the touchdown, kick the extra point, and then, if necessary kick the game-winning field goal. Blanda represented football."

The Real America

Photo by D.C. Atty

Back in July, NPR's This American Life podcast did an episode called "Georgia Rambler" that I found fascinating. Here's a brief blurb about it: "In the 1970s a reporter named Charles Salter wrote a column for the Atlanta Journal called 'Georgia Rambler.' He'd get into his car, head out to some small town, and ask around until he found a story. This week, nine of us go to Georgia to try it out for ourselves, in small towns all over the state."

As the staff spread out through Georgia, they would enter a random establishment and ask the locals, "Who is the most interesting person in town?"

In Meriwether County, the answer turned out to be Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After doing some digging, a rumor surfaced about FDR buying moonshine during the Prohibition. The question wasn't answered during the podcast, but it made for an entertaining segment.

A number of other great stories about other, much less famous people, surfaced as well. In fact, I think I was more intrigued by those stories. There was one about a man who fought against the government buying his land for a lake project, but he eventually sold most of it and even though he saved his home, he ended up being surrounded by the lake.

I would love to travel around my own state to ask that very question in run down cafes, small gas stations and old general stores -- if any remain. In fact, every state should have its own rambler. I imagine this could work for local newspapers, but it might be better if a website or blog were started and each state had its own page, with the best stories being featured on the front page.

Down the road, the best of the best stories could be used in a book entitled something like, "The Real America: Intriguing Stories from the Nooks and Crannies of Every State." 

Even if I didn't write any of those stories, I would so buy that book.

Remember When We Used to "Call Time"?

I read a scene in a novel over the weekend in which the protagonist is so lonely he decides to call time. Remember when we used to call time? I hadn't thought about that in probably 20 years until I read that scene.

Remember how you could call a specific prefix followed by any four numbers and still get the time lady? When I first learned this, I felt like I had discovered some grand secret.

The funny thing is, I can't really even remember why I used to call time. Why did we do that? Maybe we didn't trust our clocks. Maybe we didn't have as many clocks. We certainly weren't as technologically connected and therefore didn't have as many gadgets with the time on them. Whatever the reason, it was just part of our routine.

I did a search yesterday and discovered the service was discontinued three years ago. I also learned the system has been around since the 1930s.  Things change though, and even though I haven't used the service in ions, I'm still going to miss it.

Favorite Soundtracks, Part 2

Rocky: Original Motion Picture Score

If you are a 40-something year old guy, you probably gulped raw eggs from a cup when you were young, went jogging in gray sweats and dreamed about getting your shot at the heavy weight championship of the world. And the background music came from the first Rocky movie soundtrack.

From the heart pumping opening tune, "Gonna Fly Now," to the reflective "Philadelphia Morning," to the inspiring "Going the Distance," this soundtrack does a number on your emotions.

"First Date" will transport you back in time. "Take You Back" will make you want to hang out with a few friends and do a little barber shop quartet as you contemplate taking back a lost love. And "The Final Bell" might just be the theme song in your head as you complete a goal you never thought possible. In fact, this entire soundtrack makes you believe you can accomplish things you might not ordinarily.

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Serendipity (Music from the Miramax Motion Picture) 

I've written a ton of posts about this movie. When I did a series of my favorite movies, it ranked number 7. It's probably higher than that now. The soundtrack is pretty good too.

I like to play it from start to finish when I go on road trips, especially when I'm contemplating the possibility of a relationship. Songs like "Waiting in Vain," "When You Know" and "January Rain" set the perfect contemplating mood. 

The only thing that bums me out about this soundtrack is that some of the songs from the movie are missing. A die hard fan who refers to himself as Wesley108 at Amazon.com provides a complete list of all 21 songs from the movie in the review section (scroll down a ways), including a number of Christmas songs as well as "Sarah Smile" and "Black Eyed Dog."

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So, what are some of your favorite soundtracks (TV or movie) and why?

Favorite Soundtracks, Part 1

Continuing the 4,000 Questions series: "What move soundtracks do you own?" I'm going to expand the question to include television program soundtracks as well.

The Heights "Music from the Television Show"

People probably know the hit song from this series better than the series itself. "How Do You Talk To An Angel?" by Jamie Walters was on the soundtrack and it went to number one. TV Guide says the song "stayed on the charts longer than 'The Heights' stayed on the air," which isn't actually true (it was number one for two weeks in November 1992), but their point was valid.

The Heights debut on Fox in 1992 and it only lasted 12 episodes. As I've said before, I'm a series killer. If I like it, it probably won't last long. But I'm not sure why this one never made it. It was about a group of young people in a band and they helped each other through various trials.

The soundtrack has some killer tunes on it, in addition to Walters' hit. "The Man You Used to Be (A Song for Dad)" by Shawn Thompson is a keeper. So is "Children of the Night" by Walters.

You know how sometimes you can remember an event based on the song that was playing on the radio at the time? Well, I can remember waking up after surgery to fix my broken nose in the recovery room and hearing "How Do You Talk To An Angel?" on the radio in the room. I wouldn't remember a think about those moments if it hadn't been for that song.

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Notting Hill

This is my third favorite movie of all time. The soundtrack also introduced me to or acquainted me with some great songs -- songs like "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" by Al Green, "She" by Elvis Costello, "When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating, and two versions of "Ain't No Sunshine," one by Bill Withers and the other by "Lighthouse Family."

The lyrics from "When You Say Nothing At All" move me in the same fashion that a line from a book called A Window Across The River by Brian Morton. First the lyrics:

It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing

Now for the line from the book: “I recognized your silence. It’s different from anybody else’s.”

Silence speaks volumes and it's not always negative.

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Rock Star

This one is a guilty pleasure. The movie is about a rock singer who dares to chase his dream, and after achieving it against all odds, finds out it's not what he really wants.

The dream he chases puts him in front of the microphone for a group called Steel Dragon. Several real life musicians make up the fictitious group and several of their songs are on the soundtrack, including a song called "Stand Up," which sort of becomes the group's anthem.

One of my sisters, who lives in St Louis, went to see this movie at the theater with her husband when it came out in 2001. They both know about my long hair, rock n' roll days, and they knew this movie would probably resonate with me -- at least the me who used to live the lifestyle, in moderation of course.

So, when I would go visit them in St. Louis, my brother-in-law sometimes greets me by singing, "Stand up and shout! Stand up and let it out!" in his best impersonation of Mark Wahlberg, who played the singer in the movie, and it always cracks me up.