Cool Videos...So, here we are in 2013. I am closing in on 40 years old and my 20-Year High School Reunion is in a couple of months. It's time to admit I'm getting old. But while I'm getting older, so are my children. My oldest starts the 5th grade this fall and that got me thinking about when I was in the 5th grade at Conn-West Elementary in Grandview, Missouri. Well, if you don't recall 1986 this little video below should help you.
So, remembering the years of my youth with the upcoming high school reunion on the horizon, I also started thinking about my high school years and ran across this video about 1990 when I started high school. Geez, I hated my high school years...
2nd Inning.
This ole...Comic Book collection. As a child in a recently divorced family, I was looking for an escape from reality that would allow me to forget for awhile and drift off to another world where amazing things can happen to amazing people. Comic books provided me that escape. I remember one of the first titles I started collecting which was the Transformer series as I was just beginning to collect the toys likewise for G.I.Joe and its comic series that came out after the '80s toys came out. I would occasionally get my books from the old Skaggs Drug Store in the Truman Corners shopping center and the old tall, spinning rack that was right there by the door. It wasn't much later that my mom introduced me to the Grandview Book Gallery on Main Street in Grandview, Missouri.
The Gallery was a mom & pop bookstore with comic books, books, and magazines. As cliché as it is , I remember like it was yesterday walking in that store(as I spent a good part of my youth in that store). Glass door with a bell that rang when you walked in...magazine rack to your right...glass display counter to your left (on top was where the comics would be lying when the new ones came out on Friday) with the expensive comics in the glass case...then the little desk where George sat and took your money and kept the 'hold' files(you could tell them what titles you wanted to collect and they would put them aside every Friday when they came in for you)...across from George were the regular books (lots of paperbacks and many hardbacks and where I picked up most of my Stephen King books)...on George's left were the old comics...and on the back wall were the nudie magazines (lots of old Playboys).  |
| Samples of my current collection |
Through most of my elementary school years my mom would give me an allowance to spend there every couple of weeks which was about $20. The early titles I started to collect were based on toys I was also collecting but after seeing the Gallery I started to branch out into the superhero comics. Spiderman, Batman, X-Men, and Justice League were all titles you could find in my hold folder in those early days. But once I started washing dishes in my mom's café in Grandview I found myself with more money than I knew what to do with at that age. I was easily spending $100 a week in the bookstore with a wider range of titles that I was placing in my hold folder and then the search for older copies to complete my sets of Batman, Detective Comics, X-Men, Spiderman, etc. I was a mini-hoarder before that damn show ever came out. It was all about having the most valuable/rare comics, then the sought after artists like Todd McFarlane and Frank Miller, then to having multiple copies of the same book because it was a 1st issue of a series or some other special reason like a popular character/villain. Well, I had my run at it and compiled probably 10 long boxes containing my collection. I had a great Batman consecutive run that extended from the early 1970s through the late 1980s which was probably the most impressive part of my collection at that time. Around my ninth grade year I began to realize that the money I was making working for my mom could be better spent elsewhere like a car for me. I pretty much stopped the majority of my collecting and started a car fund. Also at that time, the comics industry was in a whirlwind of popularity which was resulting in the comics companies trying to take advantage of folks like me that were collecting. What they were doing was printing a comic book and slapping multiple covers on it to get you to buy each book with a distinct cover and not that it was some fabulous artwork. The companies made it about the money and I walked away.
Well, being that I was from a blue-collar family that didn't make enough for me to go to college I planned on using my collection to help get me through my college years to pay for whatever I may need (minus tuition). The collection did help while I was at Arkansas State University thanks to a couple of fraternity brothers that collected and bought stuff from me. I was able to pay bills and buy groceries thanks to them. So there I was not collecting for almost 10 years then I moved back to the Kansas City area and started buying a few titles again. This time there was no searching for a rare/valuable issue or getting all the copies of the 1st issue or anything with a popular artist...just a good story with cool characters to help me drift away on occasion 3rd Inning.
Firearms Corner...One firearm that can be considered iconic over the past 40 years is the Smith & Wesson Model 29. From its beginning as an experiment by Elmer Keith to its development by Smith & Wesson(firearm side) and Remington(ammo side), the Model 29 has been synonymous with power. I have read several articles and seen numerous testimonials on tv about the handgun. Most of the stories relayed this--in the early history of this gun many people would see these for sale as a used firearm with a box of ammo missing one round in the local store. Story goes that many people bought it, fired one round, then realized it was too much gun for them and took it back to where they purchased it. This was obviously not good for Smith & Wesson but once the movie Dirty Harry came out and he uttered those famous words, "most powerful handgun in the world", well their sales skyrocketed. It is important to note that even though they were selling most remained in their box probably in a sock drawer. This handgun is not very well suited for the average police officer or a civilian that wishes to open/conceal carry. The Model 29 and the .44 Magnum cartridge did eventually find use in the hunting realm. You can take this firearm hunting for any North American big game animal and wild hogs and if you ever make it to Africa for a hunt it would be useful for any of their big game. Nevertheless, I would love to own one someday and add it to my collection. 4th Inning.
Movie I want to see...Pacific Rim. I grew up in the age of Transformers toys and Godzilla re-runs on the Saturday night 'Creature Feature'. Staying up late to catch either the black & white older movies or the newer ones in color always had me excited and with the introduction of Transformers the idea of robots fighting monsters was in my head, especially with the old cartoon, Voltron on tv every afternoon. Well, in this latest installment from Guillermo del Toro we have a new rendition of monsters versus robots that takes a page out of Voltron and Godzilla. Per Wikipedia, "The film is set in the near future where soldiers pilot giant robots into battle against invading giant monsters who have risen from beneath the ocean." You can expect lots of action, violence, and MONSTERS! The trailers for this movie look really good but you be the judge...final trailer is below. Enjoy!
5th Inning.
American History Lesson...On June 27th, 1950, President Harry S Truman ordered U.S. forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in fighting an invasion by communist North Korea. This was prompted by action from the North Koreans on the morning of June 25th where they sent 90,000 troops across the 38th parallel (the north/south boundary decided upon after WWII) and sent the South Koreans scrambling in retreat as they were caught off guard. Truman knew the USSR had approved the invasion and it was learned that the North Koreans were using Soviet-made weapons. In the opening months of the war, US-led UN forces, commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, advanced against the northern opposition. But in October of 1950, Chinese communist forces came to the aid of the North Koreans and sent the southern forces into retreat. In April 1951, MacArthur was relieved of his command by Truman for publicly threatening to bomb the Chinese which went against Truman's war policy. It was through his fear of further Soviet Union interference that kept Truman from unleashing MacArthur on China. In May 1951, the communist forces were pushed back to the 38th parallel. An armistice was signed on July 27, 1953 that ended the conflict and solidified the boundary line. Total U.S. forces killed in the war were 36, 516. For information on the Korean War Memorial click here.
Here's a viewpoint on how the U.S. should have handled the Korean War.
6th Inning.
Games...You are given omnipotent power as the world’s Evil Emperor. You have power over the space/time continuum and must eliminate the following from history. Who would you eliminate?
1)One world leader--Joseph Stalin
2)One musician/group--Nirvana
3)One actor/actress--Lindsey Lohan
4)One invention--Cell phone
5)One movie--Superman IV
6)One TV show--Keeping up with the Kardashians
7)One species of animal--cockroach
8)One Country/nation/state--France
9)One corporation/company--MSNBC
7th Inning.
Music...One of the first artists to capture my attention as I began to listen to country music back in the early 1990s was Travis Tritt. His style of country and Southern rock was a good transition from my earlier days listening to the hair metal band ballads. Hell, he has long hair too! His first two CDs are my favorite but he had several more hits after those. He released 'Country Club' in 1989 with a hit title track 'Country Club', 'Help Me Hold On', 'Drift off to Dream', and 'I'm Gonna be Somebody'. His follow up to 'Country Club' really put him on the map in the transition going on in country music in the early '90s. 'It's All About to Change' brought him hits with 'Anymore', 'Here's a Quarter(Call Someone Who Cares), 'Nothing Short of Dying', 'Bible Belt(featured in the movie 'My Cousin Vinny'), and his collaboration with Marty Stuart on 'Whiskey Ain't Workin'. My first country concert at the old Sandstone Ampitheater in Bonner Springs, Kansas was to see Tritt. The highlight of the concert was when he played 'Here's a Quarter' and prior to playing it they warned the crowd to NOT throw quarters at the stage (apparently a problem at other venues) and of course the crowd did throw them but with Travis playing on a scaffold at the back of the stage. My favorite songs/videos revolve around his 'Anymore/Tell Me I Was Dreaming/If I Lost You' trilogy. You can see them below. Enjoy!
8th Inning.
9th Inning.
Baseball video...
Found this 'blast from the past' on YouTube. Did you know George Brett had a song written about him? Neither did I. Enjoy!
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