This is what makes me Happy
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Tag Archives: childhood
Little Treasures
So I was going through some old stuff & things and found this little gem.
Sweet! I had forgotten that I pick this up a few years back. Mister Frederick Charles “Freddy” Krueger. This is number 1 of 30,000 made, the plastic wrap was all messed up. So I had to take it out and place it into a new one. But when I took Freddy out I felt a button on him chest! No way he talks?!?! Flipped him over and find the voice box with a on and off switch. Is funny.. When got this figure, I thought it was just a basic doll of Freddy. No where on the package says that he talks. He says 3 things. 1) that classic Freddy laugh 2) “Come to Freddy.” 3) “Ever play skin the cat?” Hearing Robert Englund voice made me feel like a little kid again lol. Growing up had odd hero’s haha, in am 80′s child need I say more?
Inventor of Etch A Sketch dies in France at 86
Andre Cassagnes, the inventor of the Etch A Sketch toy that generations of children drew on, shook up and started over, has died in France, the toy’s maker said. Cassagnes died Jan. 16 in a Paris suburb at age 86, said the Ohio Art Co., based in Bryan in northwest Ohio. The cause wasn’t disclosed Saturday. “Etch A Sketch has brought much success to the Ohio Art Company, and we will be eternally grateful to Andre for that. His invention brought joy to so many over such a long period of time,” said Larry Killgallon, president of Ohio Art. Then an electrical technician, Cassagnes came upon the Etch A Sketch idea in the late 1950s when he peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate and found pencil mark images transferred to the opposite face, the Toy Industry Association said. Ohio Art saw his idea at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1959. The toy, with its gray screen, red frame and two white knobs that are twisted back and forth to create drawings, was launched in 1960 and became the top seller that holiday season. More than 100 million have been sold worldwide since. Though passed over in popularity for video games and gadgets, the toy has a steady market, the company has said. It got a big jump in sales after Etch A Sketch was featured in the first two “Toy Story” movies, and Ohio Art capitalized on a much-publicized gaffe by a Mitt Romney aide during last year’s presidential election, who was asked about his candidate’s views during the primary season versus the general election. He likened the campaign to an Etch A Sketch: “You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.” Democrats and Republicans alike seized on the remark as evidence that Romney was willing to change his positions for political gain. And Ohio Art seized on the publicity, creating a politically themed ad campaign and manufacturing blue versions of the famously red toy. Etch A Sketches were made in Ohio until 2000, when the company moved production to China because of increasing costs.
Adventures in Single Parenting
Where to start…? For the past year or so I’ve been keeping a log of the day-to-day life of myself and my kids. I’ve also been keeping a medical log as well, mostly for my son seeing how he has the most of the problems. The reason for all the record keeping was caused by me and my ex-wife getting a divorce about a year ago…. As it stands I have the kids 90% of the time. She moved out.. I don’t know why I’m writing about this now. I think it was caused by reading everything that I wrote in the logs.
I know I made a post when everything went down on Facebook and I also stated that I wouldn’t talk about it again.. But there are so many things digging at me.. The drama, games, the lack of respect. Here is the post I made on Facebook:
“End of a Chapter. Starting a new one
by Jason Roberts on Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 12:16am ·
I’ve been thinking a lot about this for the past month or two now. For those who knows both me and Laurel personally, know that we have been, having a great deal of trouble in our marriage.
For the past month now we both came to the point where things are just not working out anymore. We have parted ways and moved on to other things.
We are both working together to make sure the kids are happy in all this and that there is NO bad blood between us both. I know it’s never easy and also sad. But in the long run it’s for the best I think. We are just on to different levels and have different ideas for what we want out of life.
Now this is something that just didn’t happen over night. No this has been going on from Oct. 2011 to now. We’ve try to work things out. But it wasn’t till these last 2 months is where we both realized that things were just never going to be the same or get better. Again there is no bad blood, no “he said, she said.” going on. We are both living our lives and making sure that the kids are happy , health, and that they have everything they need in life. After all.. That is what is important, the kids.
It feels nice to talk about this finally. We’ve been keeping a lot of this under raps for so long, worry on what people may think. Are we going to lose friends? Lose family? Be everyone seems to be working with us to make sure everyone is happy and working together.
We both are see other people and living our lives the way we see fit. No more, no less. This is the last and only time I will ever write about this. The fact is that this is a personal matter. But all of our friends are on here and this is just an easier way to inform everyone that needs to know.”
The truth of the matter is I tried to make it work.. THREE times I’ve tried to make things work out. Whats odd is, I’ve always said if someone cheated on me I was out. Gone.. But for some reason that just eludes me to why I tried to make things work. Maybe it was for the kids? I don’t know….. As time goes on my attention is on the kids. They have become my life and I will do anything for them. I want them to be happy and health. I’m just tired of walking on egg shells so to speak.
I’m the one doing everything for them. School, meetings with teachers, Doctor appointments, helping with homework. I make sure they have clean cloths and 3 meals a day. Oh sure she takes them every so often. For the past month it’s been Tuesdays and Saturdays only for a few hours. But there have been a few times where I get a text or phone call stating that she is “tired” or not “feeling good” OR my favorite is ” can you come and get them? They won’t listen to anything I say.”
I’m sorry… But that’s not how this works. You’re the parent, the Mother… I just don’t get it really, it’s like they come off as a chore. Also what kills me is when I get texts late at night asking if I’m unhappy having the kids all the time? Followed up with a lame attempted of saying sorry for making a mess of my life.
No… I’m done being nice, I tired of the games and drama. Tired of waiting for someone’s mind to make decision and/or keep a promise. These kids are my life, the air I breath. They make me complete and happy where I am no made what. I love seeing their little faces in the morning and telling me what they had dreams about. How they slept and what they want for breakfast. I mean yeah it lonely not having another adult around to talk to. But I figured a relationship or what have you will happen in its own time. I just hope they are okay with kids HA-HA! I’ll tell you this tho… If I ever do get married again, that’s it! I want someone to talk to me about the problems when they have them. Not just sit there and do nothing. Like I said in that post:
“We are just on to different levels and have different ideas for what we want out of life.”
A good Dad
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Lmao he sleeps in the weirdest places
Snacks You’ll Never Be Able to Eat….. Again
These foods and drinks used to grace the pantry shelves of many American households. But their glory days have passed, and now these items are discontinued.
A recent Reddit thread explored the items that people are the most nostalgic for, and we decided to do our own research on some beloved lost brands.
Some soda varieties just didn’t click. There are also lost fast food and snack items. A certain discontinued flavor of Doritos has people especially upset.
Altoids’ Tangerine Sours were discontinued in 2010.
TumblrButterfinger BB’s were mini peanut butter and chocolate candy balls. They were discontinued in 2006.
images.wikia.comBlack Pepper Jack Doritos were released about a decade ago and discontinued around 2008.
RaubDab onFlickrPlanter’s Cheez Balls were discontinued in 2006. Several online petitions plead for their return.
lobablanca.comWonder Ball was a spherical chocolate ball with a toy inside. Nestle stopped manufacturing them in 1997 after some children chocked on the toys.
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Mr T in DC via Flickr
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French Toast Crunch was a cereal by General Mills that was discontinued in 2006.
TumblrKeebler Magic Middles were beloved in the 1980s. They were a vanilla shortbread with a chocolate middle.
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Crispy M&M’s were discontinued in the U.S. in 2005, but are still available in some European countries.
Mr T in DC via FlickrSurge was released by Coca-Cola to compete with Mountain Dew in 1996. The beverage was discontinued by 2003.
Wikimedia CommonsOreo O’s was a cookie-themed cereal launched by Post in 1997. It was discontinued 10 years later.
Wikimedia CommonsTic Tac recently confirmed on its website that it had discontinued its Cinnamon and Spearmint flavors.
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Wikimedia CommonsBurger King chicken fries were discontinued in January 2012 and replaced with chicken strips.
johnnyamerica.comThe Snapple Element Drinks were popular in the early 2000s, but were discontinued. Since then, several online petitions have begged for their return.
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Cherry Vanilla Coke (and a diet version) was launched in 2006 but discontinued just a year later.
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Fiery Habanero Doritos were discontinued in 2009.
flickrJello Pudding Pops were a popsicle advertised by Bill Cosby. They disappeared in the early ’90s.
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x-entertainment.comEach flavor of Hi-C fruit snacks looked like the fruit it represented. The Brach’s snacks have been discontinued.
caloriecount.about.com3D Doritos were launched in the early 2000′s and discontinued a few years later.
TumblrLemon Ice Gatorade hasn’t been around for a decade, but it does have its own Facebook page.
Apple Newtons were an offshoot of the popular Fig Newton brand. Other discontinued flavors include grape and cherry.
Wikimedia CommonsCarnation breakfast bars were a staple in the 1980s. They also have a Facebook page pleading for their return.
FacebookSnapple’s Mint Iced Tea was taken off the shelves back in 2007.
PhotobucketMy Christmas so far. Part 1
Death of the Drive-In
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One of my fondest memories as a kid, was going to the drive-in and catching a double feature. I was fortunate enough to have a drive-in just a couple of miles from my house. I remember my first drive-in double feature like it was yesterday. They were “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” and “The Legend Of Boggy Creek”. Back then our drive-in had two screens, one was for mainstream movies and the other was more of a revival screen, mainly showing old horror and sci-fi movies. Neither of them were really great movies, but in my mind they were the best. I remember seeing a 3-D double feature of “House Of Wax” and “The Creature From The Black Lagoon”. I couldn’t sleep the week before because I was so excited. But what happened to this American institution?
The heyday of the drive-in came in 1957 when there was more than 3700 screens nationwide as opposed to less than 700 screens operating now. Gone are the days of the metal speaker that hung on your window, only to be replaced by FM stereo broadcasts. Also gone were the B-movies which I loved so much. Now you can only catch a double feature of “Madea Goes To Hell” and “Madea Finds A Tumor”.
The drive-in concept started in Camden, NJ by Richard M. Hollinghead Jr. Mr. Hollinghead took a makeshift movie screen and nailed it between two trees and set up a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car and the drive-in was born. The following year he patented his concept. On June 6, 1933 he opened the first drive-in theater in Camden, NJ. It had the capacity of about 400 cars, and came complete with a concession cart that sold peanuts and bottled soda. For the sound he used 3 large RCA speakers that could be heard for miles around. Over the next decade, drive-ins grew at a rather slow pace. In 1941, the in-car speaker was invented, but due to WWII there was a shortage of hard metals, so the concept had to be put on hold. In 1946, the first in-car speakers were installed and from there it sky rocketed. During the early 50’s it was estimated that each week five new drive-ins opened across the country.
By 1960 the reputation of drive-ins had changed for the worse. They became known as “passion pits”. A place where people went to perform immoral acts. Due to this fact, the quality of movies shown really dropped. A lot of drive-in owners believed that nobody went to the drive-in for the movie, so instead of of paying huge amounts of money to the big movie studios they went with more low budget independent B-movies, Most of them were sexploitation and horror movies. Throughout the 60’s and 70’s this was the common place across America and this led to lots and lots of closings. In the 1980’s, the land that most drive-ins sat on became really valuable and was more profitable to sell than to keep the drive-ins up and running. Even more disappeared from the landscape and were replaced by Walmarts and farmers co-ops. The ones in small towns that couldn’t or didn’t sell were shut down and abandoned. There are hundreds of dilapidated drive-in screens littering the small towns of America. In 1990 it had a small resurgence as they became more family friendly once again and they started running first run movies again with a second or third run 2nd feature. It continues this way today.
I’m fortunate enough to still have my childhood drive-in open today. It has gone from two screens to four screens and also has FM stereo sound. The two new screens don’t even have speaker stands, they are just open parking lots. Also missing are the great fright double features which once dominated screens everywhere. No more William Castle or Roger Corman double features, only studio popcorn movies are now shown.
The importance of the drive-in in the history of horror movies is more important than that of the indoor theater. For decades, most of the horror produced was released with drive-ins in mind. Drive-ins were synonymous with horror movies. It is estimated that 10% to 15% of horror movies would have never been made if there were no drive-ins ever built. These drive-in horror movies helped increase the popularity of the genre today. I just can’t help to think what the status of horror would be today without drive-ins 40 or 50 years ago.
If you are lucky enough to have a drive-in near you, pack up the family and go support this dying breed. If you are not fortunate enough to have one and you have a couple thousand extra dollars, you can have your own personal drive-in. They now sell kits which have a DLP projector, a 12’ inflatable screen, sound system and FM transmitter. You can set it up in your driveway in less than 10 minutes and relive the glory days. (I’m planning on getting one of these kits.) Maybe you just want to enjoy some of those awfully good drive-in classics—look no further than Something Weird Video. http://www.somethingweird.com/ They have put together hundreds of double feature discs, complete with cheesy trailers and drive-in intermission animations. All of their DVDs are $10 dollars each or you can find some of their best ones on Netflix.
Support your local drive-in.
