| What a bummer, while it is true that the station jumped the shark when Charles left and they started airing Stern and catering to frat boys, but still, it's the end of an era. I listened to BCN for years, had their sticker on my car in H.S. I have fond memories of the Cosmic Muffin, The Big Mattress, Patrick's traffic report with "Grossmans Gulch" , The "Spring Time for Boston on BCN - Boiiing" and my all time favorite "Tank Phillipi Ryan", and of course winning a few concert ticket's and being exposed to great music in the 70's and 80's. |
In the 70's when I was a kid, I mowed a few lawns for spending money, rather than ruin the family riding mower, my Dad would take me to the local Lawnmower Shop where we could rent one of these Bob Cat push mowers. These mowers were practically indestructible, with a cast aluminum deck, steel wheels with bearings and B&S commercial motors. Everything was bomb proof on these units, even the grass catcher was simple and had a rugged steel frame. More... If you look closely you can see that the wheels had no height adjustment lever and had to be set with with a wrench. That last bit always struck me as unnecessarily and conspicuously milspec rugged, but whatever, it was simple. These mowers were very popular with the pro landscaping set for a long time and then they disappeared. Near as I can tell, this type/model of mower was originally put out by the Sensation company, and enjoyed considerable popularity and loyalty for many years. I am not sure if it came to Bob Cat by merger or license, but I guess Sensation changed hands a few times and was ultimately swallowed up by Lawn Boy (Started by Evinrude Outboards), which then got eaten by Toro (which had previously gobbled up Wheel Horse Tractors - a Division of AMC, yes, that AMC). So somewhere in this cluster#%$ of mergers, somebody killed this model. I wish they hadn't the world could use a simple durable mower. |
| When I was a kid, someone in our neighborhood had one of these in blue and I always thought it was a really cool car. I love the styling, it's so mini Corvette-esque, though in truth the Corvette model it resembles came several years later. To me the Opel GT calls to mind the Toyota 2000GT, but whatever - it still looks great, and it's an awesome period piece. Never numerous, today these are scarcer than hen's teeth, and I haven't seen one in forever. The GT seems to be largely ignored by the collector market and it is relatively affordable for a rare old car. Bonus Trivia: The GT's retractable headlights are operated manually by a lever in the center console. The shot above is a vintage publicity shot and I have to ask, WTF is happening in this picture, why does the dude have a playboy magazine? |
I am one of the few unabashed 928 fans out there, having spent the better part of puberty lusting after one. Sure, I would have a few crushes on the odd Italian or British cars, but the 928 was the first car I absolutely loved. Part of that is it's impeccable timing, the 928 came into being as I entered the vulnerable age of 13. What really popped my cork about the 928 however was the styling, keep in mind the 928 debuted in 1978, when brown Cordoba's (see below) roamed the earth and cars still had names including the words "Brougham" and "Squire" and Les Nesmond anchored the news at WKRP. There was NOTHING that looked like the 928, it was the future embodied, like Barbara Bain in a space 1999 jumpsuit, it somehow managed to be both plain, futuristic and sexy. It's no coincidence that the movie poster for Risky Business featured Rebecca De Mornay draped on the hood of a 928. I saw one on the street the this morning and I swear to Christ it felt like I was 13 again. |
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| RIP Ricardo |
 Unfortunately it's now long gone, but I have some extremely fond memories of the Dennis Drive-In. In the early summer, the sun goes down late on the Cape, real late, 9-9:30 late, so a trip to the drive in when we were little almost always involved jammies and sleeping bags. When we had a wagon or truck, we would park facing backwards and open the tailgate. The three of us kids would lie down facing out the back with our pillows on the tailgate. Since the speaker (pictured right) was invariably shitty and hung on one of the front windows, there was considerable debate among us siblings as to what exactly was being said at any one time. This was how I experienced both Jaws and Star Wars, the two seminal movies of my childhood. Needless to say Jaws scared the living crap out of me, to the point where I couldn't go in the water for like a year, I shit you not. Star Wars on the other hand topped up an imagination originally filled with Star Trek and Forbidden Planet. In high school I also saw The World According to Garp while parked with a girlfriend in an adjacent development's cul-de-sac. By that time (~1982) the speakers had been replaced with a system that broadcast radio over FM. One of the things I remember most is the peculiar experience of climbing out of your cozy sleeping bag, putting your sneakers on and walking to the snack bar to get some popcorn or go to the pot (most likely the pot as I am pretty sure we brought our own refreshments), it's a weird feeling walking around in what is essentially a huge dark parking lot in your pajamas trying to watch the screen and where you are going at the same time, stopping from time to time as something exciting happened in the movie. Finding your way back was a bitch, in the dark cars look remarkably alike and it was easy to get turned around, especially when you were focused on the movie. I hope we can find a drive-in this summer, our Van has a bed in the back and rear facing seats, it is the ultimate drive-in mobile |
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| In the 1970's, the arrival of the new Sears catalogue was an eagerly anticipated event and was met with a level of enthusiasm virtually unheard of today (I must confess, to this day, I remember what the catalogue smelled like). The phonebook sized, full color, "Dream Book" was the key to a full year's worth of childhood fantasy. Looking through the catalogue you could piece together in your mind the room that would eventually be expressed as so many adult "Man Caves". The Briggs & Stratton powered "minibike" was a staple of those catalogues and enjoyed a brief period of popularity more or less concurrent with Banana Splits reruns. All in all, a pretty crappy little vehicle, the minbike's short reign as the object of boyhood lust was ended with the introduction of 80cc Japanese Motocross bikes, three wheelers and BMX Bicycles. |
 | Although virtually unheard of in the U.S. (Most likely because of our excellent law schools), the Flymo Hover lawnmower enjoyed considerable success in the U.K. and is still being sold there. The Flymo was available in the States for a short time and I remember seeing a few ads on UHF TV alongside the Popiel Pocket Fisherman and Monkees LP's. I was in middle school and mowed lawns during the summer for money and the Flymo held out the tantalizing promise of effortless lawn mowing, to say I wanted one is the understatement of the year. You have to remember that this was around the same time Star Wars came out and the Flymo was the closest you could come to Luke's landspeeder and it was a good bit more practical to boot (what with it's ability to mow the lawn and all). With spinning blades and the ability to hoover, I think the Flymo has the potential to be an excellent all around anti-Zombie weapon when modified McGruber style. |
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