Retroguy's Wonderland

People say that relentless heat can mess you up in many ways. It can make some people nauseous, dehydrate you, give you a headache, make you drowsy or in some cases, it destroys your ability spell ! I'm not bying itt thoughh. I thunck thets a lode of crips.  Yup, it's been a pretty hot one this week with temperature records being broken, hydro grids being strained to the limit and people with air conditioning suddenly having friends over unexpectedly. You can actually buy a raw steak and cook it on your dashboard during the drive home.  While some would say this heat wave is a result of global warming, others say it is the coming of the end. I just think it's a great excuse to hear a great summer retro classic !  

Back on June 16, 1911, a group of technology companies merged and called themselves the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. Kind of catchy but later in 1924 they decided they needed something catchier and so renamed themselves International Business Machines which is now better known to the world as IBM.  IBM has dominated the technology sector for most of it's 100 year history by having the uncanny ability to foresee where technology is heading and having the right product mix available to support the need. They also were smart enough to recognize a dieing technology or something well on it's way to being a commodity and got out of that business before losing money.  Some examples of this would be getting out of the timeclock business, selling off their typewriter division to a little company called Lexmark ones they recognized the word processor was about to crush the once mighty typewriter, selling off their hard drive division to Hitachi even though they invented ...

One of the driving forces in early hip hop and Electrofunk was DJ / producer Arther Baker. Starting as a club DJ in the early 70s, he began experimenting with the new electronic sounds of the day and began producing remixes on analog tape. Long before digital took over, to create a quality mix required skill and patience since most of what you were doing was pretty much live. You needed mad skillz back in the day not like these days were software downloaded for free can create a remix on a whim. Though you may not have heard of him, you certainly have heard his work since his collaborations include artists like Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force, Pet Shop Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Hall and Oats, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, ABC, Nenah Cherry and New Order to name a few. He was actually responsible for taking an obscure, instrumental piece from a 1984 New Order album "Lies, Power and Corruption" and churning it into the now classic Blue Monday.   His style was easil...

Growing up in Canada in the 80s exposed me to many Euro inspired music groups and to be honest back then I wasn't that in tune with who was who in the music world so every once in a while I'd pick up on a group and think they were some avante garde, new wave group from the U.K. or France. Lime was one of those groups.  Formed in Montreal in the early 80s by the husband and wife team of Denis and Denyse LePage, they took full advantage of the exploding electronic music scene and created a bunch of Euro-disco inspired tracks. The story of Lime does have a few twists in it though (Lime twist.....get it ?....never mind) with some speculating that Denis and Denyse were in fact the same person that recorded both the male and female parts himself and used two attractive people to front the band when touring kinda like Milli Vanelli ended up doing years later. Regardless, they did leave behind some club classics. Babe, We're Gonna Love Tonight is one such classic from their seco...

It kind of sucks when things you grew up with and liked or possibly loved get twisted into something different and are forever tied to some stupid act or worse a really really really really dumb guy. When I was a kid, Oscar Mayer was synonymous with delicious hot dogs or bologna. A wiener was something you looked forward to at a ballgame or a cookout. Now, when someone says wiener, you immediately think of: Oh sorry, that's a picture of a twit not a wiener........ or is it both....... hmmmm, so confused now. Honestly though, who could have seen it coming. Anthony Weiner always looked so confident, so professional and well adjusted. A man of power and resolve. Why would there be any reason after enjoying moderate political success that he'd crave and need the admiration of young women to feel powerful and accomplished? I'm sure as a young lad he got his ya ya's out so that as an adult he could keep his libido in check. After all the action he must have go...

As you've no doubt already heard, today is the end of the world so if you have any unfinished business to attend to, get moving and get er' done. One thing's for sure, it's not like we didn't have any warnings about the inevitable coming of the apocalypse. Signs were everywhere. Still not convinced ? If you were an almighty power and gave your creation free will to take all the beauty you've given them to go forth and enhance life on earth and harness the wonders all around you and the best we come up with is this: Wouldn't you cash in the chips and move on to something else too? Still not convinced ? How about this: Granted - he is amusing but holy cow, where the hell do we go from here ?!?! So again, the end is literally around the corner so here's a list of things to do (or not to do) in lieu of the coming destruction. 1. Don't pay any debt. (Why bother?) 2. Run with scissors. (What's the worst that can happen, you're gonna d...

Sad news today from the world of professional "real" wrestling. Randy "Macho Man" Savage died tragically after suffering a heart attack while driving his SUV in Tampa, Florida. His wife, who was in the car with him, only suffered minor injuries. Randall Mario Poffo held twenty championship titles during his professional career and along with Hulk Hogan was one of the primary drivers behind the success of the WWF and bringing professional wrestling to the mainstream. He brought a unique style to the ring along with his raspy voice and trademark "Ohhhh yeaaah" and took full advantage of the marketing machine that was the WWF (now the WWE) and became one of their biggest stars. In typical wrestling form, he shifted side many times during his career going from bad guy to good guy making and breaking various alliances along the way and was "managed" for most of his career by his wife Elizabeth Ann "Miss Elizabeth" Hulette who died of a...

Time and time again there is evidence that nothing is new. It's all been done before. Everything is a remix. There are very rarely new and original ideas. Need more proof ? Check out the picture below of the recent Royal wedding of Will and Kate and the other classic Royal wedding in Cinderella which was a Disney movie from 1950. Honestly, you'd think the British Royal family could come up with an original thought !!

I was shocked to find out that the picture floating around of the U.S. President in the situation room watching the events unfold in Abbottabad were doctored. They lied damn it !! Unbelievable. However - the truth can not be suppressed. Here now is the un-retouched, original photo of the situation room on that fateful, historic night with the President and his staff. This explains a lot. Un-edited actual image of the White House situation room May 1, 2011

I came across the original trailer for the now classic Friday the 13th. By today's standards, there isn't enough creepiness in the trailer to make anyone want to go see it. Honestly I've seen scarier scenes in Toy Story or an episode of the Wiggles. That Jeff dude on the Wiggles gives me the willies. Seriously, don't wake him. 

Back when the world of personal computing was young, Commodore computers pretty much were the ones to beat. The company offered a pretty compelling argument, if you're going to spend money on a gaming platform, why not spend it on an actual computer that played awesome (for the time) video games instead.  With the success of the company's entry level personal computer, the VIC 20, Commodore released their next generation platform the C64 in 1982. This 8-bit wonder machine offered an unheard of 64K standard memory, standard audio and video that was better than IBM and Apple's offerings, all for a mere $595 which was far less expensive than anything comparable. It game with a built in RF modulator which allowed you to connect it to a TV and came built in with the Basic programming language on startup. Nothing could come close to that at the time.   Commodore Data Cassette The machine's success came in part from Commodore's decision to offer it through regular r...

If you happen to have forgotten mother's day, which is is today, don't be surprised if the looks your getting from mama look something like this. And rightly so. After all, regardless of what you think of your mother, remember one thing - she grew a human being inside her body. Let me say that again - she grew a human being (or possibly a few) in her body. For that alone you have to respect her. She sacrificed her body, time and energy and smothered you with unconditional love to make you the person you are today and you couldn't take the time to drop by a Hallmark store? Mr T pities the fool that doesn't respect his mom.  I'm still lucky to have my mom in my life and it amazes me that even at her age she seems to have more energy than I do and still manages to keep smiling even with all the aches and pain that come with getting older. What's the secret ? How does she do it ? Many have entertained the Supermom theory and that would certainly explain a lot...

Yup I went there. What can I say, I'm a fan / geek. Here are a couple of commercials featuring the lighter side of the dark side.

Today's news about the elimination of America's public enemy number one brings to mind another day that I will never forget, September 11, 2001. As you know, on that day the world changed and most likely will never be the same.  On that day I found myself in Chicago, Illinois. The previous day was my travel day so even to this day I wonder what could have happened had I made arrangements to fly on the Monday morning rather then the Sunday afternoon. I was in training with a group of Americans from all over the United States. I was the only Canadian there. When we heard of the first plane hitting the first tower, we all went to a common room with a television and together saw the second plane hit and the collapse of the two towers along with the attack on the Pentagon and of course the other downed plane that through the courage of some brave souls prevented the unnecessary death of more innocent people. Obviously we were stunned into silence. I remember a helpless feeling w...

In less than twelve hours, Prince William takes his bride Catherine Middleton and walk her down the aisle of history. I wish Will & Kate many things - first of all happiness and healthy children. Secondly, exactly the opposite of what William's parents had - a loveless marriage, and finally I wish them peace and serenity. That will be a tough one.  When William's mother Lady Diana Spencer was introduced to the world, it spawned a new industry featuring unscrupulous photographers who did whatever they could to get a money shot of Diana during every facet of her life. Although the paparazzi existed before Diana was around, it was her emergence that took the scummy profession to a whole new low. She wasn't able to lead any sort of normal life and raising her children was impossible without the ever probing lenses of the air breathing pinheads that were ultimately responsible for her untimely death. Make no mistake, the paparazzi and our insatiable thirst for celebrit...

Star Wars pretty much changed everything when it came out back in 1977. It changed how we made movies, how we marketed movies, how we watched movies, and what we expected from movies. It pushed the envelope of movie making magic and brought many new technologies that are still used today including blue screen filming techniques and the THX recording standard. Worldwide, all the Star Wars movies have generated over $4.4 billion dollars in revenue. The movie spawned many rumors and unbelievable stories that would be hard to imagine today. For example, Kenner Toys signed on during production of the film to handle toy merchandising but thought the movie would flop so produced pretty much nothing and was unprepared for the huge demand after the success of the movie. For the Christmas rush, they sold boxes with coupons or basically toy I.O.Us and couldn't fulfill orders until March. George Lucas was smart enough to retain 40% of the merchandising profits. Originally Han Solo was suppo...

So the long weekend was great but as usual Monday came way too fast and was way to tough to bare. Hence the video of the day for a dreary, rainy Monday is a classic by Happy Mondays, "Step On". It was either that or "I Don't Like Mondays" but that would have been waaaay to obvious a selection. Happy Mondays formed in Salford, greater Manchester in 1980 and were a struggling band until being discovered at a battle of the bands at the legendary Hacienda nightclub. They evolved and worked with various producers and in time became a staple on the rave scene. "Step On" was released in 1990 off their Pills n' Thrills and Bellyaches album and reached number 5 on the UK charts and number 9 on the U.S. modern rock charts. It cheered me up - hope it does the same for you . 

There is no logo in the world that is more recognizable than the Coca Cola company's flagship product. Coke and its classic bottle design are a symbol known all over the world. It's gotten to the point you don't even need to have the word Coke in an advertisement as long as the distinctive bottle shape is there somewhere in the image. The classic shape has evolved over the last hundred years and has gone from a rather boring square shaped bottle to the curvy silhouette it now maintains. Below is a timeline picture showing the changes over the years . The shape is also responsible for designers of other products to be inspired by the sexy elements of the bottle, most notably  car designers. there are many examples but one of the best is the 1968 Corvette. The evolution of the bottle continues with many commemorative issues produced for various promotions but one of the latest trends was the availability of metal bottles as well.  There is no doubt the bottle will...

There's actually not as many music videos featuring fuzzy bunnies as you may think. Fear not though, here's a few that will either bring back memories, or fill you with incredible indifference. There's also a classic clip from Monty Python featuring a fuzzy bunny of the lethal kind.  For all my followers of the Catholic persuasion - Happy Easter !

It seems most TV dramas these days are either legal or medical dramas. Regardless of whether it's a gritty, hard hitting drama or a cerebral enigma that unravels itself over an hour, one thing is consistent. Sexy people. Now I'm not saying that there weren't beautiful people on TV back in the day - after all it was called the boob tube for a reason however it seems that casting directors didn't have to worry about eye appeal when choosing actors for their TV dramas. Here's a few examples:  Barnaby Jones (1973)  - First of all, who the heck names their kid Barnaby? Your just begging for a school yard beating with a label like that. Uncle Jed Clampett, a.k.a Buddy Epsen (who the heck names their kid buddy either !?!?) was the title character in this show about a retired detective and his daughter-in-law solving crimes while searching for his son's murderer. Just look at those bedroom eyes. Damn son...... turn it down a notch, it's gettin' hot in here. ...