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80’s – I’m ready to pogo bounce

~ Sandi ~ 4 Comments

I’m a huge 80’s fan.

I was a teenager when all the John Hughes “Brat Pack” movies were the rage.  I loved Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Emilo Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, James Spader…etc.

Also, during this time, I loved the 80’s New Wave, punk, ska, reggae music.  Around this time, English Beat had a hit with Mirror in the Bathroom.  It was one of my favorites.  Sadly, I was too young to attend concerts and see all these great bands during their peak days.  However, now that we have the Jack FM concert (that combines all different genres of 80/90s bands) and the Fair grounds that like to “flash back,” I’ve been able to see some of my favorites from youth.

I was so excited to have seen Joan Jett, Adam Ant and lead singer of Bow Wow Wow, Psychedelic Furs, Stray Cats, B52s, Huey Lewis and the News.  So many bands that still sound fantastic.  (even if they can’t hit the same ranges they used to)

With that said, one band I’ve never seen is the English Beat, or simply, The Beat.  The O.C. Fairgrounds, Pacific Amphitheater, has their summer concert series.  UB40, English Beat, and Bob Marley’s grandson are playing today!  And we got tickets!  I’m going to be in a relaxed mood here in just a few short hours!

Great thing about Sunday concerts at the fair, they begin at 6pm.  That’s good, because we older folk, we want to get to bed in a reasonable hour.  (hahahah)  Especially, if we were (or attempted) pogo dancing.

Power Powder

~ Sandi ~ 2 Comments

Coach told the kids, the trick to a tight swim cap is to “sprinkle” a little baby powder inside the cap so it doesn’t stick to itself and is easier to slide on your head.

One day, our 10-year-old daughter was really struggling with her cap and had it partially on her head, and eventually requested my help to pull it down further.  As I was pulling, my fingers slipped off the cap because powder residue had made it to the outside, and a piece of the cap tore OFF. When that happened, the cap snapped back onto her head and a big POOF of powder went into the air. (huh?)

She looked in HORROR at the teeniest, tiniest piece of plastic in my hand, screeched, and ripped the cap off her head and threw it on the ground. Chunks of powder fell to the patio – what the heck?  Looking at her, I couldn’t help but laugh, enraging her further,  as there were clumps of baby powder stuck to her curly hair. In her struggles, she had kept adding more powder to the cap thinking it would help.  I explained to her that only a little bit was sufficient. I suspect the entire mini travel bottle was used, but she insisted only a little was sprinkled.  Then why do you look like George Washington, honey?

 

Million Miles Away – A to Z Challenge

~ Sandi ~ 14 Comments
Letter M of A to Z challenge

The only “M” word that immediately popped into my head, was this 80’s tune that I just loved!  A Million Miles away, by The Plimsouls, was featured in one of my favorite 80’s flicks, Valley Girl. (1983)  It had Nicholas Cage before he was “known.”  And I was just 12 years old.

Anyway, KROQ (Southern California radio station, known for alternative/new wave music) blasted them all the time.  I think they were one of my first tape cassettes I bought, yeah, if you remember those.  (Before CDs and the internet.)  I immediately liked other songs of theirs.  MTV provides a great biography, how Rodney Bingenheimer (KROQ DJ on late at night called “Rodney on the Roq”) was known for playing unknown bands and having them discovered.  I believe he was the first to play the Plimsouls.  In 2007, he got a Hollywood Star and is almost 70 years old.  Rodney is still on between 12AM – 3AM

Actually, this video held up well over the years.  It’s funny to watch and immediately see things from the 80’s – they are on a bus and there’s a Flash Dance movie poster on the marquee.  The crazy hair dos at the party.  It makes me miss that time, and I wish I had been a little older when all these bands were really coming on the scene, as I would have loved to have gone to their concerts.  The Plimsouls were getting their start in the late 70’s, from Paramount, California.  I believe they formed in 1978.  By 1980, people already knew who they were.  1983, they were all over the radio.

 

Lucky Charms, Cat food, and green poop – A to Z Challenge

~ Sandi ~ 5 Comments
Letter L of A to Z challenge

Lucky Charms.  Are you certain it’s cereal?  Because the non-marshmallow pieces certainly look like cat food, with a sugar coating?  Just sayin’.

Here Kitty, Kitty. Meow-liciious

Normally, we don’t buy this cereal, but I thought it would be fun.  The thought about the cat food only hit as I was picking up pieces off the floor as my 12 year old son and 10 year old daughter polished off an entire box within a day and 1/2.

Well, except a tiny, itty bitty amount left that I ate… my son came strolling out of his room 30 minutes later, after his first bowl, and had a complete hissy-fit because the remaining tiny portion was gone.  Immediately, he charged his sister’s room to go yell at her.

Just before stopping him to admit my guilt,  the tiny Lucky Charms Leprechaun popped on my shoulder and in his Irish accent said,

What?

 “Oh, my stars!  Quick!  Blame it on the Trix Rabbit!”

But I fessed-up anyway:

“Dude, I ate it.  It was a tiny amount left and I wanted to throw out the box.”

OMG – MOMMMMMMMMM!  He marched into his room and slammed the door.

That was how I was able to compare my day to my husband’s.  Just to put it ALL into perspective for him.  At least, he didn’t have to deal with a Charms war.  Oh, and if you eat too much, it turns your poop GREEN.  Don’t ask me how I know that, not from experience or anything.

Kiddles – A to Z Challenge

~ Sandi ~ 3 Comments
Letter K of A to Z challenge

I was completely void of K words/phrases in my mind for the A to Z challenge.  I googled, “words that start with K,” and I’m so glad I did!  I have spent a good 15 minutes on this site that allows people to submit funny words and definitions.

From the site Bored at Uni

If you and your friends/family use words or phrases that only you know the meaning of, STOP BEING SO SELFISH!! Let everyone share your wisdom here and soon people from the other side of the world will be using it, if slightly mispronounced.

I scrolled through just the K letter alone and cracked up several times.  The other day, my 12 year old son told me (while I was dropping him off at school)

“No kiss, mom.  I’m going to give you a side- hug and that’s it, okay?” 

(meaning no full-body hug / kind of lean to the side and bump shoulders/pat each other on the back)  Pretty soon I’ll be lucky to even get a “fist-bump.”

I HAD NO CLUE, there’s a word for this:

Kiddles – That unwanted affection from parents to kids at un-cool times