Tuesday, May 26, 2015

80s memorabilia, or if you like nostalgia

hello there

well, what do you know. it's the will and the force of the nature of football not to let us return to the big table via the back door of a play-off. apparently we are destined to instead return to where we belong as champions at the conclusion of next season, which is fair enough.

leaving that aside, today seemed like pretty much as being a good a day as any to bestow upon my (considerably) better half some rather fetching, attractive and partially shiny items relating to a number (three, to be precise) of the more iconic moments of 80s cinema. i asked her if she would permit me to post some pictures here for those interested and she agreed to give me such permission.



indeed they are iconic, partially shiny and, for the most part i would trust you agree, look you see, shiny. those of you content with that group picture of these items can, freely, head off now if you are one of them people in a rush. should you, however, want to see closer images - and indeed hear one of them in action, then i do encourage you to read on.

the 80s in cinema, and indeed on TV, was a time of some amazing cars being unleashed as a form of entertainment, with many now being associated in an indelible way that sees them forever linked to the movies and shows they were in. think, if you will, the DeLorean with the flux capacitor bunged in, the hearse converted to a rudimentary spectre and poltergeist catcher (more on that later), the V8 interceptor,  and any car what Sonny drove in Miami Vice. also that massive truck that singer drove in Convoy.

then there was the coolest of the cool. yes, as you can see right here, the Pontiac what the Bandit drove in the Smokey And The Bandit films. films that, for the most part, my (considerably) better half rates quite highly.

i understand this is nothing short of sacrilege at the altar of Burt Reynolds, but i always far preferred the Cannonball Run films to the Smokey adventures. not that there was anything wrong with the Smokey films. as point of fact, the second of the films is one i shall always have very fond memories of it, as the presence of Cousin Gaylord was one that saw Spiros - briefly and to no further action in that regard - briefly contemplate life as a member of the constabulary.

a closer look at the Bandit's Pontiac? why sure, but it is still in the packaging. and, knowing my (considerably) better half, it will remain in the packaging for life. she preserves them, look you see.



weirdly, speaking of iconic 80s cars, we were today briefly followed by a very passable recreation of KITT off of Knight Rider. i have taken a brief video of it (as best i could), so you can have a look later, as and when i remember to add it here i suppose.


yes, that is indeed an 80s style notepad that the Ghostbusters logo is sat on. very much of a nature like the one that the nerdy one off of The Breakfast Club wrote the group statement on.

this i could not resist when i saw it, and it was sold even before i pressed the Try Me button, which with some luck you will be able to see and hear what happens when you do just now. unless you have scrolled down and played it already.

Ghostbusters, man. what a film. i have no idea at all, though, why so many people think a third film would be any good; presumably they forgot how bad the second one was. if ever a film should have been left perfectly alone as it was, it was Ghostbusters.

a particular highlight was, of course, the award winning theme song off of Ray Parker jnr. the award winning theme song which stole its music, left right and centre, off of I Want A New Drug by Huey Lewis And The News, off their partially celebrated Sports album. a deal was brokered, of course, to keep quiet about it. this was presumably in exchange for coins of money. as i recall, Huey Lewis forfeited those coins of money when he did speak out about the "borrowed" nature of the Ghostbusters song in an interview somewhere.

but hey, it's still a great song, and that's what you hear when you press the Try Me button on the Ghostubusters logo stuffed doll thing you see here. see, and, i hope, hear too on this clip.



thankfully it doesn't play too much of the song, lest i or anyone else who had bought one of these would perhaps need to pay Huey Lewis and his News some coins of money in exchange for him not mentioning that we were playing the song.

another 80s classic that did, as point of fact, get a pretty decent sequel, was Gremlins. at the heart of that film being a classic was Gizmo, the loveable Mogwai thingie. well, loveable up to the point that he/she/it spawned all of them naughty Mogwai things that transformed into the Gremlins of the movie title.

but never mind that. here is Gizmo looking cute and adorable in the box that its owner has been so kind to fashion as a home for him/her/it.



oh right, apparently Gizmo is in fact a boy, according to some super fans - i didn't say nerds - that have set up some sort of encyclopaedia about it all. if he is a boy, how come he gave birth to all them other things that are a bit like him, only more vicious?

i have no doubt at all that if i read through all that website think i just linked to there would be a perfectly reasonable explanation as to how it is the boys in the world of the Mogwai that give birth. but, frankly, i can't be bothered. also, it sounds like a girl when it sings.

what exactly is this piece of classy Gremlins merchandise, you ask? well, tricky to say bar the obvious as it remains boxed, but as far as i can tell the box that Gizmo is in has wheels on it, and if you pull the box backwards it charges up a generator and lets Gizmo go driving around in his box for a bit. nice one.

my (considerably) better half was quite the fan of the Gremlins films and, in fairness, is not everyone who has watched them? boss, they are.

i am quite tired. i started writing all of this earlier today, right, and then we ended up taking a sojourn sort of thing to the coast. our sojourn back was some hour or so longer than we had imagined, due to the road being closed as a result of an accident which saw at least one car go up in flames. i trust everyone was ok, or at least hope they are. a helicopter landed and everything;  in that sense i suppose it was quite Johannesburg. weirdly, we had to detour via a place called Loftus to get home.

anyway, that will do. i suspect i will be too tired to write up the adventures of today, but shall try to shot some videos and pics up soon. in the mean time, then, i hope that some of these elements of 80s memorabilia have been of interest to you.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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