yeah, one of them "keep this blog ticking over" posts, look you see. sorry, i probably have one or two serious whines and gripes to post and that, but i'm still struggling with ebola laced, scurvy strength man flu that has sarin gas in it. that, and no real energy to write, alas.
here we go, then, with seven random images from the past (as opposed to the future) that i have culled for your viewing pleasure.
actually, two things happened, i believe. one is that all them shops that are around now started issuing "saving stamps" and the likes for use on a traditional Christmas shop, and indeed started selling their own hampers.
the second, of course, would be that big massive hamper company, Farepak i think, going bust and loads and loads of people missing out on their Christmas hamper and losing money.
my memories of Christmas hampers would be ones of vague wonder. i can remember Mum & Dad being quite chuffed as and when theirs arrived, for it was full of all sorts of exotic, unusual and rare items - mostly that one would eat - which you would not have during the year. this was all in an era, of course, where there was less choice about things that you ate, with something off the beaten track somewhat difficult to access.
now, of course, once can go absolutely mental any time they like, getting anything they care to think of from anywhere in the world, any time you like.
is the lack of this special, rare stuff loaded Christmas hamper one of the reasons why Christmas no longer feels as magical and special as it once did? maybe, i guess. nothing seems seasonal beyond the weather anymore, really, so no one time feels all that more special than the other i suppose. it could be that sort of thing, i guess, or it could just be me getting old.
i did ask, late last year, if no one does them hampers anymore, and i got a sort of a "no, not really" answer to it from everyone. as mentioned above, i suppose it's sort of all why exactly would you buy a box, case or if you like hamper of stuff for Christmas when all the stuff in it was stuff you had all the time, anyway?
another thing that people would no longer do is go to an actual store and rent a movie for the night to watch, hence you no longer seeing smart, full page adverts like this.
boss that they used Commando to promote the idea of going down the street and renting a video, even if they downplayed the name of the film somewhat. i am pretty sure that CBS FOX released Aliens round the same time too on tape, which must have made for a bumper time down at the rental store.
it's all this "streaming" and download business now, of course, and we have a generation that will never own a movie or album on an actual, physical thing that was created purely to house it. they seem happy enough with all that, but i do kind of miss the days of browsing boxes, looking for a film to rent with mates.
when you rented a video, you of course required something to watch it on. and what better, you may well ask, than a smart four head JVC machine?
i have absolutely no idea what the modern day equivalent of increasing the heads in a video machine would be. i don't think you can shove more than one laser into a DVD or Blu Ray. i suppose for all that streaming stuff it would be increasing the RAM or something?
just as with vinyl, there's a bit of romance to the old video machine. it's easy to forget how groundbreaking it was, especially outside of America where people only had 3 or maybe 4 TV channels to choose from. although from America one got stories that remain legend to this day - like how it was almost a contractual obligation for any British artist going to New York to call in at John Lennon's apartment and watch his video copy of The Exorcist, a film that at the time the British censors told Warner to "not even bother" trying to get the film released in the UK. watching a stream or download of a movie that theoretically anyone could access from any part of he world doesn't have quite the same "cool" ring to it. hey ho.
now, as my occasional reviews of things like Lynx body sprays will tell you, i am reasonably rather comfortable with exploring my sexuality by means of trying and testing out different scents from time to time. i've not, so far as i am aware, ever tried this one before, but i would be keen to give it a go.
i have the oddest feeling that if this ad has not appeared on this blog before, then at least another ad for this 'musk cologne' has. sorry about that, if it is the case.
can you still even get this stuff? probably, although one suspects that they might not be so keen to promote it with horns these days, with that sort of thing creating the wrong image, apparently.
i am pretty sure i saw this Orca film on the BBC once, and my memory of it was pretty much limited to a rather graphic and harrowing scene of a whale (Orca, i guess) giving birth. i certainly don't recall it being as awesome or as exciting as this poster implied it would be.
i've just checked the news and i am disappointed, as an aside, to see that neither Alistair Cook nor any of the other so-called members of the England cricket team have been arrested yet. this is frustrating, and shows how law and order has broken down. they are clearly guilty of something, and it would not have been all that difficult for the constabulary to find them in the dressing room of Lord's and charge them.
returning to Orca, and to say it was a cheap cash-in on the back of the success of Jaws would be to be of the logic that says The Empire Strikes Back was prompted by the success of Battle Beyond The Stars. that's two quality actors that Orca had attached to it. no doubt Jaws prompted money to be made available for Orca, but they made it properly at least. these days a "cheap cash in" film usually means some straight to DVD affair made for $1million and starring a member of the Busey family. as in we cannot, surely, be far off from seeing Metal Man, about Terry Stalk who is a billionaire inventor that makes a class metal man suit, starring Jake or Gary, being released.
cigarettes which are named after a specific place are something that are not new. they are, however, something that Spiros has recently discovered, and he is very excited about getting for me some fags that are named after places of consequence. i suspect Salem shall not be a brand he accesses, but you never know. i kind of hope he does, as they look smart.
i would be, like, totes keen and down on the Salem life, as presented and illustrated in that advert. it looks awesome, man - reasonably bright coloured shirts, outstanding strides, babes and rods.
looking at that advert i can say i really, really miss soft pack cigarettes. you just get box packets here in England, with that flip top lid on the go. soft pack cigarettes are the natural way to have them, and i wish i could get packets of them with ease.
yeah, i am supposed to be doing all that quitting / cutting down considerably thing still, dear reader, but hey, there you go. i will get around to it, or nature shall intervene i suppose.
finally, then, a rather smart looking celebratory plate for all that Star Wars stuff. it says it is in celebration of the 15th anniversary of it, so i am guessing this is off of 1992?
no, it's not as smart or as classy as that Top Gear Presenter Of Hearts plate that i won off of The Viz, but then what is, dear reader, what is.
it's only about four or five months before Star Wars Episode VII : Mission To Moscow gets released, isn't it? that would mean we are only four or five months away from hearing how Disney, rather than George Lucas, has destroyed the childhood memories of assorted 40 - 50 year olds living in Momma's basement in the more select areas of America. can't wait.
anyway, let me go and take a handful of random pills, see if that sorts out all of this manflu business that i have.
more as and when i have stuff of passing interest!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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