Author: Chris M. Day

I'm almost 59 years old. I've been online for 33 years - starting with my own dial-up bulletin board system in 1993 - and continuing with AOL, my own dot.com web site, Myspace, WordPress, Twitter / X, Flickr, and Facebook.

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Career History Life Music People Television

Saturday Night Retro

It’s a special Friday night edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’ !

Back in November and December of 1985 I spent my first two months overseas in The United Kingdom at my first active duty Air Force permanent duty station. As a newly-assigned Airman I lived in one of the old post World War 2 era dormitories on base – rambler style with centralized community bathrooms. In other words you had to leave your room and walk down the hallway to use the toilet, take a shower, shave, wash your hands, and brush your teeth. There was no plumbing within the actual dorm rooms.

In the military a ‘day room’ is essentially a community living room with assorted furniture and a television. Our ‘day room’ in our particular dorm was damaged / unusable / off-limits, so we ‘dorm rats’ gathered together and took over an adjacent dorm’s day room. We met nightly after work to hang out, eat junk food, smoke cigarettes, drink beer (not me), watch British television, play Uno, and pretty much party like it was 1985 (sometimes all night long). Those are some of the greatest memories of my entire military career – from nearly 25 years ago. One of the biggest mistakes that I made early on was to buy my own television set for my dorm room because once I did that I unintentionally removed myself from that day room camaraderie. A few months later I went back over there, and it was never the same as it once was during those first two months. All of my old buddies had moved on – just as I had done.

One of the great Thursday night traditions that began in that day room and continued on during the entire time that I lived in the U.K. (the next two years) was watching “Top Of The Pops” on BBC-1. It aired weekly for over 40 years, and it was essentially their version of our “American Bandstand”. Here’s how a mid-December 1985 episode started at 7 PM GMT. It was one of those episodes that I watched alongside my day room buddies. On that week’s show Amazulu (an all-female British pop band) were in the Top 20 with their vivacious hit at the time “Don’t You Just Know It”.

Categories
Blogging Health Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s not hold nothin’ back.
– Can we talk here ?
– Less than half an hour ago I returned home from my Doctor’s office.
– I had a ‘medical procedure’ done this afternoon.
– It was short and simple and painless.
– Let’s just say that it had to do with bladders and kidneys.
– OK – I had an ultrasound done – because as you know – I am pregnant !
– Not really, but I never knew that guys got ultrasounds done.
– I think that this was my first one in modern recorded life history.
– When it began I got rejected because my bladder wasn’t full enough.
– So I had to drink numerous cups of water to fill it up to the brim.
– After about 15 minutes of sitting around the Doctor called me back in.
– My bladder passed the fullness test.
– The electronic examination of my bladder and kidneys lasted maybe 30 mins.
– I go back for the most anticipated ‘results show’ in about 15 days.
– I’ve got Life Group tonight, and I’m lookin’ forward to that.
– My dear friend Kelly D. was worried sick about me just now.
– Apparently she thinks that I’m fleeing the law for whatever reason.
– I set her straight.
– I’ve got one more day of work tomorrow before I flee the country on Saturday.
– Have no fear, for I’m coming back 8 days later.
– I hope to be all tan and refreshed by then.
– If I’m not then something obviously went horribly wrong.
– This blog will go dark for 10 days.
– You’ll still be able to access it, but it’ll be frozen in time.
– That’s after one more new blog post tomorrow night.
– It’s a special Friday night edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.
– During my blogging hiatus feel free to go back and read some old posts.
– You may have missed some real gems along the way.
– You won’t regret it pal.
– Have a great Thursday night my friends.
– I’ll roll more ‘Mini Thoughts’ your way two weeks from tonight.

Categories
God History Music People Radio Television

My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics

Over 40 years ago Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum wrote and performed “Spirit In The Sky” – a multi-platinum single that became an International pop and rock smash. Although he is Jewish the song is all about Jesus and Heaven.

Prepare yourself. You know it’s a must.
Gotta have a friend in Jesus.
So you know that when you die.
He’s gonna recommend you to the Spirit in the sky.

Goin’ on up to the Spirit in the sky.
That’s where you’re gonna go when you die.
When you die and they lay you to rest.
You’re gonna go to the place that’s the best.

It’s in the lyrics, and it’s in the rockin’ 1986 remake by the U.K. psychedelic rock band Doctor & The Medics. This version of the classic track had all of the British Isles and most of the European continent jammin’ during the Summer of 1986. Even a young 19-year-old chap by the name of Chris M. Day (Airman Hitwaves) went crazy whenever he heard this track get cranked up on the medium wave radio on BBC Radio 1 or on the television on “Top Of The Pops”.

Categories
Advertising Blogging People Sports Television Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I.  It’s approaching 4:30 PM EST on this Tuesday night as I begin compiling these ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’, so that means that in roughly 71 hours my vacation from work begins – and in roughly 92 hours my Carnival cruise vacation begins (the precise moment that I step foot on that gorgeous and spacious luxury cruise ship). Besides sailing away from Port Everglades I’m also looking forward to losing my cell phone signal for more than a week out at sea and out of the country. No cell phones. No telephones at all. No computers. No Internet. No blogging. No radio. Limited television. Now THAT’S what I call paradise !

II.  I’ll also be escaping more chilly El Niño weather aqui a America’s Riviera. Get ready for 2 rather cool days and 2 real cold nights on Wednesday and Thursday with maximum temperatures in the afternoon struggling to reach the mid-60s, and minimum temperatures early in the morning (Thu. and Fri.) dropping all the way down into the lower-40s with wind chills as low as the mid-30s !  Below normal temperatures (day and night) will probably stick around here for at least the next 7 to 10 days. I’ll be venturing out of continental wintertime and straight into the tropical mid-to-upper-80s of Central America next week. DIG !

III.  Super Bowl XLIV is now history (as is the 2009 NFL season), and the New Orleans Saints SHOCKED the Indianapolis Colts in a surprisingly close (and low-scoring) defensive game. There were a lot of offensive yards (as expected), but I was looking for at least 80 points combined. That didn’t happen, but it was still a good game. I think that the NFC has turned the tide and will soon dominate the AFC just like they did during much of the 1980s and 1990s when an NFC team won 15 out of 16 Super Bowls. As for all of the expensive commercials not too many of them stood out as brilliant or even memorable. The most talked-about, most shocking, and certainly most memorable was actually absolutely free. It was the stunning 15-second CBS promo of “The Late Show With David Letterman” featuring Dave, Oprah, and Jay Leno. I couldn’t believe my own four eyes when I saw that one, and I even watched it a few times over and over again via my DVR to see if I could detect any camera trickery involved. It was all for real. That simple 15-second promo made all three talk show titans look great, and it may have just ended a highly-visible and personal 18-year feud.

Be sure to check out my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in less than 48 hours !