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The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
It’s the 4TH weekend of the month of August of the year 2010, and we are here to kick it off with this weekend’s much-anticipated edition of the ‘Blast-Off’. It actually felt weird working all day today since I enjoyed half of yesterday off. I spent some quality time up at The Falls Shopping Center. It’s where I grew up. It’s the single place here in South Florida that I’ve been going to longer and more frequently than any other place (other than my workplace). I remember strolling through The Falls as a young lad of 21 and 22 back in the late-1980s. Nearly a quarter of a century later I feel right at home at that occasionally jumpin’ joint. I don’t feel that way at various other shopping centers and malls. But The Falls has that ‘something special’ feel to it. It’s not perfect. They are missing a book store, a music store, and some more fine dining establishments. The movie theatre there is definitely showing its old age, but then again it’s still much nicer (and surely more modern) than our own 4½-year-old movie theatre here in Homestead. The Falls. I belong. Happy 30TH Anniversary !

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
P.F. Chang’s – I dig this jumpin’ joint. I don’t get to eat there very often, but I always enjoy every visit. On Thursday (at The Falls location) I enjoyed the hot egg drop soup, the tasty beef with broccoli lunch bowl (with brown rice), and for the grande finale – the scrumptious banana spring rolls. I’m talkin’ 6 warm and crispy banana bites with coconut-pineapple ice cream that’s drizzled with caramel and vanilla sauces. Yeah !  Come On !

THE FORTUNE COOKIE MESSAGE OF THE WEEK CLUB:
– New and rewarding opportunities will soon develop for you.
– A small gift can bring joy to the whole family.

OVERHEARD RIDICULOUS STATEMENT OF THE WEEK:
‘Yeah get used to record cold and record hot and droughts and floods and tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes. It’ll be like that from now on because of global warming / climate change.’

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
TOMORROW on an all-new ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’ll take you back with me to the end of the 1980s and the last-half of 1989 here in the land of the 3-0-5. Find out what I was doin’ one Friday night – downtown with Julie Brown. After that the blogging continues next weekend on Friday and Saturday night with more ‘Blast-Off’ and ‘Retro’. In-between the blogging it’s the tweeting. You can follow me @majorhitwaves. Have a wonderful weekend my friends !

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Blogging Driving History Life Music News Radio Travel

Saturday Night Retro

Volume 2 / Number 47 / Edition 96

On this 96TH weekly edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ it’s time to continue my month-long-plus celebration that is ‘The Awesome ’80s In August International Dance Party’. After this edition I’ll have two more on the 28TH of August and the 04TH of September. I also begin the 3RD year of the ‘Retro’ here on this blog on that 1ST Saturday of September. Who would have thought back in 2008 when this blog was peaking that ‘Saturday Night Retro’ would outlive all of the other weekly blog series at that time. I mean – besides me ?

ON to this week’s ‘Retro’ and back during the Spring of 1989 Time, Inc. and Warner Communications merged to become Time Warner. It was the beginning of the end for Eastern Air Lines, as it went bankrupt after over 60 years in the air. The Exxon Valdez ran aground off the south coast of Alaska, and it created an environmental disaster at sea. My favourite theme park at Walt Disney World – The Disney-MGM Studios – opened its doors for the very first time. Gas prices were right around $1 per gallon as I drove all around South Florida in my sparkling new 1989 Geo Spectrum.

On the radio the U.K.’s Fine Young Cannibals scored BIG with back-to-back International pop and dance smash hits. Here’s one of my favourite songs of all time. It’s “She Drives Me Crazy”. It’s RETRO !

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Animals Blogging Food Health History People Shopping Television

The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
So last Monday morning I ventured up to The Falls for my annual eye exam. My eye doctor did an excellent job. She was nice and friendly and an expert in her field. She explained everything to me as it occurred, and I felt smarter about my eyes after it was all done and over with. As it turns out my lifetime of myopia (blurred vision far away) continues to show marked improvement, yet my newfound hyperopia (blurred vision up close) continues to slowly deteriorate. That’s allegedly normal for a dude in his mid-40s. I’m like what … ever. I ended up purchasing brand new glasses to reflect my updated vision. They look exactly like my current glasses. 😯

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
Shiver’s BBQ – BBQ Beef Brisket, French Fries, Collard Greens, Bread, Sweet Iced Tea. Incidentally this jumpin’ joint – in bid-ness in Naranja Lakes for the past 60 years – serves the most delicious collard greens I’ve ever tasted. They are hot. They are juicy. They are mouth-watering. You must try them out if you likey. Me likey !

RANDOM “MATCH GAME” STAR OF THE WEEK:
Fannie _____ – I thought this lady was much older than the 65-years-old that she actually is today. She seemed older back when she was a frequent contestant on the old “Match Game”. That was 35 years ago – back when Fannie Flagg (not her real name) was barely 30. Of course everyone in the world seemed old to me since I was only 8 !  The BIG question remains – Why was I watching “Match Game ’75” as an 8-year-old ?

TAYLOR LESLEY DAY MEASUREMENTS OF THE MONTH CLUB:

Taylor Lesley Day

My gorgeous niece turns 4-months-old tonight, and she weighs in at a healthy 14 pounds 3.6 ounces. She’s also just a tad above two feet tall. Well she’s not standing yet, so it’s really two feet in length. 

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
It’s another full weekend of blogging (as usual). I’ll re-live 1989 on my 96TH weekly edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’. Then on Sunday I’ll continue my celebration that began 4 years ago this week on ‘My Fantastic Journey’. Don’t forget that in-between all of the blogging I’m also tweeting. You can follow me via this blog. My last 10 tweets always appear on the left-hand-side panel. You can also follow me @majorhitwaves. Until next time my friends …

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Blogging Career Driving Food Health History Home Life Money Music People Radio Television Travel

Saturday Night Retro

On This 95TH weekly edition of my ‘Retro’ I take you back 22½ years ago to the Spring of 1988. I remember it well. I was a young 20-year-old USAF Airman First Class (two stripes) on the verge of becoming 21 and a Senior Airman (three stripes) at bustling Homestead Air Force Base Florida. My total annual salary was about $11,000, but I had no car, lived on-base in a dormitory, and all of the food was free. I rode my bike to and from work on-base through the heat, the wind, and the rain. I dreamed of someday owning a car and driving it all around South Florida. That day would NOT occur in 1988, but rather in January of 1989. So back in 1988 I had friends with cars, and that’s all that mattered. All I wanted to do was to eat and party – and so I did. I ate and partied so much that I ended up gaining a lot of weight. In fact I reached my maximum lifetime weight of approximately 185 pounds !  That’s about 15 pounds more than my stable weight of today. I was not very healthy back then, and the situation would only get worse once I hit the legal drinking age of 21 that June (of 1988).

Back then during what I like to refer to as ‘The Golden Age Of Miami Top 40 Radio’ we here were blessed with three competing hit music radio stations – Power-96, Y-100, and Hot-105. All three played the big hits of the day, and each station also specialized in its own genre. Power-96 was a bit more urban than the other two, and Hot-105 actually played American hard rock and European club dance back-to-back. Y-100 was the heritage mainstream pop station of its time.

As I rode my bike all over the air base – dreaming of tuning in to each of these three stations on my eventual new car’s radio – this smash was playing everywhere. It’s the Spring of 1988 here in South Florida !

‘The Awesome ’80s In August International Dance Party’ continues next week as we enter the wild and crazy world that was 1989.

Until then my friends – “GET OUT OF THE CITY !” (Balki Bartokomous from “Perfect Strangers”)